[4cryingoutloud]

Assuming current service patterns, this scheme would allow the following services to be electrified:

Liverpool Lime St - Manchester Airport (via Newton-le-Willows)
Liverpool Lime St - Manchester Victoria
Liverpool Lime St - Warrington Bank Quay (not the extensions to Ellesmere Port though)
Liverpool Lime St - Wigan North Western/Preston/Blackpool

Manchester Airport - Glasgow/Edinburgh
Manchester Airport - Blackpool North

Hazel Grove - Preston

London Euston - Blackpool North

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Bits that would be diesel under the wires include North Wales services, fast services between Liverpool and Manchester that continue to Yorkshire and East Midlands destinations, Manchester to Southport, Blackburn, Barrow and Lake District services. One would imagine that Buxton services would terminate at Piccadilly once again instead of continuing through to Blackpool North.

Modern Railways magazine suggests that electrification of Crewe-Chester and Oxenholme-Windermere would be relatively simple add-ons that could make better utilisation of electric rolling stock.

 

[4cryingoutloud]

Network Rail have recently purchased Allerton from DBS. Not sure if existing buildings will be used but will be home for 319s when they arrive.

So Cheshire Lines commuters into Liverpool have to travel past the Chat Moss depot with all the nice electric trains whilst still stuck on Pacers. Typical

 

[4cryingoutloud]

Cheap bit of sensible work undertaken when the big yellow electrification train was out in 73-74 (?). The intention was always to wire the Chat Moss line between Manchester and Liverpool, and so it made sense to electrify the junction work for the divergence north/south off the WCML to allow future through service. The local rail layout also allowed for a joint feed/substation to be built adjacent to both lines, further easing any future electrification works.

Also acts a diversionary route - bear in mind that the WCML is four tracks south of Winwick Junction and north of Parkside Junction, but the direct line between the two is only two tracks. Back in the early days of the railways, all north-south trains passed through Earlestown and Newton-le-Willows, until the cut-off was constructed at a later date.

 

[4cryingoutloud]

This should include Leeds - York as well, otherwise we're looking at bi-mode working on the 45-minutes-faster Liverpool - Newcastle expresses! Still, not so good news for Hull, Scarborough or Middlesbrough - diesel working under the wires, or demoted to connections? (Add Warrington to that list too!)

 

[4cryingoutloud]

Going (down) to Scotland services are first call Bolton. Which has caught numerous FTPE directors out jumping on a service at Piccadilly towards Oxford Road (to save a short walk), including the former MD Vernon Barker.

I'm pretty sure there's only a couple of trains a day that miss out Oxford Road - of which only the 0745 is outside the wee hours. It's the people who get on at Oxford Road and then it sails through Salford Crescent non-stop who are the main problem!

 

[4cryingoutloud]

I can't confidently say why the 0338 Lpl-Apt/0434 Apt-Lpl (M-S) and 2020 Lpl-Vic/2209 Vic-Lpl (M-F) journeys are currently diesel, perhaps they just fit better into DMU duties.

I'm fairly certain that the 0338 (or its equivalent) has in the past (early noughties) operated via - and indeed called at - Warrington Central, so would expect this trip remains diesel in case of diversion due to overnight engineering work.