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47
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests - August 2020
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on: August 28, 2020, 18:12:58
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It'll be interesting to see how it's Policed, given the way events in Bristol at the recent BLM protest were (non) Policed.
The recent BLM protests in Bristol were policed. In point of fact, they were policed very well. 'Policing' is not synonymous with 'breaking heads'. Allowed an act of vandalism of Colston's statue to take place while they stood by and watched and later had go hunting to identify the culprits. Whatever one's opinions or the cause it was still a crime |
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48
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: General Stations - what and why
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on: August 18, 2020, 12:20:01
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I have had connections with Shrewsbury from Day 1 of my life and have never heard described as General before. Chester, I think, lost the title when Chester (Northgate) ex GC» closed. Wrexham General would probably have origins when Exchange was there and still is. Exchange was adjacent (GC) to General but the two became merged into one
A Google search for "Shrewsbury General Station" comes up with just 203 matches ... most of which are very much historic in nature. Stations at Shrewsbury Abbey and Shrewsbury West were very minor indeed, and closed early ... so unless you were very old indeed, it would have already been just "Shrewsbury". I have dug out a link from Wiki regarding Shrewsbury General and which was before my time as you suggest. :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shropshire_and_Montgomeryshire_RailwayThe original intention was to construct a line beyond Shrewsbury to the Potteries but this never came to anything and as a result of this the line became known as "The Potts". In my time it was used as a Military Line to and from Nesscliffe Camp with Exchange Sidings constructed at Hookagate to exchange military traffic between the S & M and the national network. Hookagate is situated a few miles out of Shrewsbury in the direction of Welshpool. Abbey Foregate Station as it was known by then later became an oil terminal with a connection constructed for access to the former Severn Valley Railway close to Sutton Bridge Junction. |
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49
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: General Stations - what and why
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on: August 18, 2020, 09:38:59
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The suffix "General" was used by the GWR▸ and later the Western Region of British Railways to differentiate their main stations from others in the area, which belonged to other companies.
Some "General" stations such as Shrewsbury General and Chester General lost the suffix and were simply renamed "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively, others, like Cardiff General, were re-dubbed as "Central" stations.
Wrexham General is now the only official "General" station on the National Rail Network - Because of the continued presence of two stations serving Wrexham, the other being titled Wrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.
I have had connections with Shrewsbury from Day 1 of my life and have never heard described as General before. Chester, I think, lost the title when Chester (Northgate) ex GC» closed. Wrexham General would probably have origins when Exchange was there and still is. Exchange was adjacent (GC) to General but the two became merged into one |
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51
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Journey by Journey / London to the West / Re: Castle Services
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on: August 10, 2020, 09:50:12
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I’m trying to organise a trip for an elderly family member from Tiverton Parkway to Redruth, the date would be Friday 11th September. Would anyone know which services are operated by the “Castle” sets? A direct service with an early to mid afternoon arrival would be ideal.
Unfortunately trains are operating to a special Timetable at the moment due to COVID and as the situation is being constantly reviewed it is not possible to say a month ahead at this stage. At the moment there is only one through service per day at 0526 ex Bristol to Penzance with just about anything else requiring a change at Plymouth from where almost everything from there is a Castle. . |
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52
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Heart of Wales - mostly closed until end of August 2020
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on: August 04, 2020, 09:58:54
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From the County TimesThe Heart of Wales line between Llanwrtyd Wells and Swansea closed in early July in order to fix a damaged bridge.
Worn timbers on a rail-over-river bridge at Pontarddulais was found to be unsafe, and the railway line was closed between Hendy Junction and Pontarddulais until all safety repairs were completed.
Today, (Monday, August 3) rail services between the two stations have resumed for essential travel only.
However, Sugar Loaf station near Llanwrtyd Wells and Hopton Heath station near Knighton remains temporarily closed as social distancing isn't possible due to the short platform length. Service the other stations remains so thin as to be ( IMHO▸ ) useless for almost anything including essential travel.  It seems TFW are just operating a 50% token service whether it's suitable for passengers or not. NRE‡ and TFW were still showing re-opening 3rd August up to end of play August 1st. However, the line actually re-opened with services running on Saturday August 1st but the info was not published. |
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54
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Welsh Government public transport guidelines
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on: July 30, 2020, 13:02:11
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These items were just extracts from a long list of possible restrictions the Welsh Government produced and made available to TFW as different things they could consider and take up if they so wished and nothing set in stone. Because of the nature of the items a story was made out of it and spread with people believing it as gospel.
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55
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Ban on talking on mobile phones while travelling on trains in Wales
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on: July 17, 2020, 11:14:49
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From Daily MailWales BANS public transport users from talking on mobile phones, reading newspapers, eating food or running for the bus in new Covid rules
Rules also order passengers not to run through bus or train stations
Operators were told they could bring in the changes from last Monday
Only 18 new Covid-19 cases were identified in Wales today, taking total to 16,871 I thought it was either a wind up when I first saw it or I had got my dates mixed up and it was April 1st today. |
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56
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Heart of Wales - mostly closed until end of August 2020
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on: July 14, 2020, 16:52:25
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It is a difficult route to time trains over because of the long single line sections. Indeed. However, if you just have a single train shuttling up and down, there's little risk of it conflicting with itself on the long single line section. TFW have claimed the trains are for Essential Travel only rather than for the use of the general public, something which has provoked much criticism. Not sure how ANY essential journeys either are met by 4 minutes in Shrewsbury. I can't help wondering if much of the criticism would be allayed if the train ran an earlier round trip ... giving 4 hours for essential business in Shrewsbury, 4 or 8 hours in Llanwrtyd, 5 or 9 hours in Llandrindod. Much of the TFW Network saw a Sunday as the base service with some odd morning peak additionals on most routes. Almost immediately though, the HOWL saw their service reduced to one train per day in each direction, crossing at Llandrindod Wells, but later re-instated the full Sunday Timetable which is 50% of the weekday service. TFW don't want any leisure travel and even give the impression they want any passengers at all. |
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57
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Heart of Wales - mostly closed until end of August 2020
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on: July 14, 2020, 09:40:18
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From County TimesA railway line connecting two mid Wales towns has re-opened.
Train journeys along the Heart of Wales will now start and terminate at Llanwrtyd Wells instead of Llandrindod Wells.
Transport for Wales says replacement bus services will run between Llanwrtyd Wells and Llanelli until August 3 while work is carried out to fix a damaged bridge.
Worn timbers on a rail-over-river bridge at Pontarddulais was found to be unsafe, and the railway line will remain closed between Hendy Junction and Pontarddulais until all safety repairs are completed. Sometimes - and this is one - there is much to learn from the comments: JimMorris 13th July 12:17 pm: That is all well and good but at the moment the service to Shrewsbury is laughable.
For example, I live in Knighton my earlies train to Llandrindod is 12.06 with a return at either 13.52 or 18.01,that isn't too bad but my earliest train to Shrewsbury is 14.30 which gets into Shrewsbury at 15.22 and latest return from Shrewsbury is 15.26 meaning only 4 minutes in Shrewsbury!! Meaning that any journey by public transport to Shrewsbury for hospital appointments etc. is virtually impossible. Surely transport for Wales could have looked at the situation and planned it better, a lot of people on the Heart of Wales line are reliant on this service as it is there only means of public transport to Shrwsbury. They have two carriages on the journey and I know for a fact that one day last week there were just THREE people on the train from Shrewsbury to Knighton TFW were operating a Sunday Timetable over the route due to COVID Timetable alterations.. Since then the bridge closed and they have now adjusted it further to enable trains to run from Shrewsbury to Llanwrtyd and back. It is a difficult route to time trains over because of the long single line sections. TFW have claimed the trains are for Essential Travel only rather than for the use of the general public, something which has provoked much criticism. |
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60
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Journey by Journey / Wales local journeys / Re: Heart of Wales - mostly closed until end of August 2020
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on: July 06, 2020, 10:29:28
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There is a reduced COVID service on the Heart of Wales Line at the moment (Sunday service) and the rwo trains in each direcrion which are running are both scheduled to change over crews with each other so it makes sense for the Shrewsbury crews from the North work to Llandod and return with the same unit. The Carmarthen crews at the southern end would have to taxied past the block to Llandeilo or Pantyffynnon but wouldn't have a unit to work with.
So as I suggested, it's not that they are unable to run trains over the 40 miles from Llandrindod to Llandeilo - it's that it's operationally convenient for them not to do so. P.S. Why taxied? Do train crew not lower themselves to using rail replacement buses  P.P.S. You get a unit onto the line from the Shrewsbury end ... and as you're back to through services from Shrewsbury to Llandeilo it changes over all the time anyway / no isolated unit away from base. Too easy. Probably because passenger travel would be very light anyway in the current climate. |
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