Harbornite
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Due to the fact that the old station building doesn't show much evidence of modification, I would never have guessed that there was a through platform there.
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last train has run to fawley refinery
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Due to the fact that the old station building doesn't show much evidence of modification, I would never have guessed that there was a through platform there.
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The new up slow helps enormously of course, but there's still serious issues with platform availability there AFAICT!
On the topic of the up slow, did anything like it used to be present? I think it's pretty extraordinary that there weren't too many businesses/etc. adjoining the railway that needed to be demolished!
swt_passenger
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As you step through the present front doors, you are almost immediately on the old platform, but resurfaced. All they had to build was the new front wall out from the corner of the existing building housing the ticket office, and then along to where the cafe now is, and the toilets, then connect round to the back of the up side stairs. The brickwork surrounding the stairs that is visible on entry would have been an exterior wall, as you probably know it is a match for the down side stairs.
The back doors to the various Freightliner offices would have come out onto the old platform 1, nothing much was done along there other than squaring off the platform edge, the original canopy remains.
The picture on wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastleigh_railway_station#/media/File:Railway_Station_Eastleigh.JPG
...shows what I'm trying to explain. The bike racks to the right of the car are basically against the old platform edge, if you look to the upper floor that flat area on the left (with the station sign) which looks a bit of an accident is where they blanked off the slightly narrower footbridge that led to the missing set of stairs at the roadside.
Train wasp
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Does anyone know the last time a regular service train departed or arrived at the down bay platform.
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I'm not sure what problem is being solved by creating a new passenger service on the Fawley branch, other than finding a use for some redundant track. The Hythe ferry might look small and insignificant, but it does serve a very useful purpose as a direct link to Southampton rather than a long-winded trip around the top of Southampton Water. The Hythe Pier railway might look like someone's idea of a joke, but the pier isn't really that long and it doesn't take long to walk it. Let's keep the main line railway in the Southampton area available for some really useful traffic, not take up paths for trips very few people want to do.
MotorcycleAlan
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Not used the A326 much lately then? A dangerous, overcrowded road which the railway could surely remove some traffic from?
I'm not saying the Fawley branch SHOULD be turned to passenger use. I, at least, was just referring to the ways in which it could be done if it were to happen.
The buses are good and frequent to Hythe, I'm told, especially considering the sizes of the places along the route. Of course, buses are nebulous things that don't always last, but unless this does change I don't really see a case for the branch, as much as it pains me to say this.
The buses are good and frequent to Hythe, I'm told, especially considering the sizes of the places along the route. Of course, buses are nebulous things that don't always last, but unless this does change I don't really see a case for the branch, as much as it pains me to say this.
swt_passenger
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AFAICS the presence or absence of freight had no real relevance to the possibility of reopening, therefore cessation of the Holybourne flow doesn't affect the status quo.
Yes unfortunately the track was removed in those rather uncertain times for much of BR at the beginning of the 1980s ,im sure it'd still be there now if it had lasted just a few more years till the launch of NSE and subsequent electrification to Portsmouth
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45669
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There are some pictures taken at Eastleigh Station in 1959 in my Flickr site :
R0004 75076 Eastleigh 29 Aug 1959 by Ron Fisher, on Flickr
R0005 2252 Eastleigh 29 Aug 1959 by Ron Fisher, on Flickr
R0006 35010 Eastleigh 29 Aug 1959 by Ron Fisher, on Flickr
R0007 35016 Eastleigh 29 Aug 1959 by Ron Fisher, on FlickrTHe Hythe ferry is not exactly integrated transport is it. How many people do you imagine would get on a bus, then the little railway down the pier then the ferry, then the bus again on the other side, then the train, as opposed to a seamless interface at southampton Central? Now try doing it with a suitcase. Now try doing it every single day as part of a commute. How much scope for missed connections is there? Now try doing it as a disabled person. How many are going to do that as opposed to getting on the train? That Hythe Ferry nonsense was proposed by the Halcrow report. As for "few people?" Try using the Ebbw Vale reopening as a comparison. Similar in many ways. Just look at the passenger data compared to the ridiculous Halcrow projections. The Waterside population is double that served by the Ebbw Vale line - Hythe is larger than Ebbw vale and now they talking about a branch to Abertillery - a population no larger than Holbury! Why are we starved of rail investment which is perfectly ok in Wales and Scotland? Pathing is obviously not an issue on the branch and an hourly service to Soton Central Platform 5 can be accomodated, so why the resistance?
The Planner
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Ebbw Vale was based on Newport and not Cardiff though was it not? As I would ask with all these ideas, who is backing it, what council, LEP etc support is there for it, is it in a RUS/route study, has anyone done a feasibilty study, is there housing growth expected, unemployment with a need to get to employment centres etc etc...
DynamicSpirit
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Holyborne is quite close to the River Wey, which must flow into the sea at some point, so I guess you can still do it by ship. You just need very small oil tankers
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As part of a rebuttal of the Halcrow report I found that Ebbw Vale traffic projections were underestimated 33kpm (est) 44kpm(act) error = 33%. Borders line 54kpm(est) 125kpm(act) error = 130% Stirling - Alloa 80kpm(est) act 400kpm (act) error = 500%. i don't think there is enough diligence given to following up on the actual accuracy of the projections given in these expensive reports because they are almost without exception shoddy, innacurate and produced by underqualified junior analysts with little or no transport infrastructure experience. They are often given to disinterested councillors who are delighted to use them as justification to ignore calls for reinstatement, as was the case with Cllr. Shaun Woodward and the Waterside rail link. Worse; their built in pessimism makes the job of councillors easier when there is not enough investment to meet existing demands.
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bavvo
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If they could restore some sort of passenger operation, perhaps they could reverse at Totton and go west to Bournemouth instead? There's a lot of employment opportunities there and the roads often snarl up in summer.
theironroad
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Holyborne is quite close to the River Wey, which must flow into the sea at some point, so I guess you can still do it by ship. You just need very small oil tankers
Lol, the Wey goes down to the Thames, so that would be a long long way round in the miniature gauge oil tankers.....
swt_passenger
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Ah, but the most cunning plan would likely involve speeding up the reopening of the Wey and Arun canal, 'London's lost route to the sea' - as I believe their PR calls it. With Ford to Birdham re-opened as well, you can get your small oil tankers all the way to Gosport without entering the open sea...
Eastwestjct
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furnessvale
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Although it shows cancelled throughout so they didn't actually run, with a trailing load of 400 tonnes it reads like an empty wagon move.
Perhaps the removal of some empty tank wagons stranded after cessation of rail movements?
godfreycomplex
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The wagons used on the service are at Holybourne I believe; and I don't think it was them.
furnessvale
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Given that the RTT outward move is a light engine, with a 400 tonnes trailing load on the return, there must be some wagons at the refinery now.
Haven't checked on Abrail for their current status/situation... but what of the long-term stored (EWS-branded?) early mk2 carriages at Fawley..? Are they still there..? If so, are they still removable by rail..?
3141
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Ah, but the most cunning plan would likely involve speeding up the reopening of the Wey and Arun canal, 'London's lost route to the sea' - as I believe their PR calls it. With Ford to Birdham re-opened as well, you can get your small oil tankers all the way to Gosport without entering the open sea...
Having just now seen your post (!), I thought I'd mention that "London's Lost Route to the Sea" was originally the title of a book by PAL Vine, published in 1965, which is a history pf the Wey and Arun Canal and associated waterway connections.
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