Overcrowding and safety

[LE Greys]

I think you'll find on the Manchester and Liverpool to London routes the problem is not a lack of seats, it's the fact people are priced out of travelling on peak trains so they all try to get the first off-peak train at the end of the evening peak period. In fact most Pendolinos doing off peak Manchester services are quite often 75% empty so it should actually be the case that Virgin should forfeit some paths to allow Northern and London Midland to run more stopping services.

Quite possibly so. The Law of Unintended Consequences, an attempt to reduce peak overcrowding just moves it. They could just cut the price or ease the restrictions (say by allowing return portions of off-peak tickets to travel).

 

[Oswyntail]

....
The problem is franchises are not long enough for TOCs to invest in stock, and they would not buy stock which sits idle apart from for three hours per day (for the peaks) anway.

The length of the franchise is (or should be) irrelevant. The ROSCOs should be the ones investing in the stock, and, AFAIK, there is no time limit for them If they had a sensible policy of standardising on a good product, such as the 170 family, there would be little risk of a new franchise refusing to lease that stock from them.