Well, it is now!I am unsure if this is intended as a Speculative Ideas thread or not,...
Does 24 hour mean at least one service in all 24 hours of the day on weekdays (ie. York to Manchester would not count, as some hours see no departures)?
Well, it is now!
How noisy are trams though, considering they go down some people roads?
London to Shenfield ran for about 22 hours per day when I was a youngster.I'd imagine London - Cambridge, London to Southend via Romford weekends, London to Dartford, London to Northampton, London to Chingford/Enfield weekends. London to Reading via Staines maybe, and possibly officially London to Reading via Slough.
It may well be worth looking at turning Victoria into a 24hr station to stop Piccadilly being such a magnet for after pub/club/events attendees.I don't think they are noisier than a lorry. The Airport line has more street running than any other line and it has between 2 and a half to 4 hours downtime each night. Removing all the down time on two nights a week won't make much difference.
For both heavy and light rail Victoria would like probably be a better 24 hour station than Piccadilly. The latter could shut between 23:30 and 04:45 (first VT train is 05:05). Victoria is the right size and better suited for crowd control. I don't think it will happen anytime soon but 3 good routes for a GM night train service would be Manchester Victoria-Stockport/Stalybridge/Wigan. There are diversionary routes for each and they are not served by Metrolink.
King's Cross-Peterbrough (I know, Welwyn but this can be a bus if needs be)
Yeah, but that removes the ability to call at Welwyn, Potters Bar etc.You have the ability to avoid Welwyn by going via the Hertford loop if need be
I'd be happy with that with shuttle bus from Ally Pally/Potters Bar/Hatfield/WGC/Stevenage when diversion in place.Yeah, but that removes the ability to call at Welwyn, Potters Bar etc.
London to Shenfield ran for about 22 hours per day when I was a youngster.
Edinburgh-Glasgow Central
Yeah, but that removes the ability to call at Welwyn, Potters Bar etc.
I would ammend that to Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High as it's a busier route and serves a greater population density en route.
And if the route via Falkirk High is closed the train can go via Falkirk Grahamston (with a bus to take passengers up the hill if required).
That was another consideration, though I suppose with Shotts electrified you could divert through there running out of Central rather than Carstairs if need be. Though whereas I believe E&G drivers are passed 'via Grahamston', I'm not sure the same is true for drivers who sign Glasgow-Carstairs-Edinburgh.