Northern Rail Services

[John_142]

So then i would Introduce a Local Stopping Service from Huddersfeild to Marsden etc.

When you look at it as you have said it is desighned for the above then thye are using the funding from Merseytravel for the passes etc to fund that service instead of the a Local Stopping Service between Hudersfeild and Marsden etc.

As i would immagine that the PTE in that area don't pay mutch or nothiong to the operators for running the services as i know Merseyside gets the most money out of all the country and is mostly wasted.
150 273 was working it yesterday surprisingly maybee Northern have taken note of my comments to them.

[shymike]

John you really missed my point - Northern operate the local service stopping at stations not served by the express service - it is not possible to operate a service from every station to every other station!!!! It makes sense to connect local services in this way to form longer services as it not only provides cross city connection but also reduces platform congestion at large stations such as Man vic as services do not block platforms while they wait time to turn back etc.

[dlh1983]

A different example which you may find strange is there is a Wakefield Westgate-Huddersfield-Halifax-Bradford-Leeds-Selby service usually operated by a 144. This used to be an Arriva Trains Northern 'Metrotrain' service between Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford and Leeds and a First North Western Wakefield Westgate to Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria service.

This was changed for a reason. Trains were supposed to arrive and leave Wakefield Westgate so that they connected with the GNER services to and from Kings Cross. Although Wakefield Westgate only has two platforms, so this caused pathing problems. To maintain connections at Wakefield without having an inconsistent service from Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield the services were changed to the Wakefield to Selby service (mentioned above) and a Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield service. The new arrangement allows easier journeys by train between Halifax or Bradford and Wakefield. Although, if you look at a map you'll see that it is a ridicously long way to go if you were going between Wakefield and Selby.

[tkboomer2]

John_142: If Northern were to terminate the local service between Liverpool and Stalybridge at Manchester Victoria then they would be under contract to provide a seperate service from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge so it wouldn't mean there would be any extra trains or staff to operate additional trains between Liverpool and Manchester Victoria.
Although, while Northern are under contract to provide a certain number of services, they should really ask if they can axe the Manchester Piccadilly to Alderley Edge via Stockport service as it's normal for that train to be more than three quarters empty and all the stations on that service are also served by the hourly Manchester to Crewe service, which isn't very crowded. The Manchester Piccadilly to Carmarthen/Milford Haven services also allows people to travel between Manchester, Stockport and Wilmslow (the main stations on that service.) They should then look at returning some 323s in exchange for some Sprinter trains in order to run longer or more frequent services on some of the busy routes.

[martin adamson]

Are there any sprinter units avalible. Perhaps from FGW or ATW I think they have a few stored. The other question would be where the 323s would go. Possibly London Midland. Even better would be to electrify some of the lines and use the 323s. Though this would cause much disruption, in the long term Northern would save on costs, since the 323 units have been reliable and I guess there have been quite a few issues with the DMUs. Also they are more attractive than the other units. Northern still have a way to go in making their units their own (the 155s and 158s are looking good with the paintwork and new interiors) but there is still alot to do.