Saw quite a large team of individuals working under floodlight tonight (Sunday) at the above. Amongst other things, they seemed to be lengthening the platforms.
They would be more than welcome up in the North-East, start with Chester-le-Street and then do a few on the Tyne Valley line.
Why? I wasn't aware that platform length was an issue at stations in the North East? Unless someone is proposing 8-car services all of sudden (not that I would complain ).
Not immediately - but a lot of services through Chester-le-Street are just too long to stop without costly SDO (or need to do a "precision stop" if 5 x 23m carriages); also anything 5-car would just be too long for the Tyne Valley - which could be a good place from which to run direct-to-London (Hexham is a rich town with a large catchment area as is Corbridge). It would also make more room for sharper approaches
Saw quite a large team of individuals working under floodlight tonight (Sunday) at the above. Amongst other things, they seemed to be lengthening the platforms.
The workers seemed to have taken down the tip of the existing platform (up-line being nearest to me), brick by brick, to foundation level. I suggested platform lengthening as I couldn't think of anything else they might be doing.I was unaware that the existing platform lengths at Ramsgreave and Wilpshire were unsuitable there for the units that run the Manchester to Clitheroe service. The station was re-opened in 1994, some distance away from the site of the old station, with the specification of construction that was prevalent when many new stations in the North of England were being built.
Rebuilding the platforms by chance? They are built on stilts IIRC.
Quite odd given [STN]RGW[/STN] can take 2x156; what else could they possibly want to stop there?
All stations on the Clitheroe line could take a 150+153 max until the work started, but all platforms by next month will be able to take 2x156
Yeah, and also its to do with the fact that at times, on the peak diagrams, you do get at times 156's coupled to a 150 or another 156 that make it too long
AFAIK yes, but Darwen / Hall-i-th-Wood may be close. Entwistle and Bromley X are fine.
Work still going on tonight (must be costing a fortune).Yeah, and also its to do with the fact that at times, on the peak diagrams, you do get at times 156's coupled to a 150 or another 156 that make it too long, and also, OK they might be seasonal. but the Dales Rail, and Santa Specials do throw up 4 car diagrams, the Santa Specials are planned for 2x156's always
Yup, thats the whole plan of the extentions, to make them able to take the maximum formation possible on the line, which will be 2x156's, so that we don't have to lock carriages out of use, which we currently do.
Since this station was rebuilt in 1994 to the specification prevalent at that time when many new stations were built, the materials used should not have been subject to degradation to that extent. Could it have anything to do with the groundwork stability in the area where this new station was constructed?
It would have to be all stations north of Blackburn.Before this platform extension work was carried out, at which stations did you have to lock carriages out of use on the Manchester to Clitheroe route?
Although the Clitheroe to Manchester route, which runs through Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton, was included in the announcement, it turns out that extra carriages were actually added to that route last summer. And there will be no extra capacity on trains running across East Lancashire from Preston to Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley and Colne.
Instead, the extra second-hand stock is to be concentrated on lines between Manchester and Cheshire, Leeds and Liverpool. Northern Rail says the extra carriages are aimed at easing overcrowding on the busiest routes. But in East Lancashire, the issue is that many more people would use trains if services were more frequent and reliable. Commuters on the Clitheroe to Manchester route often face delays and people travelling to the city from Accrington or stations west of Blackburn face timetables with connections that involve lengthy waits. In short, what is needed in East Lancashire is a more passenger-friendly service.
Not immediately - but a lot of services through Chester-le-Street are just too long to stop without costly SDO (or need to do a "precision stop" if 5 x 23m carriages); also anything 5-car would just be too long for the Tyne Valley - which could be a good place from which to run direct-to-London (Hexham is a rich town with a large catchment area as is Corbridge). It would also make more room for sharper approaches
Whilst this re-opened line is currently a matter running on the forum, could any forum member local to the line be able to say why, when the line re-opening took place in 1994, the station at Daisyfield (closed in 1958) and situated in-between Ramsgreave and Wilpshire station and Blackburn station was not also subject to reopening, as there seems to be quite a population to be served in this area and the signal box that administers the level crossing is still in use. Is it because it was deemed to be too near to Blackburn town centre?