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The new Sunday Cambrian Coast service

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70014IronDuke

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I realise it's hardly the best time to attract passengers to an enhanced service (even on a 'normal' railway - which arguably, the Cambrian is not) but I'm wondering how the new Sunday service is going down.
At five trains each way per day versus one in the former winter TT, it's quite a revolution. Have the locals noticed? Is it attracting passengers, or are these new trains running effectively ECS? Do we have to wait until the sun comes out in May-June? And then, will staff shortages and caped trains undermine the whole operation?
 
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PeterC

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Is your problem with improvintg the Cambrian service, the date of the timetable change or TfW publicity about the change?

I don't know why the timetable changes no longer align to changes in the seasons, and thus with leasure travel patterns, but as things stand I assume tht TfW are stuck with putting in the change just before Christmas. With only four or five Sundays in a month I wouldn't expect to make any assment of the results until the operators had two or three months' passenger figures available.
 
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306024

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The timetable does change with a change of leisure travel patterns. The trouble is it's the skiing season in Europe it aligns to, and is governed by EU harmonisation of timetable change dates.

Will this change after Brexit? Who is going to suggest it? For the UK changing the timetable two weeks before Christmas is pretty daft.
 
LNW-GW Joint

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There's the new Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog branches winter services as well.
The costs there must be significant, with outstationed DMUs and several manned manual signalboxes.
 
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TREVORRAIL

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70014IronDuke said:
I realise it's hardly the best time to attract passengers to an enhanced service (even on a 'normal' railway - which arguably, the Cambrian is not) but I'm wondering how the new Sunday service is going down.
At five trains each way per day versus one in the former winter TT, it's quite a revolution. Have the locals noticed? Is it attracting passengers, or are these new trains running effectively ECS? Do we have to wait until the sun comes out in May-June? And then, will staff shortages and caped trains undermine the whole operation?
Click to expand...
Locals are not used to the increase in Sunday services yet. It seems a big jump from 1 Sunday service to 5 when even over the past years Summer Sundays have only produced 3 return services.
 
Llandudno

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LNW-GW Joint said:
There's the new Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog branches winter services as well.
The costs there must be significant, with outstationed DMUs and several manned manual signalboxes.
Click to expand...
Saw around 6 Llandudno to/from Llandudno Junction shuttle trains yesterday lunchtime (Sunday) whilst walking the dog at Deganwy and all seemed to have double figures on.
 
Llandudno

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Bletchleyite said:
Not having that was throwing weekend break traffic away.
Click to expand...
I think double figure loadings on a winter Sunday lunchtime for the Llandudno to/from Junction shuttles is a promising start for the third Sunday of operation.

The vast majority of these passengers will be connecting onto long distance trains at the Junction
and perhaps most of these may have not travelled by train at all if the branch line was closed.

Numbers are bound to increase in the spring when word spreads that Llandudno is open for business on a Sunday. Hopefully the hoteliers in the town are promoting it to potential guests as well!
 
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70014IronDuke

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PeterC said:
Is your problem with improvintg the Cambrian service, the date of the timetable change or TfW publicity about the change?
Click to expand...

I don't feel I have 'a problem' - I have some questions on the new Cambrian service, which I posted. If my question(s) had been about the suitability or otherwise of a December timetable change, the title of the thread would have stated that.

PeterC said:
I don't know why the timetable changes no longer align to changes in the seasons, and thus with leasure travel patterns, but as things stand I assume tht TfW are stuck with putting in the change just before Christmas. With only four or five Sundays in a month I wouldn't expect to make any assment of the results until the operators had two or three months' passenger figures available.
Click to expand...

It's very thoughtful of you to be concerned lest I make any false assessment, premature or otherwise, of these changes, from anyone posting their sightings at such an early stage in this new service. But this is a railway discussion group, and if anyone out there has experience of the new service loadings, I'd just like them to post about it, ok? If I am so unwise as to run off thinking that, say, 30 passengers on the first Sunday up train at Harlech means TfW has hit a passenger gold mine, so be it.
 
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70014IronDuke

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TREVORRAIL said:
Locals are not used to the increase in Sunday services yet. It seems a big jump from 1 Sunday service to 5 when even over the past years Summer Sundays have only produced 3 return services.
Click to expand...

Er, yes. That was indeed, half the point of my post. So, are you saying you've seen some of these trains running empty? Indeed, is there much local traffic potential on Sundays outside the holiday season? (Obviously this would be difficult to assess, given the previous 1 TPD service!)
 
Llanigraham

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70014IronDuke said:
Er, yes. That was indeed, half the point of my post. So, are you saying you've seen some of these trains running empty? Indeed, is there much local traffic potential on Sundays outside the holiday season? (Obviously this would be difficult to assess, given the previous 1 TPD service!)
Click to expand...

My guess is yes there will be some call for them "out of season", people do still work on Sundays even in non-Comformist NW Wales, people might want to go to Church/Chapel, and some people just enjoy a gentle trip along the coast without driving. I reckon it could be useful to stop somewhere for Sunday lunch and a few pints, so I don't have to drive.
 
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