The problem with the current Euston - Glasgow stopping pattern is the tradeoff between providing as low as possible journey time between London and Glasgow and the need to serve intermediate stations. Ideally all Euston - Glasgow's would be non stop to Preston with a Euston - Preston "stopper" serving the intermediates such as Milton Keynes, Crewe Warrington and Wigan. The trouble with that is of course passengers from Wigan and Warrington would lose their fast services to Euston. With most timetables and stopping patterns you can't please everybody.
IMO they should do this complicated but practical resolution:
From Euston
1 Pendolino per 2 hours Express to Glasgow via Nuneaton (Calling at Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle)
1 Voyager per 2h Stopper to Glasgow via Nuneaton (Calling at Watford, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Tamworth, Lichfield TV, Stafford, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell and Glasgow Central)
1 Pendolino per 2 hours Express to Glasgow via Birmingham (Calling at Birmingham Intl, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhamton, Preston, Carlisle and Glasgow Central)
1 Pendolino per 2 hours Express to Edinburgh via Birmingham (Calling at Birmingham Intl, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Preston, Carlisle, Haymarket and Edinburgh)
1 Voyager per 2 hours Stopper to Glasgow via Birmingham (Calling at Watford, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham Intl, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell and Glasgow Central)
1 Voyager per 2 hours Stopper to Edinburgh via Birmingham (Calling at Watford, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham Intl, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wooverhampton, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Haymarket and Edinburgh)
I realise that fitting these diagrams into the current timetable would be a nightmare, but this is the service that I feel the WCML needs. I mean with 30 minute ECML departures to Scotland, I'm sure that the WCML could provide 3 trains per hour. I would send out 2 Glasgows and 1 Edinburgh service per hour, 2 via Birmingham (One stopper and one Express) and 1 via the Trent Valley route. The idea of the stopper voyagers would not be to ride the whole journey on the stopper (unless you want a
VERY long WCML ride)but to ride it to the nearest Express station and catch a 390 to your ultimate destination, although if it was me, I would ride the stopping voyagers, just for fun
