HSTs could be a great fit for the Wales & Borders
I am envious to read of the transfer of HSTs to Scotland, and of their redeployment by Great Western Railway to Cornwall and the Cardiff-Taunton service (which has suffered from overcrowded two-car trains for some years), when there are no proposals to emulate this example with the new Wales & Borders franchise.
The main feature of interest in the tenders from the three bidders still competing will be their proposals for the design of the South-East Wales Metro, which will take over and electrify the Valleys network of eight routes plus services to Barry and Bridgend, Penarth and Chepstow. Will it be electric heavy rail, light rail or tram-train, or battery? All have been suggested, but obviously not the use of HSTs.
However, the franchise does include four long-distance routes where short-set HSTs could be employed.
The inter-related Marches Line services, the hourly Carmarthen-Manchester service, and the two-hourly Milford-Cardiff-Chester-Holyhead service are currently operated by Coradia Class 175s, the most modern stock used by Arriva Trains Wales.
These are excellent trains, but some are two-coach sets and some three-coach, and both are frequently overcrowded on portions of their journeys. Their replacement by four-coach HST short-sets capable of extension to five or six coaches, to meet extra demand when there is a rugby or football international or a boxing tournament at Cardiff, would be a great improvement.
The Marches Line service is currently irregular - three trains every two hours, involving a 60-minute gap every second hour. The Mid-Wales Line to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli has no direct service to Cardiff and a very bad connection at Shrewsbury out of the Aberystwyth-Birmingham International service.
It would be far more useful to introduce an HST direct service from Cardiff to Aberystwyth every two hours in the present 60-minute gap, to give a regular half-hourly service between Cardiff and Shrewsbury, than to waste untold millions on trying to revive the Carmarthen-Aberystwyth line.
HST short-sets would also improve the present Aberystwyth-Birmingham International and Holyhead-Birmingham International services of ATW, operated by Class 158s. The ‘175s’ no longer required for the four routes handed over to HSTs would be required for other Cheltenham-Cardiff-West Wales services, and Llandudno- Manchester and Llandudno-Liverpool Lime Street via Halton curve services.
The Wales & Borders services have suffered for 15 years from the decision in 2003 that the franchise would be one of no growth, a decision totally belied by the growth that has actually happened.
Overcrowded trains have restricted further growth. The opportunity to use the spare HST sets from 2018 should not be missed.