1934 Cardiff-Holyhead in Chester

[kieron]

Does anyone know what's happening with the 1934 from Cardiff? It usually gets to Chester at 2234 from the Wrexham direction and sits there for 20 minutes before leaving again. This week, it's arrived at around the departure time from the Crewe/Manchester direction, so people stand around on the platform for a while, and the train often leaves late.

It was probably needed on Monday as a signal failure in Wrexham disrupted the normal service, but I have no idea what's happened to the train from Cardiff since then.

Timetables 2 gives the service as using its normal route, but I don't know how reliable that is supposed to be.

Does anyone know what is happening?

 

[T-key]

Simply unit swaps for maintenance , inbound going up to Alstom and the 2251 arrival from Manchester airport forming the outbound working.

 

[merlodlliw]

It Went thorough Wrexham last night, swooping trains at Chester is not unusual,when ATW are stuck(often) and put a 150 on the Cardiff/Holyhead,this was changed at Chester when I used it on several occasions going to Rhyl in daytime.
The 175 garage is based at Chester.

And welcome to RF T Key


Bob

 

[T-key]

Thanks merlodlliw

 

[krus_aragon]

I've had a similar situation several times in the past. One of the least favourite occasions was when a 2-car 175 (which I'd been on from Cardiff) was swapped for a 3-car 175 on a Chester Races evening. Given that the 3-car unit had been sat there before we arrived, it was already full of revelling drunkards, and my reserved seat on the incoming largely empty unit was replaced with vestibule floor. (I just sat down and carried on reading.)

At Rhyl the driver pulled up a bit short of the platform, and so the doors weren't opened until he pulled forward. The jolly people near me panicked thinking that he was leaving Rhyl and pulled the emergency stop levers before he got very far. Having opened the doors, a very irate guard came through looking for the culprits, but I could only tell her apologetically that they'd just got off and left already...

 

[kieron]

Thanks, T-key and merlodlliw. I was just a bit surprised as it happened a couple of times on the run.

I've had a similar situation several times in the past. One of the least favourite occasions was when a 2-car 175 (which I'd been on from Cardiff) was swapped for a 3-car 175 on a Chester Races evening. Given that the 3-car unit had been sat there before we arrived, it was already full of revelling drunkards, and my reserved seat on the incoming largely empty unit was replaced with vestibule floor. (I just sat down and carried on reading.)

Something similar happened on Friday, except that the incoming train had 6 carriages (they did something similar before the last bank holiday, except that that one continued up the coast). It arrived in Chester 25 minutes late (one of the passengers said there was a problem with the train), and everyone on it had to switch to a 3-car train which was already there, and was already fairly crowded. I didn't notice anyone standing in the carriages, but there were people sitting on the floor and others standing in the vestibule.

People with luggage are quite common on that train anyway as the next one reaches Holyhead 5 minutes too late to check in for the ferry. But all of the storage areas were full, and some people were even putting things in the overhead storage.