Most under-developed rail corridor? (examples)

[biggus]

In the opinion of forum members, what are the most under-developed rail corridors in the UK?

By under-developed corridors, I mean those where there appears to be a high potential or suppressed demand that seems to be obscured by the quality of the railway (taking the track, stations, trains and service patterns together).

The example of which I have personal experience is the East Lancashire Line running east from Preston through, among others, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley then on to Todmorden and Yorkshire or left at Rose Grove up the withered branch to Nelson and Colne (which until 1970 connected to the Aire Valley line at Skipton for Leeds instead of being a local branch).

I used to live in Lancashire and was impressed by the awesome dreadfulness of the services on this route. The pacers average sub 25mph to give a 70 min journey time to Colne on a route 0 miles. The ride quality is what you would imagine, and the services are hourly.

Again the thing that strikes me is how densely populated a route this is with stations in good sized towns that nobody can be bothered to use when it takes almost twice as long as driving. The M65 motorway running parallel is often overcrowded and at a standstill for weight of traffic and it is STILL easier than taking the train, as I know from bitter experience.

But my guess is that this is not the worst example by any means... so what are the other candidates for Britain's most underdeveloped rail corridor?

(For a contrasting if not directly comparable journey, you can travel 22 miles from Preston to Lancaster in just 13 minutes on the WCML, so nobody I knew bothered to commute between the two on the parallel M6!)

 

[Inox]

Probably the Bolton to Blackburn line.

apart from the double track through Hall 'ith Wood and Bromley Cross it's single track. This restricts the flexibility of the services that can be provided and increased the likelihood of delays across the board if a single service is late.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

In the opinion of forum members, what are the most under-developed rail corridors in the UK?

By under-developed corridors, I mean those where there appears to be a high potential or suppressed demand that seems to be obscured by the quality of the railway (taking the track, stations, trains and service patterns together).

The example of which I have personal experience is the East Lancashire Line running east from Preston through, among others, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley then on to Todmorden and Yorkshire or left at Rose Grove up the withered branch to Nelson and Colne (which until 1970 connected to the Aire Valley line at Skipton for Leeds instead of being a local branch).

I used to live in Lancashire and was impressed by the awesome dreadfulness of the services on this route. The pacers average sub 25mph to give a 70 min journey time to Colne on a route 0 miles. The ride quality is what you would imagine, and the services are hourly.

Again the thing that strikes me is how densely populated a route this is with stations in good sized towns that nobody can be bothered to use when it takes almost twice as long as driving. The M65 motorway running parallel is often overcrowded and at a standstill for weight of traffic and it is STILL easier than taking the train, as I know from bitter experience.

But my guess is that this is not the worst example by any means... so what are the other candidates for Britain's most underdeveloped rail corridor?

(For a contrasting if not directly comparable journey, you can travel 22 miles from Preston to Lancaster in just 13 minutes on the WCML, so nobody I knew bothered to commute between the two on the parallel M6!)

Im glad you have picked this as this service is part of the Blackpool South line which has come up rightly time and again over its shocking service, this is mostly due to its single line from Kirkham - Blackpool South.

I know at this point someone will say that the Class 142 " Cattle Truck " has saved many a branch line in the 1980's, and yes this is true but times have moved on and this great example of the line from Blackpool South - Preston - Blackburn - Accrington - Burnley is another one that should have has investment years ago.

 

[tbtc]

I expect that most people's answer will coincidently be their local line.

Instead, I'll suggest the Durham Coast line from Middlesbrough/ Stockton/ Hartlepool to Sunderland/ Newcastle/ Metro Centre. An hourly 142/156 up the coast is fairly poor (even allowing for a token GC service from Hartlepool to Sunderland), especially when you consider how poorly the railway serves places like Peterlee... there's a real potential for investment (but apparently little appetite).

The Durham Coast line lost its services to Leeds/ Manchester at the Transpennine reorganisation too - apart from a few GC services you can't easily get as far as York.

 

[Wath Yard]

The M65 motorway running parallel is often overcrowded and at a standstill for weight of traffic and it is STILL easier than taking the train, as I know from bitter experience.

Having driven the whole M65 over 1,000 times in both directions, usually during the peak, I have never known it to be at a standstill on any part due to the volume of traffic, only ever after accidents.

 

[PR1Berske]

Blackpool South - Kirkham and Preston - Colne is perhaps a fine example of the way in which rail infrastructure should be considered for renewal "east west", rather than north-south!

 

[W230]

The example of which I have personal experience is the East Lancashire Line running east from Preston through, among others, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley then on to Todmorden and Yorkshire or left at Rose Grove up the withered branch to Nelson and Colne (which until 1970 connected to the Aire Valley line at Skipton for Leeds instead of being a local branch).

I think I used this line when I used to live in Preston and made the odd journey to Leeds. From what I remember it was indeed a shockingly slow service (though quite pretty). Looking at a journey planner from Preston to Leeds it suggests going via Manchester, with a change and 15 minute wait at Oxford Road, takes a similar length of time.

Probably the Bolton to Blackburn line.

I understand the Bolton - Blackburn route is farily rubbish too though i'm not familiar with it.

 

[Hellfire]

I think
I understand the Bolton - Blackburn route is farily rubbish too though i'm not familiar with it.

I regularly use the Blackburn Bolton line and I confirm it is appalling. Considering it passes through major conurbations it is completely unfit for purpose. I know many people who commute from the Blackburn area into Manchester by car because the train service is so poor.

There have been plans to double up the track again between Hall i'th Wood and Blackburn but the last proposals with a cost of £8 million fell by the wayside. Most of the day trains only run hourly with a 30 minute service at peak times. The rattletrap trains are slow, uncomfortable and packed to overcapacity at peak times. The alternative is to drive on the A666. Not the best road but it's quicker and you don't risk the chance of a train not turning up because of mechanical failure.

This is a prime example of where a relatively modest investment would give great social benefits.

 

[yorksrob]

I expect that most people's answer will coincidently be their local line.

I think local or not, people in those parts of Lancashire are fairly justified in noting the underdeveloped nature of services in those areas given the population size.

I'm going to choose one which has not and never has been local to me.

Given the popularity of Inter-City cross country services linking the West Midlands to the South/South West and North/North East, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a lot of surpressed demand for linking the East Midlands to those areas.

Of course, no one conurbation in the East Midlands is as big as Birmingham, but if you consider Nottingham, Leicester and Loughborough together, you are talking about a fairly large number of potential people.

The West Midlands route also has towns such as Coventry, Wolverhampton and Burton, but further East, you've got Mansfield and Rugby.

No such route exists unfortunately, but then it struck me that the old Great Central line between Banbury and Tuxford/Sheffield would have been ideally suited to this coridoor

 

[NSE]

It's not really a line as such, but the service from Cambridge to Stansted is personally shocking. Two maybe three carriages an hour? Coming from as far away as Birmingham (and once a day Gloucester) the potential for delays is huge.

 

[Inox]

I regularly use the Blackburn Bolton line and I confirm it is appalling. Considering it passes through major conurbations it is completely unfit for purpose. I know many people who commute from the Blackburn area into Manchester by car because the train service is so poor.

There have been plans to double up the track again between Hall i'th Wood and Blackburn but the last proposals with a cost of £8 million fell by the wayside. Most of the day trains only run hourly with a 30 minute service at peak times. The rattletrap trains are slow, uncomfortable and packed to overcapacity at peak times. The alternative is to drive on the A666. Not the best road but it's quicker and you don't risk the chance of a train not turning up because of mechanical failure.

This is a prime example of where a relatively modest investment would give great social benefits.

Take this morning when the 06.48 at Bromley X was delayed by 18, 22, 27, 30 minutes. Along came a four car set, but the conductor would only open the doors to the front unit. standing room only from bromley x through to salford central. whilst draging an empty 142 behind....happens most mornings...

I love northern rail.

/sorry for hijacking.

 

[biggus]

Having driven the whole M65 over 1,000 times in both directions, usually during the peak, I have never known it to be at a standstill on any part due to the volume of traffic, only ever after accidents.

Although it was 5 years ago, I distinctly recall having to suddenly hit the brakes to slow to a stop-go crawl on the M65 in the peaks, particularly when negotiating the dual carriageway section which features some steep hills and some merging traffic IIRC.

I used to date a young lady in East Lancs, work in Preston travelling all over the county, and live in Lancaster. As a result I cannot remember what time of day it was when I encountered the worst congestion, or which direction I was travelling at the time, but I do remember it being a matter of routine and that I didn't see a lot of accidents or roadworks at the time.

Maybe something has changed on the M65 in the intervening years?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Probably the Bolton to Blackburn line.

apart from the double track through Hall 'ith Wood and Bromley Cross it's single track. This restricts the flexibility of the services that can be provided and increased the likelihood of delays across the board if a single service is late.

Poor old Lancashire. I thought that would be a candidate. I agree with the comments about the line to Blackpool too.

The cuts made to Lancashire's rail network back in the day seem to have been particularly unkind, particularly the closure of the route to Blackpool Central and the lines in Rossendale connecting the likes of Rawtenstall and Bacup to the rest of the network at Bury and Rochdale and Accrington. Some of those trains were apparently regular services that just disappeared overnight in the 60's when people were also losing their jobs locally as de-industrialisation set in. Brutal.

 

[6Gman]

I regularly use the Blackburn Bolton line and I confirm it is appalling. Considering it passes through major conurbations it is completely unfit for purpose. I know many people who commute from the Blackburn area into Manchester by car because the train service is so poor.

There have been plans to double up the track again between Hall i'th Wood and Blackburn but the last proposals with a cost of £8 million fell by the wayside. Most of the day trains only run hourly with a 30 minute service at peak times. The rattletrap trains are slow, uncomfortable and packed to overcapacity at peak times. The alternative is to drive on the A666. Not the best road but it's quicker and you don't risk the chance of a train not turning up because of mechanical failure.

This is a prime example of where a relatively modest investment would give great social benefits.

Better idea than £200M on underground platforms at Crewe!

 

[rail2016]

Hi All, I have for you all an update with regards to the Project to reopen the line from Colne East Lancashire to Skipton North Yorkshire, as of last nights SELRAP executive meeting, we have now to go it on our own, with no help from Central Government, Lancashire CC or North Yorkshire CC, the only support we have and are very grateful for it, is from Pendle Council, Network Rail, and Northern Rail.

 

[pemma]

I expect that most people's answer will coincidently be their local line.

I'd actually suggest some of the lines with such a poor service that the trains are useless to most people.

For instance, Reddish South is one station away from Stockport but if you want to go between Reddish and Stockport you have to get the bus as there are no southbound trains in passenger operation.

At least Reddish has another station with a rail link to Manchester, something which the next settlement northbound of Denton does not have.

Although I do think there is one example local to you and one local to me that has an hourly service but needs something improving.

The Penistone line doesn't really provide a good Huddersfield-Sheffield link which leads to people using overcrowded services via Leeds to get between the two places.

The Mid-Cheshire line provides a satisfactory Stockport-Chester service. However, the route to Manchester is too long - the Sale line was converted to Metrolink (which now doesn't have any express services and changing adds a connection time to the journey) and the Altrincham to Stockport link crosses the Piccadilly-Airport line so it's almost like being in a car where the driver misses the signs for the direct routes and takes you a long way around.

 

[tbtc]

I think local or not, people in those parts of Lancashire are fairly justified in noting the underdeveloped nature of services in those areas given the population size

What surprises me is that (whilst there's not a lot of paths south of Bolton for additional Manchester - Blackburn services) there's been no attempt to switch the services at Blackburn into

• Manchester - Blackburn - Burnley - Colne
• Blackpool South - Preston - Blackburn - Colne

That would give Burnley/ Altricham a regular service to Manchester. Presumably this would require an extra DMU though, so the services are being run more for operational convenience than for passenger demand.

At least those in East Lancashire are getting the chord at Todmorden (£8.8 million quid for half a mile makes Crossrail look cheap...) which will give Altricham/ Burnley a direct link to Rochdale/ Manchester next year, so there's some light at the end of the tunnel. And whilst there's little prospect of improvement at the Blackpool South end, the electrification to Blackpool North will mean more capacity on that line (longer EMUs replacing Pacers/ Sprinters).

As previously discussed, SELRAP seems a real waste of time, in terms of all the other things we could be spending money on.

Given the popularity of Inter-City cross country services linking the West Midlands to the South/South West and North/North East, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a lot of surpressed demand for linking the East Midlands to those areas.

Of course, no one conurbation in the East Midlands is as big as Birmingham, but if you consider Nottingham, Leicester and Loughborough together, you are talking about a fairly large number of potential people.

The West Midlands route also has towns such as Coventry, Wolverhampton and Burton, but further East, you've got Mansfield and Rugby.

No such route exists unfortunately, but then it struck me that the old Great Central line between Banbury and Tuxford/Sheffield would have been ideally suited to this coridoor

Nottingham and Leicester have a decent frequency to Birmingham (though the trains could be a bit longer). The problem with "Cross Country" services is that there are always going to be more places north of Birmingham (Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham...) than south of Birmingham, so it becomes a zero sum game.

At least the money spent on electrification in the East Midlands and the "East West" line would allow direct EMUs from Nottingham to Oxford/ Reading/ Southampton etc in a few years (bypassing Birmingham).

Shame that the remodelling at Nuneaton killed off any direct trains from Nottingham/ Leicester to Coventry (a journey I remember on a Central Trains 153 many years ago).

 

[Roverman]

I think there is an argument here, that just like the road network, its better North>South rather than East>West.

I live in Stafford, let say I want to go to York, its easier for me to drive to Derby or Birmingham and catch a train from there than go from Stafford up to Manchester and then travel across the Pennines to York. Even Nottingham would be a pain, 2hr 4 mins via Stoke and Derby or 1hr 37 via Tamworth. Google Maps suggests the car journey is 1hr 19 mins and thats despite the A50 being half the road it needs to be!

 

[tbtc]

I'd actually suggest some of the lines with such a poor service that the trains are useless to most people.

For instance, Reddish South is one station away from Stockport but if you want to go between Reddish and Stockport you have to get the bus as there are no southbound trains in passenger operation.

At least Reddish has another station with a rail link to Manchester, something which the next settlement northbound of Denton does not have.

Although I do think there is one example local to you and one local to me that has an hourly service but needs something improving.

The Penistone line doesn't really provide a good Huddersfield-Sheffield link which leads to people using overcrowded services via Leeds to get between the two places.

The Mid-Cheshire line provides a satisfactory Stockport-Chester service. However, the route to Manchester is too long - the Sale line was converted to Metrolink (which now doesn't have any express services and changing adds a connection time to the journey) and the Altrincham to Stockport link crosses the Piccadilly-Airport line so it's almost like being in a car where the driver misses the signs for the direct routes and takes you a long way around.

One problem with allocating resources to Reddish - Stockport is that you'd have to have a pretty frequent service to be competing with the bus service (we have a similar problem with Darnall, Woodhouse and Dore in Sheffield where a bi-hourly or hourly service doesn't provide a real alternative to the frequent parallel bus services).

The Penistone Line is a frustrating one - the single track sections mean you'd struggle to path additional services, and the focus on the Sheffield - Barnsley corridor appears to be on more/faster Leeds services (Chapleton, Elsecar etc have lost some of their services to find space for Leeds trains).

 

[yorksrob]

What surprises me is that (whilst there's not a lot of paths south of Bolton for additional Manchester - Blackburn services) there's been no attempt to switch the services at Blackburn into

• Manchester - Blackburn - Burnley - Colne
• Blackpool South - Preston - Blackburn - Colne

That would give Burnley/ Altricham a regular service to Manchester. Presumably this would require an extra DMU though, so the services are being run more for operational convenience than for passenger demand.

Certainly such adjustments, as well as increased frequencies where you have an hourly service would go a decent way to improve the situation.

As previously discussed, SELRAP seems a real waste of time, in terms of all the other things we could be spending money on.

Well, you know I'm never going to agree with that !

Nottingham and Leicester have a decent frequency to Birmingham (though the trains could be a bit longer). The problem with "Cross Country" services is that there are always going to be more places north of Birmingham (Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham...) than south of Birmingham, so it becomes a zero sum game.

At least the money spent on electrification in the East Midlands and the "East West" line would allow direct EMUs from Nottingham to Oxford/ Reading/ Southampton etc in a few years (bypassing Birmingham).

Shame that the remodelling at Nuneaton killed off any direct trains from Nottingham/ Leicester to Coventry (a journey I remember on a Central Trains 153 many years ago).

The East - West link will certainly mark an improvement in this respect. Of course, theoretically, you could also turn some trains west at Didcot for Bristol for example. However, I suspect the detour East would be just a little too long compared to the route via Birmingham to attract those who don't like changing trains, whereas with the old GC, you would have been going more or less straight down and across.

 

[tbtc]

Certainly such adjustments, as well as increased frequencies where you have an hourly service would go a decent way to improve the situation

Looking at the current services, Colne - Blackpool South needs four units for an hourly service as does Manchester Victoria - Clitheroe. I guess you'd need an extra Sprinter to allow some of the services to switch destinations (since Blackburn - Clitheroe is a lot shorter than Blackburn - Colne). No fancy infrastructure required, just a spare DMU.

The problem is that once Manchester - Bolton is electrified, the Blackburn service may be a lower priority for paths south of Bolton.

 

[rail2016]

I guess you really don't understand anything what SELRAP is trying to achieve, with the reopening of the Colne to Skipton Line, it not a local stopping service, it will be the New Transpennine link between Leeds and Liverpool, and Leeds and Manchester, it has the lowest gradient over the Moss, no tunnels, no steep embankments, and will be quicker for people of Craven, and some of West Yorkshire resident to get to both Manchester, Man Airport, Preston and Liverpool, as well as Blackpool.
Not only this but once the wires have gone up, will give a link to Both the East and West Coast Main Lines, which if need could run a loop.

And SELRAP have been approched by a multi National with regards to developing the railway for Freight to, as their is a vital need to have two inland ports, and our line sit right where it is needed, According to the Developer, but until LCC get off the back with regards to needing a Bypass over parts of the trackbed, and helps to fund some of the GRIP 3 study we can't move on with the project, Pendle Council, Network rail, and Northern rail are helping with part of this, Pendle Council with funding, the other two with study work.

What surprises me is that (whilst there's not a lot of paths south of Bolton for additional Manchester - Blackburn services) there's been no attempt to switch the services at Blackburn into

• Manchester - Blackburn - Burnley - Colne
• Blackpool South - Preston - Blackburn - Colne

That would give Burnley/ Altricham a regular service to Manchester. Presumably this would require an extra DMU though, so the services are being run more for operational convenience than for passenger demand.

At least those in East Lancashire are getting the chord at Todmorden (£8.8 million quid for half a mile makes Crossrail look cheap...) which will give Altricham/ Burnley a direct link to Rochdale/ Manchester next year, so there's some light at the end of the tunnel. And whilst there's little prospect of improvement at the Blackpool South end, the electrification to Blackpool North will mean more capacity on that line (longer EMUs replacing Pacers/ Sprinters).

As previously discussed, SELRAP seems a real waste of time, in terms of all the other things we could be spending money on.



Nottingham and Leicester have a decent frequency to Birmingham (though the trains could be a bit longer). The problem with "Cross Country" services is that there are always going to be more places north of Birmingham (Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham...) than south of Birmingham, so it becomes a zero sum game.

At least the money spent on electrification in the East Midlands and the "East West" line would allow direct EMUs from Nottingham to Oxford/ Reading/ Southampton etc in a few years (bypassing Birmingham).

Shame that the remodelling at Nuneaton killed off any direct trains from Nottingham/ Leicester to Coventry (a journey I remember on a Central Trains 153 many years ago).

 

[yorksrob]

I'd like to see Skipton - Colne re-opened to reinstate a missing link between the Aire Valley towns and Lancashire as much as anything.

 

[tbtc]

I guess you really don't understand anything what SELRAP is trying to achieve, with the reopening of the Colne to Skipton Line, it not a local stopping service, it will be the New Transpennine link between Leeds and Liverpool, and Leeds and Manchester

That would sound useful were it not for the fact that Leeds already has seven trains an hour to Manchester - are you telling me that going Leeds - Skipton - Burnley - Manchester is going to be faster than going via Huddersfield?

Leeds - Skipton - Liverpool was a fast route in the days of the canal, but not on the railway.

Not only this but once the wires have gone up, will give a link to Both the East and West Coast Main Lines, which if need could run a loop

Ah, so it's going to be electrified too? And have direct London trains? Plenty of existing busy lines don't justify electrification.

 

[Roverman]

That would sound useful were it not for the fact that Leeds already has seven trains an hour to Manchester

Bearing in mind the efforts being taken to reintroduce an old line between Glasgow and Edinburgh (which already has up to 11 trains per hour) are you surprised by this?

Seems to me that some lines/areas are being pushed to the max, almost to the detriment of other lines.

 

[biggus]

Regardless of any case for SELRAP leading to a major strategic route. I cannot see why anyone tries to argue that branch lines termjnating in the middle of no-where make efficient use of labour and capital. A train running to, say, Colne or Uckfield is guaranteed to be 90% empty for much of the way. Give the same train a useful onward destination, preferably somewhere big like Leeds or Eastbourne/Brighton respectively, and the train and the line have much more even loadings and earn their keep instead of hauling empty air for most of the route.

NR rail route planners seem to agree but Is this just too much like common sense for anyone else to listen?!

I would go a step further than SELRAP. From Skipton i would take the Grassington branch, TWA the Embsay Bolton Abbey Railway, bulldoze as much of Ilkley as necessary and thus reconnect the line to leeds via Otley. The two - three paths/hr into Leeds used by what is currently a local branch would then be available to services extended as far west as efficient timetabling might permit.

</rant>

 

[cle]

My local line is very developed and down South. Not too much bias here.

I think East Midlands across to the NW is one.

The Derby - Stoke line could do a lot more in terms of cross country services. Not everything East to West is transpennine! Extensions should be made - not talking Skegness again necessarily but Nottingham at least one way, and Chester/Liverpool/Man Airport the other. I think the latter is planned possibly.

Also the Sheffield avoiding line to activate what I imagine is huge suppressed demand on the Rio corridor for an hourly service like:
London - Luton/Bedford - Leicester - Derby - Chesterfield - (Stockport) - Manchester

which has a lot of journey potentials and combinations, and would also provide some welcome competition on London - Manchester services. I think journeys would be about 2h30-2h45, so not much worse and perhaps attractive to students of which there are many on the route. More convenient to HS1 too!

 

[sheff'd victoria]

The Penistone line doesn't really provide a good Huddersfield-Sheffield link which leads to people using overcrowded services via Leeds to get between the two places.

The fault here is with both South Yorkshire PTE and BR.
pre 1983 the Huddersfield Line service ran from Sheffield Midland passed the Closed Sheffield Victoria and up part of the Woodhead Route upto Penistone, it took around 25 minutes from Sheffield to Penistone, their was hope in 1974 when SYPTE was formed that stations at Wadsley Bridge ( Hillsborough ) Oughtibridge & Deepcar would reopen, sadly they did not and in May 1983 SYPTE made the Huddersfield service divert via Barnsley, soon after BR came up with the bright idea of singling parts of the line, now the line is full to capacity and until Network Rail double the track again passgengers will be put off using this route

(we have a similar problem with Darnall, Woodhouse and Dore in Sheffield where a bi-hourly or hourly service doesn't provide a real alternative to the frequent parallel bus services).

Dore has a rather stupid service, their are more trains that call their for passgengers travelling to/from Manchester 40 odd miles away then Sheffield Midland which is 5 miles away

 

[pemma]

One problem with allocating resources to Reddish - Stockport is that you'd have to have a pretty frequent service to be competing with the bus service (we have a similar problem with Darnall, Woodhouse and Dore in Sheffield where a bi-hourly or hourly service doesn't provide a real alternative to the frequent parallel bus services).

Well if you look at Burley Park and Headingley the rail service is half-hourly to Leeds compared to a bus every few minutes and you get annual patronage of 632,000 and 364,000 respectively.

On longer distance journeys it's quite often the same fare for stations close together so having a regular Reddish-Stockport service would probably mean you could buy a Reddish-Birmingham or Reddish-London ticket for the same price as a Stockport ticket so by using the train instead of the bus you'd be saving a couple of quid.

 

[swcovas]

I'll throw in the Swansea District line as an underdeveloped route which could provide faster communications between West Wales and Cardiff. I know trhat one of the big problems would be missing out the market at Swansea but a new station to serve North Swansea would tap into another potential market.

 

[tbtc]

Well if you look at Burley Park and Headingley the rail service is half-hourly to Leeds compared to a bus every few minutes and you get annual patronage of 632,000 and 364,000 respectively

Those stations are used as destinations for those coming from outside Leeds to the University/ Cricket/ Rugby matches, as well as having a fairly healthy Student population who may start their journeys from their local station when heading back to their parents. If you are coming to Leeds by train (and possibly unfamiliar with the city) then you are more likely to wait for a train to Headingly than to try to hunt for a bus in the city centre.

Burley Park also gets a disproportionate amount of tickets because it is the cheapest ticket to Leeds, so fare dodgers from further afield know to ask for a "single from Burley Park" when arriving at the barriers at Leeds. Not that I approve of such things. It may not have 632,000 actual passengers though.

Quite different to Reddish.