CrossCountry South West-North East axis

[387star]

Do the HSTs work as far west as Penzance or only as far as Plymouth?

Is the UKs longest train journey (Penzance to Aberdeen) still a voyager and do many voyagers still work through to Edinburgh?

How popular are Crosscountry services to Glasgow for surely it is quicker via the west coast?

Finally I know I keep mentioning this but any chance the HSTs will be extended back to 8 coaches or used more intensively? I thought it was in their franchise agreement to decide on these trains despite rolling stock costs being higher? Could any more HSTs be sought or are they all in use now?

 

[MCR247]

Of course many voyagers make it to Edinburgh, they only have 4 HSTs out a day!

They can't use their HSTs more intensively...

 

[142094]

Think they only go as far as Plymouth, and yes the Aberdeen - Penzance is still formed as a Voyager.

 

[387star]

Oh I must be getting confused because at one point I heard they had reduced the number of HST journeys I think around the same time they removed a coach from each. I'm surprised the Aberdeen service is still viable although I know it serves big conurbations enroute

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Do the HSTs work as far west as Penzance or only as far as Plymouth?

Plymouth and (from summer) Paignton only; Edinburgh is the furthest north I think.

Is the UKs longest train journey (Penzance to Aberdeen) still a voyager and do many voyagers still work through to Edinburgh?

Aberdeen-Penzance is a Voyager only. Any services not scheduled for HST operation are Voyagers (i.e. any towards Reading or to/from Glasgow/Dundee/Aberdeen, as well as some Plymouth trains).

How popular are Crosscountry services to Glasgow for surely it is quicker via the west coast?

I'm not sure about this, but they tend to be more intensively-loaded from Edinburgh, yet the Edinburgh-WCML-Birmingham trains seem quite busy (Virgin Voyager only).

 

[ainsworth74]

Do the HSTs work as far west as Penzance or only as far as Plymouth?

They are only diagrammed to work to Plymouth with some Summer extensions to Paignton.

Is the UKs longest train journey (Penzance to Aberdeen) still a voyager and do many voyagers still work through to Edinburgh?

Yes it's a still a Voyager, and most XC services on the NE-SW axis will work through to Edinburgh so quite a few Voyagers work through to Edinburgh as well.

Could any more HSTs be sought or are they all in use now?

All HSTs are in service, there are no spare power cars and the only spare trailers are a few buffets and I think a couple of TGSOs (and obviously the five TSOs that XC already have).

 

[MCR247]

Plymouth and (from summer) Paignton only; Edinburgh is the furthest north I think.



Aberdeen-Penzance is a Voyager only. Any services not scheduled for HST operation are Voyagers (i.e. any towards Reading or to/from Glasgow/Dundee/Aberdeen, as well as some Plymouth trains).



I'm not sure about this, but they tend to be more intensively-loaded from Edinburgh, yet the Edinburgh-WCML-Birmingham trains seem quite busy (Virgin Voyager only).

No, a HST does the 0632 from Dundee IIRC, and they work to Glasgow

 

[swt_passenger]

Do the HSTs work as far west as Penzance or only as far as Plymouth?

How many times since Christmas have the XC HST diagrams been posted? I can't be bothered to find a link but all four weekday diagrams run to Plymouth and back to the North/Scotland.

Penzance IS served but only once each on Sat and Sun.

The franchise requires a particular number of seats through the NW/SE axis at peak times - it is not expressed in terms of the train type required on a particular service.

 

[387star]

Ah I didn't know Virgin ran trains to Edinburgh still perhaps that's why putting electric trains Birmingham-Glasgow is complicated. I suppose once Glasgow-Edinburgh is electrified this will change although I think an electrified route might exist?

 

[ainsworth74]

I suppose once Glasgow-Edinburgh is electrified this will change although I think an electrified route might exist?

There already is an electrified route (two of them in fact!) from Carstairs you can go either to Glasgow or Edinburgh via an electrified route. This is why EC can run to Glasgow Central using IC225s.

 

[MCR247]

How many times since Christmas have the XC HST diagrams been posted? I can't be bothered to find a link but all four weekday diagrams run to Plymouth and back to the North/Scotland.

I don't understand why they can't be a sticky of some sort...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Ah I didn't know Virgin ran trains to Edinburgh still perhaps that's why putting electric trains Birmingham-Glasgow is complicated. I suppose once Glasgow-Edinburgh is electrified this will change although I think an electrified route might exist?

Carlisle-Lockerbie-Carstairs, thence to either Motherwell and Glasgow or Haymarket and Edinburgh, both routes are electrified 25kV overhead, and have been for about 40 years (1974 I think), so no problems either way.

 

[tbtc]

How popular are Crosscountry services to Glasgow for surely it is quicker via the west coast?

From Birmingham New Street to Glasgow Central it is quicker via the WCML, but XC serve a lot more places (Derby, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Newcastle etc) and give them a direct service to Glasgow.

People need to stop thinking of the XC franchise as being for "end to end" journeys of hundreds of miles. I'm sure someone on this thread will say "I wouldn't fancy sitting on a Voyager from Aberdeen to Plymouth", which may be true but hardly anyone does the journey from end to end. More people use the London Underground from Cockfosters to Heathrow (yet nobody complains that a tube train is unsuitable for a journey of almost two hours)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I don't understand why they can't be a sticky of some sort...

+1

It comes up over and over again (along with people asking for intermediate times)

 

[starrymarkb]

Suspect most SW-Scotland Traffic flies. The rail journey is too long, but there isn't the traffic to justify a full HSL to bring journey times down. An hour long flight - even on a Dash 8 - is preferable to an 8 hour trip on XC.

 

[TomJ93]

Wouldn't mind an 8 hour ride behind their HST.

I was hoping a HST went as far as Penzance, we were planning to do BHM to Penzance, stay a few nights, back up on the sleeper and then a 390 home, that would have been a great journey!

 

[Liam]

Carlisle-Lockerbie-Carstairs, thence to either Motherwell and Glasgow or Haymarket and Edinburgh, both routes are electrified 25kV overhead, and have been for about 40 years (1974 I think), so no problems either way.

Edinburgh-Carstairs was electrified as part of the ECML program in the 1980's

 

[swt_passenger]

Wouldn't mind an 8 hour ride behind their HST.

I was hoping a HST went as far as Penzance, we were planning to do BHM to Penzance, stay a few nights, back up on the sleeper and then a 390 home, that would have been a great journey!

They DO go to Penzance - but only Saturdays, as I posted earlier - so you CAN do your proposed journey...

(Looks for 'banging head against brick wall' emoticon...)

 

[Minilad]

Wouldn't mind an 8 hour ride behind their HST.

Shirley on the HST would be preferable than being behind it

 

[ainsworth74]

Shirley on the HST would be preferable than being behind it

Probably would be better to be on the HST and don't call me Shirley...

 

[Zoe]

Going by XC doesn't even save much time compared to going by road or by train via London.

 

[Minilad]

But a lot of people would rather just get on one train and get off where they want to go rather than the hassle of going via London.
And to a lot of people time isn't always a big factor over convenience

 

[NSE]

Going by XC doesn't even save much time compared to going by road or by train via London.

I think you can safely say anyone who is doing Penzance/Plymouth to Scotland on XC does not see time as the most important factor! :P

 

[Zoe]

I think you can safely say anyone who is doing Penzance/Plymouth to Scotland on XC does not see time as the most important factor!

Not everyone wants to fly though.

 

[NSE]

Not everyone wants to fly though.

Precisley, I wasn't advocating flying, I just meant that if someone is going to do that route, then they are prepared for a 7-8 hour journey. Therefore I would assume that time is not their biggest factor when deciding which method of transport to take. :P

 

[Zoe]

Exactly, using XC has no time advantage over car or going by rail via London. I don't know how National Express coach compares.

 

[Minilad]

Well I just did a quick check and got the following on a Plymouth - Edinburgh journey departing around 9
XC Direct Depart 09.25 arr Edinburgh 18.13 8hrs 48mins
Via London Depart 09.48 arr Padd 1338 dep KX 1500 Arr Edinburgh 1913 9hrs 25mins
Car Depart 9.00 my tomtom suggested a journey time of 7hrs 52min but thats with no stops

So it seems for the sort of journey we are looking at XC seems to be quite competitive on time. And of course no hassle of crossing London and no stress of driving almost 500 miles.
So take flying out of the equation and XC isn't so bad after all !!

 

[tbtc]

Going by XC doesn't even save much time compared to going by road or by train via London.

There are other examples of that too:

Liverpool - Norwich is about five and a half hours direct on EMT but can be done in under five hours changing in London.

Birmingham - London - Stansted is faster than the direct XC service via Leicester

Going via London often means more seats/ longer trains, more services (e.g. Birmingham - London and London - Stansted are both "turn up and go" frequency), cheaper deals available if you split tickets... just shows how London-biased the railways are.

 

[Zoe]

Car Depart 9.00 my tomtom suggested a journey time of 7hrs 52min but thats with no stops

Yahoo Maps suggests 7 hours 38 minutes.

 

[TomJ93]

They DO go to Penzance - but only Saturdays, as I posted earlier - so you CAN do your proposed journey...

(Looks for 'banging head against brick wall' emoticon...)

But not on Friday, there I saved you having to dig out that emotion

 

[Minilad]

Yahoo Maps suggests 7 hours 38 minutes.

AA Route planner say 8hrs 32mins

But all of those times are without a break and at the mercy of the Motorways
I would take my chances with XC over driving that sort of distance.
Each to their own though