Rail Ranger
Member
- Joined
- 20 Feb 2014
- Messages
- 610
Philip C,
This is only conjecture on my part but my guess would be that Northern have chosen to only implement the restrictions on non-PTE lines which are very heavily used in the peak, hence the Buxton line, Alderley Edge and the Harrogate and Skipton lines. They have not chosen the Macclesfield line because it has a two-tier service and most passengers for Macclesfield and Stoke use the fast trains. They have not chosen the mid-Cheshire line because it is not overcrowded in the evening peak. The restrictions are predicated on a gamble that many existing users of Off-Peak Day Returns and Cheap Evening Returns are prepared to pay more for their journeys. It could be argued that Cheap Evening Returns are ridiculously cheap but because they have never been adequately promoted all that happens is that people who would have travelled anyway pay a very low fare for their journeys.
This is only conjecture on my part but my guess would be that Northern have chosen to only implement the restrictions on non-PTE lines which are very heavily used in the peak, hence the Buxton line, Alderley Edge and the Harrogate and Skipton lines. They have not chosen the Macclesfield line because it has a two-tier service and most passengers for Macclesfield and Stoke use the fast trains. They have not chosen the mid-Cheshire line because it is not overcrowded in the evening peak. The restrictions are predicated on a gamble that many existing users of Off-Peak Day Returns and Cheap Evening Returns are prepared to pay more for their journeys. It could be argued that Cheap Evening Returns are ridiculously cheap but because they have never been adequately promoted all that happens is that people who would have travelled anyway pay a very low fare for their journeys.