BowzerEdwards
New Member
I’m a regular commuter on the WCML and have spent many journeys battling, to no avail, with the on-board WiFi to find an answer to this question.
Given Avanti follows the high(ish) speed / intercity model – prioritising few, strategically placed stops to minimise journey time – the stop every WCML Liverpool branch train makes at Runcorn baffles me. It’s not a particularly big conurbation and Lime Street (20 mins), Crewe (27 min) and Warrington (25 mins) are all within striking distance via local rail, providing easy links to fast ‘main line’ services.
While the station seems reasonably well used, I’m sure you could make an argument that tens of other stations across the network would see similar use if Avanti stopped at it. I use these lines less frequently, but stops at Haymarket and Sandwell and Dudley could probably also go by this description as they're close to the origin / termination stations and well-served by local rail to the bigger hubs.
I’m sure there’s a reason for the stops at Runcorn, but it makes no logical sense to me. Given it's proximity to Liverpool (let alone Crewe and Warrington) it seems directly contrary to the model. Could anyone enlighten me?
Given Avanti follows the high(ish) speed / intercity model – prioritising few, strategically placed stops to minimise journey time – the stop every WCML Liverpool branch train makes at Runcorn baffles me. It’s not a particularly big conurbation and Lime Street (20 mins), Crewe (27 min) and Warrington (25 mins) are all within striking distance via local rail, providing easy links to fast ‘main line’ services.
While the station seems reasonably well used, I’m sure you could make an argument that tens of other stations across the network would see similar use if Avanti stopped at it. I use these lines less frequently, but stops at Haymarket and Sandwell and Dudley could probably also go by this description as they're close to the origin / termination stations and well-served by local rail to the bigger hubs.
I’m sure there’s a reason for the stops at Runcorn, but it makes no logical sense to me. Given it's proximity to Liverpool (let alone Crewe and Warrington) it seems directly contrary to the model. Could anyone enlighten me?