I see may on here commenting on various aspects of IC timetabling, no intermediate XC calls, Tamworth stops on Anglo-Scottish trains, York stops on the Edinburgh headliner.
Anyway, how would you timetable IC trains as they stand, forget paths and extras, just focus on off-peak patterns, and maybe seasonal services.
Mine:
GWML/GEML - fine ATM
XC - no intermediate calls (Burton etc)
EC - we'll see how Eureka! goes.
WCML:
Euston-Birmingham - as now
Euston-Manchester - Stafford, Tamworth and Rugby calls
Euston-Liverpool - Nuneaton and Liverpool South Parkway calls
Euston-North Wales - Watford Jn calls, summer trains to Llandudno
Euston-Scotland - Milton Keynes and Crewe calls
Birmingham-Scotland - as now
Anyone else?
On the GEML I would add in a Shenfield stop on the slow service from Norwich an hour, so it would call at Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Manningtree, Colchester, Chelmsford, Shenfield (set down only), Stratford (set down only) and Liverpool Street. Its a shame as the Shenfield stops in my experience were well patronised.
For the WCML it is quite difficult getting a balance of connectivity and fast journey times. Birmingham's are fine as they are. The Manchester's I would change however. One train per hour would call at Watford Jcn, Milton Keynes Ctl and Rugby the same as with the Birmingham's and the Milton Keynes and Rugby services after those stations would run fast to Stoke-On-Trent, then Macclesfield, Stockport and Piccadilly. The service which stopped at Watford would be the service via Crewe. It would call at Watford, Nuneaton, Lichfield, Tamworth, Stafford, Crewe, Wilmslow and Piccadilly, this becoming more of a stopping service after Nuneaton. The two Liverpool's an hour (presuming the service goes to half-hourly which is the best option for the extra path IMO) I would stop at the following places. Train 1: Milton Keynes Ctl, Stafford, Runcorn and Liverpool Lime Street. Train 2: Rugby, Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool Lime Street. The North Wales services I would run fast from Euston to Crewe, then Chester and all principal stations to Holyhead, with the Manchester via Crewe timed to arrive in Crewe a few minutes earlier either cross-platform or on the same platform to allow passengers from the stations served by this train to change onto the Wales services. The Scottish services once they go hourly would be like this: Train 1: Milton Keynes Ctl, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle, Glasgow. Train 2: Crewe, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow. The Birmingham-Scotland services would call at Wolverhampton, Crewe, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Motherwell and Glasgow/Edinburgh. I would change a few things on the GWML too. For the West Country services to Penzance, I would make them call at Reading, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth, and then principle stations to Penzance. I would introduce an Exeter stopping service every hour calling at Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton and Exeter. On the Temple Meads route the xx.00 off Paddington would call at Reading, Didcot Parkway, Chippenham, Bath Spa, and TM. The xx.30 would call at Reading, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, TM and continue onto Weston-super-Mare. For South Wales the xx.15 off Paddington would be the one carrying onto Swansea, calling at Reading, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff Central, (can't remember if I have the right order here), Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Llanelli and Swansea. The xx.45 would terminate at Cardiff and call at Slough, Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport and Cardiff. Oxford fasts would stay as they are.
