The connection at Stafford is dreadful and it is something I wish London Midland had fixed and the now West Midland Trains has failed to address it either. Until the recent timetable change the service from Euston arrived at xx:35 and the Liverpool bound service also departed at xx:35 too which was annoying. Under the new timetable this is xx:35 and xx:38 which is still annoying. Although on both occasions I've traveled since this change I have been able to make the tight service in theory.
But in reality I've not been able to travel on it as I've been tied to a booked train on an Advance ticket. I really wish this issue would be fixed so a 5 minute connection could be possible at Stafford between these trains. Nothing more frustrating then watching that Liverpool train depart and having to wait for the next one.
My experience with asking the guard if I can get on the earlier train at Stafford has been mixed. I've had outright "yes" to "no sorry, as you're on an Advance ticket." If I am getting off at Stafford from Euston at xx:35 with an Advance ticket and I notice the xx:10 has been cancelled though, I have boarded the now xx:38 without asking on the basis my journey has already started (just got off train), my next booked train has been cancelled and I'm merely boarding the next available train with the same TOC.
In short, this problem needs sorting out and not before time! The connections on the Southbound leg are good, so why can't they be with the Northbound. Surely it's in WMT to do this too as they'd get more people attracted with a shorter journey time (30 minutes less) and onto their trains with their Advances or WMT Only walk ups.
