If you took over East Midlands Trains, what would you do?

[LeeLivery]

Of those, only Rushden even starts to make sense.

Current population of Kibworth is under 6000. Desborough is 10,000.

Rushden is 30,000 - you could add Higham Ferrers (which borders Rushden) and that's another 7,000 and Irthlingborough with another 9000.

That's getting on for 50,000. You could put the platforms on the slows only and serve them with the Corby's - likely time penalty 3-5 minutes.

Or you could just have a bus linking Irthlingborough, Higham, Rushden and Irchester to Wellingborough station. Shouldn't take any more than 30 mins. That, plus the 6,000+ homes planned in Wellingborough (pushing Wellingborough's pop to at least 60,000) could result in quite a bit of growth.

why should Kettering and Wellingborough be left out of the the Nottingham and Sheffield timetable.

Whenever I travevel or my mum travels, we wait for an off an off peak south bound, always running late for ghost trains non stop from Leicester, then crowd onto an a 222

Indeed, just an hourly service to Leicester/Nottingham alongside the Corby stoppers will do.

 

[A0wen]

Or you could just have a bus linking Irthlingborough, Higham, Rushden and Irchester to Wellingborough station. Shouldn't take any more than 30 mins. That, plus the 6,000+ homes planned in Wellingborough (pushing Wellingborough's pop to at least 60,000) could result in quite a bit of growth.

30 minutes for a journey you can drive in 10 - that's not going to work.

Sorry - but when you've got a further hour journey into London, nobody in their right mind is going expand their journey by 50% to sit on a bus which grinds its way through various housing estates en-route to your stop.

 

[70014IronDuke]

To achieve what though?

All you'd be doing is linking Leicester and possibly Derby with Manchester - yet Project Rio demonstrated there wasn't the demand for that.

It's not likely to result in significantly improved journey times to / from Manchester for those places either when compared with the current route options.

I don't think you can base to much on Project Rio, which was a decade ago. It started appallingly, with half the trains cancelled. I don't think it was well advertised in Leicester.

That is not to say I think any 'full and express' St Pancras - Manchester service would be viable (if it were allowed, which, AIUI, it is not - Virgin WC would veto it). However, a regular 1 TP two hour service Leicester - Derby - Chesterfield - Manchester via Dore South with a 156 or 158 would be another matter. But there are no paths on the Hope Valley. At least, it's be so stated in here.

 

[MG11]

I don't think you can base to much on Project Rio, which was a decade ago. It started appallingly, with half the trains cancelled. I don't think it was well advertised in Leicester.

That is not to say I think any 'full and express' St Pancras - Manchester service would be viable (if it were allowed, which, AIUI, it is not - Virgin WC would veto it). However, a regular 1 TP two hour service Leicester - Derby - Chesterfield - Manchester via Dore South with a 156 or 158 would be another matter. But there are no paths on the Hope Valley. At least, it's be so stated in here.

I don't think Virgin would object too much, given it is the same parent company that run East Midlands Trains! That would be a bit like YouTube objecting to Google opening a video sharing site, all the cash goes to the same pocket.

 

[700007]

From St. Pancras, as there's a lot of scope for optimisation on this franchise:
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL
1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Syston, LEICESTER
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

All routes to be allocated with Voyagers. Voyagers for everyone. Luv' ya....only kidding.

I like this forum enough to not torture anybody with something as bad as that. BOLD means 222s, non-bold means HSTs.

 

[AshBod]

Spot on. The transport links from Coalville to Leicester are lousy- plus the (unreliable) buses are massively overloaded at shift change time at Amazon.
Better transport links there would likely make things a lot easier especially now they have an employer the size of Amazon there..
I live about 20 minutes from Coalville by bus, it is my nearest town. I think a lot of people would also be very happy if there was a better connection to Loughborough as well- although the Skylink has improved connections to Shepshed where it’s possible to pick up a bus to Loughborough its a load of hassle.
A train connection would be useful.

This. I live in Coalville and public transport is near non-existant. I actually dont think it is possible to leave on a Sunday either!

 

[DanTrain]

From St. Pancras, as there's a lot of scope for optimisation on this franchise:
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL
1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Syston, LEICESTER
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

All routes to be allocated with Voyagers. Voyagers for everyone. Luv' ya....only kidding.

I like this forum enough to not torture anybody with something as bad as that. BOLD means 222s, non-bold means HSTs.

Not a bad suggestion if the paths could be found. Small things:

• I’d extend the Leicester to Corby, unless you’ve covered that with a 2tph plan that currently exists
• I’d remove the Loughborough stops from the Leeds and the Lincoln, I’m not sure Loughborough needs 5tph to London!

Other than that, a decent suggestion

 

[backontrack]

I’d remove the Loughborough stops from the Leeds and the Lincoln, I’m not sure Loughborough needs 5tph to London!

It certainly needs it more than East Midlands Parkway needs 4tph!

Anyway, there are some nice suggestions there, @700007.

 

[700007]

I'd like to say thanks to those who have thought it was a nice suggestion overall - taken your feedback on board. How about this revised version?

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Syston, LEICESTER

A break down in service level at each station per hour off-peak to London St. Pancras:
London St. Pancras and Leicester - 6
Market Harborough - 4
Luton Airport Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway and Derby - 3
Bedford, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Nottingham - 2
All other stations listed above have a once an hour service to London St Pancras.

Another idea is that the displaced class 222s do Liverpool - Norwich, with HSTs running the Lincoln Central, Leeds and Sheffield (semi-fast) service.

Would diverting the Sheffield service via Corby (but skips Leicester) be worthwhile? Brings Leicester down to 5tph to London which is still an improvement and brings a second train per hour to Corby, Melton Mowbray and Oakham?

 

[Skymonster]

Ditch the Luton Airport Parkway stops. On the down out of St Pancras, the airport passengers clog up the long distance services and make it difficult for people travelling further to find seats. And on the ups the dwell times with people humping bags onto the train are crap - the EMT trains are not really suitable for people with lots of luggage, and the wider doors and large vestibules on the GTR trains are better suited to that. At the very least, EMT should apply a substantial fare-premium between Luton Airport Parkway and STP and VV to encourage airport passengers to use GTR. The other London airports have dedicated rail services, and so should Luton - and it should not be EMT doing it, much as for for the other airports it isn't long distance TOCs doing the London airport runs.

 

[cactustwirly]

I'd like to say thanks to those who have thought it was a nice suggestion overall - taken your feedback on board. How about this revised version?

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Syston, LEICESTER

A break down in service level at each station per hour off-peak to London St. Pancras:
London St. Pancras and Leicester - 6
Market Harborough - 4
Luton Airport Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway and Derby - 3
Bedford, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Nottingham - 2
All other stations listed above have a once an hour service to London St Pancras.

Another idea is that the displaced class 222s do Liverpool - Norwich, with HSTs running the Lincoln Central, Leeds and Sheffield (semi-fast) service.

Would diverting the Sheffield service via Corby (but skips Leicester) be worthwhile? Brings Leicester down to 5tph to London which is still an improvement and brings a second train per hour to Corby, Melton Mowbray and Oakham?

Basically giving Leicester/Sheffield/Nottingham passengers a slower and worse service than currently.

The service via Melton Mowbray is a waste of time, since it is so much slower than via Leicester.

Not sure Market Harborough needs 4tph anyway.

I'd get rid of the Lincoln/Leeds Extensions as well, they are not needed as you can easily change trains at Nottingham/Sheffield, and it's much faster via the EC route anyway.

The current TT works well. The best improvement that can be done is to seriously improve the Sunday service.

 

[700007]

Basically giving Leicester/Sheffield/Nottingham passengers a slower and worse service than currently.

The service via Melton Mowbray is a waste of time, since it is so much slower than via Leicester.

Not sure Market Harborough needs 4tph anyway.

I'd get rid of the Lincoln/Leeds Extensions as well, they are not needed as you can easily change trains at Nottingham/Sheffield, and it's much faster via the EC route anyway.

The current TT works well. The best improvement that can be done is to seriously improve the Sunday service.

Taken on board. The service to Leeds was never intended to be quicker than the East Coast line, but just as an alternative route across the East Midlands.

For the stations quoted, how is the service worsened so that I can rectify this further. All opinions welcomed aboard so I appreciate the honesty. I was a bit baffled by that comment, I will be honest given the increased capacity from nearly all stations.

I thought Lincoln opened up a good market to London and provided an additional train Lincoln - Newark - Nottingham.

 

[mic505]

Deleted.

 

[backontrack]

Taken on board. The service to Leeds was never intended to be quicker than the East Coast line, but just as an alternative route across the East Midlands.

For the stations quoted, how is the service worsened so that I can rectify this further. All opinions welcomed aboard so I appreciate the honesty. I was a bit baffled by that comment, I will be honest given the increased capacity from nearly all stations.

I thought Lincoln opened up a good market to London and provided an additional train Lincoln - Newark - Nottingham.

Here's what I'd do:

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, OAKHAM

 

[700007]

Here's what I'd do:

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, OAKHAM

Happened to notice Corby wasn't there (unless my eyes somehow missed it) - would the last service return back to London, perhaps as a 'circular' and an anti-clockwise service also ran via Corby first 1tph?

I'm also a bit surprised at myself for forgetting the stop at Barnsley, as that would've done well. I was interested in having a fast train (one of the HSTs) to Loughborough as that's quite a busy station, but perhaps to reserve that as a peak-hour call in addition to the two slows?

 

[4-SUB 4732]

From St. Pancras, as there's a lot of scope for optimisation on this franchise:
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, DERBY
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL
1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS
1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Syston, LEICESTER
1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

All routes to be allocated with Voyagers. Voyagers for everyone. Luv' ya....only kidding.

I like this forum enough to not torture anybody with something as bad as that. BOLD means 222s, non-bold means HSTs.

I'd be more inclined to suggest...

1tph St Pan, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, Leeds.
1tph St Pan, Leicester, East Mids, Nottingham, Lowdham, Newark Castle, Collingham, Hykeham, Lincoln.
1tph St Pan, Luton Airport, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston, Nottingham.
1tph St Pan, Luton Airport, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Mids, Long Eaton, Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, Sheffield.
1tph St Pan, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby. (Peak services towards Melton).
1tph St Pan, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby.

Leeds service followed by the Sheffield stopper; Lincoln service followed by the Nottingham stopper.

E.g. 10:00 Leeds, 10:03 Sheffield, 10:15 Corby, 10:30 Lincoln, 10:33 Nottingham, 10:45 Corby.

 

[Qwerty133]

I'd be more inclined to suggest...

1tph St Pan, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, Leeds.
1tph St Pan, Leicester, East Mids, Nottingham, Lowdham, Newark Castle, Collingham, Hykeham, Lincoln.
1tph St Pan, Luton Airport, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston, Nottingham.
1tph St Pan, Luton Airport, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Mids, Long Eaton, Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, Sheffield.
1tph St Pan, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby. (Peak services towards Melton).
1tph St Pan, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby.

Leeds service followed by the Sheffield stopper; Lincoln service followed by the Nottingham stopper.

E.g. 10:00 Leeds, 10:03 Sheffield, 10:15 Corby, 10:30 Lincoln, 10:33 Nottingham, 10:

If there's 6 paths 5 should be used for services to or via Leicester and only 1 Corby.
Ideally something like
xx:00 Leicester, Derby, Sheffield
xx:03 Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston, Nottingham
xx:15 Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby
xx:30 Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham
xx:33 Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield
xx:45 Luton AP, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Harborough, Leicester, Syston, Sileby, Barrow, Loughborough, East Mids Parkway, Long Eaton, Spondon, Derby, Duffield, Belper, Ambergate, Whatstandwell, Cromford, Matlock Bath, Matlock

 

[backontrack]

Happened to notice Corby wasn't there (unless my eyes somehow missed it) - would the last service return back to London, perhaps as a 'circular' and an anti-clockwise service also ran via Corby first 1tph?

I'm also a bit surprised at myself for forgetting the stop at Barnsley, as that would've done well. I was interested in having a fast train (one of the HSTs) to Loughborough as that's quite a busy station, but perhaps to reserve that as a peak-hour call in addition to the two slows?

Oops

Here's what I'd do:

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Airport Parkway, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, OAKHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Stamford, PETERBOROUGH

ThamesLink: 1tph somewhere south of London-ThamesLink core-London St Pancras-West Hampstead Thameslink-St Albans-all stations to Corby

 

[700007]

Oops

Here's what I'd do:

1tph London St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Market Harborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Newark Castle, Collingham, LINCOLN CENTRAL

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, SHEFFIELD

1tph London St Pancras, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate, LEEDS

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Airport Parkway, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, OAKHAM

1tph London St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Stamford, PETERBOROUGH

ThamesLink: 1tph somewhere south of London-ThamesLink core-London St Pancras-West Hampstead Thameslink-St Albans-all stations to Corby

Yeah I wouldn't mind seeing ThamesLink at Corby hourly.

The Peterborough idea interestingly involves a reversal at Oakham?

 

[The Ham]

I don't think Virgin would object too much, given it is the same parent company that run East Midlands Trains! That would be a bit like YouTube objecting to Google opening a video sharing site, all the cash goes to the same pocket.

You also need to beat in mind that it would only be for a fairly short timeframe before HS2 reduced London to Manchester journey times.

 

[43074]

How much are people trying to bankrupt EMT? Most of the demand is on the city to city, and to a lesser extent town to city, routes so naturally the emphasis should be on trying to achieve the best possible connectivity and journey times between them. There is no point trying to expand North of Corby, its just as fast to London from Oakham/Melton changing for a fast service at Leicester or Peterborough and it's a tiny market anyway. I agree with @Qwerty133 that the split should be 5 per hour to Leicester and 1 to Corby, the 5th train to Leicester then offers you scope to speed up the 2 from Sheffield and Nottingham. Pootling around via Corby and Oakham would be good for a 153, not a 222!

 

[backontrack]

Yeah I wouldn't mind seeing ThamesLink at Corby hourly.

The Peterborough idea interestingly involves a reversal at Oakham?

Thanks.

It would be good to take people off the buses too.

 

[700007]

So I've decided with a few spare minutes to cook up a draft schedule based on all the feedback given on this idea. I've uploaded it here as a PDF attachment.

Note that I've not incorporated any actual paths currently taken up by any other operators within these areas, nor have I properly checked over any infrastructure restrictions (such as Barnsley - Huddlesfield single tracking) or signalling. It's essentially just showing the concept.

Let me know your honest thoughts.

 

[backontrack]

So I've decided with a few spare minutes to cook up a draft schedule based on all the feedback given on this idea. I've uploaded it here as a PDF attachment.

Note that I've not incorporated any actual paths currently taken up by any other operators within these areas, nor have I properly checked over any infrastructure restrictions (such as Barnsley - Huddlesfield single tracking) or signalling. It's essentially just showing the concept.

Let me know your honest thoughts.

Very good! The only things I'd say are:

1) I'd open a station at Rushden
2) I'd serve Penistone, Dewsbury and Batley
3) I'd run the Sprinter service to Peterborough
4) I'd remove one of the East Midlands Parkway calls

But a great job nonetheless! There is no need to make any of those edits, it's fine without them.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

4tph at Market Harborough? Yikes.

 

[MG11]

4tph at Market Harborough? Yikes.

Agreed! Although I'm sure well meant, I think it is perhaps a little excessive. Market H, Ket and Wel are lacking local services I feel, some services to Northampton and the West Midlands would be good for those who find London a little too far, yet want to shop.

 

[backontrack]

Agreed! Although I'm sure well meant, I think it is perhaps a little excessive. Market H, Ket and Wel are lacking local services I feel, some services to Northampton and the West Midlands would be good for those who find London a little too far, yet want to shop.

That's why I suggested the Peterborough train.

 

[700007]

Thanks for the feedback so far. The Peterborough idea I was thinking about perhaps the Kettering - Leicester shuttle can run every 2 hours, alternating with a Kettering - Peterborough shuttle reversing at Oakham if the signalling and track layout allows that.

An alternative idea is to remove the Derby slow (incorporate any 'lost' stops into the Sheffield semi-fast). Then the path used up by a 222 doing London - Leicester - Peterborough or even Ely as a local service calling at (nearly or) all stops once-an-hour. The Leicester - Kettering shuttle would be discontinued and replaced with a Kettering - Corby shuttle meaning Corby has 2tph but only 1 is through to London.

I imagine it to be something like a train comes into Corby from London. Reverses back to Kettering. Reverses again back to Corby. Then forms a through service to London. The disadvantage is that Corby continues to not have an off-peak northbound service from there.

EDIT: I've attached a revised timetable to reflect some of this.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

Any notion of a unit that reverses at Oakham and goes to Peterborough would be something of a problem operationally.

Arguably the best use of capacity would be to send said train to Leicester; and in fact it could then extend direct to New Street replacing the existing Leicester to New Street stopper via Nuneaton. You could therefore suggest 170s for the EMT franchise.

If you feel it necessary to offer up 5tph direct to Leicester from St Pan, then its obviously 2 to Nottingham and 2 to Derby. What of the 5th? Terminate at Leicester? Run to Derby? A 'Super Express' to Sheffield via Toton?

 

[43096]

If you feel it necessary to offer up 5tph direct to Leicester from St Pan, then its obviously 2 to Nottingham and 2 to Derby. What of the 5th? Terminate at Leicester? Run to Derby? A 'Super Express' to Sheffield via Toton?

If you are going 5tph to Leicester then something like:
- Nottingham fast
- Nottingham semi-fast
- Derby semi-fast
- Sheffield fast via Derby
- Sheffield fast via Erewash (calls Leicester, Chesterfield and Sheffield only)