The Planner
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 15 Apr 2008
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104m on the down, 131m on the up. You could probably extend the down platform back now the foot crossing is closed.
I suspect the idea is to do this without any infrastructure costs though.
Furthermore if I recall Stone is on a sweeping curve so I would imagine despatch on anything over 4 cars (even if platforms allowed) would be far from ideal.
104m on the down, 131m on the up. You could probably extend the down platform back now the foot crossing is closed.
With regard to 5 car Aventras, are they going to be running via Stone? I thought the 350s were being kept for the foreseeable. I would have thought the Aventras would be chucked at the main lines rather than the branches.
Its also not just Stone on that branch. Theres also Kidsgrove and Alsager to consider.
Hmm £72 for a return from RUN to EUS. It’s only the best part of 4 hours on an uncomfortable 350!
Will one of the new 5x24m (120m) sets fit to add a bit of extra capacity, or is 80m the absolute max?
730s will be 5 coaches rather than 4 so i presume no??
I have no idea where you got £72 from - was it 2 Advances?
The return fares are:
LNR Only / VT (Any Permitted)
Anytime £125 / £325 (sorry, corrected)
Off Peak £46.70 / £89.60
Super OP £35 / not offered
4 hours on a 350, which in my view if it's a /1 or /3 is more comfortable than a Pendolino, is definitely worth **£200** saving to me. The Off Peak/Super Off Peak potentially being half the price is also worth consideration.
Also, you don't have to take the through service if time is of the essence - change at Crewe to take about an hour off. That gives you a journey time not dissimilar to the pre-Pendolino times, and at prices that in number terms are very similar (and therefore in real terms are about half the price of back then).
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant, when rail services restarted at Stone, when London Midland called with Euston services initially there was talk of XC so there was a Birmingham service tooNot sure why you'd want a nasty, smelly, filth-belching Voyager when you could have a Class 350, to be honest. And as there aren't many stations between there and Brum it won't be much slower even if it calls at all of them.
Yep, 2 advance singles. Outbound 3/6/19 0850, return 4/6/19 1733 as an example. Definitely worth the saving if you’ve the time, but I find the Pendolinos to be much more comfortable.
Annual pax at Stone is 145k and rising from 109k 2 years ago. Would a 2tph service mean it went up much more?
Maybe with that usage it does justify a second TPH.
Congleton, a small rural Cheshire town, has 1tph to Manchester and to Stoke. I'm not sure why people seem to think it justifies more.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant, when rail services restarted at Stone, when London Midland called with Euston services initially there was talk of XC so there was a Birmingham service too
There is, but Stone is the only station that is only served by these trains. Kidsgrove has the Northern service plus the EMT, and Alsager the EMT.
I gather Barlaston is to reopen at some point as well. Suggestion was it would be further along the line in-between the current station and Wedgwood which would officially close. That would only be served by these trains.
I gather Barlaston is to reopen at some point as well. Suggestion was it would be further along the line in-between the current station and Wedgwood which would officially close. That would only be served by these trains.
You never know, the North Staffs loop might be the next London Overground... If you build it, they will come!
Congleton to manchester is on the manchester line, a congested line thanks to the 4 virgin and cross country trains passing through every hour.Interesting...
Yet;
Usage:
145,000 = justifies 2tph
348,000 = 1 is fine.
:/
The issue with Stone is that if you call anything southbound there that's longer than the platform, it blocks not only the line that the service is on, but the Hixon lines. Those have 2tph of express Virgin services in each direction so certainly not something you want to disrupt. Stone platform 2 is 131m long so you can fit in a 5-car Aventra but nothing longer, unless you go for the uncouth 'reverse' SDO (with the front hanging off the platform). That causes capacity problems further down the line.Congleton to manchester is on the manchester line, a congested line thanks to the 4 virgin and cross country trains passing through every hour.
Timetabling i presume would be more of an issue compared to stone since the virgin trains (99% of the time) avoid stone since they have the faster line to use
You wonder why they are closing 1 of themI can’t see there is anywhere much to move it to. Given the fact you can see Barlaston platforms from Wedgwood platforms (and vice versa) there’s no real need to move it away from Barlaston village.
We aint talking longer trains here. Their is no way its ever gonna be possible to support that. A second tph like their is now or smaller, thats what should be consideredThe issue with Stone is that if you call anything southbound there that's longer than the platform, it blocks not only the line that the service is on, but the Hixon lines. Those have 2tph of express Virgin services in each direction so certainly not something you want to disrupt.
I honestly cant see the usage at Barlaston being near the same amount as stone anyway, it could probably be missed mabye??It would be VERY hard to justify Barlaston having more than 1tph unless for operational convenience (e.g. similar to that Merseyrail stops most trains at all stations anyway).
From and to where though? You are going to struggle to get one past Wolverhampton if you are looking at Brum.We aint talking longer trains here. Their is no way its ever gonna be possible to support that. A second tph like their is now or smaller, thats what should be considered
Perhaps, but where would such a service start and end on the north side? Stoke-on-Trent has only two south-facing platforms (the through ones), both of which already have a substantial number of services. It doesn't seem feasible to reliably turn around a train there. The single line between Alsager and Crewe is going to cause difficulties there, and even if that weren't an issue, you still have to fit in north of Stoke, which itself seems unlikely without a major signalling upgrade (given there are 7tph already, including three stoppers).We aint talking longer trains here. Their is no way its ever gonna be possible to support that. A second tph like their is now or smaller, thats what should be considered
Congleton to manchester is on the manchester line, a congested line thanks to the 4 virgin and cross country trains passing through every hour.
Timetabling i presume would be more of an issue compared to stone since the virgin trains (99% of the time) avoid stone since they have the faster line to use