Abergavenny timetable query

[D1009]

At the moment that's absolutely true - a tight connection is a cause of immense stress on the UK's railways because few if any passengers trust the TOC to get them to their intermediate connecting point on time. This is something that would have to change in order to provide the convenient connections envisaged.

And it's not exactly rocket science. One of my regular journeys in Switzerland involves three changes of train, including a couple of connections of under 5 minutes, yet I am perfectly happy to make that journey and am completely relaxed at every stage because I know for certain that I will not miss any of the connections (and, just as important, that there will be plenty of free seats on each train).

That is not always the case, I visit the Alpine region regularly over Christmas. Last year I decided to travel over the Oberalp pass from Brig to Chur. Not wishing to pay the supplememt for the Glacier Express, I decided to use the local services connecting at Andermatt and Disentis. Because of an OHL problem between Visp and Brig, the connection at Andermatt was missed. Because the Glacier Express was scheduled between my train and the next one, the reactionary delay affected the next section of the journey, so the connection at Disentis was also missed. I ended up 2 hours late at my destination, with not a hint of an offer of compensation. There is no such thing as a guaranteed connection anywhere in the world.

 

[Rhydgaled]

Is it only me who actually doesn't like a 5 minute connection? I'd much stand at a station for 20 minutes knowing my train's going to come rather than make the whole first leg of the journey worrying that a couple of minutes delay is going to give me the sight of watching the doors close in front of me (something I've had my fingers burned on more than once).

If there's a fully enclosed waiting room, I think I'd rather have a 15 minute wait too. However, with buses (which nearly always don't have waiting rooms and seem to be less likely to run more than 5 minutes late, except Arriva buses which in some cases can almost be releid upon to run at least 5 minutes late) a 7-minute connection is what I want to see. Bus shelters do not help against cold or wind.

If long distance passengers would accept a 150 then fair enough - I've sat on a 150 on some stupidly long journeys (twenty five years ago then did a lot of services that are now run by 158s).

However there is a serious point about the lack of a "jack of all trades" unit - I hate to sound like I'm being facetious but the only diesel unit that appears to be able to deal with high speeds *and* good acceleration is the humble Voyager.

How about 170/172 units on Cardiff - Crewe stoppers, longer distance passengers might find the stopper is caught up by the 175-operated fast services and can change onto that at, say, Shrewsbury?

 

[martinsh]

This may be true but there's still plenty of scope for improvement. Look at the attachment - that was a 20-minute job and runs across two hours much more efficiently that the present set-up seems to. (Before anyone asks - I haven't checked other operators' timetables for this; it's only a vague idea.)

That's only in one direction - what are you proposing southbound ?

 

[Ivo]

That's only in one direction - what are you proposing southbound ?

Same as suggested regarding other issues previously - not a clue. I haven't had a look at the southbound provision.
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That's only in one direction - what are you proposing southbound ?

OK, you want a southbound timetable? Have a look at this!

(I have slightly revised the northbound service too.)

 

[Rhydgaled]

I haven't managed to extend your timetable through the day yet, but given the debate on the recently locked WAG express thread about greater demand for a 2-hourly Holyhead - Manchester service rather than the 2-hourly Holyhead - Cardiff I thought I would try to make up my own timetable to try and settle that one way or another.

Basically I have a 2-hourly all stations Cardiff - Wrexham - Crewe train and a 2-hourly Holyhead - Manchester service. No idea if pathing is valid, I just wanted to see if it could be done with existing rolling stock. I would have the odd LHCS express between Cardiff and Holyhead, via Wrexham, in there too but haven't come up with timeings for them yet.

I estimate 6 diagrams for the current Holyhead - Cardiff (with layovers of almost two hours in Cardiff), 3 for my Manchester - Holyhead and 4 for my Cardiff - Wrexham - Crewe service. That's one more diagram that at present. I think that busts any hope that current frequencies could be maintained along the whole route while giving Holyhead direct Manchesters instead of direct Cardiffs. Happy to be proved wrong on that though.

Attached is the current timetable, with the 6 diagrams I think I have identified highlighted, and my new timetables with the diagrams highlighted.