Well quite. Controlled crossings are surely the safest sort. It's not like a half-hourly service (the extra trains using exactly the same unit so evenly spaced) is going to keep the barriers down for long periods of time. That said there is a footpath crossing between Deganwy and Junction that Network Rail closed some years back on safety grounds (the local MP has been campaigning against the decision). Maybe that's the reason. Odd to make it based on a locked crossing though.
The number of farm crossings on the Mid-Cheshire Line has been cited as the reason that a half-hourly service hasn't been implemented on that route.
Yeah, I've just checked and 1V96/1I18 run slightly out of pattern to fit, 22m separation. That said, if one train skipped Ruabon/Chirk it would gain you a few minutes.
If the service only runs as a token one each way, there is a path from Chester at 14:30ish.
I'd still rather avoid tail-chasing so would personally scrap the Cardiff-Liverpools and provide an equally-spaced half-hourly service on each section.
To avoid cluttering this thread up further I put more detail on this one:
This has perhaps come up before but some time ago. Anyway, the idea is to take your local TOC's timetable, or part of it, and completely redesign it. Rewinding the clock to previous eras is permitted, and exact times are not necessary (though you can include them if you wish). You are not bound...
www.railforums.co.uk