I couldn't find any open threads about this topic, but if I'm wrong, please tell me as well as send me one that's open.
With CrossCountry getting 7 (i think?) new Voyagers from Avanti I was thinking how we could improve XC's timetable with them.
What I would do first is increase the frequency of the Reading-Newcastle trains to hourly from 5 per day, and perhaps run some or all of them via Coventry as this only adds on 8 minutes which we could knock off from the 17 spent at Derby. We could also have them call at Chesterfield, Burton and Tamworth, which, again, can be knocked off from the time spent at Derby. We could also have a couple of these services extended to Bournemouth, Guildfordor even Ramsgate.
Speaking of Reading-Newcastle, we could have some more Edinburgh-Plymouth services running via Doncaster. This would make Leeds station feel less crowded.
We could also extend all the Manchester-Bristol trains to Paignton and have 1tp2h call at Weston-super-Mare. Some of these services could also run to Plymouth or Penzance instead. I'm sure CrossCountry once thought about (and did) extending Manchester-Bristol trains to Exeter.
Another thing I would do is make sure that all Voyager services are made up of at least 5 coaches (8 coaches for Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen-Plymouth/Penzance services), and the 4 car units can be coupled to form 8-car services. Nobody wants to be standing for 10 hours from Edinburgh to Penzance on a 4-car 220. That 1 extra coach can make all the difference.
Same thing with the Turbostars. Minimum 3 coaches (4 for full Cardiff-Nottingham and Birmingham-Stansted services). Declassify First Class as well for extra capacity.
I know that my ideas will never be considered, let alone them happening. 12 5-car voyagers does not seem like enough to make all these ideas come to life. But remember, this is about ideas/suggestions, not about what will actually happen.
With CrossCountry getting 7 (i think?) new Voyagers from Avanti I was thinking how we could improve XC's timetable with them.
What I would do first is increase the frequency of the Reading-Newcastle trains to hourly from 5 per day, and perhaps run some or all of them via Coventry as this only adds on 8 minutes which we could knock off from the 17 spent at Derby. We could also have them call at Chesterfield, Burton and Tamworth, which, again, can be knocked off from the time spent at Derby. We could also have a couple of these services extended to Bournemouth, Guildford
Speaking of Reading-Newcastle, we could have some more Edinburgh-Plymouth services running via Doncaster. This would make Leeds station feel less crowded.
We could also extend all the Manchester-Bristol trains to Paignton and have 1tp2h call at Weston-super-Mare. Some of these services could also run to Plymouth or Penzance instead. I'm sure CrossCountry once thought about (and did) extending Manchester-Bristol trains to Exeter.
Another thing I would do is make sure that all Voyager services are made up of at least 5 coaches (8 coaches for Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen-Plymouth/Penzance services), and the 4 car units can be coupled to form 8-car services. Nobody wants to be standing for 10 hours from Edinburgh to Penzance on a 4-car 220. That 1 extra coach can make all the difference.
Same thing with the Turbostars. Minimum 3 coaches (4 for full Cardiff-Nottingham and Birmingham-Stansted services). Declassify First Class as well for extra capacity.
I know that my ideas will never be considered, let alone them happening. 12 5-car voyagers does not seem like enough to make all these ideas come to life. But remember, this is about ideas/suggestions, not about what will actually happen.