Surely doing chiltern and snow hill lines would be a quick and easy way to free up DMUs for the North?
That's all muddled up with Electric Spine.
The proposed spine work is s upposed to do Nuneaton-Coventry-Leamington-Banbury-Oxford.
You could then add in Chiltern to the south and Snow Hill to the north.
But electric spine hasn't got off the ground yet.
There aren't any quick and easy electrification projects.
All those routes are infested with original round-arch bridges which will need replacing, as on the GW Bristol route.
At the northern end, apart from the costs through Snow Hill, there is the vexed question of how far you go beyond.
Kidderminster, fine; Worcester possibly (taking in Bromsgrove-Droitwich).
But you wouldn't easily build a case for Worcester-Hereford.
The chances are the north will have enough DMUs from other sources before Snow Hill could be wired.
Chiltern local electrification would depend on the attitude of the incoming franchisee after 2021, and there are also the complications of interworking with LU (Met) on the Aylesbury line.