Recent content by al green

EEH has been campaigning for a MK-OOC service via Ayl, PR, HW for about 5 years. Surprised no-one has mentioned it in this thread. See https://eeh-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/31774_The_Case_for_Northampton_to_Old_Oak_Common_v2.pdf Much more useful than to MYB.

Not always. The 300 that was introduced to serve Broughton and Brooklands about 15 years ago still operates (now renumbered 3/3A). It was subsidised via s106/tarriff for about first 5 years. There was a trigger clause in the planning permission that said that buses should start operating when...

Insufficient capacity. Yes you can currently reverse in P5. However it is also used to terminate Marston vale all-stations service and is the only way in or out of southern end of carriage sidings and for anything looped into Bletchley relief 2 line. So need some other platforms to be reversible...

I have been trying to convince EWR Co, EEH, DfT, etc of this for years. The new high level platforms at Bletchley are reversible from the Oxford direction but not from the Bedford direction. At the TWAO inquiry in 2019 I argued that they should be reversible from both directions so that trains...

It does occasionally happen. I was on a down LNR scheduled to use P3. The lift on P3/4 was broken and there was a pax in a wheelchair on board wanting to alight. so train was put in to P2, with working lift. Crossed back to down slow at north end of platforms.

I flushed the following info out from NR during the TWAO inquiry in 2019. Q3. What is the cost of replacing those existing bridges between Bicester and Bletchley that would need to be replaced/subject to some works to enable electrification but which are not currently proposed to be replaced...

Mayor Tom was talking his usual bollocks. He claimed there was no liaison by EWR with parish councils. I live about 5 miles from the line and I'm on a EWR parish council liaison group.

On the instruction of DfT.

From a WMT newsletter on Monday: "We are making good progress on our train crew training programmes as we look to reinstate the full timetable on the Marston Vale Line. We expect to reinstate the full timetable by the end of January and will make an announcement regarding the precise date as...

During the EWR TWAO public inquiry I asked a couple of questions about this. Questions and responses from NR below. From Inquiry Doc NR 211 3. The cost of replacing those existing bridges between Bicester and Bletchley that would need to be replaced/subject to some works to enable...

No Longer true. Almost all LNR now run as 8 car - see latest TT which has no of cars for each train. Of the few that are 12 car none of them start or terminate at Bletchley, which was when they used to use P5. Even if a 12 car did use P5 it would only block the crossover for a few minutes

It doesn't need to wait for a N-E chord at Bletchley. Trains can reverse in P5 at Bletchley and go from Marston vale to WCML and vv. This would add about 5 mins to journey time, compared to a chord, but improve connectivity. This facility was built some years ago for MV stoppers to be extended...

There was proposal to run the XC S'ton-Manc service via EWR and WCML to avoid delays in Birmingham area. However this was scuppered by the 3 track section of WCML north of Rugby. There was an hourly path for a southbound XC but no path for northbound.

I was on one of the new units yesterday. Thankfully that isn't the new livery! Nicely done inside and out but you can't disguise the fact that its a 38 year old train.

I expect that extra change at Oxford won't be required because EWR will go on to Didcot, replacing the OXf-DID shuttle. That also eases platform capacity issues at Oxford. Post HS2 more fast trains on WCML will call at MKC.