Heart of England Rover Day 1

Purpose of the trip

I took the opportunity of a quiet week to cover tracks I may not have previously visited using a combination of a season ticket (and it is a long time since I had one of those) and the Heart of England Rover.  The intention was also to visit the Birmingham and Nottingham tram networks during the week.

The actual trains used today were:

HeadCodeDep TimeRouteArr TimeNRTRailmiles
2V380842
Sandhurst to Reading (5)090111.511mi 52ch
1M300915Reading (7) to Leamington Spa (2)101468.2569mi 77ch
2G751040Leamington Spa (4) to Nuneaton (1)111819.2519mi 67ch
1K111124Nuneaton (7) to Leicester (1)115118.518mi 62ch
1D311218Leicester (2) to Beeston124124.0
24mi 14ch
2A221301Beeston to Matlock140630.029mi 67ch
2A291415Matlock to Derby (5)144817.2517mi 12ch
1V891453Derby (2) to Reading (15)1714138.25134mi 26ch
1O801720Reading (4) to Sandhurst173911.511mi 52ch
Totals338.5337mi 29ch

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.  Due to a combination of Dropbox and security limited wifi not all links are available.

Operations on the Day

Having reached Reading the onward service is Cross Country.  There is a decent load to Oxford which sees significant change in passengers off and on and I managed to get a facing window seat which was welcome.  The crew changed at Reading – no ticket check before Leamington Spa.  We are relatively slow leaving Reading – I think a GWR service just in front might have been slightly late.  Once we get going running sprightly as might be expected.  As we get closer to Leamington Spa the grey clouds lift slightly and I espy odd flashes of blue sky so perhaps the sunny weather promised for the next seven days is about to materialise.

I had promised myself a coffee at Leamington Spa as I have a decent connection.  The coffee machine is broken so they are only serving filter coffee and they refuse to  accept cash.  Sorry but why is legal tender not acceptable?  I can manage without a coffee so the custom is lost.  The next train is 196005 which is not that old but it is also rattling quite noisily – loose passenger luggage rack is my guess.  The passenger numbers leaving Leamington Spa are low but increase at Kenilworth.  However this may be completely new track to Coventry for me whilst the onward route to Nuneaton was covered when it was freight only and not carrying a passenger service, so all part of covering the network.  Just about everyone gets off at Coventry with few joining.  Signs at Coventry Arena inform me that this is the Elephant and Bear Line – which refers to the two symbols of Coventry and Warwickshire and was adopted in 2023.  Leaving Coventry the load is low – but this enables the first ticket check of the day as the guard passes through.

Next up is a Cross Country 170 to Leicester definitely looking the worse for use, but unlike the 196 not rattling and annoying.  This is decently loaded – with large numbers joining at Nuneaton.  The thick grey skies have returned as we head across to the next connection.  Losing time steadily on this train – no announcement as to reason – sometimes guards are good at this and other times not.  Next up is an EMR service to Nottingham and the connection is made, so not a problem.

I also find that connection to Dropbox is not working reliably with on train Wi-Fi so the Realtime train information has not yet been saved which is slightly annoying.  The Wi-Fi does block certain traffic for capacity reasons and I assume that includes links to Dropbox.

However approaching Beeston I realise that my connection time in Nottingham could be tighter than is reasonable and I get enough of an online update to show that I can jump off at Beeston and then catch the onward train to my final planned destination.  Once over the bridge and onto the other platform I find that the train prior to mine will arrive at the same time (1301) as mine – and Beeston cannot manage that!  Eventually the delayed train is “under investigation” – it was previously a points failure – and my service rolls in at the appointed time enabling me to jump aboard.  Although formed of only 2 coaches I am now in coach C which is confusing me is no one else notices!

At Derby the weather has cleared and we now have a clear blue sky and sunshine, so I am hopeful of a decent photo at our destination.  Joining the service at Derby are three British Transport Police individuals who are spreading the word on 61016 – as if the Derwent Valley branch to Matlock is the home of hardened criminals!  Alongside this the guard undertakes a full ticket check and is interested in my overall journey as he says that use of Rover tickets has declined greatly in recent years.

When I get to final destination of Matlock I find the station is not particularly well lit – but photos are taken and it is time to start the homeward journey.  The branch has been a key target for new track to be covered – so I am pleased to have made it today.  Returning I am very worried about my Derby connection.  We are running marginally late down the branch  and I know the Cross Country should be immediately behind us – so I am relieved when we get the route over the connection and join the main line ahead of the Cross Country.  I know it will be right behind us so I stand close to the doors and luckily we stop and the doors are close to the steps up to the footbridge – a quick run up and slightly slower down and my train is being announced – with the board showing it running a couple of minutes late.  A photo of the front end and then aboard in the first coach and this is my train back to Reading (from Newcastle).  If only it were always so easy!

New track covered today was the Matlock branch plus Leamington Spa to Coventry and Wolvercote Jn to Aynho Junction (in theory although I suspect the last two may have been covered previously).

Costs / Ticket Checks

A couple of ticket checks although they seem rare on Cross Country.  I will discuss the costs and value for money in a summary at the end of the week.

Rolling Stock

Quite a mixture today.  The seat padding on the Cross Country units feels non-existent and none of the Cross Country units today had been refreshed which is underway.  The 196 had annoying rattle but otherwise they ran and most maintained time.

Summary

Despite one late running train I was able to amend the plan to continue and overall the time lost was unimportant in completing the programme so it was a good day.