This is sort of the opposite of the "what is each TOC's weak relation" thread
For each TOC, what would you say is the biggest carrier of fresh air
I'd say that for Northern (again, based on the fact that I'm not too familiar with the east side), would be the Romiley lines (Man Picc - Rose Hill, Marple or New Mills Cent). This line gets a south-bound express that carries roughly 0 in the way of passengers. The return working of this skips out what I feel to be the 'key stations' at Brinnington and Reddish North, but calling at the sheds (sorry to anyone who uses these) of Ryder Brow and Belle Vue. This seems to me to be a clear waste of stock that could be used to supplement much busier lines such as the Victoria to Blackpool.
For EMT, this would be the Corby-London St Pancreas as it usually carries nothing but air after Kettering
For Virgin, Manchester to Euston via Stoke-on-Trent doesnt warrant 2tph. I personally think that 1 tph on this route, calling Stockport, Macc, Stoke, MKC and Euston would be better than having the current trains which skip out either Macc or MKC. Also, in a related-but-not-relevant thing, I feel that XC should put in an additional call at Macc on their Bristol - Manchester trains, to give a straight 3 tph fast to Macc and Stoke.
And for the last one that I can think of, TPX's worst offender would be having the Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Cleethorpes trains terminate at Manchester Airport rather than at Manchester Piccadilly. (Another piece of off-topic) I personally would have the Cleethorpes continue to Liverpool Lime Street, in the place of the current Scarborough-Liverpool, and have the Scarborough terminate at Manchester Piccadilly. This means that the Scarborough wouldn't cut right across the throat of the station at Piccadilly, meaning potentially more services can run south out of the station.
For each TOC, what would you say is the biggest carrier of fresh air
I'd say that for Northern (again, based on the fact that I'm not too familiar with the east side), would be the Romiley lines (Man Picc - Rose Hill, Marple or New Mills Cent). This line gets a south-bound express that carries roughly 0 in the way of passengers. The return working of this skips out what I feel to be the 'key stations' at Brinnington and Reddish North, but calling at the sheds (sorry to anyone who uses these) of Ryder Brow and Belle Vue. This seems to me to be a clear waste of stock that could be used to supplement much busier lines such as the Victoria to Blackpool.
For EMT, this would be the Corby-London St Pancreas as it usually carries nothing but air after Kettering
For Virgin, Manchester to Euston via Stoke-on-Trent doesnt warrant 2tph. I personally think that 1 tph on this route, calling Stockport, Macc, Stoke, MKC and Euston would be better than having the current trains which skip out either Macc or MKC. Also, in a related-but-not-relevant thing, I feel that XC should put in an additional call at Macc on their Bristol - Manchester trains, to give a straight 3 tph fast to Macc and Stoke.
And for the last one that I can think of, TPX's worst offender would be having the Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Cleethorpes trains terminate at Manchester Airport rather than at Manchester Piccadilly. (Another piece of off-topic) I personally would have the Cleethorpes continue to Liverpool Lime Street, in the place of the current Scarborough-Liverpool, and have the Scarborough terminate at Manchester Piccadilly. This means that the Scarborough wouldn't cut right across the throat of the station at Piccadilly, meaning potentially more services can run south out of the station.