Service improvement at Northampton

[cr767055]

Hi all. I'm Harry Burr - Chief Executive at Sustainable Transport Midlands. I'm also currently leading Daventry Parkway Project which is a campaign to reopen the railway station in Weedon Bec to serve Daventry post-HS2. You may've read about it in Modern Railways or BBC News.

I'm working on a new proposal called "ConnectNorthampton", with the main concept being to build up new services through Northampton, mainly on the Rugby - Northampton - Milton Keynes Central - Bletchley corridor, with certain regional services being introduced too. These could include:

• An extension of Southern services to Northampton or Rugby.
• Introduction of new Regional services, such as:
  • Rugby - Stoke-on-Trent via Birmingham New Street
  • Bletchley - Wolverhampton via Northampton
  • Rugby - Shrewsbury via Birmingham New Street
• Introduction of a new rapid metro-style service running between Bletchley and Rugby via Northampton to connect to both East West Rail and Avanti West Coast services at either end, giving people in Northampton a more efficient connection to these links.
• Extension of London Euston - Northampton services to Rugby, in order to serve Long Buckby and an eventual Rugby Parkway station more efficiently.
• Reducing calls on the existing Birmingham New Street - Northampton - Euston services in order to decrease journey times.
• Extension of select East West Rail services to Northampton or Rugby.
• Ensuring the introduction of East West Rail services between Rugby/Northampton and London Marylebone via Bletchley and Aylesbury.

We would also run three new station campaigns under the same brand:

• Roade (South Northants)
• Queens Park and Kingsthorpe (Northampton)
• Hunsbury (Northampton)

At the start, these stations would only receive the Bletchley - Rugby metro service I mentioned above. What do you all think of the above, bearing in mind that post-HS2 timeline? Some of these links are more important than others
undoubtedly, but getting a technical, rail-based view on this would be great.

If anyone is super interested and want to support the proposal and volunteer with my charity, please let me know too!

I'll be interested to hear any feedback anyone has. Thank you

 

[Bletchleyite]

In short, a total and utter waste of line capacity, other than possibly extending the Southern if it can be pathed.

 

[cr767055]

In short, a total and utter waste of line capacity, other than possibly extending the Southern if it can be pathed.

But considering the benefits delivered to large towns and cities like Milton Keynes, Northampton, the major urban extension proposed at Long Buckby, Rugby, and Coventry, possibly worth it. I'm not saying it'll all be done, but Northampton is one of the largest places in this country without an Intercity rail link of any sort...

 

[transportphoto]

How have things progressed since your previous thread on a similar topic? (https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...lway-line-who-to-contact.210510/#post-4832737)

I admire the enthusiasm for a 15 year old, although you do have a lot of vacancies on your senior team! What other backing do you have for the project / Sustainable Transport Midlands?

 

[Bletchleyite]

But considering the benefits delivered to large towns and cities like Milton Keynes, Northampton, the major urban extension proposed at Long Buckby, Rugby, and Coventry, possibly worth it.

No, not worth it. More services to/from London could (and post HS2 probably will) provide some of what you suggest at a lower frequency, but the non London local services you propose are a waste of capacity compared with what could be done with it, and some (e.g. the Shrewsbury) are utter fantasy and would involve DMUs under wires.

I'm not saying it'll all be done, but Northampton is one of the largest places in this country without an Intercity rail link of any sort...

Do I detect just a hint of door position prejudice? Post HS2 I could see a bit of sense in running one Manchester per hour that way if two were to remain, but otherwise not.

 

[cr767055]

How have things progressed since your previous thread on a similar topic? (https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...lway-line-who-to-contact.210510/#post-4832737)

I admire the enthusiasm for a 15 year old, although you do have a lot of vacancies on your senior team! What other backing do you have for the project / Sustainable Transport Midlands?

Things have gone absolutely amazingly, better than I ever would've thought! Daventry Parkway Project (as my major campaign is now known) have West Northamptonshire Council backing, and I'm meeting with West Midlands Trains Ltd next month to discuss service patterns (which I've already done with Avanti West Coast, while on one of their trains actually! They are surprisingly happy to stop some of their services.)

That's a big priority at the moment - filling those vacant roles! I may be spreading myself too thin, and during some major exams, that's not really the best thing to be doing. Daventry Parkway Project has the backing of WNC, other campaign groups in the area (incl. Railfuture), and I'm working to gain the support of West Midlands Trains Ltd (although it can get a bit political)

The main problem stakeholder-wise is the rail minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, who also happens to be my local MP! It creates a major conflict of interest, meaning he can't support the proposal for Daventry Parkway...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2021 ==

No, not worth it. More services to/from London could (and post HS2 probably will) provide some of what you suggest at a lower frequency, but the non London local services you propose are a waste of capacity compared with what could be done with it, and some (e.g. the Shrewsbury) are utter fantasy and would involve DMUs under wires.



Do I detect just a hint of door position prejudice? Post HS2 I could see a bit of sense in running one Manchester per hour that way if two were to remain, but otherwise not.

A surprisingly large amount of people travel to Birmingham New St to connect, and most of those services they connect to are to places such as Telford Central, Wolverhampton, and Shrewsbury. Maybe services to Stoke-on-Trent via Birmingham New St from Rugby might not be the best of ideas, but running bi-modes to Shrewsbury might be something that could be seriously considered. Or simply waiting for electrification - it's inevitable.

I've been speaking with a representative from the local authority recently, who is intrigued by the Bletchley - Rugby metro service via Northampton. Northampton is currently built around the rest of the network. Things don't happen because of Northampton, even though it's the largest town in the UK as of 2011, and applying for 2022 city status.

 

[transportphoto]

Things have gone absolutely amazingly, better than I ever would've thought! Daventry Parkway Project (as my major campaign is now known) have West Northamptonshire Council backing, and I'm meeting with West Midlands Trains Ltd next month to discuss service patterns (which I've already done with Avanti West Coast, while on one of their trains actually! They are surprisingly happy to stop some of their services.)

That's a big priority at the moment - filling those vacant roles! I may be spreading myself too thin, and during some major exams, that's not really the best thing to be doing. Daventry Parkway Project has the backing of WNC, other campaign groups in the area (incl. Railfuture), and I'm working to gain the support of West Midlands Trains Ltd (although it can get a bit political)

The main problem stakeholder-wise is the rail minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, who also happens to be my local MP! It creates a major conflict of interest, meaning he can't support the proposal for Daventry Parkway...

That’s really good progress! Sadly I’m not local enough or have the right knowledge to be able to assist your endeavours. That being said, good luck! Keep up the good work.

 

[cr767055]

That’s really good progress! Sadly I’m not local enough or have the right knowledge to be able to assist your endeavours. That being said, good luck! Keep up the good work.

Thank you

 

[A0]

Hi all. I'm Harry Burr - Chief Executive at Sustainable Transport Midlands. I'm also currently leading Daventry Parkway Project which is a campaign to reopen the railway station in Weedon Bec to serve Daventry post-HS2. You may've read about it in Modern Railways or BBC News.

I'm working on a new proposal called "ConnectNorthampton", with the main concept being to build up new services through Northampton, mainly on the Rugby - Northampton - Milton Keynes Central - Bletchley corridor, with certain regional services being introduced too. These could include:

• An extension of Southern services to Northampton or Rugby.
• Introduction of new Regional services, such as:
  • Rugby - Stoke-on-Trent via Birmingham New Street
  • Bletchley - Wolverhampton via Northampton
  • Rugby - Shrewsbury via Birmingham New Street
• Introduction of a new rapid metro-style service running between Bletchley and Rugby via Northampton to connect to both East West Rail and Avanti West Coast services at either end, giving people in Northampton a more efficient connection to these links.
• Extension of London Euston - Northampton services to Rugby, in order to serve Long Buckby and an eventual Rugby Parkway station more efficiently.
• Reducing calls on the existing Birmingham New Street - Northampton - Euston services in order to decrease journey times.
• Extension of select East West Rail services to Northampton or Rugby.
• Ensuring the introduction of East West Rail services between Rugby/Northampton and London Marylebone via Bletchley and Aylesbury.

We would also run three new station campaigns under the same brand:

• Roade (South Northants)
• Queens Park and Kingsthorpe (Northampton)
• Hunsbury (Northampton)

At the start, these stations would only receive the Bletchley - Rugby metro service I mentioned above. What do you all think of the above, bearing in mind that post-HS2 timeline? Some of these links are more important than others
undoubtedly, but getting a technical, rail-based view on this would be great.

If anyone is super interested and want to support the proposal and volunteer with my charity, please let me know too!

I'll be interested to hear any feedback anyone has. Thank you

I think @The Planner might be best placed to explain, somewhat more diplomatically than other posters, why most of these ideas aren't achievable without significant impact elsewhere.

 

[43096]

In short, a total and utter waste of line capacity, other than possibly extending the Southern if it can be pathed.

The Southern service used to run to Rugby, but has been cut back to MKC for some time now; presumably it wasn't seen as good use of a path.

 

[cr767055]

The Southern service used to run to Rugby, but has been cut back to MKC for some time now; presumably it wasn't seen as good use of a path.

I never knew that! Do you know whether it was via Northampton or via Weedon? If it was via Weedon then it's clear why they cut it out...

Edit: I just found an thread re. Southern to MKC. Looks like it used to be a Rugby - Gatwick Airport service... (in fact, here's a photo of a 319 at a bay at Rugby)

 

[londonteacher]

An extension of Southern services to Northampton or Rugby

Not a bad idea. But cross platform interchange at MKC would be enough.

Introduction of new Regional services, such as:

• Rugby - Stoke-on-Trent via Birmingham New Street
• Bletchley - Wolverhampton via Northampton
• Rugby - Shrewsbury via Birmingham New Street

Why? Birmingham New Street is designed for this.

Reducing calls on the existing Birmingham New Street - Northampton - Euston services in order to decrease journey times.

What would replace it?

• Roade (South Northants)
• Queens Park and Kingsthorpe (Northampton)
• Hunsbury (Northampton)

Not needed. I grew up in Northampton and better bus connections to the station would be enough.

Ensuring the introduction of East West Rail services between Rugby/Northampton and London Marylebone via Bletchley and Aylesbury.

Why?

 

[cr767055]

Not a bad idea. But cross platform interchange at MKC would be enough.

Why? Birmingham New Street is designed for this.

What would replace it?

Not needed. I grew up in Northampton and better bus connections to the station would be enough.

Why?

Northampton is the largest town in the UK, but doesn't have any direct train links to cities apart from Birmingham, Coventry, and London. There's an extremely infrequent service to Wolverhampton, but this operates irregularly and isn't even in the timetable. It just operates sometimes for some odd reason.

The stations between New St and Coventry would continue to be served by services terminating and originating at Northampton, as well as West Midlands Trains commuter services operated by Class 350s terminating at Birmingham International or Coventry.

Northampton lacks any rail-based East-West link. Operating direct services to Oxford via Bletchley or an alternative link to London like many cities have (e.g. Canterbury, Birmingham, Reading etc.) would be valuable, for example, during engineering works or disruption. It also wouldn't be much of a bother simply extending these services only a few miles to serve an extra 215,000+ people.

 

[Glenn1969]

Northampton is the largest town in the UK, but doesn't have any direct train links to cities apart from Birmingham, Coventry, and London. There's an extremely infrequent service to Wolverhampton, but this operates irregularly and isn't even in the timetable. It just operates sometimes for some odd reason.

The stations between New St and Coventry would continue to be served by services terminating and originating at Northampton, as well as West Midlands Trains commuter services operated by Class 350s terminating at Birmingham International or Coventry.

Northampton lacks any East-West link. Operating direct services to Oxford via Bletchley or an alternative link to London like many cities have (e.g. Canterbury, Birmingham, Reading etc.) would be valuable, for example, during engineering works or disruption. It also wouldn't be much of a bother simply extending these services only a few miles to serve an extra 215,000+ people.

Maybe these links are not there because there is deemed to be no demand for them? Presume if Chris Heaton-Morris thought there was untapped demand he would be backing you in some way?

 

[cr767055]

Maybe these links are not there because there is deemed to be no demand for them? Presume if Chris Heaton-Morris thought there was untapped demand he would be backing you in some way?

There's never been a campaign or project that I'm aware of to improve rail services in Northampton. I haven't reached out to Chris Heaton-Harris in relation to Northampton service improvements, however, my connections at West Northamptonshire Council have and I know of certain things that are being discussed, most notably in relation to Southern and East West Rail. Chris Heaton-Harris can't back rail improvements in his constituency of Daventry given his role in Department for Transport.

 

[JonathanH]

Isn't the problem with these grandiose plans that they aren't part of what is already being planned for the next timetable change on the route, which is already being worked on, and therefore they are likely to be distant aspirations. I imagine that anything being discussed now might be relevant for the post-HS2 timetable.

 

[cr767055]

Isn't the problem with these grandiose plans that they aren't part of what is already being planned for the next timetable change on the route, which is already being worked on, and therefore they are likely to be distant aspirations. I imagine that anything being discussed now might be relevant for the post-HS2 timetable.

The shadow operator of HS2 under West Coast Partnership Development are adamant not to detail many things about WCML operations post-HS2 as a result of their employees NDA's, so I have no clue what they are thinking about. The idea for this sort of campaign would to draw attention to Northampton and their need for improved rail links.

 

[The Planner]

I think @The Planner might be best placed to explain, somewhat more diplomatically than other posters, why most of these ideas aren't achievable without significant impact elsewhere.

If its post HS2 then to be honest anything is up for grabs. I'll have a proper think tomorrow. Terminating at Rugby from the north would be a pain, extending a Northampton terminator would be fairly routine.

 

[londonteacher]

Northampton is the largest town in the UK, but doesn't have any direct train links to cities apart from Birmingham, Coventry, and London.

So? People can change at MKC for the North West, Rugby for North West and Midlands.

The stations between New St and Coventry would continue to be served by services terminating and originating at Northampton, as well as West Midlands Trains commuter services operated by Class 350s terminating at Birmingham International or Coventry.

So those stations would lose their direct service for a limited reduction in journey times? It's approximately 1 hour NMP to Birmingham.

 

[cr767055]

If its post HS2 then to be honest anything is up for grabs. I'll have a proper think tomorrow. Terminating at Rugby from the north would be a pain, extending a Northampton terminator would be fairly routine.

The idea of extending Euston - NMP services to Rugby would be to serve Long Buckby and the new Rugby Parkway station with direct links to London on a more frequent basis (without having to change at Northampton...)

 

[Bletchleyite]

The idea of extending Euston - NMP services to Rugby would be to serve Long Buckby and the new Rugby Parkway station with direct links to London on a more frequent basis (without having to change at Northampton...)

There is only one terminator per hour. The other two work through and could stop.

 

[The Planner]

So those stations would lose their direct service for a limited reduction in journey times? It's approximately 1 hour NMP to Birmingham.

Depends on which stations get taken out.

 

[cr767055]

So? People can change at MKC for the North West, Rugby for North West and Midlands.

So those stations would lose their direct service for a limited reduction in journey times? It's approximately 1 hour NMP to Birmingham.

I expect most passengers travelling from stations such as Tile Hill, Berkswell, and Canley, are going to Coventry and not Euston. I don't see there being a problem with changing at Coventry either - they receive a very regular London service on both Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains, while some Avanti West Coast trains run fast through Rugby.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2021 ==

Depends on which stations get taken out.

I could see Berkswell, Tile Hill, and Canley being the likely candidates.

There is only one terminator per hour. The other two work through and could stop.

Long Buckby gets an hourly service to London (respectable), and an hourly terminator to Northampton from what I'm aware, with a half-hourly service to Birmingham New St, in the current timetable. Extending to Rugby would make this a half-hourly service to Euston instead.

 

[A0]

Northampton is the largest town in the UK, but doesn't have any direct train links to cities apart from Birmingham, Coventry, and London. There's an extremely infrequent service to Wolverhampton, but this operates irregularly and isn't even in the timetable. It just operates sometimes for some odd reason.

Having a service to London, Coventry and Birmingham is more than adequate for most *regular* i.e. at least weekly travellers. They are the nearest major places with leisure or work.

Wolverhampton is an irrelevance to Northampton (and vice versa). The reason such a service does operate is usually for rostering and route knowledge reasons.

The stations between New St and Coventry would continue to be served by services terminating and originating at Northampton, as well as West Midlands Trains commuter services operated by Class 350s terminating at Birmingham International or Coventry.

There isn't the capacity to run more services between Coventry and New Street - it's the reason why the LNW London - Birmingham services have stops between Coventry & International - because there isn't the capacity to run any more along there. Go and stand on the platforms at somewhere like Marston Green and you'll very quickly understand the point.

Northampton lacks any rail-based East-West link. Operating direct services to Oxford via Bletchley or an alternative link to London like many cities have (e.g. Canterbury, Birmingham, Reading etc.) would be valuable, for example, during engineering works or disruption. It also wouldn't be much of a bother simply extending these services only a few miles to serve an extra 215,000+ people.

Right. So just because somewhere else has these things Northampton should just be virtue of its size? Canterbury's a poor comparison in many ways (and yes, I do know the area).

The question you (and others who keep campaigning for such links for Northampton) keep failing to address is whether there is the demand. You've suggested it would give an "alternative link to London" - so what? If you were running to Marylebone you'd be looking at a 90-120 minute journey time, 50% more than at present - does it deliver you somewhere more convenient or useful in London? Not a chance - you can walk from Euston - Marylebone in 15 minutes. Same with the mad suggestion (not yours) to reinstate the Bedford - Northampton line and extend Thameslink services to Northampton - again a 90-120 minute journey time delivering you to a point you can walk from Euston in 5 minutes.

The only suggestion you've made which I think does make sense is Roade station - there's alot of housebuilding in the area and Roade is closer to Towcester (another place which is getting alot of houses) than either Northampton or MKC.

 

[The Planner]

The idea of extending Euston - NMP services to Rugby would be to serve Long Buckby and the new Rugby Parkway station with direct links to London on a more frequent basis (without having to change at Northampton...)

Rugby Pwy to London would still likely be quicker via a Rugby change unless any fast Northamptons are put in (not unlikely)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2021 ==

There isn't the capacity to run more services between Coventry and New Street - it's the reason why the LNW London - Birmingham services have stops between Coventry & International - because there isn't the capacity to run any more along there. Go and stand on the platforms at somewhere like Marston Green and you'll very quickly understand the point.

Again, post HS2 things will be different.

 

[cr767055]

Having a service to London, Coventry and Birmingham is more than adequate for most *regular* i.e. at least weekly travellers. They are the nearest major places with leisure or work.

Wolverhampton is an irrelevance to Northampton (and vice versa). The reason such a service does operate is usually for rostering and route knowledge reasons.


There isn't the capacity to run more services between Coventry and New Street - it's the reason why the LNW London - Birmingham services have stops between Coventry & International - because there isn't the capacity to run any more along there. Go and stand on the platforms at somewhere like Marston Green and you'll very quickly understand the point.


Right. So just because somewhere else has these things Northampton should just be virtue of its size? Canterbury's a poor comparison in many ways (and yes, I do know the area).

The question you (and others who keep campaigning for such links for Northampton) keep failing to address is whether there is the demand. You've suggested it would give an "alternative link to London" - so what? If you were running to Marylebone you'd be looking at a 90-120 minute journey time, 50% more than at present - does it deliver you somewhere more convenient or useful in London? Not a chance - you can walk from Euston - Marylebone in 15 minutes. Same with the mad suggestion (not yours) to reinstate the Bedford - Northampton line and extend Thameslink services to Northampton - again a 90-120 minute journey time delivering you to a point you can walk from Euston in 5 minutes.

The only suggestion you've made which I think does make sense is Roade station - there's alot of housebuilding in the area and Roade is closer to Towcester (another place which is getting alot of houses) than either Northampton or MKC.

Totally agreed that Northampton should be grateful for it's London, Birmingham, and Coventry services. It's better than most towns get. But it deserves more given it's population, city status bid, jobs, and growth. A direct link to Shrewsbury via Telford Central, for example, wouldn't just introduce new services to three quite major towns (incl. Dudley) and one major city (Wolverhampton), but also increase the number of services to Birmingham New St, running as a faster style of service.

Post-HS2, there will be that capacity between Coventry and New St that we've been waiting for, and trust me, I know. I travel between Northampton and New St quite regularly.

I know the group that are campaigning for the reinstatement of that line. I think a much more sensible suggestion is Northampton - Wellingborough, allowing direct services to Kettering, Corby, Market Harborough, Leicester and beyond (connecting Northampton to it's own region), plus the ability to run to Bedford anyway.

Roade is certainly an important candidate for a new station given it's growth and proximity to Towcester.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2021 ==

Again, post HS2 things will be different.

To note, these are all post-HS2 concepts. You won't get much more, if anything, between Coventry and New St before then, without some major infrastructure upgrades.

 

[londonteacher]

Not everywhere needs services to everywhere.

 

[cr767055]

Not everywhere needs services to everywhere.

I agree places like Evesham and Ilkeston and Wellingborough could come under "everywhere", but Northampton is quite a major town, and comparing it to similarly sized settlements, it's really lacking - mostly thanks to it's rail geography.

 

[A0]

Totally agreed that Northampton should be grateful for it's London, Birmingham, and Coventry services. It's better than most towns get. But it deserves more given it's population, city status bid, jobs, and growth. A direct link to Shrewsbury via Telford Central, for example, wouldn't just introduce new services to three quite major towns (incl. Dudley) and one major city (Wolverhampton), but also increase the number of services to Birmingham New St, running as a faster style of service.

But all of those destinations fail the "so what" test. People aren't going to start communting between Northampton and Telford. Most people in Northampton have probably never been to Telford and have no reason for doing so. Such a link has no value.

Post-HS2, there will be that capacity between Coventry and New St that we've been waiting for, and trust me, I know. I travel between Northampton and New St quite regularly.

.

That's TBC - in theory it means the Avanti WC paths are up for grabs, but there's only 3 of those - and there's a small matter that they provide Milton Keynes with a direct link to the West Mids, which HS2 does nothing to change.

I know the group that are campaigning for the reinstatement of that line. I think a much more sensible suggestion is Northampton - Wellingborough, allowing direct services to Kettering, Corby, Market Harborough, Leicester and beyond (connecting Northampton to it's own region), plus the ability to run to Bedford anyway.

And that group has zero grasp on reality. I've seen boxes of frogs which are more sane and sensible than their proposals.

You can forget Northampton - Wellingborough as well, the trackbed has gone and the area it runs along floods quite successfully - including quite spectacularly last Christmas. There is no other practical route - and the bus service between Northampton & Wellingborough is more than sufficient and has the merit of serving places like Earls Barton which the railway line couldn't.

And there's no capacity to run more up the MML - see other threads on that one.

Roade is certainly an important candidate for a new station given it's growth and proximity to Towcester.
.

I think Roade *might* just pass a business case, but I doubt it would be by much.

To note, these are all post-HS2 concepts. You won't get much more, if anything, between Coventry and New St before then, without some major infrastructure upgrades.

And the only infrastructure upgrade which would be worth having is 4 track - but since Santa doesn't exist it's safe to say that one won't be happening with the West Mids getting HS2.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2021 ==

I agree places like Evesham and Ilkeston and Wellingborough could come under "everywhere", but Northampton is quite a major town, and comparing it to similarly sized settlements, it's really lacking - mostly thanks to it's rail geography.

No, you're comparing Northampton with other "similar" size towns by one metric - rail connectivity and then arguing that solves the town's problems.

What you're not doing is demonstrating there is any need for these links. Somebody using such links twice a year really doesn't cut it.

And who do you think these links are for the benefit of? Northampton or the destinations?

If you think it will somehow make Northampton an attractive place to commute to, you're wrong. Look where most of the jobs are sited - all more than 10 minutes walk from the station. Who are the major employers in Northampton? Where do their people travel from? - you don't know any of those things, because if you did you'd realise your ideas solve none of their challenges.

 

[30907]

Assuming that post HS2 Euston-Birmingham classic service is half hourly, and that non-commuter traffic returns to growth, then the priorities for Northampton would be:
1. to Birmingham half-hourly, fast COV-International-BHM. Possibly form a Wolves or Walsall/Rugeley stopper, no further.
2. To Euston half-hourly, fast MKC-Watford (probably continuation of 1)
3. Two more tph to MKC, continuing to 2 of - Euston semifast; West London Line; Oxford (electrified!)
4. Possibly 1tph via the Trent Valley, but that would depend on there being demand for 2tph there. If not, to Rugby - unless the basic 2tph provides for all the connections at Rugby. (If it's operationally convenient, 4tph to Rugby is fine but extremely generous).

(Long Buckby and Wolverton served by at least 1 fast Euston ph, and at least 2tph overall.)