Despite living in SW London I have used the Matlock branch during the peak on several occasions due to having strong family connections up there. On each occasion the trains have been busy but they were certainly not full / standing room only. Even at Belper (which is where I would have caught the train) the platforms were hardly crowded. I concur that tourism is an important source of bums on seats but you wouldn't use that as an excuse to electrify the S & C, let alone the Matlock branch.
I work both peak, and off peak services, and I have to say that during the peak, not being overcrowded is the exception rather than the rule, but that aside, is it a requirement that current services are overcrowded before electrification is considered for a route? You say yourself that in your experiences the trains were busy.
I acknowledge that the service gets busier between Derby and Nottingham but that doesn't strengthen the case for wiring up a rural branch line. As others have suggested the best and indeed only sensible solution would be to use battery powered EMU's up the Matlock branch.
I did not advocate wiring the Matlock Branch on it's own, but as part of add-on's to the MML scheme, including Derby - Stoke, and Notts - Lincoln. As I pointed out earlier, the Matlock- Nottingham service is very shortly to be extended to Newark, and the chances are eventually Lincoln, thus restoring the half hourly service. Hardly a sleepy, rural operation and the authorities and businesses along the route eventually want it wired. If the demand is such it would be daft to not go ahead for the sake of 7 miles of single line. You have to consider the benefits for the route/service as a whole, not just the quietest extreme end.
I'm not an expert on how far battery technology has progressed (maybe someone with knowledge can enlighten me?) I am aware that an experimental battery/ac EMU is to be trialled on Anglia routes. IMHO I cant see how a unit with heavy batteries could adequately charge those batteries in a couple of hours on ac mode without wearing out those expensive batteries pretty quickly. I personally think the trials will take place and the idea quietly dropped, but as I said, I stand to be corrected on this by someone with the relevant and up to date technical knowledge.
As for the Windermere branch, I'm amazed that NR is even considering wiring up the branch. I can only assume TPE no longer wish to run any DMU's up the WCML because I can't see that there is an economic case for electric services on the Windermere line.
On it's own it would not be economical to electrify Windermere, but it removes a lot of diesel running under the wires, which is why it makes sense, and why a few well thought out add on's to the MML scheme make sense too.
Please don't be so ridiculous as to suggest that the Matlock branch should take priority over the Snow Hill lines in Birmingham. Electrification projects, like all infrastructure projects are chosen on their economic merits and not because one region has lots of electrification and the other doesn't.
What, exactly is ridiculous about the suggestion? All the schemes i've put forward come to a total of less than 90miles and are simple projects that could be tagged on to the MML project.
The Snow Hill lines would be a whole new scheme that benefited only Chiltern, a TOC with more modern DMU's than EMT, DMU's with limits on where they can be cascaded to in the future.
[EDIT] After a nights sleep i've thought that maybe LM services use Snow Hill as well? I'm sure there is merit to wiring up more Cross City lines, but that doesn't negate the merits of wiring other parts of the country, especially when those projects would be short, relatively easy, and that LM use the most modern DMU's in the country on their Snow Hill lines? [/EDIT]
Are you able to list any of the businesses along the route that have enough clout to put pressure on the Government to spend millions wiring up the route? Do you honestly believe that businesses would leave the region of the Matlock branch wasn't wired up?
"D2N2": Derby's and Nott's Local Enterprise Partnership, Newark and Sherwood Council, Robert Jenrick, MP for Newark. George Osborne is a fan.I believe a business partnership in Lincolnshire is also supportive although I cant find a site link at the minute.
I never said any businesses would up sticks and leave if it wasn't wired, I don't know where you got that from, but i'm sure that more businesses would settle in the area if the lines I mentioned were wired. After all, the East Midlands is now officially the fastest growing economy outside London.
Thats very true but other than the Derby station remodeling there is no economic case for spending vast sums of money on the rail network in the East Midlands.
Vast sums have already been spent in the East Midlands on re-signalling and trackwork. More is being spent on MML electrification. There is obviously an economic case for this, so how can you say there is no case for finishing the job? Is there a recent cost/benefit analysis that you are privy too? If London and Manchester get all the money then the rest of the Country will be left to rot. Is that what you would like to see? When the juice is turned on, on the MML, 156's and 153's will be 30 years old at end of their original life expectancy. Life extention programme's are only a temporary solution. They will need replacing if they don't fall apart before then. Best to bite the bullet and start wiring while the teams are in the area. That should apply to other major schemes as well. The initial costs are more than offset over the years by the savings in fuel, maintenence, reliability, wear and tear, etc.
How much freight currently uses the Derby - Stoke line? All I can think of is the service carrying aviation fuel to the Rolls Royce plants at Sinfin. For your plan to be viable NR would have to justify the economics of wiring up the Sheet Stores - Stenson Junction route not to mention the route from Felixstowe. The bums on seats alone would not justify the cost of electrification.
Not a great deal of freight uses it currently, but as pointed out by a previous poster, gauge improvement is shortly to take place on the route, including singling the line through Meir Tunnel to accomodate containers. I hardly think money would be spent on this if more freight traffic was not on the agenda?
