Will East West rail provide any benefit to Wales.

[BlueLeanie]

The one train a day they will operate from Severn Tunnel Junction to Bletchley XD

What stock is currently moved around regularly between GWR/TFC and Bletchley?

 

[td97]

Suppose EWR services were to start from Didcot? Surely that would be a benefit to Wales, with only 1 change required for all other eastern EWR destinations.

 

[Mgameing123]

What stock is currently moved around regularly between GWR/TFC and Bletchley?

I have no clue but who knows. Anything can happen!

 

[Markuk]

Suppose EWR services were to start from Didcot? Surely that would be a benefit to Wales, with only 1 change required for all other eastern EWR destinations.

Only one change (MKC) required to get from North Wales to Oxford, via the trent valley and EWR must be much faster and an easier change than via Birmingham

 

[Krokodil]

Only one change (MKC) required to get from North Wales to Oxford, via the trent valley and EWR must be much faster and an easier change than via Birmingham

Chester to Oxford can currently be done in 2hrs 41m, with a straightforward change at Stafford. Milton Keynes is an hour and a half from Chester, plus a penalty for actually stopping there (currently you don't). Milton Keynes to Oxford is supposed to take something like 45 minutes? Then add an interchange penalty which at a minimum will be five minutes, but could be anything up to 34 minutes depending upon how the timings line up. The time saving is potentially non-existent.

 

[mickey]

There will be huge benefits for areas between Oxford and Cambridge that suddenly find themselves open to commuters. Cambridge in particular has huge numbers of high-paying jobs with tax and local spending up for grabs but nowhere near enough housing locally. If I were running Buckinghamshire Council, I’d be lobbying hard to get the Aylesbury link resurrected - even if it needed a change rather than running through to EWR this would open lots of doors.

At the western end it seems (crayon time!) a no-brainier to continue onwards, but to Swindon rather than Didcot. Oxford-Swindon has been underserved for decades but the track is already there (Didcot West curve), and connections would be much better.

 

[fishwomp]

Chester to Oxford can currently be done in 2hrs 41m, with a straightforward change at Stafford. Milton Keynes is an hour and a half from Chester, plus a penalty for actually stopping there (currently you don't). Milton Keynes to Oxford is supposed to take something like 45 minutes? Then add an interchange penalty which at a minimum will be five minutes, but could be anything up to 34 minutes depending upon how the timings line up. The time saving is potentially non-existent.

Potentially non-existent - or potentially existent.. at the same time. The Schrodinger railway

Here's how it would look currently - northbound.

MKC-CTR timings: hourly 1h50 (15 mins past the hour), hourly 2h23 (19 mins past the hour), hourly 2h18 (24 mins past the hour)
OXF-CTR timings: hourly 3h4 (39 mins past the hour), best 2h55 (12 mins past the hour, some hours per day).

So, theoretical best (0 min conn at MKC) - 2h35.

OXF-MKC shadow timetable 45 mins, at 10 past and 40 past the hour - arrives 55 past 25 past the hour.

That gives you an hourly OXF-MKC option at xx.10 for a CTR departure, the xx.50 arrives too late for everything.

Concretely the three options to CTR between 11am and 12pm:
- 10.38 OXF-BHM (a. 11.51), 12.04 BHM-CRE (a. 13.00), 13.21 CRE-CTR (a 13.42)
- 11.10 OXF-MKC (a. 11.55), 12.15 MKC-CRE (a. 13.24), 13.45 CRE-CTR (a. 14.07)
- 11.12 OXF-BHM (a. 12.16), 12.34 BHM-CRE (a. 13.30), 13.45 CRE-CTR (a. 14.07)

However, the xx.10-ish CrossCountry runs only some of the time.. after 11.12, the next one's at 15.10..

In a nutshell - if XC restore the hourly, XC always wins by - price will be a factor instead.

Assuming OXF-MKC is opened _before_ those service are restored - then for ~30 mins per hour (xx.39 to xx.10) the best departure is via OXF-MKC, and for the other ~30 mins (xx.11 to xx.38), the best is OXF-BHM.

I did a similar post for Liverpool / Manchester to Oxford a couple of months or so back.

The other benefit is the last train - MKC-OXF may run later than BHM-OXF (last train 22.03), or ex-Moor St (22.20).

 

[Class 170101]

The other benefit is the last train - MKC-OXF may run later than BHM-OXF (last train 22.03), or ex-Moor St (22.20).

If the current Class 5s turn into passenger trains it will be 23:54 from Bletchley High Level, not Milton Keynes because of WCML two track railway after 22:30ish. Slow lines may be closed.

 

[JKF]

I think we will have to see how a regular Bristol to Oxford service gets on before linking up with East-West rail. Potentially some tourist flows Oxford to Bath at a guess.

 

[BrianW]

After questions in the Commons to the Chancellor following her Spending Review, the leader of Plaid Cymru sought advice from the Deputy Speaker regarding the 'classification' of East-West Rail as an England and Wales project and whether Parliament had been misled. Perhaps that might be answered by the Transport Secretary when launching the Infrastructure Review next week. There's a lot more at stake for Wales than an odd train to Didcot, or Bristol. Labour in Wales is under threat next year. That's quite a 'consequential'.