Search results

I use Winsford occasionally, and sorry to say, the newish A54 bridge across the platforms at Winsford station does get in the way of adding an extra track on either side of the line. The bridge abutment (visible behind the train in the photo posted by Nottingham59) is in the way, and it's the...

Interesting ideas, and I think something like this will be needed to deliver capacity by removing the two-track bottleneck. A couple of thoughts; I believe there used to be four tracks through Winsford, so the railway land is wide enough without needing demolition. However the modern A54...

I see that Northern have announced fares for the new direct service to Ribblehead that starts next Saturday (8 June). I haven't found them on brfares.com yet but they do show on the Northern website. If you try buying a ticket for Saturday, on the Northern site, you're offered Manchester to...

Yes, that remark is a real gem, quite typical of elected regional politicians. They imagine they have more power than they do and they overlook national bodies such as Network Rail, which will have the final say on matters like this. Mayor Burnham behaves similarly, as if the Manchester rail...

Or maybe they won't bring Sundays into the working week, because that would be costly, and instead they'll cut Sunday services.

Yes, and the reason is clear. Putting up wires at terminal stations would be a job for Network Rail, which is government-owned, so the government would be paying and carrying the risk if the cost over-runs (as it sometimes does with Network Rail). Whereas when procuring bi-modes, or tri-modes...

There are lots of examples of EMT cutting short their Liverpool services at Manchester when there is any kind of inconvenience so I would not rely on them if they were the only operator on the route.

Nonsense. ASLEF staff are mostly paid above the national average so there isn't much public support for a tax increase or a fares increase to pay them more. If they were amongst the least well paid in society it would be different.

I wonder whether anybody else saw this article. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-cut-train-services-rail-travel-uk-nr8mdfsqq In essence, someone has read to the end of the Labour proposals and they're saying that to end the problem of last minute cancellations owing to lack of a rest...

(Deleted - out of sequence.)

You're right about tickets to LSP from the south, so there the problem is different. I was queuing recently to buy a ticket from the machine at Hartford and the passenger in front of me wanted to travel to Liverpool South Parkway, so on the initial 'Frequent Destinations' screen she pressed the...

True, and 'Liverpool stations' tickets aren't valid to Liverpool South Parkway, and 'Manchester stations' are not valid to Manchester Airport - but they are valid to Deansgate and to Salford Central, neither of which includes 'Manchester' in the name. This is thoroughly confusing to passengers...

Northern are very keen to point out that this is not DalesRail, so reference to 'the previous DalesRail service' here or anywhere else is unhelpful. It is not going to be marketed as DalesRail. Some differences; it starts from Rochdale and Manchester, not Blackpool. It runs to Ribblehead, not...

This debate about benefit vs accident risk is much wider than foot crossings on the railway (and indeed I would argue that Network Rail is taking a very narrow view of it, hence my use of the word 'perfectionist', and perfection is generally unachievable, so NR are limiting the use of the...

That's an interesting way to look at it. I shall give that some more thought!

This is a common problem. Network Rail announce a new standard for something, then say their infrastructure doesn't meet it, then say they haven't got the money to meet their new standard and someone else must pay, despite it being NR's decision to launch the new standard! In the meantime...

A few years ago, I enjoyed a run behind a class 67 on an evening peak Piccadilly to N.Wales train. I think it was about 1720 from Piccadilly and it was an unusual but pleasant sight when it called at Oxford Road, where I boarded. Are there still any loco-hauled workings on this axis? Any...

I have done exactly that, changing at Lime St for James St with an e-ticket. I had intended to buy from the TVM at Acton Bridge, my departure station that day, but it was out of service, so I bought an e-ticket on my phone. E-tickets are available to 'Liverpool stations', and staff at James St...

Yes, I agree with you, on both points. I'm sure £2 isn't enough to stop you doing the trip. By the way, for anyone else looking at the Wayfarer map above, I've realised that the station east of Northwich that is outside the shaded area is Plumley, not Lostock Gralam. This doesn't change the...

It can happen. I bought an e- ticket to Liverpool Stations. I alighted at Lime Street and went to the underground platform for a train to James Street. The latter is Merseyrail, of course. Barrier staff let me through.