4.To make it work & get figures,like a few other lines,for nine months it will be free travel for locals.Also not a penny is set aside for infrastructure improvements.
The loser in all of this is the Cambrian, delayed ertms has killed off any hope of extra services for years, the pot is now empty plus all ATW stock is spoken for.
Population during the out of season is,Welshpool 6k,Newtown(largest town in Powys) 13k,Caersws 1.5K,Borth under a K, Aberystwyth 25k includes 8 k resident students or thereabouts.The line is in need of extra services , but politics says not, use the bus. So much for the Welshpool dynamic loop.
Bob
Would be supprised if the free travel scheme is to be extended to Pembrokeshire, seeing as they cut back the times of year it was allowed elsewhere. Have you heard anywhere that it will be free?
As an outsider to Wales who has visited the Fishguard area a few time by car, I would have loved to have done it by train, however other than maybe the FGW service if it still runs to Fishguard I believe there should be trains from other parts of the country.
However, from memory ther is only one platform at the harbour station in Fishguard so with the number of trains I would think about sending down there you would have to make the line two track and have Fishguard station have about 5 platforms as Portsmouth Harbour does to enable them to terminate there.
I would have at least two trains a day from London Paddington and also 3 trains a day from Manchester that has travelled down to Birmingham and then on down to Fishguard personally.
That would be a bit excessive. Yes, there is only one platform, but I think you might technically be able to run an hourly service without needing any re-doubling, but it wouldn't be justified until:
- Aberystwyth, Milford Haven and Tenby (preferablly Pembroke Dock but that would require extra infrastructure) have an hourly service
- All passenger lines in Wales (plus some presently frieght only ones) have at least a 2-hourly service (excepting the frieght-only ones, I think that's only Heart Of Wales and Conwy Valley)
- GWML to Swansea electrified and parts (if not all) of the ValleyLines network wired and operated by class 377s
As for destonations, Milford Haven would be a higher piority for restoration of a direct London service, just as it is for an hourly service. FGW no longer go beyond Whitland on the Fishguard route (they turn off for Pembroke Dock, and that's summer Saturdays only). A few years ago (before I moved to Wales I think) they did run both Fishguard's trains, which later slipped to just the night one and eventually (2003 springs to mind, but I'm probablly wrong) they pulled out altogether (I did hear a rumour that they took over 1 night service during the volcanic ash cloud, but I doubt that's true). I'm 99% sure the Manchester trains coming into Pembrokeshire at the moment do not travel through Birmingham.
The idea I'm talking about, running an express to Cardiff with 158s, is itself a comprimise. Originally my plan was to have a 4-car 158 from Portsmouth to Cardiff every hour, with a 2-car set splitting off at Cardiff every other hour and continuing to Fishguard. That would have releived crowding on the Portsmouth - Cardiff and given Whitland, Carmarthen and Llanelli a direct link to Bristol and Portsmouth. I eventually abandoned the idea when I realised the unit wouldn't get back from FGH in the correct hour so it would have to be hourly to Carmarthen and I couldn't find enough 158s. There's only 6 mark2 DBSOs to make up the trains to release 158s, assuming you can put 5 in service a day (1 spare) on the Holyhead - Birmingham (4-car 158s) that's 10 released units, but I doubt there's that many Holyhead - Birmingham diagrams. Even if there were, 10 units probablly isn't enough for all that plus making Aberystwyth hourly (which is more important than saving a change of trains at Cardiff). I hope FGW finish with ATW's 150s soon so that Aber-Y can have hourly.
Run the trains to carmarthen to connect with the Pembroke Dock services.
However when the IEP's arrive at FGW maybe 1 of the 5 carriage set's could be extended to Fishguard especially if it pprovides a through service between Fishguard & Swansea, maybe buy extending the daily Carmarthen - London service to start at/run to fishguard
If you're doing the Fishguard - Carmarthen shuttle then it would probablly be better to connect with the Carmarthen - Manchester train (as that goes to Cardiff as well as Swansea). There's 2 extra platforms at Carmarthen if they are needed (one on the other side of the rather bare island platform and a short bay on the main platform). With my plan however, it would be better to have a two way connection with the Pembroke Dock service, allowing Fishguard passengers to get to Swansea (or Gowerton or intermediate stations like Ferryside) and Pembroke branch passengers to use the fast service to Cardiff. The reverse would be needed in the other direction.
IEP is a pontential problem, with their 26m coaches will they even be able to reach Carmarthen? Certainly I've heard somebody raise concerns about the Pembroke Dock service.
I'm dead against the bi-mode idea too. They are disinsentive for further electrification, and would use more fuel than an Intercity 125 while running under diesel power and at least as much fuel as a diesel loco dragging a plain electric train. The weight of the diesel engines would increase damage to the track and the electricity consumpsion of the train while under the wires, which on our electricity mix is bad for the enviroment. It would throw away the advantage of greater reliability of an electric train.
Dragging an EMU to Pembroke Dock (even assuming it will fit) would be difficult too, you'd either have to run round at Carmarthen or fit the EMU cabs AND the diesel locos with some form of push-pull equipment. I don't think East Coast services need to reverse to reach Aberdeen or Inveness though.
So, IEP might not fit, bi-mode is a bad idea, and Carmarthen is a problem for a dragged EMU. What's my solution? Replace all East Coast's stock with IEP electrics (leave 125s on the Hull and Harrogate if there's no room to attach a dragging diesel) and use the Intercity 225s on London - Swansea. As mark4 rakes already have TDM all you need to do then is fit a few diesel locos with TDM and take the class 91 off the set at Swansea and attach your push-pull capable diesel. Simples... While your at electrifing the line out to Swansea you could fit the 225s with ERTMS and if possible regenerative breaking and you'll have a really energy efficent train (Pendos have regenerative breaking yet use a similar amount of electricity to a 225) with a 140mph top speed.
Edit: On buses, there's a fairly frequent Monday - Friday (and I'm pretty sure also on Saturdays) Fishguard town service from Fishguard Roundabout (libary, and the main bus stop for the town) running to Goodwick (passing close to Fishguard & Goodwick station). Fishguard Harbour station/ferry terminal is served by 2 or 3 buses a day, all around the time of the daytime train (again not Sundays I think). This has the same number as the town service, but runs only between Fishguard Roundabout and the harbour.
