Connectivity - north to south Wales

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Transport for Wales press release

Transport for Wales is launching a public consultation on proposals for a potential new express coach service that would transform connectivity between North and South Wales.

The proposed service would run between Bangor and Carmarthen, cutting journey times by 90 minutes compared to current public transport options. The express-stop service would call at key town centres and railway stations along Wales' western coast, including Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Dolgellau, Machynlleth, and Aberystwyth.

With an expected journey time of 4 hours 45 minutes, the service is being proposed to provide a faster, more convenient travel option for tourists and university students, while improving connections between communities along the western corridor. 

Plans include running up to eight coaches per day, with modern on-board facilities suitable for longer journeys and integration with rail services for onward travel.

The public consultation period will run for four weeks from 3rd March, with an online 'have your say' page where people can learn about the proposals and share their views via a survey.

[anthony215]

From Transport for Wales press release

Transport for Wales is launching a public consultation on proposals for a potential new express coach service that would transform connectivity between North and South Wales.

The proposed service would run between Bangor and Carmarthen, cutting journey times by 90 minutes compared to current public transport options. The express-stop service would call at key town centres and railway stations along Wales' western coast, including Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Dolgellau, Machynlleth, and Aberystwyth.

With an expected journey time of 4 hours 45 minutes, the service is being proposed to provide a faster, more convenient travel option for tourists and university students, while improving connections between communities along the western corridor. 

Plans include running up to eight coaches per day, with modern on-board facilities suitable for longer journeys and integration with rail services for onward travel.

The public consultation period will run for four weeks from 3rd March, with an online 'have your say' page where people can learn about the proposals and share their views via a survey.

It's a good idea and will help ease crowding on the T1 and T2 services in particular as well as offering a faster north-south journey time

[Chris from Nailsea]

Due to my lack of any experience of travel between North and South Wales, 'I have no opinion either way'.

Could that perhaps be added as another option in the poll - simply to include any 'don't know / none of the above' voters in the results?

CfN. 

[grahame]

Due to my lack of any experience of travel between North and South Wales, 'I have no opinion either way'.

Could that perhaps be added as another option in the poll - simply to include any 'don't know / none of the above' voters in the results?

CfN. 

I am normally reluctant to edit poll options once they'r running - however I have made an exception this time.  Very strong case and it's unlikely that having the extra option will swing the proportions of votes between the other options.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, grahame. 

I have now voted, and I do agree that it is unlikely to swing the proportion of votes - but it may help to show that any eventual result was not 'unanimous'.

CfN. 

[Sixty3Closure]

I've voted 'yes' but not entirely convinced. Are the roads suitable and does the traffic flow well enough to make it worth while? The Welsh Government seems quite against investing in roads and while I'd generally support more rail I'm not sure its practical from the other thread. Their track record on the M4 doesn't bode well for an Express Service.

I'd also wonder if there's enough demand if you don't include Cardiff or at least Swansea as the towns mentioned are all relatively small population centres. I've not caught the T1 for some time but is it that busy to need 8 more coaches a day outside term start time? It tended to be empty some runs and packed others which suggests a timetable tweak might be cheaper.

[froome]

I can see there being a demand for a north to SW Wales service, but not to the extent of 8 coaches a day. Much of the demand will be capable of being satisfied using the existing T1 and 2 services, so as already said, tweaking these plus maybe a couple of through services that are very limited stop, would I would have thought, be a more sensible way of matching demand to supply.

Improving train times, and more importantly, providing greater capacity (ie more carriages) from north to SE Wales would satisfy the greater demand for a reasonably quick and comfortable service from north Wales to Cardiff and Swansea.

I don't think long-distance coach services can ever really fully replace long-distance trains. There will be many people who find being in a coach for several hours (even if it has toilet facilities) very uncomfortable or completely impossible. How would they accommodate wheelchair users and others of limited mobility? What about luggage space (which the current trains fail to provide adequately)?

[Mark A]

**snip**

Improving train times, and more importantly, providing greater capacity (ie more carriages) from north to SE Wales would satisfy the greater demand for a reasonably quick and comfortable service from north Wales to Cardiff and Swansea.

**snip**

This plus sorting out that single track section southnorth of Wrexham - and then, through services Bristol - Hereford - Shrewsbury - Chester pls. Awks, as that doesn't map to any franchise footprint (and from TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales)'s point of view, none of those stations are actually in Wales...)

Mark


Edit by Rogerw to clarify

[Chris from Nailsea]

When my daughter was at University in Bangor (North Wales, not the other one!), she made several rail journeys from there to Nailsea & Backwell (via Newport, South Wales) and back.

She is not particularly a fan of the railways, but she apparently found those journeys quite acceptable - offering good views of the Welsh countryside.

CfN.

[anthony215]

I can see there being a demand for a north to SW Wales service, but not to the extent of 8 coaches a day. Much of the demand will be capable of being satisfied using the existing T1 and 2 services, so as already said, tweaking these plus maybe a couple of through services that are very limited stop, would I would have thought, be a more sensible way of matching demand to supply.

Improving train times, and more importantly, providing greater capacity (ie more carriages) from north to SE Wales would satisfy the greater demand for a reasonably quick and comfortable service from north Wales to Cardiff and Swansea.

I don't think long-distance coach services can ever really fully replace long-distance trains. There will be many people who find being in a coach for several hours (even if it has toilet facilities) very uncomfortable or completely impossible. How would they accommodate wheelchair users and others of limited mobility? What about luggage space (which the current trains fail to provide adequately)?

I think the 1st timetable they proposed which was 4 or 5 coaches per day was acceptable.  The T1.does get very busy in fact it seriously needs later services  especially a 2100 from Carmarthen up.to lampeter at least.

This express should run-through to Swansea at least I think especially serving Crosshands