Minding gap in train timetable

Maidenhead: Commuters lose key 7.16am service

Major changes to train timetables have been introduced as the Elizabeth line increased peak services this week – but the changes have not gone down well with everyone.

The shake-up will see a number of changes for both Elizabeth line and Great Western Railway (GWR) services (see left), with faster Crossrail journey times also promised.

Some services which were previously operated by GWR will be replaced by Elizabeth line trains, leading to anger among some commuters.

Concerns have been raised over the replacement of ‘a hugely popular and wellused’ morning commuter train from Maidenhead to Paddington.

The 7.16am Great Western Railway (GWR) train, which also stops at Slough, has been replaced with a slower Elizabeth line service.

It is one of two trains on the line from Maidenhead during the peak morning hours that was made to ‘transfer to Crossrail’, the other being the 8.44 train.

Other changes to the timetable are mainly small adjustments, with some trains coming a minute earlier or later.

The 6.34am now departs at 6.33am; the 7.06am at

7.07am; 7.32am at 7.33am; and 7.35am moves to 7.36am.

All other trains before

9am will keep the same departure time, including the 6.46am, 7.02am, 8.02am and

8.31am trains from Maidenhead.

But there are concerns about the changes to this key-time-slot train.

Taking 24 minutes, the old train used to get people to Paddington by 7.40am, making plenty of time for onward travel throughout London.

Other GWR trains at that time in the morning were timetabled to take between 18-22 minutes.

By comparison, the Elizabeth line service leaves 10 minutes later, at 7.26am, and draws into Paddington at 8.08am, taking 42 minutes.

Maidonian Julian Robinson is a daily commuter who is not pleased about the change – largely because he considers the Elizabeth line service to be a worse choice for those coming from Maidenhead.

“Who honestly wants to sit on the slow Crossrail, with no toilets, hard seats and endless stops instead [of the GWR train]?” he said.

“There will be mayhem with commuters attempting to fit on to either the 7.02 fast [GWR] train or the 7.33 fast train.

“Just at a time when more and more people are ditching work-from-home and returning to the office, we find crucial services cut at the busiest times,” he added.

“This will be a fresh nightmare for Maidenhead’s morning commuters who will now be packed in like sardines with fewer fast services.”

A spokesman for GWR said: “From May, the level of service on the Elizabeth line reaches the maximum planned service level with up to 10 trains per hour east of Heathrow travelling into London.

“This reduces the amount of paths available to us on these lines, effectively transferring more of our services to the Elizabeth line.”

The company says the change allows it to ‘speed up’ some of its other trains.

For example, London Paddington-Didcot Parkway services ‘will run non-stop from Slough to Paddington on the mainline – saving as much as 10 minutes on journey times.’

The change is to ‘try and meet customer and stakeholder aspirations’ and

‘does mean making some changes to our Maidenhead calling patterns.’

“We will be reducing journey time for more customers overall, and timetables are of course a balance, which we will continue to keep under review,” said the spokesperson.

The new timetable will see improvements for services on the Marlow and Henley branch lines linking in with the mainline services, which has been welcomed by Maidenhead MP Theresa May

(see left).