Covid 19 Timetable

[whole diary]

[GWR 158]

When are XC planning to reintroduce the Bournemouth-Newcastle direct service? I know that the majority of XC services start at Reading, but it's a shame that they stopped running down to Bournemouth in Covid 19.

[Timmer]

Without referring to a previous timetable, I seem to recall Newcastle to Reading services only went as far as Southampton every other hour. The hourly service to Bournemouth being the service from Manchester.

Reading in the railway press that the XC short to medium term future could be less frequent but longer train sets.

[grahame]

Without referring to a previous timetable, I seem to recall Newcastle to Reading services only went as far as Southampton every other hour. The hourly service to Bournemouth being the service from Manchester.

Reading in the railway press that the XC short to medium term future could be less frequent but longer train sets.

National Rail timetables confirm that recollection:

From May 2019 (ran)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/nr_timetables/Table%20051.pdf

From December 2019 (ran at first but then cut)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/nrtt20/Table%20051.pdf

From May 2020 (overtaken by events)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/nrtt20summer/Table%20051.pdf

We took a look in something of a crayonista mode of extending them to the Mayflower Terminal at http://www.passenger.chat/22430 including noting just how many major population centres they serve. Yes, just every 2 hours and just during the day - coming off or going on a cruise, and long distance travel, that would suffice.

Realistically, these are not services I see returning soon after lockdown; that's based on an absence of data rather than anything else - CrossCountry's first step back up will be the Cardiff to Birmingham service going back up to hourly and with it becoming increasingly rare to have the shortest formations on that route.