The Anonymous Widower

FirstGroup Applies To Run Rail Services Between Hereford And London via Cwmbran

The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from FirstGroup.

These first two paragraphs, add more detail to the title.

FirstGroup plc has submitted the first phase of an application for a new open access rail service between Hereford and London to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

FirstGroup plans to expand its open access rail operations as part of its successful Lumo business, building on Lumo’s existing service which has transformed long-distance connectivity between London and Edinburgh. This has helped materially grow rail demand on the East Coast Mainline in recent years, through a new and enhanced choice for customers and providing more trains to more destinations.

These are some more points from the press release.

Route and Frequency

The news item says this about route and frequency.

FirstGroup’s proposal is for two return journeys a day (one on Sundays) between London Paddington and Hereford, calling at Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction as well as providing direct London services at Cwmbran, Pontypool & New Inn and Abergavenny.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the route between Bristol Parkway and Pontypool & New Inn stations.

Note.

1. Bristol Parkway station is in the South-East corner of the map.
2. Severn Tunnel Junction station is marked by the blue arrow in the middle of the map.
3. The electrified South Wales Main Line connects Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction stations.
4. From Bristol Parkway, the electrified Great Western Main Line goes to London Paddington via Swindon and Reading.
5. From Severn Tunnel Junction station the South Wales Main Line goes West to Newport, which is on this map and then to Cardiff, Swansea and West Wales.
6. Pontypool & New Inn station is in the North-West corner of the map on the Welsh Marches Line between Newport and Crewe stations.
7. Welsh Marches Line is connected to the South Wales Main Line at Maindee triangular junction, which is a few miles East of Newport station.
8. Cwmbran station is on the Welsh Marches Line between Newport and Pontypool & New Inn stations.

After a quick look on Wikipedia and Real Time Trains, it appears that few if any trains run in either direction between Cwmbran and Severn Tunnel Junction stations using the North-East side of Maindee junction.

Lumo’s trains would use this route to go between Bristol Park and Pontypool & New Inn stations via Severn Tunnel Junction, and Cwmbran.

This second OpenRailwayMap shows the Northern part of the route between Pontypool & New Inn and Hereford stations.

Note.

1. The orange track is the Welsh Marshes Line between Newport and Crewe.
2. Pontypool & New Inn station is in the South-West corner of the map.
3. Abergavenny station is on the West side of the map.
4. Hereford station is in the North-East corner of the map.

Looking at the route as a whole, it is a very simple route.

• Trains go as fast as traffic allows, non-stop to Bristol Parkway station.
• Trains then take the South Wales Main Line with a single stop at Severn Tunnel Junction station to Maindee Junction, just to the East of Newport.
• Trains then take the Welsh Marches Line to Hereford stopping at Cwmbran, Pontypool & New Inn and Abergavenny stations.

It is an innovative route, that has these advantages.

• It uses a little-used leg of Maindee Junction.
• London Paddington and Maindee Junction is electrified.
• The fastest Hitachi trains seem to take about one hour and forty minutes between London Paddington and Maindee Junction.

As direct trains between Newport and Hereford take around fifty minutes, a time of two-and-a-half hours between London Paddington and Hereford could be possible.

This would compare with current Great Western Railway services, which take upwards of two hour and forty-five minutes, which often have a change of train.

Lumo Trains Should Be Faster Between London Paddington And Bristol Parkway

This may seem surprising, but most if not all current services stop between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway, stop at Swindon and Reading.

Cutting out a stop saves a few minutes on the journey.

New Trains

The news item says this about new trains.

The new Hereford service would support further investment in new trains. In December 2024 FirstGroup placed a £500m order for 14 trains from Hitachi Rail in County Durham. The Group has an option for a potential second order of similar size and the Hereford fleet would form part of this option.

Yesterday, I went to North Wales and used Avanti West Coast from Euston. The trains both ways were new Class 805 trains, which are bi-mode versions of Lumo’s Class 803 trains. These Class 805 trains travel all the way between Crewe and Holyhead on their diesel engines, so the much shorter leg between Maindee Junction and Hereford will definitely be in range.

But Hitachi are developing battery-electric versions of these trains and as there-and-back between Maindee Junction and Hereford is only 88 miles, I wouldn’t be surprised in a couple of years that Cwmbran, Pontypool & New Inn, Abergavenny and Hereford stations have a direct electric service from London.

Services At Hereford

The news item says this about services at Hereford station.

For Hereford, the two direct London paths each weekday would increase services on this flow from four today, to six. The new services would help mitigate the current large gaps in the timetable with additional daytime and evening arrivals into London, giving Hereford more regular connectivity. The new services would also provide the stations on the route with new direct journey opportunities to Bristol Parkway.

I also believe it would be a faster, fully electric service.

Services At Abergavenny

The Wikipedia entry for Abergavenny station says this about services at the station.

With a few exceptions, the weekday daytime service pattern typically sees one train per hour in each direction between Manchester Piccadilly and Cardiff Central, with most trains continuing beyond Cardiff to Swansea and West Wales. There is also a two-hourly service between Cardiff and the North Wales Coast Line to Holyhead via Wrexham General. These services are all operated by Transport for Wales. The northbound Premier service from Cardiff to Holyhead calls here on Monday to Fridays but the southbound service does not call here.

Note.

1. The station has partial step-free access
2. The station has 74 parking spaces.

Two trains in each direction would improve the services at Abergavenny station.

Services At Pontypool & New Inn

The Wikipedia entry for Pontypool & New Inn station says this about services at the station.

On weekdays and Saturdays, there is generally a two hourly service between Holyhead and Cardiff in the middle of the day, with additional peak time services southbound in the mornings and northbound in the evenings for commuters to Newport and Cardiff. These include services between Manchester Piccadilly and West Wales via Crewe and Swansea. From December 2013 the evening northbound Arriva “Premier” service train began to call at Pontypool for the first time. The southbound service in the morning does not call here. On Sundays, an irregular service operates, with 8 trains calling southbound and 10 northbound. These mainly run between Manchester and Cardiff.

Note.

1. The station is step-free with lifts.
2. The station has 150 parking spaces.

Two trains in each direction would improve the services at Pontypool and New Inn station.

Services At Cwmbran

The Wikipedia entry for Cwmbran station says this about services at the station.

Services that stop at Cwmbran in both directions are all operated by Transport for Wales and include the hourly service between Manchester Piccadilly, Cardiff Central and West Wales and the two hourly service between Holyhead and Cardiff Central. Most Sunday services only run on the former route (there are only two services each way to/from Holyhead).

Note.

1. The station is being made step-free with lifts.
2. The station has 76 parking spaces.

Two trains in each direction would improve the services at Pontypool and New Inn station.

The Heads Of The Valleys Road

The A465 or Heads of the Valleys Road could be considered the South Wlaes equivalent of the North of England’s M62 Motorway.

This description is from the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.

Approximately following the southern boundary of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, the Ordnance Survey Pathfinder guide describes it as the unofficial border between rural and industrial South Wales. The A465 provides an alternative route between England and the counties in South West Wales and to the ferries to Ireland.

This Google Map shows its route between Merthyr Tydfil and Abergavenny.

Note.

1. Merthyr Tydfil is in the South-West corner of the map.
2. Abergavenny is in the North-East corner of the map.
3. The full length of the road is just under seventy miles.
4. The Heads of the Valleys Road connects to all the towns, that are the Northern termini of the South Wales Metro.
5. At it’s Western end, the A 465 connects to the M4 near Swansea.

The news item says this about the tourism benefits of the service.

The new service is expected to have positive economic and social benefits for the communities it serves. Both of FirstGroup’s open access services Lumo and Hull Trains are on track to deliver more than £1.4bn in economic benefits along their routes and FirstGroup hopes to have a similar positive effect for the South Wales and Herefordshire communities.

The service should also provide a convenient link for visitors travelling to the Brecon Beacons/ Bannau Brycheiniog National Park; Blaenavon World Heritage Site and cathedral city of Hereford, driving growth and supporting jobs in the area’s tourism sector.

I do wonder if other tourism related services will be developed at Pontypool & New Inn, Abergavenny and Hereford?

Monmouthshire

This paragraph from the Wikipedia entry for Monmouthshire gives a flavour of the Welsh county.

The county is rural, although adjacent to the city of Newport and the urbanised South Wales Valleys; it has an area of 330 square miles (850 km2) and a population of 93,000. After Abergavenny (population, 12,515), the largest towns are Chepstow (12,350), Monmouth (10,508), and Caldicot (9,813).

I was surprised that the population of the county, was as high as 93,000.

This second paragraph, lists the railway stations.

Monmouthshire is served by four railway stations: in the south are the Severn Tunnel Junction railway station at Rogiet on the South Wales Main Line, which connects South Wales to London; and Chepstow railway station and Caldicot railway station on the Gloucester–Newport line; and in the north, Abergavenny railway station on the Welsh Marches line.

Severn Tunnel Junction and Abergavenny stations will be served by Lumo’s new service.

From my experience of using parkway stations in East Anglia with connections to London, I suspect residents of several towns outside of Monmouthshire will use these two stations for trips to the capital.

Are plans in place for extra parking and bus services?

Travelling To And From Heathrow Airport

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lumo picks up quite a few passengers,  who are going to and from Heathrow.

Consider.

• I suspect Severn Tunnel Junction to London Paddington will take about one hour and forty minutes, with just the single stop at Bristol Parkway.
• The Elizabeth Line to the Airport will take 28 minutes and cost £13.90, according to Transport for London.
• The Elizabeth Line is an easy step-free change from National Rail at Paddington.
• Elizabeth Line trains between Paddington and Heathrow are every six minutes.
• It’s not a very long walk at Heathrow between the Elizabeth Line and the terminals.
• Driving from say Monmouth to Heathrow will take about two-and-a-quarter hours and cost you to cross the Severn Bridge and for parking.

If your local Great Western Main Line station is between say Chippenham and Cardiff, you might be surprised at how fast and affordable it can be to go to and from Heathrow by Great Western Railway and Elizabeth Line.

When Lumo starts running to Heathrow, I am sure it will be faster, as the trains will not stop East of Bristol Parkway station.

 

Running In Conjunction With Services Between London Paddington And Carmarthen

The news item says this about running services in conjunction with Lumo’s services to Carmarthen.

The service would operate in conjunction with the planned service from London to Carmarthen which is due to launch in December 2027, and it is anticipated it could begin at the same time.

Consider.

• Both routes are identical between London Paddington and Maindee Junction.
• Both routes could share depots.
• Hitachi’s trains can split and join with alacrity.
• Class 800, 801, 802 and 803 trains have twenty-six metre cars, which mean a five-car train is 130 metres long.
• Bristol Parkway station has 280 metre long platforms. Pairs of trains could split and join here.
• Seven Tunnel Junction has three 171 metre long platforms. Pairs of trains could not use this station, unless the platforms were lengthened.
• Newport station has three platforms longer than 278 metres. Pairs of trains could split and join here, if the Hereford trains reversed direction.

I suspect if trains split and joined, it would be at Bristol Parkway station.

Note that Bristol Parkway station has 1,800 car park spaces, so Lumo could target passengers wanting to park and take the train to London, Cardiff, Newport and other Welsh destinations.

Co-operation With Great Western Railway

In Does Innovation Get Mr. Ed Miliband Better Prices To Doncaster?, I talked about the ticketing on the East Coast Main Line.

It appears to me, that if you put more seats on a popular route, like King’s Cross and Doncaster, then the availability drives down prices.

I also believe that if the tickets are all available through a common walk-up system, then this fills the seats.

The system has now been applied to the West Coast Main Line and I believe that if Great Western Railway and Lumo collaborated on ticketing, this would improve competition between London Paddington, Bristol Parkway and Cardiff.

There is also the issue of train rescue.

Supposing a pair of five-car Hitachi trains broke down with a fault, that allowed the train to be towed to the nearest station, so that passengers could be disembarked.

Hitachi trains are designed, so that up to twenty-four trains can be joined together in rescue mode.

That would certainly be an impressive sight.

 

 

June 7, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Bristol Parkway Station, Cardiff Central Station, Carmarthen Station, Chester Station, Class 803 Trains, Class 805 Train, Cwmbran Station, Great Western Railway, Hereford Station, Lumo, Lumo Paddington And Carmarthen, Lumo Paddington And Hereford, Open Access Operators, Paddington Station, Pontypool & New Inn Station, Severn Tunnel, Severn Tunnel Junction Station, South Wales Main Line, Ticketing, Welsh Marches Line