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From 12 September trains will be replaced by coaches from Machynlleth to Pwllheli. Looking at the timetable there is clearly an attempt to provide a fast and a slow service as far as Harlech, with the fast service stopping only at Tywyn and Barmouth, and the slow service leaving at the same time...

Late last year I started a thread suggesting that it would be worth increasing line speeds between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. Other routes out of Shrewsbury serve Chester and North Wales, ie nowhere with any population over 100,000; Aberystwyth and Pwllheli with even smaller populations; then...

I've just discovered the Capacity Checker tool on the TfW route so I thought I'd try the next few days from Shrewsbury to Cardiff, bit it's very off-putting. I looked at a weekday 13.40 departure, thinking it ought to be as uncrowded as any daytime service, but it shows "few or no seats"...

It’s now six months since the Eastern Leg of HS2 was officially scrapped. When Shapps made the announcement he promised an alternative, with £96bn of spending on a scheme that would “improve services in the Midlands and northern England ten years sooner”. Does anyone know how this alternative...

mods note - split from here. Hmm, just when I was despairing about the state of UK politics, I've just listened to GMTV news this morning. In the USA, Biden's sister is saying Biden will be running for re-election in 2024. At his age! Then she says Meghan Markle would be a welcome addition to...

Please excuse this thought process from a non rail person, but comments would be appreciated. As I understand it, the reason for rail closures south of Milton Keynes during the weekend of the FA Cup semi finals in mid April is mainly for work at Euston. If so, then just how hard would it be to...

Out of interest I looked up the High Speed Rail mileages for Western European countries, with a criterion for high speed of 300kph. There are five large countries in Western Europe, namely France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK, the next largest after these is less than half the size of any...

I see that the previous HS2-HS1 thread has been closed, but that was about trains running between HS2 and HS1. I've always believed that this rail link had more merit than it was given credit for, and that judgement of it was based too heavily on the light loadings of the HSTs that ran from...

The days of exceeding speed limits on the railways seem to be long gone now, but some of my best memories of diesel (and electric) haulage was logging speeds. The goal was always to exceed the rated maximum speed of the loco, and also to set minimum times between stations, either stop to stop or...

A recent thread in this forum reminded me of just how good the Wrexham and Shropshire service was. The staff were always friendly and helpful, including going the extra mile when there were problems. My wife and I had a 48 hour rail journey back from northern Italy in 2010 thanks to the Iceland...

A pub discussion arose recently about the reliability of various classes of diesel loco, during which I suggested that Westerns were among the more reliable while they were in service, not really deserving their early demise. Can anyone point me to where this might have been discussed on here...

So here's a tangent but perhaps worth a thought, even if some will no doubt view it with scorn! Given that serious consideration is being given in some quarters to electrifying the Shrewsbury to Wolves route, what would be people's thoughts about re-opening the Wellington to Stafford route, thus...

I'm not sure if this is the right page for this but I wonder if anyone knows why the line from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton and London is the SLOWEST of the five lines radiating out of this county town? The twisty and hilly route to Hereford has higher speeds along it, as do the lines to...

For some years long distance trains have been timetabled to stop a lot more regularly than they used to. A good example is Plymouth to Birmingham which used to be possible stopping only at Exeter and Bristol TM, whereas today EVERY train stops at Totnes, Newton Abbott, Exeter, Tiverton Parkway...

Now that the Eastern Arm of HS2 is no longer going ahead, what are people’s thoughts about HSUK? Some pointers … In many ways HSUK made a lot more sense than HS2 ever did, but it was widely misunderstood. While HS2 had huge resources thrown at it, HSUK was developed by a very small team, and...

Rail travel is being encouraged in many, many places, not least by Government, but how much reality is taken into account? As a local example, Radio Shropshire this morning pointed out that in the last week alone, 35 trains from Shrewsbury to Birmingham were cancelled. Overcrowding is common on...

Yesterday I wanted a paper to read on the train. My train was due to leave in 10 minutes and I had the right money available, so all seemed well. I offered this correct money to the lady who was handing out drinks, which has always been welcomed for many years, decades even, but yesterday was...

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/railway-efficiency.224477/ A great deal is made of the amazing scenery on the Glasgow to Mallaig route, but when my wife and I travelled it in 2019 the train windows were absolutely filthy. Not just dirt from a few days, but...

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/railway-efficiency.224477 Today's trip was from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and back, and all day long it seems that trains have been losing time throughout the route. When our train arrived back into Shrewsbury at 17.46, some 27...

I rarely use railways these days after retiring, but today I have, and little has changed since my regular usage. I remain convinced that on almost every journey there are things I see which could and should easily be improved. People are often quick to jump to the defence of poor operations...