Two questions around Cardiff

[MrJamesBrown]

Firstly next to a couple of signals tonight there was an 'M' illuminated. Does anybody know what this means??

If anybody was wondering where the signals were, their rough positions are circled in the attached image.

Secondly when City line trains diverge from the Vale of Glamorgan line around the side of Cardiff Canton there has been a lot of work recently to clean out the triangle and to put down what looks ballast, is this work in relation to doubling this chord?

Thanks

James

 

[StripeyNick]

I've always assumed the M meant Main.....as in main line.

As for the triangle..........no idea as to why it's been cleared.

 

[MrJamesBrown]

I've always assumed the M meant Main.....as in main line.

Ah that does make sense. So it is an alternate form of diverging indicator?

 

[Gareth Marston]

Firstly next to a couple of signals tonight there was an 'M' illuminated. Does anybody know what this means??

If anybody was wondering where the signals were, their rough positions are circled in the attached image.

Secondly when City line trains diverge from the Vale of Glamorgan line around the side of Cardiff Canton there has been a lot of work recently to clean out the triangle and to put down what looks ballast, is this work in relation to doubling this chord?

Thanks

James

Yes there's defiantly a plan to double the chord so that trains from Merthyr can run "express" south of Pontypridd via the City line and cut 10-12 minutes off journey time. A bay will be reinstated at Ponty also to maintain the frequency via Cathays and Queen St.

 

[Pacerpilot]

Yep, Its M for Main line. And (depending on which signal you are looking at) they can display

R - Relief
L - Llandaff
N - Ninian Park
B - Barry

 

[MrJamesBrown]

Yes there's defiantly a plan to double the chord so that trains from Merthyr can run "express" south of Pontypridd via the City line and cut 10-12 minutes off journey time. A bay will be reinstated at Ponty also to maintain the frequency via Cathays and Queen St.

Express?? Damn...That will be highly fustrating if I have missed my train ¬_¬

Yep, Its M for Main line. And (depending on which signal you are looking at) they can display

R - Relief
L - Llandaff
N - Ninian Park
B - Barry

Ahhh right. Am I right in saying that the relief lines are only from Cardiff in the Newport direction?

 

[Pacerpilot]

There's down relief out towards Bridgend and rejoins the main line at Leckwith, just beyond Canton Depot

 

[MrJamesBrown]

There's down relief out towards Bridgend and rejoins the main line at Leckwith, just beyond Canton Depot

Oh I know, is it regularly used?

 

[anthony263]

Oh I know, is it regularly used?

Yes by freights and I am sure there is a Maesteg service which gets overtaken by a FGW hst heading to Swansea?

 

[Pacerpilot]

It's also used to stand out terminating services from the East before crossing them back to the upside platforms.
It's also bi directional for empty stock and allows access to Canton if the West Jn is under possession.

 

[krus_aragon]

Yes by freights and I am sure there is a Maesteg service which gets overtaken by a FGW hst heading to Swansea?

I've known the 08:08 Heart of Wales service to be held in the relief loop on a few occasions when the 08:02 HST is running late. The HoW leaves the platform on time and then waits a few minutes for the HST to get in front.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Express?? Damn...That will be highly fustrating if I have missed my train ¬_¬

2tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff will be non stop to Central there will still be 6 tph via Cathays doing all stops

Ahhh right. Am I right in saying that the relief lines are only from Cardiff in the Newport direction?

2tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff will be non stop to Central there will still be 6 tph via Cathays doing all stops

 

[MrJamesBrown]

2tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff will be non stop to Central there will still be 6 tph via Cathays doing all stops

I live on the City line, hence the frustration

 

[paulravuslante]

You've jogged my memory with this. L is for Llandaff, but does that appear for all trains going via Queen Street irrespective of its destination? E.g. Rhymney / Coryton trains also have to have the L routing.

Yep, Its M for Main line. And (depending on which signal you are looking at) they can display

R - Relief
L - Llandaff
N - Ninian Park
B - Barry

 

[Pacerpilot]

Yes, it does. All trains routed to Queen street get that indication.

 

[paulravuslante]

Yes, it does. All trains routed to Queen street get that indication.

Thanks!

 

[WelshBluebird]

2tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff will be non stop to Central there will still be 6 tph via Cathays doing all stops

Will the "express" services just be from merthyr, or is there any chance of any of the Treherbert services running non stop too? (I know one or two already do run non stop at certain times of the day, but these are held at various points on the route so it doesn't speed the journey up at all).

 

[Railsigns]

Yes there's defiantly a plan to double the chord so that trains from Merthyr can run "express" south of Pontypridd via the City line

"Defiantly"? In defiance of what exactly?

 

[anthony263]

Will the "express" services just be from merthyr, or is there any chance of any of the Treherbert services running non stop too? (I know one or two already do run non stop at certain times of the day, but these are held at various points on the route so it doesn't speed the journey up at all).

I would agree that it would be better to speed up the Treherbert trains rather than those from Merthyr Tydfil.

You could shave some time off the Merthyr trains by reducing the amount of padding in the timetable.

Hopefully after electrification we can see an hourly service on most of the valley lines

 

[Gareth Marston]

I would agree that it would be better to speed up the Treherbert trains rather than those from Merthyr Tydfil.

You could shave some time off the Merthyr trains by reducing the amount of padding in the timetable.

Hopefully after electrification we can see an hourly service on most of the valley lines

These plans were starting to be formulated when I was in RPC Wales and that was abolished 7 years ago. The focus on Merthyr is because of its size and relatively low rail usage its was felt having the biggest journey time shave off offered the best chance of attracting extra fare payers and extra users compared to the other lines. The road competition is a factor in that the A470 is dual carriageway all the way to Merthyr. The other valley lines all "compete with single carriageway roads for part or most of their length. To get to the Rhondda off the A470 you have to struggle through Pontypridd town centre - therefore the rail journey time is not as critical.

Treherbert,Merthyr and Aberdare are already half hourly in frequency giving 6 tph from Cardiff to Pontypridd.

 

[Gwenllian2001]

You've jogged my memory with this. L is for Llandaff, but does that appear for all trains going via Queen Street irrespective of its destination? E.g. Rhymney / Coryton trains also have to have the L routing.

The L indication seems to be a throwback to the days when Rhymney Valley trains would not have travelled through to Cardiff General (Central).