DEVELOPING LIVERPOOL-NORWICH

1. Nation-building Liverpool-Norwich trains link cities, towns, regions and universities across the country, through Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Peterborough. A quarter of the passengers on this route are making journeys of 75 miles or more.

2. Recent improvements include

• fewer cancellations
• 0651 business express from Norwich
• fleet refurbishment. Each 2-car unit now has brighter decor, cctv, cleaner toilets and 19 extra seats
• extension to Norwich of the 1352 from Liverpool, completing hourly service through the business day while offering a 1635 conference train home from Nottingham
• 2500 extra seats a day west of Nottingham
• more effective mid-journey cleaning.

3. Our vision is of reliable, clean and comfortable trains with high levels of customer service, so we see a need for

• a "whole route" approach to engineering access as a step towards a seven-day railway with trains running between Liverpool and Norwich on Sundays during university terms a priority
• a relentless focus on minimising cancellations, with serious pressure applied to get passengers moving when one train is immobilised and during signalling problems
• mid-journey cleaning on all trains travelling the full length of the route
• regular reviews of the balance between seats and luggage space, though no passenger should normally have to stand for more than 20 minutes
• effective air-conditioning, working even in hot weather. We understand that a modification now being trialled promises improvement.

High standards of customer service require constant commitment and encouragement from management, as do good stakeholder relations.

4. We welcome the provision of catering between Liverpool and Peterborough, which must be reliable to be commercially viable and would ideally justify extension to Ely.

5. Our vision is of accurate real-time information for passengers at all times, so we:

• welcome the replacement of the temperamental public address systems on the trains
• see a need to ensure that coach identification gadgets are always correctly used on trains which divide at Nottingham. We particularly welcome the impressively comprehensive information now on screens and station announcements west of Nottingham on which coaches come through to Norwich.

6. Our vision is of welcoming stations, where facilities meet or exceed all government targets for their size. The performance of station facility operators in providing mobility assistance, toilets, waiting rooms and retail advice at the specified times needs to be robustly monitored and challenged

7. There could now be a case for looking closely at the facilities which attract and support business travel. The 0715 Warrington Central to Norwich should start back from Liverpool on all Mondays to Saturdays. We should like to see more trains via Grantham travel between Nottingham and Norwich in a car-competitive 160 minutes or less. We welcome the fitting of USB power points to these trains and look forward to the eventual provision of wi-fi access.

Updated July 2016