ValleyLines142
Established Member
As I've started seeing a guy from Worcester (go me, or god help me? 
), I regularly pop to Birmingham for the day but travel from Cardiff via Worcester to see t'other.
Obviously the most logic route would be to take XC from Cardiff to Nottingham or instead GWR to Bristol Parkway and then CrossCountry up. However at a staggering £38 at only an Anytime Return rate for a 16-25 railcard holder it is quite steep.
I've found that by travelling via Hereford I can knock a fair chunk off it. An Anytime Day Return from Cardiff to Malvern Link is £17.95, and then usually I am Off-Peak by the time I get there, so can get an Off-Peak Day Return to Birmingham Stations for £7.05, so that's £25, a fair bit off.
However, whilst the outbound journey goes relatively unscathed, with the Hereford to Worcester service usually being about fifteen minutes after the Manchester/Holyhead service, I've found that the return journey goes belly up. The first time I did it, I caught the 2043 from Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford, arriving at 2134, with the aim of taking the 2150 to Carmarthen. However the Carmarthen service was fifteen minutes late, so I ended up waiting half an hour at Hereford.
The second time round, which was by far the worst, I boarded the same train, the 2043 from Foregate Street, which lost so much time en route for whatever reason that it ended up arriving into Hereford at 2209, when the Cardiff service is at 2150. I therefore had an hour to wait at Hereford for the 2311 instead. For some I think personally stupid reason, all facilities at Hereford are locked after 2100, and after then you basically are just left in the open. This particular journey was when it was getting really cold, and Hereford is a very open station anyway. Since then it has gone milder.
Tonight, round three, and I've just caught the 2059 Birmingham to Hereford. Upon departure from New Street, the driver announces there is a signalling problem and we end up waiting at Five Ways for ten minutes. We then were diverted into Shrub Hill, where we then had to cross the footbridge and catch a replacement train to Hereford. Only at Foregate Street, the BTP are called into attendance to deal with a racially abusive passenger. Thankfully this service arrived only twenty minutes late which then meant I only had about fifteen minutes to wait for the Cardiff train.
I just wondered what everybody else's experiences were on this route, if any, or could it just be a coincidence and sheer bad luck for me! I know its a rather odd route but I am nicely ticking off the LM 170s!
If it carries on, I may just pay the £38 and go more direct as it's happening a bit too often now.
), I regularly pop to Birmingham for the day but travel from Cardiff via Worcester to see t'other.Obviously the most logic route would be to take XC from Cardiff to Nottingham or instead GWR to Bristol Parkway and then CrossCountry up. However at a staggering £38 at only an Anytime Return rate for a 16-25 railcard holder it is quite steep.
I've found that by travelling via Hereford I can knock a fair chunk off it. An Anytime Day Return from Cardiff to Malvern Link is £17.95, and then usually I am Off-Peak by the time I get there, so can get an Off-Peak Day Return to Birmingham Stations for £7.05, so that's £25, a fair bit off.
However, whilst the outbound journey goes relatively unscathed, with the Hereford to Worcester service usually being about fifteen minutes after the Manchester/Holyhead service, I've found that the return journey goes belly up. The first time I did it, I caught the 2043 from Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford, arriving at 2134, with the aim of taking the 2150 to Carmarthen. However the Carmarthen service was fifteen minutes late, so I ended up waiting half an hour at Hereford.
The second time round, which was by far the worst, I boarded the same train, the 2043 from Foregate Street, which lost so much time en route for whatever reason that it ended up arriving into Hereford at 2209, when the Cardiff service is at 2150. I therefore had an hour to wait at Hereford for the 2311 instead. For some I think personally stupid reason, all facilities at Hereford are locked after 2100, and after then you basically are just left in the open. This particular journey was when it was getting really cold, and Hereford is a very open station anyway. Since then it has gone milder.
Tonight, round three, and I've just caught the 2059 Birmingham to Hereford. Upon departure from New Street, the driver announces there is a signalling problem and we end up waiting at Five Ways for ten minutes. We then were diverted into Shrub Hill, where we then had to cross the footbridge and catch a replacement train to Hereford. Only at Foregate Street, the BTP are called into attendance to deal with a racially abusive passenger. Thankfully this service arrived only twenty minutes late which then meant I only had about fifteen minutes to wait for the Cardiff train.
I just wondered what everybody else's experiences were on this route, if any, or could it just be a coincidence and sheer bad luck for me! I know its a rather odd route but I am nicely ticking off the LM 170s!
If it carries on, I may just pay the £38 and go more direct as it's happening a bit too often now.