Northern Rail

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Northern Rail

(06/06/2015 17:36)St Helens Rider Wrote:  The only service which comes close for Northern is the Chester - Northwich - Manchester route. The line I think should be a candidate for a Parry People Mover type of operation although the frequency on the line at present probably doesn't justify the cost.

It would definitely be a good candidate for Class 139 (or a larger PPM vehicle) operation in my view - or maybe a Class 144e unit. Even with the reduced capacity compared to a Class 142 I think a two carriage 144e would be suitable for the WBQ-ELP service - and it could interwork with other services too

Whilst Arriva Trains Wales do have suitable stock to operate the WBQ-ELP route (Class 142, 143, 150/2 and 153) I think that they're all without a doubt too small to operate (even for the purpose of interworking) on the Manchester and Heart of Wales Line routes. Apart from that they're all based in South Wales at Cardiff Canton. Even if a 142, 143, 150/2 or 153 was allocated to Chester - there's no point considering it would only operate one service a day. It would be more useful to have that unit in South Wales where the capacity is needed