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What services call at Tamworth?

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sn1975

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Hi all,

Can someone tell me, please, which services call at Tamworth? If there's too many to list then a rough guide would be appreciated. If possible please include direct destinations, frequency, and rolling stock used?

Many thanks.
 
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Eagle

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As a rule of thumb:

Low level (WCML) platforms:

London Euston–Crewe, worked by LM 350/1s, 1tph each way.

London Euston–various northwestern destinations, worked by VT 221s and 390s, few services per day (usually early morning and evening).

Platform 1 is westbound towards Crewe, platform 2 is eastbound towards London.

High level (XCML) platforms:

Birmingham New St–Nottingham (with every other service starting back from Cardiff Central), worked by XC 170s (of various subclasses), 2tph each way.

Plymouth–Edinburgh (with some extensions to Dundee and Aberdeen), worked by XC 221s and 220s, 1tp2h.

Platform 3 is northbound towards Derby and Nottingham, platform 4 is southbound towards Birmingham.
 
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I was thinking about Tamworth the other Day and the amount of services it has lost since Arriva took over XC. I wonder if it was better served by Virgin on the WC and also its own XC as this then provided competition to MML and GNER at the time for destinations such as Derby, Sheffield and Leeds. Or was this all a consequence of trying to speed up the WCML and XC operations?

Fares did exist on tribute at the start of 2000 for Virgin Value tickets from London to Leeds and other places in the area, but of course there was no direct Virgin services, so the only way for these to be valid would have been a change at Tamworth or New Street.

How do people actually find their London Midland service to the capital, does the extended time it takes, put you off using the service, or does it make you travel by other modes of transport, or even changing at Birmingham?
 

jaigee

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How do people actually find their London Midland service to the capital, does the extended time it takes, put you off using the service, or does it make you travel by other modes of transport, or even changing at Birmingham?

I live in Nuneaton which has virtrually the same WCML service as Tamworth. When travelling on the WCML I always change out of LM at the first opportunity, Rugby southwards and Stafford northwards.

LM's service to London is a real PITA, it's slow, has no catering and the extended stop in Northampton rubs salt in to the wound. :cry:

Incidentally, LM's northbound services from the intermediate Trent Valley stations are, in my opinion, far worse. Only going as far as Crewe (via Stoke and virtually every station in between). A change at Stafford, Stoke or Crewe is required to go anywhere further North.

I realise it is not LM's fault as these services have been decided elsewhere.

During the WCML upgrade years, I remember all the posters and press releases at Nuneaton saying bear with us during this upheaval but we are bringing you a better modern railway, only to find out that when it was finished they were not going to even stop here! <(
 

Mr Spock

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I was thinking about Tamworth the other Day and the amount of services it has lost since Arriva took over XC. I wonder if it was better served by Virgin on the WC and also its own XC as this then provided competition to MML and GNER at the time for destinations such as Derby, Sheffield and Leeds. Or was this all a consequence of trying to speed up the WCML and XC operations?

Fares did exist on tribute at the start of 2000 for Virgin Value tickets from London to Leeds and other places in the area, but of course there was no direct Virgin services, so the only way for these to be valid would have been a change at Tamworth or New Street.

How do people actually find their London Midland service to the capital, does the extended time it takes, put you off using the service, or does it make you travel by other modes of transport, or even changing at Birmingham?

The WC service to Tamworth was quite minimal during the day so would not expect that many people would go to Leeds that way.

Coming from the Rugby area i only use this service between Rugby and Stafford where I change to go further north (also sometimes change at Nuneaton or Tamworth when going eastwards) so the hourly service is great along that route as far as I am concerned. H

As for the directions used by Eagle I do not understand why people say that Low Level goes east/west and High Level goes north/south. I do know how the station is actually situated but trains from London to Stafford are northbound trains and Birmingham to Derby are eastbound trains.

So if a train is reported as northbound through say Rugby, Nuneaton, Stafford why should it be reported as going westbound at Tamworth when the whole train journey is northbound?
 

button_boxer

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As for the directions used by Eagle I do not understand why people say that Low Level goes east/west and High Level goes north/south. I do know how the station is actually situated but trains from London to Stafford are northbound trains and Birmingham to Derby are eastbound trains.

Which is presumably the reason that railway lines are usually referred to as up/down rather than using compass directions.
 

Freightmaster

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So if a train is reported as northbound through say Rugby, Nuneaton, Stafford why should it be reported as going westbound at Tamworth when the whole train journey is northbound?
Because most railway enthusiasts are obsessively pedantic? ;)

MARK
 

Minilad

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Crikey. I don't think telling the general public about up and down lines would be useful. They seem to have enough trouble getting their heads around the railway as it is without telling someone in the North its up to London !!
 

Mr Spock

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Because most railway enthusiasts are obsessively pedantic? ;)

MARK

Not really as they report/note headcodes and it is you being pedantic as no-one thought about the directions here until you decided to be clever.
 
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