Trivia - Routes With Genuine Shared Traffic Between TOCs

[K.o.R]

My commute Havant–Portsmouth would probably count. Southern and SWR, both have two fasts and a stopper.

 

[Deafdoggie]

There are 3 TOCs operating between Manchester and Stoke via Macclesfield, and between Manchester and Crewe via Wilmslow.

Between Manchester & Crewe you have Northern, Avanti, TfW & an odd XC journey. But all rather different. Northern rather slow (and overtaken) but twice an hour, XC very few journeys, TfW very full (in normal times) trains-or trains too small depending on your point of view-Avanti therefore the best operator hourly with decent sized trains and on-board facilities. Certainly not equal operators.

True - but I wouldn't say they're equal.

Avanti and Cross Country both take about the same amount of time but there's a definite difference between what they offer. I've never had to stand on Avanti/Virgin whereas Cross Country is another matter....

Then there's the Northern stopper which takes half as long again and doesn't really offer any facilities. I've also known them to be completely rammed. Having said that, I'm a fan of 323s - and now they've brought in Northern-only tickets that are quite a bit cheaper than what the other two offer they're certainly an alternative.

Avanti offer their own fares too-cheaper than the ‘any permitted’ fares. Northern only advances can be very very cheap though. With a railcard I’ve bought them for £3! However, only XC offer toilet smells, so worth paying the extra I think!

 

[swt_passenger]

My commute Havant–Portsmouth would probably count. Southern and SWR, both have two fasts and a stopper.

I use Southern for nearly all my travel between Swanwick and Southampton, only occasionally use the SWR back if I happen to miss the Southern trains. But I do use the any permitted fare, as SN are quick to disappear during disruption further east...

An odd thing about services in our area is that although nominally deep in SWR territory, the majority of the service along the top of the Farlington triangle (ie between Havant and Cosham direct) is run by Southern, with SWR only covering the route with a few peak extras...

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Liverpool to Manchester (TPE, EMT, Northern) and Chester to Manchester (TfW, Northern)

 

[gledhill56]

Leeds to Mirfield (TPE and Northern)

 

[Halish Railway]

Leeds to Hull, TPE & Northern, although the journey times are much more closely matched between Selby and Hull. Whenever the service is introduced we could add York to Scarborough with the same operators.

 

[Dai Corner]

Gloucester/Cheltenham to Cardiff has TfW and XC both running almost identical hourly services, or at least it did have until covid crippled XC

Pre-Covid TfW called at all stations Lydney, Chepstow, Caldicot, Severn Tunnel Junction and Newport) but XC only at Chepstow (not every train) and Newport.

 

[GoneSouth]

Pre-Covid TfW called at all stations Lydney, Chepstow, Caldicot, Severn Tunnel Junction and Newport) but XC only at Chepstow (not every train) and Newport.

Yeah now I think about it, XC mostly alternate stops between Lydney and Chepstow so you’d rarely be able to travel between both by XC. That would make a 2 hourly XC service to Cardiff and Gloucester for both plus the hourly TfW. Think you’re right about Caldecott and STJ.

For the main stations on the route there’s not a lot in the service speed but TfW used to have a more random unit generator like Northern. I’ve seen 143, 150, 158, 170 and 175s on the route but they seem to have settled more on 170s these days which is pretty much the same as the XC service, with the advantage that you’ll generally get a seat!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Chester to Manchester (TfW, Northern)

Just to clarify, these are via largely separate routes, so is that what the OP was looking for?

 

[paulmch]

3 operators all day long.

Quite right, not sure how I managed to forget this given that passengers travelling on GA-only tickets are the bane of my life!

 

[Halish Railway]

Just to clarify, these are via largely separate routes, so is that what the OP was looking for?

From Chester via Warrington they are the same route but with different terminus stations in Manchester, although the Northern service make up for this by having less stops. The route via Altrincham is a different kettle of fish though.

 

[talltim]

My (before WFH) commute, Chesterfield-Sheffield. Three TOCs (EMR, XC and NR); trains on 4 routes (London-Sheffield, NE-SW, Leeds-Nottingham, Liverpool-Norwich)
Some trains stop at Dronfield which adds a few mins, but there is not normally any overtaking (except in cases of late running in the Sheffield-Chesterfield direction), so you are always best getting the next train.

 

[D6975]

Edinburgh - York has already been mentioned, but the entire ECML from KGX to Edinburgh has multiple operators, albeit different ones other than LNER on different sections.