Really? The service is massively improved and it is the second fastest growing line in the country.
It has gone from an irregular service pattern, then to every hour and there are now three trains per two hours, with an hourly service on Sundays which was introduced a few years ago; there have been no regular Sunday services, aside from a short trial in the early 2000s, for decades. Trains now run for much longer in the day also; the number of services operated per week has almost doubled.
Pacers don't go anywhere near the line either; it is 150s mostly.
Stations are now much improved with artwork, regular cleaning, floral displays, CCTV and realtime information thanks to work put in by the local Community Rail Partnership, Great Western and Bristol City and South Gloucestershire councils.
If anything, it is a line that has probably changed beyond recognition since privatisation!
I stand corrected on the service pattern - as a former local it's always seemed pretty sporadic. A two hourly service to Severn Beach is pretty poor, although granted the populous there isn't massive.
The station improvements you mention although welcome, I wouldn't call them transformative.
I was looking at ridership figures t'other day - they have certainly increased quite substantially in the five to ten years. Hopefully that can be capitalised on if/when the greater Bristol Metro gets off the ground. It would be nice to see more through trains - e.g. from Bath/south Bristol etc.
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Bromley North to Grove Park. Never seem to be timed to connect with other services, far easier and quicker to catch a bus instead.
Agree. Must be mind numbing to work that job back and forth as well.
Talk in the press about it going over to tramlink or part of Bakerloo line extension in the future.