Services That Really Should Exist...

[Fred26]

Kings Cross
Stevenage
Peterborough
Grantham
Newark North Gate
Retford
Doncaster

Twice hourly. Connect with a Leeds train at Doncaster on one train and an Edinburgh on the other. The Grand Central and Hull services would also connect at Doncaster. As a result, I'd pull out all East Coast services from stations south of Doncaster, running them fast to Kings Cross. I think, ultimately, it'd give better connections to The north of England and Scotland for many.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Kings Cross
Stevenage
Peterborough
Grantham
Newark North Gate
Retford
Doncaster

Twice hourly. Connect with a Leeds train at Doncaster on one train and an Edinburgh on the other. The Grand Central and Hull services would also connect at Doncaster. As a result, I'd pull out all East Coast services from stations south of Doncaster, running them fast to Kings Cross. I think, ultimately, it'd give better connections to The north of England and Scotland for many.

Doubt you would ever wipe Peterborough or Grantyham off the IC map, it would also be a major incovenience for Leeds passengers at Newark etc, what with their current hourly service. Leeds-Kings Cross trains don't really need to be last stop Doncaster IMO.

 

[Mintona]

Ramsgate > Canterbury West > Ashford Intl > Tonbridge > Sevenoaks > London Bridge > Blackfriars > City Thameslink > Farringdon > St. Pancras > Finsbury Park > Potters Bar > Welwyn Garden City > Stevanage > Hitchin > Letchworth Garden City > Cambridge.

Dover Priory > Canterbury East > Faversham > Sittingbourne > Gillingham > Chatham > Strood > Gravesend > Greenhithe > Dartford > London Bridge > Blackfriars > City Thameslink > Farringdon > St. Pancras > Finsbury Park > Potters Bar > Welwyn Garden City > Stevanage > Hitchin > Arlesey > Biggleswade > Sandy > St. Neots > Huntingdon > Peterborough.

Or have I pretty much just dreamt up "Thameslink"?

Extend hi-speed services to Heathrow via the NLL.

 

[Damien1986]

Interesting service. Would you not think it would be better to run it as an EMU to take advantage of the wires? Do you also consider there to be a demand for it in the first place?

If there were emus that conveyed first class acommodation and could take a trolley service then yes but most emus are standard class only so no I would stick with a dmu. Years ago there were plenty of opportunities to undertake a direct journey from Motherwell to Carlisle throughout the day but now you only have occasional stops at Motherwell whilst the rest of the time you would have to go into Glasgow to get a train!

 

[Fred26]

Doubt you would ever wipe Peterborough or Grantyham off the IC map, it would also be a major incovenience for Leeds passengers at Newark etc, what with their current hourly service. Leeds-Kings Cross trains don't really need to be last stop Doncaster IMO.

It's a bit of fun though, isn't it?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It's a bit of fun though, isn't it?

I suppose...

What about a VT service Euston, Watford Jn, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Stafford, Warrington BQ, Wigan NW and Preston hourly?

 

[Lampshade]

Let's have an always-running circular service around England from Newcastle back to Newcastle via the ECML, NLL & Waterloo to Reading Line, GWML, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham, WCML to Carlisle and Tyne Valley Line back to Newcastle



Not Crewe? hock:

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Let's have an always-running circular service around England from Newcastle back to Newcastle via the ECML, NLL & Waterloo to Reading Line, GWML, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham, WCML to Carlisle and Tyne Valley Line back to Newcastle



Not Crewe? hock:

And add 6 mins onto my precious new service? NEVER. In hindsight, I left it out because of its current hourly service to WBQ/WGN/PRE, whereas the others mentioned don't have any at all, but thinking about it, yes it should call at Crewe.

 

[tbtc]

What about a VT service Euston, Watford Jn, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Stafford, Warrington BQ, Wigan NW and Preston hourly?

There's an argument for augmenting the LM London - Crewe service with a similar one.

Maybe London - Watford - Milton Keynes - Northampton - Rugby - Trent Valley Stations - Stafford - Crewe - Warrington (hourly)

and London - Watford - Milton Keynes - Rugby - Trent Valley Stations - Stafford - Stoke - Crewe - Warrington (hourly)?

(possibly extend both to Wigan/Preston?)

It gives all the (medium/big) stations on the southern half of the WCML a decent service, it allows for long distance Virgin services to be speeded up and it allows a lot of journeys with just one connection.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

(possibly extend both to Wigan/Preston?)

Yep, definately, terminating at Warrington would only be of any use to anyone wanting Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown or Helsby etc, Wigan and Preston extentions would benefit West Lancs, East Lancs and Blackpool etc, with better connections for London services

 

[tbtc]

Yep, definately, terminating at Warrington would only be of any use to anyone wanting Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown or Helsby etc, Wigan and Preston extentions would benefit West Lancs, East Lancs and Blackpool etc, with better connections for London services

I was thinking Warrington because that'd be "first stop" on the London - Glasgow services (it is on many at the moment), plus WArrington - PReston is two trains per hour already

I suppose when the wires are up you could run these services to Warrington then one continues Earlestown - Liverpool and the other Earlestown - Manchester?

 

[Lampshade]

I think the FNW London services should make a comeback with something like this:

Rochdale (or Bolton) - Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Airport - Alderley Edge - Tamworth - Nuneaton - Northampton - Watford Junction - London Euston

In the case of Bolton, maybe it could run fast from Barrow/Blackpool/Blackburn.

 

[imagination]

On a slightly more serious note to my last post on here:

During the Henley Regatta week - London - Henley on Thames stopping only at Twyford (for connections to Reading and to make timetabling with the Twyford-Henley shuttle train easier). Going backwards and forwards constantly all day.

FGW doesnt seem inclined to put in any additional direct trains (or additional trains from Twyford at all for that matter) for the week though...

 

[Aictos]

How about introducing a extended Manchester Airport to Edinburgh service via Newcastle being operated by TPE either all the way or let TPE operate it between Manchester and Newcastle with FSR operating it between Newcastle and Edinburgh like the Northern/FSR Newcastle to Glasgow services via Carlisle for example.

Or one which would lead to the speeding up of the East Coast services between York and Edinburgh alone would be to extend the XC Newcastle services to Edinburgh and Glasgow with the XC or TPE/FSR calling at the stations on the way leaving East Coast to speed up their services, all in the name of competition with Virgin,

On the York to Edinburgh part of the ECML, the following would apply:

East Coast to call only at York, Newcastle, Edinburgh.

XC to call Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick upon Tweed, Dunbar and Edinburgh.

TPE/FSR to call Thirsk, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick upon Tweed, Dunbar and Edinburgh.

The TPE/FSR could be cut back to start at terminate at Leeds instead of Manchester and leave the Manchester TPE services to use the WCML.

Dunbar would regain it's second platform and would be sited on the Down side of the station with a loop being put in to serve it, meaning Northbound services would no longer be required to crossover to the existing single platform, the layout would be exactly the same as it currently is but with a platform on the Down side.

The daily Hull service operated by East Coast would cease and the paths taken over by Hull Trains, The daily Bradford service operated by East Coast would cease and the paths taken over by Grand Central using Bradford Interchange however all is not lost as the East Coast operated East Coast services would be extended alternatively to Skipton and Harrogate providing the OHL power supply is upgraded on the Skipton route and the line between York and Leeds via Harrogate is electrified.

Virgin would also offer services alternating between Blackpool and Lancaster with the 390s being dragged to Blackpool like the 390s are dragged to Holyhead offering Lancashire more direct links to London.

 

[ainsworth74]

Let's have an always-running circular service around England from Newcastle back to Newcastle via the ECML, NLL & Waterloo to Reading Line, GWML, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham, WCML to Carlisle and Tyne Valley Line back to Newcastle

Come now, why not simply have an Anglo-Scottish circular? Same all the way to Carlisle then head off to Glasgow Central reverse back to Edinburgh and then back to Newcastle. If were going to think big then we might as well think really big

 

[LE Greys]

It'd be one hell of a shift for the driver...

Any split-box Class 40s out there where the end doors still work? Bit noisy when changing over, but probably possible if you're fairly skinny. (I'm not serious, Health and Safety would go nuts).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

How about introducing a extended Manchester Airport to Edinburgh service via Newcastle being operated by TPE either all the way or let TPE operate it between Manchester and Newcastle with FSR operating it between Newcastle and Edinburgh like the Northern/FSR Newcastle to Glasgow services via Carlisle for example.

I quite like the idea of that. I've sometimes wondered about merging TPE with XC, so that it would be possible to use stock interchangeably and replace all the XC 170s with 185s and put additional 220s on anything that uses long sections of the ECML (perhaps the 221s on the WCML if you reactivate the tilt). On a service like this, you really need something that's good for 125. This would be a decent way of doing something similar without a complete merger, and would probably be cheaper as well.

Or one which would lead to the speeding up of the East Coast services between York and Edinburgh alone would be to extend the XC Newcastle services to Edinburgh and Glasgow with the XC or TPE/FSR calling at the stations on the way leaving East Coast to speed up their services, all in the name of competition with Virgin,

I like the idea of that, if it's possible to get to something like a regular 4 hrs 20 for the Edinburgh expresses. Trouble is, Morpeth, Alnmouth and Dunbar would all complain about losing their London link (you'd still get a few ECs stopping at Berwick). Still, rearranging the stops would make it easier to get between the stations for local travel so it's really better that way.

On the York to Edinburgh part of the ECML, the following would apply:

East Coast to call only at York, Newcastle, Edinburgh.

XC to call Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick upon Tweed, Dunbar and Edinburgh.

TPE/FSR to call Thirsk, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick upon Tweed, Dunbar and Edinburgh.

Might be worth adding Chathill as well, giving it a direct service to Berwick and northwards as well as south.

The TPE/FSR could be cut back to start at terminate at Leeds instead of Manchester and leave the Manchester TPE services to use the WCML.

Dunbar would regain it's second platform and would be sited on the Down side of the station with a loop being put in to serve it, meaning Northbound services would no longer be required to crossover to the existing single platform, the layout would be exactly the same as it currently is but with a platform on the Down side.

The daily Hull service operated by East Coast would cease and the paths taken over by Hull Trains, The daily Bradford service operated by East Coast would cease and the paths taken over by Grand Central using Bradford Interchange however all is not lost as the East Coast operated East Coast services would be extended alternatively to Skipton and Harrogate providing the OHL power supply is upgraded on the Skipton route and the line between York and Leeds via Harrogate is electrified.

Virgin would also offer services alternating between Blackpool and Lancaster with the 390s being dragged to Blackpool like the 390s are dragged to Holyhead offering Lancashire more direct links to London.

All good ideas. I'm not sure about the loss of the Hull Exec though (unless Hull Trains doubles up on that service and starts providing a full breakfast). The Bradford train (I still call it the Yorkshire Pullman) also happens to be a very quick run as well. Still, there's no reason why GC can't put an HST set on it, ideally with a full meal service. Call it the Yorkshire Zephyr.

 

[12CSVT]

Edinburgh - Drem - Dunbar - Berwick - Morperth - Newcastle - Hexham - Haltwhistle - Carlisle, leaving Edinburgh about 0800, return working leaving Carlisle about 1530.
Hauled by 55022 (a working which sometimes produced Deltics in 1981).
Or if not available 40145 or 45112 (if still main line certified) would be ideal substitutes.

 

[Scotty]

Connect Cleethorpes with Skegness and have a circular route via Boston, Sleaford, Lincoln and Grimsby going both ways

 

[Damien1986]

In regards to North Clyde services, if there was major engineering work on the line affecting Airdrie,Springburn,Edinburgh etc instead of diverting trains to run to Milngavie or terminate at Bridgeton we could have an enhanced Argyle Line service as follows
Monday to Saturday
23 minutes past the hour Lanark to Helensburgh Central via Shieldmuir,Bellshill and Yoker.
16 minutes past the hour Motherwell to Helensburgh Central via Bellshill and Yoker
(Lanark/Motherwell to Milngavie via Blantyre services run as normal)
07 and 37 minutes past the hour Larkhall to Balloch via Singer

Sunday
22 and 52 minutes past the hour Larkhall to Helensburgh Central via Singer
(Lanark/Motherwell to Milngavie via Bellshill and Motherwell to Balloch via Blantyre and Yoker services run as normal)

In addition the following peak time services(Monday to Friday) would apply
0737 Larkhall to Helensburgh Central via Yoker
0723 Lanark to Balloch express via Shieldmuir and Singer
1728 Coatbridge Central to Balloch express via Blantyre and Singer
1756 Coatbridge Central to Balloch express via Bellshill and Singer

Return
Monday to Friday
23 minutes past the hour Dalmuir to Lanark via Yoker,Bellshill and Shieldmuir starts Helensburgh Central 58 minutes past the hour
53 minutes past the hour Dalmuir to Motherwell via Yoker and Bellshill starts Helensburgh Central 28 minutes past the hour.
01 and 31 minutes past the hour Dalmuir to Larkhall via Singer start at Balloch at 39 and 09 minutes past the hour

Sunday
25 and 55 minutes past the hour Helensburgh Central to Airdrie via Singer diverted from Partick to run to Larkhall via Glasgow Central and Blantyre arriving Larkhall at 45 and 15 minutes past the hour.

The following peak time services would apply Monday to Friday
1639 Balloch to Carstairs via Singer,Bellshill and Shieldmuir
1628 Helensburgh Central to Coatbridge Central via Yoker and Blantyre.



The above ideas would save diversions and cancellations and would provide journey oppertunites to travel from South/North Lanarkshire to Loch Lomond and Argyllshire.