London Midland 2012 changes

[northwichcat]

This will be the first time for many years Hartford (for Northwich area) has had a service north down the WCML and it is a new, untapped market... Good move!! (PS I was brought up in Northwich so appreciate how good this move will be...)

The other good move to make would be a service linking the Northwich line with the Hartford line. While it's only a 15 minute walk between Greenbank and Hartford the current hourly only service on both lines and lack of cheaper ticket options for doing that makes it unattractive compared to travelling via Chester.

The Northwich-Altrincham part of the line could do with 2tph so a Hartford-Greenbank-Altrincham service could be ideal - maybe even starting back at Warrington.

 

[scrapy]

Warrington - Hartford - Greenbank is impossible with the track layout. There is no direct line between Hartford and Greenbank and even if there was it would need a reversal. I would propose extending the Liverpool - Warrington Bank Quay services to Altrincham via Acton Bridge and Greenbank (omitting Lostock Gralam, Plumley, Mobberley and Ashley stops) if the paths and stock were available. This would give Altrincham, Knutsford and Northwich a direct service to Liverpool and connections to the WCML at Warrington and 2 services an hour from Northwich and Knutsford to Altrincham, connecting to Manchester via Metrolink.

 

[The Engineer]

Warrington - Hartford - Greenbank is impossible with the track layout. There is no direct line between Hartford and Greenbank and even if there was it would need a reversal. I would propose extending the Liverpool - Warrington Bank Quay services to Altrincham via Acton Bridge and Greenbank (omitting Lostock Gralam, Plumley, Mobberley and Ashley stops) if the paths and stock were available. This would give Altrincham, Knutsford and Northwich a direct service to Liverpool and connections to the WCML at Warrington and 2 services an hour from Northwich and Knutsford to Altrincham, connecting to Manchester via Metrolink.

That's a great idea! Stop at Acton Bridge to enable Liverpool Parkway and Runcorn to Northwich and Knutsford trips? There was a proposal for a west-bound track out of Manchester Airport to the Cheshire Lines at Ashley. That would make an even greater service!!