Wrexham & Shropshire - their rise and fall (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Chiltern are adding automatic doors to their Mark 3 coaches! It looks like Chiltern's main service will be loco hauled for the long term now. The coaches are being refurbed to a high standard, so they can be used post 2019:

http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/signal/delta-rail/press7.html

I expect that Chiltern realise that they'll need the 168s for Oxford trains. Or if the "rumour" about W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) is true, they may be preparing to run Wrexham services with 168 in the short term until after the credit crunch...

Combine this with the 172s to augment the 165s, it looks like Chiltern are expanding their fleet again. (they've already more than doubled the fleet since privatisation)

 

[willc]

The revised timetable will start on Monday, October 5, with the new 18.33 departure from London in place of the 20.03 being the key feature, although the first train from London is going to set out at a slightly more civilised time of 7.23 and the 16.03 is going to pick up passengers at Banbury again.

The new times are not yet posted on the W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) website's timetables page, but are in their journey planner.

Shropshire Star story here http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/09/16/new-london-rail-timetable/

[John R]

I can't help thinking it's strange that the sets have such long layovers in London. The worst example is the 1123 arrival into Marylebone which doesn't leave until 1633. 

I would be tempted to lend out a unit during the day to Chiltern to provide a high quality service to Stratford. It could leave Marylebone at around 0930 and arrive back at 1800. Ideal for American tourists, though maybe they're all on prepurchased passes, so wouldn't actually bring much revenue to Chiltern/W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)).

[Btline]

You never know, when CHiltern start using loco + coaches, they may be train sharing.

But remember that CHiltern is a one class railway (everyone is First Class! ) as opposed to W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)). (where everyone is First or Super First!)

[John R]

So is ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))), except for the Premier North-South Wales service. It wouldn't compromise their policy too much to offer one service to Stratford aimed at rich American tourists.

[willc]

The extended layovers are a result of them dropping from five trains on weekdays to four earlier this year.

I should think that a lot of overseas visitors are indeed using Britrail passes but given that the highlight of many people's visit to Stratford is seeing some Shakespeare at the RSC, a train getting into London at 6pm would have to leave Stratford before the end of many afternoon performances, so not a lot of use.

And please don't tell me that a 165 (which are used on almost all Stratford services), even refurbished, is first class - 3+2 seats, need I say more?

[Btline]

(a) It's a joke that a Chiltern guard once said to someone I know.

(b) The 165s are used on the least used trains. All the business and "day out in London" trains are 168s. I would agree that moe 168s would be desirable, but with the Oxford services swiping many of them, I can't see it happening.

[Btline]

Still nothing on the W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) website. I hope people are not caught out by this! (as in they turn up at Marylebone at 8 o'clock only to find out that their only route to a bed is to book into the Marylebone Travelodge!

[willc]

Unlikely to catch that many out, as they didn't release any advance purchase tickets for evening departures beyond the end of this month until the timetable change was confirmed - I believe this block on advance ticket sales was one of the factors fuelling some of the rumours claiming the demise of W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) was imminent.

[paul7575]

Track Access applications are now available on the Network Rail website which give more
of a clue as to what is going on, including all the proposed timetables:

http://tinyurl.com/mtj9lr Chiltern
http://tinyurl.com/m8u8bg WSMR^▸ (Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway)

A key change seems to be to make new WSMR calls at Leamington Spa, and make existing calls at
Banbury, 'open', ie removing pick up and set down restrictions:

"To allow Wrexham & Shropshire to provide a more reliable and robust service through having the ability to substitute or supplement its existing Rolling Stock with other Rolling Stock hired from Chiltern Railways as required

" To generate synergies between Chiltern Railways and Wrexham & Shropshire by reducing duplication of service provision. Currently, passengers are unable to travel from London Marylebone to Banbury on Wrexham & Shropshire
services even though the Wrexham & Shropshire services make a call at Banbury; equally whilst Wrexham & Shropshire services pass through Leamington Spa, they do not currently call.

"The change permits Wrexham & Shropshire services to fulfil certain Chiltern Railways PSR^▸ (Permanent Speed Restriction) quantum requirements between London and Banbury and Leamington Spa. This reduces costs on Chiltern Railways since certain Chiltern services which duplicate the route taken by Wrexham & Shropshire services can be removed.

Paul

[Btline]

Any idea when the timetables are signed off.

I want to check times on the online planner, but can't trust it yet!

[Btline]

As I expected, W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) will cease to operate as a separate company from December, although the W&S brand will remain. This will enable restricted calls at Banbury to be removed, and additional calls at Leamington etc.

http://www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk/news-item.php?id=75

It is rumoured that 168s will be used on all but the peak services, allowing Chiltern to use the loco + mk 3s - but this is not confirmed.

http://www.modern-railways.com/latestnews/?p=82

Will Chiltern get subsidy for these services? As unless passenger numbers pick up, I fear for the route.

[Mookiemoo]

Bye bye to the one thing that made the W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) worthwhile - the MK3 sets and on train service

Much quicker from Shrewsbury to get a fast to birmingham and change to Virgin.........

[Btline]

Bye bye to the one thing that made the W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) worthwhile - the MK3 sets and on train service

Much quicker from Shrewsbury to get a fast to birmingham and change to Virgin.........

Sometimes I wonder whether it would be better for VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises) to serve the region. Wrexham by expanding  Chester terminators, Walsall by extending B'ham terminators and Shrewsbury/Telford by extending Wolverhampton terminators.

[JayMac]

Bye bye to the one thing that made the W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) worthwhile - the MK3 sets and on train service

Much quicker from Shrewsbury to get a fast to birmingham and change to Virgin.........

But nowhere near as nice a journey. For an extra 30-40 minutes on train it's worth avoiding a change at New Street/Wolverhampton or Wolverhampton and Stafford. Also the fares are cheaper and the catering in 1st class is superior (OK no free G+T on WSMR^▸ (Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway)!). And a first class fare from Shrewsbury to Euston has no first class accomodation on the first leg of the journey.

Oh, and Marylebone is a much more civilised destination than the airport terminal at Euston!

I hope that the service continues with the existing rolling stock. According to the Modern Railways article there are  enough carriages available to Chiltern/WSMR to make up five rakes of MKIIIs, so Chiltern should have access to enough stock for their own loco-hauled designs.