Regular services that only run in one direction

[34D]

(Note that in this thread I'm focusing only on services that run several times a day, not trains which run just once or twice a day).

In Northern Rail land, there are a couple of services that only run in one direction. These are:
Selby-Halifax-Huddersfield
Manchester Victoria-Halifax-Selby
Lincoln-Sheffield-Doncaster-Adwick
Scunthorpe-Doncaster-Sheffield-Lincoln (the latter currently suspended due to the landslide).

The workings above are balanced by a Huddersfield-Halifax Leeds, Leeds-Man Vic, Adwick-Sheffield, Sheffield-Scunthorpe.

There is one morning Selby-Manchester Victoria train.

So my questions are:
-are there any other examples of service patterns around the country like this?

-how worrying is it that passengers from Selby/Cross Gates can get to Brighouse but not return

-how worrying is it that passengers from Rochdale/Todmorden can get to Cross Gates/Selby but not return?

-would the people of Cross Gates/Selby (inclusive) prefer a return service to Todmorden or to Brighouse?

Recall that whilst the reader of this forum may have little issue changing trains, for typical Joe Public it can be a big issue

Note that linking trains at Sheffield is a relatively new phenomenon, but ever since the 19th century there have been stopping trains from Selby to Todmorden and Manchester Victoria until they ceased a few years ago.

Comments welcomed

 

[Welshman]

As you know, these services through Leeds are mainly for operating convenience/platform occupation reasons.

So your questions beg the question:- How many passengers want to get from Selby/Cross Gates to Brighouse, or from Rochdale/Todmorden to Cross Gates/Selby?

And if you must make such journeys, then changing at Leeds would not be a deterrent.

So, to answer one of your questions, I must confess that worrying about how passengers are going to return to Mytholmroyd from Micklefield without changing at Leeds is not one of the things which keeps me awake at 2am in the morning!!

P.S. Were there really stopping trains from Selby to Todmorden in the 19th century, bearing in mind trains from Selby used what was Leeds City, and the service to/from Todmorden used Leeds Central until that was closed in 1967?

 

[Yew]

What about EMT's Worksop - Lincoln service, that runs via nottingham in the mornings, but as i understand has no return working?

 

[IanXC]

I must confess that worrying about how passengers are going to return to Mytholmroyd from Micklefield without changing at Leeds is not one of the things which keeps me awake at 2am in the morning!!

I also must also confess the ability of residents of Beverley and Cottingham to travel on a direct train to York, but not return does not prey on my mind!

How do the operations of other TOCs stack up on this front? I suspect that most of these Northern examples are just a function of having to be extremely efficient with unit diagrams.

 

[Trainfan344]

What about the longest rail journey in the UK? Aberdeen to Penzance runs once a day but only southbound

 

[Tomnick]

(Note that in this thread I'm focusing only on services that run several times a day, not trains which run just once or twice a day).

Just to discount the Worksop and XC examples....

 

[12CSVT]

What about the longest rail journey in the UK? Aberdeen to Penzance runs once a day but only southbound

How many people actually do that journey throughout ? Other than class 220 / class 221 bashers (if there are any), I reckon very few.

 

[greatkingrat]

For most of the day there is a half-hourly service from Redditch to Lichfield Trent Valley, but the return workings only go as far as Longbridge (except late evenings).

 

[talltim]

Services linked at Sheffield allow those traveling from the east to go to Meadowhall without changing

 

[34D]

So, to answer one of your questions, I must confess that worrying about how passengers are going to return to Mytholmroyd from Micklefield without changing at Leeds is not one of the things which keeps me awake at 2am in the morning!!

Ah but I do. I often think about this. I really really don't like the current arrangement. I don't mind which, but I'd like a Micklefield-Todmorden and return service or a Micklefield-Brighouse and return aervice. Or both.

P.S. Were there really stopping trains from Selby to Todmorden in the 19th century, bearing in mind trains from Selby used what was Leeds City, and the service to/from Todmorden used Leeds Central until that was closed in 1967?

All of them? I'll bow to your better knowledge

 

[tbtc]

From memory, the Fife Circle services have a non-symetric pattern of through services to Newcraighall, but I'd need to check that up.

The New Mills/ Marple lines in Manchester have generally had a lopsided service (with some direct journeys between local stations only being possible in one direction off-peak).

Northern do have some strange patterns, to try to squeeze best use out of stock though (are the Wigan Westgate services lopsided?)

-how worrying is it that passengers from Selby/Cross Gates can get to Brighouse but not return

-how worrying is it that passengers from Rochdale/Todmorden can get to Cross Gates/Selby but not return?

In the grand scheme of things, not at all worrying

ever since the 19th century there have been stopping trains from Selby to Todmorden and Manchester Victoria until they ceased a few years ago

There's a faster service every hour from Selby to Manchester Piccadilly though, so again I don't think that this is much of an issue.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

(Note that in this thread I'm focusing only on services that run several times a day, not trains which run just once or twice a day).

In Northern Rail land, there are a couple of services that only run in one direction. These are:
Selby-Halifax-Huddersfield
Manchester Victoria-Halifax-Selby
Lincoln-Sheffield-Doncaster-Adwick
Scunthorpe-Doncaster-Sheffield-Lincoln (the latter currently suspended due to the landslide).

The workings above are balanced by a Huddersfield-Halifax Leeds, Leeds-Man Vic, Adwick-Sheffield, Sheffield-Scunthorpe.

There is one morning Selby-Manchester Victoria train.

So my questions are:
-are there any other examples of service patterns around the country like this?

-how worrying is it that passengers from Selby/Cross Gates can get to Brighouse but not return

-how worrying is it that passengers from Rochdale/Todmorden can get to Cross Gates/Selby but not return?

-would the people of Cross Gates/Selby (inclusive) prefer a return service to Todmorden or to Brighouse?

Recall that whilst the reader of this forum may have little issue changing trains, for typical Joe Public it can be a big issue

Note that linking trains at Sheffield is a relatively new phenomenon, but ever since the 19th century there have been stopping trains from Selby to Todmorden and Manchester Victoria until they ceased a few years ago.

Comments welcomed

There are trains from Manchester Victoria to Selby. I caught one of them as far as Leeds, it was the 09:43 service IIRC and I'm pretty sure the 10:43 service goes to Selby as well.

Albeit not regular and only one off scheduled services, I do know a few services that run in one way only. There is a service from Mansfield Woodhouse to London St Pancras and one to Norwich but looking at timetables I dont see any return workings. There is also a single service from Lincoln to Boston.

There is that Bournemouth voyager service from Nottingham with no return, the Glasgow train from Bath spa again without no return working. I dont know if the Guildford voyager has a return working. There is also a train from Gloucester to Stansted Airport but again, I dont know if that has a return working. Im also sure there is a train from Cheltenham/Gloucester way terminating at Leicester

 

[34D]

There's a faster service every hour from Selby to Manchester Piccadilly though, so again I don't think that this is much of an issue.

Indeed, but its the cross-WY bit that concerns me. If the Trans Pennine service from Hull/Selby called at Garforth I think it would go a long way to satisfy people.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

There are trains from Manchester Victoria to Selby. I caught one of them as far as Leeds, it was the 09:43 service IIRC and I'm pretty sure the 10:43 service goes to Selby as well.

Albeit not regular and only one off scheduled services, I do know a few services that run in one way only. There is a service from Mansfield Woodhouse to London St Pancras and one to Norwich but looking at timetables I dont see any return workings. There is also a single service from Lincoln to Boston.

There is that Bournemouth voyager service from Nottingham with no return, the Glasgow train from Bath spa again without no return working. I dont know if the Guildford voyager has a return working. There is also a train from Gloucester to Stansted Airport but again, I dont know if that has a return working. Im also sure there is a train from Cheltenham/Gloucester way terminating at Leicester

No ignore the bit about Mansfield Woodhouse to London. The timetable is very misleading and says the train goes on to call at Leicester and London but looking on NRE it shows that train as the one heading for Norwich.

 

[IanXC]

Indeed, but its the cross-WY bit that concerns me. If the Trans Pennine service from Hull/Selby called at Garforth I think it would go a long way to satisfy people.

So you'd suggest that Hull's only service to the regional centre should be slowed down to serve a minor suburb? I think a much larger number of people would be against such a plan!

[off topic]
It seems that Hull will only get its second hourly Leeds service at electrification, at which point I think the "stopper" could have a Garforth call, perhaps in a service such as:

Hull, Brough, Howden, Selby, (East Leeds Parkway), Garforth, Leeds, Shipley and Bradford Forster Square.
[/off topic]

 

[ValleyLines142]

I dont know if the Guildford voyager has a return working.

There is indeed.

1E79 outbound at 0602 gets in to Newcastle for 1145, 1O32 return at 1732 from Newcastle arriving back at Guildford at 2300.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....Northern do have some strange patterns, to try to squeeze best use out of stock though (are the Wigan Westgate services lopsided?)....

Wigan Wallgate? Not sure about the terminating trains (I think they are all Rochdale or Man. Vics in both directions, if you know what I mean) but I think the trains from Kirkby go to Stalybridge, then to Southport, then to Man Vic, then back to Kirkby.

There are the two Wigan North Western-Liverpool Lime Street via Newton-le-Willows services each day which do not run in the opposite direction.

 

[Goatboy]

There is also a train from Gloucester to Stansted Airport

There certainly is and if you wish to make the 4 hour 30 minute journey on a Class 170 then XC will releive you of £104 for an Anytime Single as it leaves at 07:10 making this the cheapest ticket you can use for this journey (splits aside) as there are no Advances offered.

Best off waiting for the weekend when its a far more reasonable £60.50. XC Peak pricing strikes again.

 

[dk1]

There certainly is and if you wish to make the 4 hour 30 minute journey on a Class 170 then XC will releive you of £104 for an Anytime Single as it leaves at 07:10 making this the cheapest ticket you can use for this journey (splits aside) as there are no Advances offered.

Best off waiting for the weekend when its a far more reasonable £60.50. XC Peak pricing strikes again.

Recently went to a meeting in Cambridge where an Actuary had made the trip from Gloucester on the direct train & was very impressed he could do so. He did though return via Kings Cross/Paddington.

 

[172212]

There are direct connections to Kidderminster from Langley Green, Old Hill and Lye (Mon-Sat), but there are no opposite direct journeys until 18:00, and a few morning peak workings

 

[Seacook]

The direct (not via New Street) service from Walsall to Wolverhampton does not have a return working. Neither do the morning direct trains from Walsall to Liverpool Lime Street.

 

[Frothy]

I know it's explicitly not what you're looking for, but there are two daily weekday Saltburn - Newcastle trains via Darington with no corresponding return service to stations after Middlesbrough. There is a return that runs on Saturday and Sunday only, but only as far as Middlesbrough. I've often wondered if this service didn't originally operate via the Stillington line.