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How many people here have an interest in the canals as well as the railways, be it enjoying a regular canal walk/cycle, narrowboating, kayaking, fishing or just appreciating the beauty of the canals? And do you think the two interests go hand in hand, at least to an extent?

How could both the Denton line and the Middlewich Branch be better utilised if money was to be spent on upgrading these to mainline standard? It's not really a question of whether the money gets spent on a big upgrade (line speed and signalling especially), but rather what kind of services...

What is your opinion about the regular consumption of foods which, on the face of it, would be considered reasonably healthy (or at least not unhealthy), but which are not fresh and have preservatives in them? I'm referring to things like packaged sliced bread, tinned meats/fruit/veg/soup...

What is the longest tunnel each DMU class and EMU class passes through when in regular passenger service currently?

What do people think about the idea of running an extra hourly Manchester-Birmingham shuttle in the path of the TfW service between Manchester and Crewe? It would still call at Stockport, Wilmslow and Crewe but then run south non-stop to Wolverhampton, possibly a stop at Smethwick, before...

As the title of the thread states, what was the thinking behind the decision to extend TPE South services from Sheffield beyond Manchester to Liverpool? Until late 2021, Northern ran an identical service in the same path between the Airport and Liverpool via Warrington, with a similar calling...

Do you think the class 185s should be signed off to run at MU speeds and potentially increase their geographical operating range for the future? Currently they are heavily compromised by speed restrictions; this doesn't help on some of the routes they currently run along and also means the scope...

Is the Atherton line an example of a principle railway route open today which is inferior to how it was 60-70 years ago? In most cases it is the other way round, but in the case of Atherton line, it used to carry long distance services in its 4-track layout. Nowadays it only carries local...

Do people think that Wolverhampton should have pick up/set down restrictions on one of their Manchester Cross Country services, similar to how Watford and Bolton do on their intercity services? I'm on a CC now which has just called at Wolverhampton and the train has become busy on its way into...

Do you think guards should be allowed to work all types of rolling stock and routes, not as a general rule, but in the scenario where a service would otherwise be delayed or cancelled because there is no guard available to take the train forward who signs the particular type of rolling stock and...

It's about 17 years since the politically motivated two-hourly Holyhead-Cardiff service was introduced by ATW, under pressure from the WAG, with the compromise at the time being the hourly Crewe-Holyhead becoming two-hourly and the removal of all Birmingham-Holyhead via Crewe services. Has this...

Is it possible to find out which unit was working a particular service from approximately 15 years ago, or are all these records 'in the bin' now? Also do specific units from a class deliberately get rostered to work a particular diagram more frequently than other diagrams, or even deliberately...

Some ticket offices can offer discretion on certain ticket restrictions depending on the circumstances, such waiving admin fees, zero fare excesses, not applying minimum fares on railcards, selling off peak fares at peak times etc. I'd be interested to know your opinion on this, I don't mean...

I used Leamington Spa and Warwick Parkway Stations yesterday and noticed how clean, tidy and pleasant both stations looked; lovely cafe at both of them, smart ticket office/waiting area at Warwick Parkway and good waiting rooms at Leamington. Leamington Spa had a piano in situ and both stations...

Which DMUs, EMUs and locomotives would you say have the most impressive sounding two-tone horns, and which are the loudest? Also, have any of the classes currently in use had their horns changed during their lifespan?

Is there a reason why Salford Crescent isn't served well by Castlefield trains, particularly since the new timetable? None of the Cumbria services stop at Salford even though most of them stop at Chorley and Deansgate, and I think two or three of the Oxford Road-Southport services in the evening...

What are the possible reasons for Birmingham and the more 'working class' areas of London not being old school staunch Labour vote areas, unlike similar industrial and working class areas in the North? I know London has become left wing in recent years, but this is a more modern and liberel...

Like the 175s and 180s, the 185s seem to have an uncertain future beyond their current use. When are TPE expecting to start handing back the units to the ROSCO and potentially where could they end up after their TPE operations? Out of all the 'short' DMUs in the country, they are probably the...

Now that the 196s and 197s have entered service, could we see an order for Class 198 Civities to be built within the next few years and if so, which TOCs seem the most likely at this point to place an order? Also, between 195s, 196s and 197s, which unit(s) do you think has the upper hand right...

How would a top & tail pair of class 57s or 68s hauling a Voyager set; with no Voyager engines running; and only one loco engine running, compare for fuel efficiency with anything between 4-10 Voyager engines running, as is the current situation? If the loco-drag option would save fuel, do you...