Following on from the 'what happened to Beeching stock' thread, I'd be interested to see exactly what effect the 1980s recession had on timetables, particularly InterCity and 'Provincial/Regional Railways' (even though those terms had not become commonplace at that stage).
I first became aware of the railways in late 1982 on the South Western Division of the SR and my knowledge of timetables spread to the WR and LMR through 1983 and 1984 - therefore coming during or just after the recession.
I do remember InterCity and 'Provincial' timetables seemed to be relatively infrequent then, compared not only to now, but also to the later BR years of the late 80s/early 90s. For instance, Newbury had only a few InterCity services calling during the day, the main service being formed of a two-hourly all-stations service from Reading to Bedwyn, formed of a Class 117 DMU. Also on the WR, the Cotswold line only had three through services to London (two loco-hauled peak services plus an HST-operated daytime 'Cotswold and Malvern Express'); the rest only ran to and from Oxford and were again, presumably, heritage DMUs, running about every 2 hours or so.
On the other hand, I do remember Swansea, Plymouth and Bristol each getting hourly HST services to London, a similar pattern to that operating in the mid-nineties - though I do remember the Bristol service didn't always run at the same time each hour (maybe xx15 for a few hours out Paddington then switched to xx45).
On the LM, I remember Liverpool got an irregular service every 90 mins to 2 hours and Manchester might also have been less-than-hourly, though not sure about this. I don't think Birmingham to Manchester was as often as hourly, there was always an xx55 out of New Street (usually an XC, though some started at New St) but some went to Manchester and others to Liverpool.
These patterns were what prevailed around 1983 or 1984; so my question is, were they similar just a little bit earlier (say 1979 - before the recession and a government that arguably had a hostile approach to public services took hold)?
I also remember seeing in the other thread that the Midland Main Line got surplus HSTs from the Western. With the Western HST service, in contrast to some of the other services, being relatively frequent even in this period, is it true that it was even more frequent before the recession kicked in?
Thanks,
Nick
I first became aware of the railways in late 1982 on the South Western Division of the SR and my knowledge of timetables spread to the WR and LMR through 1983 and 1984 - therefore coming during or just after the recession.
I do remember InterCity and 'Provincial' timetables seemed to be relatively infrequent then, compared not only to now, but also to the later BR years of the late 80s/early 90s. For instance, Newbury had only a few InterCity services calling during the day, the main service being formed of a two-hourly all-stations service from Reading to Bedwyn, formed of a Class 117 DMU. Also on the WR, the Cotswold line only had three through services to London (two loco-hauled peak services plus an HST-operated daytime 'Cotswold and Malvern Express'); the rest only ran to and from Oxford and were again, presumably, heritage DMUs, running about every 2 hours or so.
On the other hand, I do remember Swansea, Plymouth and Bristol each getting hourly HST services to London, a similar pattern to that operating in the mid-nineties - though I do remember the Bristol service didn't always run at the same time each hour (maybe xx15 for a few hours out Paddington then switched to xx45).
On the LM, I remember Liverpool got an irregular service every 90 mins to 2 hours and Manchester might also have been less-than-hourly, though not sure about this. I don't think Birmingham to Manchester was as often as hourly, there was always an xx55 out of New Street (usually an XC, though some started at New St) but some went to Manchester and others to Liverpool.
These patterns were what prevailed around 1983 or 1984; so my question is, were they similar just a little bit earlier (say 1979 - before the recession and a government that arguably had a hostile approach to public services took hold)?
I also remember seeing in the other thread that the Midland Main Line got surplus HSTs from the Western. With the Western HST service, in contrast to some of the other services, being relatively frequent even in this period, is it true that it was even more frequent before the recession kicked in?
Thanks,
Nick