Welsh short line!

Railway reminder at the waterfront.

153 333 at Cardiff Bay.

En route.

153 333 at Cardiff Queen Street.

(All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 21.6.2019

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11th anniversary trip to Cardiff on Friday/Saturday. Wasn't supposed to be rail related in any way. But strange things happen. We wanted to go down to Cardiff Bay to see some of the sights. From the hotel it was about a mile. Half way down my wife started moaning 'This is boring, it's like Hartcliffe. I am NOT walking back!' I explained this was just the journey, not the destination, as we passed another cheap shop selling fags and lottery tickets.

But help was at hand. All the way down we'd been following a railway, being a bit out of my area I'd not much idea what it was, but we'd seen a few passenger trains running along it.

Turns out it was the Cardiff Bay branch, which used to be the Cardiff (Bute Street) branch which also connected this area of the docks to the network.

So train trip back it was! Cardiff Bay station reminded me a bit of those bus shelter type places so common in the 70s. Just a single line. A train came in quickly and we were soon trundling up the branch. It was a very short ride! Within about 4 minutes we were in the bay at Cardiff Queen Street station. So the train just shuttles up and down all day. Great service, busy and cheap.

Getting back to Bristol I did a little research. It seemed to me that the line would be so much better if it went the extra kilometre or so to the nice shops and restaurants at the water side. Also to the Welsh parliament (Senedd) and Welsh National Opera, both nearby.

Turns out that this is EXACTLY the plan. Within a few years the station at Cardiff Bay will close, the line will be extended towards the centre of the harbourside, an intermediate station will be built at Loudon Square and tram-trains will run every ten minutes on the line. It's great to see our branch lines being developed in the 21st century.

The Big Issue

(33 044 Salisbury 14.4.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Back in 1986 we had wonderful Portsmouth to Cardiff trains, with a class 33 at the head of 5 coaches. There were always plenty of seats on the train and it was rare that you couldn't find a whole compartment to yourself. The journey was a pleasure, you could sit back in your deep pile seat, open a picnic lunch and watch the world go by. It was what made railways great, and what attracted a lot of people to the hobby of rail enthusiasm.

Thirty years on you would think that we would have added to the experience, being constantly told that the world is now a far better place, that the country is booming and that railways are the coming thing.

Today we decided to take the train to Bath. It was a Sunday, always a quiet day on the railways. Well, that once was the case! I've noticed railways getting busier and busier over the last few years, but today was a real eyeopener.

Below is the crowd waiting for the 13.10 to Bath and onwards to Portsmouth.

(31.1.2016 Bristol TM copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

We struggled to find a seat on the already packed train, but eventually got one each, but only by asking a couple who'd spread out over four seats to free up some space for us, which they grumpily did. (They were an older pair, not your traditional sullen teenagers!)

After four hours in Bath we returned to Spa station. I was expecting it to be practically deserted on a cold and wet Sunday evening. It wasn't.

Our three coach train came in and it was a nightmare! It was already packed when it pulled into the station, few people seemed to get off, but loads poured on. The end result was not only every seat taken but the entire aisle of the coach was packed - we couldn't even get in there! So NINE of us were stuck in the entrance - and were thrown about all the way to Temple Meads, the only relief was when we stopped at the two intermediate stations and a couple of people got off on to the platform - not to alight but to let other passengers get off the train! Below is an actual picture of this journey!

(A quiet Sunday evening on a cross country route - 31.1.2016 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

It's great that the railways are so busy, but disastrous that people are expected to travel like this. Why isn't the train at least six carriages? Why isn't the alternative route via Bitton open and taking some of this traffic? Why was the line so busy on an ordinary Sunday?

Railways will only get busier as the oil vanishes. The railways will have to take more (and eventually ALL freight), trains will get busier as ridership increases. Why aren't we opening hundreds of miles of railways and tramways each year to cope with something that's no longer a forecast or projection but something that's happening, on the ground, now???