Heritage Railway

Saphos ‘stoppers’ boost the options on Plymouth and Portsmouth tours

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EXTRA stops will be the trademark of several Saphos Trains tours this year, providing new options for passengers. The ‘Devonian Express’, departing Solihull at 6.10am on June 9, is scheduled to stop at Dorridge, Warwick Parkway, Leamington Spa, Banbury, Oxford, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath and Bristol Temple Meads before heading non-stop to Plymouth. The 10 stops, considerin­g the train’s tight pick-up timings – usually two minutes per station – places extra work on footplate crews committed to keeping time among frequent faster trains which, if time is lost, normally get priority pathing.

On June 16, the ‘Portsmouth Harbour Express’ leaves Wolverhamp­ton just after 6am, calling at Tame Bridge Parkway, Rowley Regis, Stourbridg­e Junction, Kiddermins­ter, Droitwich Spa, Worcester Shrub Hill, Cheltenham, Bristol Temple Meads and onwards. Prior to these trips, Saphos Trains introduced this season’s BristolKin­gswear excursions from Temple Meads on June 6 and 13, calling at Yatton, Weston super-Mare and Taunton. On June 20 and 27, the ‘English Riviera Express’ runs to Dartmouth via pick-ups at Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Westbury, Frome and Taunton.

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