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Title: New direct hourly trains - Cannock and Walsall to London Post by: grahame on March 13, 2019, 17:55:41 From the Express and Star (https://www.expressandstar.com/news/transport/2019/03/13/direct-walsall-to-london-train-to-be-introduced-in-major-timetable-changes/)
Quote A new train service will take passengers direct from Walsall to London as part of a raft of timetable changes in the West Midlands. Starting at Rugeley Trent Valley, the train will depart hourly and mean people travelling to the capital from Walsall, Cannock or Hednesford will no longer have to change in Birmingham. And a reduced waiting time on the West Coast Mainline at Northampton will mean anybody travelling from the West Midlands to London will see their journey times reduced. Are there places in the GWR area from where a regular direct London service would make sense, or do we already all of those that are realistic? How do occasional London service stations fare under the new SLC / timetables? Ashchurch? Newquay? Tenby? Title: Re: New direct hourly trains - Cannock and Walsall to London Post by: jamestheredengine on March 13, 2019, 19:23:16 From the Express and Star (https://www.expressandstar.com/news/transport/2019/03/13/direct-walsall-to-london-train-to-be-introduced-in-major-timetable-changes/) Quote A new train service will take passengers direct from Walsall to London as part of a raft of timetable changes in the West Midlands. Starting at Rugeley Trent Valley, the train will depart hourly and mean people travelling to the capital from Walsall, Cannock or Hednesford will no longer have to change in Birmingham. And a reduced waiting time on the West Coast Mainline at Northampton will mean anybody travelling from the West Midlands to London will see their journey times reduced. So what this really is is daisy-chaining a semi-fast Rugeley-Birmingham service, a semi-fast Birmingham-Northampton, and a semi-fast Northampton-London. Quote Are there places in the GWR area from where a regular direct London service would make sense, or do we already all of those that are realistic? I don't see the same scope for daisy-chaining-style through services, mainly because the non-InterCity services between the edge of Network SouthEast and Bristol were so comprehensively killed off. But I'd offer Severn Tunnel Junction and Pontyclun as two ORCATS raids waiting to happen, if GWR were ever so inclined. Title: Re: New direct hourly trains - Cannock and Walsall to London Post by: grahame on March 13, 2019, 21:07:15 So what this really is is daisy-chaining a semi-fast Rugeley-Birmingham service, a semi-fast Birmingham-Northampton, and a semi-fast Northampton-London. Quote Are there places in the GWR area ... I don't see the same scope for daisy-chaining-style through services, .... Not pure daisy chains ... but some interesting 10 cars off London becoming 5 on the way. Perhaps 2030s stuff. London - Bedwyn; Bedwyn - Westbury; Westbury - Weymouth. London - (semifast) Exeter; Exeter - Paignton (stopper). London - Cheltenham Spa; Cheltenham Spa - Great Malvern. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |