All Line Rover
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- 17 Feb 2011
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Currently the final "fast" London Midland Trent Valley departure from Euston is the 17:46.
From 12 Dec 2016, additional departures are being introduced at 19:46 and 20:46.
This is welcome, although I would question the lack of 21:46 and 22:46 departures.
Nonetheless, the 20:46 departure highlights just how slow the 22:00 departure, operated by the "intercity" Virgin Trains, is. Its schedule remains unchanged from December. Compared to the 20:46, it is slower to Milton Keynes, Rugby and Nuneaton. Then, despite skipping stations such as Atherstone and not going on a detour via Stoke on Trent (unlike the 20:46), the journey time to the mutual destination - Crewe - is a mere 7 minutes faster than the 20:46: 2h 17m versus 2h 24m.
If the 20:46 no longer went on a detour via Stoke on Trent (as is planned for the future by the DfT for all LM Trent Valley services), the 350 Desiro would be faster than the 221 "Super" Voyager despite calling at more stations!
It's not that all late evening Virgin Trains services are slow. The 21:40 to Manchester runs non-stop to Stoke on Trent in a mere 1h 24m, which is the fastest journey time available from Euston to Stoke.
Would it not make more sense for London Midland to operate 21:46 and 22:46 departures, with the 22:00 being re-timed to run fast to Crewe and then through to Manchester (as used to be the case)? At present, the last clockface departure to Manchester is the 21:40 (arrival: 23:50), with the following departure not being until 23:00 and not arriving into Manchester until 2am. It seems to be a regular occurrence for business passengers to miss the 21:40 and be forced to have their journey considerably lengthened.
From 12 Dec 2016, additional departures are being introduced at 19:46 and 20:46.
This is welcome, although I would question the lack of 21:46 and 22:46 departures.
Nonetheless, the 20:46 departure highlights just how slow the 22:00 departure, operated by the "intercity" Virgin Trains, is. Its schedule remains unchanged from December. Compared to the 20:46, it is slower to Milton Keynes, Rugby and Nuneaton. Then, despite skipping stations such as Atherstone and not going on a detour via Stoke on Trent (unlike the 20:46), the journey time to the mutual destination - Crewe - is a mere 7 minutes faster than the 20:46: 2h 17m versus 2h 24m.
If the 20:46 no longer went on a detour via Stoke on Trent (as is planned for the future by the DfT for all LM Trent Valley services), the 350 Desiro would be faster than the 221 "Super" Voyager despite calling at more stations!
It's not that all late evening Virgin Trains services are slow. The 21:40 to Manchester runs non-stop to Stoke on Trent in a mere 1h 24m, which is the fastest journey time available from Euston to Stoke.
Would it not make more sense for London Midland to operate 21:46 and 22:46 departures, with the 22:00 being re-timed to run fast to Crewe and then through to Manchester (as used to be the case)? At present, the last clockface departure to Manchester is the 21:40 (arrival: 23:50), with the following departure not being until 23:00 and not arriving into Manchester until 2am. It seems to be a regular occurrence for business passengers to miss the 21:40 and be forced to have their journey considerably lengthened.