Keolis/Amey to take over Wales and Borders

[jon0844]

Big changes with regards to child travel and off peak travel. Very much like TfL and of course bound to create issues with people done for using a child ticket as an adult in England but not in Wales! How does it work for services that enter England?

 

[nedchester]

Big changes with regards to child travel and off peak travel. Very much like TfL and of course bound to create issues with people done for using a child ticket as an adult in England but not in Wales! How does it work for services that enter England?

Just keep them wholly within the Franchise area or Wales.

Merseyrail have half price 16-18 tickets for within the Merseyrail area so can't see that being much different.

 

[Parallel]

Spot the error and subtle change
http://tfwalesstg.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/tfwrail.wales/files/2018-10/Valley Explorer LG.pdf

Edit: attached screenshot for the record.

View attachment 53710

Arriva Trains Wales?

 

[Chouette]

Downloaded the new app and it looks like it'll be back to paper tickets for me - ATW allowed a railcard discount on the mobile multiflex tickets, TfW do not. Pretty disappointing, really.

 

[krus_aragon]

Downloaded the new app and it looks like it'll be back to paper tickets for me - ATW allowed a railcard discount on the mobile multiflex tickets, TfW do not. Pretty disappointing, really.

It might be worth contacting them to query this: it may be an oversight.

 

[Dai Corner]

Arriva Trains Wales?

That's the error.

The subtle change is in the red lines.

 

[Born Acorn]

Just drove past Wrexham General. Looks like the rebranding hasn't occurred at all. Early candidate for a deep clean and full sign replacement?

 

[krus_aragon]

That's the error.

The subtle change is in the red lines.

Namely the fact that Newport is included in the catchment area? I suppose it'll have to be once Ebbw-Newport services start, but in the meantime Cardiff-Newport is now included on a Valleys Explorer.

 

[Dai Corner]

Namely the fact that Newport is included in the catchment area? I suppose it'll have to be once Ebbw-Newport services start, but in the meantime Cardiff-Newport is now included on a Valleys Explorer.

Is the correct answer.

Presumably not valid on GWR or CrossCountry trains though. That'll be confusing.

 

[Weekender]

I was in Gloucester earlier and noticed the 10:30 from Cardiff was a class 175 instead of the usual pacer or 150, don’t know if this was a one off.

 

[PHILIPE]

I was in Gloucester earlier and noticed the 10:30 from Cardiff was a class 175 instead of the usual pacer or 150, don’t know if this was a one off.

There is so much disruption at the moment, Engineering Work, weather related events and shortage of units due mainly to PRM Mods and damage caused by matters such as tree collisions so anything seems to be going anywhere at the moment.

 

[krus_aragon]

There is so much disruption at the moment, Engineering Work, weather related events and shortage of units due mainly to PRM Mods and damage caused by matters such as tree collisions so anything seems to be going anywhere at the moment.

Though it's probably not as up-in-the-air as the legendary Northern Random Unit Generator.

 

[CMRail]

I was in Gloucester earlier and noticed the 10:30 from Cardiff was a class 175 instead of the usual pacer or 150, don’t know if this was a one off.

Rarely pacers up here, either 150, 158 or 175.

 

[js1000]

Transport for Wales isn't the best name for a rail company when you consider they have numerous services that go beyond Wales and many of the new services the franchise desires will actually be to Manchester and Liverpool.

They'd have been better just calling it Cymru Rail or Welsh Rail. Standing at Manchester Piccadilly platform 13 and hearing "Transport for Wales service to Manchester Airport" on the tannoy is somewhat odd.

 

[PHILIPE]

Rarely pacers up here, either 150, 158 or 175.

Pacers often work on the Maesteg to Cheltenham runs and so do 153s sometimes single and sometimes in pairs.

 

[Llanigraham]

Oh well, shall find out if the Marches is a different world tomorrow.
Off to Newport from Ludlow at 0945.

 

[anamyd]

Delete

 

[anamyd]

Transport for Wales isn't the best name for a rail company when you consider they have numerous services that go beyond Wales and many of the new services the franchise desires will actually be to Manchester and Liverpool.

They'd have been better just calling it Cymru Rail or Welsh Rail. Standing at Manchester Piccadilly platform 13 and hearing "Transport for Wales service to Manchester Airport" on the tannoy is somewhat odd.

Not much different to when the Arriva Trains Wales service to Birmingham International was announced at Wolverhampton or Birmingham New Street, right...?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Not much different to when the Arriva Trains Wales service to Birmingham International was announced at Wolverhampton or Birmingham New Street, right...?

I does mean that the Welsh Government will get it in the neck if the service fails, rather than a commercial operator.
Keolis Amey, as the real operator, look like being invisible as far as the public are concerned.

 

[Parallel]

I does mean that the Welsh Government will get it in the neck if the service fails, rather than a commercial operator.
Keolis Amey, as the real operator, look like being invisible as far as the public are concerned.

Unless you are submitting delay claims!

 

[Hetlana]

Otherwise phrased as "missing connections for those travelling from west of Chester or east/south of Crewe". It needs to be a through service onto the Coast like it was for years until the WAG's stupid little pet Cardiff project[1] killed it off. Running the through services to Birmingham onto the slower, secondary route was utter politically-motivated madness that had no foundation in the way people wish to travel whatsoever. Even if there are no WCML paths for going through to Brum via Stafford it should run to Crewe for connections without having to change twice (which is still quicker than a slow trundle down the Marches).

[1] When will they get it into their thick skulls that Wales isn't Scotland, and that people from the North Wales Coast do not give a stuff about Cardiff?

When you say ‘Wales isn’t Scotland’, what do you mean?

 

[mmh]

Transport for Wales isn't the best name for a rail company when you consider they have numerous services that go beyond Wales and many of the new services the franchise desires will actually be to Manchester and Liverpool.

They'd have been better just calling it Cymru Rail or Welsh Rail. Standing at Manchester Piccadilly platform 13 and hearing "Transport for Wales service to Manchester Airport" on the tannoy is somewhat odd.

Well you wouldn't want to call it "Cymru Rail" as it makes no sense in either language and would just be guaranteed to irritate everyone.

I'm not a massive fan of "Transport for Wales", it's pretty lazy. See also TfWM, TfWM, TfN... But, it's also quite sensible in a way. It allows a logo that works in both languages. That's quite an important consideration.

 

[Dai Corner]

I does mean that the Welsh Government will get it in the neck if the service fails, rather than a commercial operator.
Keolis Amey, as the real operator, look like being invisible as far as the public are concerned.

They'd didnt manage to get through the first day without mention Keolis Amey

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1051488036977078273?s=21

Hi Liam, Keolis Amey will be operating the service on behalf of Transport for Wales. There is a profit cap with money made being reinvested back in to transport. More details here tfw.gov.wales/news-events/ne… ^Liv

 

[mmh]

I notice the route maps on the new website have a subliminal little southerner detail. The only stations which get an interchange circle and capital letters are in the south. Carmarthen is worthy of them but apparently Shotton and Llandudno Junction are no longer interchanges.

One of the maps has Wrexham Central as a through station.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Well you wouldn't want to call it "Cymru Rail" as it makes no sense in either language and would just be guaranteed to irritate everyone.

You mean like "Croes Newydd North Fork" which is the official name of the signal box at Wrexham?

 

[uxm]

Can someone explain to me why it's branded as TFW rail? is this like the overground which is owned by tfl but operated by arriva and tfl rail which is operated by MTR? so this is a devolved franchise and not a standard franchise.

 

[The Prisoner]

They'd didnt manage to get through the first day without mention Keolis Amey

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1051488036977078273?s=21

I’m confused. That tweet says there is a profit cap, whilst the tfw homepage says “Transport for Wales is a not for profit company, wholly owned by the Welsh Government.”

Is there a profit allowance built in for KA but not for tfw? Assuming so the minute KA take a profit the press will have a field day. Not very transparent

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I’m confused. That tweet says there is a profit cap, whilst the tfw homepage says “Transport for Wales is a not for profit company, wholly owned by the Welsh Government.”

Is there a profit allowance built in for KA but not for tfw? Assuming so the minute KA take a profit the press will have a field day. Not very transparent

TfW is a not for profit company.

KA are a for profit company, and they operate the rail service for TfW. However their profit is limited by the franchise agreement.

 

[anamyd]

New service.

 

[pt_mad]

TfW is a not for profit company.

KA are a for profit company, and they operate the rail service for TfW. However their profit is limited by the franchise agreement.

It does seem slightly bizarre. Keolis Amey will take a profit, so the operation will take a profit.

So they have adopted the Transport for Wales brand but the operator itself is a combination of transport for Wales and KeolisAmey who are a profit making company? But the brand only represents the Transport for Wales part in the franchise and takes only it's name?

It's a bit like if West Midlands Railway had called themselves Transport for West Midlands instead, who are the not for profit authority in their franchise. But instead they chose a different brand name made up of TfWM and WMTrains together.