Maesteg line unreliability what can be done

[anthony263]

Recently seen theres been quite a few issues with trains on.the Maesteg line being terminated at Tondu or even Bridgend with little warning and times no onward rail replacement transport.

Local senedd members and one MP organised a meeting and to their credit tfw did attend took quite a bit of flack.

Our other mp MR Wallis has gone AWOL.

Ideally the branch needs additional passing loops not just at Tondu one between Sarn and Wildmill would help too. Otherwise go with the suggestion of running the line as a branch shuttle to/from Bridgend and run the service from Ebbw Vale/Cheltenham to Swansea instead

 

[30907]

The problem is that the running time on the branch is 24min, which gives little leeway.

Option 1: refurbish Tondu loop (I assume it's still there?) and rewrite the timetable so that trains cross there. Problem - a late-running train from Cardiff would have to be shunted into the bay at Bridgend to keep the Down Main clear while the Up Branch train came on right time from Tondu. Is that signalled?
Obviously, a short section of double track at the beginning of the branch would solve that, but that costs money!

Option 2: run the branch as a shuttle, as you suggest. Time it to connect well into Up Main line trains and ignore Down connections.
You gain in reliability, but lose out on a through service - and it depends on the Down line trains being reasonably punctual. Are they?

Whatever you do would probably need additional resources of crew (and stock?).

 

[anthony263]

The problem is that the running time on the branch is 24min, which gives little leeway.

Option 1: refurbish Tondu loop (I assume it's still there?) and rewrite the timetable so that trains cross there. Problem - a late-running train from Cardiff would have to be shunted into the bay at Bridgend to keep the Down Main clear while the Up Branch train came on right time from Tondu. Is that signalled?
Obviously, a short section of double track at the beginning of the branch would solve that, but that costs money!

Option 2: run the branch as a shuttle, as you suggest. Time it to connect well into Up Main line trains and ignore Down connections.
You gain in reliability, but lose out on a through service - and it depends on the Down line trains being reasonably punctual. Are they?

Whatever you do would probably need additional resources of crew (and stock?).

Tfw used platform 3 last year when they had issues on the branch this could be good. A reliable branch line shuttle be better than an unreliable through service to Cardiff. Works in Cornwall like you said needs the marine services to run frequently abd reliably

 

[vicbury]

It's even worse at the other end of the route between Cardiff and Cheltenham. Both CrossCountry and TfW appear to be in free fall, with Lydney and Chepstow having virtually no southbound service during morning peak times this week. Appalling state of affairs.

 

[td97]

The line was due to be resignalled as part of Port Talbot area resignalling project in CP6. Obviously that hasn't happened, so it is expected to be done in CP7. That was also due to bring the Llynfi loop back into use.
TfW also have a desire to use the Bridgend bay for a shuttle service, but this requires infrastructure works to bring into regular timetabled service.

TfW are very aware of the issues, and there's certainly plans to increase reliability and frequency, but unfortunately the infrastructure fixes are many, many years away from being realised.

 

[anthony263]

The line was due to be resignalled as part of Port Talbot area resignalling project in CP6. Obviously that hasn't happened, so it is expected to be done in CP7. That was also due to bring the Llynfi loop back into use.
TfW also have a desire to use the Bridgend bay for a shuttle service, but this requires infrastructure works to bring into regular timetabled service.

TfW are very aware of the issues, and there's certainly plans to increase reliability and frequency, but unfortunately the infrastructure fixes are many, many years away from being realised.

Platform 3 has been used regularly for Maesteg services so I wonder the issues are

 

[Kite159]

In theory could the signal box at Tondu be locked out of use with the points locked in place, to save the minute or so it takes for the token exchange? Effectively the branch becomes one train in section throughout.

Considering the line towards Port Talbot hasn't seen a train in many years and I suspect it's quite overgrown in places.

Running the Maesteg as a separate shuttle from Bridgend will mean another service has to pick up the local stations between Cardiff & Bridgend. And the TfW towards Carmarthen & beyond are normally busy already without the extra passengers. Unless TfW boosts the 'Swanline' stoppers to hourly, assuming they can be pathed to call at all stations between Cardiff & Swansea with a decent connection at Bridgend to the branch train.

 

[anthony263]

In theory could the signal box at Tondu be locked out of use with the points locked in place, to save the minute or so it takes for the token exchange? Effectively the branch becomes one train in section throughout.

Considering the line towards Port Talbot hasn't seen a train in many years and I suspect it's quite overgrown in places.

Running the Maesteg as a separate shuttle from Bridgend will mean another service has to pick up the local stations between Cardiff & Bridgend. And the TfW towards Carmarthen & beyond are normally busy already without the extra passengers. Unless TfW boosts the 'Swanline' stoppers to hourly, assuming they can be pathed to call at all stations between Cardiff & Swansea with a decent connection at Bridgend to the branch train.

Swanline is planned to go hourly and serve the local stations between Bridgend and Cardiff too giving them 2tph in addition to the Maesteg service hopefully this will help overcrowding and delays on the Maesteg service

 

[Caaardiff]

The long term plan is for the Class 231's to work the Maesteg branch which will be 4 car and a much needed capacity boost, not only for the branch itself but also stops between Bridgend and Cardiff. As already said, if you push that capacity onto West Wales services they will become very busy. Swanline services will most likely be mainly 2 car 197s.

Also the Bay platform can't take more than 3 cars which will kill the idea of a shuttle service.

£70m was invested into the Ebbw Vale line. Would the Maesteg line require the same level of investment? Double track Bridgend - Tondu, maybe another loop further up? Is the demand there to justify the investment?

What probably needs to be looked at is the congestion at Cardiff Central and then along the line towards Swansea which is what generally impacts the reliability West of Cardiff, and in turn the Maesteg line.

 

[anthony263]

The long term plan is for the Class 231's to work the Maesteg branch which will be 4 car and a much needed capacity boost, not only for the branch itself but also stops between Bridgend and Cardiff. As already said, if you push that capacity onto West Wales services they will become very busy. Swanline services will most likely be mainly 2 car 197s.

Also the Bay platform can't take more than 3 cars which will kill the idea of a shuttle service.

£70m was invested into the Ebbw Vale line. Would the Maesteg line require the same level of investment? Double track Bridgend - Tondu, maybe another loop further up? Is the demand there to justify the investment?

What probably needs to be looked at is the congestion at Cardiff Central and then along the line towards Swansea which is what generally impacts the reliability West of Cardiff, and in turn the Maesteg line.

Demand is most certainly there however suffering due to poor unreliability of service. If we see tfw run trains to Bristol TM etc hopefully we'll see an order for more class 231/756's.

One of the local AMs has said on his Facebook page you could save 5-7 minutes on tne branch if thebteack around the Tondu area was upgraded but thats being hampered due to lack of funds from the UK government same with Pencoed crossing

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Feb 2024 ==

I agree Cardiff Central is the main problem here

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Never mind the Maesteg line timetable, something needs to be done about the clientele. Loud screaming groups of pub-bound men and massive collections of teenagers causing trouble are an occurrence on this line more than any other.

 

[BillStampy]

Never mind the Maesteg line timetable, something needs to be done about the clientele. Loud screaming groups of pub-bound men and massive collections of teenagers causing trouble are an occurrence on this line more than any other.

I've seen this too often at Llanharan, groups of teenagers crowding in the shelters, yelling as loud as they can, my friend even said once he saw one trespassing on the railway! It's a massive problem which I'm unsure can be fixed at the moment. Also for the Maesteg branch, it is very unreliable at best, if a train from Maesteg is anywhere more than around 5 minutes late, it's going to cause a chain reaction of lateness and cancellations, which is a problem for people living at Maesteg who rely on the service. Also yes the local stations NEED and extra service per hour as 1 is purely not enough. Especially on busy Saturday morning and afternoon where there's a guarantee for a train to be Full and standing