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    Should 'Combined Authorities' be allowed to build stations on the UK rail network ?

    With 378,822 people using Kirkstall Forge before the completion of the remainder of the office park and 456,000 using Apperley Bridge, I would say both have been a success and entirely justified. The new Thorpe Park station proposed is East Leeds in my view will also be positive with the number...
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    Class 350/2s to replace 323s on Northern

    I am not sure there are sufficient units for the 350/2s to be used on post TRU electric services if all 323s are replaced which surely there will be by then. 37 350/2s to replace 34 323s and with the Wigan to Stalybridge and potentially making the Golborne all day, this would likely utilise the...
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    Class 810 - The Right Fit For EMR?

    Presuming that the ship has sailed on this now but is anyone aware if: - Are there many platforms served by the units where 10 x 24m units would not fit or where SDO is not feasible? - Would it be feasible to extend the current units to 10-car (in a fixed 5+5 formation) without wasting any...
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    Class 350/2s to replace 323s on Northern

    Not sure it has ever been a ‘nobody sits in the middle seats’ thing, more a ‘not enough people sit in the middle seats to offset the loss of standing capacity and for people to circulate through the train when busy’ thing.
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    Is Open Access abstractive or does it genuinely plug gaps?

    I am not necessairly saying, 'it must be 9 cars to Hull' (and you weren't necesairly suggesting I was), but overall I like the ability of a national operator to be able to look at the whole picture and craft services to meet overall network demand. For example, current services to Hull may not...
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    Is Open Access abstractive or does it genuinely plug gaps?

    My view is that if you are having to shift your stopping patterns around not being primarily abstractive rather than what would be the best calling patterns for the network as a whole then this is sub-optimal. Open access operators also tend to use shorter trains into termini with capacity...
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    DLR Thamesmead extension - the logical conclusion

    Too late for this idea I think (and obviously fairly expensive, but perhaps not as expensive as another river crossing) but a sham that the new Beam Park station couldn't feature an interchange between Southeastern High Speed services (platofrms on passing loops), C2C services and the DLR...
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    Ordsall chord Manchester Piccadilly to Victoria service inprovements

    You would add an extra 5 minutes to the journey vs. changing at Salford Crescent and a slightly more inconvenient / stressfull change at Victoria (where you can get the tram anyway). You would need improvements to the already constrained footbridges if you were requiring increased interchange at...
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    Ordsall chord Manchester Piccadilly to Victoria service inprovements

    Salford Crescent is the preferred option as you can also change to and from the Atherton line services giving Wigan, Ince, Hindley, Daisy Hill, Hag Fold, Atherton, Walkden, Moorside and Swinton a greater effective frequency of accessing the Castlefield corridor with one change. It works in the...
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    Ordsall chord Manchester Piccadilly to Victoria service inprovements

    Agree with this. The Castlefield corridor has Oxford Road which is better located to the concentration of most jobs in Manchester than Victoria, is within walking distance of the universities for staff and students; has access to a wider range of national services (Sheffield, Nottingham...
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    Should the third rail ban be lifted?

    If it is officially or unofficially a ban, yes either way. The Marshlink, North Downs, Uckfield and Merseyrail extensions (Ormskirk to Preston, Headbolt Lane to Wigan, Bidston to Wrexham and Hunts Cross to Warrington) should be electrified in combination with the introduction of battery EMUs on...
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    Cross-country overcrowding: what could be done?

    Based on comments from others, my initial thoughts were along the lines of the following: - Provide XC with the currently unutilised Voyagers - Refurbish the 350/2s to provide 2+2 seating and tables - 1tph Bournemouth to Liverpool (5-car Voyager or 8-car if Reading reversal not an issue) - 1tph...
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    Future of the 350/2s

    You also need to conisder the nature of people making the journeys between Manchester and Birmingham and their purpose. If you were proposing to replace one of the crosscountry services to Manchester I (and I imagine a not immaterial number of others) would still use the remaining Crosscountry...
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    Could Northern's Stalybridge to Southport service be split at Wigan?

    Moorside and Ince have materially lower usage* compared to other stations on the line, are close to other stations and this reduces the increase in journey times as a result of tts switch for Southport line users. They would still have 2tph and 3tph respectively so worth skipping on the services...
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    Could Northern's Stalybridge to Southport service be split at Wigan?

    Post the introduction of the western sidings at Salford Central and splitting of the Leeds to Wigan service, it would make more sense, in line with other suggestions, if you are getting rid of the 769s to have something like: - 2tph Wigan North-Western to Stalybridge via Westhouhgton EMU - 1tph...
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    Plans for Castlefield Corridor

    Looking at the consultation material for the Oxford Road redevelopment, it doesn’t state platform lengths in metres but advises that the new platforms will be lengthened to “8 carriages”. Does anyone know if this will be 8 x 23m? This would make sense in my view as would allow for lengthening of...
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    Plans for Castlefield Corridor

    I appreciate this is a point you made incidentally and the service pattern you suggested is much greater but the view that many have that the airport trains ‘carry fresh air’ is hugely frustrating. The 5 stations from Mauldeth Road to the Airport have a combined usage of over 7.1m a year which...
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    Future of the Settle to Carlisle, Bentham and Ribble Valley lines

    Ribblehead is one of the starting points for the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk of which over 100,000 people complete the walk each year. The challenge is to complete the c. 25 mile walk in 12 hours. The train times previously didn’t allow a realistic completion of the walk starting at Ribblehead as...
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    Plans for Castlefield Corridor

    The Arena was first mooted in the 1980s and started construction in 1993. I don’t think it is realistic to suggest that the growth in rail use that has occurred over that time and in Manchester as a whole could realistically been conceived at that point. Without regeneration initiatives such as...
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    Should the Euston to Watford DC lines (Beyond Queens Park) be transferred to TfL?

    I would like to see: - Re-double North London Line and extend at least 4tph Windrush Line services from Highbury and Islington to Queens Park where they would terminate. - Transfer DC lines north of Queens Park to the Bakerloo Line and extend to Watford Junction. - Post HS2, re-introduce...

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