Cheshire East transport consultation
CASPA recently responded to a Cheshire East (CE) consultation on transport. This covered the whole county, but the parts relevant to CASPA were best suited to a response to the Nantwich section. There were a number of aspects to rail services at Nantwich and Wrenbury, which we felt required drawing the their attention. With CE continuing to approve housing schemes in the towns, usage at stations can be expected to grow as we return to normal. Other points will be familiar to campaigners for improvements in service. Our response has been sent to TfW. You can read it here. There […]
TfW on rolling stock upgrades.
We report on a Freedom of Information Act question to TfW on rolling stock upgrades. The data below has been provided on 8 December 2020. You can see the full response here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/improving_rolling_stock#incoming-1688762 We remain unconvinced over the refurbishment of the 153 sets and will inquire further. There are a number of sets on hire and these may have been overlooked in these numbers. It looks as though the 150’s will not get a repaint, but the 175 refurbishment should be done in 2021. Programme Start Date Total Units Units complete Completion date Class 150 PRM June 2018 36 36 […]
Operator of last resort takes over for TfW
TfW have set up a new company called Transport for Wales Rail Ltd to operate the railways from 7th February 2021. TfW Rail will take over day to day operations from KeolisAmey on that date. As a wholly owned government agency, this is termed the “operator of last resort”. TfW will have full responsibility for operation and the take the risk on fare income. We understand that KeolisAmey will be retained to support TfW Rail. This is in particular for the heavy engineering works required in the Valleys where TfW have taken over track responsibility.
TfW revised timetables from 25 January
Timetable changes are coming in this week. As usual we are left to guess what they mean for us. We have been through what is published on RealTimeTrains, and find there are no major changes on our line. You can read the TfW web site here, but there is no detail. Best advice is check on line before you travel.
Wrenbury level crossing
This is a summary of observations at the Wrenbury crossing. This was prompted because of of comments about the long periods of the gates being down. Please send your comments to contact_us@caspa.org.uk The crossing is located at Wrenbury Station. There is no foot bridge. The platform for the south bound service is before the crossing. The platform for the north bound service is after the crossing. This is an obstacle detection level crossing with manually controlled barriers. The crossing is initiated by approaching trains and has no direct signaler involvement when working normally, apart from monitoring the process. The obstacle […]
TfW announce revised timetables from December 20
From Sunday, our timetables are changing Check before you travel Due to the current coronavirus situation and measures we’ve introduced to support social distancing, we continue to run a reduced service. From Sunday 13 December there’ll be some minor re-timings and amendments to services across the Transport for Wales network with more significant changes to our Monday – Saturday timetable on our Cardiff and Valleys network and to the Heart of Wales line where we have added extra services. Check your journey plans here Travel Safer, Plan Ahead, Reserve a Place You can now reserve your place on selected trains […]
MP backs Whitchurch step free access
Good news. We see it reported in the Whitchurch Herald that the local MP Owen Patterson is supporting the improvement of access to the south bound platform at the station. There is no strep free access at this time. You can read about our campaign here https://caspa.org.uk/about-the-line/whitchurch-platform-access/ This project has been at the forefront of CASPA campaigning for many years.
New relationship for Keolis and Amey
TfW have announced that the scope of work for Keolis and Amey is to change from March 2021. We understand they have reached an agreement which will lead a change in leadership of the operation of the railway, the details of which are still to finalise. Under the new agreement, the operation of day-to-day rail services will become the responsibility of a new publicly owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales. This is equivalent to the operator of last resort. Keolis and Amey will continue to contribute by delivering support services. You can read about it here.
Timetable September 20
We have become aware that the 6 day timetable in operation at the end of September has problems for southbound travellers. There are no trains stopping at intermediate stations between the 07.34 and the 11.20, both times ex Crewe. There are through trains Crewe – Shrewsbury and beyond but nothing stopping at our stations for a period of nearly 4 hours. The Chairman is going to tackle TfW on this. One suggestion is that the 09.06, 10.06 and 11.06 all stop at Nantwich, Whitchurch and Wem. Perhaps one should stop at all stations. The northbound stopping trains are not affected. […]
Yorton waiting room improvements
TfW tell us they have completed the new waiting room door and glazing that has been installed at Yorton station. These were damaged by vandals some time ago. The new waiting room door and glazing was installed in August, as part of Transport for Wales’ Stations Improvement programme.