Fantasy station/line/route re-openings and other projects

[30mog]

Hi all

We have talked about stations that should close. Stations that should re-open. Ongoing planned improvements and mooted projects. So how about projects thus far proposed or planned by no one officially?

Suggest any track re-opening you would like to see. Suggest any whole line re-opening. Or anything infrastructure-wise you might think would deliver a favourable cost to benefits ratio. The main rule, it should be something that you are sure beyond reasonable doubt ISN'T ALREADY BEING SUGGESTED, TALKED ABOUT, PLANNED OR ACTUALLY BEING BUILT.

Over to you.

 

[TSR :D]

New Street/Moor Street to Harborne would be a good line to reopen. EDIT: Realised that this line doesn't connect to Snow Hill line.

 

[transmanche]

Gobowen to Oswestry.

 

[Cabview]

My favourite would be to re-open Kenilworth, which used to have a station. It is I believe, now the largest town in Britain without one - and yet the rails run straight through the middle of it!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Hi all

We have talked about stations that should close. Stations that should re-open. Ongoing planned improvements and mooted projects. So how about projects thus far proposed or planned by no one officially?

Suggest any track re-opening you would like to see. Suggest any whole line re-opening. Or anything infrastructure-wise you might think would deliver a favourable cost to benefits ratio. The main rule, it should be something that you are sure beyond reasonable doubt ISN'T ALREADY BEING SUGGESTED, TALKED ABOUT, PLANNED OR ACTUALLY BEING BUILT.

Over to you.

Great topic! I'd like to propose a 'wish-list' for my local area- though most or all of these things will only be viable in fantasy world. In no particular order:

1) Ravensthorpe station: Extend the car park and build platforms on the Wakefield line- build a nice new DDA-compliant footbridge to all platforms and donate the existing L&Y (or LNWR?) footbridge to a heritage line.

2) New station at 'Golcar & Milnsbridge' between Huddersfield & Slaithwaite- would reduce road traffic in the area and , though the fact that the line is in a deep cutting at the ideal location would mean it might be expensive. Would also further complicate the post-electrification plans for the Standedge route- It would however reduce my need to suffer FirstBus every day!

3) A passing loop at the Northern end of the Penistone line, possibly at Lockwood, to allow 2tph between Huddersfield and Sheffield. Ideally this would also include a crossover at Springwood junction to allow easier through-running towards Leeds.

4) Reopening the Holmfirth branch. This would require the rebuilding of Thongsbridge viaduct and the demolition of several houses though, not to mention extra redoubling in addition to that mentioned in (3).

5) Reopening the 'Leeds New Line'. Again, I'm not sure how much of the trackbed has been built on but several bridges have been removed- As a result the cost/benefit would not be great!

6) This one's more realistic, possibly: To reduce congestion at the Western throat of Leeds City station, bring the Holbeck viaduct back into use between Elland Road and the former junction near the Southern side platforms. This would keep Wakefield (Westgate) line locals (and possibly XC services too) away from the Bradford/Harrogate/Huddersfield lines to reduce conflicting movements. In addition, a platform could be provided at Elland Road for matchday shuttles similar to those operating to Old Trafford. It always surprised me that such a plan (use of the viaduct that is- not the Elland Road platform!) wasn't implemented in the Leeds 1st project.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Extend the Windermere branch to Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick, with connections at Grasmere to the Helvellyn Mountain Railway…

 

[30mog]

I think a chord at Chapel-en-le-Frith would be handy. A link from the old Midland line to the one currently used by Buxton-Manchester trains.

FASTER TRAINS BUXTON-MANCHESTER.

DIRECT LINKS BETWEEN BUXTON, HOPE VALLEY & SHEFFIELD

BETTER ACCESS TO WHOLE NETWORK FOR BUXTON

BETTER LONKS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY AND PEAK PARK TOURISM

 

[Drsatan]

Here's a few reopenings and line improvements that I've got in mind for my local area.

1) Reopen the 'sprat and winkle' line from Romsey to Andover and the Midland and South Western Junction railway from Andover to Cheltenham via Swindon. Reopening the section from Romsey to Andover would be possible since most of the trackbed is in use as a cycle path (although houses have been built on the trackbed in Andover, meaning a few compulsory purchase orders would be necessary), but I'm not sure whether the trackbed is still intact from Ludgershall (the remaining stretch of the M&SWJR serving MoD Ludgershall). Again, I doubt reopening the line in its entirety would be viable since it would only provide a roundabout route to the Midlands for container trains from Southampton Docks.

2) Reopen Totton to Fawley. To support a frequent passenger service any single-track sections should be redoubled and the line electrified at 25KV AC (a natural extension of the 'electric spine'). The starting signal at platform 5 of Southampton Central would be replaced by a proper one to allow a service off the Fawley branch to terminate there. In the future, I can imagine this service continuing onto Winchester stopping at all stations, giving Swaythling and St Denys a more frequent service and allowing calls at Shawford station to be removed from Weymouth and Portsmouth line services. Unlike option 1 I think reopening the Fawley branch is possible!

3) Rebuild Southampton Central station providing two new through platforms, an east facing bay platform (for the Southampton to Portsmouth & Southsea all-stations), a west-facing bay platform (for Fawley line services and services to Great Malvern), two non-platform roads for freight trains and an overall roof. A new bus station would be built on the site of Blechynden terrace. However, this, for the time being, is in the realms of fantasy due to the number of buildings which would have to be demolished to accommodate the new station.

4) Reopen the 'Castleman's Corkscrew' from Brockenhurst as far as Ringwood. To the best of my knowledge this has been proposed for reopening by SWT in 2009.

5) Reopen the 'Somerset and Dorset' railway in its entirety. A complete non-starter but one railway which (in my imagination at least) will be reopened.

 

[Proud Salopian]

A fifth train on the HOWL timetable! Now there's a real fantasy!

 

[HSTEd]

The route of the Manchester and Milford Railway, get a north south route inside Wales.... problem is noone lives along it.

This would also require the reopening of the Carnarvonshire Railway and the Bangor and Carnarvon Railway to provide through connections from Holyhead to Cardiff. (Or as that is now pretty much impractical, a connection between Trawsfynydd and somewhere like Talsarnau)

 

[Eagle]

My favourite would be to re-open Kenilworth, which used to have a station. It is I believe, now the largest town in Britain without one - and yet the rails run straight through the middle of it!

Gosport is far larger than Kenilworth. And the station is currently being planned (lack of funds is all that's preventing the start of works).

 

[Drsatan]

Gosport is far larger than Kenilworth. And the station is currently being planned (lack of funds is all that's preventing the start of works).

Dudley is larger than Gosport, and hasn't had a railway station since the mid 1960s, although Coseley station (in the borough of Dudley) could be counted as the borough's station.

 

[L+Y]

In my area, I'd suggest an extension of Merseyrail's electrification from Ormskirk to Burscough Junction, and then round a reopened South Curve to Southport could be a decent idea: it'd create something of a "Northern Circle" line for Merseyrail. West Lancashire Council want to site a load of new houses in Burscough, so improved transport links to Liverpool could be a good idea for getting residents on board with the plans: currently there's strong opposition. With four EMUs per hour and faster acceleration, you could maybe think about reopening St. Lukes station in the Southport suburbs.

The existing Preston-Ormskirk shuttle could terminate at Burscough Junction off-peak, to allow for a roughly hourly service Preston-Burscough: at peak times, DMUs would continue to Ormskirk or perhaps even Aintree.

Alternatively (if the DMUs became available) you could maybe run a Sandhills-Preston DMU service via Bank Hall, Bootle and Aintree, thus returning trains to the North Mersey Branch without the expense of electrification: although the fact passengers would have to change at Sandhills to reach Liverpool city centre might well put them off. Perhaps this could be a stopgap measure, pending full electrification of the North Mersey Branch.

A big, "Grand Plan" could be to reopen Liverpool Exchange, obviously on something of a reduced level from its former glory, but still. A restored Exchange could handle the majority of stopping trains from across the North West, freeing up space at Lime Street for HS2 services.

 

[Trog]

LNWR Dunstable Branch. Apparently running heavily loaded war time unbraked trains, loaded with tanks from the factories of Dunstable. Down the 1:40 Sewell Bank on a wet night was quite interesting.

 

[tsr]

And now some from an area with which I am most familiar:

• A new station between Redhill and Reigate, underneath or very near to the A25 Hatchlands Road bridge (known locally as "Refells Bridge" or a similar spelling) - this is a densely-packed residential area and also features local bus routes, so it could well be a decent alternative for users of Redhill or Reigate stations
• Three island platforms at Redhill - to enable greater flexibility for reversals and through traffic, plus extra calls by London-South Coast services (this is all separate from the well-meaning but ultimately likely-to-be-bodged upcoming Platform 0 scheme)
• Closure of the Quarry Lines between Holmethorpe and Earlswood, and quadrupling between a point just South of Merstham and Earlswood, with a new bridge where the lines are closest allowing traffic to diverge North of Redhill to the Merstham Quarry Tunnels - allowing residential homes in the Watercolour area to have lower noise pollution levels, giving back the nature reserve to wildlife and the public, allowing a diversion of National Cycle Route 21 to avoid the smelly Biffa plant, and most importantly allowing further services to stop at Redhill, where they are much needed
• Reopening of the Edenbridge Jn - Crowhurst Jn spur/chord, but facing Redhill rather than Tonbridge - potentially a useful diversion route, especially during engineering works
• Improved, less draughty waiting shelters, with CIS systems resited so they are fixed to them, at North Downs Line stations
• A station reopening at Westcott Range, Surrey as a request stop; all stations between Reigate and Shalford, except for Dorking Deepdene, downgraded to request stops but potentially served by hourly stopping services (I appreciate this is more to do with timetabling!)
• Gomshall station moved a little further West - to become more attractive to local residents

...for starters!

 

[Butts]

Dudley is larger than Gosport, and hasn't had a railway station since the mid 1960s, although Coseley station (in the borough of Dudley) could be counted as the borough's station.

Sandwell & Dudley - although that is in Oldbury

Stourbridge is also within Dudley Metropolitan Borough

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Dudley is larger than Gosport, and hasn't had a railway station since the mid 1960s, although Coseley station (in the borough of Dudley) could be counted as the borough's station.

The Dudley thing has been debated ad nauseum on this forum. There is no station in the town centre, but there are six or seven (or possibly more) within a ten minute drive/three miles of Dudley Town Hall.
It's a shame there is no station there but the implication that the 200,000-ish residents of Dudley are cut off from the railway network is untrue, they are merely just the victims of strange political boundaries.

 

[Butts]

The Dudley thing has been debated ad nauseum on this forum. There is no station in the town centre, but there are six or seven (or possibly more) within a ten minute drive/three miles of Dudley Town Hall.
It's a shame there is no station there but the implication that the 200,000-ish residents of Dudley are cut off from the railway network is untrue, they are merely just the victims of strange political boundaries.

Correct and most of the 200,000 don't live anyhwere near the Town Hall and as you say you are never that far from a Station be it mainline Sandwell & Dudley or the other numerous local services.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I'm actually going to add a map for Dudley. I just chose the town hall as a place which can be defined as central Dudley.

(Very roughly) Dudley is the red rectangle. The numbered points on the map are all nearby railway stations and they are split between two routes; the Rugby - Birmingham - Stafford loop of the West Coast Mainline and the Stourbridge - Birmingham stretch of the Snow Hill lines.

FWIW, the stations closest to Dudley Town Hall are:

1 - Tipton (1.6 miles)
2 - Dudley Port (1.8 miles)
3 - Coseley (2.3 miles)
4 - Cradley Heath (2.9 miles)
5 - Old Hill (2.9 miles)
6 - Sandwell & Dudley (3.1 miles)
7 - Rowley Regis (3.3 miles)
8 - Langley Green (3.6 miles)
9 - Lye (3.8 miles)
10 - Smethwick Galton Bridge (4.5 miles)

That's a combination of stations with local and intercity services, two routes into Birmingham, two routes into London and direct trains to Liverpool. It's not a bad place to have to catch a train from at all.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Extend the Windermere branch to Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick, with connections at Grasmere to the Helvellyn Mountain Railway…

I like this a lot apart from the last bit! A railway would ruin Helvellyn and should be left alone for those who are fit enough to climb it!

 

[Northern_Light]

In my patch (Aberdeen area) I propose the folllowing simple options.

1. Investigate the possibility of opening a line running from Banchory via Westhill and Kingswells either via Dyce or directly to Aberdeen station. This is a serious development corridor and rail provision would help alleviate pressure on Aberdeen city centre.

2. Reopen the Formartine and Buchan (F & B) line from Dyce as far as Ellon. Park and Ride(P & R) provision at Ellon(serving amongst other places Peterhead and Fraserburgh) and Newmachar (to serve the likes of Oldmeldrum, Turriff, Banff etc) would once again take the strain off the city centre.

Also resite Portlethen station further south with significant P & R facilities. This would probably allow First Scotrail to offer a better service to the town now and would cater for the huge development just starting at Chapeltown of Elsick.

They could also look to see if a cost effective way of doubling the track between Montrose and Usan is feasable. This would surely make electrification a worthwhile proposition.

For the long term the connection to Peterhead could then be looked at. IMO this would all you would need to do up here for the rest of this century!

 

[callum112233]

I'd say re-open the Delph Donkey line. Except this time round only have two stations as opposed to the the original four. One at Dobcross and one at Delph. Could have two trains an hour. One from Man Vic-Huddersfield as per usual and the other Man Vic-Delph.

It would be a great benefit if you think about it. Currently, the trains are busiest from Man Vic up until Greenfield, especially on weekends. So with two trains per hour, albeit one terminating at Delph. It could see the end of over crowding on the line.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Anyone remember the Preston metro I proposed? That I would love. Heavy rail, class 323 for local operation.

 

[David Goddard]

Merging of the Reading - Guildford line and the Ascot - Aldershot line between Blackwater and North Camp/ Ash Vale, such that:

1. A new 0.25 miles twin track link from a point 1 mile South of Blackwater Station on the Blackwater Valley Line to a point 0.75 miles North of Frimley Station on the Ascot to Ash Vale Line.

2. Diversion of the Ascot to Aldershot line from a point 0.25 miles South of Frimley Station for a distance of 0.25 miles, to a point 0.25 miles North of Farnborough North Station on the Blackwater Valley Line. The present route between Frimley Station and Ash Vale Station would be closed.

3. Closure of Farnborough North station and replacement by a new two level four platform station "Farnborough Parkway" at the point where the Blackwater Valley Line crosses the South Western Main Line. The station would have two platforms serving on the Relief Lines of the South West Main Line and two platforms serving the Blackwater Valley Line. It would have direct access to the A331 Blackwater Valley Road with a large car park provided in the space between the Blackwater Valley line and the A331 to the South East of the new station.

4. A new 0.25 miles single track link from a point 0.5 miles South of North Camp Station on the Blackwater Valley Line to a point 0.75 miles South of Ash Vale Station on the Brookwood to Alton Line.

5. Closure of North Camp and Ash Vale stations and replacement by a new two level station "Ash Vale" at the point where the Blackwater Valley Line crosses the Brookwood to Alton Line. The station would have five platforms two serving the Brookwood to Alton line, two serving the Blackwater Valley line and a fifth adjacent to the link line referred to in point (4) above.

6. Electrification of the railway at 750v DC third rail between Wokingham & Ash and between Guildford & Reigate, together with the new pieces of line referred to in points 1, 2 and 4 above.

7. Following completion of part (6) above, transfer of the Reading - Guildford - Redhill - Gatwick Airport services to South West Trains (or whichever company may succeed them).

The existing railway between Blackwater and North Camp Stations would remain to avoid adding delay to fast trains on the Reading - Guildford route. Link (1) above could be an optional part of the package as this part has the lowest real gain.

New Services:
Present Reading - Redhill service speeded up to operate Semi fast between Reading and Guildford.
Additional hourly Reading - Aldershot and Reading - Guildford services calling at all stations.
Combined service will provide four trains per hour between Reading and Farnborough Cross

Present 2tph Ascot - Guildford services revised so that 1tph terminates Aldershot, the other operates direct between Frimley, Ash Vale and Ash.
New half hourly Aldershot - Guildford Shuttle Service

 

[AndyHudds]

Great topic! I'd like to propose a 'wish-list' for my local area- though most or all of these things will only be viable in fantasy world. In no particular order:

1) Ravensthorpe station: Extend the car park and build platforms on the Wakefield line- build a nice new DDA-compliant footbridge to all platforms and donate the existing L&Y (or LNWR?) footbridge to a heritage line.

2) New station at 'Golcar & Milnsbridge' between Huddersfield & Slaithwaite- would reduce road traffic in the area and , though the fact that the line is in a deep cutting at the ideal location would mean it might be expensive. Would also further complicate the post-electrification plans for the Standedge route- It would however reduce my need to suffer FirstBus every day!

3) A passing loop at the Northern end of the Penistone line, possibly at Lockwood, to allow 2tph between Huddersfield and Sheffield. Ideally this would also include a crossover at Springwood junction to allow easier through-running towards Leeds.

4) Reopening the Holmfirth branch. This would require the rebuilding of Thongsbridge viaduct and the demolition of several houses though, not to mention extra redoubling in addition to that mentioned in (3).

5) Reopening the 'Leeds New Line'. Again, I'm not sure how much of the trackbed has been built on but several bridges have been removed- As a result the cost/benefit would not be great!

6) This one's more realistic, possibly: To reduce congestion at the Western throat of Leeds City station, bring the Holbeck viaduct back into use between Elland Road and the former junction near the Southern side platforms. This would keep Wakefield (Westgate) line locals (and possibly XC services too) away from the Bradford/Harrogate/Huddersfield lines to reduce conflicting movements. In addition, a platform could be provided at Elland Road for matchday shuttles similar to those operating to Old Trafford. It always surprised me that such a plan (use of the viaduct that is- not the Elland Road platform!) wasn't implemented in the Leeds 1st project.

I've suggested this idea already on here and to Metro. The station could be redeveloped as a parkway station.Rename it Ravensthope & Thornhill Parkway, get Grand Central to call there, build platforms in the Wakefield direction, big car park, buses. New services from Wakefield to Manchester one via Huddersfield and one via the Calder Valley. Then reopen the Spen Valley line with stations at Liversedge,Heckmondwike and Cleckheaton, the track bed is totlly clear aside from developments at Cleck, where a car park has encroached and at Low Moor where it joins the Calder line where there has been some commercial development, not insurmountable though to reopening.

The Penistone line needs redoubling for its full length simple as that.

I've often thought this might be a viable option and a good idea. Track wise it would only take a small connection from the Brockholes area. The costly infrastructure part is the viaduct and the removal of the houses on the trackbed.A station could be built at Thongsbridge and once in Holmfirth I think it would need an interchange with the buses on the same site as a lot of people live all over the Holme Valley,Holme, Upperthong, Netherhong, New Mill so buses would be needed to make it an attractive proposal.

I would also reopen the Clayton West branch too, with stations at Shelley and Skelmanthorpe, my mum lives on Station Road at Skelmanthorpe so it would be handy for me!!! Giving the Penistone line some extra services. The newly reopend Clayton West and Holmfirth services would go through to Leeds giving the Huddersfield line 3 stoppers per hour.

Sorry mate as much I would love the Leeds new line reopen as much as you, but the line has been so decimated by infill and redevelopment the chances are reopening or even been able to reopen are less than zero. A new housing estate has been built over the station at Heckmondwike, a lot of the cuttings have been filled in totally. The viaduct over Leeds Road at Mirfield has been half demolished, it would cost billions to get back up and running. In hindsight it should never have been closed at all.

This has been mentioned in the 'Connecting Communities' report but a station at Ossett/Horbury is no brainer, after calling at Mirfield, the Huddersfield Wakefield stopper passes through plenty of population without stopping.

The Horbury curve reopening would also add potential for more journey opportunities too.

The station at Elland Road would be welcome as well as when Town play there I tend to walk from the station and its quite a way and not a particularly nice walk, its like Beruit in some parts!! Its bonkers as most big football grounds have stations nearby, as you point out Old Trafford has one. Villa Park has Witton, Bescot Stadium for Walsall, Rotherham's new ground is within spitting distance of Rotherham Central, Manchester City have been connected into the Metrolink with the Etihad Campus stop, Hillsborough too has the a Supertram stop. Its only in West Yorkshire that we seem a bit backwards in that respect.

 

[Scotty]

Re-open Boston to Spalding, introducing workings from Skegness to London... plus maybe connect Cleethorpes and Skegness, with a Lincolnshire loop service via Skegness, Boston, Sleaford, Lincoln, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

 

[MCW]

interesting ideas!

In terms of Leicester and the midlands:

1) Re open Blaby Station on the Leicester to Birmingham line and revise the track plan, if possible, at Hinckley. This could then allow for a half hourly local stations stopping service from Leicester to Hinkley formed of a class 153 or pacer. This would provide quicker transport and also cheaper transport for many commuters.

2) Along with a lot of Leicester's population, I would double the track on the Leicester to Burton line and also install stations at Narborough Road, Braunstone, Kirby Muxloe (which used to have a railway station for like... 9 years?), Leicester Forest east, and any other strategic and sensible place to Burton on trent.

3) Re-instate the old spur coming off the Burton line which used to lead to Vic Berry's scrapyard. this area has been extensively redeveloped and I would build a platform on this spur to enable football specials to arrive closer to the King Power football Stadium (even though I despise the sport!)

4) Increase capacity on trains from stanstead airport/cambridge to new street. 4 car voyagers would be a minimum requirement in my books, due to the high amount of people who do use these services, at the peak hours these trains are full and are pretty much standing only, and a lot of trains are either 2 or 3 car, just not enough.

5) Reinstate the old Project Rio route, fast and semi fast EMT services from St pancras to manchester calling at Leicester, Derby etc, also have a variant which calls at Nottingham too.

6) reinstate the Up and Down slow line through Leicester station, southwards upto Wigston Junction again. Why this was taken up I have absolutely no idea at all, but if it was put back it would make more logistical sense and freight wouldn't be as late and wouldn't get in the path of cambridge and Ivanhoe services.

7) if possible, increase the MML speed limit to 125mph on all parts possible to improve timings and also potentially open up for some more train paths.

8) Along with the Electric spine and the completion of the East west rail link, instate a direct Leicester to Oxford service Via Bedford and Bletchley, possibly under a cross country service.

9) (this one is a joke mind!) Scrap all the turbo stars, meridians and HST's and bring back loco hauled stock with 20's 31's 47's and peaks

 

[yorksrob]

The Leigh Loop.

Unfortunately GMPTE (aka if it's not a tram or about to be turned into a tram, we're not interested) have concreted over the route to be a guided busway.

A contender for the crappiest PTE surely ?

 

[WestCountry]

Reopen the route from Hunstanton to Norwich via King's Lynn and Dereham, and to Fakenham via Dereham, and improve services on the Ely - Lynn line.

This would involve:
- Reopening HUS-KLN (already considered a few times, reasonably straightforward).
- Bring the line from KLN to Middleton Towers back up to passenger standards.
- Rebuild Middleton to Wendling on the original formation. There are a couple of buildings in Swaffham, but nothing insurmountable.
- Build next to the A47 from Wendling to Dereham. This bit will be expensive, probably, because the road is on the old formation.
- Link it to the MNR at Dereham, with trains reversing in the station there. Four houses need to go, and there'll be a couple of unavoidable LCs on busyish roads.
- Rebuild from Dereham (or rather Hoe) to Fakenham.
- Upgrade the MNR to mainline passenger standard (75/90mph).

Proposed services:
- Speed up the current KGX-KLN service by removing the calls at Waterbeach, Littleport and Watlington. Extend it to Hunstanton.
- Extend a Cambridge-terminating semi-fast through to Lynn, to serve those stations. Needs power supply improvements, possibly some re-doubling of Ely-Lynn.
- Introduce an hourly service from Norwich to Hunstanton, calling at Dereham, Swaffham and Lynn (and reversing at two of those).
- Introduce an hourly Fakenham - Norwich service, calling at North Elmham, Dereham and Wymondham.
- Also, an hourly Fakenham - King's Lynn service, calling at North Elmham, Dereham and Swaffham.

This would reconnect Hunstanton, Swaffham, Dereham and Fakenham to the national network, reducing congestion on the A10 and A47. It would also vastly improve the rail service to King's Lynn.

Of course, the MNR might not be too happy... :?

 

[Manchester77]

The Leigh Loop.

Unfortunately GMPTE (aka if it's not a tram or about to be turned into a tram, we're not interested) have concreted over the route to be a guided busway.

A contender for the crappiest PTE surely ?

If you're a user of the tram you'll TfGM are good, spending lots of money on a better network. Ad then you change onto a local train...

Metrolink is good but perhaps once all the extensions have calmed down TfGM could focus on enhancing stations and services in the PTE area.

Since this is a fantasy thread:

I'd bring back the 'e-voyager' project which with all the electrification which is taking place would be practice. I'd convert the entire 22X fleets to allow XC and VWC to run fewer trains under the wires and use 222s on GW routes (as discussed in another thread)

Additionally I'd have modern AC versions of the 444s operating TPE with the ex-FCC 377s set for TPE going to replace electric some PEP based stock and operate the MerseyRail network. Oh throw in the electrification of South Transpennine and lines into Hull then we can displace 185s and 170s onto other routes as well as a few FHT 180s.