The Anonymous Widower

Grand Union Seeks ’91s’ To Cardiff

The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the May 2019 Edition Of Modern Railways.

These are points fro the article.

• Grand Union Railway is a new open access operator.
• Trains will be formed of a Class 91 locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a driving van trailer.
• Trains will go between London and Cardiff, stopping at Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction and Newport
• Trains will leave Paddington hourly from 07:35 to 21:35
• Trains will leave Cardiff hourly from 06:35 to 19:35
• The journey time will be one hour and forty-five minutes.
• To run this timetable would appear to need four trains. Grand Union will probably have a fifth train, to allow for one in maintenance.

The service is subject to regulatory approval.

Note that the company has been formed by Ian Yeowart, who was previously Managing Director of Grand Central.

Currently, Great Western Railway (GWR) runs the following trains to South Wales

• Paddington and Cardiff via Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bristol Parkway and Newport
• Paddington and Swansea via Reading, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway and Neath

Services will soon be run exclusively by Class 800 or Class 802 trains.

Note.

1. Some of the Swansea services are extended to Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.
2. Paddington to Cardiff takes two hours and eight minutes.
3. Paddington to Swansea takes just under three hours.
4. These times will be improved when the the electrification is completed between Paddington and Cardiff

Paddington and Cardiff will be getting three trains per hour (tph) and two operators

Great Western Railway And Grand Union Services Compared

It is interesting to compare the two services.

Journey Times

Consider.

• The Grand Union service at one hour forty-five minutes appears to be quicker than the GWR service at two hours eight minutes.
• But are we comparing times after full electrification of the route to Cardiff, which the Class 91 locomotives will need to operate?
• There is also the possibility of digital signalling being fitted to both sets of trains.
• Both trains can run at 140 mph with in-cab signalling
• The Grand Union service has less stops than the GWR service.

Will the trains settle for a draw and have the same journey times?

Capacity

The seating capacity of the two trains are as follows.

• GWR Class 800/802 train – 655 seats
• Grand Union – InterCity 225 – 535 seats

My only thought, is that is there enough space in the GWR train or all luggage.

Bicycles And Bulky Luggage

Tourists with cycles are increasing in number and Wales will become a destination.

Hitachi Class 800 trains do not have much space for bicycles and  bulky luggage.

On the other hand, the driving van trailer of an InterCity225 can swallow a lot.

Will There Be Sufficient Demand For An Extra Service between London and Cardiff?

A friend asked.

Is there actually a market/capacity for an extra hourly service?

I made these points in reply.

• The South Wales Metro will be one of the best City metros in the world and will improve feeder services to Cardiff Central dramatically.
• The M4 is getting busier between Bristol and Cardiff, partly due to the abolition of tolls on the Severn Bridge.
• The Principality Stadium
• Tourism to South Wales is growing.
• Business and finance in Wales is finally looking up.
• All trains will be at 140 mph for long stretches, so journey times will be one hour forty-five minutes.
• Paddngton is not an attractive place to arrive at in London, but after Crossrail opens, all should  be different.
• City of London to City of Cardiff in two hours.
• Cardiff will be closer to the City of London, than Brussels, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester or Paris!
• Heathrow’s Third Runway.
• Four wheels bad, rails good
• Kids are getting to like trains, just as  we did.
• The next generation of on-train Internet will be much faster for working and keeping kids of all ages amused.
• GWR, Grand Union and the Welsh Government could market the route as High Speed Wales!

Will three tph be enough?

My Prediction In October 2013

In October 2013, I wrote Will We Get HSW Before HS2?

This was the conclusion of that post.

So I believe that even if it still goes slower on opening, trains to Bristol and Wales will be doing 225 kph before the end of this decade.

If that isn’t a high speed railway like HS1, I don’t know what is?

But whatever we call it, it’ll be here several years before HS2!

I think we need to call for three cheers for Brunel, who got the route right in the first place.

I felt the biggest problem would be the Severn Tunnel! I got that wrong, as that difficult job is now done.

Conclusion

I like this proposal.

• The important Paddington and Cardiff route gets a fifty percent increase in train frequency.
• There could be genuine competition on the route.
• Grand Union would be using five of the thirty InterCity225 sets, which are in good condition, judging by my recent journeys.
• Could we see a customer service and catering war between the two operators?

If Grand Union Railway runs to Cardiff, I’ll give it a go.

April 25, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Cardiff Central Station, Class 800 Train, Customer Service, Grand Union Railway, Great Western Railway, High Speed Wales, Mark 4 Coach, Paddington Station