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!
The Anonymous Widower 