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I would suggest if these tram-train pathfinders are to be successful, they ought to tie in more with upgrades of the suburban rail network and connectivity with the trams. Maybe a sort of tram-train equivalent of the Overground - two sides of the same coin from a user's perspective but...
Do you think connecting the line from Bath up to the western approach (building a few connecting curves here and there) to create a loop a la Newcastle might help? Because then Pompey-Cardiffs and the line wouldn't have to reverse, hypothetically it could smooth things out a bit.
A bit pie in the sky, but might it make sense in any reshuffle to free up 8-car 700s which could be used on Southern metro services? I wonder if you could have one set of services booked for the spare 700s (something like Victoria-LBG which would benefit from the increased standing room and...
I think generally cancelling HS2 was an unpopular move. The most Labour will commit to pre-election is a pause on selling off the land pending a review of the situation IMO. But I guess that'd be better than nothing.
Whilst I am also doubtful we will see any progress on said extensions, 16 extra trams would be more than sufficient to operate the most recent proposal for the Sutton line - you could probably do it with about 10 with 7 or 8 tph.
This is very true, I'll add a comment regarding this onto the original post I think! I don't think there are many services that wouldn't benefit from double voyagers, or a voyager instead of a turbostar!
Reading a few threads on this forum lately have got me thinking about this. The success of the Elizabeth line has created millions of new journeys and that is well-reflected in the station usage figures. The recent thread regarding the ORR's O-D matrix for passenger journeys has also been an...
I predict the next government will float the idea of un-cancelling HS2 north of Birmingham, even if it is much scaled-back. But it may be 2025 or 2026 before we see a firm decision on it.