Avoiding Birmingham New St station

[Justin Smith]

I can`t be the only one who thinks Birmingham New St is the least pleasant station to use in the whole country. Not only is it a horrible hole in the ground with no natural light but when I generally want to use it, late afternoon catching a train to Derby/Sheffield it`s packed with a big scrum to get on and get a seat.
The thing is you used to be able to get a train from Bromsgrove and/or University which went to Derby and I often would get that and then change again at Burton or Derby. Do these services still run (because I can`t find them in my all line timetable) ?
If they don`t run any more then that`s certainly good planning, forcing even more people to change at an already overcrowded (and horrible) Birmingham New St......

 

[222007]

The Cardiff central Nottingham services stop at University and call at both Burton and Derby as you require. Also a very limited number if these very same services also call at Bromsgrove. The trains from Cardiff call at university around xx:40 past each hour

 

[Justin Smith]

The Cardiff central Nottingham services stop at University and call at both Burton and Derby as you require. Also a very limited number if these very same services also call at Bromsgrove. The trains from Cardiff call at university around xx:40 past each hour

I tried to find those in my all line timetable but couldn`t.
You`re right there is a service from University to Burton/Derby etc, that`d be much nicer than using New St.
Do you know which timetable number the service is on ?

 

[222007]

Im afraid i dont You should be able to download it off the CrossCountry website if that helps?

 

[Techniquest]

When did the XC stuff on Cardiff to Nottingham and vice versa start calling hourly at University? It used to be far less regularly than that.

 

[222007]

i've been with XC for 18month now as far as im aware they have for at least that time they certainly do now

 

[bnm]

The CrossCountry services that call at University are found in Table 69. This table only shows the University and Birmingham New Street calls (plus the odd Bromsgrove). You need to cross reference with Table 57 which shows the Cardiff-Nottingham services' principal stops only.

 

[mumrar]

When did the XC stuff on Cardiff to Nottingham and vice versa start calling hourly at University? It used to be far less regularly than that.

As soon as XC took over in November 2007 then the Cardiff-Nottingham's all stopped at University (with the exception of the first two from New St, and the last two from Cardiff). It's a very sensible idea, so that all X-City customers and also those from Droitwich/Bromsgrove.

 

[ashworth]

Before XC, in the days of Central Trains, there was an hourly Hereford to Nottingham service that I think probably called at Bromsgrove.

I also don't really like changing trains at Birmingham New Street but when buying AP tickets from Nottingham to Bristol I have found it almost impossible to get tickets that involve a change at Derby. I have always been forced to change at Birmingham even though both trains also call at Derby. Surely they should be encouraging people to change elsewhere to relieve the pressure on a very busy Birmingham New Street station.

 

[bnm]

Indeed. CrossCountry actually suggest alternatives to changing at Birmingham New Street in their printed and .pdf timetables. Unfortunately they haven't bothered to factor these alternatives in with their Advance fares.

 

[Justin Smith]

The CrossCountry services that call at University are found in Table 69. This table only shows the University and Birmingham New Street calls (plus the odd Bromsgrove). You need to cross reference with Table 57 which shows the Cardiff-Nottingham services' principal stops only.

Thanks for that I`ve managed to do that now, but, to be frank, it shouldn`t really be neccessary to fart about with two timetables. Why don`t they just include the University stop in TT57 !
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The Cardiff central Nottingham services stop at University and call at both Burton and Derby as you require. Also a very limited number if these very same services also call at Bromsgrove. The trains from Cardiff call at university around xx:40 past each hour

Thanks, managed to combine this info with TT57 and TT69 to find out !

 

[stut]

FWIW, using the Victoria Square exit bridge saves a lot of the scrum when changing there. Assuming you don't want platform 12, that is...