The UK’s Worst Airport For Flight Delays Revealed
The title of this post, is the same as that, as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
The shortage of air traffic controllers is a European problem but some in the industry have blamed early retirement during the pandemic
These are the first two paragraphs.
Gatwick was the country’s worst airport for delays last year as it struggled with air traffic issues and capacity.
Departures were an average of more than 23 minutes late, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data. It is the second year in a row it has topped the late league table.
It does look that the first paragraph is saying they need more air traffic controllers and that second runway.
Ironically, one of the adverts in my copy of the article was for Avanti West Coast.
Times Of Avanti West Coast Trains Between London Euston And Crewe
This table shows the first few Avanti West Coast trains between London Euston and Crewe on the 17th March 2025.
- 390119 – IS37 – Glasgow – 11 cars – 05:31 – 07:29 – 2 stops – 118 mins – 80.3 mph.
- 390155 – IH61 – Manchester Piccadilly – 11 cars – 06:29 – 08:08 – 2 stops – 99 mins – 95.7 mph.
- 807007 – IF11 – Liverpool Lime Street – 7 cars – 06:36 – 08:23 – 2 stops – 107 mins – 88.6 mph.
- 390104 – IS42 – Glasgow – 11 cars – 07:29 – 08:59 – 0 stops – 90 mins – 105.3 mph
- 390010 – IH62 – Manchester Piccadilly – 9 cars – 07:33 – 09:10 – 1 stop – 97 mins – 97.7 mph.
- 390044 – IF12 – Liverpool Lime Street – 9 cars – 07:43 – 09:18 – 2 stops – 95 mins – 99.7 mph.
- 390118 – IS45 – Glasgow – 11 cars – 08:30 – 10:01 – 0 stops – 91 mins – 104.2 mph
- 390040 – IH63 – Manchester Piccadilly – 11 cars – 08:33 – 10:19 – 1 stop – 106 mins – 89.4 mph.
- 807001 – IF14 – Liverpool Lime Street – 7 cars – 08:43 – 10:28 – 1 stop – 95 mins – 99.7 mph.
- 805001/805011 – ID83 – Holyhead – 10 cars – 09:02 – 10:51 – 1 stop – 109 mins – 86.9 mph.
- 390136 – IS48 – Glasgow – 11 cars – 09:30 – 11:02 – 0 stops – 92 mins – 103.0 mph
- 390040 – IH64 – Manchester Piccadilly – 9 cars – 09:33 – 11:08 – 1 stop – 95 mins – 99.7 mph.
- 390154 – IF16 – Liverpool Lime Street – 11 cars – 09:43 – 11:31 – 1 stop – 108 mins – 87.7 mph.
- 805012/805003 – ID84 – Chester – 10 cars – 10:10 – 11:53 – 1 stop – 103 mins – 92.0 mph.
- 390130 – IS52 – Glasgow – 11 cars – 10:30 – 12:00 – 0 stops – 90 mins – 105.3 mph
- 390151 – IH65 – Manchester Piccadilly – 11 cars – 10:35 – 12:09 – 1 stop – 94 mins – 100.8 mph.
- 807008 – IF18 – Liverpool Lime Street – 7 cars – 10:43 – 12:30 – 1 stop – 107 mins – 88.6 mph.
- 805009 – ID85 – Chester – 5 cars – 11:00 – 11:46 – 1 stop – 106 mins – 89.4 mph.
Note.
- All trains shown, go through Crewe.
- Some trains were delayed, hence their slow average speed.
- The Glasgow trains, which run non-stop from Euston to Warrington Bank Quay were the fastest, with four trains over 100 mph.
I have a few other thoughts.
The Class 805 Trains Are Crying Out For Batteries
In The Data Sheet For Hitachi Battery Electric Trains, I said this on how the Hitachi Class 80x trains will perform on batteries.
These are my conclusions about Hitachi’s battery packs for Class 80x trains.
- The battery pack has a capacity of 750 kWh.
- A five-car train needs three battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
- A nine-car train needs five battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
- The maximum range of a five-car train with three batteries is 117 miles.
- The maximum range of a nine-car train with five batteries is 121 miles.
Holyhead and Crewe is only 105.5 miles.
As battery technology gets better, these distances will increase.
The Fast Glasgow Train Appears To Be Leading A Convoy
The non-stop to Warrington Bank Quay Glasgow trains, also appear to be leading one Manchester Piccadilly, a Liverpool Lime Street and a Chester/North Wales train in a convoy, through Milton Keynes Central and the Trent Valley.
This convoy could grow as other services are added to the West Coast Main Line.
The Open Access Services Might Have Their Own Convoy
It would seem to me, that it might be possible to run a second convoy every hour, out of phase with the current one following the Glasgow service.
It also might be more virtual than real and under the control of the digital signalling, that will be installed on the line.
Avanti West Coast Increases Liverpool – London Services With Launch Of Electric Evero Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the sub-heading.
Avanti West Coast officially launched the Class 807 electric only-version of its Hitachi-built Evero trainsets into service on November 11. This enables the operator to offer an additional weekday return service between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston.
On the 14th of November 2024, these services were run by new Class 807 trains.
- 3F79 – 807001 – 2100 – Northampton to Liverpool Lime Street
- 3F80 – 807001 – 0023 – Liverpool Lime Street to Edge Hill Depot
- 5A99 – 807001 – 0836 – Edge Hill Depot to Liverpool Lime Street
- 1A99 – 807001 – 0901 – Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston – 02:40
- 1F12 – 807003 – 0743 – London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street – 03:07
- 1A28 – 807003 – 1043 – Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston – 02:20
Note,
- I have shown all Class 807 movements that happened. Some possibly didn’t!
- There appear to be extra services, which I’ve marked with their times.
- Time seems to be available to go to Edge Hill Depot if needed.
- I suspect an open return ticket can be used on any train, that’s running.
Services seem to be slow, but they can be booked.
Avanti Are Ramping Up The Service
I suspect that as they add more trains, times will come down and a stop at Liverpool South Parkway will be added.
The Class 390 trains currently used on the Liverpool route are too long for Liverpool South Parkway station.
But seven-car Class 807 trains would fit easily.
The shorter and lighter seven-car Class 807 trains may well have faster acceleration and deceleration than the nine- or eleven-car Class 390 trains with their heavy tilting mechanism.
Could this extra performance mean that the Class 807 trains could still meet the timetable with extra stops?
In Is Liverpool Going To Get High Speed One-Point-Five?, I discussed various options for the London and Liverpool service.
I believe that a practical timetable like this could work.
- Eleven-car Class 390 train – one tph – Non-stop or perhaps a single stop in the Midlands – Under two hours
- Seven-car Class 807 train – one tph – Stopping at Nuneaton, Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway – Current time or better
Note.
- An hourly service between London and Liverpool in under two hours would surely be a passenger magnet.
- Two tph would be a 43 % hourly increase in the number of seats between London and Liverpool.
- There would be better connections between Liverpool Lime Street and the East Midlands.
The Railway Gazette article also says this.
From the December timetable change AWC will supplement the current hourly Liverpool – London service with an extra two trains each way every weekday and a third service on Saturdays.
In the short term, AWC will not be delivering the long-standing plan for a half-hourly service on the route, but further services are to be introduced over the next year.
One constraint relates to the power supply. Network Rail has identified two locations where additional electric services cannot currently be accommodated, and discussions over a resolution are ongoing.
A fast service could also be applied to one of the London and Manchester services.
It should be noted, that the two hours and eight minutes record between Manchester and London Euston was set by an InterCity 225 in 1992, so perhaps a seven-car Class 807 could do better than a Class 390 train.
Could A Pair Of Class 807 Trains Leave Euston For Liverpool And Manchester, And Split At Crewe?
Train lengths are as follows.
- Seven-car Class 807 train – 182 metres.
- Fourteen-car Class 807 train – 364 metres.
- Nine-car Class 390 train – 217.5 metres.
- Eleven-car Class 390 train – 365.3 metres.
- Caledonian Sleeper – 374 metres.
I suspect with perhaps a small amount of platform lengthening, a pair of Class 807 could be fitted into all stations, where they would need to call.
This might be a way of adding extra capacity and faster services to Manchester, without needing an extra path on the West Coast Main Line.
Could A Single Class 807 Train Call At Manchester Airport Station?
The platforms at Manchester Airport station are 192 metres long, so a single Class 807 train should fit.
This would allow an hourly service from Manchester Airport to the South, without a change at Manchester Piccadilly or Crewe.
To save paths, it could split and join with the second Liverpool service at Crewe.
Conclusion
The new Class 807 trains could increase performance to between London Euston and both Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
3rd October 2024 – A Day In Liverpool
A Three-Leg Journey North
This is the second time, I’ve bought one of there journeys North and they are a pain, unless you want to guarantee seats.
I suppose, I should buy my tickets earlier, but if I can buy my rickets on the day on other train companies, I would prefer to do it on Avanti West Coast.
Avanti West Coast’s problem is that they haven’t got their new Class 807 trains into service yet, which will double the services to Liverpool.
T arrived at Warrington Bank Quay on time and the transfer to Newton-le-Willows went smoothly, but then, I waited thirty minutes for my train to Liverpool Lime Street.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the route I took.
Note.
- Liverpool Lime Street station is at the Western side of the map.
- Newton-le-Willows station is marked by the blue arrow in the top right corner of the map.
- Warrington Bank Quay station is in the bottom right corner of the map.
It does seem a round about route, But I got there. Although, I was late.
Hopefully, in a couple of years, you’ll be able to take a local train between Liverpool Lime Street and Newton-le-Willows stations to link up with FirstGroup’s low-cost Lumo Open Access service between Euston and Rochdale.
A Single Journey Home
I was booked home on the 18:43 train from Lime Street, but as you can often do, I asked and was allowed to board the 17:43.
A Crowded And Crazy Euston
I arrived back at Euston at 20:00, but it was crowded, as the station is very much a building site for High Speed Two.
I felt I would treat myself to a taxi, but I couldn’t find any.
So I took a 205 bus along Euston Road to King’s Cross, where I jumped on the the Circle Line for Moorgate.
From there I took my usual 141 bus home.
A friendly station guy at Moorgate, indicated, there might not be any taxis at Euston.
I’d also found earlier, that there were no escalators to the Underground.
Perhaps more than ever, care should be taken at Euston, when getting to and from the station.
It Looks To Me That High Speed Two Has Got Their Planning Wrong At Euston
The big problem at Euston is getting to and from the National Rail station from East or West,
Compare Euston in this respect with Liverpool Street, King’s Cross, St. Pancras or Paddington.
In The New Step-Free Entrance At Euston Square Station, I show the plans for step-free access to the sub-surface lines.
This new entrance to Euston station, should be built first.
All the dithering about High Speed Two seems to have delayed it!
Destination Manchester
The title of this post is the same as the title of this page on the London North Western Railway web site.
The page introduces, the operator’s proposed new service to Manchester.
As a progressive rail operator we’re always looking to develop our services and timetables to provide a better travelling experience for our customers. We are ambitious and our team seek innovative solutions to create new journey opportunities.
That’s why we have developed proposals for our trains to begin serving Manchester for the first time. Under the plans, our existing hourly service between Crewe and London Euston would be extended to Manchester city centre from summer 2026.
Following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2, these proposals will provide much-needed connectivity between Manchester, the West Midlands and London, with thousands of extra seats every day.
In more detail, the extended London Euston and Crewe service to Manchester Victoria station, will create the following.
- Additional capacity and comfortable, affordable journeys to and from Manchester city centre
- A great alternative to car and coach travel, with fares up to 50% cheaper than the main intercity train operator
- New regular direct services to Warrington for passengers at Milton Keynes, Rugby and Lichfield
- New regular direct services to Manchester for passengers at Rugeley, Lichfield, Tamworth and Atherstone
Note.
- The service will pass through Warrington Bank Quay, Stockport, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, Eccles and Salford Central to reach Manchester Victoria, so could be a comprehensive service to the Northern and Western parts of Manchester City Centre. It would just depend on the stopping pattern in the City Centre.
- There would be good connections to Manchester Metrolink at Eccles and Manchester Victoria.
- All stations on the Manchester Metrolink can be reached either direct or with a single change from Manchester Victoria.
- Manchester Metrolink is touch-in and out with a credit card.
- Manchester Victoria is very well connected by rail to cities and important destinations across the North including Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Burnley, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, Preston, Wigan and York.
- The page talks of a London Euston and Manchester Victoria time of three hours and ten minutes.
- Manchester Stations is a group of the four stations; Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria and Deansgate. Often a ticket to Manchester Stations is a few pounds cheaper and more convenient, if you are visiting several places in the City Centre.
The London Euston and Manchester Victoria service looks to me to be a well-thought out proposal.
A New Connection To Manchester Airport
Under a title of Anything Else on the page on the London North Western Railway web site, this is said.
As well as the proposal to extend our London Euston-Crewe services to Manchester Victoria, we are also proposing to begin running trains to Manchester Airport. This will involve extending our existing service between Stafford and Crewe, providing direct connectivity to the airport from Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. More details on this proposal will be announced in due course.
Note.
- The extended Stafford and Manchester Airport service could call at Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Longport, Kidsgrove, Alsager, Crewe, and possibly Wilmslow and Styal.
- Stafford, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Longport, Kidsgrove and Alsager would gain direct services to and from Manchester Airport.
- It would appear that the current Stafford and Crewe service waits in Stafford station for at least fifteen minutes.
- The current Stafford and Crewe service appears to always use platform 6 at Stafford.
- The current Euston and Crewe service appears to always use platform 3 at Stafford.
- The current Crewe and Euston service appears to always use platform 1 at Stafford.
- The current Birmingham and Liverpool service appears to always use platform 5 at Stafford.
- The current Liverpool and Birmingham service appears to always use platform 4 at Stafford.
I suspect that trains can be timetabled, so that the following is possible.
- An hourly London Euston and Manchester Airport service with a quick step-free change at Stafford between the London Euston and Manchester Victoria service and the Stafford and Manchester Airport service.
- An hourly Manchester Airport and London Euston service with a quick step-free change at Stafford between the Manchester Airport and Stafford service and the Manchester Victoria and London Euston service.
- An hourly Birmingham New Street and Manchester Airport service with a quick cross-platform change at Stafford between the Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street service and the Stafford and Manchester Airport service.
- An hourly Manchester Airport and Birmingham New Street service with a quick step-free change at Stafford between the Manchester Airport and Stafford service and the Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street service.
Note.
- I suspect more changes at Stafford could be cross-platform.
- I also suspect that it is possible to arrange that all services to the same destination, leave from the same platform, at the same time or times each hour.
- It would appear too, that if you want a cheap ticket price to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Victoria or Stoke-on-Trent, then you may have to change at Stafford.
It appears all more affordable London Northwestern Railway trains will go via Stafford.
I have some further thoughts.
Stafford And Manchester Airport Timings
With all the stops, it looks like Stafford and Manchester Airport will take about 78 minutes, but if they used the West Coast Main Line and didn’t stop the time could be reduced to just under an hour.
The Class 730 Trains
The services will be run by 110 mph Class 730 trains.
In 2018, there was talk of a bi-mode 125 mph Aventra, which I wrote about in Bombardier Bi-Mode Aventra To Feature Battery Power.
Currently, the Class 730 trains are 110 mph trains.
Would it help timetabling and capacity if these trains could be stretched to 125 mph?
Avanti West Coast
Several Avanti West Coast services stop at Stafford.
Their services could be half-an-hour quicker to Stafford, but they wouldn’t have the same stopping patterns.
In response to the competition, Avanti West Coast might run a few Manchester Airport Expresses using their new Class 805 trains.
A Second Service Between Stoke And Manchester Airport
I feel this might be needed and perhaps it could be faster, by using the direct route between Stafford and Crewe.
Avanti West Coast could use it to create a one-change fast service between London Euston and Manchester Airport, if they felt such a service were to be needed.
Conclusion
I like this proposal.
But there is a lot of fine tuning to do!
FirstGroup’s Lumo Seeks To Launch Rochdale – London Open Access Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These two paragraphs outline the service.
FirstGroup has applied to operate Rochdale – London open access passenger trains, more than 20 years after a short-lived through service ran between the two destinations.
On May 17 FirstGroup said that it had applied to the Office of Rail & Road to launch six Lumo-branded return journeys per day linking London Euston and Rochdale via the West Coast Main Line. The trains would call at Warrington Bank Quay, Newton-le-Willows, Eccles and Manchester Victoria.
These are my thoughts.
The Route Isn’t Fully-Electrified
The route is electrified between London Euston and Manchester Victoria stations, but the 10.4 miles between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale is not electrified.
In Extra Luggage Racks For Lumo, I also talk about the possibility of fitting traction batteries to Lumo’s Class 803 trains, so they could handle the 88.5 mile diversion on the East Coast Main Line via Lincoln.
Trains with a traction battery, with an 88.5 mile range, would be able to travel between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale and return.
How Long Would London Euston And Rochdale Take?
Consider.
- The fastest London Euston and Warrington Bank Quay services take 1 hour and 44 minutes
- The fastest Warrington Bank Quay and London Euston services take 1 hour and 47 minutes
- Northern’s Class 195 trains take between 44-51 minutes Rochdale and Warrington Bank Quay with three stops.
- Northern’s Class 195 trains take between 29-32 minutes Manchester Victoria and Warrington Bank Quay with two stops.
- I will add two minutes for the extra stop.
These are my estimates for overall journey times.
- London Euston and Manchester Victoria – 2 hours and 15 minutes
- London Euston and Rochdale – 2 hours and 29 minutes
- Manchester Victoria and London Euston – 2 hours and 21 minutes
- Rochdale and London Euston – 2 hours and 40 minutes
The fastest direct Avanti West Coast services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly take 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Could The Service Be Extended To Leeds?
For my timings between Rochdale and Warrington Bank Quay, I used Northern’s Leeds and Chester service.
This service goes between Manchester Victoria and Leeds calling at Rochdale, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Bradford Interchange, New Pudsey and Bramley.
I estimate it would take about 3 hours 32 minutes.
When Bradford has a new through station, I wouldn’t be surprised if a train operator looked at this route between London Euston and Leeds.
As Leeds and Manchester Victoria is only 49.8 miles, Lumo’s battery electric trains, with 88.5 mile batteries sized for the Lincoln diversion on the East Coast Main Line, would have no difficulty serving Leeds, where they would charge before return.
Could Lumo Run Pairs Of Five-Car Trains Between London Euston and Manchester Victoria?
As I said in Ten-Car Hull Trains, Lumo’s sister company; Hull Trains, runs the occasional ten-car service.
Perhaps for a big football match or other event, Lumo might like to run ten-car trains between Manchester Victoria and London Euston.
I suspect they could do it if the platforms were long enough, but they wouldn’t be able to run a 260 metre ten-car train to Rochdale, as that station only has a 135 metre long platform.
Warrington Bank Quay Station Will Get Six Extra Non-Stop Trains To And From London
This would provide real competition to Avanti West Coast over this route.
Newton-le-Willows Station Is Only A Few Miles From The Town Of St. Helen’s
Newton-le-Willows station has 400 parking spaces and 32 disabled parking spaces.
Note.
- The parking is all free!
- There are regular local trains to Chester, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport and Wigan North Western.
A six trains-per-day service to and from London, will help fill up the parking spaces.
Eccles Station Is Within Walking Distance Of Eccles Interchange
This OpenRailwayMap shows Eccles station and Eccles Interchange.
Note.
- The mauve tracks are the Manchester Metrolink.
- They terminate in the South-West at Eccles Interchange.
- The red tracks are the Liverpool-Manchester lines.
- Eccles station is a Northerly walk from Eccles Interchange.
This connection must be useful to more than a few.
I suspect if you’re going between London and Media City UK, Salford Quays or Piccadilly Gardens, you may be better to change to the Metrolink at Eccles.
Will Lumo’s Rochdale Service Run As A Flight With Avanti’s Glasgow Service?
Flighting is where two or more trains going on the same route run a few minutes apart.
- Every hour, on the half hour, an Avanti West Coast service for leaves London Euston for Glasgow Central.
- As with Lumo’s Rochdale service, the first stop is Warrington Bank Quay station.
- The Lumo service would leave London Euston a few minutes after Avanti’s Glasgow service.
- The distance between the two trains would be such, that if the first train stopped, the second train could stop safely.
- Digital signalling as is being installed on UK rail lines would make it easier to ensure safe separation.
But the benefit would be that both trains ran fast to Warrington Bank Quay station.
A Day-Trip To Manchester
If I’m right about the 2 hours and 15-21 minutes between London Euston and Manchester Victoria, then a day-trip would certainly be feasible.
Last Trains
This is a table of the last train times for Lumo between Newcastle and London.
- Weekdays – 20:27 21:35
- Saturdays – 18:27 19:22
- Sundays – 19:24 20:21
Note.
- The first time is the last Northbound departure.
- The second time is the last Southbound departure.
- Are these late enough for football matches?
I shall be interested to see the proposed last train times for the Manchester route.
- Will they be timed so you can get a tram from the Etihad or Old Trafford stadium after an evening match, that allowed you to get the last train back to London from Manchester Victoria?
- Taylor Swift gave the Manchester Arena a lot of favours with her concerts. Would you have been able to see her concert and get the last train back to London?
A few extra full trains wouldn’t hurt Lumo’s finances.
Conclusion
It looks like, this could be a very worthwhile service.
250,000 Seats A Day On The WCML?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Engineer.
These are the first three paragraphs.
In the Parliamentary debate on the cancellation of HS2 phase 2, Transport Minister Mark Harper claimed that what remains of HS2 will deliver “a massive increase in capacity to the West Coast Main Line (WCML)” by providing 250,000 seats a day. This figure was subsequently repeated by the Prime Minister and Rail Minister who advised that it applies “across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast.”
Yet without HS2 phase 2a, there is to be no WCML capacity increase north of Lichfield. Furthermore, with no HS2 station in Manchester it will not be possible to run the planned two-unit 400-metre HS2 trains to the city. Instead, there can only be single 200-metre unit HS2 trains which are shorter than the current 265-metre Pendolino trains.
Furthermore, 250,000 seats a day is equivalent to running 17 x 605-seat Pendolinos an hour, 24 hours a day. This is clearly not credible.
Note.
- The writer’s assumptions about Manchester are correct.
- Liverpool Lime Street is already is already HS2-ready for trains between Crewe and London, after the recent upgrade.
- Liverpool Lime Street will certainly be able to take two London trains per hour (tph), which can only be single 200-metre unit HS2 trains.
- Liverpool Lime Street may be able to take a third London train per hour.
These are my thoughts.
Current Services
Current services include.
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Birmingham New Street – 2 trains per day (tpd)
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central via Birmingham New Street – 5 tpd
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley via Birmingham New Street – 7 tpd
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Birmingham New Street – 1 tph
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Holyhead – 10 tpd
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street – 1 tph – Increasing to 2 tph.
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport – 1 tph
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport – 1 tph
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport – 1 tph
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central – 1 tph.
- West Midlands Trains – London and Birmingham New Street – 2 tph
- West Midlands Trains – London and Crewe – 1 tph
- West Midlands Trains – Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street – 1 tph
It looks like there are eight Avanti West Coast tph and two West Midlands Trains tph between Stafford and Crewe.
High Speed Two Services
This diagram shows High Speed Two services, as they were originally envisaged before Phase 2 was discontinued.
Note.
- Trains to the left of the vertical black line are Phase 1 and those to the right are Phase 2.
- Full-Size trains are shown in blue.
- Classic-Compatible trains are shown in yellow.
- The dotted circles are where trains split and join.
- In the red boxes routes alternate every hour.
- Was Lancaster chosen as it’s close to the new Eden Project Morecambe?
Click on the diagram to enlarge it.
The Author’s Assumption
The author has made these assumptions.
- Current West Coast Main Line capacity North of Lichfield; Avanti West Coast – 8 tph, West Midlands – 1 tph and freight trains – 4 tph
- HS2 offers no extra capacity North of Lichfield.
- Max capacity ; Old Oak Common – 8 tph and London Euston – 10 tph.
- 400-metre long trains North of Birmingham ; Min – 1 tph to Edinburgh/Glasgow
- 400-metre long trains North of Birmingham ; Max – plus 3 tph to Liverpool/Manchester
- Trains operate a maximum of 14 hours per day.
I would add.
- All pairs of 200-metre long trains split and join at Crewe.
- Birmingham Curzon Street has seven platforms.
- Lancaster and Macclesfield have long bay platforms, that can handle 200-metre trains
- Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly have two platforms, that can handle 200-metre trains.
- I suspect
- Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly could both handle four 200-metre trains tph hour – Three for London and one for Birmingham.
There is a surprising amount of capacity in the North.
The Author’s Minimum Plan For HS1 – Phase 1
I think his minimum plan is as follows.
- Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400-metre long trains – 3 tph
- Old Oak Common and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster – 400-metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- Old Oak Common and Liverpool Lime Street – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Old Oak Common and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Old Oak Common and Manchester Piccadilly – 200-metre long trains – 2 tph
- Old Oak Common and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – 400-metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
Note.
- 400-metre long trains are a pair of 200-metre long trains, that can split and join.
- This fulfils all the requirements of the original HS2 timetable for Phase 1.
- The total is nine tph and Old Oak Common can only handle 8 tph.
- Perhaps, the Liverpool Lime Street service could be a Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Piccadilly service, that splits at Crewe?
I think it could work with London having the following services.
- Birmingham Curzon Street – 400-metre long trains – 3 tph
- Birmingham International – 400-metre long trains – 4 tph
- Carlisle – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Crewe – 400-metre long trains – 3 tph
- Edinburgh Waverley – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Glasgow Central – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Lancaster – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- Liverpool Lime Street – 200-metre long trains – 2 tph
- Macclesfield – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Manchester Piccadilly – 200-metre long trains – 2/3 tph
- Preston – 200-metre long trains – 2 tph
- Stafford – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Stoke-on-Trent – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Warrington Bank Quay – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- Wigan North Western – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
Services care as good or better than the current services.
The Author’s Maximum Plan For HS1 – Phase 1
I think his maximum plan is as follows.
- London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400-metre long trains – 3 tph
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster – 400-metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Piccadilly – 400-metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent – 200-metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly – 200-metre long trains – 2 tph
- London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – 400-metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
Note.
- 400-metre long trains are a pair of 200-metre long trains, that can split and join.
- This fulfils all the requirements of the original HS2 timetable for Phase 1.
- That is nine tph and London Euston can handle 10 tph.
- Perhaps, a tenth train could serve Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central with a split at Crewe.
It should work.
Could High Speed Birmingham Curzon Street and Liverpool Lime Street And Manchester Piccadilly Services Be Provided With A Reverse At Birmingham Curzon Street?
A train would take this route.
- A 400 metre long train would leave London and go to Birmingham Curzon Street.
- At Birmingham Curzon Street the train would reverse and travel to Crewe.
- At Crewe the train would split with separate trains going to Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
Note.
- Automation could be used extensively to do the joining and splitting.
- The train would have an onboard team of drivers, so all joins, reverses and splits are performed as fast as possible.
- A local service could be paired with each train, so that intermediate stations on the Liverpool and Manchester branches had excellent connections to Birmingham and the South.
Suppose the maximum plan is now as follows.
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Piccadilly via Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre long trains – 3 tph – Reverses at Birmingham Curzon Street – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Lancaster – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – 400 metre long trains – 2 tph – Splits at Crewe.
Note.
- Birmingham Curzon Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly would all get four tph to and from London.
- Birmingham Curzon Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly would all get one tph to and from London, that could be non-stop and didn’t join, reverse or split.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Liverpool Lime Street would have a three tph service.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester Piccadilly would have a three tph service.
- Lancaster, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central and other stations would get the originally-promised service to and from London.
- That is ten tph to and from London Euston and the station can handle that number of trains.
It should work.
Could High Speed Birmingham Curzon Street and Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central Services Be Provided With A Reverse At Birmingham Curzon Street?
In the previous section, I showed how, three tph between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Piccadilly could be provided with a reverse at Birmingham Curzon Street.
So could the fourth train between London and Birmingham Curzon Street take this route?
- A 400 metre long train would leave London and go to Birmingham Curzon Street.
- At Birmingham Curzon Street the train would reverse and travel to Crewe, or another station, where the split can be performed.
- The train would split with separate trains going to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central.
Note.
- They would use the current paths used by Avanti West Coast Birmingham and Scotland services along the West Coast Main Line.
- This would give a third train to both Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central.
It certainly appears that by using a reverse at Birmingham Curzon Street, more capacity can be created on the West Coast Main Line/HS2 route.
Could High Speed Two Serve North Wales?
It finally looks like the North Wales Coast Lines will finally be electrified.
- Would this allow a 200 metre long train to run all the way to Holyhead for the boats to Ireland?
- There could be a join and split at Crewe with another train.
- Chester would also be served by HS2.
It would create a zero-carbon route to Ireland.
What Would Be The Daily Number Of Passengers Carried?
The maximum plan could now be as follows.
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Piccadilly via Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre long trains – 3 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central via Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster – 400 metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent – 200 metre long trains – 1 tph
- London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly/Holyhead – 400 metre long trains – 1 tph – Splits at Crewe.
- London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – 400 metre long trains – 2 tph – Splits at Crewe.
Note.
- There are eight 400 metre long trains and one 200 metre long trains in both directions.
- A 200 metre long train hold 550 passengers.
- There are seventeen 200 metre long tph in both directions.
- Trains operate a maximum of 14 hours per day.
The number of passengers per day is 261,800.
Could Open Access Operators Use High Speed Two?
In Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line, I suggested the Grand Union Trains might like to run their service between London Euston and Stirling via High Speed Two.
But would this be a feasible idea?
These are my thoughts.
What Is An Open Access Operator?
The Wikipedia entry for Open-Access Operator, provide this answer.
In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising.
It then lists fifty-four operators in fifteen countries.
As the companies, who provide the services take full commercial risk and don’t get a subsidy from the taxpayer, I don’t see why, that providing, the operator can get the paths, they should be allowed to operate.
If they fail, then that’s the operator’s problem.
Are Any Paths Available On High Speed Two?
These are High Speed Two services as originally planned.
Since the Eastern Leg was cancelled, the following has happened.
- There are only eleven trains per hour (tph) between London Euston and Birmingham Interchange.
- There are only ten tph between Birmingham and Crewe.
- There is one tph between Birmingham and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
Note.
The Trent Valley Line section between Stafford and Crewe is 24.3 miles.
The Trent Valley Line between Handsacre Junction and Crewe is nearly all four tracks.
Currently, this section carries these fast trains.
- Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Blackpool North, Edinburgh or Glasgow via Birmingham New Street.
- Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to North Wales
- Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street
- Avanti West Coast – 2 tph – London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly
- Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Scotland
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – London Euston to Crewe.
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Stafford to Crewe.
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street.
This totals nine tph and will be 10 tph, when a second London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street is added.
When High Speed Two opens between London Euston and Birmingham Curzon and Handsacre Junction, trains between London Euston and Liverpool, Manchester, the North and Scotland will switch to the Trent Valley Line at Handsacre Junction.
The Trent Valley Line section between Stafford and Crewe will carry these fast trains.
- Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to North Wales
- High Speed Two – 2 tph – London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street
- High Speed Two – 3 tph – London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly
- High Speed Two – 2 tph – London Euston to Scotland
- High Speed Two – 1 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street to Scotland
- High Speed Two – 2 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street to Manchester Piccadilly
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – London Euston to Crewe.
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Stafford to Crewe.
- West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street
Note.
- This totals to ten tph for High Speed Two, 1 tph for Avanti West Coast and the tph for West Midlands Trains.
- There is no service to Blackpool.
- It looks to me that the London Euston to North Wales should, as soon as the North Wales Coast Line is electrified become a High Speed Two service.
- Should the Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street service be replaced with a High Speed Two from Birmingham Curzon Street to Liverpool Lime Street?
There is plenty of paths South of Handsacre Junction on High Speed Two to accommodate a few services to Blackpool and an open access operator like Grand Union Trains, who have been given permission to run a service to Stirling.
Conclusion
My rough calculation says that open access services could be fitted in on the latest variant of High Speed Two.
In Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line, the two Andies; Burnham and Street proposed that the Handsacre Junction and Manchester Airport section of High Speed Two should be built.
If this should happen, then it would open up several possibilities for open access services for the North.
Alstom Plans To Operate Its Own Passenger Train Service In The UK For The First Time
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Alstom.
These two bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Alstom is partnering with SLC Rail to form a new open access rail operation between North Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and London
- Formal application now being submitted to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) with passenger service sought from 2025
These are the first three paragraphs.
Alstom, global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, plans to operate a new passenger rail service across England and Wales. Working in partnership with consultancy SLC Rail, the open access operation will be known as Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR).
As the country’s foremost supplier of new trains and train services, and a leading signalling and infrastructure provider, Alstom will operate its own rail service in the UK for the first time.
WSMR is seeking to introduce direct connectivity to and from North Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and London that doesn’t exist today, linking growing communities and businesses, and making rail travel more convenient, enjoyable and affordable.
I can’t remember a service proposal being put forward by a train manufacturer since the privatisation of UK’s railways in the 1990s.
This is some more information and my thoughts.
The Route
This paragraph from the press release, describes the route.
The proposal envisages a service of five trains per day in each direction Monday to Saturday, with four travelling both ways on Sundays. Trains will stop at Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Telford Central, Wolverhampton, Darlaston, Walsall, Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes on their journey between Wrexham General and London Euston.
Note.
- The proposed call at the new Darlaston station.
- The route is electrified between Euston and Nuneaton and Walsall and Wolverhampton.
- Much of the route North of Nuneaton is on tracks with a maximum speed of 70-80 mph.
The route is in these sections.
- Euston and Nuneaton – 96.7 miles – electrified
- Nuneaton and Walsall – 26.7 miles
- Walsall and Wolverhampton – 6.7 miles – electrified
- Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury – 29.7 miles
- Shrewsbury and Wrexham General – 30.3 miles
That is a total of 190.1 miles or 380.2 miles round trip.
I suspect that the service will need bi-mode trains.
Should The Service Call At Wellington?
This article on the BBC is entitled Rail Company Urged Not To Forget Wellington.
This is the sub-heading.
A rail company which is bidding to bring back a direct service between Shropshire and London has been urged not to forget a town.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway said it was preparing to apply to the government to run the service.
Trains would stop at Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Telford, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Coleshill and Nuneaton.
But Telford and Wrekin Council said the omission of Wellington as a stop was “short-sighted”.
Although Wellington is smaller than than Shrewsbury and Telford, it looks like a bit of analysis would provide a solution, that would be acceptable for all parties.
The Trains
In the press release, this phrase is used.
positive impact to both communities and the environment.
I can’t see any more electrification being erected on the route, so the trains will need to be bi-mode.
- Bi-mode diesel trains won’t have a positive impact on the environment.
- As the route between Wolverhampton and Wrexham General is not electrified, a battery-electric train would need a range of at least 60 miles or 120 miles for the round trip, if there were no charging at Wrexham General.
- But Alston are developing a Hydrogen Aventra, which I wrote about in Alstom And Eversholt Rail Sign An Agreement For The UK’s First Ever Brand-New Hydrogen Train Fleet.
So could Alstom be using this route to trial and showcase their new Hydrogen Aventra?
I believe that the route will be very suitable for a hydrogen train.
- Changeover between electric and hydrogen power can always take place in a station.
- All hydrogen refuelling could be performed at one end of the route.
- A large proportion of the UK’s green hydrogen is produced by INEOS at Runcorn, which is less than fifty miles from Wrexham. A refuelling tanker could supply the train, as they do on some hydrogen routes in Germany.
- London has only small amounts of hydrogen infrastructure.
I suspect that refuelling will be done at the Wrexham end of the route.
This Alstom visualisation shows the train.
But it is only a three-car train.
- That is not a problem, as Aventras can be lengthened as required to the length required for the number of passengers.
- Some Aventras, like the Class 701 trains for South Western Railway, have even been ordered as ten-car trains.
- Two three-car trains may also be the ideal capacity, running as a six-car train.
So capacity will not be a problem.
If it is assumed that Alstom’s trains for the WSMR route, can use the overhead wires, where they exist, each trip between Wrexham General and London will require a total of 86.7 miles or 140 kilometres of running on hydrogen.
- A round trip will therefor require 280 kilometres of running on hydrogen.
- But between London Euston and Nuneaton, it will just be another electric train.
- I suspect that like the similar Class 730 train, it will be capable of 110 mph on the West Coast Main Line.
- Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen train has a range of around a 500-800 kilometres on hydrogen.
- The WSMR trains will probably be 100 mph trains using hydrogen on a route, where that speed is possible.
So if a Hydrogen Aventra has a similar range to the Coradia iLint, it will be able to do two round trips before refuelling.
How Long Will The Service Take?
West Midlands Trains, who use the similar Class 730 trains take one hour and eleven minutes between London Euston and Nuneaton with a single stop at Milton Keynes Central.
As the WSMR trains will use the same route, I suspect the same time can be used.
As Nuneaton and Wrexham General are 93.4 miles apart a table can be created showing the time for the rest of the journey for different average speeds
- 50 mph – 1 hour 52 minutes – 3 hours 3 minutes.
- 60 mph – 1 hour 33 minutes – 2 hours 44 minutes.
- 70 mph – 1 hour 20 minutes – 2 hours 31 minutes.
- 80 mph – 1 hour 10 minutes – 2 hours 21 minutes.
Note.
- The first time is the Nuneaton and Wrexham General time and the second time is the overall journey time.
- Typical Avanti West Coast services via Crewe and a change at Chester, take between two-and-a-half and three hours.
I suspect, if the WSMR trains can keep the speed up through the Midlands, that two hours and 30 minutes could be possible.
Could The Hydrogen Aventra Run At 125 mph Under The Wires?
In March 2018, I wrote Bombardier Bi-Mode Aventra To Feature Battery Power, which was based on this article in Rail Magazine.
These are a few points from the article.
- Development has already started.
- Battery power could be used for Last-Mile applications.
- The bi-mode would have a maximum speed of 125 mph under both electric and diesel power.
- The trains will be built at Derby.
- Bombardier’s spokesman said that the ambience will be better, than other bi-modes.
- Export of trains is a possibility.
- Bombardier’s spokesman also said, that they have offered the train to three new franchises. East Midlands, West Coast Partnership and CrossCountry.
Have Alstom looked at what they bought from Bombardier and decided the following train is possible?
- Five-cars or what the customer needs.
- 125 mph under the wires.
- Running on hydrogen away from the wires.
- 100 mph on tracks without electrification.
Obviously, maximum speeds would depend on track limits.
Looking at 125 mph Avanti West Coast trains that have a Milton Keynes stop between London Euston and Nuneaton, they can reach Nuneaton ten minutes quicker than West Midlands Trains 110 mph Class 730 trains.
Two hours and 30 minutes between London Euston and Wrexham is looking increasingly possible.
Are we seeing an audacious proposal from Alston to sell new trains to CrossCountry and a host of other franchises?
Conclusion
London Euston and Wrexham would appear to be an excellent route for an Aventra-based hydrogen train.
- It can probably cruise at 110 mph on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Nuneaton.
- All switchovers between electrification and hydrogen can be performed in electrified stations.
- Hydrogen would only be used North of Nuneaton.
- The train can be refuelled at Wrexham General, with fuel supplied from INEOS at Runcorn.
- Given the typical 1000 km. range of hydrogen trains, a train can probably do three round trips without refuelling.
I can see this being a service with an excellent operational record.
ORR: Open Access Services Given Green Light Between London And Stirling
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from the Office of Rail and Road.
This is the sub-heading.
The latest access decision by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) provides more services for rail passengers travelling between London and central Scotland.
These five paragraphs detail the ORR’s decision.
ORR has today (7 March) given the go-ahead for Grand Union Trains, an open access operator, to start a new train service between London and the city of Stirling, from June 2025. ORR’s decision will offer more choice to passengers, bring private sector investment to the railway and increase competition.
Grand Union Trains will introduce four new return services per day between London Euston and Stirling stations. These services will also call at Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe (subject to agreement between Grand Union Trains and Network Rail), Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert. Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet will receive their first direct services to London.
ORR found that the proposed services would increase choice for passengers, significantly increasing direct journey opportunities to and from London and central and southern Scotland, while making use of existing capacity on the network.
The new services will be the first run by an open access operator on the West Coast Mainline. Open access operators run services independently of government funding as they do not have a franchise agreement with government.
Following ORR’s decision to approve new Grand Union Trains services between Carmarthen in south Wales and London Paddington in 2022, ORR has now approved open access services on three of Britain’s major routes.
Note.
- The Grand Union service appears to be running into London Euston. Earlier plans had it terminating at Queen’s Park station.
- Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet will receive their first direct services to London.
- London Euston and Stirling is electrified all the way.
- The third open access service, that the ORR has approved is the Lumo service between King’s Cross and Edinburgh via the East Coast Main Line.
I have a few thoughts.
Stirling Is An Ideal Place To Explore Central Scotland By Train
In Stirling, I give the reasons, why I spent a couple of days in Stirling, when I wanted to visit several places in Central Scotland.
Note.
- Stirling has direct services to Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Perth.
- Aberdeen is one hour and 15 minutes away.
- Dundee is just 63 minutes away.
- Edinburgh is just 48 minutes away.
- Glasgow is just 39 minutes away.
- Inverness is two hours and 46 minutes away.
Stirling has about a dozen affordable hotels and guest houses within walking distance of the station, as this map shows.
Stirling would appear to have got Central Scotland covered.
Could The Train Serve Gleneagles?
Gleneagles is about twenty minutes North of Stirling and is served by the Caledonian Sleeper from London.
This Google Map shows the area around Gleneagles station.
Note.
- Gleneagles station is at the bottom of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the famous Gleneagles hotel.
- The pink dots are other hotels.
- Airbnb lists several very splendid properties in the varea.
Not everybody, who goes to the Gleneagles area will be exceedingly rich and I could see the Gleneagles area generating substantial business for Grand Union Trains. I suspect the best way to serve Gleneagles would be a zero-emission coach from Stirling.
Along The Motherwell And Cumbernauld Line
Between Motherwell and Stirling, a lot of the route used is on the Motherwell and Cumbernauld Line.
- The line is fully-electrified.
- It is only 28.9 miles between Motherwell and Stirling.
- \cumbernaukd and Motherwell takes 20 minutes.
I do wonder, if extra stops might be worthwhile.
Motherwell Has Good Connections To Edinburgh And Glasgow
As well as Stirling, Motherwell has good connections to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, so some passengers might find their most convenient route involves a change at Motherwell.
Nuneaton And Scotland Would Get A New Service
Nuneaton has been named by Avanti West Coast, as a place that needs more trains, as it connects with the service between Birmingham and Stansted Airport, via Coleshill Parkway, Leicester, Peterborough, March, Ely and Cambridge.
I suspect that, Nuneaton will become an interchange, between East Anglia and, the North West and West Scotland.
Milton Keynes And Scotland Should Get An Improved Service
Consider.
- It appears that all Avanti West Coast services between Milton Keynes and Scotland, go via Birmingham.
- I suspect that Grand Union’s route using the Trent Valley Line could be faster with similar trains.
- Creating a new route between Milton Keynes and Stirling could be a good move, as it gives one-change access to much of Central Scotland.
- Milton Keynes has good local connections to places like Northampton, Rugby, Tring and Watford Junction.
- Milton Keynes will be a stop on the new East-West Railway.
- From many stations, it will be quicker to go via Milton Keynes rather than Euston.
I suspect Milton Keynes could be a nice little earner.
Will Grand Union’s Trains Be Fitted With Digital Signalling?
Consider.
- At some point in the next ten years the West Coast Main Line will be fitted with digital signalling, to enable trains to run at 140 mph on selected parts of the route.
- Digital signalling will allow extra services between London Euston and Motherwell.
- Motherwell and London Euston is 388 miles.
I suspect, that Grand Union’s Trains will need to be fitted with digital signalling, so they can save time on services and possibly add in a few more.
It will add costs, although the faster speed will surely attract passengers.
Will Grand Union’s Trains Be Electric?
There are these train services going between England and Scotland.
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley via Birmingham New Street – 7 tpd – Class 390 – Electric
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston to Glasgow Central via Birmingham New Street – 5 tpd – Class 390 – Electric
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston to Glasgow Central via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Class 390 – Electric
- CrossCountry – Plymouth to Edinburgh Waverley – 1 tph – Class 220/221 – Diesel – Uses diesel all the time
- LNER – London King’s Cross/Leeds to Aberdeen – 4 tpd – Class 800 – Bi-mode – Uses diesel North of Edinburgh
- LNER – London King’s Cross to Inverness – 1 tpd – Class 800 – Bi-mode – Uses diesel North of Stirling
- LNER – London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley – 3p2h – Class 800 – Bi-mode or Class 801 – Electric
- LNER – London King’s Cross to Glasgow Central – 1 tpd – Class 801 – Electric
- LNER – London King’s Cross to Stirling – 1 tpd – Class 801 – Electric
- Lumo – London King’s Cross to Edinburgh – 5 tpd – Class 803 – Electric
- TransPennine Express – Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley – 7 tpd – Class 802 – Bi-mode
- TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street to Glasgow Central – 2 tpd – Class 397 – Electric
- TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport to Edinburgh Waverly – 1 tp2h – Class 397 – Electric
- TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport to Glasgow Central – 1 tp2h – Class 397 – Electric
Note.
- tpd is trains per day.
- tph is trains per hour.
- tp2h is trains per two hours.
- LNER services to Glasgow and Stirling are likely to be dropped.
- Some Lumo services are likely to be extended from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
- Many services South from Stirling to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street are electric.
The current two tpd direct trains to Stirling are electric and if you change at Edinburgh Waverley or Glasgow, it is likely to be an all-electric service.
For marketing reasons, I would recommend, that Grand Union Trains ran electric trains between London Euston and Stirling, as they are competing against an all-electric service.
Although to meet service dates it might be necessary to run something like a diesel Class 222 train to get the service started.
What Trains Will Grand Union Use?
The Wikipedia entry for Grand Union Trains, says this for their London Euston and Stirling service.
In 2023 Grand Union revised its proposal changing its planned rolling stock to Class 22x units, at the same time the start date for this service was changed to June 2025.
I would suspect they will put in the order for new electric trains fairly sharpish.
The new trains could be.
- A variant of Hitachi’s Class 800 trains.
- A variant of CAF’s Class 397 trains.
Would they have an emergency battery un case of overhead line failure?
How Long Will A Service Take?
The service can be divided into two sections.
- London Euston and Motherwell – 388 miles.
- Motherwell and Stirling – 28.9 miles.
Note.
- The 08:30 train from Euston to Motherwell takes 4 hours and 17 minutes with six stops via Nuneaton.
- The Grand Union Trains service will also have six stops and go via Nuneaton.
I would expect with today’s signalling and electric trains, that Euston and Motherwell would take a maximum of 4 hours and 17 minutes.
- The twenty minute time to Cumbernauld could be added.
- The twenty-five minute time between Cumbernauld and Stirling could be added.
It looks the time would be just over five hours.
I doubt there would be much scope for increasing speed North of Motherwell, but could there be savings made to the South of Motherwell?
Consider.
- London Euston and Motherwell is 388 miles.
- Four hours and 17 minutes is 257 minutes.
- Motherwell is on the main London Euston and Glasgow Central route.
This is an average speed between London Euston and Motherwell of 90.6 mph.
By comparison.
- London King’s Cross and Edinburgh is 392.6 miles.
- Journeys can take four hours and 20 minutes or 260 minutes.
This is an average speed between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh of 90.6 mph.
In the next decade, there will be improvements on both the East and West Coast Main Lines.
- King’s Cross and Edinburgh is currently being digitally signalled.
- London Euston and Glasgow Central is likely to be an early priority for digital signalling after London King’s Cross and Edinburgh is completed.
- When High Speed Two opens to Birmingham and Lichfield, High Speed Two trains between London Euston and Glasgow Central will use the West Coast Main Line to the North of Lichfield.
- I wouldn’t be surprised to see some track realignment and modifications to improve speeds on the West Coast Main Line to the North of Lichfield.
I can build a table of times between London Euston and Motherwell against average speed.
- 90 mph – 4 hours 19 minutes
- 100 mph – 3 hours 53 minutes
- 110 mph – 3 hours 32 minutes
- 120 mph – 3 hours 14 minutes
- 125 mph – 3 hours 6 minutes
- 130 mph – 2 hours 59 minutes
Note.
- Adding 15 minutes gives a London Euston and Glasgow Central time.
- Adding 45 minutes gives a London Euston and Stirling time.
- Averaging 120 mph would give London Euston and Glasgow Central or Stirling times of under four hours.
It strikes me, that to improve Anglo-Scottish relations and to make rail a better alternative to flying, a priority for all West Coast services is to improve the West Coast Main Line and install digital signalling, so that a 120 mph average is possible between London Euston and Motherwell.
What Difference Will High Speed Two Make?
High Speed Two is claiming it will knock thirty minutes off times between London Euston and Glasgow Central, when it opens to Birmingham and Lichfield.
But Grand Union Trains are not expected to use the new line between London Euston and Lichfield, as High Speed Two will, as it will make calling at Milton Keynes and Nuneaton impossible, as they are bypassed by High Speed Two.
Conclusion
This train service is going to be good for Milton Keynes, Nuneaton and Stirling and all the towns in Central Scotland.
But they must make full use of the available electrification.
The Anonymous Widower 