If EC cold freely run to Nottingham, offer a better product at a lower price and market that tomcustomers,mand if passengers were required to buy TOC specific tickets and excess if they changed their minds, things might change. At present there is meant to be competition but in effect there is little to none even where it is meant to exist. Only when the industry is freed from the straight jacket of franchises and allowed to operate where it wants and provide the service it believes passengers want (whilst unprofitable operations are protected and where appropriate subsidised) will true competition arrive in the rail industry.
Fine if you are only risking private money, but with virtually all services subsidised to a geater or lesser degree, you are asking the DfT to subsidise competing services to Nottingham with taxpayer's money at no risk.
EC could indeed run faster services to Nottingham via Grantham (and Sheffield via Retford) than EMT, but that would knock the legs from under the wider EMT service and damage Leicester/Derby services.
BR thought about doing this in the 70s but realised the MML as a whole would then be unviable.
The view was/is that if EC can justify more stock it should deploy it in its own back yard.
If you cherry pick routes you will damage the rest.
Currently, EC gets Leeds, but has to serve Lincoln as well.
EMT gets Leicester, but has to serve Matlock, etc.
That's why franchises work and free for all won't.
And what alternative route between Ealing Broadway and Bristol Parkway did you have in mind?
There is not "meant to be competition".
Franchises are inherently monopolistic (except at renewal).
Any local choice at the edges is purely coincidental.
