XC and Doncaster

[Bayum]

Last I heard... XC were trying to get rid of Doncaster from their calling points...

Does anyone know if this went ahead??

Are they going to call at Leeds instead?

I haven't heard anything of it since July... So, i'm thinking it may be good to ask here, seeing as December is like, (October, November, Decmember) 3 months away!!

 

[TheBigD]

It's no secret that XC want to divert the existing Reading-Newcastle services via Leeds instead of Doncaster.

This is a quote from one of the staff forums

"...as DfT has set the timetable as part of the franchise. We will probably have the same core services, but we are working on some development options such as more services running via Leeds, and Birmingham International to Coventry. It is more likely we'll extend services such as NCL-RDG to SOU rather than do complete new services..."

At present the only path is for the 1440 ex Reading but XC are working hard behind the scenes to get them all via Leeds.

http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/ecml-propdec_xcountry_200209.pdf

Happy reading!!!

 

[dk1]

Cant blame XC as those that go via Leeds have far more revenue potential. Many complaints too about the poor service between Leeds & Sheffield. A bit faster via Donny but if this has less reflect in the cash box, why bother?

 

[Bayum]

But that doesn't tell me if it's happening or not... And XC have a good point there... If the XC trains from York aren't going down the ECML - surely there's capacity there for them to add more services?

 

[TheBigD]

It won't happen in December. The December TT is available on...

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/Find_a_train/Proposed_timetables_December_2009.aspx

 

[Bayum]

Ahhh thankyou

It's interesting to see that XC are still going to have the 3 daily trains to Penzance though...

 

[tbtc]

Not going to happen in the next year or two. Plus, the hourly XC service via Donny has allowed GNER/ NXEC to reduce the number of Newcastle/ Edinburgh services stopping at Doncaster, so there's the political argument about whether anyone should pick these up again...

...plus with TPE wanting *another* hourly Manchester - Leeds - York service, there won't be room for both this and a second XC service (given how busy the Garforth line is), so it could depend on who gets those rights.

Would be a good thing if XC could do this (as someone who used to use XC to commute from Shefield to Leeds daily), but it's not as simple as I'd like...

 

[Drsatan]

Of course, it boils down to whether you prefer a 220/221 or a 185. I'd probably prefer a 185 even though they have fewer seats than a Voyager

 

[Bayum]

Of course, it boils down to whether you prefer a 220/221 or a 185. I'd probably prefer a 185 even though they have fewer seats than a Voyager

You can only really use that excuse between York and Leeds though...

North of York, journeys to Newcastle on Ftpe are beaten by both XC and NXEC... So, many travellers would be more tempted to take the change at York/Doncaster and travel onwards with that faster sevice

 

[devon_metro]

It's interesting to see that XC are still going to have the 3 daily trains to Penzance though...

Whys that? There is no operational sense for them to not serve Penzance, as they would only terminate at Plymouth and go to the depot as the first train for Penzance would form a non existant 1925 Plymouth - North.

 

[87015]

Whys that? There is no operational sense for them to not serve Penzance, as they would only terminate at Plymouth and go to the depot as the first train for Penzance would form a non existant 1925 Plymouth - North.

Would save money though. Thats the future!

 

[devon_metro]

Yes, thats the only benefit to XC. However i'm not sure Laira would be best pleased with 2 extra Voyagers overnight. I rather suspect its cheaper at Long Rock

 

[tbtc]

I wouldn't be surprised if XC was cut back to Dundee - Plymouth (or maybe even Edinburgh - Plymouth) at some stage, with no more service to Cornwall or Aberdeen

 

[Flyboy]

Travelled once on an XC Voyager from Donny to York - yuk! never again! The passenger compartments are simply awful.

 

[Lampshade]

XC Voyagers aren't that bad if you sit at the opposite end of the carriage to the engine, otherwise it's like sitting on a washing machine. I caught one to Stockport the other day and I was wondering what everyone's criticisms were about, it was quite a smooth ride - but with the unmistakeable drone of the QSK19

 

[Bayum]

Travelled once on an XC Voyager from Donny to York - yuk! never again! The passenger compartments are simply awful.

I used to do York - Penzance nearly 3 times a year, more often this year, and once from Newcastle through to Penzance. It's really not that bad if im honest!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Whys that? There is no operational sense for them to not serve Penzance, as they would only terminate at Plymouth and go to the depot as the first train for Penzance would form a non existant 1925 Plymouth - North.

But why take on journeys there are likely to be much less passengers??

I don't know who travels to Cornwall in the winter... Many people I know go further up North for the snow in Scotland, or travel aboard =/

 

[Mojo]

How about locals, after all most XC services are just glorified local trains joined together?

I haven't read the SLC which is the minimum specification set down by the DfT but I should imagine they have a say too.

 

[dk1]

Devon ,Cornwall & many other South coast destinations are popular for retirement & quality of life. For this reason the XC services generate much visit friends & relations (VFR) traffic throughout the year, Royal Navy are also are a very large rail user for Plymouth & tourism seems spread from April right through October albeit without the peak Saturday traffic.

 

[Bayum]

Devon ,Cornwall & many other South coast destinations are popular for retirement & quality of life. For this reason the XC services generate much visit friends & relations (VFR) traffic throughout the year, Royal Navy are also are a very large rail user for Plymouth & tourism seems spread from April right through October albeit without the peak Saturday traffic.

Keyword being Plymouth.

And yeah, thats fair enough - but there are FGW services continuing onto Penzance not long after some XC services arrive. If XC were to look at this, then obviously something could be done about that - joining onto a connecting High Speed Service from Plymouth (Albeit, not very high speed) but ya know

 

[dk1]

Would be good if a little bit more timetable co-operation occured in this neck of the woods. I know they do work in on a day to day basis & am always impressed when the FGW Paignton service waits at Newton for a late running XC with many known branch punters, but it would be good if rather than follow each other into Cornwall that perhaps the following XC goes through when the Paddington is a Plymouth terminator. This would then give Cornish customers from London a far superior connecting service than a FGW class 150. At least until a couple of years ago the chances were that that would have been a 158 often in pairs with a trolley!

 

[Dave R]

i seem to remember virgin xc serving poole, portsmouth, brighton, swansea, a summer saturday train to kent and a Liverpool-Scotland, (any other services i've missed?) these have been scrapped instead of being transfered to another operator like the manchester-scotland (TPE) and the birmingham-scotland (VWC). have these been cut because of the decision to bring in the voyagers? anyone got an old VXC timetable or map from the 90s or early 2000s?

 

[dk1]

i seem to remember virgin xc serving poole, portsmouth, brighton, swansea, a summer saturday train to kent and a Liverpool-Scotland, (any other services i've missed?) these have been scrapped instead of being transfered to another operator like the manchester-scotland (TPE) and the birmingham-scotland (VWC). have these been cut because of the decision to bring in the voyagers? anyone got an old VXC timetable or map from the 90s or early 2000s?

Got loads in the attic & will dig them out when i get a chance matey. Dont forget the disaster that was 'Operation Princess' put pay too many route extensions a few years back. On that subject i wish VT would refer to that rather than Terminal 5 everytime they want to bring changes in gradually:roll:

 

[Bayum]

Got loads in the attic & will dig them out when i get a chance matey. Dont forget the disaster that was 'Operation Princess' put pay too many route extensions a few years back. On that subject i wish VT would refer to that rather than Terminal 5 everytime they want to bring changes in gradually:roll:

Operation Princess was a great idea though, just the implementation wasn't as good as it could have been...

 

[rick9525]

I travelled a few days ago from Kings Cross to Doncaster and a lot of people got on and off there 13:00 to Glasgow. I felt I had a good choise of trains. The Leeds one left 5 mins later but stopped at least 3 times where as we only stopped at Peterbrough. I know the Inverness and I assume Aberdeen trains don't stop there but that has been the case for a long time.

As someone who lives near Manchester I would prefer an extra TPE as during the peak the trains between Leeds and Huddersfield are packed especially if they call at Dewsbury and are not strengthend.

 

[martyn29]

any news on the HST front?