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Simple question: How do you get the railway set up to run seven days a week? Sunday is one of the busiest days of the week for shopping. Whilst some commuter routes (C2C etc) see lower demand, it is a very busy day for longer distance leisure travel. But how does the railway ensure that it...

What are the first stations on each line out of London with no London service? For example, by my reckoning the first station on the ECML is Chester le Street (then Cramlington, then Drem) The first station on the London - Leeds line is Adwick Syston is the first on the MML (etc)

Hypothetically speaking, of course, I'm not suggesting this would happen. But, imagine a TOC running a fairly self-contained set of routes, could they convert their line to the wider Berne gauge (keeping the same track, but introducing wider trains allowing more/bigger seats, scaling back...

Inspired by this quote... ...and to avoid hijacking a thread about HS2, I was wondering what you reckon the world would have looked like if Hatfield hadn't happened. Before the crash in October 2000 (in which four people died), the railways were on the up-and-up. Post privatisation, there...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12321572 Wonder whether we'll hear any more about this?

A bit of fantasy/ speculation here. If you could build 250 identical* coaches of any EMU/DMU currently running in 2011, what would you build? 62 four car Turbostars? 31 eight car Meridians? 41 six car 350s? 250 x 153s? Which would be the biggest priority? Obviously any order...

Once the DMU cascade is complete (LM/LO get 172s, releases Sprinters to FGW/ Northern, releases Pacers to Northern, releases Sprinters to EMT etc), what do you think (1) should and/or (2) will happen to services? I know that EMT are going to use the 156s (ex Northern) to run on "shorter"...

We've all heard them. Some are clearly caused by confusion, some by ignorance, some by people repeating things so often that others believe them. So, how about a list of them? Ones you've heard on here, ones you've heard from other enthusiasts, ones you've heard members of the public...

This may sound like a daft question, but is there any potential to build centre coaches capable of slotting into a variety of DMU units? At the moment we have a number of DMU classes which need extending - pretty much all in fact! But the production costs of a few dozen new coaches for 170/...

Since privatisation, have there been any TOCs/ parts of the country avoided strikes by drivers/ guards? At the moment Cross Country, London Midland and Northern seem to have their share of problems, but have all parts of the UK had strikes (post privatisation), or have some TOCs managed their...

...would you rather the railway concentrated on trying to: 1. Keep trains running and maintain as many services as possible? 2. Concentrated on improving communication - updating people about where delays/ cancellations are? The obvious answer is "both", but realistically, where should...

Hi I'm travelling Sheffield - Hexham tomorrow (Friday) and coming back on Sunday. Does anyone know off-hand whether it's worth splitting at Doncaster/ York (e.g. if East Coast priced fares are cheaper than XC-priced ones? Cheers :D

There seem to be three camps on HS2: Those in favour of it (massive investment, funds which will otherwise be lost to railways, a chance to match other countries with high speed travel that can compete with air travel, a direct link to The Continent etc) Those against it (massive projects...

As far as I understand it, the Government plans mean electrification from Paddington to Heathrow/ Maidenhead (both Crossrail), electrification on to Reading/ Oxford/ Newbury, plus wiring of all the Thames Valley branches (Henley/ Eton/ Marlow) but not the Greenford branch (which will be a self...

If the line from Liverpool - Warrington - Manchester - Huddersfield - Leeds - York is electrified (after the Liverpool/ Manchester/ Blackpool electrification is completed), what should happen to the Middlesbrough/ Scarborough/ Hull parts? A. Electrify these routes, even though they get a less...

The East Coast HST I was on yesterday had an announcement that no alcohol could be sold to under 25s, even with proof of age. Is this the case, did I mishear, or was this a "one off"? I know shops ID people who look under 25, but will sell them booze if they can proove it. Seemed strange...

Which electrification would release the largest number of DMUs per mile (based on current service provision)? For example, Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley is fifteen miles, but would release five DMUs (London Midland 170s, based on current provision) Are there any that give a better "miles...

Assuming the Lancashire electrification happens and it is for the lines between Manchester Piccadilly and Blackpool North (via Bolton and Preston), from Manchester Piccadilly to LIverpool Lime Street (via Eccles) and from Liverpool to Wigan (via St Helens). As far as we know there are no...

What is the busiest terminal platform (in terms of departures per hour)? Or which station is the most intensive terminus (based on number of platforms)? On the London Underground they can cope with a train every five minutes (per platform, thinking of the two at Brixton dealing with around...

How do you see the future of London's railways? There's certain things we know will happen (East London Line to Clapham/ Highbury, the core Crossrail service) and various things that "might" happen (or might not) Looking at this map...