GRALISTAIR
Established Member
I am all for new stations and rail links - but they serve airports and the planes that use them - they are huge CO2 generators. I am not sure if this is the way to go to be honest.
The answer to that is usually not heavy rail, but an integrated transport network where a bus or tram can be used to reach the city centre station.Problem with the railways as well in the East Midlands is the three East Midlands Cities (Nottingham, Leicester and Derby) tend to have one major station in the center of the city with a few small suburban halts dotted around the suburbs which are normally served hourly at best by semi-rural regional services.
This creates a problem in that most suburbs within the cities are not served by any rail services meaning one has to make a journey to the center of the city to then get a train to the airport. Even in the suburbs that are served by railways if someone wanted to go from South Wigston to East Midlands Airport for example they would have to catch the two hourly service from South Wigston to then connect with an hourly service from Leicester to an East Midlands Airport service.
City being a very urban airport has a lot of housing and industry nearby, all of which contributed to justifying the extension of the DLR to serve it.Southampton and Southend are, likely Gatwick, fortuitous enough to be alongside the mainline already.
City is a very different case, nobody is driving/parking there at-scale.
NR seems to have an idea to reconfigure the Castle Donington line to simplify Trent Junction. See the East Midlands Route Study, Option 8.
I expect that's where this idea is coming from. Given that the map suggests the passenger terminal will be on the NET and not the heavy rail line, it seems quite plausible. Build a new station in the vicinity of EMA and then rely on the tram to provide the final connection. So long as there's integrated ticketing it's not fundamentally that different to a people mover shuttle to the terminal like at Luton or Gatwick.
Regarding the High Level goods lines at Trent, were these ever used by the "Master Cutler" which did not call at Derby?
Fairly sure that any East Midlands Airport Terminus would be positioned to generate a traffic flow similar to Manchester Airport, eventually.
If it can encourage EMR services from all corners of the region, and provide adequate capacity for growth, it will surely be a success.
They are owned by the same company, after all.
Manchester Airport is in an entirely different league to East Mids. There is no chance of the latter generating anywhere near the amount of traffic that Manchester does, regardless of how well connected it is by rail
Many of these are likely to be extended/diverted to Toton assuming HS2 phase 2b goes ahead. You can't realistically do both.Sadly, I agree.
The current station/parkway pegs my enthusiasm somewhat.
But I do see, on the rail side of things, routes from further afield terminating or starting at an EMA station, in the same way Manchester’s does..
The Matlock - Nottingham could easily extend to EMA.
Skegness to Nottingham could.
Lincoln to Leicester could reverse in/out.
Corby to Derby via EMA.
I do see potential for increased presence on existing routes, and some new!
Which is a 40 minute journey end to end, An excellent service in my opinionProblem with the railways as well in the East Midlands is the three East Midlands Cities (Nottingham, Leicester and Derby) tend to have one major station in the center of the city with a few small suburban halts dotted around the suburbs which are normally served hourly at best by semi-rural regional services.
This creates a problem in that most suburbs within the cities are not served by any rail services meaning one has to make a journey to the center of the city to then get a train to the airport. Even in the suburbs that are served by railways if someone wanted to go from South Wigston to East Midlands Airport for example they would have to catch the two hourly service from South Wigston to then connect with an hourly service from Leicester to an East Midlands Airport service.
Here's a diagram from a local newspaper that I've not seen in other reports which clarifies the plans:
The Sinfin branch would be extended through Chellaston and could reach the existing line, requiring fairly major reconfiguration works at the A50 junction to re-establish the old alignment through there.
It would make more sense for them to realign it through Chellaston, perhaps using the old route of the Derby canal - theres even an underpass under the A50 already there.
Wow, wonder what the BCR is if all that can be done for just £100!it also states that SEGRO are funding infrastructure works to the value of £100, and that this sum includes the rail terminal and road works (in association with Highways England and others) which included alterations at Junctions 24 and 24A of the M1 and the Kegworth bypass (which included a substantial single span bridge over the M1 where it's 8 lanes plus two hard-shoulders in width)
Wow, wonder what the BCR is if all that can be done for just £100!
That probably confirms the cynical view about how much developers can manage down their contributions to public infrastructure...Wow, wonder what the BCR is if all that can be done for just £100!
Is the rail freight terminal actually going to be used? I think mega logistics complexes like these have been built with rail connections before which then haven't been used. They'll be handy for getting planning approval.
EMG already has a free shuttle bus connecting the bus stops at the site entrance to the various warehouses. It also has a free 'Boris Bike' setup. where workers can pick up a bike at the entrance and ride to work.I mean, it would be basically impossible for any railway station to serve the whole EMG site because it's so enormous and walking distances would be huge. As soon as you need to change onto a feeder bus you may as well put the station somewhere a little more convenient for the railway.
In which cases buses from East Midlands Parkway are an option. Significantly cheaper and already served by existing trains without the need for a separate service to a branch off the main line.Is the rail freight terminal actually going to be used? I think mega logistics complexes like these have been built with rail connections before which then haven't been used. They'll be handy for getting planning approval.
I don't think the rail connection will have been designed to be used like that. It would presumably require some significant tunnelling to go anywhere beyond that, but there doesn't seem to be any useful routing which isn't possible by cheaper means. The nature of the development and airport traffic probably lends towards a transport hub, possibly including a railway station, then a set of feeder bus routes. I mean, it would be basically impossible for any railway station to serve the whole EMG site because it's so enormous and walking distances would be huge. As soon as you need to change onto a feeder bus you may as well put the station somewhere a little more convenient for the railway.
The buses I mentioned in a previous post already pass in front of the stations at Long Eaton, Nottingham and Derby and a short walk from Beeston and Loughborough. There have been several attempts to run a bus from the Parkway and it just isn't viable. It's unlikely the freight terminal will attract enough worker/visitors from far enough away to change that.In which cases buses from East Midlands Parkway are an option. Significantly cheaper and already served by existing trains without the need for a separate service to a branch off the main line.
The buses I mentioned in a previous post already pass in front of the stations at Long Eaton, Nottingham and Derby and a short walk from Beeston and Loughborough. There have been several attempts to run a bus from the Parkway and it just isn't viable. It's unlikely the freight terminal will attract enough worker/visitors from far enough away to change that.
That's all true, but all those places also have good bus or tram links to Nottingham station. The fact it would be so easy to stop a bus at Parkway but it doesn't happen indicates how little public transport demand there is for Parkway and indeed how few rail people want to access East Midlands Airport or Gateway by rail. People travelling to the Gateway will be predominantly from areas served by existing bus links or will drive, and the selections of flights from the airport isn't good enough to attract large numbers of surface passengers from further afield like Manchester does. The kind of people attracted by a cheaper fare from EMA than from their own nearest airport are most likely to get there by car or private hire vehicle.Interesting thing is that Nottingham Skylink Express runs across the top of the approach road to Parkway station, so a stop could be added at the expense of a few minutes to the schedule; moreover, as well as providing a direct link between Parkway and East Midlands Gateway and the airport, it would also provide a direct link to Clifton Park & Ride (for NET) and it also stops in West Bridgford at the County Hall, which is close to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground and the Notts Forest City Ground, so a Parkway stop by the Skylink Express has the potential to attract more usage at Parkway for people living south of the Trent in the greater Nottingham area who rely on public transport to get to/from a rail station.