Recent content by daodao

Unless such a service is diverted to penetrate the city centre properly, it would be a white elephant.

I made a similar journey in the reverse direction in the early 90s and changed at Chester for Hale on the ex-CLC line. Fortunately I didn't need to travel on the Pacer all the way to Manchester. It was definitely worse than a similar journey I made in 1986 from Llandudno to Manchester via...

There will now be an alternative way of travelling from Manchester and East Lancashire to Settle and Horton, courtesy of a new bus service (route 11) running 2-hourly Mon-Sat from Clitheroe Station (with rail connections). The new rail services are also publicised on the Dalesbus website...

It doesn't need HS2 to justify LNWR running the Manchester-Birmingham segment as an inter-regional emu service. It would reduce diesel "running under the wires" and free up Voyagers for use elsewhere by XC on non-electrified lines.

The Wilmslow Road services 42/42A/42B/42C/142/147 are run by Hyde Road depot. Only services 43/143 that run along Palatine Road, joining Wilmslow Road at Withington, are run from Sharston depot. Queens Road depot is very close to the current route of service 41 so it is not illogical for it to...

I know this is a speculative thread, but some of the suggestions on this thread for redeploying the class 350s that are supposedly "surplus to requirements" are frankly implausible. There appears to be an excess of mid-life emus that are not yet worn out and a shortage of dmus. Therefore the...

The trams now used on the MSJ&A line don't have toilets.

Back in the day, most suburban emus were completely non-corridor compartmentalised (e.g. the class 505 used on the MSJ&A line) or at best gangwayed non-corridor (some of those used on the South London lines, when I was a student in London in the 1970s), so there were no toilets at all. The...

I visited Lytham Hall a couple of months ago (to see the snowdrops) and then made a bus journey to Blackpool town centre and back (route 11 in, route 68 back). I was quite impressed with both services and their frequency, although the journey took quite a long time (over 30 minutes). Both...

This is why I would argue for the Manchester Piccadilly to Birmingham segment to be removed from XC and run by 8-coach emus under another TOC. There are a significant number of spare emu trains currently deemed surplus to requirements, not the least the class 350 units. IMO, there should be no...

The issue is identifying the least worst option for XC with its shortage of capacity by focussing on its key SW-NE route through Birmingham. I am fully aware that Leeds is not a rural backwater - I was born there, although brought up in Manchester. However, the rail services Leeds now has...

There would still be 4tph Leeds-York and 4tph York-Newcastle with 1tph through service Leeds-Newcastle.

Belle Vue route 280 is wholly within Greater Manchester and is part of the Trafford small franchise that has been awarded to Diamond (Rotala). Warrington buses have ceased operating via Dunham as the roads are unsuitable for the larger buses that they use.

South Wales to the Midlands requires the use of XC, but for South Wales to Scotland/NW England/Yorkshire one can use the North and West main line (the Marches route) with direct services to Chester/Crewe/Wilmslow/Stockport/Manchester or for other major destinations mostly requiring just one...

The issue with XC is that it has insufficient rolling stock, so it has to be used most effectively. It is the main operator between Bristol and Derby (the old Midland main line) and this route has to be its primary focus. With respect to services to the Yorkshire/North-East/Scotland, and...