Show Posts
|
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 20
|
1
|
Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: TFW Future Timetable Consultation
|
on: April 12, 2024, 23:26:31
|
They've annoyingly cancelled the wrong trains between Cardiff and Carmarthen. And there's a really unhelpful GWR▸ change on there (moving the Carmarthen service off 1B21, which is good, but onto 1B22 (which might as well terminate at Cardiff) rather than 1B20 (which really needs not to terminate at Cardiff just where it's getting busy – even splitting it at Cardiff into 5 cars to Carmarthen and 5 back to Paddington for an early bath in North Pole Depot would be better)) plus a particular bit of TfW dog-in-mangerism that will ruin GWR's reliability (the stoppers either side of 1L11 – which could do with retiming a minute earlier to make connections at Cardiff Central into the 0841 Aberdare service for Queen Street and Cathays officially work – have their stopping patterns the opposite way round from what's helpful). Does anyone know where the corresponding GWR consultation is? GWR really should be driving this rather than letting the regional rail operator wag the dog.
|
|
|
3
|
Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Cardiff Bay Station branch
|
on: March 03, 2024, 22:40:36
|
Big changes being consulted on for the valley lines next summer. All aberdare and merthyr services will loop clockwise or anticlockwise around the city centre via Radyr- Cathays -Central -Ninian Park-radyr and back up the valleys. In addition all services from Rhymney and Bargoed will run to Barry Island and Bridgend via VOG. The Penarth branch will be served by a 2tph from Coryton abd a 2tph service to Caerphilly. This gives 6tph between Cardiff and Caerphilly compared to 4tph now. Cardiff Bay line gets 4tph to queen Street shuttle as well as a 2tph service to Pontypridd. So Cathays to pontypridd still gets 6tph. Cardiff to pontypridd will increase from 5-6,tph to 8tph. The cityline gains a Sunday service too so now only the Coryton branch has no trains on sundays https://tfw.wales/sites/default/files/2023-12/TfW%20Rail%209th%20SA%20%28June%2024%29%20Form%20P.pdfThis is a silly service pattern. Cathays is Wales's 6th busiest station and the busiest station on the entire suburban network north of Queen Street. Cathays is overwhelmingly a south-facing station – the suburban network should be called the Vale of Glamorgan Lines. Very few Cathays passengers want Cardiff Bay. In general, they want Central, interchanges at Central, or stations Cogan to Llantwit Major/Barry Island. If we're messing with the Bay shuttle, it should go to Caerphilly/Coryton as the less busy branches.
|
|
|
10
|
Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Heading off in THREE different directions to get to the same place.
|
on: January 09, 2024, 14:24:36
|
You can head west from Stratford by three different routes and arrive at Liverpool Street but one of these is of course the London Underground Central line and all three will take you to different parts of Liverpool Street so this may well not count and definitely would not if it has to be three different directions out of the platforms.
If the London Underground counts, then there are loads of answers. Paddington to Baker Street, Paddington to Liverpool Street, Paddington to Embankment...
|
|
|
12
|
All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Travel advice 4th January onwards
|
on: January 05, 2024, 22:59:11
|
I have more sympathy with "the railway" in conditions this bad. What annoys me is the endless disruption in only moderately adverse weather. Considerable flooding near me, I am not directly affected as atop a small hill, but the odd power cut, and tesco home delivery much delayed.
The bit that I tend to wonder about when something goes awry in the Thames Valley is why route knowledge is not maintained via Greenford and Oxford. Yes, it would be slow, but it would give a realistic alternative route between Paddington and Swindon.
|
|
|
13
|
All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Travel advice 4th January onwards
|
on: January 04, 2024, 22:31:18
|
Knowing the almost certain severity of the weather and that disruption was almost inevitable, why, I wonder, did GWR▸ not put out a warning to travel only if absolutely necessary first thing this morning, to coincide with the Met Office message and other weather forecasts?
The weather today has been significantly better in Cardiff today than it has been all week. The panic about the weather today quite frankly felt bizarre.
|
|
|
14
|
Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury
|
on: January 04, 2024, 19:31:23
|
I assume IETs▸ still can’t stop at Melksham because it’s not in the train database?
Time they added it, regardless of the huge cost to amend the database.
Ah yes ... Cancellations to services between Westbury and Reading Due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Westbury and Reading some lines towards Reading are blocked. Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 19:00 04/01. Westbury <-> Swindon service decimated due to flooding ... somewhere else! We're still bottom of the pile here in Melksham when it comes to serving us in 2024. Not asking "why" - just pointing it out. I like what they do elsewhere: Customer Advice Due to flooding on the railway near Chipping Sodbury, the line between Swindon and Bristol Parkway is shut.
Therefore our trains running from South Wales and London Paddington are being diverted, and will add approximately 40 minutes to your journey. No station will go without a service. Until you realise that "a" service means stealth cancelling the 0558, 0658, and 0743 from Swansea at 10pm the night before -- the 0743 is a particularly bad one to cancel, as it is the 0835 arrival at Cardiff. They'd really do much better to leave those three trains running and cancel the awkwardly timed ones between them. I know the daytime service leaves Swansea in an unhelpful part of the hour, but the morning peak doesn't have to follow that silliness. But really the worst bit is the whole pretense that Chipping Sodbury somehow mightn't be wet later -- I'm okay with the evening trains being half an hour out from normal, but let's have an emergency timetable that they can run to, rather than having to keep an eye out in case something is suddenly magically sent right at Wootton Bassett and effectively runs half an hour early. If it dries up, then that's when 10pm decisions about tomorrow are an appropriate decision-making strategy.
|
|
|
|