Presumably today was the first time this week that
@Mathew S has taken the 0823. Until last week it was a 319 from Blackpool to the Airport, running in the same path.
Correct.
Mathew S, I can only presume you get your 319 riding done in a different situation, the 0823 is never going to be 319-formed, it comes from Barrow.
What's the usual fare for the 0823 - a two car 158?
I agree that a 158 is in most respects a pleasant experience, but if things were to get hectic you would do better with a 319, the seating capacity is 50% greater than that of a 3-car 158, and the total capacity probably proportionally even greater.
The modest passenger loading seems odd, given how notoriously busy the ex-Glasgow TPE was when it used to stop at Wigan. I can only think that people haven't yet tumbled to the 0823's existence.
I don't think we have a 'usual' yet - it's only been running for four days with DMUs (as
@Greybeard33 said, prior to this it was a 319 from Blackpool). The number of people making the journey from Wigan hasn't noticable fallen since pre-May 2018 when it was the very busy TPE services. The change in the loadings on the via Chat Moss services, I think, is a combination of fewer passengers from Preston and north of Preston using via-Wigan trains, and more, faster trains (specifically the xx55/xx56/xx57 Leeds services) spreading out demand somewhat.
The difference between a 319 and a 158, which was very noticable this morning, is that passengers are prepared to use all of the seats on a 158. By contrast the very cramped 3+2 seating on a 319 meant that it was normal for the train to be packed with standing passengers even though, at a guess, roughly 20% / 25% of seats were empty.
0823 is probably a bit late for most commuters (given that 9am is the most usual start) so this isn't hugely surprising. If it was 0745-0800ish I would expect it a LOT busier.
A lot of Wigan - Manchester passengers now seem to use the 0657, 0756, and 0855 Wigan NW - Leeds services. Because they start at Wigan you're almost guaranteed a seat and, once the delays through Deansgate/OxRoad/Piccadilly are taken into account, are usually just as fast as the airport trains. 0755 arriving into Victoria at 0836 is going to be ideal for a lot of city centre workers starting at 9am. Those heading to the south of the city centre (Picc, Ox Road) seem to favour the 0650, 0750 Alderley Edge trains which, whilse slightly slower, still gets you into the city in good time to start at 8am or 9am.