Revise the SWT timetable

Leaving aside the bizarre rolling stock strategy of rejecting newly built Class 707s, may I comment on First MTR’s timetable plans ( RAIL 824).

I agree it must be impossible to reduce journey times (for example, by eight minutes to Southampton and 11 minutes to Salisbury) by better acceleration and cutting dwell times (and by removing pathing time approaching Waterloo), and that attempting this would lead to a deterioration in punctuality. Do I recall correctly that the existing South West Trains franchise added to dwell times to create a deliverable timetable?

Faster journey times such as those promised surely can only be delivered by cutting out station stops. However, that’s not to say that’s not a good idea. The addition of station stops is the reason journey times to Southampton and Bournemouth are slower than 50 years ago, when the line was first electrified.

The eight minutes’ reduction to Southampton might suggest

removal of the Woking and Winchester stops on the fastest trains, with their running fast to Southampton Airport Parkway as they did when the Class 442s were introduced. That would be good, provided places such as Winchester get an adequate fast service to replace the withdrawn stops.

The answer must be the revival of a ‘fast’, ‘semi-fast’ and ‘stopping’ timetable pattern. This would mean the major population centres of Southampton and Bournemouth getting limited-stop express trains again, while important stations such as Woking, Basingstoke and Winchester would be served with fast ‘semi-fast’ services that would also provide additional connectivity.

The main difference between earlier timetables and now is the need for a greater frequency of services. This would mean pathing in more trains south of Basingstoke. Would routeing more freight trains via Laverstock Junction and Andover be the solution?

The promised reduction in journey times is a hugely needed improvement (for example, 14 minutes off Weymouth is a very welcome gain), but this must be achieved by genuine timetable improvements that do not compromise reliability.

Philip Walker, Stevenage