Should Severn Tunnel Junction get extra calls?

[Class 170101]

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...london-to-cardiff-now-rejected-by-orr.180669/

Oh I quite agree. If I was Government (and I’m not), and had this one been approved, I’d have been legislating to change that part of the structure in short order.

Maybe not allowed until after Brexit - however....

Suppose the question has to be asked though would Severn Tunnel Junction Station to London have been viable and perhaps some GW services for London should stop there in the peak direction up in the morning and down in the evening?

 

[tiptoptaff]

Maybe not allowed until after Brexit - however....

Suppose the question has to be asked though would Severn Tunnel Junction Station to London have been viable and perhaps some GW services for London should stop there in the peak direction up in the morning and down in the evening?

I said somewhere up thread that this would be the best solution - it wouldn't be abstractive as it'll keep the cash within GWR and may be generative slightly.

But as I also said upthread, the majority of the people who use the train to get to London within the STJ catchment area already do, from Newport or Bristol Parkway, the latter having 4tph at certain times of the day (in non-covid timetables)

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

I think the argument for STJ stops has been weakened by the abolition of tolls on the Severn Bridge and the Second Severn Crossing. As Tiptoptaff points out, Bristol Parkway is pretty convenient for people from southern Mon.

There probably is an argument though that the future Cardiff Parkway station and a possible Swansea Parkway on the Swansea District Line could justify services with a different set of stops to the standard Swansea/Cardiff > Paddington services.

Maybe something like Carmarthen > Llanelli > Swansea Parkway > Cardiff Central > Cardiff Parkway > Newport > STJ > Bristol Parkway NS > Paddington would work. It would probably need to be GWR though rather than an open access operator.

 

[paul1609]

i only go to Bristol Parkway as a destination but every time the traffic in the area is chaotic (it is in Bristol Generally). Is Bristol Parkway really an attractive railhead for South Wales? Surely in the time you get into the station carpark you could be a considerable way east on the M4?

 

[tiptoptaff]

i only go to Bristol Parkway as a destination but every time the traffic in the area is chaotic (it is in Bristol Generally). Is Bristol Parkway really an attractive railhead for South Wales? Surely in the time you get into the station carpark you could be a considerable way east on the M4?

In fairness, getting to Parkway off the M4/M32 isn't too onerous

 

[-Colly405-]

In fairness, getting to Parkway off the M4/M32 isn't too onerous

Especially with the new more direct access to the east end of the station via M32 Jn 1, the A4174 and Rosedown Ave (aka Stoke Gifford Bypass, aka SGTL, aka "the new road").

 

[tiptoptaff]

Especially with the new more direct access to the east end of the station via M32 Jn 1, the A4174 and Rosedown Ave (aka Stoke Gifford Bypass, aka SGTL, aka "the new road").

Yep. Takes 5minutes to get to Parkway now. Even if it's been busy hasn't taken much longer than 10

 

[Envoy]

In normal times, the traffic on the motorways around Bristol is pretty bad. For the people of much of Monmouthshire, SevernTunnel Junction would be a very convenient place to catch trains - especially for London. Going the wrong way into Newport is also not easy.

 

[stj]

Maybe not allowed until after Brexit - however....

Suppose the question has to be asked though would Severn Tunnel Junction Station to London have been viable and perhaps some GW services for London should stop there in the peak direction up in the morning and down in the evening?

I have thought the same would give a quick journey from STJ to Parkway and stations not as far as Paddington without changing.I know of commuters to Swindon and Didcot from STJ.