Great Western Coffee Shop

When trains have a restaurant service, do they have additional carriages? ???

Nope.

So where is the restaurant?

First class buffet.

Right........... you mean the handful of First Class seats in the buffet car?

Oh dear.... >:(

I plan to sample Grand Centrals offering after Easter - food at your seat in FC... and that is where I shall be!  ;D

With the restaurant they use coach F and about a quarter of coach G.

I'm looking forward to Wrexham and Shrewsbury's offering.

67 Mark 3s and in seat catering in first class.

Worth a rail trip to Wrexham it will be cheaper than dining on a railtour.

Waitng for the timetable but it's possible you get a choice of routes across Birmingham on the  out and back legs. Leamington Spa, Birmingham International, Ashton Parkway Bescot Wolverhampton, or Leamington Spa Solihull Bordsley Birmingham New Street (non stop) Soho loop Bescot Wolverhampton.

Although not a FGW it is ex Great Western, the route through Wolverhampton Low level was supposed to be safeguarded in perpetuity. Now they are turning the low level into a complex!

Timetable available online at www.wrexhamandshropshire.com.

Virgin West Coast, however, have scuppered W&S plans, as they are starting a 2.5 hour service from Wrexham (with more coming if they are used). When you compare this to W&S's 4.5 hour service, I can't see it lasting. The Virgin service goes via the WCML, Crewe and Chester (i.e. 125mph for most of it, using tilting trains), wheras the W&S service goes via Wolverhampton, Tame Bridge Parkway, some freight only (i.e. slow) route around Birmginham, Banbury, and then to Marylebone sharing tracks with Chiltern stopping sevices (again, slow).

A great shame, as drivers/guards have been hired now- and as I say, I would not be surprised if it is axed. >:(

I suppose, that the customers at Shrewsbury will still use the service....

More on this in the links below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7255629.stm

http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/02/wrexham_to_london_rail_link_la.html#more

This is all to do with supply & demand, and competition. At the moment, Virgin see WSMR as stiff competition to them, and I would not be at all surprised if the morning Wrexham service is extended southwards...

Don't you mean northwards? ???

Compared to Chester, Wrexham is southwards from it. So I wouldn't be surprised if it was say, extended to Shrewsbury.

That would be bad!

Presumably the Virgin WC service will involve a change at Crewe or are they proposing dragging a Pendelino from Wrexham to Crewe?

I thought Virgin had had enough of doing that to Holyhead, what with all the coupling uncoupling problems at Crewe and running round at Holyhead as the loco can't push the set. Of course it would be easier to serve Shrewsbury by dragging a Pendelino direct to Crewe rather than via Wrexham and Chester. See also post on How long does it take to couple uncouple Across the West.

Besides which any Wrexham, Shrewsbury or Telford passenger who wants a quicker journey can always change at Wolverhampton and go to Euston. If they can afford the fare!

What is this obsession that "trains must compete with trains"? Trains have enough competition from cars, buses, coaches and for longer journies air without senseles competition like this.

The Virgin WC service to Wrexham will be a class 221.

So they will be running a diesel 160 miles under the wires.

Are we all collectively mad?

158 miles, actually. ;)

You could call NXEC mad for running London - Aberdeen/Inverness HSTs for 393 miles under the wires?

Yep I agree, when do we start slinging wires?

And when will we realise it's better to run a loco hauled train and change locos at the change of traction with a proper track layout (laybys for locos) it should take less than 5 minutes which is probably the stop you need at the changeover point in any case. BR did it at Crewe after electrifcation to Manchester. XC did it at Birmingham, Coventry, Preston (ones via Manchester & Bolton) and NSE did it at Cambridge for Kings Lynn.

The most ludicrous service ever to run diesel was the Norwich/Stratford - Basingstoke service round the North London line which had to be a 170 because of a short stretch on unelectrified track at Kew. Admittedly it would have had to have been a dual voltage unit but aren't all the new Desiros virtually dual voltage already?

Oh yes I always round figures.   

The ironic thing with the Anglia service was that there was a perfectly suitable route of Willesden Jn - Kenny O - Clapham Jn which was completely electrified.  :D

You are right and it would have been a better route, it could have run one of the Willesden Clapham services and it not would have kept getting held up by the North London line stopping service.

Although I am not sure I would have liked to have done  Norwich Basingstoke on a 313 a 319 maybe.

Yes- Virgin WC are running an hourly Super Voyager service to Chester.

4 trains will go to Holyhead.

1 train will go to Wrexham.


Maybe- but it is actually cheaper for Virgin to run the diesel train! The acceleration and top speed of the Voyagers is the same as the Pendolinos, so it does not matter.

As I said. As far as Virign are concerned, the more Voyagers they can run the better!

For example, some of the B'ham to Euston trains will be voyagers from December!