What time could be realistically achieved with the current route via Wakefield, and if you went via Hambleton and straight to London what would that time be?
The Saturdays-only 06:55 Skipton to London via Hambleton does Leeds to Temple Hirst Jn in 19 minutes, including 30 seconds pathing allowance, and a typical fast service from Edinburgh does Temple Hirst Jn to King's Cross in 1 hour 37 minutes, including 2.5 minutes of pathing allowance, so 1 hour 56 minutes in total.
The improvements to linespeeds and acceleration facilitated by the TransPennine route upgrade between Leeds and Micklefield will cut a few minutes off of the journey time, although a bit more time would have been saved by including Micklefield to Selby within the TRU scope, as that stretch of track could easily have its linespeed raised to 100mph in addition to faster acceleration enabled by electrification.
Under the proposed May 2022 (2023? Whichever the one with big changes would have been) timetable, what would the LNER calling pattern have been? I'm assuming that Stevenage, Peterborough and York would have kept at least one nonstop London service per hour with 2tph each to Leeds and Edinburgh (+ ½ tph to Harrogate and Lincoln) but I don't know beyond that.
To the best of my knowledge:
Deffered May 2022/2023 plan:
1tp2h London to Lincoln, as is
1tph London-Peterborough-Newark-Doncaster-Wakefield-Leeds
1tph London-Stevenage-Grantham-Doncaster-Wakefield-Leeds
1tp2h London-York as is, later to be extended to Middlesborough calling at Northallerton and Thornaby
1tph London-Stevenage-(Peterborough 1tp2h?)-Grantham-Newark-Doncaster-York-Darlington-Durham-Newastle
1tph London-Peterborough-Doncaster-York-Darlington-Newcastle-(Morpeth occasionally)-(Alnmouth 1tp2h)-(Berwick 1tp2h)-(Dunbar infrequently)-Edinburgh. IIRC this would have also served Aberdeen and Inverness, rather than the faster Edinburgh train
1tph London-York-Newcastle-Edinburgh
Original pre-covid plan:
1tp2h London-Stevenage-Grantham-Newark-Lincoln
1tph London-Peterborough-Wakefield-Leeds, with every other train being extended to Bradford Forster Square, calling at Shipley
1tph London-Doncaster-Wakefield-Leeds
1tp2h London-Stevenage-Grantham-Newark-Retford-Doncaster-Leeds-Horsfoth-Harrogate
1tp2h London-Peterborough-York-Northallerton-Thornaby-Middlesborough
1tph London-Stevenage-(Peterborough 1tp2h)-Grantham-Newark-Doncaster-York-Darlington-(Durham 1tp2h)-Newcastle
1tph London-Peterborough-Doncaster-York-Darlington-Newcastle-(Morpeth occasionally)-(Alnmouth 1tp2h)-Berwick-(Dunbar infrequently)-Edinburgh. This would have also served Aberdeen and Inverness, rather than the faster Edinburgh train
1tph London-(York 1tp2h)-Newcastle-Edinburgh