"tim....." writes:

Well this wouldn't be the first time. Cross country runs "under the wire"
all the way from Birmingham to Manchester and York to Edinburgh, which is
much further than this piddly little bit of track to PR.

Which they did not used to do. I remember just after the Leamington Spa
to Coventry line was re-opened to passenger traffic that trains between
the South Coast and Liverpool/Manchester used to swap between Diesel and
Electric traction at Coventry (as well as often changing locos at
Reading rather than the pre-voyager practice of the same loco having to
run round)