Longer, not more, trains needed

A senior GMITA member wants Greater Manchester’s transport chiefs to say “no thanks” to four trains an hour to London and instead press for longer trains.

The Department for Transport is asking Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) what it would like to see after Virgin’s West Coast mainline franchise comes to an end next April.

A new franchise will last until 2026 but Network Rail believes the line will be facing over capacity by the end of this decade and are looking at ways to relieve overcrowding.

One idea would be to run an extra train every hour between Manchester and London, giving a 15-minute service.

But Richard Knowles, a senior GMITA member, warned of the danger of a repeat of the problems two years ago when an increase to three trains an hour to London ended in chaos for local commuters, with hundreds of cancellations and severe overcrowding.

He said: “We all know the problems then and some of those problems remain. It may be better to maintain the current London frequency but go to longer trains — which will not have any effect on the local train service pattern.”

But he added: “Only two platforms at Piccadilly are long enough to take 11-car trains. It should be our franchise aspiration to lengthen at least one more platform rather than cause chaos throughout Greater Manchester with local trains not being able to maintain their schedules. The better way of providing more seats is to go for longer trains.”

Virgin’s Pendolino tilting trains are nine carriages long and carry 450 sitting passengers. The 11-carriage trains would carry 590 passengers.

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive’s rail programme director Stephen Clark said: “Additional trains into Manchester and Stockport are a very attractive proposition which would create a more frequent link from Greater Manchester to London than that enjoyed by any other major city.

“A further increase in frequency is likely to make Greater Manchester an even more attractive place for businesses to invest in.”

Other improvements the authority will demand of bidders include: extra stops on a Sunday morning, better punctuality and reliability, and a better ticket office at Piccadilly.