Opposition to the proposed new timetable for LNER, plus the knock-on effects for all the other operators on the ECML route, from May 2022 is growing. This morning I attended a meeting (online) with Cllrs from Berwick & North Northumberland, including a representative from Berwick MP Anne-Marie Anne-Marie Trevelyan’s office. This afternoon I recorded a short piece for BBC Radio Newcastle, which I understand will be broadcast on Wednesday Morning (Breakfast Time). I am also aware of opposition from our sister campaign group RAGES (Rail Action East of Scotland), from groups in Durham and south of Newcastle, and along the Tyne Valley line. In fact, does anyone support these proposals, other than LNER themselves?
2 thoughts on “More on ECML Timetable Proposals”
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When I first initially read this, I was in disbelief of why this was happening. At the moment as a Morpeth resident I enjoy the nearly 40 trains per day going to Newcastle and also the connectivity to York, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Doncaster and London. To hear the fact that TPE and LNER want to cut there services to Morpeth is unfair on people who live here who also may want to go on holiday, those who do not have a car (I do not have a car) or have a job with undetermined working hours in lets say York. LNER’s excuse for this is something like “It will decrease journey times between Edinburgh and London by 15 minutes”. To me this doesn’t make any sense as I do not mind waiting in stations and it gives me extra time to stretch out on longer journeys. Now I do not know why TPE want to cut the hourly service to Edinburgh but it does provide important connections to Edinburgh, Manchester, York, Leeds and Liverpool. Despite only using the TPE services to Edinburgh I do like how Morpeth now has connectivity to these places but it may be short lived. Another one of LNER’s Excuses is there will be an open access running trains but these will only be 5 trains a day and misses out Cites like York and Doncaster and towns in Northumberland like Alnmouth and Berwick. For people who live in Alnmouth and Berwick it is more convenient to get the train to Morpeth or Newcastle as it is Quicker than the bus that takes forever to get to Alnwick let alone Berwick. Now when I seen Northern’s proposals I was Angry. At the moment The hourly service goes to Carlise calling at stations like Cramlington, Manors, Newcastle, Metrocentre and Hexham. What I hear Northern want to do is Cut this service and only make it go to Newcastle. So people at Morpeth who work at Metrocentre or Hexham will miss out Because the connections are like 2 minutes and that is ridiculous. As I have seen in the proposals the train from Morpeth will not stop at Cramlington and Manors. Now for people who use the train from Morpeth to Cramlington or from Cramlington to Newcastle this will be a huge detrement. From Morpeth To Cramlingtonthe only other means of geting there is the 43 bus that takes 30 minutes to get to Cramlington compared to 8 Minutes on the train. Also it says about cutting the service to Manors. A prefered destination for many commuters and shoppers. Now I checked the season ticket price From Morpeth to Manors and Newcastle and found that they are sames price. also some people may buy a Season ticket or Normal ticket to Newcastle but get of at Manors and get on again at Newcastle Central. Manors is the least used station in Tyne and wear so some may think that there’s no point serving the station although it is useful for people on Jury Duty at the Crown Court or the office workers.
So over all these new timetable proposals are just Rubbish and disgusting
Sorry for Putting anonymous I do not want my Identity know sorry
Thanks for your comments. Just a couple of points: My take is that it is not a case of TPE wanting to cut services, more that they’ve been told to. Their trains are maintained at Edinburgh so it doesn’t make sense for them to not run there. All train companies are now running under service contracts from DfT so they no longer have the ability to choose their own routes. The official positon is that this is a timetable that has been “jointly develped by the industry” but many commentators are seeing it as other operators being forced off the line to make way for the faster LNER services. As for Manors, it is the fastest growing station on the Metro network, thanks to Northumbria University opening a new campus right outside the station. Lots of potential here, both to serve the University, the nearby call centres (where people work part time), and to connect with the Metro Coast route. It just needs a good train service to exploit the potential.