New long distance trains for Pembrokeshire

The basic Pembrokeshire train timetable, established some years ago, is one that repeats
every two hours:

- A train every two hours from Milford, Johnston, Haverfordwest, Clarbeston Road,
Clunderwen and Whitland to Manchester (connections for London and the south west at
Cardiff)
- a different train every two hours from Pembroke Dock, Pembroke, Lamphey, Manorbier,
Penally, Tenby, Saundersfoot, Kilgetty, Narberth and Whitland to Swansea (connections for
Cardiff and London)

And there are two trains from Fishguard each day connecting out of boats from Ireland.

Ten years ago, there were several through trains each day from Pembrokeshire to a variety of
distant destinations, Portsmouth, Penzance, Birmingham and so on. Changes to the franchise
boundaries meant that these could no longer run. But it is good to see a couple of service
improvements from last May:

• The 7.05 from Pembroke Dock each weekday now runs beyond Swansea, through to
Manchester, where it arrives at 14.15
• The 15.30 from Manchester runs through to Pembroke Dock, arriving at 22.20

And that means not just a through train, but a newer and slightly classier train than one would
normally see on the Pembroke Dock Line.

The third lengthened journey opportunity is that the weekday lunchtime boat train from
Fishguard, which used to go only as far as Cardiff, now runs through to Cheltenham, where it
connects into trains for the north east.

Many thanks to Arriva Trains Wales for these improvements.

Real Ale Train Trail

For your guests (or for yourself when you get a minute to spare) the Pembrokeshire Rail
Travellers Association has produced a couple of Real Ale Train Trail leaflets. The leaflets
describe a pub near to each railway station in Pembrokeshire, plus a couple of bonus pubs
slightly further from the railway. There are two leaflets:
• Heart of Pembrokeshire (describing stations Whitland to Milford and Fishguard)
• Pembrokeshire Coast (describing stations Narberth to Pembroke Dock)
Using the leaflets, you would be able to leave the car at home, take the train for a pint or two,
and get home safely. You can obtain your copies from one of the listed pubs, from a Tourist
Information Centre, or from the PRTA website www.prta.org.uk selecting the Real Ale Trail
tab.

High Speed Train to the dock

Yet again this summer, there are through trains between Paddington and Pembroke Dock
each Saturday, using the High Speed Train sets that ply hourly between London and
Swansea, and daily as far as Carmarthen.

The trains only run on Summer Saturdays, and are the

7.24 from Swansea to Pembroke Dock arrive 9.49

8.45 from Paddington to Pembroke Dock arrive 14.14
10.02 from Pembroke Dock to Paddington arrive 15.32
14.55 from Pembroke Dock to Paddington arrive 20.32

Not all trains call at all stations on the branch. The railway's 'summer' runs between 23 May
and 5th September, so you have only a few weeks left to try this delight, or recommend it to
your customers. Sampling the train myself last Saturday, I found it well patronised. If you are
a real nutter, and the trains are running to time, you can leave Pembroke Dock at 9.49 and
get as far as Llanelli before catching the return train to arrive back at 14.14!