Additional trains for Wales v South Africa at the Millennium Stadium - 29 Nov 14

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the First Great Western press release:

Additional trains for Wales v South Africa at the Millennium Stadium

First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) is delighted to announce 11 additional trains will be provided to help Wales fans attend and return home from Cardiff^s Millennium Stadium.
With as many as 72,000 fans expected to watch Wales take on South Africa, train services will be busy prior to and after the match. FGW is to provide 11 additional trains, equating to almost 5,500 extra seats between Bristol and Cardiff, as well as strengthening other services.

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

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.

Additional services are being provided between London Paddington and Cardiff; between Carmarthen and Cardiff; Bridgend and Cardiff and Bristol Parkway and Cardiff.

[trainer]

Extra trains were indeed running today...but...

How do you persuade rugby fans not to board an already full and standing (rammed indeed) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from Paddington to Swansea at Bristol Parkway having told them that a non-stop service with plenty of seats will be available within 30mins?  Travelling to Hereford via Newport, chuffed and I needed the 10:08 service to make the connection in time to get to an event in the cathedral.  Also on the platform were pax clearly needing to travel other than for the rugby and with luggage.  The announcements were clear - the train was packed and not expected to have room and if there was room please leave it for those needing other destinations.  We were on our way to cancel the trip and cash in the tickets when a genuinely helpful member of staff advised us to stay and try our luck.  That advice was good and we had an excellent day out.

However, at least 40 clearly rugby fans (the attire, lest you ask) forced their way on and we travelled in nearly third-world conditions (no - not on the roof!) to Newport whereupon a forced exit was made to the platform.  Thereafter it was bliss.

As we waited for the AWT connection at Newport, several strengthened services passed through each as crowded as our train.  Then came the extra non-stop FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST on the through lines (rare track for those who care) with hardly anyone on it.  Similarly, at Newport an extra 6 coach train was provided for Cardiff and announced a few times, but people still forced their way onto the 2 coach service from Taunton to the point that the conductor couldn't get back in at first to close the doors.

I wonder how many rugby fans will complain tonight that they had a terrible journey on the trains today?

[chuffed]

As the other traveller with trainer, I can vouch for all of the above.
However he might have had an even more blissful journey to/from Hereford, had I not been sat next to him !!!!

[Rhydgaled]

What form did the additional services between Carmarthen and Cardiff mentioned in the top post take? Was it FirstGW or ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)))?

[timstours]

I have never seen so many people today queuing for tickets at Swindon station
They were out in front of the station nearly on the road
This was due to the huge demand of rugby fans going both ways towards Cardiff of London
Trains were all packed tube style,could not fgw got west coast railways based at Southall to provide some extra capacity
No as usual fgw doing everything to the bone, even some HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were 7 coach sets

[Chris from Nailsea]

I wonder how many rugby fans will complain tonight that they had a terrible journey on the trains today?

Hopefully, the excellent result will have blunted some of their ire. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

I have never seen so many people today queuing for tickets at Swindon station
They were out in front of the station nearly on the road
This was due to the huge demand of rugby fans going both ways towards Cardiff of London
Trains were all packed tube style,could not fgw got west coast railways based at Southall to provide some extra capacity
No as usual fgw doing everything to the bone, even some HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were 7 coach sets

Thanks for posting, timstours, and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum. 

It may be that First Great Western simply did not have any more HST carriages to put out today - bearing in mind some are being converted from first class to standard, etc.?

[John R]

Not only rugby but Xmas shopping, with Bath Christmas market one of the local attractions that appears to be attracting larger crowds year on year.

[grahame]

Not only rugby but Xmas shopping, with Bath Christmas market one of the local attractions that appears to be attracting larger crowds year on year.

I've just checked in some guests who visited the Bath Christmas Market today ... they described it as "manic".  And First are looking at having all available trains / carriages in use every Saturday for the duration of the market to feed people in and out of Bath.   Even 10 miles from Bath, here at Well House Manor in Melksham, we have a significant proportion of guests who are visiting the market while in the are.  Just one room unlet tonight, which is pretty good for a "business hotel" on a November weekend.

[phile]

What form did the additional services between Carmarthen and Cardiff mentioned in the top post take? Was it FirstGW or ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)))?

FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  Looked ay RealTimeTrains to find out.

[TaplowGreen]

I have never seen so many people today queuing for tickets at Swindon station
They were out in front of the station nearly on the road
This was due to the huge demand of rugby fans going both ways towards Cardiff of London
Trains were all packed tube style,could not fgw got west coast railways based at Southall to provide some extra capacity
No as usual fgw doing everything to the bone, even some HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were 7 coach sets

Thanks for posting, timstours, and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum. 




It may be that First Great Western simply did not have any more HST carriages to put out today - bearing in mind some are being converted from first class to standard, etc.?

............in contrast I used SWT^▸ (South West Trains) to get from Windsor to Twickenham, which as always was a pleasant experience......but not as pleasant as beating Australia!!!