TfW restoring most of its pre-March 2020 TT from 13/9

[Dai Corner]

Two of those are the daytime "boat trains" from London and Manchester to connect with the ferries to/from Dublin at Holyhead. The Manchester train is redirected from Llandudno to Holyhead to cope with potential extra loadings.

The third service is an all stations stopper from Prestatyn onwards.

The usual response is that there are very few foot passengers on the ferries for London or Manchester as it's quicker and cheaper to fly.

 

[craigybagel]

The usual response is that there are very few foot passengers on the ferries for London or Manchester as it's quicker and cheaper to fly.

Yes and no. Foot passenger numbers across all of the Ireland - UK routes are a lot less than they used to be up till the 90s for those very reasons. But the daytime boats on the Dublin - Holyhead route still see a pretty decent amount of foot passengers, enough that the regular hourly service of 2 or 3 car units that Holyhead gets for most of the rest of the day wouldn't be enough to cope.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The other problem is that the ferry schedules (two operators) don't really match the rail services any more.
There doesn't seem to be a "guiding mind" on connections, and certainly not a single main connection (day/night) to focus on as per Irish Mail days.
The main ships all do 2 round trips daily on roughly 12-hour headways, and Irish Ferries has a couple of Dublin Swift daytime fast crossings.

 

[berneyarms]

The usual response is that there are very few foot passengers on the ferries for London or Manchester as it's quicker and cheaper to fly.

The other problem is that the ferry schedules (two operators) don't really match the rail services any more.
There doesn't seem to be a "guiding mind" on connections, and certainly not a single main connection (day/night) to focus on as per Irish Mail days.
The main ships all do 2 round trips daily on roughly 12-hour headways, and Irish Ferries has a couple of Dublin Swift daytime fast crossings.

There have been no rail connections with overnight ferries for years. That market ceased with the arrival of low cost airlines.

However, there most definitely are rail connections into and out of the daytime classic ferries at lunchtime at Holyhead from and to Dublin.

The 09:10 AWC service ex-Euston and 09:52 TfW service ex-Manchester Airport connect into the two ferry sailings to Dublin.

Similarly from Holyhead the 12:53 AWC service to Euston (currently curtailed to Crewe) and the 13:07 TfW service to Manchester Piccadilly do connect with the early morning sailings from Dublin.

They are probably the last remaining ferry sailings between Dublin and Holyhead that do generate sail/rail traffic in any numbers.

The Swift hasn’t sailed since pre-Covid.

 

[craigybagel]

And whilst there are two ferry companies these days rather than the monopoly of Sealink, the two companies sail at broadly the same times - as these are the times that best suit the logistics industries on both sides. The busiest sailings worked by the largest ferries are still very close to the traditional Sealink sailing times that go back decades (0900 and 2100 from Ireland, 0300 and 1500 from Wales).

Dublin Port asked the two companies to stagger their arrival times as there were worries about how long the queues at customs post Brexit would be with two of the largest ferries in the world arriving in quick succession. The companies refused, owing to the demands of the logistics industry I mentioned above.

 

[PHILIPE]

1730 Manchester Airport to Holyhead again reported as conveying 2 packed out carriages and no working toilets and three empty ones. I believe the 3 Coach 175 is now the booked working. I wonder if management read Twitter reports because it would be nice to have some two way feedback.

TFW showing 99 cancellations and over 40 shorts tomorrow Saturday. Mostly all are in the Cardiff Valleys

 

[Philip]

The 16:30 Man Airport to Chester was only a 2-car unit today; previously this week it has been 3-car, so perhaps this partly explains why the 17:30 was busy in the shorter unit. It looks like the same unit on the 16:30 also forms part of the 09:52 Piccadilly to Holyhead, as this was formed of 4 coaches today rather than the usual 5.

I'm guessing once all 175s are refurbished then another 3-car diagram will be added to Manchester to North Wales?

 

[Envoy]

Why is the City Line now split in Cardiff? Trains now run from Radyr via Fairwater to Central where they terminate and then go back to Radyr. Trains from Coryton now go to the Bay & back. Thus, passengers from the Coryton line have to change at Queen Street to reach Central. Anybody wishing to say go from Waungron to Ty-Glas now has to use 3 trains whereas before it was all done on one train.

 

[Kite159]

Quite a few cancellations today it looks like, mix between "Resource availablity" and signalling issues on the Aberdare line. Not the best for the first Saturday of the new timetable.

(Time of posting journey check was reporting 93 full cancellations & 52 part cancellations)

 

[PHILIPE]

Why is the City Line now split in Cardiff? Trains now run from Radyr via Fairwater to Central where they terminate and then go back to Radyr. Trains from Coryton now go to the Bay & back. Thus, passengers from the Coryton line have to change at Queen Street to reach Central. Anybody wishing to say go from Waungron to Ty-Glas now has to use 3 trains whereas before it was all done on one train.

This has been well documented on the Forum but may be spread across more than one thread.. Platform 1 (Bay) at Queen St is out of use and the points disconnected due to a problem with the bridge and as for how long I am not sure and the Metro construction could have a bearing on this. Because of this situation trains to the Bay have to run as through trains from somewhere so Coryton it is. They have been running from Pontypridd and Caerphilly during the COVID reduced Timetable but with the re-introduction of many servicers this week these are now running from further up the Valleys and through Central to other destinations. On a Sunday and during evenings, Bay trains can be pathed to reverse in and out of Platform 2.

Quite a few cancellations today it looks like, mix between "Resource availablity" and signalling issues on the Aberdare line. Not the best for the first Saturday of the new timetable.

(Time of posting journey check was reporting 93 full cancellations & 52 part cancellations)

See #Post 96. The number showing now would be reduced as it would not include trains already booked to have completed their journey. TFW have started using the silly "Resource Availability" to report unit shortage also.

 

[Envoy]

Many thanks Philipe for your explanation regarding my query about the City Line.

 

[PHILIPE]

The 16:30 Man Airport to Chester was only a 2-car unit today; previously this week it has been 3-car, so perhaps this partly explains why the 17:30 was busy in the shorter unit. It looks like the same unit on the 16:30 also forms part of the 09:52 Piccadilly to Holyhead, as this was formed of 4 coaches today rather than the usual 5.

I'm guessing once all 175s are refurbished then another 3-car diagram will be added to Manchester to North Wales?

Rerfurbishments etc., are absorbed within the fleet allocation

 

[Cardiff123]

TFW showing 99 cancellations and over 40 shorts tomorrow Saturday. Mostly all are in the Cardiff Valleys

TFW have started using the silly "Resource Availability" to report unit shortage also.

There's been a banner at the top of the TfW journey check page today saying today's problems are due to "resourcing availability" which is jargon that just makes no sense to anyone.

Does any other TOC hide behind this silly, meaningless phrase to avoid telling passengers what the real reasons are for mass cancellations, short formations and other problems? I think ATW started using it towards the end of their tenure and TfW have continued to run with it.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Is it too early to ask if the new government-owned TfW Rail is better/worse than the previous Keolis-Amey operation? Or ATW?
There doesn't seem much of an improvement from what I can see.

Do we know why all the Mk4 diagrams were cancelled yesterday (Gerald was curtailed to a Chester-Cardiff return, then ECS off to Crewe).

 

[PHILIPE]

Is it too early to ask if the new government-owned TfW Rail is better/worse than the previous Keolis-Amey operation? Or ATW?
There doesn't seem much of an improvement from what I can see.

Do we know why all the Mk4 diagrams were cancelled yesterday (Gerald was curtailed to a Chester-Cardiff return, then ECS off to Crewe).

Either no or short of drivers with traction knowledge

 

[wobman]

Either no or short of drivers with traction knowledge

This problem is effecting lots of tocs, also people forget covid has had a huge impact on training causing the resource availability issues.

 

[wobman]

Is it too early to ask if the new government-owned TfW Rail is better/worse than the previous Keolis-Amey operation? Or ATW?
There doesn't seem much of an improvement from what I can see.

Do we know why all the Mk4 diagrams were cancelled yesterday (Gerald was curtailed to a Chester-Cardiff return, then ECS off to Crewe).

Next year more and more of the trainee drivers will be out and about and the new 197's will be appearing, TFW have lots of very ambitious long term plans. Unfortunately covid has caused huge problems, it's going to take some time to catch up with the delays it has caused.

In the North alone TFW are having 3 new types of traction, then next year extra services and more routes will start.
This is afters ATW running a zero growth franchise for over 15 years.

 

[Cardiff123]

Next year more and more of the trainee drivers will be out and about and the new 197's will be appearing, TFW have lots of very ambitious long term plans. Unfortunately covid has caused huge problems, it's going to take some time to catch up with the delays it has caused.

In the North alone TFW are having 3 new types of traction, then next year extra services and more routes will start.
This is afters ATW running a zero growth franchise for over 15 years.

That's all fair enough, but the problems there have been with crew availability this summer, and that are continuing at the moment, are dire.

Could TfW have not tried to keep on drivers & guards that have retired over the last 2 years for longer, until the new recruits could start coming through to take over?

 

[craigybagel]

That's all fair enough, but the problems there have been with crew availability this summer, and that are continuing at the moment, are dire.

Thanks to Covid. I've never known recruitment and training to be as busy as it has been of late. If it wasn't for Covid holding things up so much we'd be in a very different scenario.

Could TfW have not tried to keep on drivers & guards that have retired over the last 2 years for longer, until the new recruits could start coming through to take over?

How exactly do you propose they go about this? It's not like they're telling people to retire! Thankfully employees have the right to choose when they wish to retire, as long as they're still fit to do the job. FWIW almost all of the retirees of late at my depot have been well into their sixties, most of them with several decades of service behind them.

 

[Cardiff123]

How exactly do you propose they go about this? It's not like they're telling people to retire! Thankfully employees have the right to choose when they wish to retire, as long as they're still fit to do the job. FWIW almost all of the retirees of late at my depot have been well into their sixties, most of them with several decades of service behind them.

Well the obvious answer is extra cash to tempt people to stay on a little longer. But if people want to retire then obviously TfW can't stop them. Plus extra cash is not something that's exactly plentiful in the public sector the moment. So I agree there's no easy solutions to the current situation

 

[PHILIPE]

The shortages today have hit the Valleys this afternoon and evening but Carmarthen has also been a problem for much of the day with numerous cancellations. The Pembroke Dock Branch has been particularly affected and no buses could be sourced with people trying to return home from holiday. I read of a couple trying to return from Tenby to Shrewsbury who caught service buses first from Tenby to Haverfordwest and then another one from there to Aberystwyth in order to catch a train.
NOTE:- This is not in support of the re-opening of a certain route

 

[route101]

... and remember the Valleys Day Ranger (or whatever it's called this month) is valid on Stagecoach buses. Handy at times if train timetables don't work out or there are cancellations. Some, such as the 172 Aberdare-Bridgend and 1 Merthyr-Bargoed, are scenic too.

Never realised it was valid on the buses.I used the 1 from Rhymney to Merthyr Tydfil.

 

[wobman]

If covid hadn't happened TFW like many tocs would be in a far better position, many of the retirees just wanted out of the industry after decades of working shifts.
Plus staying on after sorting their pension would have big tax implications for them, some do go part time but that's planned as a job share.

 

[Dai Corner]

The 'resource availability' issues continue today, with 60 cancellations and 28 other updates (mostly starting or terminating short) reported on Journeycheck at the time of writing.

 

[Kite159]

It was a bit grim in Cardiff yesterday evening, with many delays & cancellations meaning trains were dumped on the platforms, having been cancelled part-way

I think at one time both P7 & P8 were blocked and anything to/from Queen Street had to go via platform 6.

Add on signalling issues on the Aberdare branch (trains couldn't pass at Mountain Ash according to the guard on one train when she was explaining the reduced timetable to passengers) and something blocking the line at Porth in the afternoon. Not the best of days for TfW

 

[PHILIPE]

The 'resource availability' issues continue today, with 60 cancellations and 28 other updates (mostly starting or terminating short) reported on Journeycheck at the time of writing.

It's not quite as severe as all the Cardiff Bay shuttles throughout the day are mentioned and Rhymney services are shown to call at Gilfach Fargoed previously closed to COVID short platform restrictions. It has now re-opened but were not showing in the Timetable.

The 'resource availability' issues continue today, with 60 cancellations and 28 other updates (mostly starting or terminating short) reported on Journeycheck at the time of writing.

TFW winding up the Saturday cancellations again. 18 Cancellations and 5 part in the Cardiff Valleys. I tweeted TFW on Sunday asking them to feed back that a public Media statement from the hierarchy wouldn't be out of place. Result - Nothing

Saturdays were mostly afternoon and evening. Unlike Sunday last week, there were just 2 cancellations and 2 shorts today all just one complete diagram

 

[PHILIPE]

Fun and games today with 1730 Manchester Airport to Holyhead (Load 5) with more than one punter complaining that the front 2 coaches being full and standing and the rear 3 empty and which are booked to detach at Chester.. TFW replied by saying it was due to platform lengths and even posted a comment on Journey Check saying "Overcrowded from Oxford Rd". As it is not booked (very hush hush up thread) to call at Newton-le-Willows that can only leave Helsby and Frodsham (Warrington OK) but I do not know the lengths of these stations personally. I saw a copy of the diagrams in advance and it was booked for a 175/0 and 175/1 (5). Perhaps somebody could, if possible please, confirm the up to date diagrammed formation and I'm inclined to agree about the red herring suggestion.

Somebody at TFW must have a red face as all 5 carriages now in use. When investigating it transpired that the short platforms referred to were at Newton-le-Willows and Earlestown where the stops had been removed.

 

[PHILIPE]

We were expecting the PDF Timetables about 2 weeks ago but still waiting and people keep chasing them on Twitter. TFW keep saying they will be available soon but had to wait to finalise some last minute changes.

TFW's PDFs were eventually posted at the end of last week roughly a month after the start of the Timetable

 

[Cardiff123]

It's the first full capacity rugby match since before March 2020 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff this Saturday. TfW are running adverts across their social media telling passengers to plan in advance, expect trains to be busy, wear face coverings etc.

Could we see trains cancelled in the north to strengthen services on the Valleys and in the south? I can't see the usual 2 car 150s that are standard on the Valleys now being enough capacity on such a big match day.
I guess the other Q is will services run at all though, or will we see train crew booking the weekend off and cancellations due to "resource availability" being a big issue this weekend?

 

[WelshBluebird]

I can't see the usual 2 car 150s that are standard on the Valleys now being enough capacity on such a big match day.

Never stopped them (or two car pacers - which I doubt carry significantly more passengers) being used for big match days in the past!