Leisure Travels Post-Covid

[whole diary]

[Hafren]

Over the bank holiday I travelled to Pembrokeshire for the first time since things turned 'unprecedented'. In the post(ish)-Covid world this is of course the leisure market that the railways increasingly need, and was already a key source of demand for the Pembroke Dock line. Some good and bad observations – some areas that really need to be improved, but which in reality can't be resourced in an instant. The conventional commuter is a captive market and begrudgingly accepts the issues that come with peak demand; leisure travellers have made a choice to travel, and will use their experience to decide whether or not to make that choice again.

During the Covid era, SWA^» (Swansea - next trains)-PMD trains were cut back to CMN-PMD; there was still an hourly Manchester service to Carmarthen, so although this wasn't ideal, it was a sensible cutback while resourcing was difficult and demand was lower. The current summer timetable sees the through trains to/from Swansea restored. They've gone to an older pattern (dating back to the original Arriva standard pattern timetable) of a typical daytime journey leaving Swansea before the MCR-CMN, then sitting at CMN – so there's a choice of direct train or quicker journey. The advantage of this is that London-Carmarthen and similar journeys are quicker, as there's a better connection with the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train).

As noted here previously, the Summer Saturday SWA-PMD trains aren't happening this summer, but there are still similar workings as far as Carmarthen. This is understandable in the current climate (whether cost-cutting or IET availabilityt), but not ideal in terms of creating a pleasant journey. In any case I travelled on a (bank holiday) weekday, when it wouldn't have run anyway.

However, all is not well with the service! For a day trip from Swansea (or beyond) to Tenby we have:
• The early train leaving SWA c. 07.50 – good for a long day out but too early for most.
• The mid-morning journey leaving SWA around 10am. In this case the PMD train starts at Carmarthen, as it is formed from a Fishguard working. Therefore passengers have to travel on the ex-Crewe 175 and change at Carmarthen. On Summer Saturdays this journey tended to be very popular with day-trippers, but is too early for longer journeys.
• The 11.41 SWA-PMD. This is the slot that the through trains from London on Summer Saturdays used to used. Popular with day trippers who wanted a later start, and with longer-distance travellers. On Saturdays IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the connecting IET will still go through to Carmarthen, so there's still a natural funnelling of long-distance travellers onto this train.

The first issue to arise... the 10am(ish) journey is strongly discouraged! The Crewe-Carmarthen isn't timed to provide the statutory 5 minute connection at CMN! So passengers wanting the key day trip train have to leave Swansea earlier... more or less an hour earlier on a weekday or bank holiday, but at least there's an IET (balancing working for a CMN-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) train) to Carmarthen on Saturday providing a half-hour wait and a lot more room for that part of the journey. So the demand for day-trippers who don't want to start very early or have a longer wait are squeezed onto the later train.

This means that the train that in the previous era would have been an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) or IET is now 2 cars. Strangely enough, it was rather cosy! (I had planned to take the early one to avoid this, but circumstances dictated a later start, and I didn't feel like the 1hr wait, so I prepared for crowding and went for the 11.41. Obviously being a weekday this would have been non-IET anyway, but it's a good indicator of how Summer Saturdays will be.)

As expected on a bank holiday, rather full at Swansea, and with some cases on seats as 150s aren't exactly designed to accommodate luggage. (Not unreasonable for a 150 to appear on a branch line, but this contributes to the capacity issue.) Once passengers had boarded at Carmarthen, all seats taken, and some long-distancers now uncomfortably contorted around their luggage. The 175 ex-Manchester connection is running a bit late, and the announcement explaining this advises that 40+ passengers are hoping to make the connection. Cue comments on the operator surely knowing that it was a sunny bank holiday... I sympathise with TFW (they struggled with capacity anyway and then had the pacers removed) but if leisure travel is to be encouraged, capacity has to be looked at. In the days when commuters ruled, number of seats was king, but with leisure traffic, ensuring luggage, bikes, wheelchairs etc can also be carried without hassle and without compromising overall capacity should be high on the agenda. (But a hard balance with income down...) I note from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) that one of the three PMD diagrams yesterday (Saturday) was 3x 153, which I hope will be standard for Saturdays at least.

Then the pitfalls of customer information systems make themselves known. (At Whitland whereby a passenger misunderstood 'the next stop is Tenby' and made a dive for the closing doors. But that's just one of those things!) The train ended up stopping at all requests stops – partly because the conductor would have had difficulty getting through anyway, and in any case there were significant numbers on and off at all stops. And it turns out that the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) (fitted to the 150s not long before lockdown started) really can't cope with request stops! The wording isn't great anyway - something along the lines of "the next stop is X but let the conductor know if you want a,b,c", so passengers were being told Tenby (where most were going) was next. There were manual announcements, but on a busy Sprinter with open windows the automatic ones are much more audible. Quite frankly, manual announcements are just better when it comes to requests stops as the conductor will know exactly what's going to happen.

Then the fun and games started... at each stop the CIS thought it was at the next mandatory stop; passengers for Tenby thought they needed to get off at Narberth, and the next stop was Pembroke Dock (end of the line) before the train had reached Tenby. Not ideal on the type of journey that carries a lot of people who aren't familiar with the line! (At some point I sent a Whatsapp  message to TFW asking  them to turn the thing off, and it was turned off not long after – but maybe the conductor had noticed the issue and made his own decision to do it!) Given that this is a fairly recently-fitted CIS, and CIS has now been around for years, surely its handling of request stops could have been done better! No information is better than incorrect information...

The return journey isn't as busy – the long-distance and day-trip markets have different peak times in the up direction. I caught a local journey as far as Tenby  which continued as the 17.45ish (which happened to be on the aforementioned 158) and then took the 20.10ish from Tenby – both key return-home journeys the day-trippers. In the past I'd say the 17.45ish was busier (on days the London trains ran, it went earlier around 5pm); on this occasion there was a fair crowd awaiting the 17.45ish, but the crowd for the 20.10ish looked (subjectively) bigger. Fortunately this was a 3-car 175 (on weekdays the ex-Manchester makes it to Tenby and turns there in order to return to Cardiff), and the furthest car from the crowds wasn't too busy. On Saturdays the 175 continues to PMD, and therefore the 20.10ish "train home" is one of the local diagrams; this Saturday is looks like this one was the 3x 153 diagram. (In the morning it was on on the mid-morning journey to PMD.)

The poor connections issue isn't unique to Pembrokeshire. I was also considering a trip on the Heart of Wales line. With the very limited service, there's effectively only one train for many journeys. For example, someone wanting a day trip from Swansea/Llanelli to Knighton or Shrewsbury will return home on the c.6pm from Shrewsbury, unless they've just gone there for the sake of the journey and are happy to return home sooner! However, post-Covid, this train now returns to Carmarthen and not Swansea. Therefore someone from Llanelli can make the day trip, but not from Swansea. (Unless they are keen on catching the 6am outward journey and returning on the early afternoon train!) Given that it's often seen as the Swansea-Shrewsbury line, one might just want to make a day trip from Swansea to Shrewsbury... but no! WIth the last CMN-SWA journey being earlier than it used to be, there isn't even a useful connection from Llanelli to Swansea. On weekdays there's nothing at all; on Saturdays I think there is a connection, but it's a long wait; I'm generally not averse to making connections, but I don't particularly want to spend a long time at Llanelli station awaiting a late evening connection!

It's understandable from a resourcing point of view that they might like to return the train and crew to Carmarthen, but the outcome is that a 'classic' leisure journey isn't realistically possible.

[grahame]

Thank you for that - I read enthralled.  What a lot of foods for thought from a knowledgable passenger that the upper echelons of management should take good notice of.  Some things are likely insoluble or would introduce other problems if they were solved.  Things like the PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) not understanding request stops are nothing short of shameful.

[welsh1980]

Good Post Hafren. 

I did a trip to Tenby on Thursday of this week, the first time I have been on the Pembroke Dock line since before covid (although I have been to Carmarthen and Cardiff quite a few times).  I agree that the connections are very poor at times even with the Pembroke service now running from Swansea again.  Travelling from Neath I opted for the 1045 service from Neath changing at Carmarthen with around a 50 minute wait in Carmarthen.  I could have changed in Swansea but id much rather wait in Carmarthen rather than Swansea. At Carmarthen you can go for a wander over the bridge into town if you have that long to wait.  As it turned out the Milford Haven train didn't get to Neath until 1120 so I had the long wait at Neath instead! In the end they terminated it at Carmarthen, after making an an extra stop at Ferryside (not booked) so the train crew could change over (met the Manchester service at Ferryside). Road transport was being arranged for passengers going to Haverfordwest etc. On arrival into Carmarthen it was around 35 mins late. So my wait at Carmarthen was about 15 minutes just enough time to pop to the shop rather than go over the bridge into town.  The ongoing journey to Tenby was a pair of 153s and fortunately problem free arriving more or less on time.  So i wasn't delayed just had a long wait at Neath rather than Carmarthen. 

I stayed overnight in Tenby and decided to go to Pembroke Dock the following morning.  I caught the 1140ish train.  It is the first time ive travelled further than Tenby on this branch line. I didnt think much of Pembroke Dock to be honest, I did it just to do the train journey, one i can cross off my list.  I then had the 45ish minute wait at the Dock for the return working back to Tenby.  I did like the train journey, reminded me of the Heart of Wales line, very rural and the train crossing country lanes etc.  A pleasant journey. But I wouldnt rush to go back to Pembroke Dock itself.  On arrival in Tenby the guard announced there would be a set swap.  All passengers going onwards to Swansea would need to cross the bridge.  Ive never known them do that before (although ive only been to Tenby about 4 times by train) and there didnt seem any particular reason unless one of the pairs of 153s needed to end up somewhere else that night.  The train crew swapped over too.  One thing i noticed was the information screens didnt change, it still said Pembroke Dock on the screen where the train then went to Swansea. Passengers were also ready to board the wrong train and I assume manual announcements were done on the trains and passengers had to then rush to get on the correct train. 

i agree about the information screens/automated announcements on board. They need to make it clearer when there are request stops involved.  On the journey to Pembroke Dock and return they called at all request stops and the guard announced we will be calling at all stations.  The information screens/automated announcements seem to think Manobier is a request stop when it isn't I don't think?  On the down journey to Tenby on Thursday the guard made a point of checking request stops on the ticket check on leaving both Carmarthen and Whitland and it stopped at Narberth and Kilgetty but not Saundersfoot.  Id have Saundersfoot would be the most popular of the request stops but then i think its quite a distance from the seafront.  On return i travelled on the 1540ish from Tenby changing once again at Carmarthen.  I could have changed at Swansea and got back to Neath quicker but I prefer a 175 and wasn't in a rush.  I had about half an hour so did have a wander in Carmarthen this time.  To my surprise the 1655 Manchester was quiet leaving Carmarthen (and nice air con on a hot day!). It did pick up a good loading of passengers from Swansea however.  But I definitely see a difference with how busy these services are each side of Swansea.  Generally West of Swansea they are less overcrowded.  How busy they are going to be in Summer Saturdays/the peak summer holidays I've no idea. 

Regarding the HOWL ive not been on there since before covid.  But I see they are mostly booked for single 153s.  Not great for day trips as you say.  Not so bad if you are going Swansea (Neath) to Llandovery for example or somewhere else on the Southern end of the line.  But end to end you would be better doing the circle route and coming back via Hereford.  Although i understand its a lot more expensive to do that.   It will be interesting to see how busy the HOWL will be during the Royal Welsh show .  I assume they will increase it to 2 or 3 153s per journey to meet capacity.  And the Cardiff-Builth Road special was usually 4 cars (a pair of 150s). 

[Hafren]

I've been keeping an eye on the Saturday workings on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). I might go there again on a Saturday (when the mid-morning connection is somewhat better) but only if I have a reasonable chance of there being room! 1 or 2 diagrams are often given an extra 153 to make 3 cars, and one of the three diagrams often has a 158. Except yesterday when it looks like solid 2x 153.

I note there are some 153s sitting in Landore - I think 3x in Northern livery. But I don't know what condition they're in and I doubt those who control the purse strings have much appetite to bring extra stock into service.

On a weekday evening there is one diagram around 8pm that swaps around. The down working is ex-Manchester - it doesn't turn back at Carmarthen as there's no point in running a long-distance journey at that point in the evening, so it goes through to Tenby. It turns back there so that it ends its day in Cardiff rather than Carmarthen. It goes through to Pembroke Dock on Saturdays - presumably as the needs for Sunday morning are very different. The CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) copes with this, however, as it's a booked arrangement. I've also known Journeycheck to show everything swapping over there because of a points failure.

I'm not surprised about Saundersfoot being less busy. It was a booked stop for the Pembrokeshire Coast Expresses, and can be quite 'busy' on Saturdays, but for local travel it's less useful – Narberth is quite big (in village terms) and Kilgetty is quite compact around the station. As far as I know Saundersfoot proper has a reasonable bus service, although there are some smaller villages near the station as well. The town is about half an hour's walk from the station, partly without pavements, uphill to the station, and quite possibly without lighting on the out of town section. No problem if going for a walk along the coast, but if someone has mobility difficulties, luggage, young children etc, they may want to drive or take a taxi, and once they've made that decision they mgiht think Tenby station is easier. Having said that, the London trains often dropped a fair crowd at Saundersfoot (perhaps with taxis or lifts arranged) and on a Summer Saturday there are often a number of people making local journeys in to Tenby – I wonder if they're actually travelling from Saundersfoot, or from Pentlepoir et al.

Pembroke is much nicer than Pembroke Dock (but I don't know PMD well and could be missing something ), and is a better starting point for the coast (if you're happy to walk 'a bit' or use the occasional bus). Pembroke Dock is more of a local centre. I've occasionally used it to access the Coastal Cruiser bus; this is really doubling back, as it goes through Pembroke, but the terminus is right behind PMD station, and with long connections times one might as well go to PMD and wander around while waiting for it. Also there are a couple of 'proper' supermarkets close to the station which can be useful if you need to pick anything up while waiting for the train (although Tenby and Pembroke both have decent options for a 'proper' shop as well).

Manorbier is a bit of an oddity. In the up direction trains must stop for the crossing, so someone has made the decision that it's officially a mandatory stop (cf several stations on HoWL that are request stops in one direction). However it's not unknown for crews to treat it as a request stop on the down. I'm not a great fan of this – contradictory information is problematic. If someone doesn't hear or listen to the detail that it's a request stop in the announcements, and perhaps their ticket isn't to Manorbier (not unlikely, given the line's usefulness for walking) so the conductor doesn't notice, then they miss the stop.  I'm also not keen  ont he way request stops are timed. They are timed for 30 second dwells, rather than 0s which is often used for request stops; this is a wise choice on routes like this where the 'hit rate' is actually quite high (often 100%). However, the advertised times should assume having 0s dwells at the previous stops (i.e. be slightly early compared to the working times) so they don't whizz through request stops early if the previous stop(s) had no passengers.

Apparently 8x 153 will be kept for HoWL when the next stock arrives. (The 170s were originally to move west, but now they're to leave TfW and other routes like Pembroke DOck that the 170s were to have covered will now be covered by the new express stock.) That's quite a lot for the number of diagrams, depending on how much rotation there is with CRE^» (Crewe - next trains)-SHR^» (Shrewsbury - next trains) and Swanline. So perhaps there's an allowance for doubling-up, or extra workings – IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the plan was to go up to 5 throuigh journeys per day. I'd like to see locals at the Swansea end, given the populations served at the likes of Ammanford and Pontarddulais, but it might require a loop at Pantyffynnon to be viable. That would also help to bolster SWA^» (Swansea - next trains)-LLE which I think would benefit from a metro-type service. Single 153s going into the future is a concern – with luggage space, wheelchair space, accessible toilet etc there isn't much space left for seating, and even on routes where a 153 is mostly sufficient, there is often the off heavy day. (For example on HoWL there is/was an arrangement that senior bus pass holders travelled for free in low season, and last weekend of that arrangement in May could be busy.)

My thinking is that something Pacer-sized, i.e. 2 cars but much shorter than a Sprinter, might be a good compromise between over-capacity on quiet journeys and excessive crowding when busy on this type of route. The 230s could potentially fill this niche (if there is any D stock left to convert!) as long as the seating and facilities are done to a decent standard for longer journeys.

Perhaps TfW could take a leaf our of Scotrail's book and convert some 153s for Tourist cars. Lots of bike space and luggage space, some family-suitable table seating. Have a few of them and attach to key Pembroke Dock and Heart of Wales diagrams in summer. Maybe use for one or two diagrams in winter to keep the stock in use. I mention PMD as boosting from 2 to 3 car in summer would be sensible, especially if the London through trains aren't guaranteed to return, and it would also mean a slightly larger fleet so it's not such a niche usage. The PMD use would rely on keeping compatible stock on that line as well, however – ideally with end gangways (so not 170s) – perhaps some 158s, but now I'm in fantasy land.

I've seen items in the news recently about crowding on event days, complete with photos of 150s on Holyhead - Cardiff journeys. Perhaps in the post-Covid world we need a rethink on where our peak excess capacity is. Traditionally it was commuter routes, largely in SE England, that had extra trains for the peaks. A load of 4-car EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) could hardly be cascaded for tourist peaks, of course. And the economics are very different – the trains sitting around between peaks in hte London area were for journeys with large numbers of peak fare-payers, on routes that have a high price per mile. Having spare stock four tourist journeys would hardly work the same way on the balance sheet. But we do need to think about this, given that leisure travellers are a less captive market and less likely to accept that crowding is the way it is. I do cringe at the "surely they knew" and "put on an extra carriage" lines that always come out though – knowing something and clicking a finger and making an extra carriage appear on every diagram are very different things!

[welsh1980]

I'd probabaly go to Pembroke next time or somewhere else on the line.  I wanted to go to the Dock to complete the entire line.  I noticed Manobier needing a mandatory stop in the up direction for the crossing.  Apart from Saundersfoot on the down journey being missed I think all other request stops were used.  On the HOW line i find a good proportion of them are skipped - I dont think ive ever known the train to stop at Bynea for example (perhaps the infrequent service and it being so close to Llanelli put people off)  and there are several at the Northern end.  Once when i travelled it skipped 4 request stops a row (Pen Y Bont, Dolau, Llanbister Road and Llangynllo) but on the main line Kidwelly and Ferryside are very rarely missed. And I remember when Gowerton used to be a request stop.   I like the idea of the HOW having a better service at the South end.  Something like Llandeilo to Swansea or Llanelli every 2 hours.  This is by far the area of the line which would have the most passengers. 

Yes ive heard that 8 x 153s are being retained by TFW.  I think i heard that they would be doubled up which would mean 3 diagrams consisting of 2 x 153s each for the HOW/Crewe Local services with the possibility of a few Swanline/Carmarthen services depending where the sets are to be kept overnight/maintenance carried out.  The other 2 I guess would be maintenance/spares.  I find it rather surprising TFW is keeping the ancient 153s.  Keeping the 2 car 175s for HOW and Pembroke Dock would be my preferred option. The 175s are such nice units, especially now they have had a good refurbishment by TFW.  Its a shame to lose them.   The 153s have had a decent refurb too.  Im not against them staying it just seems odd given almost everywhere else will be getting new stock.  I wonder how long realistically the 153s can be kept given they are already approaching 40 years old I think. 

I think the ex Northern 153s at Landore are there for spare parts?  I also saw a 150 there last week when i passed. Apparently the two that were damaged at Craven Arms are being kept there.

One of the 3 diagrams last Friday on Pembroke Dock was a 158.  The other 2 pairs of 153s.   Im not sure whether a 158 is booked but if they work any routes in South Wales it seems to be this one. The 158s are pretty much tied to the Cambrian/Birmingham/Holyhead routes.  There used to be 3 that worked in the South and after 3 days would return North but now most Ebbw Vale/Maestegs are 170s they dont seem to be needed. 

I have noticed they have stopped the final Swanline Swansea-Cardiff which used to leave Swansea at 2232 IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) and was formed from the 153 doing the last HOW down service (infact I think it ran as a through service towards the end starting at Crewe at 1720). Now the previous Swanline (which is formed as the return working from the Manchester-Tenby) is the final Swanline and Swansea-Cardiff service. Not sure if the later Swanline will be reinstated at some point (along with most other Swanline services which now just get stops added to the Manchester trains every 2 hours apart from the 1700ish from Swansea) 

I will keep any eye out on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) next week to see whats used on the HOW.  Hopefully there will be enough capacity to provide 3 carriages on all HOW journeys. 

[Hafren]

I suspect the retention of the 153s is about them being cheap. I've looked into it a bit more this week and it turns out that TfW has bought some outright (or it's in progress) and they will be set up for 'active travel' with the extra bike spaces. Hopefully the pairing will come to pass, as it won't leave much seating for when it's busier, and seating spacing is quite poor as it is. The original plan to keep the 170s for the west seemed odd, given that the majority were 3-car, but it would have been good for peak season. A niche 153 fleet could produce its own problems; I wonder if they'll end up being replaced in ten years or so.

I've noticed 158s going to Pembroke Dock quite a lot on weekends on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). I mostly see them on Holyheads these days, which naturally cycles them with other northern routes that interact with the Cambrian journeys.

 

[welsh1980]

The original TFW franchise was for 15 years (2018-2033) and the 170s were meant to stay for the duration of the franchise so I assume the 153s will now instead.  I think the plan was 2 car 170s on the HOWL/Crewe local and 3 cars on the West Wales workings to Pembroke Dock.   The HOWL probably runs at a massive loss as lots of passengers use their bus passes for free travel during the Winter months. So I can understand why they wouldn't want to spend on new trains.   But keeping the 20ish year old 175s would be better than using nearly 40 year old ancient trains.  Unless the 175s are going elsewhere. 

Occasionally 158s appear on the West Wales to Manchester's and they still have booked work on weekends I think.
But otherwise it seems to be a pair of 153s that replace 175s now.  There seems to be at least one diagram each day where this happens.

Id like to see an improvement on Swanline timetable too.  Reinstating the proper Swanline services would be a start but id like to see it become hourly in time.  There are massive gaps in both the morning and evening timetable.  e.g nothing from 0700 until gone 0900 and in the evening there is a massive gap going West from Cardiff between 1905 and around 2315. 

[Hafren]

The Royal Welsh special isn't looking great tonight!

I'd forgotten it was even on, but I looked at Journeycheck and saw the BHR-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) was cancelled because of a fault.

Not good - the only alternative is the evening SHR^» (Shrewsbury - next trains)-CMN, which doesn't go to CDF any more, and even if it did would break potential connections beyond Cardiff being later in the evening. And RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) shows it as a single 153. Journeycheck could do better when it comes to making alternative arrangements clear; I hope TfW arranged something! Perhaps given the concentration of passengers in one location, there was better information given 'on the ground' – I can't remember if TfW places staff there given the passenger volumes, but if they do then at least there's a source of information for passengers.

The original TFW franchise was for 15 years (2018-2033) and the 170s were meant to stay for the duration of the franchise so I assume the 153s will now instead.  I think the plan was 2 car 170s on the HOWL/Crewe local and 3 cars on the West Wales workings to Pembroke Dock.   The HOWL probably runs at a massive loss as lots of passengers use their bus passes for free travel during the Winter months. So I can understand why they wouldn't want to spend on new trains.   But keeping the 20ish year old 175s would be better than using nearly 40 year old ancient trains.  Unless the 175s are going elsewhere. 

That's why I wonder if they will make it to the end of the franchise – given their age (and any eco credentials that might be a function of that) perhaps at some point someone will re-consider. I'm not aware of any plans for the 175s; it would be a shame to get rid of decent express stock, especially given the recent refurb. They caused a lot of woes when new, and their cousins the 180s were notoriously problematic ended up being passed around a lot, but I'm not sure how the reliability of 175s is viewed these days. From a passenger PoV they have their flaws – lack of inter-unit gangways, they could do with more luggage stacks (like much modern express stock), and my neck doesn't agree with the seat angle when trying to doze – but with stock shortages and the need to encourage rail travel (which in the medium term means a lot of investment is needed) they could have a role ot play.

Id like to see an improvement on Swanline timetable too.  Reinstating the proper Swanline services would be a start but id like to see it become hourly in time.  There are massive gaps in both the morning and evening timetable.  e.g nothing from 0700 until gone 0900 and in the evening there is a massive gap going West from Cardiff between 1905 and around 2315. 

If a half-hourly path could be found, perhaps with hourly 'proper' service, plus PTA^▸ (Passenger Transport Authority)-SWA^» (Swansea - next trains) shuttle and/or more extra stops in expresses for Pyle (which combined with its satellites has a lot of population and potential), there must be untapped demand for Swanline. The geography/nature of the service is too suburban for the current service level to be of much use, but a proper suburban service has a lot of potential, especially with bus services being of variable quality. I believe the two-hourly service goes back to lack of use in the early days but that was over twenty years ago.

But now isn't the time to be thinking of investment, despite recent climatic experience showing the need for change...

[welsh1980]

I noticed the Royal Welsh train was cancelled on Thursday evening.  I wonder if Road Replacement transport was arranged. i was keeping a check on what was used all week and its seems the Royal Welsh train was 3 carriages all week (either 3 x 153 or a 153 and 150).  A lot of other HOWL services were also 2 car instead of a single 153.  Often a 150. I suppose the cancellations in the North due to the heatwave on Mon/Tues helped as Conwy Valley and Chester/Crewe, Liverpool/Chester were cancelled, some of those are 150s/153s.  They also seem to have 2 x 150s on loan from Northern Rail which helps. 

Its quite poor if no alternative was provided. Especially as its not like there is another train an hour later.  I wonder how busy the Royal Welsh train is and the other HOWL during that week.

Its a shame the 175s aren't being kept.  I wonder if its because Chester depot where they are kept is being taken over with the 197s and there isnt enough space to keep them.  I also wonder if the reason so many sprinter substitutions over the years on 175 routes is because they aren't that reliable.   

Swanline definately needs a better service. I understand a lack of train crew/units is the reason its currently part of the Manchester service. Its an easy service to cancel given the Manchester trains can easily add the stops with shorter dwell times at some stations and a slightly shorter turnaround at Milford/Carmarthen. But the Manchester trains always seem busy between Swansea and Cardiff so sometimes adding the Swanline stops is a massive hindrance to an already busy train. 

[Hafren]

I had the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) issue on a 175 last week. There seemed to be a lot of delays coming down from Manchester - JCheck was suggesting 'crowding' as a cause. A lot of journeys felt busier than usual (start of holidays and delays causing pickup of next load of passengers etc) but I'm not sure if that was the full story. Anyway JourneyCheck showed some stops had been missed on the Marches line (there was an ex-Holyhead not long after to cover the stops). I thought nothing more of it when I got on at Cardiff. Then come Bridgend, the stop was announced at Hereford. Cue confusion among less regular passengers who think they can trust technology. Then no more announcements at the next few stops, and I assumed the guard had noticed and turned it off (can they?). Then a few stops later, Abergavenny was announced – that's the next stop after Hereford, so I have no idea what the system thought it was doing at the stops in between!

I find this a bit more excusable than the request stop issue, because it was an unplanned change. However, the end result is still incorrect information being given out – worse than no information, and makes the difference between "they did their best" and "poor service" when disruption occurs. Surely someone should be aware of this issue – whether that's traincrew dealing with the issue (not sure if they can see/hear it's happening when in the cab, and if they have means of updating it or switching it off mid-journey) or powers further up the food chain being aware of the issue and providing any technical functionality and training to ensure traincrew can deal with the issue. ("Unplanned removal of stops? We're aware this will cause a problem. Here's the plan to deal with it...")

I note that RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) now shows GPS-sourced times for 150s and 175s when at stops where times aren't manually or automatically logged by signalling. So in theory they have the basis on which to develop a CIS that can work with the GPS data...