Crewe-Wolverhampton reliability of service.

[trwilson]

Hi

My partner and i currently live apart, with me doing the journey from walsall to wolverhampton by bus- then a train to new brighton each weekend.

It takes forever and obviously we want to move in together, but both have decent jobs.

We are looking at crewe, which leaves her a 40 mile drive to work, and me a train commute to wolverhampton (then a 30 minute bus)

Anyway my main concern is reliability? I can get to work for 8, but it relies on the first train out being less than 15 minutes late.

How reliable do people find the london midland trains in the week?. When travelling on sundays ive had endless problems with strikes etc.

Finally if anyone knows another well serviced station somewhere equally between ellesmere port and wolverhampton that would be great. Ive looked at chester (ideal for work for her) and wrexham, but they both start the trains quite late.

Thanks

 

[martinsh]

I travel Crewe - Stafford 2/3 times per week, and very rarely have any problems. I don't use the first train of the day though !

Only proviso I would say is that LM is to take any excuse to halve the frequency of the Liverpool - Birmingham trains !

Of course if you live in Crewe you catch also catch Virgin to Wolverhampton.

Crewe - Wolverhampton is (much) cheaper splitting at Stafford for day returns - don't know about seasons, but Crewe - Stafford weekly season is aprrox 4.5 times daily rate.

 

[All Line Rover]

London Midland trains is very reliable - cancellations and delays are rare.

Virgin Trains less so, mainly because they start in Scotland. You might get delayed 1/10th of the time. (Virgin Trains is also worse if you do get delayed, as their compensation policy pays out peanuts!)

I will warn you that the Crewe>Wolverhampton route is a very expensive flow!

You can't beat Crewe for connections, though. Chester isn't that good. Wrexham is pathetic!

You'd only save £20 per year by splitting your season ticket at Stafford! Doing so would also prevent you from taking the fast Virgin Trains services (which don't stop at Stafford).

 

[trwilson]

I travel Crewe - Stafford 2/3 times per week, and very rarely have any problems. I don't use the first train of the day though !

Only proviso I would say is that LM is to take any excuse to halve the frequency of the Liverpool - Birmingham trains !

Of course if you live in Crewe you catch also catch Virgin to Wolverhampton.

Crewe - Wolverhampton is (much) cheaper splitting at Stafford for day returns - don't know about seasons, but Crewe - Stafford weekly season is aprrox 4.5 times daily rate.

Thanks a tonne ill look at the splitting price, didnt know that

Currently i was looking at £287 a month travel costs for crewe-wolverhampton.

 

[Crossover]

Hi

How reliable do people find the london midland trains in the week?. When travelling on sundays ive had endless problems with strikes etc.

I've generally had few problems with LM. As for the Sunday lark - LM had a phase of problems but that seems to be over now so hopefully there shouldn't be too much of a problem

 

[trwilson]

Thanks for all the help, my boss has agreed to change my hours slightly to an 8.30 start.

Ive been lookin at the routes, and it seems i COULD get a 6.20 from crewe to brum, then a train straight to walsall (where i work) and never have to get a bus...

Theres a 20 minute wait between connections which im hoping means ill almost never miss it.

If that train gets cancelled though, then ill struggle to get to work on time.

I suppose im just worried that ill make the move and find public transport (trains) leaves me constantly late for work..

Does anyone here do an extreme commute like this? (its around 90 mins on trains) and how often do they have problems?

And does the grind get to you? Id thought it would be ok as i can read/sleep/play on laptop etc..but ive never done a daily commute like this before

Thanks

 

[Crossover]

Dare I say I would probably suggest not training it from Wolverhampton to Walsall as it is a very convuluted route compared to something more direct. There is a line direct between the two but it is only used for one service a day (I think) between Walsall and Wolverhampton only and not the other way round

 

[trwilson]

Dare I say I would probably suggest not training it from Wolverhampton to Walsall as it is a very convuluted route compared to something more direct. There is a line direct between the two but it is only used for one service a day (I think) between Walsall and Wolverhampton only and not the other way round

Yeah they used to run a ten minute train straight from walsall to wolverhampton, now its over an hour and goes to wolverhampton via brum!

I assume there was a lack of demand for it...

So you would advise training crewe to wolverhampton, then picking up the bus to walsall? (bus runs every 9 mins)...rather than train all the way to brum, and another train to walsall....

 

[Statto]

There was a Wolves-Walsall train service a few years ago, but it was infrequent. I think the best idea would to change at Wolves for the 529 bus[40 min journey time & freq 7/8 min], rather than staying on the train to Brum & changing for the Walsall line there & hoping the connecting train is on time

 

[bengolding]

The problem I find is that if the train from Crewe to Wolverhampton is just a few minutes late departing, it will have to wait outside Wolves station for a platform. Otherwise, the VTs do it easily in 30 and LM in 35 with 2 stops at Stafford and Penkridge.

I was waiting at Crewe yesterday for a southbound VT, and the 16:49 LM to Birmingham pulled in, with the tannoy apologising there were no toilet facilities on board. To my surprise, the train then remained at Crewe, departing 10 late so that customers could use toilets on platform 5! Of course, this then delayed the following VT to New St.

 

[Crossover]

Yeah they used to run a ten minute train straight from walsall to wolverhampton, now its over an hour and goes to wolverhampton via brum!

I assume there was a lack of demand for it...

So you would advise training crewe to wolverhampton, then picking up the bus to walsall? (bus runs every 9 mins)...rather than train all the way to brum, and another train to walsall....

Yeah, that hasn't run for a while and now just runs once a day in the single direction (so I guess for coming home, that could be an option)
I think it was indeed a lack of demand and that line is namely now used for freight

Someone with better knowledge of the buses in the area will be able to advise better (I'm in Stafford and don't know Wolves/Walsall that well) but if the bus journey is relatively quick (and evidently quite regular) it sounds like the better bet than going round the houses and through New St (which will also probably be packed to the rafters at that time of day...having seen it at 5pm, it wouldn't surprise me if it was)

 

[NightatLaira]

And does the grind get to you? Id thought it would be ok as i can read/sleep/play on laptop etc..but ive never done a daily commute like this before

Thanks

I used to do "the Waterman" - Coventry to Euston on a daily basis between 2004 and 2006. I toyed around with all sorts of fare options, including LM (Silverlink County back in those days), standard class Chiltern from Warwick Parkway; but I eventually came full circle and finished my last 6 months at that company as a Virgin 1st class season ticket holder. It was as expensive as hell - but I got to join Traveller for a year (which made the weekends fun!) and as I always used to say to my London based colleagues: you can't put a price on smoked salmon and scrambled eggs every morning at 125mph! Those were the days...

The loco range was pretty good too - I'd normally go out on a pendo and come back on a 87, especially in the first year. Also got the occasional 90, and even had a VT 125 diesel on one occasion!

 

[exile]

Shrewsbury. Seems to have a good service to Wolves, annual season ticket is £1,300 cheaper than from Crewe.


However it's a 20 minute longer drive to Ellesmere Port. Extra petrol costs would probably cancel out the cheaper season ticket.