Shapps to reverse Beeching cuts

[gallafent]

Trains running between Oxford and Bicester go to Marylebone.

They didn't when the line reopened.

Really? My memory may be imperfect, but as I remember it, when the line between Oxford (Parkway) and Bicester Town^H^H^H^HVillage reopened in late 2015, the service was immediately between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone. I don't recall an interim period with trains running only between Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village. I may be misremembering. So I had a quick search.

Wikipedia says (at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Parkway_railway_station ):

"Full regular weekday service began on Monday 26 October 2015" with a link to the local newspaper article at https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1...ains-oxford-parkway-arrive-london-marylebone/ which states:

"THE first trains from Oxford Parkway to London Marylebone left its platform this morning.
"Early passengers were able to catch the first service to London Marylebone at 5.42am, with the main commuter train leaving at 7.24am."

If by "when it reopened" you meant in 1987, on the other hand, rather than 2015, then please do ignore all of the above https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford–Bicester_line#20th-century_closure_and_reopening :

"In 1967 British Railways withdrew Oxford - Cambridge services and closed the section of line between Oxford and Bletchley. In 1987 Network SouthEast restored passenger services on the Oxford - Bicester Village Station section on the initiative of Oxfordshire County Council. In 1988, Network SouthEast rebuilt and reopened Islip station, again with Oxfordshire County Council support."

 

[HH]

Will Grant Schapps change his name to Gnihceeb?

 

[neilmc]

Perhaps Boris has an eye on retaining those seats he won from Labour in the North, and what better way than to reward them with reinstated passenger railways? I'm a local councillor for Shap so I'd be very interested in his plans to reopen closed stations on existing passenger lines.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-51272817

The £500m fund will not be used to build new railway lines - it is only meant to fund feasibility studies of routes that could be restored.

summary of what the money will be used for. That is a lot of feasibility studies. Feasibility Studies cost anywhere up to £500,000.

 

[STANDISH]

Remember Mr Schapps will must likely be in a new job after the Cabinet reshuffle next month.

 

[camflyer]

Remember Mr Schapps will must likely be in a new job after the Cabinet reshuffle next month.

I don't think Schapps has done anything particularly wrong since taking the job - at least compared to Chris Grayling.

One of the main problems with transport in this country is that it requires long term thinking which isn't achieved by having ministers and secretaries of state changing every few months before they have had chance to get to grips with the job.

Of course reopening every single Beeching cut is never going to happen. Lines have been built over, populations and workplaces have changed and some of the closures still make perfect sense but there are some lines and stations which could be reopened at relatively low cost - however this should be on top the HS2 programme not a replacement for it.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-51272817



summary of what the money will be used for. That is a lot of feasibility studies. Feasibility Studies cost anywhere up to £500,000.

Later press release from DofT says £1.5m being provided to Northumberland CC for

The Department for Transport is investing £1.5 million in Northumberland County Council’s project to re-open the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line to passenger services.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Later press release from DofT says £1.5m being provided to Northumberland CC for

basically the money is going to feasibility studies and developing proposals

 

[yorksrob]

Really? My memory may be imperfect, but as I remember it, when the line between Oxford (Parkway) and Bicester Town^H^H^H^HVillage reopened in late 2015, the service was immediately between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone. I don't recall an interim period with trains running only between Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village. I may be misremembering. So I had a quick search.

Wikipedia says (at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Parkway_railway_station ):

"Full regular weekday service began on Monday 26 October 2015" with a link to the local newspaper article at https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1...ains-oxford-parkway-arrive-london-marylebone/ which states:

"THE first trains from Oxford Parkway to London Marylebone left its platform this morning.
"Early passengers were able to catch the first service to London Marylebone at 5.42am, with the main commuter train leaving at 7.24am."

If by "when it reopened" you meant in 1987, on the other hand, rather than 2015, then please do ignore all of the above https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford–Bicester_line#20th-century_closure_and_reopening :

"In 1967 British Railways withdrew Oxford - Cambridge services and closed the section of line between Oxford and Bletchley. In 1987 Network SouthEast restored passenger services on the Oxford - Bicester Village Station section on the initiative of Oxfordshire County Council. In 1988, Network SouthEast rebuilt and reopened Islip station, again with Oxfordshire County Council support."

I was referring to the original reopening before they rebuilt the line.

 

[The Ham]

I don't think Schapps has done anything particularly wrong since taking the job - at least compared to Chris Grayling.

One of the main problems with transport in this country is that it requires long term thinking which isn't achieved by having ministers and secretaries of state changing every few months before they have had chance to get to grips with the job.

Of course reopening every single Beeching cut is never going to happen. Lines have been built over, populations and workplaces have changed and some of the closures still make perfect sense but there are some lines and stations which could be reopened at relatively low cost - however this should be on top the HS2 programme not a replacement for it.

Indeed, I do wonder if this is being done so that those who suggest that we should reverse the Beeching cuts rather than build HS2 will be appeased. As it certainly isn't enough to appease those who would like HS2 if it's cut.

 

[hooverboy]

Perhaps Boris has an eye on retaining those seats he won from Labour in the North, and what better way than to reward them with reinstated passenger railways? I'm a local councillor for Shap so I'd be very interested in his plans to reopen closed stations on existing passenger lines.

it's one of those no **** sherlock moments!
I would say boris is DEFINITELY eyeing up that labour contingent oop north who have been neglected

there will certainly be an improvement,but not on the scale of reversing all beeching.
the high(er) speed west-east like liverpool-leeds is definitely on the cards,as is an improvement of local transport in the north in general.

don't go expecting miracles though.
HS2 is still going ahead,swallowing a bucket load of money, but in all likelihood being descoped to HS1 specs( it's still going to leeds/manchester at least though instead of stopping at birmingham!)
its still ok though...180mph v 250mph....paaahh

until someone really gets to grips with rural-intermediate hub travel it doesn't exactly grab headlines though......but in my opinion still extremely necessary.
This bit is where corbyn did have a card to play.he was quite right in his assertion that money would be better spent on upgrading the rest of the network than vanity projects....so I expect some sort of hellspawn hybrid transport policy to appear as a result which is a mish-mash of vanity plus long overdue enhancements.
No easy fix here ..it needs service speeds/frequency improved AND costs cut. nobody comes out of this one clean!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

basically the money is going to feasibility studies and developing proposals

According to the South East Northumberland Rail Users Group they've done Grip 1 & 2 and a 2B and NR were supposed to be on with Grip 3 so they ought to be past feasibility studies and onto getting a scheme costed up. Indeed the North East Combined Authority Transport Committee seem to have it costed at £117m in there bid for Transforming Cities fund (gets me wondering here is the 500m new money or just part of the transforming cities fund?). What i also didnt appreciate is how long this one has been rumbling along which must have consumed millions already with no tangible outcome.

 

[Djgr]

Reading the article, I think it's a bit rich Labour banging on about how this won't come to anything, given their absolute lack of achievement during their tenure. A couple of guided busways, no growth franchises and a lot of drivel about "trains carting around fresh air" are my abiding memories of those years.

I don't have as much knowledge about the Fleetwood project but Blythe and Tyne seems like a very good place to begin for such a project.

What about the start of the North West electrification? And they also had to deal with the implosion of Railtrack, which made the current Northern/TPE fiasco look like a picnic.

 

[yorksrob]

What about the start of the North West electrification? And they also had to deal with the implosion of Railtrack, which made the current Northern/TPE fiasco look like a picnic.

That was very late on in the day. A comparison of electrification in the ten years either side of privtisation is instructive.

 

[Djgr]

That was very late on in the day. A comparison of electrification in the ten years either side of privtisation is instructive.

I hope you are not blaming Labour for privatisation? That would be a rewriting of history too far.

 

[Oxfordblues]

I'm amazed Labour are opposing this welcome news. It was Labour's Tom Fraser who shut the Blyth & Tyne in 1964. An act for which he never apologised - and neither did the Labour Party.

 

[yorksrob]

I hope you are not blaming Labour for privatisation? That would be a rewriting of history too far.

Certainly not.

They had long enough to turn the tide though.

 

[swt_passenger]

basically the money is going to feasibility studies and developing proposals

Pretty detailed proposals are already extant on Northumberland Council’s website, and it is already in the design stage of the development pipeline. As I noted earlier in the speculation thread I think it’s further on through the processes than some people think...

 

[gallafent]

Will Grant Schapps change his name to Gnihceeb?

His changing his name to something else wouldn't be unprecedented. But of course he'd never admit it.

(explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Shapps#Denials_of_pseudonym_and_second_job :

"Shapps's use of the pen names Michael Green and Sebastian Fox attracted controversy in 2012. He denied having used a pseudonym after entering parliament and, in 2014, threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on Facebook that he had. In February 2015 he told LBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty, "Let me get this absolutely clear ... I don't have a second job and have never had a second job while being an MP. End of story."[62]

"However, in March 2015, Shapps admitted to having had a second job whilst being an MP, and practising business under a pseudonym.[63][64] In his admission, he stated that he had "over-firmly denied" having a second job.[65] Under the name Michael Green, Shapps had offered customers a "get-rich-quick scheme" costing $497, and promised customers a "toolkit" that would earn them $20,000 in 20 days, provided they followed its instructions.[66] In March 2015, Dean Archer, the constituent previously threatened with legal action by Shapps, threatened Shapps with legal action.[67][68]"

Definitely a safe pair of hands.)

 

[gallafent]

I was referring to the original reopening before they rebuilt the line.

Ancient history then , but fair enough. A good lesson that context is everything and everyone's history is different!

(was going to rejoin with some other bits and bobs but rereading upthread all I was going to say has been covered I think!)

 

[yorksrob]

Ancient history then ,

Well, I am reasonably ancient

 

[Djgr]

Certainly not.

They had long enough to turn the tide though.

But wasn't that exactly what the Labour Adonis 2009 electrification plans were? It was Grayling and his Tory chums who shelved much of them.

 

[yorksrob]

But wasn't that exactly what the Labour Adonis 2009 electrification plans were? It was Grayling and his Tory chums who shelved much of them.

It was, and all kudos to him for that.

But it wasn't acceptable for it to take twelve years in power before doing it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

But wasn't that exactly what the Labour Adonis 2009 electrification plans were? It was Grayling and his Tory chums who shelved much of them.

Can you name any of the "Tory chums" that you state above and why did it take 10 years for them to cancel plans that you say were put forward in 2009? How many of these "Tory chums" have also been connected to any large road projects or are they just those with connections to the Treasury?

Grayling seems the type of person not to have any "chums".

 

[Djgr]

Can you name any of the "Tory chums" that you state above and why did it take 10 years for them to cancel plans that you say were put forward in 2009? How many of these "Tory chums" have also been connected to any large road projects or are they just those with connections to the Treasury?

Grayling seems the type of person not to have any "chums".

I don't say that they were put forward in 2009. It is a matter of historical record.

 

[Djgr]

It was, and all kudos to him for that.

But it wasn't acceptable for it to take twelve years in power before doing it.

Agreed but as I said before they did have to deal with the meltdown at Railtrack, which screwed up the railways in a way that Northern could only dream of.

To the extent that when our company had meetings in London we would have to fly Liverpool to Luton because the trains were taking something like 5 hours.

 

[yorksrob]

Agreed but as I said before they did have to deal with the meltdown at Railtrack, which screwed up the railways in a way that Northern could only dream of.

To the extent that when our company had meetings in London we would have to fly Liverpool to Luton because the trains were taking something like 5 hours.

Well, this is true but then again they did have a pre-election commitment to do something about Railtrack that they could have fallen back on - if that was what the issue was. In terms of electrification for example, the four years after Railtrack weren't much different from those previous to it.

From reading back about the time, the Government seems to have been primarily occupied about sorting out the WCML upgrade. However, I don't regard this as an adequate excuse for the no-growth franchises.

 

[yorkie]

Please feel free to post suggestions for routes that could be reopened in the Given the Shapps announcement, which lines would you propose for reopening? thread

 

[Ianno87]

Well, this is true but then again they did have a pre-election commitment to do something about Railtrack that they could have fallen back on - if that was what the issue was. In terms of electrification for example, the four years after Railtrack weren't much different from those previous to it.

From reading back about the time, the Government seems to have been primarily occupied about sorting out the WCML upgrade. However, I don't regard this as an adequate excuse for the no-growth franchises.

Others may know better, but my reading is that in part the West Coast Route Mod, but principally the industry cost-escalation post-Hatfield accident basically took the money that might have provided for growth at Northern.

 

[SteveP29]

so I expect some sort of hellspawn hybrid transport policy to appear as a result which is a mish-mash of vanity plus long overdue enhancements.

Which will end up being something that tries to appease all parties, car owners, cyclists, bus user, tram and rail users, and it'll be of no use to anyone