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Unless you count Metrolink as a TOC, Oldham borough (237k) is only served by TPE (to Greenfield).

Carstairs. Also Bolton, due to the huge distance between everything in the station.

Sunderland is just one stop on a slow, largely single-track heavy line, combined with a metro stop. It's not really a destination for tourism, business or leisure, just a station for outbound commuters. Without more routes being added (which not even crayonistas advocate for), the current...

I think reducing the number of diesels idling away in the cramped confines of both Manchester Victoria & Birmingham New Street would be major wins.

Favourites: Edinburgh Waverly, Norwich, Nottingham, Newcastle Least favourites: Blackpool North, Manchester Piccadilly (13/14), Coventry, Euston

Does anyone know if the programme of extending platforms across the Northern network is still ongoing? Only ask as I travelled from Euxton to Liverpool Lime St earlier this week & given that the majority of trains on that route are now 6-car 331s, I was surprised how many stations wouldn't fit...

A few years ago, there might've been some demand for direct Bolton-London services (if at all possible). Improved speed & capacity on Bolton to Piccadilly services thanks to electrification & introduction of 331s has made this less of an issue. From just up the line at Chorley, I usually travel...

Do CAF do a bi-mode version of the City? That could be an order worth placing.

Not sure about the orbital route in its entirety, but linking Bolton to Salford Quays, via Walkden, would save both a lot of road congestion, and reduce the need for a lot of rail/tram journeys to go through an already stretched Central Manchester.

From MEN today: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/rival-plans-piccadilly-station-architects-18508305

Regarding a chord south of Hellifield - would that open up a viable transpennine freight route, freeing up capacity on existing transpennine routes? (as a cheaper alternative to the proposed freight traffic on Skipton-Colne). It would already be double-track all the way, unlike Rose Grove to...

Cos we're the United Kingdom, and that's how we roll. 'Just in time' is the state religion & over-capacity & contingency are deadly sins. That's why our trains are overcrowded & none of our supermarkets currently have sufficient stockrooms to cope with a modest jump in demand.

As I said - they're constrained by the limits of the current 'network'. As noted upthread, there is a significant proportion of the population who avoid the railways because of the current need to change trains numerous times.

If their purpose is to run high(ish)-speed services to cities other than London, they're very much limited by the capacity & quality of non-London tracks. If you were to get out your crayons & draw an ideal XC map from scratch, you'd probably try to come up with routes that genuinely cross the...

Liverpool to Bolton via Kirkby & Wigan. Liverpool to Preston via Ormskirk. Using tri-modes.

My company has just issued a policy of no travelling on public transport, due to the virus. I'm going to be working in Falkirk next week (travelling up from Lancashire), which is still going ahead on the proviso that I drive there. I wonder if this is a common edict from HR departments?

Was on a single through-train from Liege to Brugge last year. Was strange how the language of the onboard announcements & the electronic displays changed instantly as we crossed over the regional boundaries. - French only in Wallonia - Dutch only in Flanders - Dual languages whilst crossing...

If you wanted to still make use of 769s as a distinct mini-fleet, how about re-adding 3rd rail pickup & running Liverpool-Ormskirk-Preston and/or Liverpool-Kirkby-Wigan-Bolton through-trains? Poor acceleration wouldn't be an issue in those routes & they would actually add some tangible...

The CAF trams in Birmingham are capable of battery running, in order to cope with proposed non-electrified extensions.

Not done the trip in a while, but when I did, Bristol-Birmingham XC was always rammed. Have ended up stood all the way a number few times.