Worst Sunday Rail Service

[Jimini]

If my memory serves me correctly then the Epsom Downs branch has no service on a Sunday either.

 

[SWT_USER]

No I know this is not a bad service, but compared to the weekday it's fairly poor:

Farnborough Main has one train an hour on a Sunday (which stops several times and you can't get a direct train beyond Basingstoke), compared with 4 an hour Monday to Saturday. With two an hour going to the south coast and with two an hour towards London calling at only one station before Waterloo (either Woking or Clapham Junction).

Seems to be common in SWT land. The Hounslow loop has a pitiful 1tph compared to 4tph Monday to Saturday.

 

[calc7]

It is *almost* hourly on a Sunday now during shopping hours - from Penistone 0950/1046/1200/1350/1446/1550/1754/1950

Return looks worse though:

1155/1241/1345/1543/1700/1746/1945

Trains after long gaps bolded - look like you either want to come back early or get the 1746...

I've caught the 1746 (as the 1739 from Sheffield) a couple of times. Very glad I've got on there, the crowds as you pull into Meadowhall are a sight to see. Needless to say it's full and standing until at least after Barnsley.

 

[richw]

Anywhere in cornwall except falmouth. The falmouth branch has got to be one of fgw success stories. Falmouth sees more services on a Sunday than the Cornwall main line on a sunday!

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2

 

[calc7]

And the St Ives branch? When I was there on a Sunday in January it was the usual 2tph each way worked by a single 150.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

I've caught the 1746 (as the 1739 from Sheffield) a couple of times. Very glad I've got on there, the crowds as you pull into Meadowhall are a sight to see. Needless to say it's full and standing until at least after Barnsley.

I brought this " Huddersfield " line service up with both South Yorkshire & West Yorkshire PTE in a e-mail, normal rubbish back , blah blah blah no business case for a better frequency or later trains, blah blah crap blah

 

[Zoe]

Is demand for public transport on Sunday still significantly lower than on Monday to Saturday? Some trains on Sunday afternoon can be quite busy.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

Is demand for public transport on Sunday still significantly lower than on Monday to Saturday? Some trains on Sunday afternoon can be quite busy.

I read somewhere ( I might be wrong ) that passenger numbers on " Northern Rail " was up 34% in the last 10 years for Sunday travel

 

[D1009]

Is demand for public transport on Sunday still significantly lower than on Monday to Saturday? Some trains on Sunday afternoon can be quite busy.

It varies quite significantly. There are certainly areas where demand has been suppressed because there is reduced capacity caused by planned engineering work. For an example look at the current Sunday service before 1600 between Birmingham and Bristol compared with that which applied earlier in the year. XC have said that Fridays and Sundays are their busiest days, and one of their HST sets does nothing other than a single journey from Edinburgh to Plymouth on a Friday, returning on a Sunday afternoon. This releases a Voyager to strengthen other services. It's to be hoped Network Rail's "7 day railway" policy will do something to address this problem.
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Seems to be common in SWT land. The Hounslow loop has a pitiful 1tph compared to 4tph Monday to Saturday.

I'm reasonably certain that this is to allow trains to be diverted when the main line is blocked, same reason there is only one stopping train an hour between Woking and Basingstoke before 1600ish.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Melksham is one!

First train to Trowbridge is not long after I leave work. Departs at 1845!

 

[leedslad82]

I think the harrogate line has to be one of the worst (when comparing to midweek) it has 4tph peak and 2tph off peak.
It has 1tp2h on a sunday for most of the day. starting at half 10.

Robin Hood line must be pretty poor too?

i've read today thats it going hourly from dec

 

[SWT_USER]

I'm reasonably certain that this is to allow trains to be diverted when the main line is blocked, same reason there is only one stopping train an hour between Woking and Basingstoke before 1600ish.

Don't think so, they manage to run a half hourly service on Saturdays when the main line is blocked and there are diversions.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Also to add to this list is Penarth. Every 15 minutes throughout the week and Saturday, then on a Sunday just six trains (1047, 1247, 1447, 1647 [which doesn't even exist in the week!], 1847 and 2047).

I thought this was crazy; I'd have expected it to be at least hourly, at the very least.

 

[LE Greys]

There are exceptions that prove the rule. Lakenheath and Shippea Hill get 1tpd most days and 1tp2h for much of Sunday.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Beaulieu Road is the same, about 5tpd each way Monday-Saturday, and hourly on Sundays (though this may be because no trains call at Holton Heath (further down the line) on Sundays, but that gets 1tph Mon-Sat).

 

[dvboy]

No Sunday service Bletchley-Bedford

 

[OxtedL]

No Sunday service Bletchley-Bedford

Post no. 9:

Marston Vale line: No service

 

[MidnightFlyer]

To be fair though, using line nicknames is probably going to result in other people using the [from]-[to] equivalent later on, some are really unclear (like the Marston Vale or Tarka lines).

Another reverse example is Buckenham, no trains at all Mon-Fri, 1tpd each way on Sat, and 9 tpd overall on Sundays.

 

[dvboy]

Post no. 9:

I didn't know the name of the line.

 

[OxtedL]

I didn't know the name of the line.

Fair enough, just wanted to avoid the last 4 months suddenly regurgitating on me.

 

[ainsworth74]

There are exceptions that prove the rule. Lakenheath and Shippea Hill get 1tpd most days and 1tp2h for much of Sunday.

Would that be related to the big airbases nearby or just a quirk of the timetable?

 

[chrisdoward]

Lakenheath is probably to do with the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath Fen.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Merseyrail seem to only run a half hourly service on a sunday using the spare stock to double up units making them all 6-car

 

[Metroland]

Is demand for public transport on Sunday still significantly lower than on Monday to Saturday? Some trains on Sunday afternoon can be quite busy.

Depends on the place, Sunday is now one of the busiest shopping days of the week, and there tends to be a lot of day trippers. The railway is only just catching up with recent changes, it was only in 1994 large scale Sunday trading was made legal.

In many places overnight Saturday night engineering work precludes an early Sunday service, in others vast amounts of mechanical signalling makes many more rural lines expensive to operate, Cumbrian Coast and Lincolnshire being typical areas. Areas like the Mansfield to Worksop line recently had its Sunday service curtained because the council refused to subsidise it due to cut backs.

 

[chrisdoward]

To be fair though, using line nicknames is probably going to result in other people using the [from]-[to] equivalent later on, some are really unclear (like the Marston Vale or Tarka lines).

Another reverse example is Buckenham, no trains at all Mon-Fri, 1tpd each way on Sat, and 9 tpd overall on Sundays.

Further to my post about Lakenheath, Buckenham is probably to do with the RSPB at Buckenham Marshes as mentioned here on the RSPB site:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/buckenham/directions.aspx

 

[Liam]

Not sure how recently it changed, but Ladybank and Markinch had at least 2tph most of the day Monday to Saturday, mostly only stopping at Kirkcaldy and Haymarket, with some stopping at Inverkeithing. Sunday was only 1tp2h, stopping everywhere up the coast.

I see there are now a handful of Perth and Inverness services and a XC also stopping. I think the last time Inverness services stopped at Markinch on a Sunday must have been in the early 90's when Kirkcaldy was closed on Sundays for rebuilding work

 

[StoneRoad]

At least there is one train each way on the Cambrian Coast route......the Conwy Valley line has nowt on a Sunday during the winter!

:cry:

 

[merlodlliw]

At least there is one train each way on the Cambrian Coast route......the Conwy Valley line has nowt on a Sunday during the winter!

:cry:

1.Paid for by Gwynedd County Council

2.Conwy County Council pays for six bus rail replacements.

Bob

 

[BTP]

An interesting thing would be, is there any lines/stations that get a better service on Sunday compared to the rest of the week?

 

[Liam]

An interesting thing would be, is there any lines/stations that get a better service on Sunday compared to the rest of the week?

The most famous example of this is Berney Arms.