Just a follow-up to that. That journey up to Liverpool didn't go quite as intended! I thought I'd tell you about it.
I did think it was a bit of a risk going with the suggested itinerary when making the booking, of getting the 0651 service from Bristol Temple Meads-Newport, and then only an 11 minute connection time to the 0736 to Chester. As when I looked it up on the National Rail live departures over the past couple of weeks, I notice it was several minutes or more late arriving into Newport a few times. So I thought I'll play it safe and get the 0620 service from Bristol Temple Meads instead, to allow plenty of time at Newport to get that 0736 service. When I arrived at Temple Meads, I realised that I could have got a the 0627 Cross Country service to Newport as well, calling enroute at Patchway only. But I thought "Naaaah. I don't really like Voyagers. I'll just get the 0620.". The departure screen was showing the 0620 service as being 4 or 5 minutes late though. But it arrived at 0624. It was a 2-car Class 158. Thought it would have departed swiftly, or at least just after that 0627 to Newcastle. But no, it was staying stationery for a while. An announcement then came across the PA system basically saying that there was a problem with the carriage lighting in the front carriage, and that engineers had been called to fix it, and that we hope to be departing very shortly. Anyway, skipping forward a bit to 0645 when the train was still stationery the conductor then said on the PA system "Anyone travelling to Newport or Cardiff are advised to get the 0651 service on platform 11 and you will get there before this service.". So I departed the train, as did a number of others on the train and headed for platform 11. I then a few minutes later saw that that 0620 service then departed a few minutes later!!! And the departure screen said the 0651 service was expected at 0655. Anyway, it departed at 0656. But was running fairly slow as far as around the Pilning area. So there must have been some other train in front of it. Anyway, didn't arrive into Newport until 0741, and I had missed that 0736 service to Chester! So got the 0819 service to Shrewbsury, then the 1023 to Chester, then the 1131 to Liverpool. Arrived at Liverpool Central at 1223. What a long journey! About 7 hours after I left my house!
Still overall a good journey though. And the journey between Chester and Liverpool on Mersey Rail was a first for me, never done that line before. Annoying though I arrived at Liverpool an hour(well just over an hour actually) late, due to that 0620 between Bristol and Newport messing things up for me, and that 0651 service also being late too. If I had ignored that conductor's advice and just stayed on the train rather than getting that 0651 service, the train would have departed just a few minutes later and I'd have got to Newport in time for that 0736 service to Chester and arrived in Liverpool at 11:15! Oh well. It was what it was. I wish I'd have got that 0627 Cross Country service to Newport now calling at just Patchway only.