New Train Services To/From Stafford.

The Hawk

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
The one thing we won't be getting back are overnight services.

Up until the 1980s we had a near 24 hour service, but then things quickly declined and by the end of the 1990s almost all of Stafford's late evening / overnight services had disappeared.

I think the last two or three to go were:
1. an overnight service from Holyhead (which I last used to come back from a gig in Rhyl in 2006);
2. a service that left Manchester Piccadilly at around 01:25 (which I used regularly to come back from gigs in Manchester); and
3. a service that left Birmingham just after 02:00.

I think these services survived into the 21st century (just in the case of the Manchester and Birmingham services, with the Holyhead service lasting a bit longer).
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
BobClay said:
I seem to remember when my Old Dear used to take me 'home' back in the 50's and 60's (she was a hill farm girl from Co. Limerick) you could book straight from Stafford to Dun Laoghaire (the crossing on a beat up old ferry named the 'Princess Maud.') Straight through no mess apart from the sots on the ferry who thought the best cure for a rolling ship was more Guinness. Then we'd get a train down to Limerick Junction, up to Pallas where my Grandad would meet us in ... believe it or not ... a pony and trap !!! So you can image as a kid what an adventure that was. I did occasionally get a bollocking for finding my way into the engine room on the old Maud. (I found out later she had seen quite some service in World War 2, including the Dunkirk evacuation where she took a shell in the engine room with fatalities.)
I think the Maud was owned by British Rail so the service went straight through.
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Bob,
I've only been to Ireland once and that was during November 1979 for a day In Dublin with a £12.50 ticket that included train to Holyhead, boat, train from Dun Laoghaire, return journeys and a litre bottle of spirits which wasn't bad value especially with making proper use of the duty free facilities. A day didn't allow time for much other than Trinity College and several pubs. I intended a weeks holiday in Ireland but it never happened.
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
The Hawk said:
The one thing we won't be getting back are overnight services.

Up until the 1980s we had a near 24 hour service, but then things quickly declined and by the end of the 1990s almost all of Stafford's late evening / overnight services had disappeared.

I think the last two or three to go were:
1. an overnight service from Holyhead (which I last used to come back from a gig in Rhyl in 2006);
2. a service that left Manchester Piccadilly at around 01:25 (which I used regularly to come back from gigs in Manchester); and
3. a service that left Birmingham just after 02:00.

I think these services survived into the 21st century (just in the case of the Manchester and Birmingham services, with the Holyhead service lasting a bit longer).
Click to expand...
I often used from Birmingham New Street (11.30pm) or Wolverhampton to Stafford the very useful late evening train bound for Holyhead and the night ferry.
I also well remember in the early 1980s the 00.30 from Manchester Piccadilly to Stafford that was also the sleeper for Euston ( and at Stafford was coupled to a similar 00.15 service from Liverpool Lime Street ). I often used it with the wonderful £1 return offer on Saturday evenings that got us to eight of Manchester's characterful pubs each time.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
The Hawk said:
The one thing we won't be getting back are overnight services.

Up until the 1980s we had a near 24 hour service, but then things quickly declined and by the end of the 1990s almost all of Stafford's late evening / overnight services had disappeared.

I think the last two or three to go were:
1. an overnight service from Holyhead (which I last used to come back from a gig in Rhyl in 2006);
2. a service that left Manchester Piccadilly at around 01:25 (which I used regularly to come back from gigs in Manchester); and
3. a service that left Birmingham just after 02:00.

I think these services survived into the 21st century (just in the case of the Manchester and Birmingham services, with the Holyhead service lasting a bit longer).
Click to expand...
I used the Holyhead one, it left Stafford at two minutes past midnight, for the 02:40 boat - this was improved to being necessary to leave at 8:30pm to get the same boat. And, coming back, the train that left an hour after the boat docked was improved to being a five hour wait, with the train and waiting room doors locked, to prevent any unauthorised access by people paying for the 'service'.

As if anybody would go to Holyhead at night for any purpose beyond leaving it as soon as possible.
 
The Hawk

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
Mudgie said:
I often used from Birmingham New Street (11.30pm) or Wolverhampton to Stafford the very useful late evening train bound for Holyhead and the night ferry.
I also well remember in the early 1980s the 00.30 from Manchester Piccadilly to Stafford that was also the sleeper for Euston ( and at Stafford was coupled to a similar 00.15 service from Liverpool Lime Street ). I often used it with the wonderful £1 return offer on Saturday evenings that got us to eight of Manchester's characterful pubs each time.
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If you were on the second of those Liverpool-Euston and Manchester-Euston services, it would go straight through Stafford, then reverse back into platform 1 (to couple onto the awaiting coaches of the other service).

It was a regular occurrence to see one or two looks of panic from those unfamiliar with the service, who thought it had missed Stafford out.

Regulars also knew to wait until the trains had coupled, as the jolt could knock people over (no health & safety then).
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
The Hawk said:
If you were on the second of those Liverpool-Euston and Manchester-Euston services, it would go straight through Stafford, then reverse back into platform 1 (to couple onto the awaiting coaches of the other service).

It was a regular occurrence to see one or two looks of panic from those unfamiliar with the service, who thought it had missed Stafford out.

Regulars also knew to wait until the trains had coupled, as the jolt could knock people over (no health & safety then).
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Yes, I remember that well if Liverpool's was here first.
 
highguyuk

highguyuk

Well-Known Forumite
Mudgie said:
The hourly Crewe-Stoke-Stafford-Wolverhampton-Birmingham service already goes via Tame bridge Parkway even though Willenhall and Darlaston railway stations haven't been rebuilt yet. .
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And this change is horrendous!

From Penkridge in the morning, it's now quicker to get a train to Wolves and change trains, than stay on the same train.
In the evening, it's now effectively only one train an hour to Penkridge, as the 18:04 overtakes the 17:52 as the earlier train go to TBP.
 
D

DoggedWalker

Well-Known Forumite
highguyuk said:
And this change is horrendous!

From Penkridge in the morning, it's now quicker to get a train to Wolves and change trains, than stay on the same train.
In the evening, it's now effectively only one train an hour to Penkridge, as the 18:04 overtakes the 17:52 as the earlier train go to TBP.
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Yes, whenever I catch the train to/from Birmingham I now proactively avoid this service, as do many of the other commuters. Awful change to the service, when Penkridge is a hugely busy commuter station.

To go back to the London - Liverpool services. I may be misremembering, but pre covid wasn’t it more frequent than hourly?
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
DoggedWalker said:
Yes, whenever I catch the train to/from Birmingham I now proactively avoid this service, as do many of the other commuters. Awful change to the service, when Penkridge is a hugely busy commuter station.

To go back to the London - Liverpool services. I may be misremembering, but pre covid wasn’t it more frequent than hourly?
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No, only ever hourly as I remember.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Theresa Green said:
And when the ticket offices permanently shut, locking out all those who rely on cash

Then what?
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Over here there are 2 types of self service machine in shops, the much cheaper card only ones and the ones that take cash. There are much fewer cash ones and always queues for them, card you rarely have to wait. Its not an accident.
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
Theresa Green said:
And when the ticket offices permanently shut, locking out all those who rely on cash

Then what?
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Being prevented from buying a ticket doesn't prevent travel.
Tickets might justifiably be bought on the train or at the destination if the intention isn't to avoid payment.
 
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gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Mudgie said:
Being prevented from buying a ticket doesn't prevent travel.
Tickets might justifiably be bought on the train or at the destination if the intent isn't to avoid travel.
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Yep. I remember not being able to get a ticket from Penkridge to Brum. On the platform side of the barriers there's a ticket office you can buy tickets from.
 
Theresa Green

Theresa Green

Well-Known Forumite
gilesjuk said:
Yep. I remember not being able to get a ticket from Penkridge to Brum. On the platform side of the barriers there's a ticket office you can buy tickets from.
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The Plan

The plan is shut all ticket offices

At every station

The plan is that if your train has a rail guard/conductor he/she will not take cash

The plan is no paper tickets

Humans are a nuisance in the eyes of business because they are not uniform, regular, or all work in the same way

The Plan
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
Theresa Green said:
The Plan

The plan is shut all ticket offices

At every station

The plan is that if your train has a rail guard/conductor he/she will not take cash

The plan is no paper tickets

Humans are a nuisance in the eyes of business because they are not uniform, regular, or all work in the same way

The Plan
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And the rail guard/conductor will get ever more "I've paid but, oh dear, the battery on my smart phone must now need charging", a problem that didn't exist with proper paper tickets.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
proactive said:
All this nonsense makes it far easier to simply not take the train.
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Which is why talk of paying per mile to drive has reappeared I guess, us taxpayers are basically treated like a resource to farm by the government. If we're already taxed based on emissions why clean air zones?
 
highguyuk

highguyuk

Well-Known Forumite
My opinion is slightly again the grain here it seems, but I have no objection to closing ticket offices.

The vast majority of the country are able to buy tickets on a mobile phone, and those who can't can use the ticket machines - which are substantially better than they were years ago.

If cash vs card is the problem, then that person has a bigger issue than just rail tickets considering the way the wider world is going.

Just because something has been done the same way for many years, doesn't mean we should keep doing it that same way...
 
Mudgie

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
highguyuk said:
My opinion is slightly again the grain here it seems, but I have no objection to closing ticket offices.

The vast majority of the country are able to buy tickets on a mobile phone, and those who can't can use the ticket machines - which are substantially better than they were years ago.

If cash vs card is the problem, then that person has a bigger issue than just rail tickets considering the way the wider world is going.

Just because something has been done the same way for many years, doesn't mean we should keep doing it that same way...
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And never mind those of us that have difficulty with ticket machines.
Your "I'm alright Jack" attitude is all too prevalent in post Thatcher Britain.
 
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