[Tealeaf]

Originally Posted by Reamer

I may be wrong ..... ??)

No, you're right. However, the problem is the Manchester trains from Blackburn don't actually start there - they begin in Clitheroe which I understand runs as a single track line down to Blackburn. So if you make a circle line, then you isolate those people up in the Ribble Valley who commute daily to Manchester to earn lots of money in order to pay for their 'des res' in a nice market own and it's rural hinterland. You could, of course, run a shuttle service between Clitheroe and Blackburn but that of course would mean delays and waiting time at Blackburn and some of those bunnies won't be too happy about that.

The alternative would be to do something similar as to that done on London's circle line, which isn’t a circle line anymore but resembles that of the outline of a tadpole. Trains start from Hammersmith (the tail), go north to join the circle, pass through Edgware Rd, then do a full circle back to terminate at Edgware Rd and then return all the way round to join the tail on to Hammersmith.

So for Hammersmith, read Clitheroe. Trains start there, go down to Manchester, then back through Toddy, Accy and Blackburn where they finish and then return all the way round back to Clitheroe. The only problem with that is while there may be capacity on most of the line, there isn’t on the Clitheroe-Blackburn spur.