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Newhaven Marine loses canopy

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TheEdge

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It has, though to be fair it gained a second service in the still-operational direction to compensate :lol: I do think we need a serious review (and purge) of the likes of Norton Bridge, Polesworth and Newhaven Marine in this country: we either do something with them to make them viable or get rid. The fact that it's taken a decade to sort out what to do with Norton Bridge is incredible...

The only thing with that is where do you draw the line?

From the figures on Wikipedia 2014/15 Polesworth had 820 users, Eccles Road had 1,098, its not a huge difference. Are they equally pointless or equally useful? Throw in that Polesworth receives one train in one direction only except Sundays, Eccles Road receives two in each direction in the morning and evening peak for people working in Norwich. You could argue with ever growing passenger numbers somewhere like Polesworth could now justify a new footbridge and a second platform and a proper service.

It would be very difficult to get it right, it would be nowhere near as simple as a passenger count and a cut off line. Thats how Beeching did it (basically) and look how that turned out.
 
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HMS Ark Royal

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Can you link to that or explain why again? I've read you saying that before but for the life of me cannot remember where!

Sure... It might take me a while to go through posts, but I think it was either a mod or admin here that first mentioned it...
 

MidnightFlyer

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The only thing with that is where do you draw the line?

From the figures on Wikipedia 2014/15 Polesworth had 820 users, Eccles Road had 1,098, its not a huge difference. Are they equally pointless or equally useful? Throw in that Polesworth receives one train in one direction only except Sundays, Eccles Road receives two in each direction in the morning and evening peak for people working in Norwich. You could argue with ever growing passenger numbers somewhere like Polesworth could now justify a new footbridge and a second platform and a proper service.

It would be very difficult to get it right, it would be nowhere near as simple as a passenger count and a cut off line. Thats how Beeching did it (basically) and look how that turned out.

I meant to suffix 'purge' with a question mark as I realise there aren't many that would come to that! Obviously we don't look at the hundreds of little used stations nationwide, just the obvious anomalies on the network.
To use your example, if it was so decided that Polesworth serves a purpose then you serve it accordingly, preferably in both directions; if it's decided that it's pointless (for example owing to Tamworth's proximity and vastly better services) then at the very least mothball it to remove the stupid arrangement as at present. I think the halts like Eccles Road (and the various others across Britain) are much more straightforward cases - generally isolated, rural communities that actually have an appropriate service provision, with little alternatives nearby; ergo you keep them. For Pilning, it's next door to both Bristol Parkway and Severn Beach, both of which have vastly better services than Pilning ever could...
 

BestWestern

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I would offer up Melksham as an example of why closure may not always be sensible, even if it 'seems' to be appropriate. One train in each direction per day, a platform barely a carriage long, and a single line arguably saved probably only for its value as a diversionary route. And then a local bloke persuaded FGW to run a better service, and the place is now doing really rather well, with a fairly regular service and apparently filling a 153 in the mornings on some journeys - and in this case we are talking whole new services, not just stopping already passing trains. It can easily go either way with some of these little shacks!
 
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pdeaves

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I would offer up Melksham as an example of why closure may not always be sensible, even if it 'seems' to be appropriate.

Anecdotally, whenever I have used the service it appears that most people get on at Swindon, some at Chippenham, then they all get off at Trowbridge or Westbury (and vice versa). Certainly there is some custom at Melksham and I wouldn't advocate cutting the service, but most people use it as a through service.

Of course, what happens when I'm not using the service could be entirely different!
 

NSEFAN

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Melksham and Newhaven Marine are hardly comparable. Melksham has no other rail service. In fact now it has a much better service with the 153 that shuttles up and down between Swindon and Westbury, I would expect passenger numbers to rise.

Newhaven Marine on the other hand is completely redundant. The ferries to no longer stop near the station, the 12-car EMU boat trains to London are long-gone, and Newhaven Harbour (which is a stone's throw away) provides the area with a good service between Seaford and Brighton. I'd say on those grounds that it may as well be closed, provided it's not too expensive to do so. It might however still be useful to keep the track as a reversing siding, again this will probably depend on whether ripping up the track is even worth it at this stage.
 

Clip

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Newhaven Marine on the other hand is completely redundant. The ferries to no longer stop near the station, the 12-car EMU boat trains to London are long-gone, and Newhaven Harbour (which is a stone's throw away) provides the area with a good service between Seaford and Brighton. I'd say on those grounds that it may as well be closed, provided it's not too expensive to do so. It might however still be useful to keep the track as a reversing siding, again this will probably depend on whether ripping up the track is even worth it at this stage.

Quite, the fascination to keep it open over many threads astounds me. Keep it as a turn back by all means but apart from that it serves no purpose anymore and needs to be officially closed or at least withdraw the ability to purchase tickets to/from there from the systems.

Sudbury and Harrow road would be a good example of shutting a station - I know the picc line next door takes longer but im sure it would free up a path or two in the morning/evenings by not having anything stop there.
 

trainmania100

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I went to newhaven marine this morning to see the 313 ecs to newhaven town.
Please find attached a photograph which shows the state of Marine.
I didnt go on the platform as i didnt know if it was allowed.
 

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HMS Ark Royal

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I went to newhaven marine this morning to see the 313 ecs to newhaven town.
Please find attached a photograph which shows the state of Marine.
I didnt go on the platform as i didnt know if it was allowed.

Hey, thats one hell of a great picture picture - you have managed, I presume through accident, to capture the mood very well indeed. You should enter it into a contest or something.

Regarding the platform, I'm not entirely sure myself... There doesn't appear to be anything prohibiting entry or any warnings. Interesting to note that the station sign remains in place on the wall - I'd ask around and see if it was possible to get it when they demolish the building. Do you know who is doing the work by any chance? A phonecall to them might be in order
 
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As the canopy has been removed is there any chance that the parliamentary train to and from Newhaven Marine will now carry passengers?
 

trainmania100

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Hey, thats one hell of a great picture picture - you have managed, I presume through accident, to capture the mood very well indeed. You should enter it into a contest or something.

Regarding the platform, I'm not entirely sure myself... There doesn't appear to be anything prohibiting entry or any warnings. Interesting to note that the station sign remains in place on the wall - I'd ask around and see if it was possible to get it when they demolish the building. Do you know who is doing the work by any chance? A phonecall to them might be in order

Thankyou Rex ;) I could ask Southern. There is also signal box right behind the photograph
 

HMS Ark Royal

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As the canopy has been removed is there any chance that the parliamentary train to and from Newhaven Marine will now carry passengers?

That was the stated reason for the "temporary closure" wasn't it. Perhaps Southern could be made to open it again - even if it was for one last day
 

trainmania100

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As the canopy has been removed is there any chance that the parliamentary train to and from Newhaven Marine will now carry passengers?

The ECS train starts from Newhaven Harbour , maybe a friendly conductor or driver could let you travel the few metres to Marine. Its worth a try, but its very dark at 8pm so maybe in about 6 months.
 

NSEFAN

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Clip said:
Sudbury and Harrow road would be a good example of shutting a station - I know the picc line next door takes longer but im sure it would free up a path or two in the morning/evenings by not having anything stop there.
<off_topic>
Sudbury is an odd one. The Piccadilly line isn't much of a replacement for getting into Central London, but Sudbury stations are poorly served due to the capacity problems on the Chiltern mainline. I have often wondered if it would be worth re-4 tracking the section from Sudbury Hill Harrow to Wembley Stadium, so that stopping trains can call more frequently without causing capacity problems for faster trains.
</off_topic>
 

TheEdge

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The ECS train starts from Newhaven Harbour , maybe a friendly conductor or driver could let you travel the few metres to Marine. Its worth a try, but its very dark at 8pm so maybe in about 6 months.

No chance, no member of train crew who wanted to keep their job would carry a passenger on an ECS service.
 

Crawley Ben

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When did they move out?

#

I had a nice little chat with the twitter people at Network Rail who said, as far as I understand it, they have no intention of collecting the station signage and there is no historical "note" on it - so its up for grabs

Couldn't say when they moved in all honesty bud, as I'm not based down there.

Cheers

Ben
 

sarahj

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Most of the signs are so worn out they are blank. The only good thing about the canopy going was the ability to get out and have a walk about and breath of fresh air ;) during the turn around.
 

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trainmania100

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Most of the signs are so worn out they are blank. The only good thing about the canopy going was the ability to get out and have a walk about and breath of fresh air ;) during the turn around.

Do you know if public access on the platform is allow?
I went today and there was nothing blocking access to it. Thanks ;)
 

sarahj

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Do you know if public access on the platform is allow?
I went today and there was nothing blocking access to it. Thanks ;)

I don't think public access is allowed. If you tried to I'm sure the bobby in the box would be on your case pronto.
 

sarahj

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It's a bit blurry, and this was taken a few years ago, but this was the only decent sign back then.

Taken 2010
 

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HMS Ark Royal

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It's a bit blurry, and this was taken a few years ago, but this was the only decent sign back then.

Taken 2010

That one still seems to be attached and in fairly good condition looking at the picture from this morning. However, your recent pictures are also very well - I presume you are a driver?

Incidentally, I typed NVM into google and hit maps by accident - it now shows it as Newhaven Marine railway station (CLOSED) which it didn't do last week.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well, not anymore anyway ;)

Well they seemingly did on at least one occasion!

Diamond Geezer said:
Never fear, if you're really keen to make a journey from Newhaven Marine there's a sign outside suggesting that you call for a complimentary taxi. One problem, you have to be in possession of a ticket from Newhaven Marine, and nobody sells those. I would direct you to a Radio 4 documentary on the subject, in which the presenter actually manages to wheedle a cab ride out of Network Rail, but that's no longer accessible.

http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/newhaven.html

As luck would have it, I know how to find the said program in the BBC archive and have filled out the form for getting a copy.
 

Hornet

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10.29 "The Sunny South Express" Excursion from London Victoria to London Victoria at Newhaven Marine on the 10th August 2006. Made the journey over from Dublin to snap the ECS and hit the jackpot with this. Could have been the last train to allow passengers off onto the Platforms. (I stand to be corrected).
 

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HMS Ark Royal

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10.29 "The Sunny South Express" Excursion from London Victoria to London Victoria at Newhaven Marine on the 10th August 2006. Made the journey over from Dublin to snap the ECS and hit the jackpot with this. Could have been the last train to allow passengers off onto the Platforms. (I stand to be corrected).

What was the stock? sort of a maroon?
 
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