Recent content by AlastairFraser

I feel this would work if they went straight to Shudehill (cutting out Victoria and the Printworks), then Picc Gardens. Question is - is there space for them at Picc Gardens?

Salary is not the issue in terms of cost - it's the whole environment from training to CPCs etc. And the volumes a train can move compared to a lorry are in a different ballpark (as you acknowledge).

The industry in the area mostly suits the rail transport model though - big bulk loads from quarries and perhaps water bottles to large supermarket distribution centres (especially now that a lot of them are rail connected). I've also remembered that Highland Spring has proven the concept with...

It's for travel between the outer South Manchester boroughs without going through the city centre. There's a lot of attractions/major traffic sources on the west side of Manchester that are easily accessed from the M60 and roads coming off it (Trafford Centre/both Old Trafford football and...

Usually freight transports costs are competitive, yes, but the job is increasingly unattractive and HGV drivers are very hard to come by (source - I currently am working in logistics.)

Reducing compared to the post-Covid peak - but on a long term increased trajectory!

Is the Trent triangle even busy at night? It could matter if you want to encourage modal shift, especially given the spiralling costs of road transport.

Unlikely. It's probably just a branding and ticketing arrangement.

It would be able to spend a shorter time on the MML than through Dore (Dore to the Erewash Valley junction is roughly 12.5 miles, while Ambergate to the Derby-Nott jcn is roughly 11 miles). Add to that the distance heading south from Buxton would be significantly less than via the Hope Valley...

When a lot of stone is heading down south and there is only one direct route out (onto an extremely congested MML), that means goods traffic is vulnerable to disruption. There's also a big cement factory at Hope/Castleton that has to use the Hope Valley and which has relatively frequent rail...

The visual impact of a reopened existing railway alignment on the landscape is incomparable to the visual impact of an aerial ropeway over the Cat and Fiddle. The ropeway would be a blot on the landscape from as far away as Warrington - the Cheshire plain is flat and the prominence of the Macc...

The new rolling stock order for Northern should be designed for growth from the outset, which would provide capacity for the reopening. There's absolutely no chance of a scheme like that being built - it would cross a swathe of the PDNP and dump cargo onto a very congested section of the WCML...

Any reopening will come after NMC landslip rebuilding, so I wouldn't worry about that. Who would have thought that a reopened railway requires new stock?! A colossal shock to me /s

A Buxton to Macc coach is utterly ludicrous. The A537 over the moors to Macc is frequently closed due to the poor road conditions on the summit and the alternative route for something like a coach/bus would all the way to Hazel Grove and back (which would be longer than the existing train to...

Perhaps, but it must be noted that rail could be the faster option for many to encourage modal shift.