Take it we wont see any external recruitment for qualifieds at Preston though?
Highly unlikely.
The current West Coast Partnership National Rail Contract has a minimum term to 18 October 2026, so we can expect the company will still be around for a little over two years.
Without going to the bother of setting out if or how they're in breach of the contract I notice.
Surely they would never close Preston totally, they have loads of crew jobs that start and end there.
It already has reduced the head count at Preston.
Manchester trains are worked by Euston and Manchester while Liverpool trains are worked by Liverpool and the top link at Euston. I believe the Chester trains are served by the middle links at Euston and the senior staff at Liverpool but not the newer staff (and possibly Manchester at one point too). I believe the idea of a Crewe depot was mostly to go with the Holyhead depot to save on taxi fares for Liverpool drivers going to Holyhead at stupid o'clock in the morning and have one depot specialised in doing the North Wales route as well as being able to sign all the way down to Euston.
I believe they just abandon at Preston as it’s easier to turn around at Preston than let’s say Carlisle due to the station layout and Preston having the sidings to reverse.
That was believed to be the plan. As others have stated, they stopped recruiting for Preston for a while, but there are some trainees going through there again
I believe the main drive was the amount of units that stable overnight at Arriva Traincare - the drivers for which have to be taxied to and from one of the other depots at great expense.r
Chester is worked by Preston, Liverpool, Holyhead driver depots although is link dependant and Preston, liverpool, Holyhead and Euston Train managers. Euston drivers no longer sign Chester. The other 2 are a mix of own depot and Euston drivers.
I was thinking that. Crew jobs have been there for decades, it's in the right place for London/Scotland driver changeovers, and I have seen a lot of crew repositioning moves from Preston (after being nosey and asking them)
Not only that but most of the Glasgow-London services don't even call at Crewe, so the Preston changeover makes sense in that case.
Crewe would work as a super depot, if big enough they could close, Liverpool, Manchester Preston and Wolverhampton but I very much doubt Crewe is now going to open
Where would they swap with the Glasgow staff on the Trent Valley services that don't stop at Crewe though?
In addition, what would happen to drivers getting trains to and from depots at Manchester, Liverpool and Wolverhampton. Taxi firms would be happy.
The easiest way would be to (re-)introduce stops at Crewe.
The depot at Crewe would likely do nothing to fix the ECS trips - but it would cut down on taxi use at least.
Being in the middle of the route isn't always the most productive. A hypothetical Crewe depot could have crews work double London or single Scotland round trips in a decently productive day (the fact Avanti drivers don't normally do double trips aside). Look at Newcastle on the ECML - nowhere near the middle of the route but still an effective depot.
All across the country there's lots of places where train crews work routes and services that don't stop at their home depot. You'd be amazed at some of the creative things train planning come up with.
Already regular taxis for Avanti crews to and from Crewe every day.
