Suggestions for additional Marches services

[cle]

Moderator note: Split from

Ebbw Vale redoubling

Is there somebody on here who can report on progress with redoubling of (I think) a seven mile section of the Ebbw Vale branch? I'm sure it was due to be finished in 2016, and when I last travelled on the line in January of that year, a lot of the new track was already down. We're all used to...

www.railforums.co.uk

Would there ever be a case for regular England>Marches services?

Thinking a Bristol - Newport (reverse) - Marches - Liverpool, possibly? Would link Bristol to those towns, and provide Liverpool-Bristol, which surely is as important as Liverpool-Cardiff? Perhaps the alternate hours.

Anyway a slight tangent not worth its own thread - but thinking Marches capacity and how, if resignalled, it could be further used as a WCML/XC/ relief and Birmingham avoider on a national level.

And of course, the Ebbw frequencies. Abertillery surely plays into that, but I'e not see anything too conclusive on when and how much - it's not a super complex job.

 

[Meerkat]

Only English Marches services i could imagine would be to take over Crewe Shrewsbury and extend it to Hereford to improve frequency/connections for the English stations.

 

[Envoy]

I note that the Metro has plans for a Caerphilly > Machen > Newport service. If this were to be timed to be on the Ebbw Vale line just after the Cardiff bound trains and just before when Caerphilly bound, then they would provide a connection to Newport for passengers who were using Cardiff trains to reach the Ebbw Valley. Of course, this would all be in the future as only the track as far as Machen quarry currently exists. (This Newport to Caerphilly connection would be a far quicker way of reaching trains to/from England than going into Cardiff for Rhymney Valley passengers).

Mention has been made of a Bristol to Liverpool service via The Marches. In the days of Regional Railways (1990’s), there were in fact services to/from Penzance to Manchester via The Marches
and these would split join with services in and out of south Wales at Newport. In fact today, should you wish to purchase a one way ticket from Cardiff to Manchester, it would cost you £79. However, Transport for Wales like the Bristolians more than the Cardiffians and so you can buy one of their tickets from Bristol Parkway to Manchester with a change at Newport for £54.60. So, if you wish to save money and want to go from Cardiff to Manchester, buy the BPW>MAN ticket plus one from Cardiff to Newport for £5.40 giving a total of £60 thus saving £19. (Of course, this is all about inducing the Bristolians to use TfW (& the short link with GWR) instead of the direct XC services from Bristol to Manchester. Just shows what a bit of competition can do to prices and appalling that TfW are ripping off the Welsh. (Neither to they have cheaper advance singles on this route).

 

[30907]

Bristol-Maindee curve-NW was a traditional cross- country route until about 1970, long before it was revived in the 90s. However I can see pathing problems ahead...

 

[PTR 444]

Come on, where’s the ambition??? I propose extending the Weymouth - Great Malvern service to Liverpool via Hereford, Shrewsbury and Chester!