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Do you think the Liverpool line platforms should be reopened at Salford Central, to create a small hub with new connections available? The proposed London-Man Vic LNW could stop here, along with the Northern Chester service and finally a TPE to Liverpool. If one of the Blackpool to Man Airport...

Currently the first Atherton line arrival into Manchester (Victoria) is the 05:48 from Wigan, which arrives into Manchester at 06:33, and the last train departure from Manchester is the 22:01 from Victoria; there are long term replacement buses scheduled to leave Victoria at 22:40 and 23:40...

What are the main reasons for Northern opting to acquire 323s from WMR, rather than some of the spare 350s? The latter are more modern, have gangway connections and are generally better quality trains, so why have Northern gone for more 323s?

What would be the scale of work and likely cost of a project to reopen the railway between Stratford-on-Avon & Fenny Compton Junction, to connect with the Cherwell Valley line, and so to restore the direct link between Stratford & Oxford? A quick glance at Google Maps seems to indicate that the...

Could it potentially work better if both London-WCML-Scotland services went direct through the Trent Valley, with the Manchester via Crewe going via Birmingham? There are sizeable markets of different towns and cities north of Crewe which would welcome two fast London services per hour instead...

Do you think the roles of guards and all station staff (dispatchers, ticket office, gateline and cleaners) should be brought in line to be paid more or less the same salary rate, with bigger salaries for those in more senior positions? (ie. CTMs, station supervisors, ticket office team leaders)...

Would a new service, possibly run by a new open access operator and connecting Manchester & the North West with Oxford & Reading without going via Birmingham, be a good idea? Currently passengers making these journeys face a slow and rather inconvenient route through Birmingham; it's...

Why have most signal boxes and semaphore signals been replaced by colour light signals and signalling centres on the UK railways? There were many high-speed lines using semaphores and boxes even until relatively recently and, unlike heritage trains, they're not pollutants. Just seems to be...

Does anyone remember if 175s worked any routes away from their mainstay services, when FNW and later TPE operated them? I was thinking the occasional Carlisle via Workington, any First TPE South/North work, FNW Manchester to Wigan/Southport/Liverpool/Huddersfield services, Conwy Valley...

Thinking of how to improve connections across Manchester and to Sheffield & Liverpool once GBR comes in, how about the following idea? • Liverpool to Norwich split up; new Sheffield - Nottingham - Norwich service and a new fast Northern service between Piccadilly & Sheffield using 6-car 195...

Northern, WMR and Wales & Borders all wanted new trains within a similar timeframe and all 3 of them decided to order CAF Civity DMUs separately. The 195-96-97 trains are very similar but with slight differences, such that traincrew who learn one type would still need to be trained separately...

There's a short but fairly loud stretch of 'rail roar' on the southbound track approaching Wrenbury Station (between Crewe & Shrewsbury). I'm sure I can remember the roar from when I first travelled on the train to Shrewsbury in the early 2000s, and it was definitely still there when I used the...

Would there be a strong case for Northern extending one of their Crewe stoppers to Shrewsbury, once they have their new trains in service, some of which are rumoured to be at least bi-mode? They could run hourly, with a bi-hourly all-stops (the alternative hour to the TfW stopper) and a...

I was wondering do you think it would be a good idea to remove the buffers and re-connect the separate bits of track at Ormskirk & Headbolt Lane, to allow through-running for Northern into Liverpool Central from Preston and Wigan/Bolton/Manchester, once their anticipated bi/tri-mode trains are...

A passenger came to me recently and showed me a photograph of a Northern advance single on his phone, his ticket was booked for a train which had left nearly an hour earlier. I quoted him the price of a new single to the station he wanted to travel to, as the rules state that the original ticket...

The Southport line community group have been vocal about their unhappiness of the loss of a direct service to Manchester Piccadilly, but should the bigger priority be a direct service to Piccadilly from the Atherton line stations? I don't think there has ever been a regular service from Atherton...

Does anyone remember a class 175 working an early morning service from Wigan to Manchester Airport, calling at Hindley & Westhoughton, before Bolton? Looking at an old working timetable, it was still running in 2006 before ATW started using the whole fleet and apparently worked ECS from...

Is there any reason why the 11.50 and 12:50 departures from Manchester Piccadilly to Windermere/Barrow run non-stop to Preston via Golbourne, rather than along the normal route, stopping at Bolton & Chorley?

Do you think TfW should scrap the mk4 idea and instead place an additional order for extra 197s, enough to cover current mk4 diagrams? It does seem like a vanity project and whilst it might provide a better passenger experience (comfier seating, 'intercity' ambience, good food), it goes...

Do you think Northern should adopt the TfW example with their 197s and fit a 'standard plus' upgrade area into some of their Civity trains, for routes like Calder Valley, Hope Valley, Manchester to Blackpool and Cumbria? Even though the purpose of Northern is not to provide a full first class...