Severn Beach Line; trains, performance, tickets and usage

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Is my memory playing tricks on me, or did there used to be a role of 'conductor-guard' on the Severn Beach line? If so, does anyone know when this role was abolished?

[TonyK]

All very normal at Montpelier this morning... what's the fuss about?

Reminds me of Shirehampton in January 2013.

[TonyK]

Personal conjecture - I would put provision of a frequent, reliable service "even with pacers" ahead of running an infrequent service with better stock.  If someone experimented by running a pacer on the TransWilts, alternating the current 165/166 service with the "old bus train", even with a warning in the timetable "rickety old train that bounces around and has the loos locked out of use and is 5 minutes slower", I doubt too many people would choose to use the Turbo if the Pacer timing suited them better.

Depends on the journey, I suppose. Redland to Montpelier, maybe. But Stapleton Road...

[grahame]

Personal conjecture - I would put provision of a frequent, reliable service "even with pacers" ahead of running an infrequent service with better stock.  If someone experimented by running a pacer on the TransWilts, alternating the current 165/166 service with the "old bus train", even with a warning in the timetable "rickety old train that bounces around and has the loos locked out of use and is 5 minutes slower", I doubt too many people would choose to use the Turbo if the Pacer timing suited them better.

Depends on the journey, I suppose. Redland to Montpelier, maybe. But Stapleton Road...

What you don't want in Bristol to give you a 20 minute service, we'll welcome in Wiltshire to give us an hourly one 

[eightf48544]

i would have thought that they were ideal Heritage Line Stock. This is what it was like in the 21st  century, people travelled on them everyday.

[johnneyw]

For a 20 minutely service on the Beach Line I'd be happy with un-refurbished ones still with their Arriva Trans Wales liveries.

[Red Squirrel]

For a 20 minutely service on the Beach Line I'd be happy with un-refurbished ones still with their Arriva Trans Wales liveries.

Absolutely!

If you set out to design a train for the Severn Beach line, the result would not look much like a 166.

On a recent trip to Penarth, I was rather envious of their 4-car Pacers running every 15 minutes; I'd be more than happy to swap!

Currently it's not quite as simple as that though; a unit that goes up and down the Clifton Extension often carries on to Great Malvern or down to Taunton, routes for which they are actually suitable! Maybe this requirement may diminish when there are more suburban services round Bristol and we can find some stock that's a better fit for this purpose, though I'm not sure what that might be or where it might come from.

[Phantom]

I'd prefer a pacer over a voyager any day of the week 

[TonyK]

I'd prefer a pacer over a voyager any day of the week 

Can we have a "laugh" button please grahame? 

I understand the argument there very well. I have never been a fan of Voyagers, which I see as the typical compromise between one thing and another that ended up satisfying neither. I wouldn't like to do my last Voyager trip (Tiverton Parkway to Nottingham) on a pacer though. At least the Voyager has a toilet, even if it is all too evident on occasions.

[johnneyw]

If you set out to design a train for the Severn Beach line, the result would not look much like a 166.

Indeed. The resultant blueprint might include features somewhat more akin to a Pacer than a 166. Will there be a class more ideally suited to Metrowest by the time it's up and running more widely? It looks like it won't be DTrain as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) don't seem impressed with them so far.

[Red Squirrel]

Currently it's not quite as simple as that though; a unit that goes up and down the Clifton Extension often carries on to Great Malvern or down to Taunton, routes for which they are actually suitable! Maybe this requirement may diminish when there are more suburban services round Bristol and we can find some stock that's a better fit for this purpose, though I'm not sure what that might be or where it might come from.

According to FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site)'s number cruncher, this is no longer true. Prior to to December 2019, they diagrammed things so as to give units a good run from time to time; to clear their tubes as it were. Apparently since the timetable changes they just plod up and down to the Beach or Avonmouth.

[TonyK]

[Currently it's not quite as simple as that though; a unit that goes up and down the Clifton Extension often carries on to Great Malvern or down to Taunton, routes for which they are actually suitable! Maybe this requirement may diminish when there are more suburban services round Bristol and we can find some stock that's a better fit for this purpose, though I'm not sure what that might be or where it might come from.

According to FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site)'s number cruncher, this is no longer true. Prior to to December 2019, they diagrammed things so as to give units a good run from time to time; to clear their tubes as it were. Apparently since the timetable changes they just plod up and down to the Beach or Avonmouth.

Wot I thought too, although an expert with access to diagrams could confirm or deny that. In the olden days, I used to catch one all the way from Taunton to Redland Parkway, which took longer than some holidays I have been on. However, a bit of RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) looking up shows that the 0553 from SVB hitches up to a train from Westbury and continues to Cardiff Central weekdays. The 1942 from SVB on Saturday then goes on to Worcester Shrub Hill - these are not timetabled as through trains from SVB. Sunday has one train from Exeter St Davids, two from Taunton and one from Weston super Mare, with two returns from Severn Beach to Taunton, but I think that's about it.

The ideal thing would be electric because of the short distances between stations. Not much hope at present, but it will happen one day. 30 minutes from Avonmouth is shorter than some tram journeys in Manchester, or indeed Blackpool, where the whole Starr Gate to Fleetwood Ferry is timed for 58 minutes. Few people do the whole length on a daily basis, though, unlike Avonmouth to Temple Meads. Passenger numbers are too great for trams anyway, unless the line is doubled and a 10 minute service put on.

[grahame]

... Passenger numbers are too great for trams anyway, unless the line is doubled and a 10 minute service put on.

Passenger numbers on "The Beach" - though perhaps not all the way to Severn Beach itself - are said to be doing rather well of late; excellent (almost unbelievable) figures I think I heard.  Is this due to a big increase in riders, or a big increase in revenue collection?   How long before the 3 car trains become 5 car?

Yes, we seem to be way off topic!

[Red Squirrel]

almost unbelievable

Staying resolutely off-topic, as we have been since the second or third post: [Now fixed by merging topics - RS]

Latest figures are here. The yellow bars are the ones to watch. What they show is steady, entirely believable growth with a predictable dip in 2018 when the line was shut for 3 weeks and many weekends:



We don't have passenger survey results any more, but these figures are without doubt an underestimate.

Severnside CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership) say:

These figures are from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ticket sales allocated LENNON^▸ (Latest Earnings Nationally Networked Over-Night ) data and include only GWR journeys. Some journeys made for example on Rover tickets or employee passes, or on substitute buses, may not have been recorded. So the figures may underscore the total journeys, but this is unlikely to be significant.
Reduced Passenger figures for 2018 reflect the considerable line closures due to improvement work.

What SCRP don't say is that revenue collection is at times very poor. How many journeys go uncounted because of this is open to conjecture, but in my estimation it must be a significant number.

https://www.severnside-rail.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/13206-Severnside-Progress-Report-2020-LR.pdf

[Phantom]

According to FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site)'s number cruncher, this is no longer true. Prior to to December 2019, they diagrammed things so as to give units a good run from time to time; to clear their tubes as it were. Apparently since the timetable changes they just plod up and down to the Beach or Avonmouth.

Passenger numbers are too great for trams anyway, unless the line is doubled and a 10 minute service put on.

Here's a crazy suggestion for Bristol, why not bring in a metro bus service