Road + Rail shared alignments?

[biggus]

What examples do we have in the UK (and in Europe) of roads and railways using a co-aligned right of way?

It seems to me like a good idea for getting new rail routes into major cities but I am not aware of examples in this country.

Taking examples from (light) rail in the USA, one approach is seen in Washington DC where the metro runs out to Virginia for many miles along the middle of the highway 66 alignment. http://goo.gl/maps/zBz0j

The other approach is to elevate the road above the railway or the railway above the road (as seen in the New York Subway). Rail above road presumably requires heavier engineering and a higher ground clearance than the other way round, but rail benefits more than road by being isolated up high.

There would appear to be potential benefits in terms of simplified construction (for the highway 66 example at least) and simplified land acquisition, so why don't we do it more?

I can anticipate operational disadvantages from both a rail and road maintenance point of view, but are these really excessive? Or is our system just incapable of the political coordination required to implement such integration?

 

[Gathursty]

When the Kyle of Lochalsh line was disrupted by a landslide, this also affected the A890 (I think that's the number) so as a temporary solution, the road was rerouted on to the railway using material so as not to destroy the railway for a distance.

This solution was only possible because the line is served about 4 times a day in both directions. As for large cities, I can't see this being viable.

Other things that you've reminded me of are the Liverpool Overhead railway which gave the Dock Road a shadow and the Croydon Tramlink (more so than Sheffield and Blackpool.)

 

[biggus]

When the Kyle of Lochalsh line was disrupted by a landslide, this also affected the A890 (I think that's the number) so as a temporary solution, the road was rerouted on to the railway using material so as not to destroy the railway for a distance.

To clarify, I wasn't referring to any form of street running as sometimes seen in dockside branches and industrial sidings.

Interesting story about the Kyle of Lochalsh diversion though. Someone was creative!

 

[snowball]

What's your definition of a co-aligned right of way? There are lots of places where a road and railway run alongside each other, but I'm not clear what you require in addition to that. In most of these cases one of the two existed long before the other. Do you require that they were planned at the same time?

 

[jopsuk]

From Staples Corner to just north of Mill Hill the M1 runs alongside the Midland Mainline.

But mainly: the Railways were built before the major roads- long before the motorways and dual carriageways. In towns, other than at stations the streets expanded up the railway boundary, with gardens backing onto the railway. By the time the major roads were built, there was rarely space along the railway. Outside of towns and cities, the space allowed the two to plough different routes, to better serve their own purposes.

There's a short example of what you're after though on the DLR- notice the two stations in the roundabouts!

 

[Welshman]

There are several examples of road and rail utilising the same valley - eg the Calder Valley between Todmorden and Mytholmroyd or the WC main line and the M6 motorway twisting together through the Lune Gorge.

But for using the actual same alignment, what about the Britannia Bridge between the mainland and the Isle of Anglesey?

It was first designed as rail only, but after a fire in 1970, it was redesigned to carry the Chester-Holyhead main line on a single track, with the improved A55 dual-carriageway road above it.

 

[SussexMan]

The other approach is to elevate the road above the railway or the railway above the road (as seen in the New York Subway). Rail above road presumably requires heavier engineering and a higher ground clearance than the other way round, but rail benefits more than road by being isolated up high.

Would this count... The Wuppertal Suspension Railway? A lot of the track is above the river but other parts are suspended above the road.

 

[snowball]

But for using the actual same alignment, what about the Britannia Bridge between the mainland and the Isle of Anglesey

Even just in North Wales there are several more:

At the other end of Angelsey from the Britannia Bridge, the railway shares with the A5 the causeway to Holy Island (on which Holyhead stands) known as the Stanley Embankment.

The A497 shares another causeway, the Porthmadog Cob, with the Ffestiniog railway.

Also near Porthmadog the Cambrian line shares the estuarial bridge, Pont Briwet, with a one-lane toll road. As discussed in another thread, the bridge is being rebuilt and the road widened and de-tolled.

Through Colwyn Bay the A55 runs alongside the railway, which was diverted slightly north over a length of 3km so that the new road could partly occupy the previous railway formation.

The A547 shares another causeway, the Conwy Cob, with the railway between Llandudno Junction and Conwy.

Away from North Wales there's another double-deck road-rail bridge, the High Level Bridge over the Tyne.

The M602 runs alongside the Liverpool-Manchester railway through Salford, partly on land obtained by reducing the railway from 4 to 2 tracks.

I can think of a few more but will stop for now.

 

[Sapphire Blue]

Bingley always looks good, where the railway, road AND canal shoot through together.

 

[Trainfan344]

The Midland Metro runs in the street a little way in wolverhampton.

 

[snowball]

Bingley always looks good, where the railway, road AND canal shoot through together.

And the canal was diverted to allow the road to be built where the canal originally was.

 

[route:oxford]

Connel Bridge?

If the route from Oxford gets the green-light for reopening to Stratford upon Avon, the former rail route that was converted to a road will have a rail track installed alongside the road.

 

[Andrewlong]

Connel Bridge?

If the route from Oxford gets the green-light for reopening to Stratford upon Avon, the former rail route that was converted to a road will have a rail track installed alongside the road.

I think you mean the route which runs between Stratford and Honeybourne where it joins the Oxford to Worcester line.

 

[route:oxford]

I think you mean the route which runs between Stratford and Honeybourne where it joins the Oxford to Worcester line.

That's the one.

 

[jnjkerbin]

Kingsferry bridge has a road and railway running together, and also is a lifting bridge making it rather unique.

 

[Bedpan]

There was a railway running alongside the A505 Hatters Way in Luton for a couple of miles, although I don't think that any trains have run on it since the road was built, and the track has recently been torn up to convert the formation to a misguided busway.

 

[starrymarkb]

The Cullompton bypass (built as the A38 but with provision to upgrade to Motorway (which followed a few years later when the M5 arrived) is directly parallel to the GWML in the Culm valley

 

[Bedpan]

Another one is the Wendover by pass - another new road.

 

[Welshman]

Through Colwyn Bay the A55 runs alongside the railway, which was diverted slightly north over a length of 3km so that the new road could partly occupy the previous railway formation.

The M602 runs alongside the Liverpool-Manchester railway through Salford, partly on land obtained by reducing the railway from 4 to 2 tracks.

I also remember the western exit from Leeds[City & Central] stations, now serving the Harrogate and Shipley lines having the number of tracks reduced and the Bradford road alongside being dualled in the traffic scheme around Holbeck.

 

[33056]

Are you referring to railways alongside roads, sharing the same alignment of a road but with separate space or just running down the middle of the road like this?

The arrangement above (in Chur, Switzerland) is relatively common in mainland Europe but not so much in the UK.

 

[34D]

I'm surprised noone has mentioned the King George V bascule bridge at Althorpe which carries both the Doncaster-Scunthorpe railway line and the A18 road over the River Trent. Hasn't been lifted for 50 years, sadly.

 

[starrymarkb]

The Midland Metro runs in the street a little way in wolverhampton.

To be fair the Midland Metro is a Tram, which by definition has street running

Which has made me think of the DLR between Royal Albert and Cyprus

 

[mwmbwls]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwmbwls/6892996713/

Working Swing Bridge at Preston Docks now home to the Ribble Steam Railway
http://www.ribblesteam.org.uk/

 

[snowball]

There are many examples that have not been mentioned yet.

A famous one is that the M1 runs alongside the WCML south of Watford Gap services.

The M6 runs alongside the WCML near Garstang.

The ECML runs alongside the B1361, A198 and B1377 east of Edinburgh, and a bit further east it runs between the A1 and A199.

The last mile of the M62 approaching Liverpool is alongside the railway.

The A483 at Welshpool (another place where the line was diverted to allow the road to run on the original site of the line - in this case the railway was separated from the original station building).

The A5 east of Shrewsbury.

The A49 south of Ludlow.

The A465 east of Abergavenny.

 

[CarltonA]

There was a considerable section of the Great Central which ran alongside the M1 between Rugby and Leicester. It can still be easily seen on the west side of the motorway.

 

[snowball]

The plans for the north-eastern arm of HS2 include a lot of running alongside the M1, M42 and A42.

 

[Ploughman]

Portmadoc and the WHR crossing the road and bridge.

 

[Bill EWS]

The Connel Bridge, which served the Ballachuilish banch from Connel Ferry Junction was a road/rail bridge, though road and rail traffic didnt run at the same time. Both road and rail connections had starter semifore signals protecting them with one held against the ralway while one was cleared for the road and vise-versa. Today it is still a road only bridge but is still one way only with road traffic lights direction the movements over the bridge.

 

[d5509]

The plans for the north-eastern arm of HS2 include a lot of running alongside the M1, M42 and A42.

And, of course HS1 alongside the A2/M2 and then the M20, together with the adjacent Medway bridges.

Also the A12 built alongside the Central line between Leyton and Leytonstone: that was a case of getting a motorway into a city alongside a rail line.

 

[biggus]

Thanks for all the interesting replies.

What's your definition of a co-aligned right of way? There are lots of places where a road and railway run alongside each other, but I'm not clear what you require in addition to that. In most of these cases one of the two existed long before the other. Do you require that they were planned at the same time?

I am NOT considering either:

1. Roads and railways that happen to run alongside because the lie of the land dictates it (e.g. they occupy the same valley)

nor

2. Any form of street running. (Rather, there must be complete separation between road users and the railway.)

I am thinking about examples where there appears to have been a decision to run roads and railways alongside or above one another in order to derive direct economic /practical benefit from their proximity in terms of either:

a) minimising the land take (with its associated political, legal and financial burdens)

or

b) sharing the costs of earthworks and structures, while reducing duplication (e.g. increasing the span of an overbridge to accommodate both rail and road is less costly than building two bridges each with their own approach ramps and their own design processes)

The examples I provided from the USA appear to exist because of one or both of the above considerations.

While in many cases the shared road/rail alignments have to be planned simultaneously, elevated subways in New York were, I believe, planned after the streets were layed out over which they run.

As some of the replies to this thread illustrate, there are examples in this country too, though with the possible exception of the DLR (haven't checked the old maps yet) it seems sadly to be all about railways giving up space to accommodate co-aligned roads.

For one thing, I would like to know if we have any opportunities to get new rail links into our cities by stacking roads and railways on top of each other through the densely developed areas where new land take cost is potentially prohibitive.

Thanks again for all the replies so far.
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More on the Washington DC metro line which runs in the median strip of I-66, thereby requiring few dedicated structures and no separate land acquisition process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Line_(Washington_Metro)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The Connel Bridge, which served the Ballachuilish banch from Connel Ferry Junction was a road/rail bridge, though road and rail traffic didnt run at the same time. Both road and rail connections had starter semifore signals protecting them with one held against the ralway while one was cleared for the road and vise-versa. Today it is still a road only bridge but is still one way only with road traffic lights direction the movements over the bridge.

Not precisely what I had in mind because the separation of space, being provided by traffic lights, is only temporary. Highly fascinating, however, and really quite a good idea, but would never be allowed today I suppose.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When the Kyle of Lochalsh line was disrupted by a landslide, this also affected the A890 (I think that's the number) so as a temporary solution, the road was rerouted on to the railway using material so as not to destroy the railway for a distance.

This solution was only possible because the line is served about 4 times a day in both directions. As for large cities, I can't see this being viable.

Rail services were suspended for the duration?