(05 Sep 2014, 10:39 pm)aureolin wrote I'm convinced a limited stop rival to the X1 would work, perhaps even linking with Pronto X21 at Durham towards Newcastle.
I'm thinking of a Darlington-Newcastle express, where the only competition is the very expensive train, and the location of Darlington station is not exactly in the town centre.
I know it's been done before but the constraint of EU regs have resulted in the demise of such services. Nowadays, with the loophole of 'splitting' services, which is something GNE do with the X7, I think it's a worthwhile punt.