conwy valley line

[robert2000]

Why does the train take an hour to travel 27 miles?

 

[90019]

Probably because the average speed is only 27mph.

 

[robert2000]

does it need to go that slow

 

[djw1981]

Does it stop very often? Each stop loses 1-2 minutes dwell time plus a time loss for decelerating / accelerating instead of maintaining steady speed.

Are there any restricting structures which may have a lower speed limit?

What is the track speed limit? If older track, or in need of maintenance it may have a lower speed.

What is the geography - hills and tight corners tend to mean a lower speed for the line.

 

[The Planner]

The line speed has a max of 45mph, there are several sections of 30mph and it has 10 stations. 27 miles at 45mph constant is 36 minutes, so factor in everything else and it's easily an hour.

 

[robert2000]

yes i see what u mean, once you pass betws, the line navigaves tight turns in the valley

 

[merlodlliw]

The 0535 ex junction mon to sat takes 50 minutes with only two stops,
depends where the others start, some Junction some Llandudno.
Like the Shrewsbury Abertowy line, speed means nothing on these lines
I am pleased to say, enjoy the views.

 

[robert2000]

where is the shrewsbury to abertowy line?

 

[merlodlliw]

where is the shrewsbury to abertowy line?

Sorry its the Heart of Wales line (Abertowy is Welsh for Swansea)

Amwythig is Welsh for Shrewsbury. Its a bit like the train anouncements
on Wrexham Station with Dewi & Blodwyn

Dewi, Tren Amwythig (one person leaves the station cafe)

Blodwyn, Shrewsbury Train. ( 20 now leave the cafe)

 

[Oracle]

Swansea in Cymraeg is Abertawe, and has come a long way in the years that I have been driving to that city!

Edit: I used to officially visit the Teifi Valley Railway..so that's Afon Teifi! I used to stay at the Railway Hotel in Henllan, not far from Newcastle Emlyn, now Castellnewydd Emlyn...the last dry area in Wales.

Dafydd Owain y Oracl

 

[merlodlliw]

Swansea in Cymraeg is Abertawe, and has come a long way in the years that I have been driving to that city!

Dafydd Owain y Oracl

Ok im a gog, got the rivers mixed up. Yours is Afon Tawe, the other
one Afon Towy is in Carmarthen Bay

 

[175001]

As a resident of the valley, yes, the service is slow, but it has to be with all the tight curves, especially from Betws to Blaenau. And with all this spectacular scenery, its good to go slow!

Also with the current roadworks ar Llanrwst, at the moment, you could say that its faster by train to Llandudno than by car!

 

[robert2000]

do you think the current service could be improved.

i.e closing rarely used stations or less trains stopping at them, or an extra service per day added to the line.

 

[175001]

I've told Arriva to ditch the clockface timetable, but they won't budge, and if any extra services were introduced, then it would require substantial funding from TAITH, which is the local transport body.

The Conwy Valley Rail User Group did submit an excellent draft timetable to Arriva back in December 2007, which would see some services terminate at Betws-y-Coed, and would increase the frequency to Betws-y-Coed to 8 trains a day, but Arriva said no and NR said that signaling constraints would put an end to the idea. Though NR has now installed a communications line all the way to Blaenau, so it can be done, but again, in this time of recession, i'm not sure the penny pinchers in Cardiff would be warm to the idea!

You could open a very deep can of worms if you were to reduce station stops or close stations! A number of stations are rarely used yes, i.e Dolgarrog and Roman Bridge, but these do offer an important service to these communities.

To think back in 1993, you did have 8 services on the branch, with 3 different units operating on one day! How things change eh!

Bring back Daisy I say!

 

[tbtc]

I've told Arriva to ditch the clockface timetable, but they won't budge, and if any extra services were introduced, then it would require substantial funding from TAITH, which is the local transport body.

The Conwy Valley Rail User Group did submit an excellent draft timetable to Arriva back in December 2007, which would see some services terminate at Betws-y-Coed, and would increase the frequency to Betws-y-Coed to 8 trains a day, but Arriva said no and NR said that signaling constraints would put an end to the idea

Just to understand, you're suggesting they improve the Betws-y-Coed - Llandudno service, but fewer trains further up the route. Is this because much of the trade is only on the northern section?

 

[robert2000]

but its the same senario on the heart of wales line

if u close 2 stations which r pretty close to eachother and build 1 in between them then it would reduce time on that line.

btw the llandeilo loop has opened on the heart of wales line, the website says tht it is great news, how is it great news when no added services r planned for tht line.

 

[Mojo]

Might do, but a new station costs a minimum of £1 million (and I suspect that's an underestimate) plus you'd have to go through the legal hassle of closing two other stations, unless the DfT enacted that Minor Modifications clause in the Railways Act 2005 (I don't know either way).

 

[175001]

Just to understand, you're suggesting they improve the Betws-y-Coed - Llandudno service, but fewer trains further up the route. Is this because much of the trade is only on the northern section?

Yes. Betws-y-Coed, is by far the busiest station on the branch, but Blaenau is a close 2nd, but if this timetable would be implemented, then the same frequency of 6 trains a day would serve Blaenau, with an extra 2, to BYC.

And do remember, the competing X1 bus service, has stolen many passengers over the past years since the free bus pass in Wales was introduced. Its only now that the line is seeing an increase in patronage by the older generation, as at the moment, they can travel on the line for free, if they live in the Conwy or Gwynedd counties.

 

[175001]

And i've found the discussed timetable

 

[merlodlliw]

but its the same senario on the heart of wales line

if u close 2 stations which r pretty close to eachother and build 1 in between them then it would reduce time on that line.

btw the llandeilo loop has opened on the heart of wales line, the website says tht it is great news, how is it great news when no added services r planned for tht line.

OK Bob guide me to this website, BTW I was at Sugar Loaf a few months ago
what a station for the Red (Coch) Kytes.

The loop you mention must have a reason, it was closed a few months ago
.

 

[The Planner]

I didnt think any of the out of use loops on the HoW could re-open until the ERTMS was finished on the Cambrian. The parts needed for the point work are no longer made and are needed to be cannabalized off the Cambrian loops.

 

[43021HST]

I like slow scenic journeys. It gives me time to look and admire the scenary.

 

[merlodlliw]

And the tunnel on entry to Blaenau, must be the longest in North Wales
or Wales under a mountain.

In the 1960s BR did a 50pence evening return Rhyl to Blaenau. Mind you
one came back on the same train.

When I moved to Wrexham in the 1970s, there was an evening special
again 50 pence, Wrexham to Church Stretton, I travelled many times
you had about 90 minutes in the town.

 

[John @ home]

In the 1960s BR did a 50pence evening return Rhyl to Blaenau.

Don't you mean 10 shillings?
Decimalisation was on 15 February 1971.

Or perhaps you mean a later decade?
10 shillings (50p) return Rhyl to Blaenau seems quite a lot for a time when a Weekend Return Edinburgh to Birmingham was 4 pounds 8 shillings (£4.40).

John