I take the opposite view. Deansgate station should be closed. Manchester does not need three stations on the same line in less than a mile. It is less than 10 minutes walk from Oxford Road.
Deansgate is a useful station, but would be more useful if all trains stopped there with regular interval frequencies (minimum every 30 minutes for each route). The long-distance TPE and TfW services should be banished from the Castlefield line.
Trains from Redcar/Middlesbrough do not
Oh, they often stop - waiting for a platform at Oxford Road. In past decades folk might have taken the opportunity to alight, but no such luck these days.
Post corrected
I thought we were discussing Deansgate today, not some theoretical S-bahn that might be feasible in 20+ years time, IF the Treasury coughs up £billions for both HS2 and NPR.
No, you gave me a reason why there might possibly be a case for reopening Deansgate in 2040.
No, you gave me a reason why there might possibly be a case for reopening Deansgate in 2040.
Even if/when demand recovers sufficiently to reinstate 4tph between Victoria and Leeds via Diggle, I doubt that more than 1tph will continue to the Airport around the Ordsall Chord. I think it is more likely that 1tph will terminate at Victoria, or be diverted to Piccadilly via Guide Bridge.
On the contrary, there was not sufficient capacity through Deansgate for the number of services that were operating pre-Covid. Hence the chronic congestion and dreadful punctuality performance. The North West Performance Recovery Task Force has been working on timetable changes to reduce congestion post-Covid, which is why I think there will not be a return to 2tph on the chord, regardless of operator.It could well be the case that only 1 TPE goes around the chord, but that frees up capacity for another service to make that journey. Perhaps a stopper calling at Deansgate!
On the contrary, there was not sufficient capacity through Deansgate for the number of services that were operating pre-Covid. Hence the chronic congestion and dreadful punctuality performance. The North West Performance Recovery Task Force has been working on timetable changes to reduce congestion post-Covid, which is why I think there will not be a return to 2tph on the chord, regardless of operator.
Maybe another part of the solution will be fewer calls at Deansgate.
The 1tph might include some 802s that will use the knitting.
To be fair, it's so short that if it hadn't been electrified, the overruns from both junctions would nearly have met in the middle. The cost is more in the impressive but expensive bridge over the Irwell, and all the work that went into mitigating the heritage impacts, leaving the Museum with inevitably reduced rail facilities which have ended up benefiting the travelling public very little. But we mustn't forget that all of this was part of a combined scheme with the Oxford Road and Piccadilly works, the government approved the Curve which was never intended to work on its own, and failed to approve the rest.An electrified line built for 1 DMU an hour to run over it. An incredible waste of money and an awful white elephant.
That same money could have done Picc 15/16 and the Oxford Road work.
