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Recent content by Tomos y Tanc

  1. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    I'm not sure why you're so cynical about the Creigiau line. The corridor through Faiwater and the new Plasdwr suburb is preserved and accesing the Cityline would involve demolishing around 3-4 existing properties at most. I think you must be assuming that the line would diverge at Waungron as...
  2. Tomos y Tanc

    Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway

    I frequently travel between south and north Wales and the section between Shrewsbury and Wrexham is often very busy - mainly with students. Despite the border running through the middle, Wrexham, northern Powys and Salop do seem to be something of an educational and economic sub-region. The...
  3. Tomos y Tanc

    Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway

    IIRC correctly W&S were losing £2-3m pa when the closed - peanuts for a company like Alstom. I suspect this may be a "toe in the water" excersise for what is a very large international operation. I think I'm right in saying that the Wesh Government paid for sheds in Wrexham for the W&S. I'm...
  4. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    And nor should they until rail is fully devolved. The UK Government seems to want to have its cake and eat it - refusing to devolve rail and Barnetise projects like HS2 and Network North while expecting the Welsh Government to cough up for improvements to lines they don't own.
  5. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    I think that's correct. The City Line is currently a mess. I can understand why the Welsh Government wanted to take ownership of the CVL given the historic lack of investment by BR/Railtrack/Network Rail in the valley lines. However, it's left the City Line as something of an orphan. The...
  6. Tomos y Tanc

    The last coal train?

    Is the Onllwyn washery even operational? The Global Centre for Rail Excellence bought the site back in 2022 so I doubt if the washery is still in use. I assume the coal from Aberpergwm must be washed somewhere but its own washery was dismantled when British Coal closed the mine so quite where...
  7. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    Not really. All that would do is to essentialy duplicate what exists already. The journey time from the Bay to Central would be roughly the same as it currently is, just without the need to change trains. Added to which, Central is already pretty much at capacity with the provision of extra...
  8. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    Callaghan Square has never really worked as a public space and there has been talk of changing it almost since it was completed in the early 2000s. I guess those improvements might have taken place anyway, regardless of the rail plans. This is probably a case of two schemes being rolled in...
  9. Tomos y Tanc

    Reading - Paddington route set for overhaul - BBC report

    To be boringly pedantic, you're wrong. Now back to the topic.
  10. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    It would be interesting to see just how many passengers make that journey. Obviously with major employers like the Welsh Govt. and Cardiff University nearby there will be some but a daily commute of two hours a day is pretty challenging and I'm guessing the numbers aren't huge.
  11. Tomos y Tanc

    Heritage railways running cost

    To return to the original point of this thread, I think it's a mistake to regard heritage or preserved railways as a monolithic block. Some are large busineses, albeit with a supporting volunteer base, others are essentialy hobby railways with a mile or two of track and a handful of employees...
  12. Tomos y Tanc

    Cross Country should abolish first class until capacity issues are addressed

    Even if it is physically possible, from my experience on severely overcrowded XC and GWR trains, the crew (rightly, in my view) priortise things like distributing bottled water and ensuring toilet access over checking tickets.
  13. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    Indeed. You only have to see the heavy usage of the 600 bay Trefforest P&R and the Radyr P&R to see the demand is there. That said, if the proposed Taff Well MSCP is close to people's homes I have some sympathy for them.
  14. Tomos y Tanc

    South Wales 'Metro' updates

    It's slipped again - Feb 29th. At least this time it's official! https://nation.cymru/news/transport-for-wales-confirms-reopening-date-for-treherbert-line/
  15. Tomos y Tanc

    Is there any valid reason to why Chester is not electrified (ignoring P7)

    The NW mainline announcement was desperate back of a fag packet stuff by Sunak. HS2 was (rather shockingly) designated as an England and Wales scheme by the treasury. There was no way they could get away with that for Network North unless at least some money was promised to Wales.

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