Virgin Trains to Shrewsbury

[impster]

The Shropshire Star claims credit ...

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/11/13/shropshire-star-wins-direct-rail-link-to-london/

They claim victory with a 3,000 signature petition.

Bodes well for our survey on the Cambrian with over 6,500 respondents then...

 

[merlodlliw]

BBC Shropshire reporting that it's 1 off-peak service each way a day... utterly pointless. Token service.

Its just like the Chester Pullman I mentioned earlier,it ran from Euston arriving Chester around 1230, then returned an hour later, staff always outnumbered pax.It was soon culled.

The Shrewsbury VT will be running similar, anyone from Shropshire heading for London on business etc will be in Euston before the Shrewsbury VT service departs for Salop. Its a token,nothing more.
That is if VT accepts the slot,and stands the loss. Politics indeed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

They claim victory with a 3,000 signature petition.

Bodes well for our survey on the Cambrian with over 6,500 respondents then...

But the Cambrian are dealing with a different kind of Minister who lives in West Wales,6,500 can not be ignored,I will be interested in her Ministerial comments,usually its "My decision will be made known at a later date" and published on the WG website

 

[Gareth Marston]

They claim victory with a 3,000 signature petition.

Bodes well for our survey on the Cambrian with over 6,500 respondents then...

Cambrian Campaign is well informed about the well known - to those that care anyway- timetable deficiency's on the route. The lack of an AM commuter timed arrival into Shrewsbury, appalling lack of connectivity between Cambrian Coast and Aberystwyth. Demand for extra services traffic in AM balanced by demand for extra wetsbound services in evening etc

Its not just a we like the sound of that campaign which unfortunately the Shropshire MP/Shropshire Star campaign has been to a degree.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Its just like the Chester Pullman I mentioned earlier,it ran from Euston arriving Chester around 1230, then returned an hour later, staff always outnumbered pax.It was soon culled.

The Shrewsbury VT will be running similar, anyone from Shropshire heading for London on business etc will be in Euston before the Shrewsbury VT service departs for Salop. Its a token,nothing more.
That is if VT accepts the slot,and stands the loss. Politics indeed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


But the Cambrian are dealing with a different kind of Minister who lives in West Wales,6,500 can not be ignored,I will be interested in her Ministerial comments,usually its "My decision will be made known at a later date" and published on the WG website

Well know next Monday, she has reputation for gong off piste from Official advice and listening to community groups...

 

[rm88]

Ticket machines at Shrewsbury offer cheap LM tickets to Euston.

 

[Proud Salopian]

Problem is that if the one off-peak/ day service "fails" then it'll be cancelled (again) and be even harder to justify a proper service in the future.

I think this is the plan.

 

[dannypye9999]

I see no point in electrifying the Wovlerhampton to Shrewsbury route just for the sake of a one or two electric pendolinos a day there and back. Whatever happened to the class 47 'thunderbird' used to haul the pendo along non electric routes? Pendolinos could easily work the shrewsbury route without the need to worry about voyagers.

 

[philjo]

The LM stopping services would also go electric so those DMUs would be freed up for use elsewhere - presumbaly the locals could work through to Northampton (or even Euston) using 350s

 

[rm88]

LM should be given the service to run an hourly service to Euston using 350's. It would be more viable. Virgin don't have enough rolling stock.

 

[Manchester77]

I see no point in electrifying the Wovlerhampton to Shrewsbury route just for the sake of a one or two electric pendolinos a day there and back. Whatever happened to the class 57 'thunderbird' used to haul the pendo along non electric routes? Pendolinos could easily work the shrewsbury route without the need to worry about voyagers.

- The last pendo drag was last year and I think the final one was substituted for a 221, the 57s don't like talking to the 390s iirc.
- Are the platforms long enough at Shrewsbury for a 9 car pendo + loco anyway?

 

[Proud Salopian]

- Are the platforms long enough at Shrewsbury for a 9 car pendo + loco anyway?

4 and 7 are for sure long enough - trouble is, they're used for "through" trains, so can't be "blocked" for long. 3 might be long enough, but don't think the signalling allows for passenger trains to depart for Wolverhampton..?

 

[dannypye9999]

- The last pendo drag was last year and I think the final one was substituted for a 221, the 57s don't like talking to the 390s iirc.
- Are the platforms long enough at Shrewsbury for a 9 car pendo + loco anyway?

What about a 'thunderbird' with the required number of mkII carriages? Or do virgin no longer have these carriages?

 

[Manchester77]

What about a 'thunderbird' with the required number of mkII carriages? Or do virgin no longer have these carriages?

I think you're reffering to the Pretendolino set which is a set of mark IIIs hauled by a 90, don't think 57s are compatible with the mark II DVTs which would need to be used when hauling back.

 

[Gareth Marston]

LM should be given the service to run an hourly service to Euston using 350's. It would be more viable. Virgin don't have enough rolling stock.

Oxley Sidings to Shrewsbury will not be wired until CP6 (2019-2024), the aim should be an hourly Pendolino service to London because

Salop, Telford, Wolves, Sandwell will stil need a direct London train after HS2 phase one and the current 4 car DMU formations that run the fast path per hour are already saturated in the peak and more capacity is needed for Birmingham to Shrewsbury traffic. It's not just about a through train but also capacity.

 

[Eagle]

LM should be given the service to run an hourly service to Euston using 350's. It would be more viable. Virgin don't have enough rolling stock.

LM don't have enough rolling stock to do that either. Even with the 10 extra 350/3s.

Now, if they were to get the 350/4s at some point... (minus a couple for the Chase line electrification).

 

[6Gman]

With half an eye on the 2015 election, and a few marginal seats on the route, I'm expecting a firmer commitment on Crewe - North Wales shortly, the political will is certainly there. Spur to Wrexham would also make sense I guess?

Similarly, electrifying to Shrewsbury would make sense, particularly if VT are coming to town.

Sets things up for futuire electrification of the Marches as well.

As I've pointed out elsewhere, what is the point of wiring Crewe - Chester - Holyhead when most of the trains along the coast go via Frodsham or Wrexham! Which are not wired!

 

[Eagle]

You could reshuffle the ATW services so that they run hourly from Crewe to Holyhead, and Cardiff and Birmingham services terminate at Chester. That would keep all the frequencies the same and make the Manchester to Llandudno service the only diesel on the coast.

Of course, that might not be popular with some people.

 

[Gareth Marston]

You could reshuffle the ATW services so that they run hourly from Crewe to Holyhead, and Cardiff and Birmingham services terminate at Chester. That would keep all the frequencies the same and make the Manchester to Llandudno service the only diesel on the coast.

Of course, that might not be popular with some people.

I dont think there going to have their cake and eat it on this one, North to south trains are an impediment to North Wales coast electrification and with many other candidates for CP6 wires the north to south brigade will have to stand aside or leave the coast wireless.

 

[merlodlliw]

I dont think there going to have their cake and eat it on this one, North to south trains are an impediment to North Wales coast electrification and with many other candidates for CP6 wires the north to south brigade will have to stand aside or leave the coast wireless.

I totally agree, the wires in the South are more important than South/North,likewise wires in the North in my opinion are far more important than this obsession with more North/South trains, we already have enough of them.

 

[thenorthern]

Is there any east to west electrified link north of London other than Edinburgh to Carstairs and Edinburgh to Glasgow via Bathgate?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Is there any east to west electrified link north of London other than Edinburgh to Carstairs and Edinburgh to Glasgow via Bathgate?

In the pipeline for 2018-ish (Manchester-Leeds-York).

Edit: You'd think that a project called East West Rail would deliver this.
However Oxford-Bletchley-Bedford is not quite "east" enough.
Even adding Bedford-Sheffield still leaves a tantalisingly short gap in the wires through South Yorkshire.
Not due until 2020-ish anyway.

 

[Eagle]

I'd argue that the WCML is an east-west link, because it starts in the east of the country (London) and ends in the west of the country (Glasgow). :P

 

[NickJ]

The MP for Shrewsbury has informed the media that the proposed Shrewsbury-London direct service will start in May 2014 but with only a 'token' service on Mon-Fri and Sun (ridiculously there is no Sat service when the leisure market demand will be greatest!) with the train leaving Shrewsbury around 16-00pm and the service from Euston leaving at 11-33am. This service will be of no use at all and the rail industry (Network Rail/ORR/Virgin) is just making a laughing stock of itself by proposing such a useless service!

 

[impster]

oh dear.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The MP for Shrewsbury has informed the media that the proposed Shrewsbury-London direct service will start in May 2014 but with only a 'token' service on Mon-Fri and Sun (ridiculously there is no Sat service when the leisure market demand will be greatest!) with the train leaving Shrewsbury around 16-00pm and the service from Euston leaving at 11-33am. This service will be of no use at all and the rail industry (Network Rail/ORR/Virgin) is just making a laughing stock of itself by proposing such a useless service!

The service is half of that applied for:
1133 and 1837 ex Euston
0706 and 1506 ex Shrewsbury, except it is moved to 1606.

It does mean a Voyager sat in Shrewsbury between 1350 and 1606 though. Not an efficient use of traincrew. How far can you get beyond Shrewsbury in that time? Could it continue to Chester and a unit come down (up!) from Chester to form the return service?

 

[Eagle]

What time would the 07.06 from Shrewsbury have got into London?

 

[Baxenden Bank]

What time would the 07.06 from Shrewsbury have got into London?

From one of the Virgin track applications:

Depart Shrewsbury 0706, arrive Euston 0918, ditto 1506 and 1718
Depart Euston 1133, arrive Shrewsbury 1350, ditto 1837 and 2057

 

[The Planner]

To be fair I don't think it will be the last you hear of it before May, I have no doubt Virgin will make their feelings known in the offer response....

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The service is half of that applied for:
1133 and 1837 ex Euston
0706 and 1506 ex Shrewsbury, except it is moved to 1606.

It does mean a Voyager sat in Shrewsbury between 1350 and 1606 though. Not an efficient use of traincrew. How far can you get beyond Shrewsbury in that time? Could it continue to Chester and a unit come down (up!) from Chester to form the return service?

That is obviously to avoid the peak hours on the WCML.
A Voyager in those times could just reach Chester, certainly Crewe.
Virgin has not agreed to use these paths yet.
If it was the precursor to 2 services from December it might be a start.
Nothing said about Blackpool (also an ingredient, whatever Salop folk might think).

 

[Proud Salopian]

Just seen the times for this "service". What a joke. Set up to be cancelled.

http://www.shropshirelive.com/2013/11/29/direct-shrewsbury-to-london-train-times-revealed/

 

[Llanigraham]

Where do you get the idea "Set up to be cancelled"?

I look at those times and actually think that would be quite useful in the leisure/tourist market. Certainly fits into my leisure trips to London quite well and one I would use. They are not looking at the "business" market.