Good question. I think we have lost our mojo a bit with respect to mainline connections but there were mitigating factors. For our core service pattern (sounds pretentious, but keep with me), we reduced from four to three round trips and, in turn, extended both the journey time and the turnaround time at each end. The reduction in service was a no-messing prevention of running fresh air (last train of the day blues), while the extended running and turnaround times were a combination of a move to locomotive haulage (DMUs are so darned convenient!) time to take on water and, with an increasing move towards dining services, the desire to give diners a little more time. Add to that general post-pandemic changes to the Matlock Service (EMR were messed-around horribly with their vehicle allocations and were forced to change their timetables) and gradually our connections fell into the ‘fir where it touches’ pattern.
I want to see how we can change this. It is still technically possible to purchase a through ticket to Wirksworth but I can’t go charging up to the TOCs and demand they start promoting our tickets. It will be a slow job but it’s worth the effort.
Neil