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laird
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« Reply #135 on: January 29, 2011, 13:27:41 » |
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The failure to achieve the projected numbers in the business plan is an interesting one; certainly the population around Wrexham and Shrewsbury seemed to recognise the benefits of the service in getting them cheaply to London and without changing trains. The recession probably meant that there just weren^t enough of these dedicated travellers.
The onboard service seemed faultless and always seemed to gain plaudits both from the travellers and press, so often we hear that the key to long term business success is service and delighting the customer, WSMR▸ certainly did this.
From their rolling stock which while late arriving must rate as some of the best stock around today, wonderful onboard service, e-Ticketing and their desire to operate rail services when others would resort to the dreaded rail replacement bus I cannot speak highly enough of the company and every member of staff I met over the years.
Failing to successfully challenge the Virgin Trains objection at Wolverhampton is perhaps the biggest component of the failure from my viewpoint, I don't understand why WSMR were unsuccessful in that the service could easily have been viewed as a replacement for the Wolverhampton-Paddington services which came about in the programme to modernise Cross Country.
While the Southbound morning and northbound evening services did seem to attract custom the other services always seemed empty in comparison, I^m sure this influenced the choice to withdraw the third set and switch to the final timetable in recent months.
It is noticeable that when visiting Kings Cross there are adverts from Grand Central promoting northbound journeys, admittedly primarily for the tourist market on their non-stop service to York.
Latterly the most recent timetable really removed the potential for business meetings in all but Telford and then only if limited in time, perhaps it was a cut too far.
I^m certain employers in the Telford and Shrewsbury area were told of the benefits of the direct service to London but few if any probably made the connection to tell their Berkshire, Hampshire or London offices of the availability of the service in the other direction.
Having worked for a company in Reading that had offices in Telford and Cosford I tried to get the message through but fell flat and didn^t receive support from WSMR, it is a shame because the connection from Reading at Banbury was a very easy one and thanks to Cross Country running every thirty minutes on the route without great risk of delay.
Coupled with faster connecting services to the commercial centres at Shrewsbury and Telford it was difficult to recognise the service existed. In all the timetables there always seemed to be good connections from Reading, Oxford and points on the Chiltern Line there were no discounted through fares to tempt custom onto WSMR.
As knowledgeable railway users we know we could do split ticketing to join WSMR but many potential customers would not have had a clue that the through fare they are quoted is not the cheapest. It seems a shame that a deal was not done with Cross Country or Chiltern to provide the business and leisure travellers with access to the WSMR services at a reasonable ticket price, hopefully in future rather than barriers being put in place we might see franchise operators cooperating as the new operators pass customers onto the existing operators.
I guess the desire for so many open access operators will be access to the regions-London market however it seems they will be subject to the same pressures as WSMR, I seem to recall there were even proposals in the very early days from people wanting to operate from the Great Western region. Perhaps the likes of GoCo thinking about routes that are less focussed on a single flow of traffic will be more successful especially if we see fewer objections to the competition they do bring between selected points.
It might be interesting to look in a few months time to see if part of the long term impact of WSMR is that the number of passengers from Shrewsbury/Telford etc. to London remains higher than would be otherwise expected as the passengers introduced by WSMR continue to want the benefits brought by rail travel.
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laird
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« Reply #136 on: January 29, 2011, 13:39:00 » |
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Following the release of one LHCS▸ set to Chiltern at the timetable change, there will now be two seven coach sets from Monday. All standard class sadly, hopefully the buffet cars might find use somewhere.
Perhaps the opportunity cost was in DB» 's minds as by moving the stock from WSMR▸ to Chiltern they have released so quickly.
The question remains as to what will become of the facilities at Wrexham General, I saw an article talking about ^1M having been invested, I hope some practical use can be found for the facility.
But as with so many of the customers over the year my thoughts are with the staff from WSMR.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #137 on: January 29, 2011, 14:06:15 » |
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Following the release of one LHCS▸ set to Chiltern at the timetable change, there will now be two seven coach sets from Monday. Gosh,. I sincerely hope you are right - I'm one of the displaced 1830-ites that isn't looking forward to a squash on a 3car Clubman at 1833..... However, I was talking to Director-level Chiltern staff only yesterday afternoon, and their take on the 1833 then was to 'suck it and see'.....wait & see how pax balanced out across their services, while adding a single coach to their 1633 LHCS service. WE argued stronly in favour of your suggestion above - I hope you're right. All standard class sadly, hopefully the buffet cars might find use somewhere. Perhaps the opportunity cost was in DB» 's minds as by moving the stock from WSMR▸ to Chiltern they have released so quickly. The question remains as to what will become of the facilities at Wrexham General, I saw an article talking about ^1M having been invested, I hope some practical use can be found for the facility. But as with so many of the customers over the year my thoughts are with the staff from WSMR. [/quote] |
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paul7575
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« Reply #138 on: January 29, 2011, 14:37:55 » |
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Crosscountry certainly appear from the alternative travel arrangements to be accepting tickets between Birmingham New Street, Leamington Spa and Banbury. I presume in practice this means Wolverhampton would be acceptable, it was probably just ignored because services from the Shrewsbury direction would normally continue to New Street Station.
Wolverhampton perhaps wouldn't be mentioned because the calls were set down only in the up direction and vice versa, so anyone with a ticket from Wolverhampton itself to the south (and vice versa) shouldn't be inconvenienced... Paul |
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« Last Edit: January 29, 2011, 16:52:37 by paul7755 »
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readytostart
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« Reply #139 on: January 29, 2011, 19:30:52 » |
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XC▸ wil also accept tickets marked WSMR▸ Tains Only......
Seems pretty clear to me. My interpretation is that for XC to accept any tickets that were not WSMR Trains Only, then the original routing and validity would apply, i.e. any tickets routed via High Wycombe should still be used to travel over that route (makes sense as FGW▸ are not accepting them for travel RDG‡- PAD» ). For those holding WSMR only tickets and still wishing to arrive into MYB▸ without a walk across city in Birmingham, XC will accept tickets for a same platform connection at LMS▸ and BAN. Briefing email is as follows: From: XC Control [Customer Support] Sent: Fri Jan 28 15:23:27 2011 Subject: Wrexham & Shropshire [NEW] Wrexham & Shropshire The Wrexham & Shropshire train company will cease operations on Friday 28th January 2011. The last train to depart will be the 1830 train from London Marylebone to Wrexham General on Friday 28th January 2011. From Saturday 29th January, all Wrexham & Shropshire tickets that have already been purchased will be valid on all reasonable alternative routes operated by Arriva Trains Wales, into London Euston by London Midland and Virgin Trains, and to London Marylebone by Chiltern Railways. Please allow any customers who are in possession of WSMR tickets to travel on our services on affected routes. |
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willc
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« Reply #140 on: January 30, 2011, 10:47:03 » |
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The question remains as to what will become of the facilities at Wrexham General, I saw an article talking about ^1M having been invested, I hope some practical use can be found for the facility. Not much chance of that, as ATW▸ have Chester depot just up the line. |
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ChrisB
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« Reply #141 on: January 30, 2011, 12:34:09 » |
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I wonder whether there was any claw-back written into the grant paid by the Welsh Assembly Government if closure was quick?
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anthony215
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« Reply #142 on: February 02, 2011, 14:23:29 » |
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Looks like ATW▸ are to use some of the WSMR▸ stock to work on their WAG» express contracts. Also it has been noted that the lack of WSMR trains means that there are spare paths for the WAG services through Wrexham.
Now all we need is for these services to stop at Hereford
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ChrisB
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« Reply #143 on: February 02, 2011, 14:29:53 » |
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In England, on a WAG» Express? Are you kidding?
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JayMac
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« Reply #144 on: February 02, 2011, 14:38:23 » |
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Looks like ATW▸ are to use some of the WSMR▸ stock to work on their WAG» express contracts. Also it has been noted that the lack of WSMR trains means that there are spare paths for the WAG services through Wrexham.
That does appear to be the rumour flying around on other forums. DB» pulling a loss making service in preference of a heavily subsidised service. ATW will now be able to use 3 ex-WSMR sets on their (from May) two WAG Express services. With the DVTs‡ they can reverse at Chester and add that Wrekham call that various North Wales AM's have been calling for. Just to clarify....this is only rumour with one poster on RailUK Forums stating that the information came from an 'impeccable' source. Despite that, tis still only rumour. |
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"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
- Sir Terry Pratchett.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #145 on: February 02, 2011, 14:47:23 » |
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They're probably picking it up from the ukr newsgroup, where it's been discussed at length - but again, it's supposition / rumour...
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anthony215
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« Reply #146 on: February 02, 2011, 16:04:31 » |
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The only stupid thing i have found with the WAG» express is that there is no service going from Cardiff to North wales in the morning, although there were plans for such a thing at 1 time. Pity as it would be nice to go to north wales on a loco hauled train and spend a day there before coming back in the evening.
Maybe ATW▸ should make more use out of the loco hauled sets asnd perhaps use them to displace some of the class 175's to boost capacity on the Milford Haven - Manchester services
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #147 on: February 06, 2011, 13:41:41 » |
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From the BBC» : Consultation over Shropshire rail link future
Rail passengers in Shropshire who have been left without a direct service to London have been urged to contact the Department for Transport.
The direct link to London, operated by the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway, stopped operating last Friday.
Richard Evans, of Virgin Trains, said consultations were being held over the West Coast Rail franchise, which could operate in Shropshire.
Anyone who wanted the link re-instated should contact the government, he said.
The current West Coast franchise, operated by Virgin Trains, finishes in April 2012.
The Wrexham, Shropshire, Marylebone Railway service closed due to falling passenger numbers.
The service had been popular with passengers, achieving a 96% satisfaction rate in a Passenger Focus survey.
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #148 on: February 06, 2011, 21:46:23 » |
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With not enough passenger numbers, it should conclude
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smokey
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« Reply #149 on: September 04, 2012, 19:13:25 » |
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I see the Wrexham and Shropshire Web site has (recently) been closed down.
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