moderator note: posts #1-#3 originally in this thread.
I think you're mistaken about Avanti - there are quite alot of areas where they absolutely *are* providing a commuter railway, among others:
Macclesfield and Stoke to Manchester
Rugby and Coventry to Birmingham
Rugby and Milton Keynes to London
London to Milton Keynes
I suspect there may also be some commuter traffic into Glasgow which Avanti picks up.
As well as further afield commuters - I worked with somebody not that many years ago who's regular commute was Crewe (or Stoke, depending on how he felt) to MK or London.
If anything Avanti is more commuter focused than GWR - by virtue of the fact it serves the 3 largest cities in the UK.
The two requirements are mostly dealt with by different trains. Most users of Avanti West Coast, for example, are not commuters. And they are only a majority on GWR because of Reading.
The answer regarding short DMUs is that no long-distance mainline services should be being operated using short DMUs. They are for branch lines.
I would only really think the concept workable on long-distance services which don't tend to be in that position.
I think you're mistaken about Avanti - there are quite alot of areas where they absolutely *are* providing a commuter railway, among others:
Macclesfield and Stoke to Manchester
Rugby and Coventry to Birmingham
Rugby and Milton Keynes to London
London to Milton Keynes
I suspect there may also be some commuter traffic into Glasgow which Avanti picks up.
As well as further afield commuters - I worked with somebody not that many years ago who's regular commute was Crewe (or Stoke, depending on how he felt) to MK or London.
If anything Avanti is more commuter focused than GWR - by virtue of the fact it serves the 3 largest cities in the UK.
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