Note that Southport only had 1tph to Oxford Road for most of 2020 and nothing to Victoria. Really all trains should stop at Deansgate to make the corridor more reliable and this has the added benefit of an interchange with the Metrolink. After viewing option B+ I am left wondering what will happen to the Barrow/Windermere - Airport services.It's on Twitter, and includes an all day Southport-Oxford Road service so I can't see much objection there.
I still think it won't be reliable and that it is necessary to go below 10tphpd to make it work, ideally down to 8.
There is a path provided from Wigan - Victoria via Golborne for future use in B+ which would solve the issue of no services running through the potential site of a future station, but does this mean the Cumbria services will be cut back to Oxenholme/Carnforth/Lancaster/Preston/Wigan or run to Victoria or Lime Street in future and not be in the scope of Castlefield?
Once whichever compromise has finally been implemented, will attention turn finally to planning how to widen the viaduct to accompany 4 tracks throughout, with 4 through platforms at Piccadilly and a centre turnback at Oxford Road? Also how many trains per hour do you think could run reliably through an improved 4 track corridor?