New rail timetable from May 20th 2018 - NOW Dec/May 2019

[yewtreeman]

That is good news but judging by earlier posts on here concerning recent challenges it will need good and clear publicity. That includes some Northern Staff.

[turdo170]

Well it shouldn't really considering it's been the case for a long time but providing you already have a ticket there isn't a lot they could do.

The worst they could do is excess you if you have a ticket and Northern would have to pay it back again.

[Maggie]

What bothers me is being made to look an idiot in a crowded train by a member of Northern Staff, even though I have the correct ticket.

[turdo170]

Just ask them to point out this unwritten restriction. Better still ask them to show you where it is documented because unsurprisingly it isn't.

My advice is to get served by Virgin staff in red, I purposely avoid the rest and use the fact I want a "proper ticket" as another reason for doing so.

[AndrewJ]

Just a quick note for anyone wanting to catch the 'new' 7:57 from Poynton to Manchester starting from Monday (you know, the one that replaces the 7:51 and 8:15 because apparently two rush-hour train-loads of people will easily fit into 1 train).

The online journey planner actually recommends that you change at Stockport. I thought this was just a quirk of the website but then had a closer look - the 7:57 is timetabled to take 35 minutes to get into Manchester! The current 07:51 (by far the slowest of the current trains) takes 27 minutes. The new train is clearly expected to spend nearly half its journey-time stationary outside either Stockport or Piccadilly, waiting for more important people to whizz past.

So your choice is, make the less convenient change at Stockport and keep fingers crossed that you can get a seat on whatever else turns up, or stick in a motionless 25 year old train that lacks airconditioning or even a draft from the window, with 4-500 other sweating people in the middle of summer.

Time to see if I am fit enough to bike in I think. At this rate I'll be able to beat the train into work soon, not just the car!

[nedsram]

Time to see if I am fit enough to bike in I think. At this rate I'll be able to beat the train into work soon, not just the car!

In my pomp, I could cycle from Poynton to the University in 40 minutes with a following wind. If you can do the centre of Manchester in 35 minutes, you should sign up for next year's Tour de Yorkshire (I watched stage 3 at Cayton this year.)

[AndrewJ]

Yeah, I'm not likely to beat an hour to where I work on a bike really, even when fully fit. The journey is fairly flat but roughly 15 miles avoiding the main roads.

However the car usually takes a minimum of an hour (and most places in the town centre don't have parking), the old train plus walking takes around 45 minutes, and with this new train maybe 50-55 minutes. So if I could find a reasonably quiet route the bike does start to look like a better option - especially as it is more flexible timetable-wise!

I guess another option is cycling to Stockport Exchange cycle hub (25-30 mins) and getting a train from there.

Just thinking about the effort required is making me tired though.

[nowthensithe]

Me too AndrewJ. So many considerations.

[nedsram]

Some apparently bad news for early off-peakers. The train formerly leaving Poynton at 9.32 has been retimed to 9.29. Presumably this means that anybody wanting to use this train will now have to pay the full fare.

[AndrewJ]

Northern's off peak starts at 9 actually, so you are OK with the new times.