LBA /Manchester - London
Yeadon Dam, you heard right about Manchester to London trains. Virgin Trains are to introduce a 20 minute VHF service from Euston to both Manchester and Birmingham.
However, in preparation for this there have been major engineering works - and some serious infrastructure problems - which have seriously impaired performance over the West Coast Main Line (WCML) over the past few months. And, according to a report in the Manchester Evening News, air traffic between the two cities has seen a recent upturn with the LCY route seeing the most significant increase. This, of course, may just be a temporary revival and passengers may return to the rails once the WCML problems are ironed out and the VHF service is introduced.
As for Manchester's links with LHR being superior to LBA's - well I don't know if there's a precise reason. Manchester has a larger catchment population and the northwest is more densely populated. Maybe there is a bigger business travel market to/from Manchester. But , again, I think that the railways have played their part. The East Coast Main Line (ECML), linking Leeds with Kings Cross, became a 125 mph railway in 1977 and for nearly three decades was far superior to the WCML. The typical Manchester to Euston journey time, prior to the introduction of Pendolino trains in 2004, was an unattractive 2 hrs 45. Only in recent years has Manchester been able to boast of a rail connection with London that could stand comparison with that from Leeds. In all those preceding years ( decades !), many business travellers have seen air as the best option and the railways have still got a lot of business to win from the airlines. East of the Pennines, the train has for many people been the most attractive option and for a long time too.