First Great Western to its new timetable

9 January 2007 Train operator First Great Western is to make further changes to its new timetable following a review of the performance of train services and seating capacity in some parts of the region. The review was carried out in response to customer and stakeholder feedback received following the introduction of the new timetable on 10 December 2006. Alison Forster, Managing Director of First Great Western, explains: “We recognise that some elements of the timetable have not met all our customers’ needs and we apologise to those customers who have experienced crowding and train cancellations on some key services. “As a result of the review, I’m today announcing a number of changes, including additional morning peak time services and extra seats, to alleviate the problems experienced by some of our customers.” The following changes to services will be introduced on Monday 15 January: Oxford, Didcot and Thames Valley · The current 05.52 Oxford to London Paddington service will be faster with fewer stops, departing later at 05.55, calling Radley at 06.02, Didcot Parkway at 06.11, Reading at 06.25 and London Paddington at 07.00. This service will no longer call at Cholsey, Goring & Streatley, Pangbourne and Tilehurst. The 06.02 from Oxford will continue to serve these stations. · An additional early morning high speed service will be introduced from Oxford and Didcot Parkway to London Paddington every weekday. The service leaves Oxford at 07.33, calls Didcot Parkway at 07.48, Reading at 08.04 and arrives London Paddington at 08.30. · An additional Oxford to London Paddington fast train service will be introduced at 06.45. This service runs non-stop to Twyford, calling there at 07.26; Maidenhead at 07.35; and arriving London Paddington at 07.58. The current 06.45 Oxford to London Paddington stopping service will therefore depart earlier at 06.33 and run as advertised from Didcot Parkway. · Didcot receives a new morning peak high speed train service with more seats – the 06.30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington service will call at Didcot Parkway at 07.30, calling Reading at 07.46 and arriving London Paddington at 08.15. This replaces the 05.34 Great Malvern to London Paddington service which will no longer call at Didcot Parkway (07.17). · More capacity will be provided for Twyford and Maidenhead customers on two morning high speed services due to changes in stopping patterns. Both the 05.55 Oxford to London Paddington (now departing Twyford at 06.34 and Maidenhead at 06.41) and the 06.51 Oxford to London Paddington will call at fewer stations prior to calling at Twyford and Maidenhead. Timings on some branch lines will change to ensure connections with main line services: · The 06.19 Marlow to Bourne End service departs earlier at 06.17, arriving Bourne End at 06.24. · The 06.20 Henley-on-Thames to Twyford service departs earlier at 06.19, calling Shiplake at 06.23, Wargrave at 06.26 and Twyford at 06.31. · The 06.29 Bourne End to Maidenhead service departs earlier at 06.27, calls Cookham at 06.32, Furze Platt at 06.35, arriving Maidenhead at 06.38 Westcountry · Capacity on the 06.47 Frome to Cardiff Central service will be doubled with two additional coaches providing more than 100 extra seats for customers travelling between Frome, West Wiltshire, Bath and Bristol. · An additional train service will run between Exeter St Davids and Highbridge, departing 06.52 and calling Tiverton Parkway at 07.06 and Taunton at 07.22. This service continues to London Paddington, leaving Highbridge at 07.40. Alison Forster continues: “We will have the opportunity to make changes to the timetable in December 2007. Also, our current review is continuing and we will consider making further changes, in particular for customers using Bedwyn/Newbury to Reading services, over the next few months. We will announce these changes as soon as possible. “Recent capacity problems in the Bristol and Bath commuter areas have been caused by a backlog of maintenance work required on our fleet of local trains. We are pulling out all the stops and have recruited additional staff at our Bristol maintenance depot to get this work completed as soon as possible. I’m confident that this will improve the reliability of our services and therefore seating capacity over the next couple of weeks.”

Prime Minister in Oxford

Transcript of the Romanes Lecture given by the Prime Minister at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on 27 February 2009.

Three hundred and fifty years ago – just a few years before this theatre was built – a small gathering of scientists who had first met here in Oxford during the English Civil War, decided to establish themselves as a formal group and to meet weekly in London to conduct, observe and discuss their experiments.

For many, this meeting – which led directly to the founding of the Royal Society – is seen as the birth of modern science. It marked a fundamental change in how we thought about the natural world; no longer arguing on philosophical or theological grounds about how the world must be, but seeking – through experiment, observation, and analysis – knowledge of how it actually was, highlighting the truth that the freedom of thought vital to science and its progress was led by the development in Britain ahead of other countries – first of tolerance and then of liberty.

To read more http://www.oxfordprospect.co.uk/oxfordnews.htm

Oxford Dance

AVANT GARDE SHOW FROM NEW YORK COMES TRAILING GREAT REVIEWS

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

 Oxford’s awardwinning North Wall Theatre hosts unique combo

Meet New York avant garde composer and choreographer John Moran and his neighbour, the captivating Saori – and see their mesmerising show which will find you totally unprepared. Is it music, theatre, dance or a blend of all three, interwoven in surprising directions.

http://www.oxfordprospect.co.uk/Oxforddance.htm

 

Get ready for the Dance-A-Thon weekend

Thursday 26 February 2009

 

Get ready for this weekend’s Dance-A-Thon where you can try out anything from Jazz to Jive and Ballet to Bollywood.

 

 

 

Oxford Music

Al Stewart will play the New Theatre Oxford on Thursday 7th May

Magical history tours have been Al Stewart’s trademark since the early 1970s, when he switched from writing about his own romantic turmoil to a wider view of the world and its rich cast of characters and events. While his 1976 international hit single, “Year of the Cat,” was tied to no specific time (other than “a moment from a Bogart movie”), his albums immediately surrounding it (Past, Present & Future, Modern Times, The Year of the Cat, Times Passages) yielded other accessible but more historically anchored hits that combined finely drawn character studies and detailed settings that ranged across continents and centuries, forming the template for Al’s subsequent recordings. 

http://www.oxfordprospect.co.uk/alstewart.htm

Oxford Opera

 The last chance to see Ellen Kent’s Operas and Ballets! Ellen Kent at the Hackney Empire After 25 years in the business and on her 60th birthday Ellen Kent is changing direction. The award winning opera and ballet Producer Ellen Kent who is the biggest supplier of opera and ballet in the UK and Ireland is taking a step back from touring. Ellen has orchestrated opera tours since 1993 but Ellen believes the time has come to pause the opera and ballet tours after summer 2009 and take her next big step in life to coincide with her 60th birthday in April. Ellen is going to carry on exploring her passion for producing arena productions, something she has always wanted to do and feels this is the time to do it!

http://www.oxfordprospect.co.uk/opera.htm