The next place to lose a direct London link

[LNW-GW Joint]

My monies on Holyhead.

But it's in the new franchise service spec, as are the other NWML stations (Wrexham isn't, nor is Lockerbie).

 

[dk1]

? Surprised no one has mentioned Great Yarmouth Summer Saturday services - I am sure Network Rail would love to end these given state of tracks at Yarmouth never mind future TOC high costs (3 x crew / fuel) !!

From what i hear at work, the chances of through Liv St-Yarmouth workings surviving into the new franchise are very slim. They tend to be reasonably well loaded during the 6wks school holidays but outside that are a waste. It is only the lack of available dmus to cope with demand East of Norwich that causes the problem which is made worse by no East Midlands trains services from Peterborough & the North running through either.

Mondays & Fridays are already proving difficult to manage due to the short-stay type of holidays now taken & the fact that there is only 1tph.

 

[IanXC]

To be fair, Scarborough is the only place listed that doesn't have a service for travel _from_ it to London - purpose of the scarborough train is to bring people from Leicester etc to Scarborough. Isn't it summer only anyway?

It is Summer Saturdays only. Scarborough also has a Summer Sundays Leicester to Scarborough service.

 

[route:oxford]

In all likelihood though, an independent Scotland should be able to secure an opt-out from the Schengen Agreement and join the Common Travel Area instead. They have a very strong case given their geographical position - there's absolutely no history of modern border controls with England. The Republic of Ireland IIRC didn't oppose Schengen, but given the huge costs and isolation effect of a land frontier with Ulster, had to take the UK's stance.

Perhaps

But at the same time, think how many jobs there would be created by manufacturing, erecting, maintaining and protecting a 12ft steel fence between the two countries.

 

[MCR247]

I personally think that Corby will lose the direct service to London, and be replaced by a 153 or 156 running a Corby - Kettering shuttle. The 222s gained from this could go onto Liverpool - Norwich or else go towards extending the Sheffield fast to Leeds, or replacing the HST sets that EMT have (which could then go to Grand Central, which sends 180s to FGW). The lost service at Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton (town) could be solved by having the Sheffield stopper make additional calls at these stations.

Er hang on a minute. If Corby loses its service the trains will simply be diverted to Leicester or Derby, as they were before. Slowing down the existing services would reduce capacity too much.

 

[David Goddard]

Lets take a look at each of these options (I know we have discussed more)

Scarborough - This could go either way. If the route gets wired with TPX electrification then there is a good chance that Scarborough might actually gain a London service. The existing Summer service does not really serve the people of Scarborough.

Henley on Thames - Would never be cut given the high peak time usage and the political disaster it would cause. The same would apply if the through Bourne End service was cut.

Pembroke Dock - Candidate for deletion following completion of electrification. I suppose if the Swansea was to be served by some form of 5car bi-mode combination then a detached portion continuing to Pembroke Dock could be possible, if the Camarthen service is done the same way.

Harrogate - Unlikely to lose out as another population that demands a through service. If wired then has the potential for increased frequencies through portion working with services to Bradford, dividing at Leeds.

Fort William - Yes its just the sleeper but very useful and should have sufficient demand to survive

Inverness - As for Fort William, in respect to the sleeper and Highland Chieftain services.

Bradford on Avon - An unusual one this, essentially served because its on the way. As long as the demand at the Berks & Hants stations keeps up then no reason why this would get cut- the HST needs to get from/to Bristol depot somehow!

Halifax - unknown quantity really. Probably served because its on the way to Bradford, and if paths were availalble on more direct routes then I would expect that GC would use them.