the first two services of the day might as well be ECS workings for the first half of their journies. I've never taken either of them, but I can't see many getting up in Shrewsbury at 04.15 for the 05.25 to Swansea. So the first realistic train is the 10.02, which doesn't reach Llandod until nearly midday.
Aye. For this reason I think Jane Dodds should have pushed for improvements on the Cambrian Coast Line rather than the Heart Of Wales (both lines suffered cuts in December and both are within the Senedd region that she represents). My view is that it's not worth putting much money/effort into local stopping services on the line between Llandovery* and Craven Arms unless/until a traincrew depot and overnight stabling for two units (similar to Pwllheli) is provided at Llandrindod Wells. I think there are already sidings there (used for the stock of the Cardiff-Builth Road extra workings than tend to be run during the Royal Welsh Show) so might not require much in the way of new infrustructure. That would allow the first southbound to start from Llandridnod Wells without the (effectively) ECS north of there and, similarly, the first northbound to run from Llandrindod Wells into Shrewsbury without the (effectively) ECS move down from Shrewsbury in the morning.
* south of Llandovery, there should be some serious consideration given to a Swansea metro system and also to some form of "mechanic's creeper" type wagon that can slide under a HGV and jack it up so that it is carried on the rail wagon. The latter would prevent the lower part of the HOWL being part of the Metro but would hopefully also prevent a busy road being built to cut Llandeilo passengers off from their station by providing an alternative way to keep HGVs out of the town.
Unfortunately we are also stuck with the 153s for the moment whilst almost everywhere else is new trains. Just the way it is with the HOWL line and TFW having other priorities.
Other than the FLIRTs, TfW's new trains aren't much to get excited about anyway. The highest-quality trains in TfW's fleet for long trips are the mark 4s and class 158s, neither of which are new obviously. If they were lighter and cheaper to run, I'd have said the class 175/0s (ie. the 2-car units) would have been the ideal stock for the Heart Of Wales.
I'm sure they were rarely full and standing (certainly not the return runs to Shrewsbury and Swansea), but I suspect it's as much cost pressure as it was low usage.
hmm yes I’d say it was obvious because if the usage was high enough, they wouldn’t have the cost pressures…? It all boils down to money. If it was used well enough to cover costs, it would have continued
With a single PRM-compliant class 153, the difference between 'empty' and 'full & standing' is not many passengers at all. I have no idea of what running a train costs, but it wouldn't surprise if a single 153 cannot cover it's costs even if every seat was taken, they can carry so few seated passengers. The additional seats provided by the active travel 153s will be helpful in that they will provide space to grow usage a bit.
Would anyone like to propose a timetable which would increase passenger-miles and revenue? Perhaps more short workings and fewer through trains?
As above; two trains parked overnight in Llandrindod Wells, one running all-stops to Shrewsbury for arrival around 8am and one all-stops to Swansea for arrival about 07:45. Reverse of that in the evening departing each end around 20:45 with three or four end-to-end through trains each way between that (the aim being that all stations north of Llandovery receive at least five trains each way per day, but with one of these starting/terminating at Llandrindod Wells). In addition to this (unless we have to do the HGV thing to escape the awful Llandeilo highway bypass) 2 or 3 faster through trains each way between Swansea and Shrewsbury (calling only at the passing loop stations) plus Swansea Metro services on the southern end of the route (probably from the Glanamman and Ammanford branch so not even reaching Llandeilo and Llandovery). I very nearly made a workable timetable which had services every two hours between Shrewsbury and Craven Arms, with the mix of 2-3 fast and 5 stoppers continuing onto the HOWL, but the passing loop times were too tight. If the token exchange could be made near-instant (or loops made dynamic) or linespeeds improved a bit to cut single line occupation it could work.
At danger of drifting into speculation/fantasy, the route to regular frequencies would probably be through not having everything calling everywhere.
A fast/semi fast in one direction (loop-to-loop) passing a stopper in the other, then reversing the direction of the calling pattern with the next pair, might enable regular service patterns. Faster services to/from the busier locations might even bring growth?
Central Wales Metro?
Ain’t gonna happen though!
I agree, a mix of fast and stopping services would be good for most of the HOWL - alot of the halts serve tiny populations (and/or are a long walk from the town/village) while the bigger places deserve a better service, ideally including some trips that are more time-competitive than the current trains. I wouldn't call it a Metro though - Metro to me is a service/network with frequent services and frequent stops (often less than 5 minutes apart) serving a
metropolitan area (ie. a metropolis or large city).
