Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains at Didcot Parkway on June 15th 2019

My 3rd visit to Didcot Parkway in 6 months however this time not just including Great Western Railway Trains from the Great Western Mainline and Cotswolds Line but also some CrossCountry Trains.
Featuring a mixture of Class 800 and 802 IETs and also Class 220 Voyagers as well.
When the Great Western Main Line first opened in 1840 from Reading to Steventon there was no station at Didcot until June 12th 1844 when the line between Didcot and Oxford opened.
Between here and Swindon there were several stops at Steventon, Wantage Road, Challow, Ufffington, Shrivenham and Stratton Park served by stopping services however all these closed on December 7th 1964.
The former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway had link to Newbury from Didcot however like the intermidate stations between Didcot and Swindon fell victim to the Beeching Cuts.
The station was renamed by British Rail to Didcot Parkway on July 29th 1985 when a new station building along with a car park was built to provide a Park and Ride.
Today there are 1800 spaces with a new car park being constructed in 2018.
Electric Trains began running to Didcot Parkway in January 2018 provided by the half hourly Class 387s which call at all stations between here and Reading and then alternate with certain stations with Reading services and as recently an additional service to Newbury.
Oxford services along with CrossCountry services mostly bypass here via Didcot East Jn to Oxford with certain GWR services extended to Great Malvern, Worcester Foregate Street and Hereford.
As for the Great Western Main Line services to Cheltenham Spa call here along with hourly services from Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare, Cardiff Central services (Mon-Fri), Swansea services mostly run non stop except for occasional services on Sundays.
Sometimes during the day occasional Oxford services can pass through Platform 3 and 4 which are used for terminating Class 387s. Platform 5 is used by shuttle services from Oxford and Banbury used by Class 165 Turbos.
IETs can run in Electric Mode on the GWML when electrification to Cardiff Central is completed however at the time of filming was still ongoing between Bristol Parkway and Cardiff Central.
Unsually the IETs have to changeover power modes from electric or Biomode whilst on the move at speed unlike the Class 395 Javelins on Southeastern for HS1 switch at Ebbsfleet Intl or Ashford Intl to 3rd Rail mode on the platform.
Filmed on Saturday June 15th 2019 on iPhone 8 and edited on iMovie

[@leavemealone5242]

Love the train

[@CasperTrains]

Amazing video!

[@RoscoTrain107]

Thanks Casper 🙂

[@meridianrail4773]

Fantastic video as always :)

[@RoscoTrain107]

Thanks

[@alfiesvideos5078]

Great premiere! We have a Steam Train the week after Tornado

[@RoscoTrain107]

Alfie's Music nice.one and Thanks

[@fptrains5775]

Nice video

[@RoscoTrain107]

Thank you

[@barrythedieselelectricstea5217]

great video 👍

[@RoscoTrain107]

Barry The Diesel Electric Steam Spotter In Kent Thanks

[@peoplefirstforum3712]

Yesmyfamilyliveindidcotnearnorthmorten ThesetrainsArebrillianttoo Keepsafeanddistance Jeanetteandkeith Peoplefirstforum

[@UKTransport232]

No HSTs though this time from GWR. But CrossCountry have some. Nice video.

[@RoscoTrain107]

UK Transport232 Thanks, well CrossCountry only run theirs from the southwest to Leeds, Edinburgh or Glasgow Central Voyagers do Bournemouth, Manchester Piccadilly and Aberdeen

[@josephharrison8354]

The HSTs have all been replaced by the Class 800 trains.

[@RoscoTrain107]

Joseph Harrison thats on GWR for long distance services but also not just 800s but also 802s. CrossCountry still retaining their HSTs for now but being modified with sliding doors in similar ways to the short sets on scotrail and well as GWR which 11 sets known as Castle HSTs are being retained.

[@charliescott3624]

RoscoTrain107 you forgot Newcastle.

[@ianhosier4042]

I always thought it was stupid that the cross country trains from Southampton to Manchester never stopped at didcot. After all they did Basingstoke, reading and Oxford - weird.

[@7crtz]

nice vid

[@RoscoTrain107]

Thank you

[@edharris2395]

why are all the IEP'S running on diesel?

[@RoscoTrain107]

Ed Harris very good question At the time whilst I was filming at Didcot Parkway in fact I was wandering the same thing. In one case when I was travelling on the 0745 Swansea service to Cardiff Central a week later from Paddington to Cardiff Central instead of running electric to Bristol Parkway then Biomode at the moment to Cardiff Central instead it started in Biomode from Paddington to Reading then switched to Electric until after Cholsey then biomode again through Didcot Parkway until before Swindon and then electric until before Bristol Parkway for the rest of it's journey. It turns out that the IETs on GWR have been having software problems especially when they have to change systems from Electric to Diesel etc whilst at speed which at the moment Hitachi are trying to rectify at the moment although full electric running to Cardiff Central won't be happening anytime soon for now even when the wires are all up because of problems in the Severn Tunnel.

[@RoscoTrain107]

Ash very good point

[@ianhosier4042]

Can you actually get a train between didcot parkway and Oxford?. The train search said you had to change at reading which is ludicrous.

[@RoscoTrain107]

Yes you can it’s a 165 turbo doing Didcot to Oxford shuttles

[@ianhosier4042]

@@RoscoTrain107 with a face full of choking diesel to boot! Us Southampton locals call the Salisbury train "the Salisbury stinker" as it is the only non electric train to use the station and it uses the old 2 car Wessex dmu sets which put out a tonne of black smoke when leaving the station! I haven't been on the GWR since before electrification and remember well the stinky 125HST trains out of reading and riding the dmu from reading to twyford when the folks were still alive. Since they passed I have no call to ride the GWR but things must be bliss on those lovely new train sets. One day I must get up to reading as I want to ride the same train on the new 'purple line' from end to end just for the fun of it but as far as I know it doesn't run through london yet.

[@7crtz]

Do trains at Oxford

[@RoscoTrain107]

I did trains at Oxford back on February 2nd

[@ianhosier4042]

Stupid that they don't electrify to Oxford and beyond but the biggest joke is that east west rail will be diesel. The same dilemma with third rail applies here at Southampton - need a stinky diesel to Salisbury due to a lousy 2.5 miles of track they didn't bother to electrify yet they can waste billions on HS2. Same is true between reading and Basingstoke - stinky diesel needed again.

[@RoscoTrain107]

Well Oxford maybe long term but that may only be doable if Oxford gets remodelled which does need a overhaul and a 5th platform East west rail starting on diesel yes doesn’t make sense however the problem is the cost of electrification which is something on any other projects going forward has to be affordable to avoid the fiasco of the gwml electrification overruns. Reading to Basingstoke that’s not changing anytime soon unless either hydrogen or battery power trains are developed which is still some way off.

[@ianhosier4042]

@@RoscoTrain107 I wonder if any of the drivers at didcot ever forget to switch to diesel when leaving for Oxford and how far the electric lines extend past didcot. It would be quite funny if a train stopped at didcot, pulled out on electric then came to a halt again someway up the track. Could be funny what excuse they would print on the screens to explain the resulting timetabling carnage! I did think about being a train driver and wondered if you could get fired for doing that and for forgetting to stop at a station on route (you couldn't exactly put your train into reverse when you realised your error).

[@RoscoTrain107]

@@ianhosier4042 well actually any IET going to Oxford have to switch to diesel before the junction they diverge As for trains coming back on the line they can’t switch to electric until they are on the fast lines of the gwml anyway. The train has some sort of system which the driver can switch between modes but if the driver forgets there is a detection system which does the switchover for the driver from electric to diesel however as for diesel to electric that’s up to the driver.

[@ianhosier4042]

@@RoscoTrain107 I wonder if any sort of equivalent system exists to prevent a driver from bombing through a station that he ought to be stopping at?