Hopefully as the goverment starts to level up the north this stop becoming the norm. Finger crossed we will start to see more six to eight car trains in the north like you encounter in and out of London. Sadly it may take some time to get the stock but investment in transport for the regions is at least now a priority.
I’m currently in Exeter having spent 8 days based in Penzance and then Exeter travelling around using a Devon and Cornwall Rover. I know that GWR are not perfect, but what a contrast I have found between local services here and the current situation with EMR when I’m at home.
Most trains I have been on have been at least 4 carriages and nicely refurbished 150’s, 158’s and the HST 4 carriage Castle Class Sets. Not once have I found a train full and standing but there has always been plenty of space. Lines like the Exmouth branch have 2tph and are mostly 4 car. There’s 2tph between Plymouth and Penzance with most trains being 4 or 5 carriages and some as many as 10. Most of the branch lines have at least a train every hour and even the long branch to Barsnsatple has a 3 carriage train every hour. These are just a few examples. Yet we keep hearing that EMR are still not able to even run an hourly service on a route linking the major cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Norwich and even then often with only with 2 carriage trains.
Tomorrow I travel back from Exeter and arrive in Derby at 1136. I have 25 minutes to wait in Derby for a connection to Nottingham as EMR are running reduced timetables. Then when I arrive in Nottingham at 1223 my Robin Hood Line train departs at 1225 so not much chance of that. Again a reduced timetable so another hour to wait in Nottingham. Welcome back to EMR. I’m absolutely fed up of sitting around on Nottingham Station as the current RHL service connects with nothing. The other week I arrived back from Manchester with almost an hour to wait. It’s the same with connections from Norwich. It’s not what people want at the end of a long journey and I don’t think the RHL timetable is going to improve before next May if ever.