The Railway Magazine – August 2019

10 •TheRailway Magazine•August

GreatWestern makespreparationsfor

‘biggest timetablechange in 43 years’

ByBenJones

PEAKtime Cardiff to London
‘flyers ’taking just 102 minutes
forthe 131-mile journey are
among the highlights of Great
WesternRailway’s new inter-city
timetable,due to be introduced on
December 15.
With all of its Class 800Intercity
ExpressTrains (IETs)and Class
802s nowintraffic,GWR plansto
takeadvan tage of their improved
acceleration to reducetypical
SouthWales schedulesby 14
minutesto astandardone hour
and 53 minutes.
Athird, hourly servicewill run on
the Cardiff to Londonrouteatpeak
times,running non-stop between
BristolParkwayand Paddington,
and allowing passengersto travel
capital-to-capital in1hour 42
minutes–17minutes faster than is
possibletoday.
From January2020, the
half-hourly trains will be able
to run under 25kVAC electric
powerthroughout,thanksto the
completion of electrificationto the
Welsh capital.Initially,trains will
continue to run on diesel power
west of Newport.
Bristol also benefits from

schedules acceleratedbyupto

17 minutes,with Paddingtonto

BristolParkwayreducedto as little

as 67 minutes,or79minutesfor

the fastest trainsto BristolTemple

Meads.Athirdtrain per hour is

addedat peak times and will run

throughout the dayfromnextyear.

An additional 20,000 seats per

daywill be available on GWR trains

through Bristol,altho ugh diesel

operation will still be necessary

between Filton and Bristol,as

electrification ofFilton Bank has

not been delivered as planned.

Consistent

Other inter-cityschedules

will also be accelerated, with

Cheltenhamto Paddington

coming downto twohours or less

and earlier and latertrains added

to andfromthe capital.

TheOxford/Cotswoldroutewill

gain amoreconsistenthourly

pattern withextratrains at peak

time sand Banburywill gain a

direc tpeak time IETservic etoand

fromPaddington.

TheSouthWest gains arguably

its best ever services with three

additional inter-citytrains

between Paddington and the

West Countr y, atwo-hourly semi-

fast servicebetween London and

Exeter and faster,morefrequent

and moreconsistentservice

patterns throughout the day

west of Exeter.Trains between

Penzanceand Paddington will be

up to 14 minutes faster.

Class 143s will bereplacedby

better qualityDMUsonthe Exeter

to Barnstaple line,which will also

get an earlier morning trainto

Exeter.

Exmouthto Paignton trains will

be increasedto fo ur cars and will

run half-hourly throughout the

day. LiskeardtoLooe will gain an

hourly service, with 15return trips

per day, up from the current12.

December will also see GWR

takecontrol of the Heathrow

Express operation and hand

over 50% of thePaddington

to Reading stopping serviceto

MTRCrossrail,using Class 345

EMUs.

Cross-London

Thelatte rwill eventually

incorporate these trains into its

cross-London operation.

Readingto Newburywill

increase fromtwotot hree trains

per hour,with twofast trainsto

London per hour.

Paddingtonto Reading inter-

cityschedules will drop from

the current25-30 minutesto an

average of just 22 minutes.

Other changes across the

GWR network include the

strengthening ofCardiff to

Portsmouth trainsto fivecars and

the replacementofC lass 150s,

with Class 165/166‘Turbo’DMUs

cascaded from theThamesValley

and the introduction of more2+

‘Castle’HST sets in placeoft wo-car

DMUsonthe Cardiff-Exeterroute.

HeadlineNews

Durango &Silverton railroadand operator

sued for$25mbyUSGovernmentafter fire

ByKeithFender

THE USGovernment is suing

one of thecountr y’stop

steam-operated railwaysfor

$25million, claimingaspark

fromacoal-fired locomotive

startedone of theworst

wildfiresseenin 2018.

Last month, th eUSAttorney’s

OfficeinDenverbeganlegal

actionagainstthe Durango

&Silver tonNarrow Gauge

Railroad (D&S) and its operator,

American HeritageRailways

Inc, on behalf oftheUSForest

Service.

Thelawsuit follows afederal

investigation into thefire,

andsaysthe railwayoperator

is responsible as it didnot

immediately put outthefire.

Thedamages clai malso

says othermultiplefires in

2018 andasfar backas1 994

werethe responsibility of the

FormerDenver&Rio Grande Class‘K28’2-8-2 No.476 passing

Rockwood onSeptember 22, 2018, just north of wherethe‘

Fire’started.ROBERTFALCONER

railway,stating:“Defendants’

coal-burning steamengines

commonlycast off burning

cindersand other hot materials,

and, particularly under dry

conditions,pose anextremely

high risk of fire.”

The‘416fire’ (it wasthe

416th incidentint he San

JuanNationalForest in 2018,

not the 416thfore st fire)

star tedonJune1,2018, and

eventually burntfor sixmonths,

destroying54,000 acres of

fore st.

As well as closingthe railway

forsomeweeks it ledto amajor

reduction intourism,costing

the local economymillions of

dollars.Local media reports

residentslargely supportthe

cont inued operation of the D&S

as they arethe mainreason

theareahas abuoyanttourism

industry.However ,there is a

vocal minorit ywho wouldlike

to see steam locosreplaced.

Therailway andits owners

werealready facing civil

lawsuitsfromlocal residents

and businesses claiminglosses

caused by thefire, blaming the

D&S forusing coal-fired steam

locosduringadrought.

Precautions

When operating inextreme

fire-dangerconditions the

railroad oftenhas fir e-fighters

in helicoptersfollowingtrains

as well as afire-fighting tank

onboardorwatercannon

wagon at therear of trains.

Despiteall theseprecautions

the‘416Fire’was causedby

sparks fromasteam loco

igniting tinder-dry vegetation,

according to Federalfire

investigators.

Therailway announced plans

in 2018–while the firewas still

burning–tobuy tworebuilt

diesel locosto replacecoal-fired

steam locos during periods of

severefirerisk.

In addition,the railway is also

overhaulingformerDenver&

RioGrande 2-8-2 class‘K-37’

No.493 andconverting itto oil

firing,with the aim of allowing

steam operation, even in

droughtconditions.

Nine-car IET No.800303coasts past RoyalOak on the approachesto Lo ndonPaddington on May6.

From December,these trains will helpto deli verGWR'senhanced timetable.CHRIS MILNER