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Swansea FGW Services will they need to stop at Bristol Parkway?

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SkinnyDave

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With 4 TPH and two of those going via Parkway from Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington will there still be a need for Swansea and Cardiff services to stop at Parkway?
 
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anthony263

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Well in the IEP timetable I posted a while back Swansea - London services would generally run non stop between Newport & Reaing.

A problems is that a lot of people commute from Bristol Parkway to places like Swindon and Didcot with the Bristol TM - London via Parkway services expected to run non stop from Parkway to London something will have to run between Parkway and Didcot assuming paths are available.

There are a good number of people who change @ Bristol Parkway for the crosscountry services although this could be sorted if there was say a 30 minutely service beteween Cardiff and Birmingham New Street.

Either way Bristol Parkway is a very busy station in its own right since passengers can catch a train to Swindon etc without have to drive through Bristol city centre to reach Temple Meads
 

anthony263

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It was on the IEP thread we had on this forum a while back. If not it is also on a similar thread over on the old WNXX or FGW coffee shop forums.

The actual timetable I had is on my pc back at my parents house not on the laptop I am using now at my house in Worcester
 

WelshBluebird

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I hope they do continue to call at Parkway. I often travel from Keynsham to Cardiff in the Friday evening peak. The 158's from Temple Meads to Cardiff are usually packed full and can be quite uncomfortable so sometimes I prefer to stay on until Parkway and pick up on of the HST's from there as you are much more likely to get a seat and they are more comfortable. Only works out about ten minutes longer too.
 

edwin_m

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Might be OK if the Birmingham train makes at good Swansea connection at Cardiff in both directions. If it doesn't (as I think was the case last time I went that way) then it will be a disadvantage for those travelling between Swansea and the Midlands.
 

Greenback

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From a purely selfish point of view, I don't care if Bristol Parkway stops are ommitted. I try and avoid travelling by XC Voyagers if I can at all help it, and would prefer to travel north via the Marches, to Birmingham via Gloucester, and to the South West by FGW from Cardiff.

However, I do recognise that Bristol Parkway is used by a lot of people who go to Swindon, Newport, Reading etc, so some sort of provision should be made for those flows.
 

anthony263

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I did read a suggestion of a hourly Cardiff - Bristol - Swindon - Oxford service perhaps this would be ideal since it would allow a direct link to be retained between Parkway and Swindon as well as allowing for a direct service betwee Bristol and Oxford although Temple Meads would miss out.

South Wales - London services could miss out Parkway apart from a few selected services each way per day
 

Greenback

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I did read a suggestion of a hourly Cardiff - Bristol - Swindon - Oxford service perhaps this would be ideal since it would allow a direct link to be retained between Parkway and Swindon as well as allowing for a direct service betwee Bristol and Oxford although Temple Meads would miss out.

South Wales - London services could miss out Parkway apart from a few selected services each way per day

That would be a sensible idea if it can be done. It would give South Wales a direct service to Oxford, and there will be plenty of opportunities for passengers from Bristol Temple Meads to change at either Swindon, Didcot or Bristol Parkway.
 

tbtc

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If you want to skip one stop on the Swansea - Paddington services then I'd skip Swindon (not Parkway).

Bristol Parkway is a very useful place to change from Cross Country to Great Western services (esp as Swansea has lost its direct services to Birmingham/ Bristol). Plus there's a few destinations in/around northern Bristol that are much better served than by Temple Meads.

Since we've seen how popular the "turn up and go" frequencies on many FGW routes have become in recent years, I'd be surprised to see Bristol Parkway omitted from any regular services (maybe a token "fast" morning peak service running non-stop, so that the TOC can boast about journey times, but certainly not the clockface daytime services).
 

Greenback

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If you want to skip one stop on the Swansea - Paddington services then I'd skip Swindon (not Parkway).

I'd skip both!

Bristol Parkway is a very useful place to change from Cross Country to Great Western services (esp as Swansea has lost its direct services to Birmingham/ Bristol). Plus there's a few destinations in/around northern Bristol that are much better served than by Temple Meads.

I'm not abig fan for changing at Parkway for reasons I've already mentioned. But I agree that the catchment area warrants a decent service.

Since we've seen how popular the "turn up and go" frequencies on many FGW routes have become in recent years, I'd be surprised to see Bristol Parkway omitted from any regular services (maybe a token "fast" morning peak service running non-stop, so that the TOC can boast about journey times, but certainly not the clockface daytime services).

I would like to see one train per hour from Temple Meads calling at Bristol Parkway and then running non stop to Reading.

I'd also like to see one train per hour from South Wales running fast between Newport and Reading, and the other making calls at Bristol Parkway and Swindon.

The other trains from Temple Meads running via Bath can call at Didcot and Swindon.
 

ValleyLines142

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I agree with what others have said; Parkway currently has good connection times for XC services to the north (London services arriving at 01 and 31, Birmingham and the north services departing at 39 and 09).

The only other option is to change at Temple Meads off the Portsmouth and Taunton trains (again with about ten minutes or so connection time), but not ideal really.

Whatever happens, as long as they don't stop the calls at Parkway until 2015, as I still have a year in uni to go and commute from Parkway to Cardiff! :lol:
 
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