But those DMU's were designed, if one were to think about it, for running under wires.....which non-electrified routes have 125 mph linespeed apart from GWML?
The Virgin HF model always had North Wales as a Voyager route......just like most Edinburgh trains.
I'm sorry, I just think you have a BIG problem with North Wales being on the IC network. Don't know why, but you do.
When the train from London gets to Chester it could go one of three ways.
To the left is Wrexham, largest town in North Wales (68,000).
To the right is the Wirral peninsula (312,293 lived in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral at the 2001 census)
Straight on is the North Wales Coast, where the biggest place is still only half the size of Wrexham.
Yeah, theres the ferry to Ireland, but the same could be said of Pembroke/ Fishguard; they only get a token London service. What London service do the port-towns of Stranraer or Heysham get?
At the moment Bangor has six direct trains to/from London a day; than Pembroke, Fishguard, Wrexham (the Wirral peninsula has none).
So, in the circumstances (and considering that XC are desperate for more Voyagers to add capacity to their crowded routes), can you justify six trains a day from London to the North Wales coast?
As I said earlier on the thread, Im in favour of retaining some direct service to Holyhead, but this could be worked by a London West Midlands Telford Shrewsbury Wrexham Holyhead service (either stopping at New Street in place of an ATW Birmingham Shrewsbury service, or running via Walsall as Virgin wanted, since its 174,994 population have no London service either).
You could run the existing early morning service from Birmingham (currently 05.30) to Holyhead, do a return trip to London then back to Birmingham (current service arrives at 22.50). That way the Voyager can be maintained at Central Rivers by XC, run on hire to Virgin and swapped daily with other XC units.