The uplift in Sunday services promised in the new Northern franchise is coming into touching distance now as details of the new timetable – which starts on Dec 10th – have been published on the National Rail Enquires website.
Sunday trains were re-introduced to Walkden in May 2010 following a successful campaign by FoWS, but have been restricted to an hourly service in daytime hours. From December 10th this year the service leaps from 18 trains a day to 44, with a half-hourly service until 6pm, then hourly until 10pm.
The extended timetable will open up many more journey opportunities on a Sunday, and allow people returning from a weekend to Manchester Piccadilly or Airport to catch the train home to Walkden on a Sunday evening.
The full list of scheduled departures is below.
To Manchester:
0928, 0949 and then xx28, xx49 each hour until 1728, 1749
1828, 1928, 2028, 2128, 2228
To Wigan:
1029, 1100, 1129, 1159 and then xx29, xx59 each hour until 1729, 1759
1828, 1928, 2129, 2229
As previously reported on this blog, the increased intensity weekday and Saturday service has been postponed until May 2018 due to lack of rolling stock and delays to electrification schemes in other parts of the UK