Leeds to Birmingham timetables

[Ben427]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place; I was wondering if/when Leeds to Birmingham connections were last 2tph and if so why this is not possible now (I'm assuming due to congestion on the Wakefied line south of Leeds)

 

[JonathanH]

Leeds to Birmingham connections were last 2tph

There has never been a period when two trains an hour have run from Leeds to Birmingham.

CrossCountry ran 2tph all day from Sheffield to Birmingham between September 2002 and March 2020 but the second train each hour ran via Doncaster direct to York rather than via Leeds. This latter service only runs in certain hours at present. In those hours, it is possible to catch the xx15 service to London from Leeds and change at Doncaster for Birmingham.

 

[30907]

There has never been a period when two trains an hour have run from Leeds to Birmingham.

CrossCountry ran 2tph all day from Sheffield to Birmingham between September 2002 and March 2020 but the second train each hour ran via Doncaster direct to York rather than via Leeds. This latter service only runs in certain hours at present. In those hours, it is possible to catch the xx15 service to London from Leeds and change at Doncaster for Birmingham.

XC did try to run more via Leeds - the 2020 t/t shows a 1641 off Leeds (15 15 Newcastle) and a 1630 off New St on too of the hourly service.

 

[GoneSouth]

I used to use the Leeds to Birmingham service quite a lot. Before the voyagers were introduced it was somewhat patchy with large gaps.

This is from memory so forgive me, it’s a long time ago, but I believe there were trains at around the following times to Birmingham from Leeds,

0700 ish (I remember this used to start at Bradford for many years)
0815 to Penzance which was a far more civilised time to arrive in a holiday destination than the current services
1115
1415
1715 I think Swansea was the destination of this one
1945

I might have missed one but there were also connections into York or Newcastle to Bristol services at either Doncaster or Sheffield. Fair to say the voyagers changed things for the better when they went hourly all day. The origin and destinations were a bit more random than today too.

Voyagers have only ever done hourly services, with the odd diversion of a Newcastle to Reading to go via Leeds instead of Doncaster which filled in an hour gap at rush hour. I don’t think this happens anymore so back to the basic hourly pattern.

First trains Of the day are somewhat later than they were back in the day I think, but last trains are probably a little later.

2 TPH would be most welcome

 

[MontyP]

According to the 1981 ABC guide (free to view on Timetable World), weekday departures from Leeds to Birmingham were at 0637, 0734, 0917, 1033, 1437, 1638 and 1735.

 

[sprinterguy]

And in early Virgin Trains days, under the Winter 1999/2000 timetable, weekday Birmingham departures from Leeds were as follows:

04:17 Birmingham New Street
06:04 Plymouth
07:10 Bristol Temple Meads
08:14 Bristol Temple Meads
09:36 Bournemouth
10:14 Plymouth
11:14 Penzance
12:36 Bournemouth
15:14 Exeter St Davids
17:14 Plymouth
19:59 Bristol Temple Meads
22:50 Derby (Fridays only)

 

[GoneSouth]

According to the 1981 ABC guide (free to view on Timetable World), weekday departures from Leeds to Birmingham were at 0637, 0734, 0917, 1033, 1437, 1638 and 1735.

Heck that’s quite a gap in the middle of the day, I think I may have been mixing up the times with the return journey. Thanks for posting

And in early Virgin Trains days, under the Winter 1999/2000 timetable, weekday Birmingham departures from Leeds were as follows:

04:17 Birmingham New Street
06:04 Plymouth
07:10 Bristol Temple Meads
08:14 Bristol Temple Meads
09:36 Bournemouth
10:14 Plymouth
11:14 Penzance
12:36 Bournemouth
15:14 Exeter St Davids
17:14 Plymouth
19:59 Bristol Temple Meads
22:50 Derby (Fridays only)

Love the fact that there’s a 0417, think you’d have a couple of hours wait if you turn up at that time these days!

Thanks both

 

[Class 170101]

And in early Virgin Trains days, under the Winter 1999/2000 timetable, weekday Birmingham departures from Leeds were as follows:

04:17 Birmingham New Street
06:04 Plymouth
07:10 Bristol Temple Meads
08:14 Bristol Temple Meads
09:36 Bournemouth
10:14 Plymouth
11:14 Penzance
12:36 Bournemouth
15:14 Exeter St Davids
17:14 Plymouth
19:59 Bristol Temple Meads
22:50 Derby (Fridays only)

22:50 not a Birmingham service from Leeds I suspect.

 

[sprinterguy]

22:50 not a Birmingham service from Leeds I suspect.

True, I got a bit carried away and included it purely for completeness for XC services south from Leeds.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jul 2024 ==

Love the fact that there’s a 0417, think you’d have a couple of hours wait if you turn up at that time these days!

Yeah it's a curious one, presumably there must have been some operational or historical reason for it to exist, if only to get a set down to Birmingham before 7am for whatever reason.

The earliest option is 06:11 now.

 

[Mugby]

I've managed to dig out a Summer 2001 Virgin XC booklet and the times were broadly similar to the ones sprinterguy quotes except the 0417 had gone.
There was an 1840 to Bristol but not one at 1959. The 2250 (Fridays) had been retimed to 2257 and extended to Birmingham.
What really surprised me was the appalling service on Saturdays with the last train of the day being the 1835 to Bristol.

Incidentally, there was a 1710 departure from Edinburgh, first stop Derby at 2250. Surely by a different route but which way would it go?

 

[JonathanH]

Incidentally, there was a 1710 departure from Edinburgh, first stop Derby at 2250. Surely by a different route but which way would it go?

Last stop Derby, via the West Coast route through Warrington and Birmingham. Some of the CrossCountry rolling stock used to be maintained in Derby.

 

[Mike99]

According to the 1981 ABC guide (free to view on Timetable World), weekday departures from Leeds to Birmingham were at 0637, 0734, 0917, 1033, 1437, 1638 and 1735.

It's easy to see that the 4 hour gap in the middle of the day and nothing after tea time wouldn't be very popular these days with many ways to express opinions on forums and main stream social media. None of which are available in 1981

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's easy to see that the 4 hour gap in the middle of the day and nothing after tea time wouldn't be very popular these days with many ways to express opinions on forums and main stream social media. None of which are available in 1981

Suppose a pithy letter to "The Times" would have been possible.

Take it that the only route for through Leeds to Birmingham services (in recent years) would be via Sheffield and then Derby, or have there ever been more circuitous routes?

 

[30907]

It's easy to see that the 4 hour gap in the middle of the day and nothing after tea time wouldn't be very popular these days with many ways to express opinions on forums and main stream social media. None of which are available in 1981

The 1982 part-HST timetable isn't much better, with the last at 1652
Back then more trains ran direct York-Sheffield, and Leeds hadn't yet become a civil service/financial hub. it had only recently gained an hourly fast London HST.

Take it that the only route for through Leeds to Birmingham services (in recent years) would be via Sheffield and then Derby, or have there ever been more circuitous routes?

Stalybridge and Stockport would have been the LNWR route, in the 70s it would have been slower but more frequent as the TP services called at Staly.