May 2025 Timetable Change - Confirmed Changes Only

[1D54]

Gives them time to split them with the front portion going on to Stansted and the rear going back to New Street but the looks like the 07:22 off Birmingham

 

[Pat Figg]

I think TfW might have messed up the new printed/PDF versions of the northbound Treherbert-Aberdare-Merthyr timetables. Fernhill, Cwmbach and Aberdare arrival times are showing in the same column as Quakers Yard and Merthyr Vale, while Penrhiwceiber and Mountain Ash are in the same column as Troedyrhiw, Pentrebach and Merthyr Tydfil. Doesn't make much sense to me. I'll contact them once I've convinced myself that I'm not having a brainstorm!

 

[GoneSouth]

Thanks for the update. As for a Red Train Tax, it would be nice if it was red. It seems green or white are all the rage on GX now.

Yes very confusing. Green trains on the GX and Red trains turning up anywhere. They need to scrap the GX fare hike and stop taking the ****

The 15:45 from Looe only has a 5 minute turnaround time from the May timetable change without the call at Coombe Junction, so probably a decision made to improve punctuality.

The current 15:16 from Looe has 6 minute to turnaround with the call at Coombe Junction.

Not a problem in summer, but the station doesn’t have any lighting as far as I remember so better to have the call earlier when approaching the winter months.

No lighting? I’ve never been so can’t confirm but surely there aren’t any stations on the network without working lights? That seems like a claim waiting to happen!

Haven’t I read somewhere in this forum about trains skipping stations because the platform lighting wasn’t working?

 

[Parallel]

No lighting? I’ve never been so can’t confirm but surely there aren’t any stations on the network without working lights? That seems like a claim waiting to happen!

Haven’t I read somewhere in this forum about trains skipping stations because the platform lighting wasn’t working?

Trains do sometimes skip stations if there is no lighting. But this isn’t an issue at Coombe Junction as it gets its calls in daylight hours. Pilning is another station with no lighting with calls only during daylight hours.

 

[GoneSouth]

06:48 - Leicester to Birmingham has been scrapped in the new timetable which will cause problems for commuters heading from three Leics stations to New Street.

Apparently the 06:18 will now be a pair of 170s and if i heard correctly will come back as a pair and then split on arrival at Leicester but conformation is needed on that one as i can't work out what diagram the spare will be used on. Returning service has always headed out to Cambridge / Stansted so I'm rather confused.

Meanwhile on the other side of Birmingham, XC can’t seem to run anything from Cardiff / Gloucester to arrive in to New Street before 0845. That’s pretty poor. The Stansted service has gone. Looks like people will have to add the extra jeopardy of a change at Cheltenham. Awful place to stand if you’ve missed a connecion.

 

[Farigiraf]

No lighting? I’ve never been so can’t confirm but surely there aren’t any stations on the network without working lights? That seems like a claim waiting to happen!

Dunrobin Castle and Falls of Cruachan stations are both closed during the winter months due to lack of lighting in the station. There still are services which call there in the dark, but it seems like an easy workaround to the problem instead of installing some lights. Admittedly there probably aren't many people who'd use the stations at those times. There was a thread in the past about this.

 

[Sleepy]

Dunrobin Castle and Falls of Cruachan stations are both closed during the winter months due to lack of lighting in the station. There still are services which call there in the dark, but it seems like an easy workaround to the problem instead of installing some lights. Admittedly there probably aren't many people who'd use the stations at those times. There was a thread in the past about this.

Berney Arms also loses late afternoon calls in darker months due to lack of lighting.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Is the 06:25 Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport running from the 19th? I can see it next Monday (before the timetable change) but not on the 19th.

 

[Eoch]

Coombe Junction Halt is a separate planning location to Coombe Jn No.1 Groundframe. The trains that call at the halt will RM (passenger stop, reverse move) there and also T (advertised passenger stop.) They should only OP (operational stop) at the groundframe.

For the majority that do not call at the halt, there should be OP, RM at the groundframe only and will not time at the Halt at all. This mirrors real practice as the halt is 100m or so further up the line towards Moorswater.

The stops that are missing, like the 14:15 stop displayed on RTT, only have RM in the working timetable, not T.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

The stops that are missing, like the 14:15 stop displayed on RTT, only have RM in the working timetable, not T.

Doing an all-day RTT lineup for Coombe Junction Halt for (as an example) 28/05/25 shows 4 services; 2L73, 2L74 in the 0900 hour and 2L83, 2L84 in the 1400 hour. These correspond to the advertised stopping services don’t they? Everything else is timed to reverse (only) at Coombe Groundframe.

Is the 06:25 Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport running from the 19th? I can see it next Monday (before the timetable change) but not on the 19th.

Isn’t that the Stansted service that is reported to be withdrawn a few messages upthread?

 

[Jamesrob637]

Doing an all-day RTT lineup for Coombe Junction Halt for (as an example) 28/05/25 shows 4 services; 2L73, 2L74 in the 0900 hour and 2L83, 2L84 in the 1400 hour. These correspond to the advertised stopping services don’t they? Everything else is timed to reverse (only) at Coombe Groundframe.


Isn’t that the Stansted service that is reported to be withdrawn a few messages upthread?

Well I wasn't sure whether the timetable needs tweaking, as we're still eleven days in advance.

 

[GoneSouth]

Is the 06:25 Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport running from the 19th? I can see it next Monday (before the timetable change) but not on the 19th.

Doesn’t look like it which now means the first Cardiff /Gloucester doesn’t arrive into Birmingham until 0845 which is pretty poor

 

[InvHst]

Dunrobin Castle and Falls of Cruachan stations are both closed during the winter months due to lack of lighting in the station. There still are services which call there in the dark, but it seems like an easy workaround to the problem instead of installing some lights. Admittedly there probably aren't many people who'd use the stations at those times. There was a thread in the past about this.

Dunrobin is shut in the winter as the castle isn't open. Nothing to do with lighting in the station

 

[Cardiff4]

There are no times shown for services stopping at Ty Glas in the new Coryton to Penarth timetable.

I raised this issue with TfW a few weeks ago and their response was " Our planning team are aware that Ty Glas services are currently not showing in our online journey planners after Sunday 18 May. We're working to get these services back into the timetable as soon as we can".

Haven't had any confirmation yet if the timetable has been changed.

The attachment shows the timetable issued by TfW a couple of weeks ago. This has now been removed from their website.

 

[Eoch]

Doing an all-day RTT lineup for Coombe Junction Halt for (as an example) 28/05/25 shows 4 services; 2L73, 2L74 in the 0900 hour and 2L83, 2L84 in the 1400 hour. These correspond to the advertised stopping services don’t they? Everything else is timed to reverse (only) at Coombe Groundframe.

GWR has fixed the timetable pdf on their website. Presumably other sources will also be corrected soon.

 

[Cambrian359]

From national rail and TFW websites - “Extra train services will be added on Sundays on the busy holiday routes -Cambrian mainline, North Wales Coast and West Wales.”

Does anyone know what these are? as they are lacking in detail!

 

[Halish Railway]

One of the things I hadn’t noticed is that the additional LNER London to Bradford services don’t call at Shipley in the Bradford directions, when they were previously shown as calling there, presumably because the extension of platform 4 isn’t completed. From 25th August Realtime Trains shows the stop as unadvertised.

 

[MikeWM]

With less than a week to go before the timetable change, what's happening with the NRT?

The usual site at fabdigital : https://timetables.fabdigital.uk/nrt/may2025/ : is missing a lot of tables, the cover sheet, the 'all files' zip etc.

The NR site : https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/the-timetable/electronic-national-rail-timetable/ : has more, including what looks to be a full set of timetables - but they don't seem to have been updated since April 24th and is marked as 'still receiving feedback'.

 

[mikestone1952]

Fabdigital appear to now be Velociti Solutions, https://www.velociti-solutions.com/
but I can't see the NRT on their website

 

[Jez]

I see TFW have infomation about the timetable change and 70% of journeys will be on new trains!

This is very impressive, two thirds of the fleet now being new trains is no small thing. However considering they said 95% of services by 2023 would be on new trains, even discounting 18 months or so due to Covid its still less than what was promised. But we are getting there now.

Its very good to hear there will be extra services for Tenby (Mon-Sat) and various improvements on a Sunday for services in North, Mid and West Wales.

May rail timetable changes - 70% of all Transport for Wales services on new trains

Seventy percent of all Transport for Wales services will be operated on new trains following timetable changes this May.

news.tfw.wales

 

[nwales58]

From national rail and TFW websites - “Extra train services will be added on Sundays on the busy holiday routes -Cambrian mainline, North Wales Coast and West Wales.”

Does anyone know what these are? as they are lacking in detail!

Cambrian *coast* is 6 trains instead of 5 on Sundays from 03/08 to 14/09/25 according to the PDF. There is an 0734 from Pwllheli, northbound 0845 and 1045 from Mach instead of the off-hour through from Shrewsbury. I can't see any difference on the mainline.

 

[nw1]

And that's surely the only reason the second platform at Newquay has been reinstated. It's not required for the hourly local service.

Could you not run the summer through extras in the path of one of the locals anyway?

 

[The exile]

Could you not run the summer through extras in the path of one of the locals anyway?

Only at the cost of ditching the local calls (apparently - given what’s been done for years) which is hardly in keeping with a “Metro” service.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Only at the cost of ditching the local calls (apparently - given what’s been done for years) which is hardly in keeping with a “Metro” service.

You’d also need more than a short turnround at Newquay for a long distance arrival so even if it worked in one direction, it then wouldn’t in the other.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Only at the cost of ditching the local calls (apparently - given what’s been done for years) which is hardly in keeping with a “Metro” service.

The new passing loop at Goss Moor (as well as the existing loops at Goonbarrow Jcn. and St. Blazey) plus the Newquay 2nd platform will solve that problem.

 

[The exile]

The new passing loop at Goss Moor (as well as the existing loops at Goonbarrow Jcn. and St. Blazey) plus the Newquay 2nd platform will solve that problem.

My comment was in response to the question why the summer long distance extras couldn’t just be run in the paths of the locals (thus obviating the need for the 2nd platform and loop)..

 

[berneyarms]

Cambrian *coast* is 6 trains instead of 5 on Sundays from 03/08 to 14/09/25 according to the PDF. There is an 0734 from Pwllheli, northbound 0845 and 1045 from Mach instead of the off-hour through from Shrewsbury. I can't see any difference on the mainline.

Cambrian mainline Sunday additions
08:31 Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth replaces 09:47 Machynlleth-Aberystwyth until 14 September

North Wales Sunday additions
06:21 Chester-Holyhead (to 14 Sept)

17:16 Cardiff-Holyhead (03 Aug-14 Sept - Note 13:30 Cardiff-Holyhead is curtailed to Chester during this period)

07:17 Holyhead-Crewe (to 14 Sept)

07:46 Holyhead-Man Picc advanced to 07:40 with two extra stops at Prestatyn & Flint (to 14 Sept)

 

[Peter A]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, or is just a product of TRU works at Huddersfield and will eventually be reversed, but the TPE peak time extras between Piccadilly and Huddersfield are being extended direct through to Leeds (with one continuing to/from York as well to get a 185 to the depot). They'll be operated by 2 x 185's (as current) plus an 802.

 

[Halish Railway]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, or is just a product of TRU works at Huddersfield and will eventually be reversed, but the TPE peak time extras between Piccadilly and Huddersfield are being extended direct through to Leeds (with one continuing to/from York as well to get a 185 to the depot). They'll be operated by 2 x 185's (as current) plus an 802.

This is from September 1st for the uninitiated. Interestingly the one that’s booked to be an 802 (18:30 from Manchester Piccadilly) continues to Heaton depot, but I’d assume it terminates at Leeds to relieve the guard.