Additional trains for Wales v France at the Millennium Stadium - 21 Feb 2014

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the First Great Western press release:

Additional trains for Wales v France at the Millennium Stadium

First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) is delighted to announce five additional trains will be provided to help Wales fans return home from Cardiff^s Millennium Stadium this Friday [21 February], but are warning customers to allow plenty of time.

With 74,000 fans expected to watch Wales take on France, train services will be busy prior to and after the match. FGW is to provide five additional trains, equating to almost 2,500 extra seats, as well as strengthening other services.

FGW^s General Manager Central, Rob Mullen, said: "We are delighted to announce five additional trains will be provided to help Wales fans return from Cardiff^s Millennium Stadium, but customers are warned to allow plenty of time, as a queuing system will be in place to help customers board trains safely. Those travelling from further afield are also urged to check the time of the last service to ensure onward connections are not missed."

Passengers not attending the match are advised to travel at a different period to avoid the crowds.

Final connections along routes are as follows:

^        Weston/Taunton/Exeter ^ 22.04

^        Bath/Westbury ^ 22.04

^        Bristol Parkway/Swindon/Paddington ^ 21.25

^        Bristol Temple Meads ^ 23.27

Real-time running information for First Great Western can be found at www.journeycheck.com/firstgreatwestern, or for further information or advice please visit www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk.

[bobm]

The match is a 20:00 kick off so a final connection at 21:25 is not really going to help anyone.

With the crowds and queuing system I'd venture to suggest trains at 22:04 might be optimistic too.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Nevertheless, it was a good try by First Great Western. 

[JayMac]

And bobm's analysis of the train times has kicked into touch the announcement from FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

[Rhydgaled]

Do FirstGW declassify first class on the Paddington services for Millennium Stadium games?

And do ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) ever run extra services to S.W. Wales for rugby matches? I know they have the loco-hauled set come down from Holyhead but the only other extra I'm aware of is a shuttle from Cardiff to Newport. Seems a bit odd to run an extra from north Wales (where there is no rugby region team) but none to S.W. Wales.

[Lee]

Yes, leaving a line out like that could prove a real game-changer...

[John R]

Do FirstGW declassify first class on the Paddington services for Millennium Stadium games?

Most games are on Sat or Sun, so why would FGW^▸ (First Great Western) declassify it, when they can charge people a modest premium?

[LiskeardRich]

From experience at the Millenium Stadium only the Bristol service is any use from those times, it will finish close to 21:45 and experiences say 10 mins out of the stadium, how far is it to walk to Central station 5-10 mins, plus the station queuing system, sounds like a waste of extra trains.

[Rhydgaled]

Do FirstGW declassify first class on the Paddington services for Millennium Stadium games?

Most games are on Sat or Sun, so why would FGW^▸ (First Great Western) declassify it, when they can charge people a modest premium?

I don't really 'do' rugby myself, but some of my family are into it and have been to watch a few matches. They tell me that the whole train is crammed at Port Talbot when heading for Cardiff for the match, and that they get in First class on standard class tickets. They say it's so full the guard can't get through to check tickets. I'm wondering if they are breaking any rules.

[John R]

Yes, of course they are. They are sitting in first class with a standard class ticket. Unless the Train Manager has announced a dispensation or they have sought and obtained individual permission to sit there, they are breaking the rules.

[Phil]

Showing my ignorance here I know, but nowhere in the press release is the sport being played by Wales and France mentioned. I'm guessing it's football, but presumably if it was schoolgirls' lacrosse (for example) there would be very different crowds and crowd behaviours involved?

[John R]

Showing my ignorance here I know, but nowhere in the press release is the sport being played by Wales and France mentioned. I'm guessing it's football, but presumably if it was schoolgirls' lacrosse (for example) there would be very different crowds and crowd behaviours involved?

Crowd would be much more unruly if it were schoolgirls' lacrosse.  Rugby union crowds are impeccably behaved.

In terms of not mentioning the sport involved, I would suggest there's a presumption that if the press release is likely to be relevance to passengers then they will know its a Six Nations rugby match.

[bobm]

The problem is, with the train times quoted, I am struggling to see what relevance it is to any sporting fixture tonight.

[Phil]

In terms of not mentioning the sport involved, I would suggest there's a presumption that if the press release is likely to be relevance to passengers then they will know its a Six Nations rugby match.

I respectfully disagree with my learned friend. If you're writing a press release aimed at all potential rail travellers, I think it's a very grave mistake to assume that everybody that is travelling on that day knows what typically takes place at any particular venue in any location, or indeed what sport is likely to be played on any given day. Not everyone avidly follows the news; and a minority of those who do keep up with the sports pages. A surprising number of people spend their lives entirely inside in their own little bubbles of interest and take absolutely no notice of what's happening around them. They might associate Chelsea only with flowers and red suited pensioners for example, and be very surprised to visit one Saturday and see hordes of drunks waving blue and white scarves. People arriving in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) from further abroad (i.e. not France) could easily be forgiven for having no idea how big the "Millenium Stadium" is or indeed what happens there.

Sorry, but I think for the sake of a few words and a bit of consideration for others, this press release (and many more like it sad to say) falls well short of being useful.

/sugarinput=on
/irrationalrant=off

[John R]

But if you're not a fan, does it matter what sport it is? The only point of relevance for non-fans is the line that advices you to travel at a different period to avoid the crowds. And it does say that 74,000 fans are expected, so that does give a pretty good idea of the scale of the event, and the likely impact on services.

However, I agree that the press release is deficient in that, having told you to travel at a different time, it doesn't actually tell you what time the match is. Would have been much better to say that "trains arriving into Cardiff between 4pm and 8pm are likely to be very busy, and again leaving Cardiff after 9.30pm".  And it's totally deficient in that it hasn't told you what the extra trains are (and this is of interest to me, as I am going). It would have been much better for the press release to say "Passengers for stations between Swindon and London should note that the last train leaves before the end of the match, as we can't be a**ed to lay on any extra services to get you home."

Of course the real fault lies with the WRU for agreeing to Friday night matches. Fans hate them because of the travel problems it causes, and having made a somewhat disparaging comment above about FGW^▸ (First Great Western), I do appreciate that there are lots of operational factors that might limit their ability to put on any extra services. But fans will probably take the view I put, unless it's explained to them why it can't be done.