When is Pendolino in Shrewsbury?

[frankerooney]

Hi all. My 8 year old son is nuts about trains and I would like to take him for a little ride on a Pendolino. We're in Shrewsbury and I understand that the Pendolino does come here but I can't work out on the timetables which of the Virgin Trains are Pendolinos and which are Super Voyagers... Can anyone point me in the right direction please? TIA.

 

[NSEFAN]

Hi, Pendolino trains are powered by overhead wires and so cannot run to Shrewsbury, since there aren't any wires. All Virgin services to Shrewsbury will be Voyagers.

If you get a local service to either Wolverhampton or Crewe, you'll see plenty of Pendolino trains there. You can use sites like RealTimeTrains, which will show the traction timing load that services are booked to run as. If you click on a Virgin service, a Voyager will show as "Diesel Multiple Unit" whereas Pendolino units will show as "Class 390 EMU" (note that this is only the timing load of what's booked to run, not what is actually happening, so traction may be different during disruption).

 

[Iskra]

Pendolino's do not go to Shrewsbury as they are electric trains and the line to Shrewsbury is not electrified. You will need to travel to the West Coast Mainline to use/see Pendolinos.

 

[Llanigraham]

A Pendolino is an electric train, so can't get to Shrewsbury, I'm afraid. The nearest to you would be Wolverhampton.

 

[philjo]

Maybe to up to Crewe as you can see some Pendolinos pass through without stopping ( the Glasgow services) as well as go for a trip to Manchester etc.

 

[Merseysider]

Stafford also sees Pendos; some stop and some fly through. Crewe would of course be cheaper, and has a railway museum too (Sat/Sun).

 

[frankerooney]

Thanks everyone I'll take him up to Crewe.

 

[crehld]

Thanks everyone I'll take him up to Crewe.

If you're planning on going to the Crewe Heritage Centre, check they're open first. They tend to shut down over winter.

 

[RailAleFan]

If you actually want to go on a Pendolino the best option is probably an off-peak return to Stafford. £27.30 for 1 adult + 1 child and would give you loads of options for a day out.

Shrewsbury to Stafford is valid via either Crewe or Wolverhampton, so you could do a round-trip Shrewsbury > Crewe > Stafford > Wolverhampton > Shrewsbury or vice-versa.

Just make sure to time your Stafford <> Crewe segment on a Virgin Trains service from London <> Liverpool Lime Street and that will be a Pendolino.

( edit: Engineering works affect Shrewsbury <> Crewe this weekend - http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/153871.aspx )

 

[43096]

If you're planning on going to the Crewe Heritage Centre, check they're open first. They tend to shut down over winter.

Good shout. The Heritage Centre has the APT which is the "grandfather" of Pendolino. If the OP's son wants a bit of tilting train history, that's a great idea.

 

[Phil H]

I also recommend a Family and Friends Railcard to cut the cost of travel. We get ours with our Tesco Clubcard points. We recoup the cost within then first journey.

 

[frankerooney]

Brilliant Thank you all for being so helpful. We have a Family & Friends railcard which is great value. We'll take a trip on my son's birthday in April. The round trip to Stafford is a good idea - I wouldn't have been able to work out that option myself so very grateful for the suggestion. And yes he will definitely be interested in the info centre at Crewe so I'll check opening times.
Thanks again!