Trivia: Cities/major towns joined by multiple routes

[BeijingDave]

Another thread got me thinking...

From Chester it's possible to go to Manchester via Northwich or via Warrington with a reasonably frequent service.

Similarly, journeys to Liverpool via Birkenhead or Runcorn.

Which other cities are joined with similar competing routes?

 

[Peter0124]

Carlisle to Lancaster, via the Cumbrian Coast or the more direct route via WCML

 

[BeijingDave]

Sheffield to York via Leeds or Doncaster?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington Central or via Newton-le-Willows/Chat Moss.

Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Grahamston/High (different route West of Polmont), via Airdrie/Bathgate, via Shotts and via Carstairs.

 

[Western Sunset]

Newcastle and Gateshead

Leeds and Bradford

Birmingham and Nottingham

Glasgow and Edinburgh

Bristol and London

Exeter and London

I could go on...

 

[duffers2324]

Edinburgh to Glasgow has no less than 5 routes which join the 2 cities together, the Main EnG line via Falkirk High, The Airdrie-Bathgate line, the Shotts line as well as the West Coast Mainline via Motherwell and Haymarket and the Cumbernauld line via Cumbernauld and Falkirk Grahamston.

 

[BeijingDave]

Newcastle and Gateshead

Not sure it really counts, in the same way that Salford is really just a suburb of Manchester, but I suppose technically it does count.

 

[Statto]

Salford is not a suburb of Manchester, it's a city in it's own right

 

[Magdalia]

London and Cambridge.

Sheffield to York via Leeds or Doncaster?

50 years ago there were 2 routes between Sheffield and York, but via Cudworth and Moorthorpe. The routes via Leeds or Doncaster would not have been considered.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield or the Calder valley

Manchester to Blackburn via Bolton or Todmorden

 

[BeijingDave]

Salford is not a suburb of Manchester, it's a city in it's own right

I know.

But Salfordians don't exactly go shopping or to work around Salford Central.

It's a subsumed part of (arguably) England's second city.

 

[greyman42]

Leeds and Glasgow.
ECML, WCML or Settle-Carlisle.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Leeds and Glasgow.
ECML, WCML or Settle-Carlisle.

No direct services via WCML or Settle-Carlisle.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2022 ==

Birmingham and Nottingham

Isn't everything just via Derby?

 

[StephenHunter]

London to Southend; Greater Anglia and c2c.

 

[Fuzzytop]

If you're not too fussed about frequency, Perth to Edinburgh: ScotRail via Kirkcaldy and the 1tpd LNER and Caledonian Sleeper via Stirling.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Birmingham and Glasgow.
Birmingham and Edinburgh. Both either WCML or XC via ECML.

Southampton and London.
Portsmouth and London. Both SWR or Southern.

 

[Peter0124]

Glasgow and Motherwell:
via WCML, via Hamilton, via Whifflet, via Bellshill

 

[zwk500]

Southampton and London.
Portsmouth and London. Both SWR or Southern.

Southern does not really compete for London traffic on either of these routes.

 

[30907]

No direct services via WCML or Settle-Carlisle.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2022 ==


Isn't everything just via Derby?

The OP didn't specify through services though.

London and a large number of towns in Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and Surrey. For example, the Medway Towns, Maidstone, Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Ramsgate and Margate all have two main routes from London (ignoring all the lesser permutations).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2022 ==

Southern does not really compete for London traffic on either of these routes.

It most certainly competes on price.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Southern does not really compete for London traffic on either of these routes.

On journey time or frequency certainly not. They do seem to offer some cheap advances though so would give some competition on price, much in the same way that some people use LNWR for Birmingham - London journeys for the cheap tickets.

Bristol - London and Exeter - London which were mentioned upthread are similar, although a) Bristol's second service is shortly meeting its Waterloo and b) the location of Waterloo compared to Paddington might be a factor for a small number of Exonians to choose the former.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The OP didn't specify through services though.

It was implied. Chester to Manchester via Northwich or via Warrington are through services.

Another thread got me thinking...

From Chester it's possible to go to Manchester via Northwich or via Warrington with a reasonably frequent service.

Similarly, journeys to Liverpool via Birkenhead or Runcorn.

Which other cities are joined with similar competing routes?

If there are no direct services from A to B, you could well have any number of different possible routings, e.g. Exeter to Glasgow, Manchester to Portsmouth.

 

[Envy123]

London to Birmingham - WCML and the Chiltern route.

 

[sk688]

Bristol to London - if youre counting the Badminton line and the GWML via Bath as two routes

Cambridge to London - WAML + ECML

Oxford to London - Chiltern & GWR

London to Edinburgh - Avanti and LNER

London to Reading - GWR + SWR

Frome to London - GWR +SWR

Do the York to London EMR services still exist ? if so that too

 

[telstarbox]

Canterbury maybe has 4 - via Tonbridge and Ashford, via Maidstone East and Ashford, via Bromley South and Faversham, via HS1 and Faversham?

 

[WessexRails]

Guildford to Waterloo, mainline and new line

 

[swt_passenger]

On journey time or frequency certainly not. They do seem to offer some cheap advances though so would give some competition on price, much in the same way that some people use LNWR for Birmingham - London journeys for the cheap tickets.

Bristol - London and Exeter - London which were mentioned upthread are similar, although a) Bristol's second service is shortly meeting its Waterloo and b) the location of Waterloo compared to Paddington might be a factor for a small number of Exonians to choose the former.

Bristol - Waterloo ended last December…

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Taunton - London Paddington via Westbury or Bristol.

Wolverhampton- Birmingham via Network Rail or West Midlands Metro

 

[Sean Emmett]

London - Worcester, via Oxford and Swindon.

 

[miklcct]

Guildford to Waterloo, mainline and new line

Actually 3 here:
via Woking
via Cobham
via Epsom

 

[Route115?]

It depends upon your definition of a major town.

Dover & Ramsgate - London (but using the logic of post 24 more than two).

Horsham - Victoria (& London Bridge)

Bognor Regis (is that a major city) - London via East Croydon (although you may need to change trains if travelling via Worthing). I'm not sure that you count Littlehampton - London as I'm not aware of any through trains to Arundel.

Maidstone - London (three routes)

etc