December 2021 Timetable change

[Jorge Da Silva]

Will the Thameslink timetable change in December

There are changes in September as well so i hope that there will be further changes

 

[mawallace]

Soham stops are shown on the Ipswich to Pboro service.

I do wonder how well used this service will be - with the 2 hour frequency.

 

[sleeper fan]

Any update on whether the Aberdeen to Penzance XC will resume?

 

[Alfie1014]

I do wonder how well used this service will be - with the 2 hour frequency.

I agree but the building of this station was always more political rather than practical. That said in this month’s Modern Railways Greater Anglia are quoted as saying that they are investigating if any improvements can be made in the short term before Ely is sorted out and an hourly service can be delivered.

 

[Johnny Lewis]

I'm guessing stock reliability and/or crew training and/or passenger numbers? The draft ECML May 2022 timetable (since postponed) had the full hourly LIV-SCA reinstated.

One or two ARE shown to run through to or from Liverpool with only a short dwell at Manchester Victoria, so delivering a considerably faster journey time between York or Leeds and Liverpool. Unfortunately it is only a small number.

 

[TheBigD]

I agree but the building of this station was always more political rather than practical. That said in this month’s Modern Railways Greater Anglia are quoted as saying that they are investigating if any improvements can be made in the short term before Ely is sorted out and an hourly service can be delivered.

Whilst Greater Anglia may be able to get Ipswich-Ely hourly (I have my doubts), I would be very surprised if they managed to get the paths from Ely to Peterborough. The numerous level crossings and constraints of Ely North Junction will be a big obstacle to overcome.

 

[DaveHarries]

Severn Beach line goes half-hourly in December.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Dave

 

[sufian123]

Any update on whether the Aberdeen to Penzance XC will resume?

Only on Saturdays and it’s showing on rtt.

 

[Starmill]

I, for one, hope that they don't carry on with the present frequency south of Bristol: it makes my working life quite tricky at times. Also the last time I got a train from Plymouth to Bristol it was fairly packed which is not good for social distancing. I hope they go back to hourly between Bristol and Plymouth. Saying that I used the coach from Plymouth today due to the chaos with the bridge between Ivybridge and Plymouth: longer trip but the fare was cheaper.

On another note, where GWR are concerned, it is hoped, IIRC, that the works which have been taking place at Bristol Temple Meads for the last few weeks are intended to allow more trains to run. It has been suggested that the timetable between Severn Beach and Bristol Temple Meads might get a facelift in December to give a more frequent Monday to Saturday daytime service.

Dave

The cost of providing the additional train managers and train drivers to reinstate any of the second trains in the hour between Bristol and Exeter or Plymouth would be very significant. It would almost certainly mean taking capacity away from somewhere else in the country too.

I do wonder how well used this service will be - with the 2 hour frequency.

The inconvenience of needing to change trains to reach Cambridge too. And of course the service calling at Soham won't wait if the connection from Cambridge and is late in arriving at Ely. And it's two hours 'till the next one...

 

[splashoutradio]

TfW are now appearing on RTT. Of interest to me personally, is that the first and last trains on the line to Blaenau Ffestiniog continue to be cancelled, leaving just 4 trains per day - less of an issue in the winter perhaps.

 

[FManc]

AWC back upto 3tph on the Manchester route.

 

[PHILIPE]

Keep fingers crossed but GWRs Okehamptons are showing

 

[DaveHarries]

Severn Beach line goes half-hourly in December.

Means an earlier train in the morning but I like the looks of this. RTT has this for 13th December at Avonmouth.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Avonmouth all day on 13/12/2021

Train information at Avonmouth all day on 13/12/2021. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Still early days and subject to change but it gives an idea of what to expect which is useful. Interestingly the Portway Park and Ride stop is also thrown in as an unadvertised stop. I haven't yet seen any signs of construction on the station there (which, IIRC, is supposedly going to be called Portway Parkway?) but good to know it is still in the pipeline. The Sunday schedule shows hourly Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach.

Dave

 

[Ianno87]

The inconvenience of needing to change trains to reach Cambridge too. And of course the service calling at Soham won't wait if the connection from Cambridge and is late in arriving at Ely. And it's two hours 'till the next one...

On a previous thread I searched out the business case for the station, which suggests usage is likely to be pretty poor until such time that an hourly service can be provided.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Means an earlier train in the morning but I like the looks of this. RTT has this for 13th December at Avonmouth.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Avonmouth all day on 13/12/2021

Train information at Avonmouth all day on 13/12/2021. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Still early days and subject to change but it gives an idea of what to expect which is useful. Interestingly the Portway Park and Ride stop is also thrown in as an unadvertised stop. I haven't yet seen any signs of construction on the station there (which, IIRC, is supposedly going to be called Portway Parkway?) but good to know it is still in the pipeline. The Sunday schedule shows hourly Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach.

Dave

The enhanced Cardiff to Penzance services is in the timetable:

Realtime Trains - Departures from Cardiff Central

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains - Departures from Penzance

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[dk1]

On a previous thread I searched out the business case for the station, which suggests usage is likely to be pretty poor until such time that an hourly service can be provided.

That’s what I was expecting but at least it’s built & ready.

 

[philosopher]

Are Chiltern finally going to restore their pre Covid weekend timetables to / from Birmingham (i.e two trains an hour with similar journey times to weekdays)?

 

[43055]

Are Chiltern finally going to restore their pre Covid weekend timetables to / from Birmingham (i.e two trains an hour with similar journey times to weekdays)?

Don't look like it.


East Midland Railway in some detail:
Daytime Melton service runs at 0945 from London and 1435 from Melton with ECS from Etches Park in between. Also runs on Wednesdays.
1645 Lincoln to Newark North Gate and 1724 return is removed.
0845 and 1345 Nottingham to Skegness and 1115 and 1614 returns removed.
Liverpool - Norwich returns to almost hourly. 0851 from Liverpool continues to start from Nottingham.
Nottingham - Worksop remains hourly.
Doncaster - Lincoln - Peterborough remains the same.
Grimsby - Lincoln - Leicester remains the same.
0736, 1243, 1736 Newark to Crewe and 1008, 1508, 2009 returns added.
Matlock services still a shuttle from Derby Monday to Saturday.
Currently Spondon only showing 1 call on weekdays and 2 on Saturdays, all around 0530-0600.

 

[philosopher]

Don't look like it.

Looking at the timetables from Real Train Times, London to Birmingham services do seem to be getting the short straw with these ‘temporary timetables’. There is no sign of West Midlands Trains restoring their two trains per hour. Northbound Avanti have two services per hour but they are only 16 minutes apart, which is not exactly convenient and you are could argue is not much better than an hourly service. Chiltern look like they will continue to run one service that is 20 minutes slower than normal for most hours on weekends.

Overcrowding on this route I fear will be a big issue around Christmas.

 

[jfollows]

Interesting to me anyway: 1R17 06:43 Manchester-Euston via Wilmslow loses its Milton Keynes stop but 1R18 07:00 Manchester-Euston calling only at Stockport isn't reintroduced. When both trains run, 1R17 can't stop at Milton Keynes because it gets in the way of 1R18. However, having 1R17's Milton Keynes stop removed means that 1R18 could be reintroduced because its path remains usable.

 

[DaveHarries]

The enhanced Cardiff to Penzance services is in the timetable

Yes useful to have that. I had to get a train down to Plymouth from Bristol TM not long ago: it was full to the extent that I would rather have used a local stopper if one had been due so I am glad to see that there will be some more. That 2M64 in your link is the return working of a working shown as 1C71 (0700 Gloucester - Penzance) which is, at the present anyway, shown as being pathed for a Castle Class HST as its earlier ECS working 3C71 from St. Philips Marsh.

Dave

 

[PHILIPE]

The enhanced Cardiff to Penzance services is in the timetable:

Realtime Trains - Departures from Cardiff Central

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains - Departures from Penzance

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

The additional through trains, of which there are 4, would appear to be existing Cardiff to Taunton and Exeter to Penzance services joined together with some extra mileage between Taunton and Exeter to link them

 

[HamworthyGoods]

The additional through trains, of which there are 4, would appear to be existing Cardiff to Taunton and Exeter to Penzance services joined together with some extra mileage between

Yup that was always the plan to link them all up roughly every 2 hours

 

[Jamesrob637]

Interesting to me anyway: 1R17 06:43 Manchester-Euston via Wilmslow loses its Milton Keynes stop but 1R18 07:00 Manchester-Euston calling only at Stockport isn't reintroduced. When both trains run, 1R17 can't stop at Milton Keynes because it gets in the way of 1R18. However, having 1R17's Milton Keynes stop removed means that 1R18 could be reintroduced because its path remains usable.

Is there going to be sufficient commuter numbers for the fast Manchester to Euston this year?

 

[PHILIPE]

Yup that was always the plan to link them all up roughly every 2 hours

I've referred this thread to this one

www.railforums.co.uk/threads/cardiff-to-penzance-through-stopping-services-nonsense-or-not.221510/

 

[jfollows]

Is there going to be sufficient commuter numbers for the fast Manchester to Euston this year?

I suspect not, I think your question implies that you might think the same also.
When I used to live in Manchester itself I might have wanted this more! Now I'm not too bothered. I thought that I could use an All Line Rover to Milton Keynes on 1R17 but I've re-read the terms and see that I was mistaken - I'm planning on buying a first class all-line rover in October when I'm 60 but I won't be using 1R17 whether or not it stops at Milton Keynes!

 

[Ianno87]

Is there going to be sufficient commuter numbers for the fast Manchester to Euston this year?

I suspect not, I think your question implies that you might think the same also.
When I used to live in Manchester itself I might have wanted this more! Now I'm not too bothered. I thought that I could use an All Line Rover to Milton Keynes on 1R17 but I've re-read the terms and see that I was mistaken - I'm planning on buying a first class all-line rover in October when I'm 60 but I won't be using 1R17 whether or not it stops at Milton Keynes!

Perhaps Avanti are setting the TT up so it could be reintroduced at short notice should be it necessary (or commercially attractive). In the meantime, all it means is sacrificing one MK stop.

How passenger numbers on such trains go in the next few months is anybody's guess. I note in another thread that LNER appear to be reinstating their non-stop Wakefield-London service soon.

 

[jfollows]

Perhaps Avanti are setting the TT up so it could be reintroduced at short notice should be it necessary (or commercially attractive). In the meantime, all it means is sacrificing one MK stop.

I agree with you, I think that's what they're doing.

 

[GoneSouth]

Yes useful to have that. I had to get a train down to Plymouth from Bristol TM not long ago: it was full to the extent that I would rather have used a local stopper if one had been due so I am glad to see that there will be some more. That 2M64 in your link is the return working of a working shown as 1C71 (0700 Gloucester - Penzance) which is, at the present anyway, shown as being pathed for a Castle Class HST as its earlier ECS working 3C71 from St. Philips Marsh.

Dave

Loving the sound of the HST being available for this. I travel to Cornwall quite often and find the Voyager just too busy on the morning departure from Penzance. It’s still a 4 car that gets attached to another 4 or 5 at Plymouth atm.

I’ll certainly be making use of that 0700 from Gloucester to Penzance several times.

 

[Starmill]

In the meantime, all it means is sacrificing one MK stop.

They are able to add a stop at short notice too if necessary or desirable.