• THE misery of Euston station’s closure would be avoidable if we had a co-ordinated national rail network.

Some folk might recall the Christmas holiday, when King’s Cross work was not completed in time, yet one operator had sorted the issue with the simple expedient of moving their services to run from St Pancras, a three-to-five-minute walk from King’s Cross, from where their services (first stop York) ran north.

The same could be delivered, with a penalty of perhaps 20 minutes, by running Virgin diesel trains from St Pancras and, if more capacity was needed, from Marylebone.

From St Pancras non-stop to Wigston (just south of Leicester) and then across to Nuneaton would connect back on to the west coast route with the options to head for Birmingham or Stafford. St Pancras to Leicester currently takes around one hour non-stop, and would improve with 125mph and electric trains).

The question seriously has to be asked why couldn’t this have been done for the bank holiday weekend?

This is available now but highlights the importance of not stalling further on the Midland Line electrification, and how, with some small, quick-to-deliver, restored, or new connections, we can dump the misery of these main line closures and deliver the capacity called for with the choice of 12 tracks on three fast main lines between London and the Midlands, to mix and match, with the choice of switching out Euston, Paddington, or St Pancras and sending trains “next door” when major work takes place.

In essence restoring and reconnecting some existing abandoned railways with the trains and systems we have now could mean 12 tracks between London and the Midlands, via three main routes that interconnect, to permit closures for improvement and maintenance and offer a direct Birmingham to London journey in around 60 minutes.

DAVE HOLLADAY
Glasgow