Perhaps San Bernardino, California?   

Wot, no Finn foto ??!

508 trains in the planned Spring 2020 timetable. Schedule reduced during the month so that 472 appeared on immediate (day by day) departure boards. 13 of those cancelled, 35 significnatly late, 59 late but by less than 5 minutes, and 365 ran on time.   

Running rate 97.2%
Ppm measure 89.8%

Correct.

I managed to get to Yeovil Railway Centre from Tisbury just as the 'Clan Line' hauled Sherborne Christmas Carol railtour arrived, where it was fed, watered and turned. I met up with fellow forum member Phil Wakely here. I think I might have been papped...

Sorry no. We're running out of heritage rail locations in Somerset...

I'm feeling Midsomer Norton ...

I'm feeling Midsomer Norton ...

Not the ESR either.

I think she is due in Salisbury again on the 14th - train is diesel hauled from there on. Might pop up there with camera !

I'm ... looking to get a list of where we stand on all the TOCs and reverts to nationalisation:

2025 Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract
tba  Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract

17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 20:11 will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Shipton and Kingham.
It is being delayed at London Paddington.
This is due to a road vehicle colliding with a bridge.
Last Updated:04/12/2024 18:19

Trains: £2bn to re-open Carmarthen to Bangor lines

Re-opening railway lines that were shut in the 1960s and have left large towns without a direct rail link would cost £2bn, Transport for Wales has said.

TfW looked at the line between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth, Ceredigion and Afon Wen and Bangor in Gwynedd.

Chief executive James Price said it would be "very costly" to develop and "difficult" to implement.

Campaigners have said it was unclear how the rail operator got that figure as all studies had not yet been done.

Under the Welsh Labour government's co-operation deal with Plaid Cymru, TfW was asked to examine how transport links between the north and south could be developed

That included a potential travel corridor along the coast from Carmarthen to Bangor, with TfW looking at re-connecting the disused rail routes between Bangor and Afon Wen - about 28 miles.

Since the closure of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line, taking the train between the two towns - which are just 49 miles apart - takes seven hours.

Owned by the Welsh government, TfW has been responsible for train services across much of Wales since 2018.



In a letter to a Senedd committee, Mr Price said TfW looked at a "wide-ranging assessment to examine how accessibility and connectivity can be improved on the west coast of Wales".

He said the options offered shorter journey times but were "very costly to develop and implement".

A north to south rail scheme would "likely to cost circa £2bn and would take over 10 years to deliver".

He added: "Therefore, these are all difficult to realise, even as a light rail scheme. The case for Bangor - Caernarfon/Afon Wen was stronger due to shorter route length and higher demand."

Transport expert Prof Stuart Cole said the plans did not offer value for money.

He said: "As someone who lives in Llanelli, nothing would please me more than to go by train via Carmarthen to Aberystwyth. But it doesn't have a sufficiently high rate of return in financial terms.

"The number of people living in the area of the planned route is too small for an investment of this size."

People in Carmarthen supported the idea, but questioned whether it was viable.

Margaret Jones said: "I know it makes sense for the businesses each end but it's a lot of money to pay for that especially as there are so many people living on the streets... that money could be better spent."

Branwen Evans said it would be "great" if it went ahead, but doubts it will "as it will cost too much".

Former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price believes it could be paid for from spending on the HS2 rail project in England.

"We can do that of course if HS2 is re-registered as being an England-only project, which it is," the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Member of the Senedd said.

"Even HS2 as it now exists we would get sufficient money invested in Wales so we could achieve this national important project."

Mark Davies from campaign group Traws Link Cymru said he was "surprised" at the comments made by TfW.

He said: "It should be noted that scoping and feasibility studies are yet to be completed for the northern section of the line and therefore it is not clear how TfW have arrived at the £2bn total cost."

TAU?

I hope the all-day couple/uncouple arrangement works out in practice. A Sprinter covering something would snarl it up!

I wonder if there's any scope to swap the arrangement so the 3 car portion goes past Swansea and then ends up on Cardiffs in between. With most other routes in theory going up to an appropriate new baseline train length (CDF-HHD 3 car, CDF-MAN 5 car etc) the off-hour Cardiff-West journeys are a bit of an anomoly being stuck with 2 cars. Swapping the arrangement would mean more 3 car (with Standard Plus) diagrams in total, as some will be locked into West Wales cycles at any one time. I can see why the extras aren't attaching/detaching at Swansea - it would otherwise involve having two sets couple/uncouple movements going on at the same time each hour, and either very tight movements or having overlapping layovers, none of which is good for resilience. Maybe once things have settled down the 'extras' could have a separate routine of attaching/detaching a 2 car set at CMN to make 4 cars.

Several 153 subs today, it seems, and a 150 on at least one Ebbw Vale diagram, which was doing the stepping-up thing that suggests availability is tight. So I am a bit concerned about how there will suddenly be an increase in availability! Especially with 150s starting to be withdrawn now AIUI. 756s are starting to appear; only 1 diagram on today, as far as I could see, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a dramatic increase in the next few weeks. That would help to cascade some 150s to the Valleys routes currently operated with 153s, which would then help to cover the SWML locals etc until 197 availability improves. Most of the Pembrokes seem to be 197s atm, for example, so they could be released if covered by 153s per previous plans.