South Wales local services - Pembroke, Fishguard, Swanline, etc.

[whole diary]

[Rhydgaled]

I dont think there are any through trains to Holyhead or even Chester.

When returning to Pembrokeshire in the evening in the past I have seen a Milford or Carmarthen 175 headed for Chester (rather than their normal destonation of Manchester) going in the other direction. I think the depot for 175s is at Chester so these evening services are returning the units to base.

On arrival into Cardiff I noticed the new refurbished 158 in the sidings at Canton - im guessing this was due to form a Holyhead service. Also one of the Portsmouths yesterday was 4 car - a 150 and a 2 car 158.

I'm guessing that Portsmouth was late, the 150 would slow it down. Also the latest I've heard on rail UK^▸ (United Kingdom) fourms is the refurbed 158 (158840) has broken down. Any advance on that?

[Jez]

Yes, thats been the case with the 2000 from Swansea - it goes to Chester currently, but in the new timetable from May its just going as far as Cardiff like the 1900 and 2055 services are.

Not sure about the refurb ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) 158 - not a very good start if its broken down. It was in Canton yesterday so wondered if it was on a Holyhead run as not many other 158's start at Cardiff.

[Jez]

Just seen that the 2015 Cardiff-Milford Haven service is 5 car - a 2 car and a 3 car 175. No doubt to get enough 175s to West Wales ready for tomorrows first services.

[Rhydgaled]

According to rail UK^▸ (United Kingdom) fourm - 158840 (refurbished) is supposed to be launched at Aberystwyth tommorow, departing at 09:30.

EDIT: Sorry, I should have put that it the other thread. Will put it there too.

[Jez]

Are the Holyheads now terminating at Cardiff and then going straight back? I ask because today the 1520 departure from Holyhead was departing from platform 4b so I assume the terminating train which arrived around 1515 was going back. Usually there is around a 2 hour turnaround time? Makes sense tho if they are short of diagrams.

A few observations today - all of the daytime swanlines were 153s - even the one that doesnt go on HOW and ends up going to Abergavenny. Usually we get a pacer on that one on Saturdays. Maybe the pacer was used on Pembroke Dock? Mostly 175s on Manchester trains - apart from the 15.50 from Cardiff which was a 158. That tends to be a 158 on Saturdays (not sure about during the week).

The 12.25 Cardiff-Paddington which I travelled on from Port Talbot to Cardiff on was late, this was due to the Swanline being late ahead of it - the swanline departed Port Talbot at 1143 and I opted to wait for the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) as it was an overcrowded 153. The HST left PT on time however it was 5 mins late leaving Bridgend, made up some time but was ages outside Cardiff waiting for a platform. They seemed to hold the Portsmouth train.  The Paddington departed around 12.31 (6 mins late) and the Portsmouth train around 12.34 (4 mins late). Im guessing Ebbw Vale was therefore also a few mins late but didnt hang around to see. Good that the held it tho as im sure it would make up time, and people travelling to Bath and beyond would have a long wait!

 

[anthony215]

The 15:50 train to Manchester  from Cardiff  on weekdays everytime i have seen it on weekdays since i started university 3 years ago is a class 175.

The 11:10 swanline service from swansea is normally the most reliable of the lot so for it to be late is a rarity. Personally i would have looped the swanline at Stormy down to allow the london service to overtake.

The Cardiff - Ebbw Vale trains are allowed 23 minutes to get to Rogerstone sfrom Cardiff yet they always seem to arrive 3-4 minutes early each time i have travelled on that line

[Jez]

I would have looped the swanline as well, which I expected to happen which is party why I went on the 125 as I thought that might get to Cardiff first.  The 11.10 Swanline doesnt come from HOW so should be reliable.

I noticed today the Swanline that comes off HOW was 2 x 153s. What was used on Pembroke Dock then assuming 4 153s would have bene on Swanline/HOW today in total plus 1 in North Wales and 1 on the Cardiff Bay Service.  With it being school holidays and nice weather are we getting 2 car diagrams on Pembroke Dock Services now?

[anthony215]

Yes, especially since  on weekends ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) do have some stock which is sat in Canton, most likely having some work done but if it isnt it would be better to use them rather than just having them standing in the siding all day.  I am hopeing during the summer to do a day out on the heart of wales since i am more likely to get a class 150 as last time i did it on a single class 153 it was packed and this was during december as well.

I think it is stupid what they have done linking the 13:10 Swansea - Cardiff swanline with the heart of wales diagram

[Jez]

Yes, especially since  on weekends ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) do have some stock which is sat in Canton, most likely having some work done but if it isnt it would be better to use them rather than just having them standing in the siding all day.  I am hopeing during the summer to do a day out on the heart of wales since i am more likely to get a class 150 as last time i did it on a single class 153 it was packed and this was during december as well.

I think it is stupid what they have done linking the 13:10 Swansea - Cardiff swanline with the heart of wales diagram

Well it provides a through journey for stations on the HOW to Cardiff and also the timings fit together quite well. I assume they do it to swap units between HOW and Canton.

I have never done the HOW line so hope I get to do it this summer. Would rather a 150 tho - which diagram is most likely to be a 150?

[anthony215]

a class 150 can easily appear on any of the heart of wales diagrams. you can sometimes get 2 class 153's together on the 08:10 Cardiff - Swansea - Llandrindod - Shrewsbury on summer saturdays but it can be a class 150 most of the time on summer saturdays.

[Rhydgaled]

I think on Royal Welsh show day last year it was 150+153 on the normal Heart Of Wales trains, and 2x 150 on the show special (saw it at Llandrindod, one member of staff (on the Swansea bound service train I seem to remember) nearly got shut in the door as it was closing!).

[Jez]

The 1900 Swansea-Cardiff service was a 175 (2 car) today so I assume that a 175 was on Ebbw Vale unless the unit was swapped.  Also I notice this week the 2000 from Swansea has been terminating at Cardiff Central rather than going to Chester - any idea why?

[Jez]

I travelled back from Manchester last night on the 18.30 to South Wales and to my surprise it was a 150    I know 150s have been known to turn up from time to time but its very rare? They had a trolley service on it between Shrewsbury and Cardiff. 150s arent ideal tho for such long distance but not many places to store luggage. Quite a fast train tho. Fortunately wasnt too busy at Manchester with it being a Bank Holiday - usually the 1730 and 1830 are really packed between Manc-Shrewsbury. This wasnt too bad, although I didnt get a table seat until Shrewsbury. There was a change of unit at Cardiff and it was replaced with a 3 car 175.

Today I needed to travel to Cardiff and got the 11.13 Port Talbot to Manchester - it was a 2 car 158 and was rammed with people. After Bridgend there wouldnt have been much room for any more passengers, even standing. I stood all the way to Cardiff. It was also almost 10 mins late leaving Cardiff because of the overcrowding. Seems to be a lot of 158s used on Manchesters at the moment. It was a 150 over to the bay but a pacer when I came back later on. Id have thought on a busy Saturday now its summer weather especially a 150 would be better used on Pembroke Dock with a pacer on the bay all day but seemed to be a 150 early on.

[anthony215]

There was a pacer on the Swansea - Pembroke dock diagram, which wasnt too healthy, i know it caused problems at Carmarthen while it was on the 14:00 Swansea - Pembroke dock as it had problems with the dooors not working properly. It eventually left 5 minutes late delaying the Manchester train which in turn delayed the class 37 railtour from Preston.

153303 was another ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) unit having problems today as the conducter could not get the doors to close  after opening to allow passengers to board at Swansea before the unit departed on the 17:10 to Cardiff. This service was packed and in my opinion a lot of the cardiff passengers on it should have been made to wait for the 17:28 service to London so that local passengers could actually get on the train. The train eventually became less crowded by the time it got to Port Talbot but was at least 2 minutes late by then.


Noticed today that there seemed to be some conflict between what the working time was showing and what the public timetable was showing, was talking to a ATW driver today about it.

Had a great day out to Tenby & Carmarthen however i must say the Pembroke Dock branch needs a weedkiller train again. Also noticed that there are electronic screens now at a few of the stations on the Pembroke branch how about getting the swanline stations fitted so people actually know when their train is due if at all.

[Jez]

I agree that Swanline stations need the departure screens - Pencoed, Llanharan etc have them but I guess more trains call there than Swanline. Llansamlet have one I think. Surprised Pyle hasnt.

Is the new timetable for the West Wales - Manchester from 22nd May available yet?