NR responce to ORR/ ATW LONDON

[Greenback]

I'd not seen anything either. Could get even more complicated if they tried (not sure there are paths to Pwllheli for hourly, of course), given the way the current services split/ join/ drop units.

Still, had a lovely holiday around there last year, would be good if the trains were a bit more frequent though

So did we! The basic two hourly frequency didn't work well with the local buses, such as the Snowdon Sherpa, but the trains seemed well used even though it was not the traditional holiday period, so the demand is there...ther was also quite a long gap before the last train from Machynlleth to pwllheil, which was pretty inconvenient!

The Dep Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones asked The All Wales Franchise to look at
making the Cambrian line hourly , Most middle day trains join & split at
machynlleth sections going to Aber & Pwhlelli, it is unlikly Pwhelli would miss out on some extra service ,there are several passing places (Barmouth/Porthmadoc etc) and this line is highly subsidised by the County Council for social reasons.

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that! With loops at Tywyn, barmouth,Harlech and Machynlleth I;m sure an hourly service would be possible, but maybe not clockface...do they still tiem weekday trains around the school traffic to and from Harlech?

 

[merlodlliw]

So did we! The basic two hourly frequency didn't work well with the local buses, such as the Snowdon Sherpa, but the trains seemed well used even though it was not the traditional holiday period, so the demand is there...ther was also quite a long gap before the last train from Machynlleth to pwllheil, which was pretty inconvenient!



That's interesting, I hadn't heard that! With loops at Tywyn, barmouth,Harlech and Machynlleth I;m sure an hourly service would be possible, but maybe not clockface...do they still tiem weekday trains around the school traffic to and from Harlech?

A lot of school traffic is carried, due to no other means, and this evening we have the Friday special,Machynlleth to Barmouth and return that connects
with the Shrewsbury/ Aber ex Mach 1900 returning Barmouth 2210,
otherwise no trains on this line on the down for 4 hours, that is 1700 until
the last down ex Mach 2115 Mon to Thursday.
One wonders why on earth not send this Friday special all the way to Pwl, instead it waits in Barmouth for hours prior to returning to Mach, As the County Councils pays for it,perhaps they should be made aware it exists.
Arriva run brand new buses Traws Cambria Wrexham to Barmouth
every day, as did the rail line from Ruabon,
WAG bought the buses, Gwynedd CC pay for the train.
Hope this helps, but the line would improve with a two hourly service,perhaps that was where I was coming from. Nice banter on this subject.

 

[Drimnagh Road]

I think the XC ones worked Blackpool-Portsmouth before 47s.

 

[The Planner]

The hourly service will be purely Aber based. The coast timetable is unlikely to increase due to the constraints, everything has to pass at the loops and as they arent exactly equidistant apart you would always have a service sat at a station for ages. As already mentioned, it is driven by the school hours aswell which are early start and early finish compared to most.

 

[merlodlliw]

Good Morning Planner.
I personally am of the opinion, that if the Aber goes hourly(?), politically and thats where the money comes from, some extra service will have to be put on the line North of the Dyffi, it may not be hourly, The Minister who asked for the study of Cambrian services going hourly, wont put himself in the same position and get the flack he got over Gerald. No way will he allow the plaid County of Gwynedd to be left out, during election years of 2010 & 2011, my opinion of course, but the coast line exists on Gwynedd CC subsidies.
A gap of 4 hours on this line after 5.00p.m. is already being questioned by Politicians within Gwynedd.
Wether or not extra services are provided in Wales by the All Wales Franchise is up to WAG now, without lame excuses from the toc or others,

 

[tbtc]

Good Morning Planner.
I personally am of the opinion, that if the Aber goes hourly(?), politically and thats where the money comes from, some extra service will have to be put on the line North of the Dyffi, it may not be hourly, The Minister who asked for the study of Cambrian services going hourly, wont put himself in the same position and get the flack he got over Gerald. No way will he allow the plaid County of Gwynedd to be left out, during election years of 2010 & 2011, my opinion of course, but the coast line exists on Gwynedd CC subsidies.
A gap of 4 hours on this line after 5.00p.m. is already being questioned by Politicians within Gwynedd.
Wether or not extra services are provided in Wales by the All Wales Franchise is up to WAG now, without lame excuses from the toc or others,

To be honest I'm slightly surprised they've not tried a token daily service to Cardiff from the line (show that everywhere in Wales is linked to the capital etc etc).

 

[merlodlliw]

To be honest I'm slightly surprised they've not tried a token daily service to Cardiff from the line (show that everywhere in Wales is linked to the capital etc etc).

Its a point, but with over 20 plus trains a day from Shrewsbury to Cardiff run by
the All Wales Franchise, not a lot of need, except the wait at Salop.

 

[tbtc]

Its a point, but with over 20 plus trains a day from Shrewsbury to Cardiff run by
the All Wales Franchise, not a lot of need, except the wait at Salop.

Oh, I agree, but you know what politicians are like for their 'token' services - all these places in the UK where there'd be an outcry if the once a day service to London was scrapped, or proposals by Grand Central/ Union/ Northern (etc) to link every suburb of the north of England to London.

 

[merlodlliw]

Oh, I agree, but you know what politicians are like for their 'token' services - all these places in the UK where there'd be an outcry if the once a day service to London was scrapped, or proposals by Grand Central/ Union/ Northern (etc) to link every suburb of the north of England to London.

Yes know what you mean, I deal with a lot of Politicians, anyhow now the WAG having opened its mid Wales Palace in Aber should give the extra services more clout, that is the hourly service.

I have probably mentioned this before, but when Wyn Roberts was Minister of
State for Wales or Welsh Secretary , it was he who got the once daily Cardiff to Holyhead loco hauled started, so as to get home without changing, his Constituency was Conwy. When he was in Westminster, he always got the train to Runcorn from Euston, to be picked up by a ministerial car and driven
to Conwy, to save changing at Crewe.

I have just heard WAG are having a fit over the NR costings to semi double the Wrexham Saltney line, but as the Minister as said it will happen?,perhaps
the £40oddM supposed set aside, may have gone already, ill try and get this news item on the thread.

 

[The Planner]

£30 million and I had heard prelim work had started on the ground already ??

 

[merlodlliw]

Good Evening Planner

We have seen nothing yet, no announcements or anything.


M

 

[TDK]

£30 million and I had heard prelim work had started on the ground already ??

I drove over the route a week ago and the only noticable difference was a new boundry fence that will need to be moved in places to accomodate a dual line.However the line is blocked today for something, don't know what for though.

 

[daikilo]

Yes know what you mean, I deal with a lot of Politicians, anyhow now the WAG having opened its mid Wales Palace in Aber should give the extra services more clout, that is the hourly service.

I have probably mentioned this before, but when Wyn Roberts was Minister of
State for Wales or Welsh Secretary , it was he who got the once daily Cardiff to Holyhead loco hauled started, so as to get home without changing, his Constituency was Conwy. When he was in Westminster, he always got the train to Runcorn from Euston, to be picked up by a ministerial car and driven
to Conwy, to save changing at Crewe.

I have just heard WAG are having a fit over the NR costings to semi double the Wrexham Saltney line, but as the Minister as said it will happen?,perhaps
the £40oddM supposed set aside, may have gone already, ill try and get this news item on the thread.

If I were you, I would go for reinstatement of the southerly route via Carmarthen. This would add a host of new opportunities whlist via Shrewsbury likely bleed most traffic off existing services. I'm serious, fund it with CO2 credits.

 

[Greenback]

A lot of school traffic is carried, due to no other means, and this evening we have the Friday special,Machynlleth to Barmouth and return that connects
with the Shrewsbury/ Aber ex Mach 1900 returning Barmouth 2210,
otherwise no trains on this line on the down for 4 hours, that is 1700 until
the last down ex Mach 2115 Mon to Thursday.
One wonders why on earth not send this Friday special all the way to Pwl, instead it waits in Barmouth for hours prior to returning to Mach, As the County Councils pays for it,perhaps they should be made aware it exists.
Arriva run brand new buses Traws Cambria Wrexham to Barmouth
every day, as did the rail line from Ruabon,
WAG bought the buses, Gwynedd CC pay for the train.
Hope this helps, but the line would improve with a two hourly service,perhaps that was where I was coming from. Nice banter on this subject.

I've never understood the purpose of the Mach-Barmouth FO train! We took the bus last July from Baromouth - Bala and Llangollen, very impressed with them! When we went South from Talsarnau the evening gap was a right pain, and if we went North, we had to be on the last train back from Porthmadog at 2025 or face a very, very long walk!

The hourly service will be purely Aber based. The coast timetable is unlikely to increase due to the constraints, everything has to pass at the loops and as they arent exactly equidistant apart you would always have a service sat at a station for ages. As already mentioned, it is driven by the school hours aswell which are early start and early finish compared to most.

There are already times when the train sits at a station for a while, which is why I thought the school times had a bearing. According to the TT, the times between the loops are Pwllheli - Porthmadog 24 mins, Porthmadog - Harlech 20 mins, Harlech - Barmouth 25 mins, Barmouth - Tywyn 33 mins, Tywyn - Mach 26 mins (discounting padding!), so it shouldn;t be too difficult to put some extra trains in, if that's what the politicians want!

 

[Voyager 2093]

Forgive me all if this has been asked already but if this service is allowed what will be the journey time?

 

[robert2000]

5 hours i think, from aber to london.