some XC Voyager Questions...

mralexn · 10 Oct 2011

I will be getting the 0520 from Plymouth up to Sheffield tomorrow morning,
Id like to know if

1. this service is busy?
2. is it a 220 or a 221 and do the couple / un couple anywhere?
3. is there a "unreserved carriage" if so what one is it, i would like to know this as my seat reserved is a terrible one

4. Do they have Wi-Fi yet? what the situation on that?
5. Finally, is there anything i can do to get a better mobile reception on these trains? anyone recommend a good place to sit or something?

Thanks

RailUK Forums

Crossover · 10 Oct 2011

mralexn said:
I will be getting the 0520 from Plymouth up to Sheffield tomorrow morning,
Id like to know if

1. this service is busy?
2. is it a 220 or a 221 and do the couple / un couple anywhere?
3. is there a "unreserved carriage" if so what one is it, i would like to know this as my seat reserved is a terrible one
4. Do they have Wi-Fi yet? what the situation on that?
5. Finally, is there anything i can do to get a better mobile reception on these trains? anyone recommend a good place to sit or something?

Thanks

1 and 2 I can't help you with I'm afraid

3. Coach B is unreserved I believe, on a 5 car set. On a 4 car set, there isn't an unreserved coach I don't think
4. Only 220030 has WiFi as a trial. If you get that one, then yes you will have WiFi, otherwise, I'm afriad you won't.
5. I have been in various places on a Voyager (vestibule, sat in the coach) and never had a problem with mobile signal in the last few years since boosters were fitted.

First class · 10 Oct 2011

1. Very likely
2. could be either or both
3. Unsure, but I would advise you sit in your reserved seat on this service as it will be very busy and it may deny someone use of your seat.
4. No WiFi generally
5. It will be pretty much the same. Don't sit in the quiet coach though,

Schnellzug · 10 Oct 2011

0520? Great Scott.

mallard · 10 Oct 2011

sellis89 said:
4. Only 220030 has WiFi as a trial. If you get that one, then yes you will have WiFi, otherwise, I'm afriad you won't.

Even if you are on 220030, there's no guarantee that Wifi actually works. I was on it Oxford-Birmingham fairly recently and it didn't. I assume this is so they can declare the wifi "trial" unsuccessful and get the DfT to drop the requirement that they install it.

Greenback · 10 Oct 2011

I doubt it would be busy at Plymouth at that time of the morning! Likely to be pretty full later on though, I would have thought...

Crossover · 10 Oct 2011

mallard said:
Even if you are on 220030, there's no guarantee that Wifi actually works. I was on it Oxford-Birmingham fairly recently and it didn't. I assume this is so they can declare the wifi "trial" unsuccessful and get the DfT to drop the requirement that they install it.

I've been on it about 3 times now since the WiFi was installed and although it didn't work first time (since it never actually let me sign in), it did the other two. Maybe I was just lucky and on a part of the route that has good mobile coverage

4SRKT · 10 Oct 2011

I caught the 06:25 off Plymouth once and there were hardly any on it. By Bristol Parkway where I bailed however it was absolutely wedged. Loads had got off at Temple Meads, but were replaced by hordes more. Basically it was uncomfortably full from Taunton to at least Cheltenham and I would guess well beyond.

The toilet in the coach I was in stank mercilessly even at that time in the morning. Grrrr.

It was a 221 BTW. In my observations 221s seem mostly to be used on the via Leeds route, that is services originating in the West Country. Services from Bournemouth/Soton/Reading that go via Doncaster seem to be 220s more often.

Greenback · 10 Oct 2011

Every time I have been on an XC service that started in Plymouth it has been pretty quiet. Especially compared to how rammed they get on the central core!

mallard · 10 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
Every time I have been on an XC service that started in Plymouth it has been pretty quiet. Especially compared to how rammed they get on the central core!

If you think they're quiet in Plymouth, try boarding one in Penzance! Even with XC's laughably short trains, you have a pretty good chance of getting a carriage to yourself!

Greenback · 10 Oct 2011

mallard said:
If you think they're quiet in Plymouth, try boarding one in Penzance! Even with XC's laughably short trains, you have a pretty good chance of getting a carriage to yourself!

That seems to be the case with most trains leaving Penzance!

I did once see what looked like a couple of hundred trying to board a Voyager at Par. I assume there must have been some earlier cancellations!

Trainbuff · 10 Oct 2011

Mind you. Try the 09.40 from Penzance on most days. This gets very busy but is a complete nightmare in the school holidays.

As for the 05.20

Greenback is correct. From Plymouth there are only a few passengers. The only exception is when a Royal Navy ship is in and some brave souls are venturing to the far north of Scotland! The train may then have as many as 20 on it from Plymouth!!

However, it is very much a commuter train particularly from Exeter to Bristol. It gets busy at Bristol parkway too up to Birmingham and beyond

It is booked as a 5 coach 221. If you want a seat head for coach B. They are all fair game. If it is a 4 car 220 then my advice would be to head for coach C or possibly coach D (toward the high end seat numbers I believe) where you will find a bank of 6 seats on one side near the end of the coach that do not have displays above them. These are also not reserved (because they cant be!!!)

It is not booked to couple/uncouple anywhere

WiFi is not availabe, unless you are in 4 coach set 220030 in first class.

I have heard though that Crosscountry are rolling out Wifi from early next year, though I do not know if this is available in Standard class or if a fee is payable etc.

The best place to stand for mobile reception is actually in the gangway connections between coaches!!! This is because the windows are coated with an anti UV screen which reflects all microwave radiation including mobile phone signals!

Hope that helps

DXC · 10 Oct 2011

Trainbuff said:
The best place to stand for mobile reception is actually in the gangway connections between coaches!!! This is because the windows are coated with an anti UV screen which reflects all microwave radiation including mobile phone signals!

I can vouch for this 8-)

TEW · 10 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
That seems to be the case with most trains leaving Penzance!

I did once see what looked like a couple of hundred trying to board a Voyager at Par. I assume there must have been some earlier cancellations!

I wouldn't advise getting on the 0940 Penzance-Manchester. Guaranteed to be full and standing by Plymouth. The 0828 is busy by Plymouth as well.

bengolding · 10 Oct 2011

I got the 05:20 service from Exeter to Cheltenham a few weeks back. As others have mentioned, come Bristol it is very busy indeed. I deliberately got a First Class single, splitting at Taunton and Bristol, but no First Class Host boarded at Bristol and the Trolley Dolly could not get thorugh the train as it was so overcrowded! So I suggest you stock up at a Plymouth SSP outlet using your Bite Card

. Or better still, get a preceding Paddington service where at least you'll have catering as far as Taunton. But then you'll join the stampede!

Zoe · 10 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
Every time I have been on an XC service that started in Plymouth it has been pretty quiet. Especially compared to how rammed they get on the central core!

I'm not quite sure why so few people use the train from Plymouth considering the size of the city. They never seem to get that many people on at least until Newton Abbot but I have been on some that have been full and standing from Newton Abbot.

Crossover · 10 Oct 2011

Trainbuff said:
WiFi is not availabe, unless you are in 4 coach set 220030 in first class.

Unless it has changed in the past few weeks, it is available in all coaches, not just FC

Greenback · 10 Oct 2011

Zoe said:
I'm not quite sure why so few people use the train from Plymouth considering the size of the city. They never seem to get that many people on at least until Newton Abbot but I have been on some that have been full and standing from Newton Abbot.

It has always puzzled me a little as well. The best I could think of was that Plymouth is fairly isolated in comparison with other cities of a similar size.

4SRKT · 10 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
It has always puzzled me a little as well. The best I could think of was that Plymouth is fairly isolated in comparison with other cities of a similar size.

Ditto Hull. Not many rail travellers from there either.

Zoe · 10 Oct 2011

4SRKT said:
Ditto Hull. Not many rail travellers from there either.

Or maybe just not many travellers in general? Hull like Plymouth is one of the largest cities without a motorway link. In the case of Plymouth a motorway is not needed as the A38(T) copes well with the traffic.

4SRKT · 10 Oct 2011

Zoe said:
Or maybe just not many travellers in general? Hull like Plymouth is one of the largest cities without a motorway link. In the case of Plymouth a motorway is not needed as the A38(T) copes well with the traffic.

Although the M62 comes pretty close to Hull and is sometimes referred to as the Hull > Liverpool motorway. The A63 for the last few miles is almost motorway standard anyway. Maybe Hull and Plymouth are just so darn good that nobody wants to leave!

Zoe · 10 Oct 2011

4SRKT said:
The A63 for the last few miles is almost motorway standard anyway. Maybe Hull and Plymouth are just so darn good that nobody wants to leave!

It's 15 miles from the end of the M62 to Hull and unfortunately the A63(T) is not almost motorway standard. It has no hard shoulders, has laybys and also has some junctions with short slip roads. There are also LILO junctions. At the end of the day though it would seem that it copes with the traffic and like with Plymouth a motorway is not needed.

4SRKT · 10 Oct 2011

Zoe said:
It's 15 miles from the end of the M62 to Hull and unfortunately the A63(T) is not almost motorway standard. It has no hard shoulders, has laybys and also has some junctions with short slip roads. There are also LILO junctions. At the end of the day though it would seem that it copes with the traffic and like with Plymouth a motorway is not needed.

This is not meant as a criticism but your posts are almost without exception written in an unbelievably dry manner with a total addiction to absolute fact. Come on, have a laugh!

Martin_1981 · 11 Oct 2011

4SRKT said:
I caught the 06:25 off Plymouth once and there were hardly any on it. By Bristol Parkway where I bailed however it was absolutely wedged. Loads had got off at Temple Meads, but were replaced by hordes more. Basically it was uncomfortably full from Taunton to at least Cheltenham and I would guess well beyond.

I caught this very train from Exeter to Bristol TM one Saturday in June this year, a 4 coach 220 Voyager (220012). It was approx 1/3 full on entering Exeter and on leaving Taunton, the train was at least 80% full. Only approx a quarter of the passengers got off at Temple Meads, the majority appeared to be going further north. Two poor souls in the seat across the aisle from where I was sat were going all the way to Glasgow from Plymouth and a girl behind me was going from Plymouth to Leeds. God knows what the train was like on leaving Bristol as there must have been at least 100 people waiting to board at Temple Meads!!

noddy1878 · 11 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
It has always puzzled me a little as well. The best I could think of was that Plymouth is fairly isolated in comparison with other cities of a similar size.

Probably something to do with the painfully slow first 50 miles till Exeter. After then it's fine but it's quicker in the car out of Devon. It makes any journey from Plymouth uncompetative in terms of time.

Zoe · 11 Oct 2011

noddy1878 said:
Probably something to do with the painfully slow first 50 miles till Exeter. After then it's fine but it's quicker in the car out of Devon. It makes any journey from Plymouth uncompetative in terms of time.

It's not painfully slow between Newton Abbot and Exeter, with the exception of the sea wall section the line speed is at least 75 mph, Newton Abbot to Teignmouth is 90 mph and Exminster to Exeter is 100 mph.

richw · 12 Oct 2011

Zoe said:
It's not painfully slow between Newton Abbot and Exeter, with the exception of the sea wall section the line speed is at least 75 mph, Newton Abbot to Teignmouth is 90 mph and Exminster to Exeter is 100 mph.

Not slow in a speed sense but it goes the "long way round" making car journeys on the direct a38 much quicker still

Zoe · 12 Oct 2011

richw said:
Not slow in a speed sense but it goes the "long way round" making car journeys on the direct a38 much quicker still

Newton Abbot to Exeter by train is 20 minutes. It isn't actually much quicker by car as with the exception of the sea wall section, speeds restrictions are higher than on the road. A quick check on the journey planner showed Newton Abbot to M5 J30 also taking 20 minutes.

noddy1878 · 12 Oct 2011

Zoe said:
It's not painfully slow between Newton Abbot and Exeter, with the exception of the sea wall section the line speed is at least 75 mph, Newton Abbot to Teignmouth is 90 mph and Exminster to Exeter is 100 mph.

But I am talking about travelling from Plymouth. The line vastly improves after Newton Abbot but I can get from Plymouth (and I live very close to the centre) to Exeter in 45 minutes. The train takes an hour.

talltim · 12 Oct 2011

Trainbuff said:
The best place to stand for mobile reception is actually in the gangway connections between coaches!!! This is because the windows are coated with an anti UV screen which reflects all microwave radiation including mobile phone signals!

Hope that helps

I frequently see the staff standing in the corridor connection to use their Blackberries

some XC Voyager Questions...

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