Blaydon and Dunston stations

[william]

Oh right. EMU'S, I missed that detail, oops.

 

[thenorthern]

I read somewhere that Nexus wanted to extend the Tyne and Wear metro to the MetroCenter, is this still true?

 

[YorkshireBear]

The Tyne Valley will never be electrified, I can't imagine anyone ever being able to make the business case for it. As for a third platform at MetroCentre, the station would have to be rebuilt from scratch as there isn't enough room due to the existing buildings on the coach park side of the station. Again, I can't see the business case being made for it, especially as the MetroCentre shuttles never have anybody on them anyway.

I think some people said that about some of the Valleys network. Don't make predictions like that the world changes! I think it will be CP8 but it will be done.

 

[edwin_m]

The Tyne Valley will never be electrified, I can't imagine anyone ever being able to make the business case for it. As for a third platform at MetroCentre, the station would have to be rebuilt from scratch as there isn't enough room due to the existing buildings on the coach park side of the station. Again, I can't see the business case being made for it, especially as the MetroCentre shuttles never have anybody on them anyway.

Much more likely would be a turnback siding somewhere to the west so trains can wait their for their departure time without blocking other trains. There must surely be a suitable bit of land nearby.

 

[Eagle]

I think it will be CP8 but it will be done.

By that time (2030ish) HS2 will just be opening. The railways will be a different place by then.

 

[Jonny]

Much more likely would be a turnback siding somewhere to the west so trains can wait their for their departure time without blocking other trains. There must surely be a suitable bit of land nearby.

That would do the job better than the arrangement of reversing on the main line to the west of the station as at present. A quick scan of Google Earth suggests that there's plenty of space to the side of the tracks, some of which has vehicle tracks on it (presumably for railway maintenance), suggesting that it's relatively flat and flush to the line.

 

[YorkshireBear]

By that time (2030ish) HS2 will just be opening. The railways will be a different place by then.

Well that was kind of the point i was making. You can never say never.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Would Cottingley benefit from having the same number of service stops as the rest of the other stations on that line outwards from Leeds ?

 

[Tetchytyke]

I think some people said that about some of the Valleys network. Don't make predictions like that the world changes! I think it will be CP8 but it will be done.

I'll eat my hat if the whole line to Carlisle gets electrified. If it does, it'll be freight that causes it to happen, not passenger trains.

That would do the job better than the arrangement of reversing on the main line to the west of the station as at present. A quick scan of Google Earth suggests that there's plenty of space to the side of the tracks, some of which has vehicle tracks on it (presumably for railway maintenance), suggesting that it's relatively flat and flush to the line.

It would require a fair bit of remodelling though, the current crossover is to the west of the A1114 road bridge, just before the bridge across the Derwent (if you zoom out slightly on Google Maps you can see a 142 waiting to use the crossover). I think it would be too tight to get a loop in between the current station and the road bridge, and it's definitely too tight between the road bridge and the river bridge.

 

[swcovas]

It also made me think are there any other lightly served stations where if more services called there there would be a large amount more passengers using the station.

Perhaps Gowerton between Llanelli and Swansea WAS a possible candidate but since removal of the single line bottleneck this year this has been rectified with a huge increase in the numberof trains calling at the station. It will be interesting to see what the effect on passenger numbers will be.

Maybe Pyle on the SWML is another possible?

 

[jimm]

Of the one-train-a-day, each way, halts on the North Cotswolds line, I'd expect Finstock (despite its proximity to Charlbury - although it would really need a car park, and probably better promotion of the reasonably decent bus service it has) and Ascott-under-Wychwood to have quite some scope for growth if the train service became more usable. (That Ascott is on one of the re-duelled stretch of the line may help: the new platforms there are possibly lengthier than at the other halts, too). Combe probably doesn't offer such hope, though: the station is both remote (in terms of its micro-location: on a country lane some way outside the village from which it takes its name) and rather close (for drivers) to Hanborough.

Since the redoubling of Charlbury - Ascott, I'm at a loss to see why the short workings to Moreton-in-Marsh haven't had stops at Ascott and Shipton added in to see if there is any off-peak demand at these stations. There seems to be sufficient lay-over time in Moreton to allow for the extra stops in both directions.

Finstock? This is a joke, right? If someone at BR hadn't cocked up the paperwork in 1994 it and Combe would probably have closed back then. A change in the law on closures in the meantime meant they didn't bother trying again. It's a mile or so from the village (about the same distance as Combe station from the village) at the bottom of a steep hill, so effectively zero walk-up potential and highways would have kittens about the idea of a car park access on the road there, never mind it's also in the Cotswold AONB so a lot of tarmac and lighting wouldn't go down very well...

Ascott is a different matter, right next to the village and with both platforms able to accommodate three-car Turbos - which is an issue at Shipton, as the up (Oxford-bound) platform only just squeezes a two-car Turbo set on, so the Moreton turnbacks, which are operated by three-cars, cannot call in that direction and there aren't enough 180s with FGW to replace the turbos on those services as well as the trains to Worcestershire to provide selective doors and solve the short platform issue.

There is talk that changes may be afoot shortly for services at both places but off-peak stops aren't all that's needed. At least one more peak service in each direction is vital, as the present halts service is not a great deal of use unless you need to be at work in Oxford at 8.30am, though I surmise this kind of improvement is going to have to wait until any post-electrification recast of the GW timetables, as there simply isn't any spare rolling stock available at the moment.

 

[Buttsy]

Ascott is a different matter, right next to the village and with both platforms able to accommodate three-car Turbos - which is an issue at Shipton, as the up (Oxford-bound) platform only just squeezes a two-car Turbo set on, so the Moreton turnbacks, which are operated by three-cars, cannot call in that direction and there aren't enough 180s with FGW to replace the turbos on those services as well as the trains to Worcestershire to provide selective doors and solve the short platform issue.

On that basis, regardless of the Shipton issue southbound, I still don't quite understand why Ascott hasn't seen an improvement in it's service as there have been a few new houses built there and it could be a railhead for Burford (or is that the role Shipton has?) as it seems more direct to get there rather than Kingham.

 

[thenorthern]

While not a station I have often heard people mention that more trains should be running between Clitheroe and Hellifield, somehow I don't think more trains would increase passengers that much.

 

[jimm]

On that basis, regardless of the Shipton issue southbound, I still don't quite understand why Ascott hasn't seen an improvement in it's service as there have been a few new houses built there and it could be a railhead for Burford (or is that the role Shipton has?) as it seems more direct to get there rather than Kingham.

The railhead for Burford is Charlbury, same as it is for the Wychwoods for most of the day. People from the villages will use the halts train if it suits but if they need to be in Oxford or elsewhere at other times, then they will drive to Charlbury for the far better train service it offers. Not that everyone living there necessarily works, shops, etc, in Oxford anyway

And I wouldn't get too mesmerised by the idea of a railhead for Burford. Its population is less than 1,500 and without a public transport connection (not going to happen in a situation where the current bus routes in the area are all under threat) it would be of no use to tourists.

The three Wychwoods villages combined muster about 3,500 people (with 500 more in places like Lyneham and Fifield), but Ascott is the smallest of the three at 550 or so, making an improved service at Shipton (it and Mllton-under-Wychwood are effectively one large community anyway) more important and potentially lucrative than Ascott, I'd suggest.

 

[william]

While not a station I have often heard people mention that more trains should be running between Clitheroe and Hellifield, somehow I don't think more trains would increase passengers that much.

No but it would open up the S & C to Manchester markets as well as providing a direct link to Manchester from the likes of Settle, Appleby, Kirby Stephen and other smaller communities along the line. It would also provide a better link to Manchester and East Lancs from Skipton perhaps?

 

[JohnCarlson]

I've had another look. You'd get soaked, walking across there and how dispiriting the whole layout looks. Perhaps I'm being unfair to the planners but it really looks inhuman to me.

I wish this new service well but understand why for something so close to Blaydon center the station is so difficult to get to.

This is how it used to look.