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My question is are these trains supposed to be booked 2 cars - if so why arent they 3 cars as surely ATW realise they are well used on a Saturday - if they are booked 3 cars why do so many run short formed?

I don't know about Saturdays, but I've used the 1055 from Swansea (i.e. 1113 from PTA) a number of times in the past year as it ultimately connects with the 1310 Bristol-Waterloo (much more civilisaed than using the Cardiff-Portsmouths!), and it does seemed to be booked 2 car on weekdays. And it's usually been full at Swansea and rammed from Bridgend. I've usually used it on Fridays, or during obvious holiday periods, which will make it busier, so perhaps it's not as bad on a more typical weekday, but on those occasions comparable to the Saturday situation.

I saw the 1804 leave Swansea (1905 or whatever it is) yesterday and it was still quite full, but not excessively so by that point. Tracing back what it does that day, assuming I've followed it through properly, it seems to start as the morning service from Pembroke Dock to Manchester, which does usually have 2 cars on weekdays and Saturdays.

On Saturdays and school holidays even the HSTs can become full with the mid-morning leisure travel to Cardiff, so the 175s don't stand a chance!

I suspect it's quite a hard task to decide which 175 diagrams should have the 3-car sets, as they must all pass through a busy section at some point. Personally I'd like to see them all having 3 cars - can anyone spare a magic wand?

When I was waiting for my train home on Saturday, I noticed the 1720 from Cardiff to Holyhead (1734 from Newport) was a 2 car 158 which looked fairly full with a few people standing^ it doesn^t seem to be that often that they use 158^s on the Holyheads anymore although I have noticed them on the Manchester services on Saturday more often than weekdays.

Was the 1734 to Holyhead a 175 on Friday?

From what I gather the Llanududno to Manchester service requires 3 car sets as it is usually a busy service. This is another case of diagramming units to one job will lead to problems in another part. Difficult to make the right decisions in these cases

Pea-souper more like.

There's a strong expectation that the Thameslink order will be confirmed on 25th march, which is the last day such an announcement can be made before the GE. But that'll be a year late, and entry into service is not now expected until in 2013.

And of course the stock cascaded will have those funny little wiry bits sticking out of the top that spark now and again, so not much use down our way for a year or seven.

There were two cup matches in South Wales on Saturday, the FA Cup in Cardiff,  and the Heineken Cup involving the Ospreys. Both involving Leicester opposition who went back home empty-handed.  ;D 

and stayed busy until Cardiff where I changed trains.

An excellent question. And one to which I'm not 100% sure of the answer... Although I mostly travel to Oxford when heading in that direction rather than London, and I think generally the up Cardiff services call Didcot whereas the up Swanseas don't (feel free to put me straight if I'm talking out of my backside, folks).

Im not surprised as it is the main service between Manchester and Chester (with the Northern rail service being a stopping service I think) as well as Warrington Bank Quay so would need a 3 car id imagine.

The Milford Haven is only a 2 hour service so it makes sense for it to be a 3 car given the volume of passengers and also there are more frequent trains passing through and starting at Carmarthen.  Most of the Pembroke Dock trains are 2 cars I think? Or even 1 cars? Im sure they use some 153's as they share units with Heart of Wales sometimes.

I think we do get more 158's on Holyheads than Manchesters - apart from weekends the last time I saw a 158 on a Manchester service was ages ago. Also most of the Holyheads seem to be 175's these days. It would be interesting to know how many 158's are still allocated to the Manchester/Holyhead-South/West Wales services.  Also how many to Maesteg as they seem to be mainly 150's now.

There are still a couple of 158 used on the Carmarthen/Manchester and Cardiff/Holyheads on weekends - not seen any during the week. Maybe some of the 175 are having maintenance work done at the weekend so they are short on units??

Apparently ATW have 27 175, 11 are 2 car, 16 are 3 car. Im guessing the Manchester/Llandudno service needs around 8 diagrams a day which would leave around 19 for use on the South Wales/Manchester/Holyhead services? Or are some allocated for the Birmingham to Holyhead services?

WAG seems to give preferncial treatment to services that stay in wales. Mainly the services to Holyhead.

Stupid, but true. (why do you think the WAGEX runs to Holyhead when it would make more sense to Manchester)

AMs call for urgent upgrade of Welsh rail network

There are new calls for a wide ranging upgrade of Wales's railways, including faster trains, better stations, new carriages and urban light rail systems.
The assembly's enterprise and learning committee says it believes Wales is not getting its fair share of investment and needs to meet a rise in demand.
It said it was concerned passenger satisfaction with stations in Wales was much lower than other parts of the UK.
The Welsh Assembly Government will study the report before responding.
Official forecasts suggest substantial growth in rail use for both passengers and freight in the coming years.
To meet this demand, the committee makes a number of recommendations.
It said new high speed links are as important to Wales as other areas of the UK, and that both north-south and east-west links need improvement.
Urban light rail systems were also called for, for Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.
The AMs said they were worried to hear that passenger satisfaction with stations in Wales was much lower than the UK average, and want to see immediate action.
Karen Beattie, from Prestatyn, Denbighshire, who campaigns for better access to the rail network for people with disabilities, said there was a desperate need for improvement.
She said: "As I wheelchair user I have to phone up and give 48 hours notice that we going to be using the rail service. The railway station here is inaccessible unless you can use steps and we are in place where there is a Pontin's [holiday park] so the town relies on tourism."
Ms Beatttie said last year one visitor became trapped on the station not realising that she would encounter problems and had to call the emergency services.
She said an identical situation arose in Rhyl, when the station was only accessible by lift during manned hours.
"Information on the website is not always up to date if a station is accessible," she added.
Another proposal is to examine the potential for new light railway systems in urban centres such as Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.
But underlying the report is a concern that Wales is losing out on investment, and the AMs say the assembly government should gain much greater powers over the railways, akin to those held in Scotland.
Committee chairman Gareth Jones said: "This report examines the long-term future of the rail network in Wales. The evidence we have gathered indicates that freight and passenger traffic on our network will increase over the coming years. The objective hopefully will be that Wales benefits from this extra traffic so that we are better placed in terms of high speed link connections with the rest of the UK and Europe. It is important that the Welsh government provides for that extra demand. The Welsh government also needs to work with partners to improve the rail links and services between north and south Wales and to make stations fully accessible to all passengers."
The assembly government said it would study the report and respond in due course.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS:

Consideration of urban light railway systems in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport
Electrification of diversionary lines between south Wales and London, the Cardiff area and Valleys lines, and the north Wales mainline
Upgrading the Severn Tunnel
Improved links and services between north and south Wales
The introduction of new rolling stock, particularly on the valleys lines
The devolution of powers and associated specific funding so that Wales can plan and invest directly in future rail infrastructure
Source: Enterprise and learning committee
Click to read: Futuristic transport still on hold (http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8478000/8478819.stm)