Royal Welsh Show 2023

Trains to the Royal Welsh Show... here's how it went, followed up with a bit of a compare-and-contrast digression.

tl:dr - armchair commentator here, but it shouldn't really be this bad, & low morale + the outcome of industry dependence on rest day / overtime working completely sucks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For the four days of the show, what TfW^▸ intended was a daily 2x2 carriage 150, setting out from Cardiff at 06:57.

What actually ran, from Realtime Trains:

Monday - didn't run and removed from Realtimetrains data feed. From Builth Road, the empty stock movement to Llandrindod and back - now ghost trains if ever there were such a thing - listed as 'cancelled due to a delay not investigated'.

Tuesday - ditto.

Wednesday - it ran! Left Cardiff 7 minutes late and arrived 6 late at Builth Road. Return journey ran to time / slightly ahead of time.

Thursday - once again, it ran with only two carriages, for some reason with reduced expectations as to passengers. It left Cardiff 17 minutes late and arrived at Builth a half hour late. The late running empty stock service then delayed a southbound train for 15 minutes while it cleared the section. The return service left on time and right time arrival at Cardiff.

As well as providing a train from Cardiff, the Royal Welsh Show trains serve stations along the Central Wales line - so that was a nearly 90 minutes wait for any passengers from those. In addition to the RWS no-shows, monday to friday that week the line also saw four part-cancellations as a result of staff resourcing issues, resulting in potential multi-hour waits for any passengers intending to travel.

This rather unhelpfully put me in mind of:

*Scotrail, which is doubtless no angel but is in a position to be able to encourage and promote use of rail for travel to events and where possible, dynamically strengthens train services to meet demand. In short, Scotrail is able to walk and talk like a provider of travel.

*TfW, which would like to do the same but does not have the resources, perhaps because it's inherited the fallout from the relatively long term post-nationalisation franchise which was predicated on managed decline at best. TfW's attempts to turn this round are providing a bumpy ride for would-be passengers (or in the case of the Royal Welsh Show provision, for the first two days, no ride at all).

We shouldn't omit:

English Train Operating Companies: wild disparities in regional provision, though even the relatively well provided south east sees their rail network local to Brighton (capacity impacted by a ban on overtime working) shutting down for a day to manage demand (down to zero) for the Saturday of Brighton and Hove's 'Pride' event. And is it Coventry Arena station, built to serve a new sports stadium, that still is closed on match days at the adjacent station as no one has trains to provide a service?

Lastly, cancellations from stations with infrequent services are really offputting. Trying to think whether, previously, the nationalised BR^▸ with rather more staff available in the first place, would take steps to ensure that infrequent services were somewhat more protected from cancellations than they are today.

Has the UK^▸ seen a bit of a flowering of RINO syndrome - 'Rail in name only', The physical infrastructure provided at enormous expense but woefully underperforming, whether that be down to the gap between employment practices and business need, 'Spoiled for a ha'porth of tar' (stations that have a service that as glass-backed by unwise singling, lack of a dynamic loop, whatever - category could include Melksham) - or the the political weather being so peculiarly ineffective at promoting growth and good practice resulting in the withdrawal of valued and well used services with growth potential (Hi, Salisbury).

Mark