Reinstate the line from Glazebrook to Skelton junction could ease congestion at Castlefield

[richard_S]

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...latforms-15-16-pulled-but-£72m-nearby.249165/

Cut to one train an hour and also last I checked Buxton wasn't in Greater Manchester.


Stockport to Bolton trains were all cut. The Southport train still goes to Castlefield because people in Southport complained, again last I checked Southport wasn't in Greater Manchester.

Manchester's railways are a mess because places outside Manchester insist that their train needs to go to Piccadilly. You could improve things vastly by removing though trains from Liverpool to Sheffield, ending the Middlesbrough train at Victoria and cutting the Barrow service, but I can be pretty sure people from outside Manchester would be quite upset about it.

If they reinstated the line from Glazebrook to Skelton junction Liverpool to Sheffield trains could run that way via the Hope valley. It would also open new routes up to other destinations possibly taking a few off the Castlefield corridor. as at the east end of the Hope valley you can go both south and north.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

If they reinstated the line from Glazebrook to Skelton junction Liverpool to Sheffield trains could run that way via the Hope valley. It would also open new routes up to other destinations possibly taking a few off the Castlefield corridor. as at the east end of the Hope valley you can go both south and north.

So you want the service to completely avoid Manchester, losing all of those direct connections?

 

[richard_S]

So you want the service to completely avoid Manchester, losing all of those direct connections?

No just the Liverpool to Sheffield train as there are Liverpool to Manchester trains it would just ease the congestion on Castlefield a little bit. It also would take a few freights from Tunstead Sidings Gbrf off the Castlefield corridor.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

No just the Liverpool to Sheffield train as there are Liverpool to Manchester trains it would just ease the congestion on Castlefield.

if both the Liverpool - Sheffield's diverted that way they would completely miss Manchester, cutting off the direct connections to Cleethorpes, Nottingham, Peterbrough, Ely and Norwich, also cutting away the Hope Valley fasts.

 

[richard_S]

if both the Liverpool - Sheffield's diverted that way they would completely miss Manchester, cutting off the direct connections to Cleethorpes, Nottingham, Peterbrough, Ely and Norwich, also cutting away the Ho

It was just a thought.

 

[Mat17]

If they reinstated the line from Glazebrook to Skelton junction Liverpool to Sheffield trains could run that way via the Hope valley. It would also open new routes up to other destinations possibly taking a few off the Castlefield corridor. as at the east end of the Hope valley you can go both south and north.

I've only ever used the service between Sheffield and Manchester. So you're suggesting it shouldn't stop at Manchester? If not then it'd be no use to me. So I'd then be relying on the Hope Valley stopper.

 

[dggar]

No just the Liverpool to Sheffield train as there are Liverpool to Manchester trains it would just ease the congestion on Castlefield a little bit. It also would take a few freights from Tunstead Sidings Gbrf off the Castlefield corridor.

I don't ever recall seeing freigh workings from Tunstead working theough the Castlefield corridor. Do you have a copy of the working timetable for these?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I don't ever recall seeing freigh workings from Tunstead working theough the Castlefield corridor.

Mostly routed via Northenden/Altrincham or Denton/Stockport, presumably? But how about the occasional workings for Pendleton (Brindle Heath)?

 

[richard_S]

Mostly routed via Northenden/Altrincham or Denton/Stockport, presumably? But how about the occasional workings for Pendleton (Brindle Heath)?

Here is one for Monday https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41344/2023-06-26/detailed and Tuesday https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41344/2023-06-27/detailed
not many but they do use the corridor.

 

[The Planner]

Here is one for Monday https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41344/2023-06-26/detailed and Tuesday https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41344/2023-06-27/detailed
not many but they do use the corridor.

That is the same train on different days. Going through Oxford Road at 2240 isnt a capacity killer.

 

[Philip]

So you want the service to completely avoid Manchester, losing all of those direct connections?

They could still run into Manchester through Stockport and a reversal at Piccadilly if the objective is to avoid the Castlefield corridor.

Alternatively perhaps once the upgrades at Dore Junction have been completed, you could have one Sheffield-Liverpool via Cheadle Heath (avoiding Manchester) and two Sheffield-Manchester fasts, terminating at Piccadilly along with the stopping service.

 

[LYuen]

What about extending the Piccadilly to Chester (via Altrincham, Northwich, etc) service to Liverpool? Reverse in Chester and go via South Parkway.
Or add one more service per hour with one skipping Chester from Northwich West Junction (not sure how busy the WCML stretch is there)

 

[dggar]

They could still run into Manchester through Stockport and a reversal at Piccadilly if the objective is to avoid the Castlefield corridor.

Alternatively perhaps once the upgrades at Dore Junction have been completed, you could have one Sheffield-Liverpool via Cheadle Heath (avoiding Manchester) and two Sheffield-Manchester fasts, terminating at Piccadilly along with the stopping service.

You may be interested to read this about the upgrades at Dore Junction

Could the EMR Hope Valley service be improved by avoiding a reversal at Sheffield?

Really? It's about 58 miles by rail (according to google) and it takes 110 minutes, quickest journey, you say. That's an average speed of 31.7 mph - assuming we are running to time. We are talking about two of the UK's principal cities here, not Perth to Dalwhinnie. I'd deem it pretty...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[LOL The Irony]

They could still run into Manchester through Stockport and a reversal at Piccadilly if the objective is to avoid the Castlefield corridor.

Reversing them at Piccadilly would be worse than just running them through castlefield.

What about extending the Piccadilly to Chester (via Altrincham, Northwich, etc) service to Liverpool? Reverse in Chester and go via South Parkway.
Or add one more service per hour with one skipping Chester from Northwich West Junction (not sure how busy the WCML stretch is there)

The former is a completely silly idea, the latter is potentially more workable but seems like an incredibly roundabout way of getting from Manchester to Liverpool. At least the Taskforce proposal of sending the TfW trains down the Mid-Cheshire is at least going in the right direction.