Cardiff – Edinburgh Open Access Train Service Proposal Under Development
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
Grand Union has begun industry consultation over a proposal to operate five open access services a day between Cardiff and Edinburgh, and separately is looking at rolling stock options for its planned London – Carmarthen and London – Stirling services.
These are my thoughts.
Current Train Services Between Cardiff and Edinburgh
I have chosen Monday, the 4th of December and find, that the basic fare is £120.40 with changes at Birmingham New Street and Preston, for a journey of six hours and 52 minutes.
There would appear to be three other sensible trains on that day and the others take around seven hours and cost over £230.
Cardiff and Edinburgh, is one of those routes, where the one-third saving of a railcard will pay for the card on the first trip.
Current Flights Between Cardiff and Edinburgh
I have again chosen Monday, the 4th of December and there is one direct flight that takes one hour and 15 minutes and costs £130.
There are flights under forty pounds, via Dublin or Belfast City airports, which take 4½ and 9 hours.
What About The Sleeper?
If you live in Cardiff and want to get to Edinburgh, early on the 4th, it’s probably better to take an evening train to London on the day before and then get the Caledonian Sleeper to Scotland.
An ideal train could be a sleeper between Plymouth and Edinburgh, that could be picked up at Bristol Parkway, that I wrote about in Would A North-East And South West Sleeper Service Be A Good Idea?.
But that train is only a proposal.
Although, there could be a luxury coach or conveniently-timed direct train to link Swansea, Cardiff Central and Cardiff Bay to Bristol Parkway for the sleeper.
I Feel That A Cardiff and Edinburgh Service May Have Possibilities
Grand Union are proposing to operate five open access services a day between Cardiff and Edinburgh, which seems about right.
I estimate that the service would take around seven hours. But that time is based on the fastest journeys to Birmingham New Street from both ends of the route.
Breaking it down further into three legs via Birmingham New Street and Doncaster, following times could be possible.
- Cardiff and Birmingham New Street – two hours and five minutes
- Birmingham New Street and Doncaster – two hours and five minutes
- Doncaster and Edinburgh – three hours and ten minutes
Note.
- These times are based on average of the better times of the day.
- They could probably be improved by more electrification and a bi-mode train like a Class 802 or Class 755 train.
They total up to seven hours and twenty minutes.
Intermediate Stops
These are listed as Cardiff, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Gloucester, Birmingham New Street, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
Times and distances for the various legs are as follows.
- Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction – 21.6 miles – Electrified – 26 mins
- Severn Tunnel Junction and Bromsgrove – 72.5 miles – Not Electrified – One hour and thirteen mins
- Bromsgrove and Birmingham New Street – 14.3 miles – Electrified – 21 mins
- Birmingham New Street and Derby – 41.2 miles – Not Electrified – 33 mins
- Derby and Sheffield – 36.4 miles – Being Electrified – 30 mins
- Sheffield and Doncaster – 16.8 miles – Not Electrified – 24 mins
- Doncaster and Edinburgh – 237.1 miles – Electrified – two hours and 54 mins
These add up to six hours and 21 minutes.
Is Cardiff and Edinburgh An Ideal Route For A Battery-Electric Train?
The route has three unelectrified sections
- Severn Tunnel Junction and Bromsgrove – 72.5 miles
- Birmingham New Street and Derby – 41.2 miles
- Sheffield and Doncaster – 16.8 miles
Note.
- I am assuming Derby and Sheffield is electrified, under the Midland Main Line Electrification.
- The longest unelectrified section is the 72.5 miles between Severn Tunnel Junction and Bromsgrove.
- All three unelectrified sections are sandwiched between two electrified sections, that are long enough to charge the trains.
A battery-electric train with a range of 80-90 miles should be able to handle the route.
As Cardiff and Swansea is only 45.7 miles, with a range of 100 miles, the service could be extended to Swansea.
Competition
This article on Rail Advent is entitled New Cardiff – Scotland Train Service Announced As Part Of New CrossCountry Contract.
This is the relevant paragraph.
Building on the changes made to the timetables in May this year, further enhancements will include a new direct service daily between Cardiff and Edinburgh to strengthen connections across Great Britain.
Will this bang a hole in Grand Union’s plans or is there room in the market for two operators?
On the other hand LNER and Hull Trains run a 1/5 split on the King’s Cross and Hull route.
Tourism
In the past ten years, I’ve travelled regularly between London and Edinburgh by train.
- On those trips, I’ve met a large number of tourists from countries like Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States.
- Many were also visiting Paris using the Eurostar.
- Cardiff, Edinburgh and King’s Cross all have excellent hotels nearby.
- There are other historic and/or large cities on the route, who might like to get in on the act, like Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
- Cities, hotels, museums and the train companies could form a marketing group.
Cardiff and Edinburgh would complete a very useful triangular route for anoraks, business travellers and tourists.
Conclusion
Cardiff and Edinburgh could be a new route that would work well!
Would A North-East And South West Sleeper Service Be A Good Idea?
I ask this question as in the October 2021, there is an article entitled A New Sleeper, which has this explanatory sub-title.
Des Bradley describes his concept for a North-East to South-West Overnight Service
Paraphrasing his resume from the article, Des Bradley is probably best described as a rail enthusiast, who has travelled all over Europe by train, especially on sleeper trains. He has also worked recently with ScotRail, where he led their integrated travel activities.
I regularly use the Caledonian Sleeper on my trips to Scotland, often taking a sleeper one way and a day time train the other. Towards the end of next month, I have tickets booked for a low-cost Lumo train to Edinburgh and a sleeper back to London in the evening.
In this blog, I have regularly written about the sleeper trains being introduced across Europe and this summer I had intended to go via Eurostar and NightJet to Vienna. But the pandemic has kept me in England for two years.
An Edinburgh And Plymouth Sleeper
Des Bradley is proposing a sleeper train between Edinburgh and Plymouth.
- A typical daytime trip on this route takes eight hours and forty-five minutes.
- Intermediate stops would be Berwick-upon-Tweed, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham New Street, Cheltenham Spa, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St. David’s and Newton Abbot.
- Journey time would be just over twelve hours.
- By comparison a sleeper between London and Edinburgh takes about seven hours and thirty minutes.
He calls the service the NESW Sleeper.
I have some thoughts on the proposal.
A Spine Route Between Edinburgh And Penzance
The route is effectively a spine between Edinburgh and Plymouth on which other services can be built.
Unlike the Caledonian Sleeper, Des Bradley doesn’t feel the train should split and join as it travels up and down the country.
But I do think that the NESW Sleeper can be timed to fit in with high-quality connecting services to extend the coverage.
An Innovative Timetable
Des Bradley’s timetable is innovative.
- Trains leave Edinburgh and Plymouth around 21:00.
- Trains arrive at their destination around 09:00.
- Trains stop for about two hours at Derby.
- After resting at Derby, the trains are effectively early morning trains.
Note.
- The wait at Derby, adds extra time, that can be used to make up for engineering diversions, which often happen at night!
- The trains could be used by non-sleeper passengers to get to Plymouth or Edinburgh early.
The consequence of the second point, is that the trains will have to offer some Standard Class seats.
Should The Train Serve Penzance?
The Great Western Railway’s Night Riviera sleeper train calls at Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Lostwithiel, St.Austell, Truro, Redruth, Cambourne, Hoyle and St. Erth between Plymouth and Penzance.
According to a proposed NESW timetable, the Night Riviera has long gone, before the NESW Sleeper arrives in Plymouth at 08:58.
But I’m sure Great Western Railway could arrange for a convenient service between Plymouth and Penzance to pick up passengers in the morning and deliver them in the evening. This picture taken at Plymouth, indicates that cross-platform interchange may be possible.
This picture shows a pair of GWR Castles, which regularly work additional services between Plymouth and Penzance.
What About Wales?
I suspect that Cardiff, Swansea and other towns and cities in South Wales, can be served in a similar way, by connecting with GWR services at Bristol Parkway station.
Other Connecting Services
Birmingham New Street, Derby, Leeds and Newcastle are important interchange stations and I can see services being timed to bring passengers to and from the NESW Sleeper.
Rolling Stock
The author offers choices for the trains, based on what is used currently in the UK and adding multiple units. But he is definitely tending towards fixed formations.
I feel that the trains should meet the following criteria.
They should be of similar standard as the Caledonian Sleeper.
They would need an independently-powered capability for sections without electrification.
They should be zero-carbon.
They should offer a range of accommodation including Standard Class seats to cater the early birds and budget travellers.
The possibility to run at 100 mph or faster might be useful to catch up time on some sections of the route.
I think that two trains could be possible.
- A rake of coaches hauled by a hydrogen-electric locomotive.
- A battery-electric Sleeper Multiple-Unit with a range of perhaps eighty miles on batteries.
This is a sentence from the article.
The concept of ‘Sleeper Multiple-Units’ has also emerged in recent years, and this idea could be attractive; although it has some inherent inflexibility, it could in the future allow multi-portion or experimental new routes to be tagged onto the core service.
Sleeper Multiple Units might enable a South Wales and Edinburgh service, that used the same train path between Edinburgh and Bristol Parkway, where the two trains would split and join.
Conclusion
I like this proposal and definitely think it is a good idea.
The Anonymous Widower 