Virgin Trains Diverts

[Starmill]

Aye, and when I was there, the TPE Blackpool North & Barrow in Furness train was through P14 5 minutes before the Pendo, which made it even more confusing!

I said to one of the staff something like 'what's it like working on the grimy part of the station for a change?' and she said it is very difficult indeed to see down the platform! Pretty amusing seeing staff in red round there in the first place tbh!

It was also interesting going through Oxford Road without stopping, which is a very rare occurrence on a scheduled train. Very odd to see views of the Castlefield viaduct and pass through Eccles station on a Pendoliono!

All seemed busy but the 1751 was thankfully an 11 car and as ever there were seats in coach U. After Piccadilly, the train back from Wigan that I went on to Stockport, the 1832 to London, was absolutely packed - and you can see why as it was only a 9 car and was basically carrying all the Socttish passengers and a normal load of Manchester passengers on the same train.

Terrible photos are attached!

 

[Thomas6187]

It was also interesting going through Oxford Road without stopping, which is a very rare occurrence on a scheduled train.

It not that rare, as several scheduled trains a day go through non stop each day, mainly early morning/late evening

 

[Starmill]

It not that rare, as several scheduled trains a day go through non stop each day, mainly early morning/late evening

I thought that was only at the times when the station is closed? But yes I concede I've been on the 2245 BPN - MIA for example.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

0513 Lime St-Airport via Chat Moss and 0725 Airport-Edinburgh via Chorley are the only two that don't call during opening hours as far as I can tell.

 

[Thomas6187]

The couple of services which currently don't stop at Oxford Road during opening hours will stop, starting from the May timetable change. That being the 05:13 Liverpool-Manchester Airport and the 07:25 Manchester Airport-Edinburgh

 

[dannypye9999]

An interesting frequency today between major citys:



Manchester to Birmingham have FOUR trains an hour today, around every 10 mins for the first half hour then a 32 minute gap

xx07 XC
xx15 VT
xx27 XC
xx35 VT



Wolverhampton - Euston THREE trains an hour both directions (two from Manchester, one from Liverpool)


One northbound Euston to Manchester via Birmingham is calling at Stafford but Southbound there are no calls there for some reason.

 

[Bayum]

Has anyone taken/seen any videos of the diverts through Piccadilly or Eccles?

 

[dk1]

Was quite an amazing timetable yesterday extending all EBWs to Manchester (2) and Liverpool (1) each hour yesterday, running the hourly Penrith non-stop to Crewe via West Mids then via Wilmslow & Manchester to Wigan. Note the journey time Preston to Crewe was 84mins & Crewe to London was 5 times an hour. Whenever I checked most services where punctual too.

 

[Starmill]

Has anyone taken/seen any videos of the diverts through Piccadilly or Eccles?

Post 31 contains a picture of one at Piccadilly.

 

[dk1]

Bet the Penrith Euston services caught a few late comers out at Piccadilly. Giving yourself 2minutes to spare & getting to platform 13 ain't gonna happen.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

I'm in little doubt the platform is long enough. The question is; has a Pendo ever stopped at P13 or 14 in Passenger service before?

I've seen on the boards in the waiting room a train to Euston about to leave, so yes, it was a dragged Pendo.

IMO Virgin should run a limited service over this route, something tells me there may be a market for express services from Preston/Wigan to Stockport/Wilmslow but I'm not sure why. Just a gut feeling I suppose.

 

[Jez]

I wondered why I saw a Virgin trains service passing through Deansgate when I was in Manchester over the weekend!

 

[thealexweb]

Bet the Penrith Euston services caught a few late comers out at Piccadilly. Giving yourself 2minutes to spare & getting to platform 13 ain't gonna happen.

The service seemed generally excellent.

These routes should be here to stay.

 

[Dunc108]

Bet the Penrith Euston services caught a few late comers out at Piccadilly. Giving yourself 2minutes to spare & getting to platform 13 ain't gonna happen.

Yes its not ideal is it & platforms13 & 14 feel like walking a mile off the main concourse, practically perched out in the middle of nowhere ... certainly not my fave place to wait for a train aswell as being exposed to the elements.

 

[TOCDriver]

A regular voyager service running through Bolton from Preston would be a nice addition

 

[dk1]

A regular voyager service running through Bolton from Preston would be a nice addition

If only there where any to spare.

 

[TOCDriver]

If only there where any to spare.

Yes. Even if Virgin could manage to divert just one morning and evening service through Bolton, it would help with the congestion there.

 

[thealexweb]

A regular voyager service running through Bolton from Preston would be a nice addition

It would be full between Preston and Manchester thats for sure.

 

[Bob Ames]

Yes. Even if Virgin could manage to divert just one morning and evening service through Bolton, it would help with the congestion there.

Would the Voyager that works 1K14 (0535 Lancaster-Euston) be a good candidate for a Bolton diversion? It always seems to be rather lightly loaded. As long as it reached Crewe in time to couple-up with 1R13, it would probably get more use via Bolton. To compensate Wigan and Warrington passengers for the loss of their early-morning Crewe connection, you could have 1R07 (0533 ex Preston) call at Crewe.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Would the Voyager that works 1K14 (0535 Lancaster-Euston) be a good candidate for a Bolton diversion? It always seems to be rather lightly loaded. As long as it reached Crewe in time to couple-up with 1R13, it would probably get more use via Bolton. To compensate Wigan and Warrington passengers for the loss of their early-morning Crewe connection, you could have 1R07 (0533 ex Preston) call at Crewe.

Working on the basis that running via Chorley (and we'll say Styal in lieu of Stockport, I'll guess the time difference is not too great) adds an extra 30 mins to Preston-Crewe as opposed to via the WCML, that means the train would need to leave Lancaster at 0505~, Preston at 0520~ and Bolton at 0545~.

Such a departure time from Bolton means it connects into only the 0512 ex-Preston, serving Chorley and Horwich (which already offers a 10 min connection at Piccadilly for the 0610, arriving 14 minutes before this train would). Also, if you were to serve Manchester, Stockport or Wilmslow it would essentially just turn into another Manchester-London service, denying people from Wigan or Warrington one, and decreasing capacity for those joining at Crewe or Nuneaton. On the other hand, if it runs non-stop, it means you've got a train running 30 mins earlier from Lancaster and Preston (meaning the early Barrow service loses its London connection at the former), and Wigan and Warrington losing a peak London train, just to serve Bolton at an arguably ungodly hour (the lack of car park at Bolton makes me think there won't be too many who drive in from the surrounding area etc either).

Working again on the 30 min early basis, this would put you right behind two trains - 5-10 mins behind the 0512 Preston-Airport, which means you might not have the greatest path in the world, and also you duplicate a service which offers a 10 min connection at Piccadilly as mentioned previously; and perhaps more crucially the 0555 Manchester-London via Crewe. Also, stopping the 0533 Preston-London at Crewe just means you get even more passengers on what already is usually a full and standing service once it makes the Trent Valley calls.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If only there where any to spare.

There should be one spare though.
The one that was earmarked to run the Blackpool service (2 per day).
VT must have some plans for it, even if it just doubles up other services.

But I dare say Blackpool folk would get upset if "their" train was sent to Bolton instead.
Anyway there might be no paths in the peak, and VT have no rights to Manchester-Preston traffic (it would be robbing NT/TP).

 

[dk1]

There should be one spare though.
The one that was earmarked to run the Blackpool service (2 per day).
VT must have some plans for it, even if it just doubles up other services.

But I dare say Blackpool folk would get upset if "their" train was sent to Bolton instead.
Anyway there might be no paths in the peak, and VT have no rights to Manchester-Preston traffic (it would be robbing NT/TP).

Often what seems like a good simple idea is anything but. The contractual rights and red tape involved is enormous and maybe not worth the bother.

 

[thealexweb]

There should be one spare though.
The one that was earmarked to run the Blackpool service (2 per day).
VT must have some plans for it, even if it just doubles up other services.

But I dare say Blackpool folk would get upset if "their" train was sent to Bolton instead.
Anyway there might be no paths in the peak, and VT have no rights to Manchester-Preston traffic (it would be robbing NT/TP).

TP have made it clear they have no interest in restoring their half hourly Bolton service. A handful of the spare 185s could have been kept for a half hourly Chorley to Oxford Road stopper but they had no interest in such a service.

It would be selfish if TPE blocked any attempt from Virgin to provide such a service.

 

[Dunc108]

If only there where any to spare.

Well the 10.57 to Euston via Birmingham from Lancaster was a single 5-coach Voyager yesterday, full from Lancaster so practically no seats for anyone from Preston onwards. A single Voyager on such a journey simply isn't enough and that's without serving Manchester!

 

[dk1]

Well the 10.57 to Euston via Birmingham from Lancaster was a single 5-coach Voyager yesterday, full from Lancaster so practically no seats for anyone from Preston onwards. A single Voyager on such a journey simply isn't enough and that's without serving Manchester!

No need to serve off the route byways. Enough business on the core routes to worry about first.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

No need to serve off the route byways. Enough business on the core routes to worry about first.

Modern Railways (May) says VT has been asked by DfT to come up with a plan for a Blackpool Voyager from December.
It reads as though the early 0533 Lancaster will start from Blackpool at 0527 (0600 from Preston, merging with a Holyhead portion at Crewe).
The return will be at 1633 from Euston (currently a 390 terminating at Preston).
So, like the Shrewsbury workings, no new paths will be needed on the main line.

 

[thealexweb]

Modern Railways (May) says VT has been asked by DfT to come up with a plan for a Blackpool Voyager from December.
It reads as though the early 0533 Lancaster will start from Blackpool at 0527 (0600 from Preston, merging with a Holyhead portion at Crewe).
The return will be at 1633 from Euston (currently a 390 terminating at Preston).
So, like the Shrewsbury workings, no new paths will be needed on the main line.

Given this would create extra capacity in the morning between Blackpool North and Wigan North Western is there scope for any Northern run Blackpool North to Liverpool services be short formed and any spare DMUs used for Bolton routes. Do they even run the full Blackpool to Liverpool route that early?

Edit: Never mind the first Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime street does not run until 07:03.

 

[dk1]

Modern Railways (May) says VT has been asked by DfT to come up with a plan for a Blackpool Voyager from December.
It reads as though the early 0533 Lancaster will start from Blackpool at 0527 (0600 from Preston, merging with a Holyhead portion at Crewe).
The return will be at 1633 from Euston (currently a 390 terminating at Preston).
So, like the Shrewsbury workings, no new paths will be needed on the main line.

Just seen that mate. My MR came through the post earlier. I know the fast Glasgow leaves at 16.30 for Preston but will a 5-car Voyager cope with loadings on the stopping 16.33?

 

[Joseph.bevan96]

Just seen that mate. My MR came through the post earlier. I know the fast Glasgow leaves at 16.30 for Preston but will a 5-car Voyager cope with loadings on the stopping 16.33?

I assume you are referring to: 1P21 1633 London Euston to Preston

Although it is shown on RTT as a Pendolino, it is definitely a Voyager every Monday as we see it at Nuneaton. (It stands out from the rest of the voyagers as it's at a completely different time past the hour!)

 

[dk1]

I assume you are referring to: 1P21 1633 London Euston to Preston

Yep!!