(07/07/2020 10:19)knutstransport Wrote:  I'm not sure usual revenue comes in to it. The 07:40 Manchester-Altrincham-Chester is usually rammed on arrival at Knutsford, the same with the 08:00 Chester-Altrincham-Manchester but Northern don't think they need to operate either of those two services at the moment and when people have told Northern they need those services to run for getting to work Northern's response is earlier/later services are being operated with 4 carriages so you can just use one of them instead.

Given that Buxton line services are normally quite busy at peak times and are usually very quiet at off-peak times and everywhere on the Buxton line has alternative public transport options you'd think perhaps Northern would try to run half-hourly at peak times and 2 hourly at off-peak times but no they're running hourly all day with some extra services at peak times. The only logical explanation for that is that Northern are short of train crews and a higher proportion of train crews sign the Buxton line, meaning the risk of a cancellation due to staffing shortages would be higher on the Mid-Cheshire if they were running an hourly service, than it is on the Buxton line.


Interworking it with Leeds services would mean more 195s are needed or some Chester-Leeds services would get Sprinters instead of 195s (unless another route got 15xs instead of 195s.)

The morning service which runs Victoria-Chester only is booked as a 150 and does a Mid-Cheshire working afterwards, before going on to the Buxton line.

(08/07/2020 06:10)knutstransport Wrote:  ^ I wasn't complaining about commuter Mid-Cheshire services being 2 cars. I was referring to the fact there is ample patronage on them normally but Northern have decided not to run them in their COVID-19 timetable, so there's likely some other issue like a shortfall of drivers who sign the route. This was in response to someone saying they thought Northern would be providing a better service than TfW if they ran Chester-Warrington-Airport as they'll make money from it. The evidence shows if anything it's crew availability that dictates the service level on Northern services currently not passenger demand.

I'm not sure the unit off the Victoria-Chestsr does just replace an ECS. That working is only 2 cars and there is still an ECS of Sprinters to Chester when the normal timetable operates. If anything running that Victoria-Chester service makes the second Chester-Stockport less reliable as if there are issues on the Earlestown line it runs late or cancelled as the Victoria-Chester service can't run via Denton instead like an ECS from Newton Heath can.

(08/07/2020 06:43)iMarkeh Wrote:  Oh, Northern would probably treat Victoria to Chester quite well as they seemed to do pre covid. I think the Covid timetables is just Northern running the minimum they can on all lines. The Mid Cheshire line I admit isn't looked after much and i'm not sure why.

The Vic-Chester Sprinter ECS movement is at a 6am. It can't divert because it has a path set via Earlestown. It's not easy to divert trains ECS or in service. It ran via Earlestown prior to the regular passenger services. I don't know if it is just replacing ECS or it's a contractual agreement (perhaps both). Either one, it's a welcome additional trip.