Instead of one train running from A to B and splitting to serve C and D, you must now run one train from A to C and another from A to D.
This results in more trains being run and thus more drivers being required.
I see what you're getting at, but in the first scenario you still need the additional Driver to work the split portion forward. I can see this being beneficial at somewhere like Georgmas Jct where a train splits to go to Wick and Thurso respectively, but not on less rural parts of the network. I concede that additional paths will need to be created though.
The service currently runs as four carriages between Nottingham and Liverpool, with two carriages east of Nottingham normally being easily sufficient for loadings.
Under this proposal you would have to run four carriages throughout or split the service, neither of which are really viable options.
As someone who works regularly over both sections of the route i would suggest that both are very viable options. 2 coaches on the Norwich sector can just about cope on an average day, but there will still be a lot of luggage in the gangways so 4 cars would'nt really be a massive overkill.
As regards splitting the service at Nottingham, this may well be a real possibility if the EMT franchise ends up being carved up.
Because he could only check one unit's tickets between each station, meaning that half the train or more would definitely not have its tickets checked.
They would with an ATE or RPI in the other portion, plus there are more barriered stations about these days.
So... essentially you don't care if they are completely eliminated because they are not directly employed by the railway?
No reason why an additional trolley couldn't be on the front portion, with the pittance the companies pay their staff it wouldn't hit profits too much, but on the Liverpool-Norwich run it's hit or miss whether you get a trolley on in the first place, and even then not on the Norwich sector.
This does not occur in the case of the Liverpool-Norwich as the extra two carriages are normally attached to the next train to Liverpool to run back.
But either way, if your train can be cut in half easily that means that one half of the train could be sent back to the depot and the off peak time becomes maintenance time for up to half the fleet.
Correct insofar as the Nor-Liv route is concerned, but this creates it's own problems with unit shunts causing congestion in the station (extra Driver required for this!) Frequent coupling problems causing delays, and the age old problem of passengers being in the wrong portion of the train despite frequent announcements and gangways between the 158's.
Maintenence time is already factored in and planned, so the additional portion will be sitting idle unless it has a defect that requires urgent attention. Additional maintenance will require additional fitters unless planned maintenence is to be impacted.
Voyagers were never meant to run doubled up in service, doing so is actually extremely cost inefficient, and as far as I know the reason doubled up Meridian runs occur these days is because EMT recieved the Hull Trains Class 222s as capacity enhancement and they would only be able to use half the carriages if they had just chopped and changed the intermediate carriages.
Intercity trains need gangways if running in multiple even more than short distance units, thanks to catering duplication and such, but this is made far more difficult with the problems with having a flat front on a train built for 125mph.
The 222's have run doubled up since before the Hull Trains units arrived.
150's, Pacers, 170's etc etc, all run regulary in multiple with few problems caused by the lack of gangways. We did it ourselves on the Liverpools for a long time when we had 170's, and XC do it frequently on the Cardiff's.
