Fantasy: Given no limits, how would you modernise your line?

[backontrack]

Ely to Norwich line:

• Grade-separate Ely North Junction
• Improve linespeed through the fens around Shippea Hill and Lakenheath to 100mph (OK I guess this only saves at most about 2 minutes...)
  
• Close level crossing at Browick Road in Wymondham (Often seem to have to slow down for this to clear when heading towards Norwich)
  
• New station "Eaton & Cringleford" on outskirts of Norwich (Who knows, people might use it?)
  
• Grade-separate Trowse Junction (Why not? I have infinite money!)
  
• Double Trowse Swing Bridge

Hethersett too I think.

 

[ashworth]

Robin Hood Line - Nottingham to Mansfield and Worksop.

Restore the double track between just north of Hucknall Station and Newstead or even Kirkby in Ashfield. This would allow more flexibility in the timetable and cause less problems if there is any late running. It would also allow more trains to call at Bulwell if the the single line section was not so long for a train to have to pass through.

Increase the line speed to 70 mph for the whole line especially speeding up the slow sections around Kirkby and Sutton in Ashfield.
The approach to Worksop also needs to be speeded up around the curve to the junction of the Sheffield to Lincoln line.
Nottingham to Worksop ought to be achievable easily in under 1 hour.

A through train each hour to Sheffield to provide quicker journeys from Mansfield to the north of England. Also reduced fares for journeys from Mansfield beyond Sheffield via Worksop. Fares from Mansfield to destinations beyond Sheffield should not be more expensive than from Nottingham.

The re opening of Linby Station as a park and ride station using the site of the field just to east of the site of the old south bound platform as a large car park. Linby has easy road access from M1 junction 27. Hucknall Station car park is full by 8am every morning and Linby is far more easily accessible by road for most of Hucknall’s housing estates to the west of the town. Also very accessible for people from the Ravenshead area. Up to 3,000 houses to be built within a mile of the old Linby station site within the next 10 years.

 

[The Ham]

Build a pair of cross city lines for each of the following:


Glasgow

Newcastle

Sheffield

Liverpool

Leeds


With Manchester and Birmingham gaining two cross city lines and London getting two more after Crossrail 2.


That should probably provide a significant amount of extra capacity for the Majority of of rail users as well as providing the possibility of serving a lot more places that should have rail links to those cities.


Yes it would cost £150 billion to build all of that, but if we doubled the rail spending to have an extra £4 billion a year then it could be done in 35-40 years. And all it would cost is an extra 2.5% of extra income tax receipts (which probably wouldn't be an extra 2.5% increase in income tax, as there would be extra tax receipts as the economy of each of those cities grew).

 

[billio]

What I find strange about HS2 is that it doesn't run from Old Oak Common to stations on the south side of the river, such as Waterloo, instead of Euston and then extending beyond running on normal lines or HS1. It would have made a very useful cross city line.

 

[najaB]

What I find strange about HS2 is that it doesn't run from Old Oak Common to stations on the south side of the river...

This was examined as an option and the extra cost wasn't worth the benefit.

 

[The Ham]

What I find strange about HS2 is that it doesn't run from Old Oak Common to stations on the south side of the river, such as Waterloo, instead of Euston and then extending beyond running on normal lines or HS1. It would have made a very useful cross city line.

There's two things that will help with this though, the first is Crossrail 2 which will give direct connections to a lot of Metro Stations served by SWR (as well as connecting to Victoria and so the south of the Thames stations that connects with. The second is the Southern Approach to Heathrow, in that if that had through services from Woking to OOC it would allow with two changes travel from anywhere with a direct service to Woking (most of the SWML) to anywhere with a direct service from OOC on HS2.

That would provide most of the same connections but with much wider benefits (as the two schemes would broadly be worth doing without the benefits of HS2 connectivity).

 

[billio]

This was examined as an option and the extra cost wasn't worth the benefit.

Hey, it's a fantasy thread .

 

[Wirewiper]

Maidenhead - High Wycombe restored as a two-track electrified railway throughout, and added to the Crossrail network by extending the Maidenhead terminators to and from High Wycombe. Bourne End-Marlow converted to tram operation with additional stops and extended into Marlow Town Centre.

 

[Ted172]

North Cotswold Line - Oxford to Hereford

I would make the entire line double tracked where possible. I would also electrify from Bromsgrove and then continue to Worcester and Great Malvern. I would build a new parkway station near to the Malvern Wells passing loop. I would also lower the track to accommodate the electric wires and also lower the gap at all stations.

 

[Chris Hamilton]

So, if we are talking of the line that runs right past the end of my back garden, the Wishaw Deviation of the West Coast Main Line, nothing except maybe build the long promised but ever as distant railway station at Ravenscraig.

My nearest station at Carfin is on the Shotts line, which is already undergoing total route modification, with the signalling due for commissioning next week and the electrification at the end of the year, with shiny new 385s from next year. On that line I’d maybe try for faster line speeds, and get rid of the Limited stop service outside of the peaks. Also, Carfin station badly needs a car park.

At Motherwell itself on the WCML, I’d build a bay platform on the eastern side and terminate Whifflet trains rather than running them round the Hamilton Circle. That would leave only Cumbernauld services crossing the junction. I’d aim for a consistent 125mph south of Carstairs (without EPS where possible) and a target of 100-110mph between there and Glasgow. That would mean straightening out the curve at Garriongill and some alignment improvements through Law Junction and Motherwell. I’d also 4 track at Shieldmuir with flying junctions there and at Law.

All pie in the sky stuff though.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

For the Trans-Pennine main line I've suggested a few improvements previously, but here's a second pie-in-the-sky proposal...

Between Huddersfield and Leeds, I'd build a new junction near to (and replacing) the existing Bradley junction. This would include a two-track curve leaving the upgraded 4-track railway from Huddersfield, accessed from both fasts and slows. This line then curves towards Brighouse with linking chords to the existing L&Y line, but runs elevated alongside that route, gaining height before gradually curving under the M62 viaduct and running in tunnel beneath the Hartshead Moor MSA (possible cut and cover parkway station here). Emerging from the tunnel as the motorway runs downhill (in the Leeds direction) and crosses over the Chain Bar interchange on viaduct, and broadly follows the M62 on a straight and fairly level trajectory before diving into tunnel to avoid Ikea and the Birstall/Gildersome interchange. Then following the course of the M621 until the point that motorway crosses the existing line near Cottingley. Running alongside the existing line, the new line then drops into subterranean tunnel before the Wakefield Westgate line crosses over, to enter new underground platforms beneath the existing station and the River Aire. Continuing in tunnel, the line surfaces just West of Neville Hill to form the fast lines of an upgraded 4-track railway as far as York/ECML.

THIS would allow the existing line to be primarily an electrified West Yorkshire S-Bahn line from Leeds to Huddersfield, with frequent all-stops and most-stops services with the new line being used for express HS3/NPR services, avoiding the crowded 2-track section through Dewsbury, Batley and Morley.

You may argue that this doesn't help matters in the direction of Manchester, but that's over on the dark side of the hills and I don't care!

 

[sharpley]

Hi, my first post.

MML @ Wellingborough

Currently located on a significant curve requiring a major slow down of any through train. With all the housing developments occurring to the east of the station then maybe straighening and relocating the station, similar to Market Harborough.

 

[Aictos]

Build a pair of cross city lines for each of the following:
With Birmingham gaining two cross city lines.

Now this is something I can agree on as Adderley Park only gets a hourly service despite being fairly close to Birmingham now if a new Cross City line was built and it was possible you could even do it in such a way that you could have a 30 minute frequency between New Street and International calling at Adderley Park, Stechford, Lea Hall and International resulting in the LNWR services running non stop between New Street and International which would reduce journey times.

You could if possible route ALL local services to use these new lines/New Street platforms which would free up the existing New Street platforms for more Inter Regional/IC services with the local services then operating a more Metro service with services every 10 mins in the peak and every 15 mins off peak.

On the other hand, if you're building new lines in the Birmingham area then you could consider re routing some of the IC/Inter Regional services to use the new Cross City line instead which would use new platforms at New Street abut at a lower level which would increase capacity there, think Berlin Hauptbahnhof and it's layout for New Street.

 

[gingertom]

I’d aim for a consistent 125mph south of Carstairs (without EPS where possible) and a target of 100-110mph between there and Glasgow. That would mean straightening out the curve at Garriongill and some alignment improvements through Law Junction and Motherwell. I’d also 4 track at Shieldmuir with flying junctions there and at Law.
All pie in the sky stuff though.

I'd go further. 125mph towards Glasgow and high speed (186mph+) towards the south.

 

[DanTrain]

Build a pair of cross city lines for each of the following:


Glasgow

Newcastle

Sheffield

Liverpool

Leeds


With Manchester and Birmingham gaining two cross city lines and London getting two more after Crossrail 2.


That should probably provide a significant amount of extra capacity for the Majority of of rail users as well as providing the possibility of serving a lot more places that should have rail links to those cities.


Yes it would cost £150 billion to build all of that, but if we doubled the rail spending to have an extra £4 billion a year then it could be done in 35-40 years. And all it would cost is an extra 2.5% of extra income tax receipts (which probably wouldn't be an extra 2.5% increase in income tax, as there would be extra tax receipts as the economy of each of those cities grew).

I like the idea, even if it is a slightly ham-fisted approach. Thinking about each city individually, try this for an infrastructure project :

• Glasgow: New North-South cross-city line to complement the lines through Queen Street and Central. It would run (in crossrail style) from the south Glasgow lines, through a new tunnel from Central to Queen Street (each with new deep level platforms) and then up onto the Queen Street lines towards and electrified Stirling via Croy and Stepps (electrified too).
• Newcastle: Metro extenstion to Durham running up the existing line to Washington and then Heworth station, where it would loop on new track through the centre of Newcastle (stopping at Byker, Heaton, Jesmond, Haymarket, St James, Central Station, before then running North of the Tyne to Elswick, Benwell Grange and then Metro-Centre.
• Sheffield: Run a tram-train system from Dore, up the MML (re-opening the old stations there), before branching up to the tram stop at Midland Station. From there, go through town on the tram route before branching off at Cathederal down towards Kelham Island. Run up the hill to the Northern General, then up through Lane Top and Ecclesfield to Chapeltown station. A second route would then run from Penistone to Stocksbridge, then down the old Woodhead route to the old site of Victoria. Here, it would loop round to join the existing system near Park Square, and run through the (what would be) upgraded central section to University. Here, it would branch up past the Hallamshire to Crosspool, before having one branch to Fulwood and another (this really is no limits here!) on a new suspension bridge across the valley to Stannington.
  
• Liverpool: Less work needed here I think, probably concentrate on improvind the existing Merseyrail network, extending it to Warrington, Preston and Wigan over Northern Rail routes and build a new connection to Liverpool JL Airport.
  
• Leeds: Create a cross-city line from Harrogate to Pontefract, do the same from Bradford/Skipton to York/Selby and a third from Huddersfield (to Harrogate too perhaps). Then, I would build a brand-new North-South line from Wakefield to Wetherby, with frequent calls through South Leeds, and then running North past St James' hospital, Chapel Allerton and Moortown, then out through Wike and Collingham to Wetherby.
• Bristol: I would also add Bristol to this list, running one cross-city line from Severn beach to Bath, via a new line from Temple Meads to Keynsham calling at lower Totterdown and Brislington. I'd then re-open the Portishead line to Temple Meads, then running on new line through North-East Bristol to Yate
• Nottingham: Here, I'd take the Sheffield approach of extending the tram system with trams and tram-trains. One would run all the way to Derby via Toton (HS2), running along the Beeston tramway to Toton and then on new line out to Derby. I'd then add tram-trains to an electrified Mansfield line, running into Nottingham on National Rail and then on the tram line from either Hucknall or where they diverge at Wilkinson Street. This would then run on new tram line south through West Bridgford, before endign at a parkway stop on the A52.

I'm sure there are many flaws in these suggestions - please do point them out

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

My line would be the Doncaster-Cleethorpes (South Humberside Main Line) which would involve the following:

• Redoubling the line between Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes
• Hourly service between Barnetby and Cleethorpes
• Reinstatement of Platform 4 and 5 at Cleethorpes
• Construction of a fourth platform at Grimsby Town (through platform)
• Third Platform at Grimsby Town turned into a through platform
• Additional Hourly service between Sheffield and Cleethorpes (Calling at all stations via Doncaster) (Northern)
• Hourly service between Nottingham and Cleethorpes Via Lincoln
• Hourly service between Lincoln Central and Cleethorpes
• Hourly service between Leeds and Cleethorpes
• 4 trains per day to London Kings Cross via Doncaster (Grand Central)
• 1 train per day to London Kings Cross via Lincoln (LNER)

 

[NoMorePacers]

Well you said fantasy, so here's my local lines:

Hull to Scarborough

- Doubling of the line between Bridlington and Hunmanby
- Extending the Bridlington stopper to Scarborough
- Making the existing Hull to Scarborough service fast calling at Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington and Filey (possibly Seamer as well). This give 2 trains an hour between Hull and Scarborough
- Extending any trains terminating at Beverley to Bridlington
- 90/100mph running throughout
- Electrification
- Road bridges to replace the level crossings at Beverley, Hull, Driffield and Bridlington

Hull to Doncaster, York and Leeds

- Electrification
- 100/125mph running (longest piece of straight track in the country, shouldn't be too hard)
- Extending the hourly Manchester Victoria to Leeds services to Hull, giving 2 trains an hour from Manchester to Hull
- Introducing an hourly stopping service from Leeds to Hull, giving the stations in between an extra link to the 2 cities
- Making the York service hourly throughout the day
- Full electrification
- Doubling of the line at Temple Hirst Junction
- A regular hourly service from London
- Bridging over all level crossings on the line
- Complete resignalling (most of the line is still semaphore-controlled)
- Rebuilding of the Selby Swing Bridge as a permanently fixed one
- Building a rail bridge over the River Humber to allow for running of services South of the Humber

There we are.

 

[318266]

I like the idea, even if it is a slightly ham-fisted approach. Thinking about each city individually, try this for an infrastructure project :

• Glasgow: New North-South cross-city line to complement the lines through Queen Street and Central. It would run (in crossrail style) from the south Glasgow lines, through a new tunnel from Central to Queen Street (each with new deep level platforms) and then up onto the Queen Street lines towards and electrified Stirling via Croy and Stepps (electrified too).

I'm sure there are many flaws in these suggestions - please do point them out

Ideas for services:

• Gourock - Edinburgh/Stirling.
• Wemyss Bay - Edinburgh.
• Paisley Canal - Cumbernauld
• Largs - Alloa
• Ardrossan Harbour - Dunblane
• Ayr - Anniesland
• Lanark - Milngavie via Maryhill
• Newton/Neilston - Helensburgh Central via Maryhill
• Kilmarnock - Oban
• Balloch - Balloch via Maryhill, Glasgow, Cathcart, Glasgow and Maryhill

 

[B&I]

I like the idea, even if it is a slightly ham-fisted approach. Thinking about each city individually, try this for an infrastructure project :

• Glasgow: New North-South cross-city line to complement the lines through Queen Street and Central. It would run (in crossrail style) from the south Glasgow lines, through a new tunnel from Central to Queen Street (each with new deep level platforms) and then up onto the Queen Street lines towards and electrified Stirling via Croy and Stepps (electrified too).
• Newcastle: Metro extenstion to Durham running up the existing line to Washington and then Heworth station, where it would loop on new track through the centre of Newcastle (stopping at Byker, Heaton, Jesmond, Haymarket, St James, Central Station, before then running North of the Tyne to Elswick, Benwell Grange and then Metro-Centre.
• Sheffield: Run a tram-train system from Dore, up the MML (re-opening the old stations there), before branching up to the tram stop at Midland Station. From there, go through town on the tram route before branching off at Cathederal down towards Kelham Island. Run up the hill to the Northern General, then up through Lane Top and Ecclesfield to Chapeltown station. A second route would then run from Penistone to Stocksbridge, then down the old Woodhead route to the old site of Victoria. Here, it would loop round to join the existing system near Park Square, and run through the (what would be) upgraded central section to University. Here, it would branch up past the Hallamshire to Crosspool, before having one branch to Fulwood and another (this really is no limits here!) on a new suspension bridge across the valley to Stannington.
  
• Liverpool: Less work needed here I think, probably concentrate on improvind the existing Merseyrail network, extending it to Warrington, Preston and Wigan over Northern Rail routes and build a new connection to Liverpool JL Airport.
  
• Leeds: Create a cross-city line from Harrogate to Pontefract, do the same from Bradford/Skipton to York/Selby and a third from Huddersfield (to Harrogate too perhaps). Then, I would build a brand-new North-South line from Wakefield to Wetherby, with frequent calls through South Leeds, and then running North past St James' hospital, Chapel Allerton and Moortown, then out through Wike and Collingham to Wetherby.
• Bristol: I would also add Bristol to this list, running one cross-city line from Severn beach to Bath, via a new line from Temple Meads to Keynsham calling at lower Totterdown and Brislington. I'd then re-open the Portishead line to Temple Meads, then running on new line through North-East Bristol to Yate
• Nottingham: Here, I'd take the Sheffield approach of extending the tram system with trams and tram-trains. One would run all the way to Derby via Toton (HS2), running along the Beeston tramway to Toton and then on new line out to Derby. I'd then add tram-trains to an electrified Mansfield line, running into Nottingham on National Rail and then on the tram line from either Hucknall or where they diverge at Wilkinson Street. This would then run on new tram line south through West Bridgford, before endign at a parkway stop on the A52.

I'm sure there are many flaws in these suggestions - please do point them out

There's more scope for work than you think in Liverpool. Sticking to the local network, I'd suggest

1. connecting the WCML slow lines (with expanded services towards Crewe / Stoke, Chester via Helsby and Northwich / Manchester Airport (when the western link is built), at the south side of Edge Hill via the eastern half of the Wapping Tunnel to run through to Central and points north via the Northern Line

2. connecting the Edge Hill-Huyton line at the north side of Edge Hill, via the Victoria tunnel, to a 2 platform undergound station connected by underground passage to Lime Street (in the vicinity of the Islington / Camden Street junction). From there, continue a single bore tunnel west to a new westbound platform.at Moorfields, then on to the semi-disused platform 2 at James Street, and on west into the Mersey tunnel. Build a spur from the Wirral Line loop between Moorfields and Lime Street to permit eastbound trains to access the Victoria Tunnel. Couple this with restoring 4 tracks Edge Hill to Roby (which would require the demolition of the M62 flyover at Broad Green, albeit there are plans already to.remodel the roads round there), restroing 4 tracks between Rock Ferry and Hooton, extending the Ellesmere Port to Helsby, integrating the Borderlands Line into Merseyrail, and re-opening Hawarden Junction to Chester as an extension of this. This would allow some Wirral Line services to continue on to the Wigan, Chat Moss and Bank Quay lines (while some would continue to loop back via Central, as there would be 6 branches on the Wirral and 3 on the east side).

3. Expanding the Northern Line to sensible termini - Preston, Southport via Burscough, Wigan Wallgate (with a Skelmersdale branch), and Birchwood via the CLC, with 4 tracking where possible.

4. A people mover from Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Airport. No, wait a minute, if this is a fantasy thread, a through line via the airport and a lower Mersey crossing to.provide a fast direct line to Chester and Ellesmere Port

The benefits of this would be faster and more direct journeys through and across central Liverpool (and the metropolitan area more widely) and removal of local trains from Lime Street high level to permit much better long-distance services.

 

[B&I]

For the Trans-Pennine main line I've suggested a few improvements previously, but here's a second pie-in-the-sky proposal...

Between Huddersfield and Leeds, I'd build a new junction near to (and replacing) the existing Bradley junction. This would include a two-track curve leaving the upgraded 4-track railway from Huddersfield, accessed from both fasts and slows. This line then curves towards Brighouse with linking chords to the existing L&Y line, but runs elevated alongside that route, gaining height before gradually curving under the M62 viaduct and running in tunnel beneath the Hartshead Moor MSA (possible cut and cover parkway station here). Emerging from the tunnel as the motorway runs downhill (in the Leeds direction) and crosses over the Chain Bar interchange on viaduct, and broadly follows the M62 on a straight and fairly level trajectory before diving into tunnel to avoid Ikea and the Birstall/Gildersome interchange. Then following the course of the M621 until the point that motorway crosses the existing line near Cottingley. Running alongside the existing line, the new line then drops into subterranean tunnel before the Wakefield Westgate line crosses over, to enter new underground platforms beneath the existing station and the River Aire. Continuing in tunnel, the line surfaces just West of Neville Hill to form the fast lines of an upgraded 4-track railway as far as York/ECML.

THIS would allow the existing line to be primarily an electrified West Yorkshire S-Bahn line from Leeds to Huddersfield, with frequent all-stops and most-stops services with the new line being used for express HS3/NPR services, avoiding the crowded 2-track section through Dewsbury, Batley and Morley.

You may argue that this doesn't help matters in the direction of Manchester, but that's over on the dark side of the hills and I don't care!

Bit harsh on Bradford too. Can't this alignment curve through it on the way to Leeds ?

 

[Aictos]

Robin Hood Line - Nottingham to Mansfield and Worksop.

Restore the double track between just north of Hucknall Station and Newstead or even Kirkby in Ashfield. This would allow more flexibility in the timetable and cause less problems if there is any late running. It would also allow more trains to call at Bulwell if the the single line section was not so long for a train to have to pass through.

Increase the line speed to 70 mph for the whole line especially speeding up the slow sections around Kirkby and Sutton in Ashfield.
The approach to Worksop also needs to be speeded up around the curve to the junction of the Sheffield to Lincoln line.
Nottingham to Worksop ought to be achievable easily in under 1 hour.

A through train each hour to Sheffield to provide quicker journeys from Mansfield to the north of England. Also reduced fares for journeys from Mansfield beyond Sheffield via Worksop. Fares from Mansfield to destinations beyond Sheffield should not be more expensive than from Nottingham.

The re opening of Linby Station as a park and ride station using the site of the field just to east of the site of the old south bound platform as a large car park. Linby has easy road access from M1 junction 27. Hucknall Station car park is full by 8am every morning and Linby is far more easily accessible by road for most of Hucknall’s housing estates to the west of the town. Also very accessible for people from the Ravenshead area. Up to 3,000 houses to be built within a mile of the old Linby station site within the next 10 years.

All good but would it ensure the existing Mansfield terminators are extended though to Worksop to provide a half hourly service between Nottingham and Worksop?

Also while you're at it, why not also take the time to extend the existing Lincoln to Sheffield services to half hourly as well ensuring connections are possible between the two routes.

 

[adamedwards]

Hatfield

My modest requests are:

Four track at Digswell, so train every 15 mins going north, half hourly to Cambridge North and Peterborough.

Moorgate to WGC stoppers extended to a new Panshanger terminus every 30 mins.

Hatfield and WGC platforms extended to 12 car.

Through trains to Brighton for the seaside!

 

[chris_in_salop]

How many would be all stations and how many would be Wellington & Telford only?

I think there is supressed demand all along the little Shropshire and Staffordshire stations, so twice an hour all stopping would be good. But I know there is limited stock and paths, and compared to the chaos of places like Manchester and Crossrail, we have been pretty fortunate with reliability in recent years.

My main aspiration - and I know this is pie in the sky - would be to make Telford Central better. For a large and somewhat deprived town, it seems pretty under-served to me, and the passenger experience is not ideal. If nothing else, do something about the big gap between the train and the platform for Shrewsbury-bound trains - it strikes me as an accident waiting to happen.

 

[sussexbythesea]

A couple of my local lines:

Brighton Mainline:
Grade separation at Windmill Bridge, Keymer, Stoats Nest Junctions
Four tracks extended from Balcombe Tunnel Junction to Keymer Junction
Upgrade sections of the line to 100mph (I believe some areas around Gatwick used to be 100mph to 319s in the past IIRC)
Extra platforms at Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and Clapham Junction, particularly for London-Bound services
Remodelling/rebuilding of Victoria station to remove the horrific dingy low roof and shopping centre above platforms 8-19 and provide more platforms
Abolish Gatwick Express and use the paths to provide proper intercity services from Victoria to coastal destinations such as Eastbourne, Worthing, Portsmouth and Hastings and end splitting and joining at Haywards Heath. Reintroduce the Brighton express (Brighton-EC-Clapham Junction-Victoria) at the same time.

Oxted line:
Redouble and electrify Hurst Green to Uckfield
Extend Uckfield line to Lewes, with a spur to Brighton (similar to the BML2 Sussex Phase proposal)
Extend East Grinstead line to Haywards Heath, with a new station at Ardingly (sorry Bluebell railway)
Upgrade line between Eridge and Tunbridge Wells, so a Brighton/Eastbourne to Tunbridge Wells service can operate (sorry Spa Valley Railway)

East Coastway:
Electrify Marshlink. Link it to HS1 with the appropriate remodelling at Ashford, and reinstate fast direct Brighton services.

West Coastway:
Re signalling and installation of new crossovers at Worthing station to allow slow westbound services to be overtaken by faster ones. Thus, introduce a regular fast service from Brighton to Bournemouth/Weymouth calling at principal stations only. (Hove, Shoreham, Worthing, Barnham, Chichester, Havant, Cosham, Fareham, Southampton, Brockenhurst, Bournemouth)
Increase frequency of direct GWR Bristol and Cardiff services, using third rail capable bi-modes (769s refurbished to an intercity standard?)
Rebuild the line from Fareham to Gosport

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Bit harsh on Bradford too. Can't this alignment curve through it on the way to Leeds ?

Too much of a time penalty. Bradford can have Crossrail as a sop!

 

[JohnElliott]

My local line is the Bluebell, so it would have to be overhead electrification at the LBSCR standard of 6.7kV AC, with a new-build fleet of SL stock to run it.

 

[nlogax]

I'd convert the SWML to Hyperloop and build thousands of new homes.

(I've had some strong coffee this morning)

 

[Shalford]

Portsmouth Direct

New Flyover from Aldershot line over north throat of Guildford Station to enable easier crossing of North Downs Line and Portsmouth Traffic. Also provides for new east west services extending New Line Services to Aldershot etc (Reverse at Guildford).

New Platforms at Guildford for Heathrow Services

Upgrade power supplies - ultimately 25AC conversion over the hills south of Godalming to give more power to 444's 450's etc.

Rebuild Worplesdon Station to provide a Park and Ride facility for Guildford Woking

North Downs Lines

Electrify - forget the argument 25AC vs 3rd rail!!!

Resolve the Reigate Crossing issue short term by Splitting/Joining Slow and Fast services at Dorking or turning one of the slow services at Betchworth where crossing exists.

Guildford Station

Real Fantasy but sink through all lines into a tunnel as the Dutch have accomplished at Delft Station, and create a new quarter on top.

 

[B&I]

Too much of a time penalty. Bradford can have Crossrail as a sop!

You might think that the 6th biggest city in England would be worth a slight detour

 

[61653 HTAFC]

You might think that the 6th biggest city in England would be worth a slight detour

6th biggest city?

Let's not start that again!

 

[4-SUB 4732]

Reading these forums, I see many fantasy ideas about push-pull 442s saving the nation and it got me thinking; my line (the Furness line) is about to lose its 185s due to the TP North capacity upgrade. So I was thinking; how would I fix it?

I'd work in combination with the Windermere line as well. Splitting and joining of services on this route at Lancaster makes the concept a lot more viable.

In terms of infrastructure, the Furness line suffers from some slow speed limits which could be raised with little work. I think an aim of 60mph between Barrow and Ulverston (where there is a lot of curves as it goes around the Furness peninsula), and 90/100mph between Ulverston and Carnforth would be a reasonable aim. It would also be a good idea to sort out the junction with the WCML at this time, removing the slow flat junction raising the capacity of the WCML at the same time. Electrification would be on the cards as it would allow good use of old EMUs - although Grayling wouldn't be too happy.

Initially (while the work to modernise the infrastructure continues), it would be an aim to give the line 1tph clock face. The line can deal with 3tph in both directions from what I've seen in the current timetable, but a consistent service will help significantly. As electrification comes online, high quality modern EMUs (ideally refurbished 350/2s from WMtrains as they already have the 110mph capability for the WCML) would operate a new service pattern. All times are from Barrow-in-Furness.

xx16: Slow to Preston, calling at all stations
xx46: Semi fast to Manchester Airport, calling at Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands, Arnside, Carnforth, Lancaster (where it joins with another service from Windermere), Preston, Wigan North Western, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.

By having all services on the line at least to Preston, the bay platforms at Lancaster can effectively be decommissioned (with Platform 5 available for Morecambe services). Routing what would be 8 car trains through the busy Wigan-Manchester corridor allows the service to easily cope with demand between what currently is the busiest section on TPEs Manchester-Scotland services. SDO would be installed using the Tracklink system (as used on SWR) allowing shorter dwell times and a more efficient service.

The Cumbrian Coast may become isolated somewhat in terms of no through running on the Furness Line, but a possible extension of Newcastle services may solve this issue. It would be an aim to harmonise Cumbrian Coast services in the new timetable with an easy connection on to the slow service at xx16.

I think I rattled on a bit, but overall it would be my way of sorting out what has the potential to be a relatively busy line. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the ideas that come along, though!

I would suggest a much better method of operations for your Windermere / Barrow is to have your hourly Manchester - Scotland TransPennine and then some form of secondary 'relief' service from Manchester. As the TransPennine I believe will be going back to routed via Bolton when this Bolton nightmare is all over; perhaps a path via Wigan could be identified with a stop at Leyland before Preston and Lancaster.

A two-hourly through service to Barrow in Furness, and a two-hourly through service to Windermere. When it runs down to Windermere, it would be all stops to Windermere before forming the Oxenholme shuttle stopping only at Kendal; then back to Windermere as the shuttle calling only at Kendal and all stops back towards Manchester. Fresh unit on/off the line every two hours and therefore no problems for crewing. Supplement the Barrow with another one from Lancaster that runs through to Carlisle so that you've got one-change opportunities at Lancaster every two hours and off the Windermere as well so it's basically hourly from Manchester.

No idea about electrification to Barrow but Windermere would work. You could even use one of those sparkly 331 type contraptions. That, and thinking about it if you can run via Wigan you can also expect better connections to/from Liverpool.

 

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My line is the Blackpool South line. Don't want much - just a passing loop to give the potential for a better service.

I think that's a very reasonable request. A dynamic loop from St Annes to Squires Gate might work a bit better, mind.