Yes but they wouldn't have spent all the extra money in the mean time. It would have been left as passive provision.....like the space left for a footbridge on the new platforms
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Headbolt Lane progress updates
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RailUK Forums
Springs Branch
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As the opening looms somewhere on the horizon, is there any indication the new station will be named anything more appealing or descriptive than "Headbolt Lane"?
I notice the signalling diagram attachment in post #249 shows Headbolt Lane, but that is only software and presumably easily modified.
(I can't help thinking of Frankenstein's Monster whenever I see 'Headbolt')
I notice the signalling diagram attachment in post #249 shows Headbolt Lane, but that is only software and presumably easily modified.
(I can't help thinking of Frankenstein's Monster whenever I see 'Headbolt')
mcnw35282
Member
It's in real time trains as HBL Headbolt Lane, so I think that's the name they're sticking with.
Wezz
Member
It will be called Headbolt Lane
mcnw35282
Member
Wonder if they'll start doing 777/1 milage accumulation runs to Headbolt Lane soon...
mcnw35282
Member
Could happen...the infrastructure is now in place
Wezz
Member
There is a test run planned, not sure if it's definitely on the 2nd though.
Are the signals etc all live now?
mcnw35282
Member
Yep, horrible name that nobody will know where it is. This definitely should have been thought through more thoroughly.
It's a station for people who live there. The only reason anybody unfamiliar would be travelling to it would be to visit somebody who lives there. The name being naff really isn't that important, and 'Headbolt lane' is arguably better for the people who will be using it than 'Kirkby East' and the potential for confusion with the other station in the town.
Railsigns
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The choice of name has at least some potential to affect occasional passengers travelling to intermediate stations along either route towards Kirkby/Headbolt Lane. Some will instantly know that a Kirkby train will take them in the right direction, but won't necessarily know that a Headbolt Lane train will. It's a poor name for a terminal station in my opinion.
What proportion of traffic from either direction heading to Kirkby/headbolt lane will not be familiar with the area? I'd wager >99% of journeys involving Headbolt lane will be local residents.
The point, as mentioned in numerous previous discussions of this, is that non-locals coming from the Wigan/Manchester direction, who have had no cause to know where Headbolt Lane is, will find it springing to prominence as a destination of trains they need to catch, where there was previously not even a station to call at.
Names matter though. Most famously Norwich to Liverpool Lime Street versus London Liverpool Street
You'd think so but there was somebody on a similar thread who lived about 1/2 a mile away and had never heard of it.
Which is why having 'Kirkby' station right next to 'Kirkby Headbolt lane' or 'Kirkby East' wasn't a good idea. And there was never going to be a spare couple of million quid to rename Kirkby station to Kirkby west/town/central so better to choose a completely distinct name.
Won't take long until they're familiar with it though.
There's plenty of suburban and tube stations named after roads in London and nobody finds it overly difficult, even when the road is named after a very different town! (Wandsworth Road and Loughboroug Jn, looking at you)
I can't understand why nobody thought to do an exercise as was recently done for the naming of the forthcoming Liverpool Baltic station. I'm telling you Headbolt Lane would have received "nul points"
A mere two or three miles away, Maghull and Maghull North coexist perfectly well as far as I'm aware.
Couple of million quid...!!! Well Maghull and Maghull North doesn't seem to have been an issue.
Of course the examples you quote are not terminus stations.
lyndhurst25
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I agree that Headbolt Lane is a dumb name for a terminus/interchange station. The 507s from new never had Headbolt Lane on their destination blinds, but did have Wigan and so did the flippy train indicators at the city centre underground stations. Merseyrail have always wanted to extend to Wigan. Remind me exactly what is stopping the battery 777/1s going all the way to Wigan?
mcnw35282
Member
Oh for crying out loud...not this again!
It was only ever intended to be a very temporary terminus, and otherwise would be no more contentious than Rice Lane.
If people in Greater Manchester have to get used to a local sounding station name to get where they need to go, you can blame HM Government for slamming the door shut on the Skelmersdale extension.
Why not extend to Wigan? Why should we use our scarce money and resource to do that? We had a perfectly reasonable plan that would have served everyone. Extending to Wigan gives us little to nothing and would only serve to benefit GM. Same goes for even wasting money on changing the station name. If £1 more needs to be spent and there is no benefit to Liverpool, why would we?
HL was an enabling works for a project we were told was a priority, I think we've been conned into wasting enough cash as it is.
Fundamentally because Rainford onwards is not in Liverpool City Region and therefore somebody else needs to put their hands in their pockets.
paddyb6
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Whether you like the name or not, hopefully it'll only be a terminus for maybe 10 years maximum? Merseyrail to Wallgate or Skelmersdale I'd hope is the aspiration.
mcnw35282
Member
Hmm…the plot thickens! Looks like they’ve installed some kind of buffer stop under the bridge! Maybe visions of a test run to HBL were a tad premature!
In other news, the new signal cabinets at Kirkby were open and scaffolding erected next to the new signals so looks like they’re connecting everything up. Just the resurfacing works required now by the access ramp.
Took a couple of photos of the site from the field opposite. Also managed to get a shot of the new station from the footbridge over Headbolt Lane and the railway. Couldn’t get any closer than this without trespassing!
In other news, the new signal cabinets at Kirkby were open and scaffolding erected next to the new signals so looks like they’re connecting everything up. Just the resurfacing works required now by the access ramp.
Took a couple of photos of the site from the field opposite. Also managed to get a shot of the new station from the footbridge over Headbolt Lane and the railway. Couldn’t get any closer than this without trespassing!
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pokemonsuper9
Established Member
I'd guess it's a matter of perspective, I'd guess the image in question (this one?) was taken heavily zoomed in from the small bridge at 53.492895, -2.878900, 345m away. Although the most recent satellite view I have has a shelter over it, was this taken by drone?
Although even factoring that in it does look quite small, hmm.
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