SkinnyDave
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- 11 Mar 2012
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Will this route happen and if so who would be given the service?
* Note to Mods : Should this be moved to NR General?
Skinny Dave personally I think that when the next TPE franchise is due, a service for Liverpool may be added, but in my own eyes, people from Edinburgh have a good connecting service from Wigan or Preston for Liverpool Lime Street.
Will this route happen and if so who would be given the service?
Hang on - diesel 185 units 'ideal' for a service entirely under (new) electrification?!
Yes it should, however it was not reported to us.* Note to Mods : Should this be moved to NR General?
You have got a point and did take this into mind, but if TPE have existing units the 185's are fine. Also, they use Voyager on routes which are fully electrified (Birmingham-Scotland)
I feel fairly confident in stating that when the combined TPE/London Midland 350 order was announced it was said that the ten TPE Desiros would be designated class 350/4.350 / 3s are expected, not 4s AFAIK,
There is nothing in the next franchise for such a service, as there are other changes taking place between Scotland and Preston / Manchester (revised hourly) which don't really make this possiblepersonally I think that when the next TPE franchise is due
Skinny Dave personally I think that when the next TPE franchise is due, a service for Liverpool may be added, but in my own eyes, people from Edinburgh have a good connecting service from Wigan or Preston for Liverpool Lime Street.
I think it would be actually very close as Edinburgh serves as an interchange for Aberdeen and Inverness routes, hence why there is a higher flow on the Edinburgh service now compared to previouslyLiverpool to Glasgow is probably more of a market than Liverpool to Edinburgh though
I expect it'll happen one day (after electrification of the line from Liverpool to Wigan and potential franchise remapping) - Liverpool to Glasgow is probably more of a market than Liverpool to Edinburgh though.
I think it would be actually very close as Edinburgh serves as an interchange for Aberdeen and Inverness routes, hence why there is a higher flow on the Edinburgh service now compared to previously
However for end-to-end passenger numbers I think this would be very low and wouldn't make much difference ironically; Edinburgh passengers would therefore still have to make at least one change of train
Operationally this may have a future though
The EMU will be operating between Scotland and Manchester
Once EMU are operating between Newcastle and Liverpool (resinstated route as proposed), then swapping EMU between these for maintenance could then be achieved with greater ease by the common use of Liverpool as a destination, and it may be something they consider
This may even result in two trains per day, in each direction
However, 2018, that's even further away...
Even if that is the case would it make sense to run Liverpool/Manchester Airport to Glasgow 8 car workings and leave 4 car workings for Manchester Airport to Edinburgh, considering the Glasgow-London route may finish up as mainly 11 car Pendolinos and in comparison Edinburgh will only be served by short trains from the WCML?
Edinburgh does have an hourly XC service to Birmingham though, as well as plenty of London trains of their own
Which wouldn't be of interest to someone boarding a packed Edinburgh train at Preston/Lancaster/Carlisle.
Bear in mind that any Voyager replacement would mean Edinburgh getting longer trains on it's WCML Birmingham via Preston/Lancaster/Carlisle services too (depending on the winner of the WCML franchise)
I don't see how that would automatically be the case. I understand that the next West Coast operator can choose to replace Voyagers after a certain date but that doesn't automatically mean additional carriages. Also, given that Glasgow-London were all 9 car Pendolinos not that long ago and could be set to become all 11 car Pendolinos, even if new 7 car units were ordered for Birmingham-Edinburgh then it would still mean a lot more carriages head north from Preston for Glasgow compared to Edinburgh.
Couldn't first scotrail take it on?
So I don't think there's any problem in there being more coaches up the WCML to Glasgow than there are to Edinburgh (as a significant number of London/Birmingham to Edinburgh passengers will be using ECML services).
Digressing slightly but isn't it quicker from Edinburgh to Birmingham via the WCML?
Birmingham-Scotland is run by Virgin West Coast