The Bradford - Kings Cross service desperately needs better paths to and from Doncaster in order to compete. It takes almost two hours to do 30-40 miles as the crow flies. It was the long journey times (and the lack of through workings or decent connections to Chester) that killed the Wrexham - Marylebone route.
GC's problem seems to be getting across the Leeds - Huddersfield line. GC trains spend long periods waiting at Halifax for paths (as do Northern's Bradford - Huddersfield services). TransPennine's paths seem to be sacrosanct and everybody else must defer to their requirements.
Dropping the desolate Pontefract stop and running via the electrified route from Wakefield to Doncaster would certainly speed up GC timings.
Britain's 10th largest city has been treated appallingly by the various operators of the ECML over the years, who now only provide a token service to Forster Square. Bradford is not a suburb of Leeds and the locals resent always having to change there.
GC don't really have pathing issues on the TPE route, it is further south on ECML that drives their overall timings. The 15.37 ex BDI has really odd pathing and has to wait for NT stopping services at Greetland Jn and Wakefield Kirkgate. This isn't a dastardly plan, but is linked to the last timetable change and the additional EC services on the ECML.
The problem with the Bradford market is that for the northern half of the city it is much simpler to travel via Shipley and into Leeds. The large car parks at the north Bradford stations lend themselves to travelling via Leeds and as the northern part of the city is the most affluent it is an important market that GC are missing out on.
I wonder if GC will stop at Low Moor when it, eventually, gets built? Gateway to south Bradford and large industrial area, must be significant business travel?
There's no easy answer. Now if Bradford had a through line...
