Class 350s going to scotrail?

[Bevan Price]

The best solution for the "350/2" problem would be more electrification. Unfortunately, with the DfT & Treasury in control, that is unlikely to happen before the 350/2s are too old and corroded to be worth using.

 

[DanNCL]

If we’re looking for uses for 350’s I’d like to see some with Northern in the North East for services on the ECML. They could run the Chathill services to remove diesels under the wires. I’d also like to see a Northern Newcastle-York service which could solve the Chester-le-Street problem and reinstate Northern services between Darlington and York to remove the annoying network gap, provide more capacity and potentially speed up other services. This would also free up a few DMU’s for strengthening and provide a better, more frequent service using the EMU’s that would be easier to path inbetween IC services.

Given the extremely low number of units that would be required I think a couple of 331s or 333s making a trip north from Yorkshire each day would be more likely than moving an entire fleet of EMUs to Heaton. Heaton also isn't set up to do anything other than light maintenance on EMUs, so the units would only find themselves making frequent trips to Neville Hill anyway.

Pegswood maybe, but for the others I suggest looking at a map. They make Cheddington look like a metropolis.

Acklington and Chathill are the only two stations that might possibly justify closure. But even then, Acklington is considered large enough to warrant a commercially operated hourly bus service to Newcastle so there clearly is a demand for travel to Newcastle from there.

The 'Chester-le-Street problem' would be fixed with direct trains from Middlesborough to Newcastle but there isn't room for them either.

There wasn't room in the 2019 timetable, there almost certainly is room now. There are 25 minute gaps every hour in services in both directions between Newcastle and Darlington currently. There is also the ability to loop trains in both directions just north of Durham, and northbound trains additionally can be looped just north of Birtley Junction.

 

[Tayway]

A handful of EMUs to work services north of Newcastle could allow for an hourly Newcastle to Berwick stopper to remove some of the smaller stops from the InterCity services (Acklington and Chathill would be served by alternate trains due to their low usage). This could then connect with ScotRail's Berwick to service if and when they finally get around to running it.

One of the fasts could then run non-stop in each hour, with the second calling at Berwick only, and the third running semi-fast and calling at Dunbar, Berwick and Alnmouth. There could be another short Newcastle - Morpeth working if demand requires it, if not then Morpeth could be added to the semi-fast too to give two trains an hour into Newcastle.

Ideally the re-opened line to Ashington would be electrified too, which would allow a more sizeable allocation of units (say eight or ten) to be based at Heaton, with the freed-up DMUs operating a Newcastle to Middlesbrough via Durham service and improving capacity on other routes.