The Planner
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 15 Apr 2008
- Messages
- 16,097
No stone train out of the Peaks is anywhere near that trailing weight, 2400 tonnes is around the max. The maintenance regime doesn't block it so there is no route out.Can someone explain what's wrong with the existing rail provision for the quarries around Buxton? There seem to be plenty of routes out, so it should be possible to manage maintenance schedules so that at least one of Dore, Altrincham, Hyde Central, or Reddish North is available every night during the week.
It's not as if there is that much stone being quarried. It's well under 5m tons per year, which at 5000t per train is around four trains per weekday.
Which is exactly what I noted earlier.But if that stone traffic went south via Matlock wouldn't it end up on the same MML (joining it just a bit further south)?
If it joins it at Dore (as now) at least it can travel via the Erewash Valley route and hence avoid Derby. Joining the ex-Midland Railway network at Dore also gives more flexible routing options to the south and eastern parts of England.
You need to look at what else it does too. Currently the flows of aggregate to the south east can pop out at Dore then hide on the relatively empty Clay Cross to Trent section to get on the slows. This stops that, you now need to get them out at Ambergate and through Derby to Trent on the two track section. As for Intermodal to Trafford Park, you are now trying to thread 600m plus trains through Edgeley, Stockport and Slade Lane. Via the WCML you can naturally hide it on the Independents at Crewe and the Styals. You would also pretty much have to send it all via Ely and Peterborough to get to Leicester as the southern MML is going to struggle.