FANTASY: If you could change or make modifications to the franchise services what would they be?

[Jorge Da Silva]

If I was in charge of the future of services within the franchises I would do the following

TransPennine Franchise:

• Introduction of a new Liverpool to Hull service
• Introduction of a new Liverpool to Glasgow/Edinburgh via Preston
• Extending Newcastle services to Edinburgh (as planned currently)
• Transfer Windermere services to the franchise
• Introduction of a new Blackpool to Hull via Colne and Skipton Rail Link
• New direct service from Bradford to Liverpool service

CrossCountry Franchise :

• Introduction of a new Liverpool to Bristol via Birmingham service
• Introduction of a new Liverpool to Reading via Birmingham service
• Extend Cardiff services to Swansea
• Extend Cardiff-Nottingham to Lincoln (forming a Swansea-Lincoln service)
• Extend Bournemouth services to Weymouth
• Extend Guildford daily service to Portsmouth Harbour and increase frequency to 8 trains per day
• Introduction of a new Bristol to Sheffield services via Swindon, Oxford, Bletchley, Bedford, Leicester, Derby and Chesterfield (after EWR2)
• A new service from Peterborough to Leeds via Sheffield
• A new Norwich to Plymouth service (After EWR3)
• A new service from Ashford International to Cardiff
• Transfer Birmingham-Stansted service to the East Midlands Franchise
• Transfer Birmingham-Leicester service to the East Midlands Franchise
• Transfer Birmingham-Nottingham service to the East Midlands Franchise
• New direct service from Hull to Swansea via Birmingham

East Midlands Franchise

• Extend Nottingham-Birmingham service to Lincoln
• Extend Grimsby-Lincoln Services Cleethorpes
• New Direct services from London St Pancras-Manchester Piccadilly
• Increase frequency of services from London St Pancras-Leeds
• Summer services from Skegness to London
• Nottingham to Coventry service via Leicester Nuneaton
• Extend Derby-Crewe services to Nottingham
• 2 Direct services from London to Lincoln (up from 1)

This is just a fantasy and not reality

 

[swt_passenger]

If I was in charge of the future of services within the franchises I would do the following

TransPennine Franchise:
CrossCountry Franchise :
East Midlands Franchise

This is just a fantasy and not reality

That’s true. It really is a waste of time posting this sort of stuff repeatedly.

There’s hardly anything original there either.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Northern:

• Transfer MIA - Blackpool & Windermere services back to TPE (or introduce better trains wiith better seats)
  
• Take over Chester - Crewe service from ATW (and reopen Beeston Castle)
  
• Introduce a Crewe - Blackpool North stopping service (And reopen Preston Brook & Golborne stations)
  
• Take over the T&W Metro

Transpennine:

• Take over the Blackpool & Windermere express services (order more 397's & electrify Windermere)
  
• Re-introduce a York - Blackpool North service (use 185's)
• Take over the Liverpool - Nottingham portion of Liverpool - Nowrich (order more 802's)
• Transfer MIA - Scotland services to the WCP

London Midland:

• Introduce a Birmingham International - Manchester Piccadilly service

West Coast Partnership:

• Take over the MIA - Scotland services from TPE (Use a mix of double Voyagers & 9 car Pendolino's)
• Transfer Euston - Holyhead services to Cross Country.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Northern:
Transpennine:

• Take over the Liverpool - Nottingham portion of Liverpool - Nowrich (order more 802's)

Could the Nottingham-Norwich portion of the Liverpool-Nottingham-Norwich route be extended to Sheffield or Leeds? Therefor forming a
Liverpool-Manchester-Sheffield-Derby-Nottingham (TPE)
Leeds-Sheffield-Derby-Nottingham-Peterborough-Norwich (EMT)

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Northern:

• Transfer MIA - Blackpool & Windermere services back to TPE (or introduce better trains wiith better seats)
  
• Take over Chester - Crewe service from ATW (and reopen Beeston Castle)
  
• Introduce a Crewe - Blackpool North stopping service (And reopen Preston Brook & Golborne stations)
  
• Take over the T&W Metro

Transpennine:

• Take over the Blackpool & Windermere express services (order more 397's & electrify Windermere)
  
• Re-introduce a York - Blackpool North service (use 185's)
• Take over the Liverpool - Nottingham portion of Liverpool - Nowrich (order more 802's)
• Transfer MIA - Scotland services to the WCP

London Midland:

• Introduce a Birmingham International - Manchester Piccadilly service

West Coast Partnership:

• Take over the MIA - Scotland services from TPE (Use a mix of double Voyagers & 9 car Pendolino's)
• Transfer Euston - Holyhead services to Cross Country.

Euston-Holyhead I would leave as WCP. London Northwestern Railway should Introduce a new London-Manchester semi-fast service to serve smaller stations.
I would reopen Roade, Castlethorpe, Weedon and Bilsworth on the WCML as well as a new station at Rugby Parkway. I would stop LNW services to Queens Park, Willesden Junction and Hatch End.

 

[RichJF]

Southeastern:
Take over Redhill - Tonbridge line as extension of Strood services (potential reintroduction of London Bridge services).
Introduce fast services on the SEML
1tph weekend services from Hastings via Redhill to Charing Cross

 

[nw1]

Said some of this before but:

SWR - leave many of the main-line off-peak services as they are with just a few modifications:

- Introduce that Southampton to Portsmouth semi fast to give a decent spread of services between the two cities. As a probably controversial step, if it helped enable this, I might consider reducing Southern services from Southampton to one an hour to avoid jamming the line, and make that one serve both Brighton (well, Hove) and Gatwick by rerouting it with a limited stop Swanwick, Fareham, Cosham, Havant, Chichester, Barnham, Worthing, Shoreham, Hove (quick connection to Brighton via a shuttle), Haywards Heath and Gatwick (and then on to London) with 8 coaches. This would also speed up journeys to Brighton (aside from the occasional GWR there are no principal-stops-only services along Coastway West right now), albeit with a change at Hove needed; this was IIRC the pattern in the 90s when the Solent line was first electrified.

- Two trains an hour, even interval, serving all stops from Eastleigh to Totton. One will be the existing Poole stopper, with additional stops at Swaythling, St Denys, Millbrook and Redbridge, and the other would be the existing Salisbury service, rerouted to a reopened Hythe and Fawley line. See the Swindon service below for its replacement to Salisbury.

- All Poole stoppers to call at Beaulieu Road.

- An hourly Southampton to Swindon (via Westbury and Melksham) calling at Romsey and then all stations.

- Speed up Alton line services a bit, these seem to suffer from bad pathing into Woking IIRC.

- Try and squeeze in more peak services out of Waterloo, e.g. 3 fasts to Southampton, and 6 down the Portsmouth Direct.

- Speed up the Readings (with half-hourly frequency off-peak retained) by running fast from Staines to Ascot. Serve the intermediate stations with a new through service to the Camberley line, combining with the Reading between London and Staines to provide an even interval semi-fast every 15 minutes. In the peak, try and squeeze 6 trains an hour in (4 to Reading, 2 towards Camberley) if it can be done. Perhaps the Camberley could be looped at Ascot to allow the Reading to pass, as again happened in the 80s.

- Give an even interval service to New Milton, Christchurch and Pokesdown by ensuring that the faster Weymouth service (the one which misses these stops) connects with the Poole stopper at Brockenhurst. If it is necessary to achieve this, split the Waterloo-Poole stopper into two segments, Waterloo-Brockenhurst and Brockenhurst-Poole.

- Ensure that, as now, the Waterloo to Eastleigh services (on to Poole and Portsmouth) leave Waterloo just behind the Weymouth fasts. The planned SWR timetable for this year had them being overtaken by the fasts en route; bad idea as the fasts get overcrowded and the Eastleigh semi-fasts lightly loaded.

 

[Bletchleyite]

- All Poole stoppers to call at Beaulieu Road.

Isn't this near enough going to happen?

 

[nw1]

Isn't this near enough going to happen?

I believe so, yes (iif any of the proposed changes ever happen, anyway) - but I thought the question was what changes you would make compared to the pattern right now. Apologies if not.

 

[The Ham]

SWR

I would add a DMU service from Salisbury to Ascot via a new grade separated junction at Farnborough calling at all stations 1tph.

I would add an extension to Weymouth from the existing services to Exeter (lengthening some of the existing services where requires) using the rear units which split off at Yeovil to travel down to Weymouth.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Reading to Tonbridge (Southern)
Exeter to Plymouth Via Okehampton (SWR)
Extend Corby services to Nottingham (and possibly Sheffield) via a new Melton Mowbray to Nottingham Link
Transfer Stoke-Manchester service to LNWR and extend to Stafford (reopening Barlaston)

 

[mmh]

1tph weekend services from Hastings via Redhill to Charing Cross

That's already happened for years during engineering work, admittedly usually with only a stop at East Croydon and from London Bridge terminating side. Nothing from the Brighton mainline is likely to ever get to Charing Cross again now Thameslink 3000 is "finished"

 

[JamesRowden]

Nothing from the Brighton mainline is likely to ever get to Charing Cross again now Thameslink 3000 is "finished"

Charing Cross to Hastings via Redhill and Tonbridge services are scheduled to run tomorrow

 

[mmh]

Charing Cross to Hastings via Redhill and Tonbridge services are scheduled to run tomorrow

Oh! Interesting to know, thank you - I take that back then!

 

[Batman]

West Midlands Franchise:

Cross City line:
6tph to Lichfield TV Monday to Saturday daytimes, 4tph evenings and Sunday’s. Duddeston and Shenstone to get 3tph Monday to Saturday and 2tph evenings and Sunday’s with services calling at one of the other. Later last train from Birmingham to Lichfield at 23:35.

Chase Line (post electrification):
Remove the off peak Bescot calls on Rugeley services. 2tph all stations Birmingham - Rugeley evenings and Sundays. Last train extended from Hednesford to Rugeley. Introduce a limited stop morning peak extra from Hednesford to Birmingham calling only at Cannock, Walsall at Tame Bridge.

Birmingham - Hereford: 2tph Monday to Saturday New Street to Worcester. Stable a unit overnight at Hereford so the first service to Birmingham in the morning is an hour earlier and the last return service is an hour later at 22:00. Later last service from new street to Worcester on Saturdays. Hourly Sunday service.

Snow Hill lines:
All peak services to call at Hartlebury. Introduce an hourly peak service from Birmingham to Stratford via Solihull. These services to call all stations between Dorridge at Stratford Parkway at peak times and 2 hourly off peak. All stations except Bordesley to get at least an hourly all day Sunday Sunday service, including a Sunday evening Birmingham - Stratford service.

Birmingham - Shrewsbury: Keep the WMR service hourly and deal with overcrowding by train lengthening. The high peak service that arrived at new street at 08:25 to call at all stations before Wolverhampton. Introduce an hourly Sunday service to replicate the weekday timetable, replacing the ATW Wolves - Shrewsbury shuttle.

West Coast Services:
The path on the Stour Valley Line for the 2nd WMR Shewsbury service to instead be used by running the new Birmingham - Crewe via Stoke service non stop between New Street and Wolves. This should be the only WMR service from the Wolverhampton corridor to extend on Euston for reliability reasons.

Coventry area: Introduce an hourly Leanington - Nuneaton Coventry cross city service becoming half hourly on the northern section once the bay platform at Coventry is completed. The whole line should stay hourly evening and Sundays, with Kenilworth getting a Sunday service for the first time, last trains running around an hour later Monday to Saturday and earlier services on the Coventry to Nuneaton section on Sundays.

Marston Vales: Clockfacd hourly service throughout the day. Last services an hour later Monday to Saturday. Introduce a 2 hourly Sunday daytime service for a 2 year trial period. Possibly make this an hourly service and introduce an evening service depending on passenger numbers.

 

[Agent_Squash]

Northern:

• Transfer MIA - Blackpool & Windermere services back to TPE (or introduce better trains wiith better seats)

What would happen to the Windermere's occasionally interworking with the (much larger service group) Barrow services?