Challenges of travelling by train

In my 23 years of living in the U.K. the U.K. rail system is a complete disgrace and there is no excuse for it - as an alternative to flying and air travel, I use SailRail (train and ferry) services from Manchester Piccadilly (platform 13) via Chester (change trains) to Holyhead for the ferry to Dublin and it’s a complete joke - coming back from Dublin overnight off the 20.55 sailing (arriving in Holyhead at 00.20) the earliest train to Manchester via Chester departs Holyhead at 04.25 - in October 2022, despite my best efforts to avoid it, I was stranded in Holyhead for 2 days due to a train strike and to add insult to injury, I had to pay extra for a single ticket from Holyhead to Manchester as my original SailRail ticket had expired, but the train only went as far as Lladnuo Junction and we went in a packed coach to Chester, stopping at every Rural Welsh village enroute where no one could get on, not even standing room on the coach, leaving a lot of disgruntled locals in thier wake - TfW have totally mismanaged this route compared to Avanti and they never have enough carriages for the passengers needing to travel - re nationalisation of the railways will not help this situation, the only thing that will work is for an external company to come in from the Far East, possibly Japan, Taiwan or even the CCP and for them to take complete and direct control of the railways with the relevant laws being passed in Parliament, no interference being allowed and all other existing U.K. rail bodies being abolished - any limited funding would be strictly performance related after a small initial investment was put in by the government and that would be it 

IIM

Your story dosen't surprise me, we don't count up here in North Wales, everybody seems to forget about us, every train stops at every rural station with seemingly random exemptions. It's slow and expensive, to get to Llanddudno itself where all the big shops are, is two train journeys, the first from wherever your'e travelling from to Llanddudno Junction, which is an industrial estate and some houses, then another train to actually get into Llanddudno itself, a journey of about 4-5 miles.

To be honest I can't see much diference between TfW and Avanti, possibly because our infrastructure is so poor, we are one of the few areas that aren't electrified and palns to do so are constantly put on hold or cancelled. The line itself is vulnerable to storms and flooding.

I'm always amazed that Holyhead has no hotels near the port, the ones that there are seem to be more like flop houses, there's one travelodge in Holyhead, but if you didnt know it was there you'd never find it. Holyhead is getting a load of levelling up money and is being done up, or the high st is anyway, I doubt if the "improvements" will go more than 1 or 2 streets back and all the problems will be swept furhter up the hill. We're supposed to be becoming a freeport, it's supposed to bring investment, jobs and all manner of wonderful things, cruise liners in the port, more tourists who get off the liner and get bused to places around the island and mainland. I don't think it will do much for local people, who won't get improved transport links or be able to afford to rent the "improved" shops. It's all just another con, doing something for the sake of being seen to be doing something.

you forgot about  Deganwy station between  Llanddudno Junction and Llandudno  , What gets me about the trains in north wales is that they only put about 3 carriages on the trains because the platforms are so small,  The trains are always unbearably packed. 

you forgot about  Deganwy station between  Llanddudno Junction and Llandudno  , What gets me about the trains in north wales is that they only put about 3 carriages on the trains because the platforms are so small,  The trains are always unbearably packed. 

I once arrived from Manchester at Chester about to catch the Holyhead train (6 mins to change trains at opposite ends of the station) and it was packed with students who had just got off the train from Liverpool , all tiny sardine can trains - not acceptable, TfW needs to do better - and if coming from Manchester there needs to be more direct trains to Holyhead, I’m not bothered about first class or express, but they do need to be direct - I hate changing trains at Chester, there is no need for it 

The lack of luggage space and not enough carraiges is a huge issue on both lega of a SailRail journey between Manchester/Chester and Chester/Holyhead and vice versa - coming back from Dublin, at Chester, I often just jump on a Northern Train to Manchester Victoria, as I would jump on an Avanti Train from Chester to Holyhead or a TfW loco-hauled train from Cardiff to Holyhead at Lladnuo, as most TfW trains are like sardine cans 

What the Labour Welsh Assembly have done to Rhyl is totally disgraceful 

If i go to Chester for the day, the train is bearable until it gets to Rhyl then the tourists pack onto the train on their way home ,   cans of lager in their hands at 10am in the morning lol

Sorry I forgot Deganwy, I don't go to Llanddudo very often and never by train.

There's never enough luggsge space in trains either, it seems that the more holiday destinations and links to sea ports and airports the less luggage space there is.