On 14 Mar, 19:48, Paul Terry wrote:
In message ,
writes

From my part of the world for many years people have always had to go
to Euston and cross to Waterloo to travel to the south coast by train

Not necessarily (if you are going back as far as 1953!). There were a
number of direct routes - most notably The Pines Express, that provided
a direct service between Manchester and Bournemouth.
--
Paul Terry

Nor do they need to now! Virgin Cross Country run several direct
services per day between Manchester and Bournemouth via Oxford.

Steve Adams