[Lord Jon]

Hi.

I am thinking of applying to Aber next autumn but there is an issue...... I hear that travelling to and from Aberystwyth is a nightmare by train. I may have my own transport anyway but I want to look into the possibility of not having my own transport just in case.

I have heard some horror stories and stuff like there being only one rail/side of track going up and trains breaking down in the middle of nowhere with no help for passengers etc...... I have heard of cancelled trains and being dropped off in some remote village!

So I just wanted some insight as I live allll the waaayyy in London. I want to know if a Car is necessary. Because I will be travelling around the country a lot (seeing family and friends etc.....)

[Wookie42]

There are horror stories about the rail service between Aber and Birmingham, but I've never actually met someone who has been on one of these journies that people claim happen. Basically, the trains leave Aber every 2 hours at around the half hour mark, but the problem with the line is that in many places it is single track, and so delays are quite easy to come by since trains can only pass each other at a couple of places. The other problem is that if there is a problem at any of the stations between Aber and Birmingham, it is very difficult to get past until you reach somewhere a bit bigger like Shrewsbury. For example, if you want to get to Birmingham and there's a signal failure at Wolves, you have to sit around before Wolves until the problem is fixed/hop on a bus service. I live south of Birmingham, and the journey usually takes about 4/4.5 hours - 3 hours from Aber to New Street, a bit of waiting around, then another 50 minutes to where I live. I've done this journey loads of times, and although the train seems to be moving at about 10mph I've never run into any problems. In fact, I'd say the biggest thing is the fact that the trains are usually rammed, and if you haven't booked a ticket you might well have to stand when its peak times.

You have to put the rail service in perspective though, since the journey by car is pretty tiring and very twisty once you hit Wales! Anyway, I'm no veteran of the rail service from Aber, but whenever I've used it its been fine, and most of the time you just sit on a warm train for 3 hours - even get some work done sometimes

EDIT: Just saw your last line about travelling around the country. As much as I doubt you'll be doing this much while you're at uni, travelling around Wales via public transport is a bit of a nightmare, and if you do end up wanting to be going elsewhere to visit people I'd strongly recommend bringing a car. If you just want to get home for reading weeks/holidays/etc though, I'd stick to the train since its pretty cheap.

[rascal87]

Wookie is bang on there.

I only make the trip back home occasionally but I haven't really had much of a problem tbh with you. They are pretty reliable and the new train carriages are comfortable.

[Lepidocrocite]

The train service will be improving to one every hour as soon as the Welsh Government stump up the money, which should be in the next few weeks.

[Sun!]

(Original post by Lepidocrocite)
The train service will be improving to one every hour as soon as the Welsh Government stump up the money, which should be in the next few weeks.

Umm its tather unlikley in the next 12 months. Id imagine a 2013 start at best. Plus it will only be some extra services at the busier times, it wont be a train every hour. Id imagine you'll see additional trains at 8.30, 10.30, 12.30, 2.30 and 4.30 only.
Thats of course only true if the Welsh Government actually do give the funding.

[Lepidocrocite]

The money should be being made available in the next few weeks, the services probably won't start until Dec 2012. The request will be for enough to double the service, but it's not unlikely that the money will only stretch to a few additional services, as you suggest.

[dodgymonkey]

I went home mega early last friday, got the 5:14am train and there were 4 carriages as opposed to the normal 2 (probably due to commuters going to birmingham the nearer you get) and I managed to have a whole carriage to myself and a few others, so i'd advise when you do get the train to get that one, as it's a) cheaper, b) less busy and c) you'll get home earlier!

[Wookie42]

(Original post by dodgymonkey)
I went home mega early last friday, got the 5:14am train and there were 4 carriages as opposed to the normal 2 (probably due to commuters going to birmingham the nearer you get) and I managed to have a whole carriage to myself and a few others, so i'd advise when you do get the train to get that one, as it's a) cheaper, b) less busy and c) you'll get home earlier!

Glad you had a decent journey, but that's absolutely ridiculous compared to my journey! I went home on Saturday the 17th which was the day after my last lectures. Not really expecting the train to be quiet, I booked my ticket for 11:25 and hoped for the best - pretty chilled out though since I'd reserved a seat.

Anyway, considering this was probably one of the most popular times for people to go back home, Arriva were pretty poor. Only two carriages, but enough passengers for 3/4+. I got on, sat down and waited for the train to leave. A few minutes later the carriage was full but there were still tons of people outside... another minute went by and a message over the tannoy thing said something like "For passengers going to Shrewsbury or further, we are putting on a bus service so that passengers getting off at stations before can fit on the train." Perhaps stubbornly, I didn't move since I'd booked a seat and it wasn't really my fault Arriva were too incompetent to see the huge demand for seats coming!

Loads of people were disappointed though, and a friend of mine had to get back to Poland but couldn't be seated - he ended up almost missing his flight in the end! Not sure whether or not its worth saying anything to Arrive since they should have learnt from this... then again though, wouldn't be too happy if this happens again next time!

[Lepidocrocite]

Various people tried to ensure this didn't happen again this year, but clearly not enough was done. Disappointing.

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

(Original post by Lepidocrocite)
The train service will be improving to one every hour as soon as the Welsh Government stump up the money, which should be in the next few weeks.

Where did you hear about this to? This would be very handy as I have to make two changes to get to Aberystwyth from Poole in Dorset. (Southampton Central/Winchester and Birmingham International/Wolverhampton).

To the thread starter, I came home the day after term ended and it was extremely busy. I'm a first year. Some of my friends decided to change their tickets from the 11.30am train (the one I got) to the 5.15am train. When I arrived at the station, I deliberately arrived around an hour and a quarter prior to the train departing. The station was empty. Fast forward half hour the station was overcrowded. Some people had to form a long queue to pick up tickets (which I'd fortunately picked up 3 days before), and there were a lot of people at the platform edge. I was one of the first on the train and got 1 seat and a space in the luggage rack, but the train left ten minutes late as staff had to deal with issues of overcrowding. People were understandably dismayed as it was only a two carriage train with no extra carriages joining until Machynlleth (which is about 45 minutes train ride away) and around 50 people were refused entry to the train, some being chucked off. The train was still overcrowded, and the guard did get annoyed with people blocking the corridor as people resorted to sitting on their suitcases. This is understandable for health and safety reasons, but I could also sympathise for the students - 1tp2h is not enough, particularly in times of high demand, and 2 carriages is making the situation worse. The train driver did try to ask people to leave the train if their stop was early on, but seeing as almost everyone was heading for the midlands this was impossible - I didn't see a large number get off of the train until Shrewsbury. People who were heading north to places like Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and so on were asked in particular to get a bus (50 seats) free of charge to Shrewsbury where they'd then continue their journey. Apparently, more people got chucked off the 7.30am train. Some friends of mine didn't even bother going back home until the Sunday or even the middle of the next week when they were guaranteed a seat - can't blame them really.

However, this being said, I have travelled on a normal day and time to Aber before and it was absolutely quiet. Travel is only really a problem at start/end of term. There is a National Express service to London which runs daily at around 8.30am and it lasts around 7 hours, but it IS cheaper to get a train to Birmingham New Street and then one from there to London Euston, if London is where you are heading. Also, if you could drive you can as this is one of the universities where students could bring their cars with them if they wanted to do so.

[Lepidocrocite]

They installed a new signalling system this year, and hourly services are just a matter of time now - they made it into December's "Prioritised National Transport Plan" but no money seems to have come forward yet...

On the plus side, steps are now being taken with the relevant parties to try and stop massive overcrowding this Easter. Hopefully there'll be more data available this time so extra carriages can be put in the right places.

[fivebyfivewhat]

There was an article in the Courier about the new hourly service and as someone in a long distance relationship (my boy being in London), it would make my life so much easier!
I went home a week before Christmas (InterPol finished early) and it was only busy as there was a football match on somewhere around Wolverhampton. A bit worried about Easter, I'll definitely try to leave early again to avoid this...

[Wookie42]

(Original post by fivebyfivewhat)
There was an article in the Courier about the new hourly service and as someone in a long distance relationship (my boy being in London), it would make my life so much easier!
I went home a week before Christmas (InterPol finished early) and it was only busy as there was a football match on somewhere around Wolverhampton. A bit worried about Easter, I'll definitely try to leave early again to avoid this...

Any news on this? Just wondering if there was any sort of ETA/rumour over when the hourly services might come into place... As for Easter, I might get the ridiculously early one this time - Christmas was a nightmare!

[rascal87]

I have noticed that carriages are now reduced to two which is ridiculous. Especially during peak hours.

On the plus side it does save worrying about whether or not you're in the right section of the train for Aber, and won't be ending up in Holyhead

[fivebyfivewhat]

(Original post by Wookie42)
Any news on this? Just wondering if there was any sort of ETA/rumour over when the hourly services might come into place... As for Easter, I might get the ridiculously early one this time - Christmas was a nightmare!

I haven't heard anything new since I posted this unfortunately
I am leaving at around 7:30 on Friday morning to hopefully avoid the weekend Easter rush but there's no guarantee I suppose!