XC service alterations to Paignton/Plymouth/Newquay due to Covid19?

[Southern Dvr]

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/crosscountry-hst-diagrams.176519/

Do/Did XC HSTs visit Newquay in the Summer?

Presumably Paignton off the menu due to crews not being able to get route refreshers this year?

 

[sufian123]

Do/Did XC HSTs visit Newquay in the Summer?

Presumably Paignton off the menu due to crews not being able to get route refreshers this year?

no the HSTs don’t go to Newquay. In the past they did, recent years they don’t.

 

[221129]

Presumably Paignton off the menu due to crews not being able to get route refreshers this year?

Considering Some Paignton Trains are running that's not it.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Paignton is only served from Bristol this year, with one return working to Brum later in the day. Should be that way permanently, moving forward. The extension to Exeter of the Manchesters makes sense though.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Paignton is only served from Bristol this year, with one return working to Brum later in the day. Should be that way permanently, moving forward. The extension to Exeter of the Manchesters makes sense though.

There was quite an extensive consultation which ended up with the recommendation to the DfT that through services from Paignton/Torbay to Birmingham were to be retained.

 

[Southern Dvr]

There was quite an extensive consultation which ended up with the recommendation to the DfT that through services from Paignton/Torbay to Birmingham were to be retained.

been a couple of years since I went to Paignton and obviously this particular year will be different again (will it be busier or quieter?) but as we all know it’s quite a busy line (in pax numbers terms) and so 4 car Voyagers and 5 car IEPs mixed in with 2/4 car GWR local DMUs/Mini HSTs are really going the struggle to cope. The lengthier HSTs did make a noticeable difference from what I’ve noticed before. When it forms to social distancing there could be a lot of difficulty in Torbay this year if everyone is deciding to Staycate there.

 

[Thunderer]

Paignton is only served from Bristol this year, with one return working to Brum later in the day. Should be that way permanently, moving forward. The extension to Exeter of the Manchesters makes sense though.

Really? Are you saying that future summer Saturday timetables will not see 1V44 and 1V52 run to Paignton, nor 1S51 and 1E67 start from Paignton anymore? Surely not?

 

[sufian123]

Really? Are you saying that future summer Saturday timetables will not see 1V44 and 1V52 run to Paignton, nor 1S51 and 1E67 start from Paignton anymore? Surely not?

This summer originally planned for
1v44 and 1s51 from Paignton
So was the latter. COVID it’s going to Plymouth.

 

[Jamesrob637]

This summer originally planned for
1v44 and 1s51 from Paignton
So was the latter. COVID it’s going to Plymouth.

Exactly. But before anybody starts thinking Plymouth drew the long straw this summer, it still has gaps in the hourly service. Saturday just gone for example, there was;

No 08:XX
No 10:XX
No 13:XX
No 17:XX

I put XX because the exact minute of departure varies, though it's roughly at 25 past the hour.

Therefore Plymouth actually fares worse than under normal circumstances, where I believe only the 12:XX and 16:XX do not run. The 16:XX is replaced by an ex-Paignton which, to get this thread firmly back on topic, is a booked Saturday HST.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Really? Are you saying that future summer Saturday timetables will not see 1V44 and 1V52 run to Paignton, nor 1S51 and 1E67 start from Paignton anymore? Surely not?

The Summer Saturday services are specified in XCs SLC as above.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Exactly. But before anybody starts thinking Plymouth drew the long straw this summer, it still has gaps in the hourly service. Saturday just gone for example, there was;

No 08:XX
No 10:XX
No 13:XX
No 17:XX

I put XX because the exact minute of departure varies, though it's roughly at 25 past the hour.

Therefore Plymouth actually fares worse than under normal circumstances, where I believe only the 12:XX and 16:XX do not run. The 16:XX is replaced by an ex-Paignton which, to get this thread firmly back on topic, is a booked Saturday HST.

However the trains are much longer than usual.

Bournemouth likewise has gaps in what would usually be an hourly service.

Capacity not frequency is the key objective at the moment with Covid timetables, with reservations recommended it’s hardly planned to be a turn up and go service

 

[dk1]

There was quite an extensive consultation which ended up with the recommendation to the DfT that through services from Paignton/Torbay to Birmingham were to be retained.

Yes there were. The Torbay extensions can be very popular indeed. Long may they continue.

 

[Southern Dvr]

However the trains are much longer than usual.

Bournemouth likewise has gaps in what would usually be an hourly service.

Capacity not frequency is the key objective at the moment with Covid timetables, with reservations recommended it’s hardly planned to be a turn up and go service

That last bit is the killer blow!
it should be a turn up and go service because as we’ve seen when the sun comes out so do the people!!
We can’t reliably predict the weather much in advance so it is very much turn up and go at weekends!

 

[Thunderer]

This summer originally planned for
1v44 and 1s51 from Paignton
So was the latter. COVID it’s going to Plymouth.

Thanks I get that, but it doesn’t really answer my question. Perhaps I should have been more specific? My Question was angled at Future services e,g. Summer 2021 and beyond, when I assume all this Covid nonsense has vanished..will we still see XC services on summer Saturday services to Paignton then, or are there plans to scrap services like 1V44, 1V52, 1S51, 1E67 to from Paignton on a summer Saturday and 1V48 York to Penzance..Holiday trains?

 

[221129]

Thanks I get that, but it doesn’t really answer my question. Perhaps I should have been more specific? My Question was angled at Future services e,g. Summer 2021 and beyond, when I assume all this Covid nonsense has vanished..will we still see XC services on summer Saturday services to Paignton then, or are there plans to scrap services like 1V44, 1V52, 1S51, 1E67 to from Paignton on a summer Saturday and 1V48 York to Penzance..Holiday trains?

There are no plans to scrap the summer services no.

 

[hello]

Doesn’t the franchise finish in a couple of months?

 

[dk1]

Doesn’t the franchise finish in a couple of months?

I would imagine it will just remain in emergency measures with an extension into 2022.

 

[Thunderer]

There are no plans to scrap the summer services no.

Excellent, I thought that would be a little short sighted if they did. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I would imagine it will just remain in emergency measures with an extension into 2022.

Oh god I hope not. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that CrossCountry has run its course and I personally cannot wait to see the back of it (can’t speak very highly of many of their train manager attitudes either) But whether should this be the case or not, Newquay extensions are popular as Newquay remains one of the few British coastal towns that actually seem to have demand from long distances so they wouldn’t want those axing, and considering more people are aiming for UK based holidays due to the circumstances and uncertainty with quarantine you’d think extensions to Paignton and Newquay would see much higher demand that previous years.