Routes which had more trains operating 25-30 years ago than today?

[Llandudno]

Are there any lines which now have a service considerably worse than, say 25 years ago?

To quantify this:

• Exclude Coronavirus emergency timetables.
• Exclude Routes which have been converted to Tram operation eg MetrolinkE
• Excludei stations such as IBM Halt/Teesside Airport
• Exclude total line closures such as Alston/Clayton West

I was thinking along the lines of:

• Ellesmere Port - Helsby - was hourly now a couple of trains per dayK
• Kirkby - Wigan - was hourly all day, now ends at 7pm

 

[jamesr]

Two spring to mind to me:
Stockport - Stalybridge
Yeovil Pen Mill - Weymouth, which hasn’t deteriorated by much but has three hour schedule gaps which it didn’t 25 years ago, and has lost summer Saturday extras (although you could argue these were replaced by a year round Sunday morning service).

Also anything that has closed (Tilbury Riverside, Sinfin), although that seems rather silly.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Swanline service from Port Talbot to Swansea. Used to be hourly now two hourly.

 

[yorkie]

I'm not sure about 25 years ago but certainly if you go back much further than that the York to Sheffield local service via Pontefract Baghill is worse than it used to be.

 

[DannyMich2018]

Nuneaton to Leicester two trains an hour compared to three previously as the Coventry-Nott/Lincoln service runs only Lincoln-Leicester with a separate WMR Leamington-Nuneaton service as crossover were removed at Nuneaton some years ago so A Cov to Leicester/Nott etc service no longer possible. Hinckley and Narborough gone from 2 trains per hour to one (although when they were two an hour they were gaps of 50/10 so not evenly spaced), South Wigston is in the daytime between peaks only served every two hours but I believe still hourly on Sunday's.

 

[43096]

Reading-Waterloo is less frequent off-peak than it used to be: 2 per hour now; used to be 4 per hour (2 via Richmond, 2 via Hounslow).

 

[yorksrob]

Winchelsea, Doleham and Three Oaks used to have an hourly service back then.

 

[High Dyke]

I can't be certain, but many smaller intermediate stations between Grantham & Skegness now have a worse service. In BR days many of the stations were timetabled as 'Request stops'. Nowadays those same stations only get two trains a day in either direction (total of 4 per day) on Monday - Saturday, with no stopping service on Sundays. NB: Excludes Heckington and Wainfleet.

 

[AM9]

It depends on who you listen to. According to some here, the Thameslink service is terrible now because the trains (class 700) have firm, good posture designed seats, bright lights, air conditioning, no doors in gangways and run too many different services that confuse some. It was so much better when a 4-car class 319 ran up trains at 08:00 on Mondays to Fridays.

 

[leytongabriel]

Seven Sisters and Edmonton Green ( ex -Lower Edmonton) have the lost half-hourly off-peak semi-fast services they had then.
Likewise Ilford has lost all it's semi-fast Southend line trains and Romford is down to one an hour off-peak instead of three I believe.

 

[brad465]

The Maidstone East line doesn't have Cannon St trains anymore; I was still in Crayford when the 2009 timetable change saw them end, but do vaguely recall their existence. Their is a reminiscence of the old service whenever VIC trains are diverted to Cannon St due to Sunday engineering work, and/or when SEML diversions give MDE and Otford a bonus service through to Charing X.

 

[306024]

......Ilford has lost all it's semi-fast Southend line trains and Romford is down to one an hour off-peak instead of three I believe.

Romford is 2 per hour, one Southend and one Colchester Town. But meanwhile the all stations service at both Ilford and Romford has doubled from every 20 minutes to every 10 minutes.

 

[AngusH]

Possibly Stranraer (line)?

Though I think the last through sleeper from London was in 1990 or so, which is too early

Plus of course no ferries any more, which makes the station fairly awkward for almost any passenger.

 

[30907]

I can't be certain, but many smaller intermediate stations between Grantham & Skegness now have a worse service. In BR days many of the stations were timetabled as 'Request stops'. Nowadays those same stations only get two trains a day in either direction (total of 4 per day) on Monday - Saturday, with no stopping service on Sundays. NB: Excludes Heckington and Wainfleet.

True. Quite a lot of little used stations have had cuts, speeding up journeys overall, possibly a benefit to the lines concerned.

 

[Sprinter107]

I remember around about 1988 time, there was a half hourly off peak service that went from Chester to Helsby, via Hooton. The left Chester at 19 and 49 past each hour.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Knottingley to Goole, the Brigg line and the Whitby branch both had significant service reductions in the late 1980s or early 1990s, supposedly due to stock shortages as Pacers and Sprinters replaced first generation DMUs.

Sheffield to York via Pontefract, already mentioned, for similar reasons. Now the Pacers are being replaced, despite still working reliably and being driven to the scrapyard, again I don't think that they've ordered enough stock to address the shortages and restore the services to what they were.

Maybe in another 30 years?!

 

[jfollows]

Heald Green - Wilmslow, in other words trains stopping at Styal, used to be every 30 minutes. Now it's hourly, which is a recent vast improvement; a couple of years ago it was a few trains a day only (the vast majority of trains passed Styal without stopping).

 

[Cheshire Rover]

Helsby to Rock Ferry. Used to be frequent, now there are a couple of trains a day as far as Ellesmere Port.

 

[Journeyman]

Two spring to mind to me:
Stockport - Stalybridge
Yeovil Pen Mill - Weymouth, which hasn’t deteriorated by much but has three hour schedule gaps which it didn’t 25 years ago, and has lost summer Saturday extras (although you could argue these were replaced by a year round Sunday morning service).

Also anything that has closed (Tilbury Riverside, Sinfin), although that seems rather silly.

How long has Stockport to Stalybridge had it's very limited service? I think it may actually be more than 25 years.

Edit: just checked - it's been in place since May 1992, so closer to 30 years than 25.

 

[Kite159]

Nearer 30 years, but local services Newcastle - Berwick, reducing the likes of Pegswood, Chathill & Widdrington to the current token twice a day service?

 

[rg177]

Nearer 30 years, but local services Newcastle - Berwick, reducing the likes of Pegswood, Chathill & Widdrington to the current token twice a day service?

Pegswood and Widdrington would justify some sort of increased service if the paths became available, though the former already has a reasonably frequent bus into Morpeth (and one into Newcastle too)

 

[Triumph]

Even though the service now has 4 trains an hour instead of 3 Dalston Junction (in the Broad Street days) to Richmond took 41 minutes and it now takes 52 minutes.

 

[delt1c]

How about the Newquay Branch

 

[topydre]

Parts of some of the classic lines in Kent have probably reduced due to the introduction of Javelin services; I'd expect Gravesend to Dartford has seen a reduction in frequency for instance

 

[Helvellyn]

Nearer 30 years, but local services Newcastle - Berwick, reducing the likes of Pegswood, Chathill & Widdrington to the current token twice a day service?

This is an interesting one, because fast ECML services between Newcastle and Edinburgh (to/from King's Cross) were generally hourly with a smattering of CrossCountry HSTs extended North of Newcastle. Now you you two LNER services, a CrossCountry service and the recently introduced TransPennine service giving four fast services north of Newcastle. Yet the stopping services have been cut back.

 

[30907]

Parts of some of the classic lines in Kent have probably reduced due to the introduction of Javelin services; I'd expect Gravesend to Dartford has seen a reduction in frequency for instance

6tph offpeak now (well, Before Coronavirus ) but for many years 4tph (not sure about mid 90s but no more than 6tph).
Swanley-Rochester and Tonbridge-Ashford have been reduced though.

 

[Bevan Price]

St. Helens Junction to Manchester. Used to be 2 per hour; now 1 per hour (apart from a handful of peak hour extras.)
Change was due to Liverpool - Manchester Airport semi-fasts being rerouted via Warrington Central.

 

[30907]

St. Helens Junction to Manchester. Used to be 2 per hour; now 1 per hour (apart from a handful of peak hour extras.)
Change was due to Liverpool - Manchester Airport semi-fasts being rerouted via Warrington Central.

And to stops on TPE being moved elsewhere.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Even though the service now has 4 trains an hour instead of 3 Dalston Junction (in the Broad Street days) to Richmond took 41 minutes and it now takes 52 minutes.

That's interesting. Off the top of my head I can't think of a reason for that, even allowing for a change of trains at Highbury & Islington.

 

[30907]

That's interesting. Off the top of my head I can't think of a reason for that, even allowing for a change of trains at Highbury & Islington.

Longer station stops, as slam doors are no more: an additonal 30sec at each station adds up to 9min.