Mapping Direct Services From Stations

[MK Tom]

I've corrected the Northampton and Milton Keynes maps to reflect the via Birmingham LM Crewe service, Motherwell, Wrexham and the spelling of 'Streatham'. Thanks for those corrections!

Ely sounds like an exciting challenge so I might do that next. Castle Cary is also interesting - although Westbury might produce something more interesting? I'll have a think about that area. Oxford is definitely on my to-do list as well.

Reading will be a major challenge so maybe a little further down the line, to coin a phrase. I might tackle Twyford, Maidenhead or Slough in the nearer term.

I also want to tackle a station in Ireland - one of Connolly, Limerick or Cork I'm thinking. I could do Belfast but that'd basically just be the NIR network map!

If someone's said something I haven't adequately replied to, let me know! This got a bigger response than I expected!

 

[berneyarms]

I've corrected the Northampton and Milton Keynes maps to reflect the via Birmingham LM Crewe service, Motherwell, Wrexham and the spelling of 'Streatham'. Thanks for those corrections!

Ely sounds like an exciting challenge so I might do that next. Castle Cary is also interesting - although Westbury might produce something more interesting? I'll have a think about that area. Oxford is definitely on my to-do list as well.

Reading will be a major challenge so maybe a little further down the line, to coin a phrase. I might tackle Twyford, Maidenhead or Slough in the nearer term.

I also want to tackle a station in Ireland - one of Connolly, Limerick or Cork I'm thinking. I could do Belfast but that'd basically just be the NIR network map!

If someone's said something I haven't adequately replied to, let me know! This got a bigger response than I expected!

Will look forward to the Irish ones (being in Dublin!).

Well done - maps are such a basic tool that make life so much easier for people using public transport.

 

[A Challenge]

I like them - my suggestion is something interesting like Manchester Airport - shouldn't be too big?

 

[MK Tom]

I've done Ely... thanks to the person who suggested that! It was very challenging but I like how it's come out: http://mkttransport.co.uk/maps/direct-services-maps/


If I keep doing these I may have to change how that page is laid out and have individual pages for the maps with that page just listing them, otherwise it's going to get unwieldy very quickly.

Time for a rest now though! Ely is about as complicated as I want to try for now I think! It's just occurred to me that Ely will get even more complex if Thameslink services start running there.

 

[gnolife]

I've done Ely... thanks to the person who suggested that! It was very challenging but I like how it's come out: http://mkttransport.co.uk/maps/direct-services-maps/


If I keep doing these I may have to change how that page is laid out and have individual pages for the maps with that page just listing them, otherwise it's going to get unwieldy very quickly.

Time for a rest now though! Ely is about as complicated as I want to try for now I think! It's just occurred to me that Ely will get even more complex if Thameslink services start running there.

That's pretty good, although I've got a few things to point out

First, theres a limited service on the EM services that start at Nottingham, calling at Loughborough, Melton Mowbray and Oakham to Peterborough

Also concerning EM, on the Liverpool line, Widnes should be a white circle, Hunts Cross should be added as a grey circle, Birchwood is only served by services towards Ely, and Irlam should not be included. Between Stockport and Sheffield, Chinley and Dore should be included as limited services towards Ely only.

A final few thing concerning EM - they do not call at Manea, only call at Whittlesea heading away from Ely, and do not call at Spooner Row

There is also a limited extension of services on the Ipswich line to Colchester, calling at Manningtree.

As a final point, as far as I am aware, all the CrossCountry services call at Coleshill, and there's also the limited service from Gloucester, which calls at Cheltenham, Ashchurch, Bromsgrove and University.

 

[MK Tom]

Thanks for those corrections! Updated Ely map now uploaded.

Irlam is served by the 13:00 Ely to Liverpool apparently.

I've not decided how or if to show one-way services to stations yet, only on lines. I'll think about it!

 

[Dr Hoo]

A very interesting exercise.

Just a suggestion that the title "direct train connections" is a slightly confusing contradiction in terms (although I know what you mean). Perhaps "direct train services" would be less confusing.

 

[mildertduck]

There is also a limited extension of services on the Ipswich line to Colchester, calling at Manningtree.

I'm almost sure that I've caught a service from Ely to London Liverpool St via Ipswich before, but I'm starting to wonder whether or not it was an engineering diversion

 

[ian1944]

It's a great idea and a nice style of maps. Aberdeen and Penzance would be interesting to view side by side.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Apropos Wiltshire/Yorkshire, it has to be one station really, not a whole county, but I'm happy to give Swindon a go!

Swindon, Westbury and Salisbury for Wiltshire and Leeds, Sheffield, York and Hull for Yorkshire. This way each one can be done seperately but stitched together as the final piece.

 

[MK Tom]

Nobody noticed I'd missed Stechford out of the Northampton and MK maps! That's now fixed.

I've added Cork for those interested in the Irish side. Link is in post #34.

I'll do something further west in time, but I think I've settled on Twyford for my next one.

 

[Mordac]

Coventry should be interesting.

 

[djpontrack]

Can you do Carnforth or Lancaster please?

 

[berneyarms]

Nobody noticed I'd missed Stechford out of the Northampton and MK maps! That's now fixed.

I've added Cork for those interested in the Irish side. Link is in post #34.

I'll do something further west in time, but I think I've settled on Twyford for my next one.

Cork map looks spot on!

 

[greatkingrat]

I'm almost sure that I've caught a service from Ely to London Liverpool St via Ipswich before, but I'm starting to wonder whether or not it was an engineering diversion

There were regular direct trains from Liverpool Street to Peterborough via Ipswich and Ely, but they stopped several years ago as running short diesels into Liverpool Street was not considered an efficient use of paths.

 

[MK Tom]

I've added one for Twyford: http://mkttransport.co.uk/maps/direct-services-maps/

Can you do Carnforth or Lancaster please?

I've started on Carnforth! This is an odd one though, as by my definition of 1tph, every service from Carnforth is infrequent.

I'm also going to have a go at Kidderminster soon too.

Thanks again everyone for comments and ideas and feel free to repeat-ask things if I've missed something you've said.

 

[GW43125]

On the Twyford map, would it be worth adding the one Frome train a day (weekdays only) which calls at Twyford?

Also, on the MKC map, is a two-hourly service really enough to justify a "limited service" to Glasgow, ditto Edinburgh?

 

[Siemens Staines]

At Twyford there are a handful of Berks & Hants service that call there;

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C20161/2017/03/29/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C20099/2017/03/29/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C20158/2017/03/29/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C23106/2017/03/29/advanced

Plus one train for Cheltenham Spa via the Golden Valley ;

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C20153/2017/03/29/advanced

 

[JN114]

If I'm understanding the purpose of these maps correctly, then Twyford doesn't have any direct services *to* Hanwel or West Ealing, only from. You also need to add Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston, Midgham, Thatcham, Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Westbury and Frome for various B&H-bound trains, and Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa for the 1847 Padd - Cheltenham.

 

[MK Tom]

Thanks for the tip about the Berks and Hants services. Are those HST operated? I didn't think HST services served anywhere between Reading, Maidenhead and Slough other than those stations.

I obviously need to add arrows for one-way stations too!

Regarding the Edinburgh/Glasgow services from MKC, as I say I'm using 1tph to mean 'frequent'. 1tp2h is kind of the bottom end of frequent / top end of infrequent so it's difficult to decide with that.

 

[djpontrack]

Thanks MK Tom for starting a Carnforth map. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Siemens Staines]

Thanks for the tip about the Berks and Hants services. Are those HST operated? I didn't think HST services served anywhere between Reading, Maidenhead and Slough other than those stations.

I obviously need to add arrows for one-way stations too!

The Westbury, Frome and Cheltenham Spa are HST, the morning Newbury a 180 and the late evening Bedwyn a turbo. Just for information, there is also a morning Paddington - Reading that is a HST and stops at Twyford but that one doesn't affect your map.

 

[cactustwirly]

Thanks for the tip about the Berks and Hants services. Are those HST operated? I didn't think HST services served anywhere between Reading, Maidenhead and Slough other than those stations.

I obviously need to add arrows for one-way stations too!

Regarding the Edinburgh/Glasgow services from MKC, as I say I'm using 1tph to mean 'frequent'. 1tp2h is kind of the bottom end of frequent / top end of infrequent so it's difficult to decide with that.

Those are definitely HST operated!

 

[MK Tom]

Twyford updated to include Frome line services

 

[joshy.fre_2003]

I give you the massive challenge of Preston )

 

[fandroid]

TfL's maps benefit from the bus services being relatively simple - the vast majority operate end-to-end with no deviations 7 days per week all day. This minimises the number of codes and dotted lines or whatever is used to differentiate irregular operations. Provincial operators tend to have more complex service patterns.

I think you underestimate the complexity of London bus services - just one stop can serve a multitude of routes, and most Spider Maps cover more than one stop. I use provincial bus services a lot, and find their operators to mostly be seriously lazy about map provision. They just assume the usual customers will know where they are going. They also fiddle with routes endlessly, so good info is even more important. Spider Maps, just as MK Tom has produced should be a national requirement for all public transport.

 

[fandroid]

MK Tom. I would suggest Basingstoke, as that's where I start all my rail journeys. You might be surprised at the large choice of direct (and distant) destinations available from there.

 

[gnolife]

I'm going to suggest you try Chester (or if you want easier, Llandudno Junction)

 

[MK Tom]

Kidderminster is done! It was more of a challenge than I anticipated. - http://mkttransport.co.uk/maps/direct-services-maps/

In the spirit of humour, I've also hidden a map for Stourbridge Town down the bottom!

Carnforth is still in the works. Preston and Basingstoke are both probably a bit much for me to take on, but I'm curious about doing something on the North Wales Coast Line. Thanks for the ideas

 

[Trainfan344]

For the Ely map, you've missed the once per day service from Mansfield Woodhouse. http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C80425/2017/04/03/advanced

Stoke-on-Trent is another one you could do, at least the northbound bit is simple!