Euston to Blackpool 'by 2014'

[PR1Berske]

It would be politically safer to choose the cheaper options for things like this.

 

[northwichcat]

Not a busy holiday destination with Londoners (they'd be better doing a Glasgow - Blackpool service, albeit TPE have got there first), but it's still a decent sized town - approx 150,000 (more if you add in Lytham/ Fleetwood) compared to the 65,000 in Wrexham. Plus if things continue like they are there'll be demand from several London football teams to head to the Golden Mile next season too.

North Western Trains ran Blackpool - London and Rochdale- Newton-le-Willows - London services using 158s and offered lower fares than Virgin. They planned to replace the 158s with 180s but Virgin got competition protection so 180s never came to the North (until Northern took on 3.)

 

[shinkansen1966]

Its not going to happen,it will be curtailed in the spending review.....

Agreed. What else will be postponed or axed ?

New rolling stock orders axed
Great Western Electrification cancelled

plus..
above inflation fare rises
financial squeeze on new franchises meaing fewer advanced purchase tickets and greater restrictions on existing off-peak tickets
less money for Network Rail come the next control period spending with repairs, renewals and upgrades cancelled or postponed.

 

[PR1Berske]

Well anyone can try to extend the worse-cases for the industry.

It could well be that by 2025 the only lines left open are HS1, London Overground and Fort William - Mallaig. Everything else will be guided bus-lanes......



You just never know......

 

[shinkansen1966]

Back in the 1980s, there was the Serpell report showing what a profitable railway would like. That's one without any public subsidy.

This what the Seprell map looked like. If carried out, see if your own line surived.
http://www.railnews.co.uk/img/medium/news00333.jpg

 

[YorkshireBear]

So is there no way to make it profitable in current form through increased service and passenger numbers? at all?

seen serpell's report before, bye bye sheffield

 

[shinkansen1966]

thankfully (and as with Serpell), there will be plenty of MPs fighting their local corner.

You might see plenty of fare rises, cancelled rolling stock orders, delays and crumbling infrastructure. But you will not see any actual line closures.

 

[Invincibles]

I think there is going to be an increasing consideration of the costs of not changing things, particularly with regard to carbon. It will be contested until the last but already we see a change from the 1980s attitude when the Serpell report was written.

While we will never properly price car journeys, as others have said elsewhere on here, there will have been increases to motoring costs and timings that will have moved in favour of the train I have no doubt.

 

[northwichcat]

Not a busy holiday destination with Londoners (they'd be better doing a Glasgow - Blackpool service, albeit TPE have got there first), but it's still a decent sized town - approx 150,000 (more if you add in Lytham/ Fleetwood) compared to the 65,000 in Wrexham. Plus if things continue like they are there'll be demand from several London football teams to head to the Golden Mile next season too.

TPE are supposed to lose Scottish services post-electrification. It's also been suggested that all North West routes would be removed from that franchise eventually with the rest being switched to the Northern franchise as and when they get electrified.

 

[shinkansen1966]

While we will never properly price car journeys, as others have said elsewhere on here, there will have been increases to motoring costs and timings that will have moved in favour of the train I have no doubt.

Don't me get started on road pricing. I've had this discussion elsewhere.

We have rail pricing: variable fares based on time of day, day of week. Trains are fixed resources, so varying fares is a means to control and spread demand across the week.

Roads are fixed resource, you can't make them wider during the peak hours. So why not have exactly the same approach to motorists and road pricing ?

 

[dfishw]

i hope this goes ahead..blackpool is a large city that really should have direct trains to london anyway...............

 

[Lampshade]

i hope this goes ahead..blackpool is a large city that really should have direct trains to london anyway...............

I can think of another word also beginning with C that best describes Blackpool.

 

[WestCoast]

i hope this goes ahead..blackpool is a large city that really should have direct trains to london anyway...............

Blackpool is a town not a city.

I can think of another word also beginning with C that best describes Blackpool.

Living in the surrounding area, you see that Blackpool is trying hard to change. It may not be the most prosperous town in the country but it's not 'crap', there are a lot of other grim towns that are worse. There are many areas that are horrible, but equally there are nice areas. This is like any place really! The area around Stanley Park and the Zoo is lovely and you would be surprised at the large houses and wealth. Plus, the Fylde Coast as a whole is an area of large population with the towns of Lytham St. Annes, Thornton-Cleveleys, Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood. Lytham and Poulton are rather high-class places and have some very wealthy residents.

As for the idea of running direct London trains, it is excellent and would be very well received by holidaymakers and residents of the Fylde Coast.

 

[tbtc]

TPE are supposed to lose Scottish services post-electrification. It's also been suggested that all North West routes would be removed from that franchise eventually with the rest being switched to the Northern franchise as and when they get electrified.

I've heard a lot of stories about what will happen at the end of the Northern/ TPE franchsies.

Logically I'd give the Manchester - Scotland service to the West Coast franchise to run Birmingham - Scotland with the same electric units (if the Manchester - WCML stretch is electrified, whether via Bolton or Eccles)

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Despite the 'will they, won't they?' topic going around, VT confirm Anglo-Glasgow trains will be 11-car Pendolinos . Good:

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/city_s_rail_station_will_be_improved_under_new_plans_1_1788068

Of course, they want their contract extension first!

 

[Toots]

A lot of what happens depends on what McNulty says.The fact remains however that money is going to be tight,especially for the railways.The railway is only important to passengers and the people that work on them and politically they are not a big fish,and politicians will be scratching around for the path of least resistance and health,Schools and welfare have far more votes than the railway,and add to that a re-energised road lobby and you begin to realise the cuts the railway is facing.
Ironically if the high speed rail link goes ahead this will inevitably come out of the 'railway budget' leaving existing services and lines even shorter of funds.

 

[Geezertronic]

Ironically if the high speed rail link goes ahead this will inevitably come out of the 'railway budget' leaving existing services and lines even shorter of funds.

Do you have a reference to support that? I was always under the impression that HS2 would be separately funded, at least that is what Labour said when they were in power?

 

[Toots]

Its in the DOT pot.Its academic how its apportioned,as Liam Fox at defence has found out,there will be so much money allocated to each department after the 20th and that will have to be spread whichever way that governmental department decides.If you think about it it,it couldn't be any other way,you don't think Ministers of other Departments will shrug their shoulders and accept the railways getting extra funding.Even if it was seperately funded on paper, the offset would have to come from somewhere,that said, I hope you are right and I wrong!

 

[danfitz123]

Back in the 1980s, there was the Serpell report showing what a profitable railway would like. That's one without any public subsidy.

This what the Seprell map looked like. If carried out, see if your own line surived.
http://www.railnews.co.uk/img/medium/news00333.jpg

Bad luck plymouth!

 

[Toots]

I don't believe the Manchester Liverpool electrification will go ahead either,that said prepatory work is already underway so it will be interesting to see if that money is wasted or not.....

I was going to edit this to read ' I absolutely believe',but someone may have noticed.