Future of Cross Country Services?

[Roast Veg]

York to Scotland is duplicated by VTEC throughout the day?
And
Leeds to York by TPE?
Sheffield to Leeds / Wakefield and Wakefield to Leeds by Northern?
Sheffield to Derby by EMT?

I was looking at services that both started and finished within the realms of the same TOC, specifically the early morning and late evening shorter distance XC services.

 

[edwin_m]

I was looking at services that both started and finished within the realms of the same TOC, specifically the early morning and late evening shorter distance XC services.

These are effectively stock positioning moves between the start/finish of a longer-distance service and the depot where the train overnights. Assuming there is some reason why any depot closer to the origin/destination can't be used, it costs practically nothing extra to run these as passenger service compared to empty stock even if they carry few passengers. If they carry good numbers of passengers then if XC didn't run them another TOC would have to.

 

[Frothy]

Will XC propose a revised timetable that keeps the improvements, or is it just business as usual and the direct award commitment is scrapped?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Martin_1981]

Isn't Exeter-Bristol going half-hourly under XC due this December?

Yes, the Manchester to Bristol trains are being extended to run to and from Exeter, but at the expense of some Manchester to Paignton direct services.

 

[cuccir]

Love the classic journalism double negative in the headline... the 'cuts' have been 'scrapped'.

In other words, services to be retained - hooray! (But that doesn't create clickbait, I suppose...)

Presumably this means that some of the other improvements proposed in the consultation will have to be scaled back? Any news on when we'll see the results of this process?

 

[tbtc]

Presumably this means that some of the other improvements proposed in the consultation will have to be scaled back?

That's the worry.

If the Aberdeen service has to remain as it currently is (rather than using a Voyager off-peak at a time that may better suit the North Sea changeovers) then that ties one out of action (as far as the main XC route is concerned) until after 11:00 - which may mean there's no spare unit to do something like the Derby - Leeds peak service.

Retaining the additional capacity north of Edinburgh comes at a cost to the rest of the network (the 08:20 departure from Aberdeen taking until after eleven o'clock to leave Waverley - during which time a lot of people will have been standing elsewhere on XC).

There's a 07:52 HST from Aberdeen to Newcastle/ York, so it's not like the 08:20 is the Granite City's only link to England at that time of day - running a Voyager shortly afterwards doesn't seem essential.

 

[Class 170101]

There's a 07:52 HST from Aberdeen to Newcastle/ York, so it's not like the 08:20 is the Granite City's only link to England at that time of day - running a Voyager shortly afterwards doesn't seem essential.

If one could get it to work south of Edinburgh it would better timed to leave around 08:50. Therefore between 07:52 and 09:52 East Coast departures

 

[dk1]

If one could get it to work south of Edinburgh it would better timed to leave around 08:50. Therefore between 07:52 and 09:52 East Coast departures

Would that not then mess up the clock face xx:05 departure from Edinburgh?

 

[Ianno87]

Would that not then mess up the clock face xx:05 departure from Edinburgh?

Yes. Getting it to work 'south of Edinburgh' means finding a bespoke off-pattern path all the way to Plymouth. Not going to happen.

You'd be best infilling with a VTEC departure on the same hourly pattern - might be an option once bi-mode IEPs give a bit more diagramming flexibility (whetever departs Edinburgh betweem the 0752 and 0952 Aberdeen departures might be a Mk. 4 set today)

Edit: Just noticed that the train that plugs the 0852 departure is the Highland Chieftan ex-Inverness. Maybe not...

 

[Class 170101]

Would that not then mess up the clock face xx:05 departure from Edinburgh?

Yes it would hence why I said if one could get it to work. It would be an aspirational schedule to 'spread' the schedules out heading south of Edinburgh from Aberdeen.

Yes. Getting it to work 'south of Edinburgh' means finding a bespoke off-pattern path all the way to Plymouth. Not going to happen.

You'd be best infilling with a VTEC departure on the same hourly pattern - might be an option once bi-mode IEPs give a bit more diagramming flexibility (whetever departs Edinburgh betweem the 0752 and 0952 Aberdeen departures might be a Mk. 4 set today)

Edit: Just noticed that the train that plugs the 0852 departure is the Highland Chieftan ex-Inverness. Maybe not...

Not sure whether the Highland Chieftain is there or not makes a lot of difference. It runs via Stirling and Falkirk whilst the Aberdeen's run via Kirkcaldy. The issue will be between Haymarket West and Edinburgh. But the two slots (standard hour) appear slighly different over the shared section.

 

[yorksrob]

Does anyone know if the XC HST diagrams are likely to be similar after May to now ?

I heard that they were going to be re-jigged quite substantially, but I thought this was likely to be at the end of the year.

 

[D1009]

Does anyone know if the XC HST diagrams are likely to be similar after May to now ?

I heard that they were going to be re-jigged quite substantially, but I thought this was likely to be at the end of the year.

There are changes on summer weekends, I thought someone had posted them, but can't find it. There's nothing to Newquay, but a Penzance working on Saturdays instead.

 

[yorksrob]

Ah cheers. It sounds as though the general pattern will be quite similar then.

 

[PHILIPE]

There are changes on summer weekends, I thought someone had posted them, but can't find it. There's nothing to Newquay, but a Penzance working on Saturdays instead.

Here:-

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89697&page=30
Post #445

 

[yorksrob]

Here:-

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89697&page=30
Post #445

Ah, thanks, that's just what I needed.

 

[mikestone1952]

West facing car of 221144 has disappeared from outside Central Rivers.

 

[Minilad]

West facing car of 221144 has disappeared from outside Central Rivers.

It has been coupled to the car taken from 221136 and was on 15 road outside the shed on Thursday morning