Went to Blackpool this weekend (for a stag party though rather than to soak up the sun!). Caught the 07:27 Peterborough - Manchester, formed of 2 158's which wasn't too busy throughout.
It was then onto the 10:46 FTPE service and we somehow got a table seat! This must have been one of the busiest trains I've been on outside of London. All aisles and vestibule areas were full of people/prams/luggage and many were left behind. The guard did a good job of apologising for the overcrowding and de-classified first class.
Coming back we got the 10:44 from Blackpool North, FTPE again and not overly busy until we reached Bolton where it was standing room only.
Final home bound train was to be the 12:44 Manchester - Peterborough, a late arrival due to problems near Sheffield with the ECS and a two car 158 duly arrived. How East Midlands Trains can justify running two carriages on the first train from the North West to Anglia really does puzzle me. Train was very busy most of the way to Nottingham where it seemed to tip out.
Overall I think EMT need to rethink diagramming, even adding extra capacity for the Manchester - Nottingham stretch would have been suitable.