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Ok these ideas does have its faults (such as splitting the Pendo stock between two franchises, and some issues with depots) but I thought I'd suggest them anyway... With the aim of having fewer franchises and therefore fewer associated costs, instead of simply merging TPE and Northern how...

A thought: At the moment the ECML is effectively nationalised, but is unlikely to remain so for too much longer. Would the XC benefit from nationalisation? If I recall correctly, the franchise typically requires subsidy as opposed to making a profit, and the issues about it crossing franchise...

I'm never sure why there is such a rush for XC services between Sheffield and Leeds - the half hourly Sheffield - Barnsley - Kirkgate - Leeds service that Northern runs only takes 3 minutes longer than the hourly XC service. It's a shame more cross franchise co-operation isn't possible, since...

Person 1: But what stock would you use? Person 2: The stock ordered by the TOC. Person 1: But the TOC didn't order any stock. Person 2: Why not? Person 1: Because it wasn't in the franchise specification. Person 2: WHY NOT? It really does come down to the inadequacy of the DfT at the last round...

There is a point here - when Virgin were given the XC franchise and ordered the Voyagers they might not have anticipated demand, but the demand was certainly clear at the last franchise round. Why didn't DafT i) specify in the franchise outline a requirement to provide proper, adequate rolling...

Platform 3 at Meadowhall (Sheffield). The line is curved and tilted away from the platform edge - not only is the gap quite far horizontally, but the step up/down is huge!

I've always thought that (upon MML upgrade completion) there should be Leeds - London via ECML and Leeds - London via MML, ideally with both services timed to take roughly the same length of time. Similarly, extend the Derby - London fast/semi-fast to Manchester via Stoke etc.

With all the talk of merging Northern/TPE franchises and the different ways of doing so, I was thinking... Would it be better to have a single InterCity operator? A combined InterCity franchise would include ECML, WCML, the intercity services from XC, GWML, etc, etc. Then distribute the...

I think that the Man Airport - Cleethorpes would sit better as part of the East Midlands franchise. I also suspect it would be looked at favourably by the DfT etc, as it would reduce the number of different TOCs operating in/out of stations such as Sheffield and Doncaster. This in mind, how...

They did bid 4 - the DfT knocked it back to 3 (or at least, that is what I certainly recall). Anyway... The biggest mistake made is the name. Had they called it First London Transpennine Express they'd be on their fifth set of new rolling stock and third round of infrastructure improvements...

Perhaps, then, rather than PTE based smaller franchises there could be regional franchises. So something like this: Region 1: Basically everything in Yorkshire that is South-East of Leeds. * Services south of Leeds that are currently run as standard Northern services (not Metro) *...

Different PTEs ordering different rolling stock I don't see as a problem - have them stored and maintained within the PTE area, and all is sorted. If a cross boundary service runs mostly in one PTE area then that area should run it, so Sheffield - Scunthorpe would be SYPTE run. Change a few...

I like the idea of PTE based local operators - Leeds have invested in some quality commuter trains via METRO - I'd like to see similar done by SYPTE in South Yorkshire. Furthermore, I'd like the local operators to be able to shape the franchise specification to suit their local area. So if...

Slightly in fantasy land (because it falls outside the franchise spec) but I'd look at the possibility of combining the Man Airport - Scotland services with the Birmingham - Scotland ones. So Birmingham - ... - Manchester Airport - Manchester Picadilly - ... - Scotland. I realise that this...

If it was done I'd say use it to supplement either the Sheffield - Manchester route (so Hull - Sheffield - Manchester - Chester - Holyhead) or the XC route between Birmingham and Sheffield. Assuming, of course, it wasn't an open access thing...

Post HS2, I'd base the XC franchise around Nottingham instead of Birmingham (since HS2 would deal with those passengers anyway). XC-Nottingham would include things like: i) Nottingham - North East - Glasgow ii) Norwich - Liverpool (or some variation of) iii) Lincoln - Nottingham - Beyond...

I don't think the DfT would ever agree to it, but here goes: i) 1 tph Edinburgh - Plymouth via Leeds ii) 1 tph Scotland - Reading via West Coast and Birmingham (current service by Virgin) iii) 1 tph on a third route to/from Wales All of these would run using HST style stock (or...

Something of an intercity nature for Norwich-Liverpool (22x?). Or 18x class for Nottingham-Liverpool and Norwich-Norwich respectively.

Wouldn't it be better to drop the obsession with journey times and just have a series high frequency fast(ish) services, rather than shoe-horning very slow services between very fast ones?

EMT Norwich - Liverpool is getting better though. There may be slightly fewer seats per carriage but I can assure you that there is more leg room (I'm 6ft3 so notice that sort of thing) and you do sometimes get 4-coach trains now. In my mind, if you cant create a separate micro-franchise for...