Dundee-Newquay passengers

[SouthDevonian]

Does anyone know if there has been any analysis of passengers arriving in Newquay using the summer Saturday service from Dundee to determine where they started from? Apart from a few enthusiasts, I can’t imagine that many travel all the way from Dundee.

 

[NSEFAN]

I thought that most of Cross Country's traffic is around regional transport hubs rather than end-end journeys? I'm sure XC have the numbers but they are probably too "commercially sensitive" to be released into the public domain.

 

[yorkie]

Sales of tickets are recorded in LENNON but that won't accurately account for journeys; multiple tickets can be used for one journey and it's usually essential to combine tickets in this way to get affordable fares on CrossCountry.

XC will know what fares are sold and how busy the train is at various points but they won't know for sure exactly what journeys are being made.

 

[bradders1983]

You could actually save yourself 37 minutes by getting a later train out of Dundee via Haymarket, Wolves and Birmingham NS and meet the direct Dundee-Newquay train at New Street

 

[Greenback]

Very few people do long journeys such as Dundee, or even Edinburgh, to Newquay by rail. It's similar on the Mrches Line, though there are some people like myself who will travel from south west Wales to Manchester, most of the other passengers are using the services for journeys like Carmarthen to Swansea, Cardiff to Newport, Cwmbran, Abergavenny or Hereford, Ludlow to Crewe, and so on.

I don't think that TOC's are very bothered about knowing where their passengers have come from. They will be more concerned with revenue. Long distance through services are not being run for the benefit of long distance passengers, they are run to get the best use out of the stock by cutting out turn around times as much as possible while offering a service pattern that tries to help maximise revenue from all different types of passengers, regardless of their starting and finishing points.

 

[waterlooroader]

To that end, wasn't there a regular Aberystwyth to Skegness service in the final days of BR?

I can't imagine that they sold many tickets for the end to end journey, but it would have been useful for a number of shorter journies as part of the overall journey.

 

[Greenback]

To that end, wasn't there a regular Aberystwyth to Skegness service in the final days of BR?

I can't imagine that they sold many tickets for the end to end journey, but it was useful for a number of shorter journies as part of the overall journey.

I don't remember that but I'm sure you're right! BR introduced a lot of long and rather strange routes in their quest for optimum stock utilisation!

 

[TheEdge]

To that end, wasn't there a regular Aberystwyth to Skegness service in the final days of BR?

I can't imagine that they sold many tickets for the end to end journey, but it was useful for a number of shorter journies as part of the overall journey.

I love the idea of a guard or announcer at Skegness trying to pronounce Caersws and Machynellth!

 

[Greenback]

It won't take them long to pick up the correct pronunciation if they need to, either from colleagues or passengers. Just like I had to learn how to pronounce Keighley, Milngavie and Wymondham in Reading back in the mid 90's!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It won't take them long to pick up the correct pronunciation if they need to, either from colleagues or passengers. Just like I had to learn how to pronounce Keighley, Milngavie and Wymondham in Reading back in the mid 90's!

Slaithwaite always catches out non-locals. Slawit and Slathwaite are accepted. Slaythwaite is just wrong! Dod'orth is another.

 

[Greenback]

I think there are plenty of examples of pronunciation that confuse outsiders, it doesn't have to be Welsh

 

[4SRKT]

Longest through working I recall was Elgin > Penzance which was in the summer timetable in about 1984 or 1985. 3 loco changes and reversals along the route!

 

[berneyarms]

Very few people do long journeys such as Dundee, or even Edinburgh, to Newquay by rail. It's similar on the Mrches Line, though there are some people like myself who will travel from south west Wales to Manchester, most of the other passengers are using the services for journeys like Carmarthen to Swansea, Cardiff to Newport, Cwmbran, Abergavenny or Hereford, Ludlow to Crewe, and so on.

I don't think that TOC's are very bothered about knowing where their passengers have come from. They will be more concerned with revenue. Long distance through services are not being run for the benefit of long distance passengers, they are run to get the best use out of the stock by cutting out turn around times as much as possible while offering a service pattern that tries to help maximise revenue from all different types of passengers, regardless of their starting and finishing points.

This is exactly right. You'll find that most passengers on long distance CrossCountry services are definitely not going from end to end but rather making journeys between different stations along the way.

A particular seat on that service could be occupied three or four times over along the route by different passengers.

Much in the same way as with orbital bus journeys in towns and cities (which often take an indirect route), most people are not going end to end but rather are making trips to/from traffic generators along the route.

 

[bradders1983]

You may scoff, but K-Line/Tigerblue had to introduce a £1 fare for travelling a full circuit of the Huddersfield Free Town Bus...

Well if thats anything like the one that used to exist in Sheffield, its usually bored teenagers taking the P

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Well if thats anything like the one that used to exist in Sheffield, its usually bored teenagers taking the P

I'd assumed bus bashers and/or vagrants, but you're probably right.

 

[D1009]

One day last week I caught the Aberdeen to Penzance service from Bristol TM. One of the seats was indicated as reserved from Ladybank to Par. It wasn't occupied, however! Other people were asking where Ladybank was.

 

[bradders1983]

One day last week I caught the Aberdeen to Penzance service from Bristol TM. One of the seats was indicated as reserved from Ladybank to Par. It wasn't occupied, however! Other people were asking where Ladybank was.

Maybe someone having a laugh with the ten minute reservation text service

 

[onlinespotting]

To that end, wasn't there a regular Aberystwyth to Skegness service in the final days of BR?

I can't imagine that they sold many tickets for the end to end journey, but it would have been useful for a number of shorter journies as part of the overall journey.

Didn't Central Trains operate from Aberystwyth to Grimsby on single journeys which along with other similar extended routes make them known as the Barmouth to Yarmouth operator?

 

[crispy1978]

It's a mammoth journey for sure!!

 

[6Gman]

I think there are plenty of examples of pronunciation that confuse outsiders, it doesn't have to be Welsh

English placenames are actually more difficult because they are irregular. Once learned Welsh pronunciation is pretty consistent.

 

[Goatboy]

Nobody can afford to travel from Dundee to Newquay on a Cross Country priced ticket.

 

[SouthDevonian]

Crispy1978 set me thinking with his subscript about stations passed through without stopping. Over decades of travelling on service trains & railtours I've worked out that I have travelled non-stop through every station at some point between Penzance & Wick, except Carlisle. Has anyone out there managed the full set?

 

[scouseyb123]

I'm doing Dundee to Newquay at the end of this month on my priv ticket funnily enough!

 

[najaB]

Nobody can afford to travel from Dundee to Newquay on a Cross Country priced ticket.

I'll probably be doing Dundee to Plymouth in a couple of month's time. True it will be my employer paying for it rather than me personally but it just shows that it is done on occasion.

 

[gazthomas]

I think there are plenty of examples of pronunciation that confuse outsiders, it doesn't have to be Welsh

Nothing wrong with Welsh if you know the rules!

 

[Greenback]

Nothing wrong with Welsh if you know the rules!

Indeed. I'm much more comfortable with Welsh pronunciation than I am with Gaelic or English!

I'd love to try a journey like Aberdeen to Newquay or Penzance, just so long as I didn't have toe endure a Voyager for the duration.

 

[james60059]

Didn't Central Trains operate from Aberystwyth to Grimsby

I remember being in Nuneaton early 2000's on one occasion spotting and a Class 156 arrived for Grimsby Town on Platform 5 (before Platforms 6 and 7 were built). No idea where it originated from though

 

[thenorthern]

Aberystwyth to Skegness was a direct service under Central trains I think it stopped in 2001 when Wales and Borders came.

I agree with the other posters the Plymouth to Edinburgh services are to connect stations along its route rather than end to end journeys. Regarding the Newquay services given that they are Summer Saturdays only I would think most the passenger traffic on them is day trippers from Bristol and a small amount from Birmingham.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Aberystwyth to Skegness was a direct service under Central trains I think it stopped in 2001 when Wales and Borders came.

I agree with the other posters the Plymouth to Edinburgh services are to connect stations along its route rather than end to end journeys. Regarding the Newquay services given that they are Summer Saturdays only I would think most the passenger traffic on them is day trippers from Bristol and a small amount from Birmingham.

Would have thought the Newquay services would carry a good proportion of holidaymakers/tourists just like the fGW HSTs from Paddington, especially mid July - late August. We use the XC Manchester - Newquay service for our annual Cornwall holiday in early June.

 

[6Gman]

Crispy1978 set me thinking with his subscript about stations passed through without stopping. Over decades of travelling on service trains & railtours I've worked out that I have travelled non-stop through every station at some point between Penzance & Wick, except Carlisle. Has anyone out there managed the full set?

Curiously enough I've passed through Carlisle several times (the old Midland Scot Glasgow/Edinburgh - West Midlands didn't stop on the Up, though it did on the Down). But plenty of others I've never passed non-stop - Inverness, Perth, Preston, Plymouth ... etc etc