South-Staffs Line - What to do?

[Class172]

Now this has been cropping up many times recently in many threads so I thought it was about time to consolidate all our ideas into one thread.

As many of you may know there are plans to reopen the South Staffordshire line from Round Oak steel terminal to Walsall, and potentially up to Lichfield. However there are many differing solutions as to in what form should it be reopened, each with their pros and cons. A brief summary of the options is listed here:-

1. Reopen line to freight only.
2. Reopen line to freight and heavy rail (no stopping services)
3. Reopen line to freight and heavy rail (with stopping services)
4. Reopen line to freight and trams
5. Reopen line to trams only
6. Reopen line to all traffic (using tram-trains)

Poll now added.

Personally I think we should open the line to all traffic - the line ought to be electrified to 25kV OHLE. A new half-hourly service would be started between Stourbridge and Walsall (potentially extended to Worcester and Lichfield if Snow Hill lines are electrified) operated by 3 car EMUs (Class 323). Then freight that currently has to go through Birmingham can be routed this way to increase capacity on the inner-city lines. Finally I would introduce a fleet of new electric trams that can operate off both power supplies (25kV and the normal line 1 type) - the trams would veer off in some places to serve Merry Hill shopping centre and other places such as Stourbridge town centre. The new trams would be capable of serving both high-level platforms (south-staffs line) and the current low-level ones on Midland Metro line 1.

Place your suggestions here.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

What about one line heavy rail (passenger and freight) and one line light rail?

 

[Class172]

What about one line heavy rail (passenger and freight) and one line light rail?

Yes but then that reduces flexibility and overall capacity as both lines would have to be bi-directional. Unless you mean that the metro will have their own platforms at stations but share track everywhere else.

 

[NightatLaira]

They could light rail it and use D stock

 

[Tomonthetrain]

Freight & Stopping heavy rail (make it easier for me to get home from work!)

Make a 3 platform station by Round Oak with a mixed single/double track branch to Merry Hill (using the route the monorail used).

Build stations at: Kingswinford Junction, Round Oak, Holly Hall and Dudley

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This thread should have had a poll when it was first posted, so people could see how the choices offered were faring.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

They could light rail it and use D stock

The Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce have much to answer for and their idea has now passed into the realms of railway levity that is used quite often.....as you have just proved..

 

[Class172]

A poll has now been added.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A poll has now been added.

.....Your first two voting results are now shown on this poll.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

i've ticked Freight and Heavy Rail (with stopping services) as per my points above

 

[WL113]

This should never have been mothballed in 1993..

Some of it is being reactivated during the resignalling at Pleck Jcn for run round moves.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Freight and Heavy Rail (with stopping services).

 

[The Planner]

Freight and passenger traffic with a maximum of one station on the Round Oak - Pleck section. The line has some severe gradients on the southern section and if you start adding passenger traffic that stops you are beginning to defeat the object of a freight avoiding route. I cannot see it happening to be honest until Worcester gets re-signallled at least as you just couldn't get the traffic flow to and from it, even then I think the costs are going to be prohibitive.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Freight and stopping passenger services for me. As I recall there is also a closed station on the line at Wednesbury, that could be useful too.

Please note my first post in this thread was referring to an idea I had heard bounced about before; it wasn't my opinion

 

[4SRKT]

'Not reopened' is not an option in yr poll.........

 

[Class172]

Freight and passenger traffic with a maximum of one station on the Round Oak - Pleck section. The line has some severe gradients on the southern section and if you start adding passenger traffic that stops you are beginning to defeat the object of a freight avoiding route. I cannot see it happening to be honest until Worcester gets re-signallled at least as you just couldn't get the traffic flow to and from it, even then I think the costs are going to be prohibitive.

Well that would make it 40 years away!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

'Not reopened' is not an option in yr poll.........

That was deliberately omitted as the point of this thread was to see how the line should be reopened, not if.

 

[sprinterguy]

Reopen it as a light rail and strategic freight route. If there is sufficient space, you could work it in an arrangement similar to the TW Metro South Shields branch, with one line freight and the other light rail, with long dynamic loops in the vicinity of stations for the light rail service. It'd limit capacity a bit, but the Tyne and Wear Metro seems to cope well enough with it's frequent service over the single line sections, and I reckon that the light rail service would be running off the course of the Walsall-Stourbridge line for long enough for it to not be too much of an issue.

Light rail would be able to better serve the key destinations along the route; Dudley town centre, Merry Hill shopping centre; rather than being tied to the course of the existing route entirely. You could even work the Stourbridge Town branch into the proposal and do away with the need for the two PPMs.

 

[GingerSte]

I'd plump for freight with stopping services.

If the Walsall-Lichfield section is reopened, and that starts taking frieght services, then it doesn't need to take all of them. It could take just the ones for Derby/Yorkshire/North East and the trains for Nuneaton and beyond could stick with their existing route. This would then presumably give enough spare capacity to allow passenger services on both South-Staffs andCamp Hill. It would also maximise the business case for both.

I would also note that doubling the section from Lichfield TV through Alrewas to the Birmingham-Derby line (near Central Rivers) would make this a lot easier, and also allow Birmingham-Sutton Coldfield-Lichfield-Burton-Derby services to start running. These could allow Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield passengers to access Derby (and points north) without requiring a change at Brum, and create a newly possible commuter flow where there was none (changing at Brum makes it not worthwhile in cost or time compared to a straight journey by car).

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I did a knock up of a timetable on paper earlier (will convert it to Computer later in week) and came up with a core stourbridge - Brierley hill frequency of 4tph off peak, 6tph peak.

worked out 1tph terminating Dudley (origin stourbridge town - done by adding a 40 chains loop between stourbridge town and junction and an a/b end to platform 1 at junction)
1tph stourbridge junction (using the b end of platform 1 to change ends) - rugeley/Litchfield (split at Walsall)
1tph kidderminster - wvh
1tph kidderminster - birmingham via Dudley
2tph during peaks sbj - merry hill (using the former monorail route from round oak area)

outside peaks, There would be a 4tph class 153 operated round oak - merry hill service, during peaks, 2tph would originate round oak for merry hill, the other 2tph would run as above.

freight would operate between these services

 

[Badger]

Both tracks heavy rail. There is enough space at the station locations for a third track so freight wouldn't have to wait for passenger services.

As said above, light rail from Round Oak to Merry Hill, (although is really needed? The Waterfront is basically Merry Hill. Still - the Monorail could just be reinstated. It was short lived but would actually be feasible with Round Oak station open again).

Dudley to Merry Hill is extremely busy. The X96 always misses all of the intermediate stops when I'm on it.

If light rail was really needed, why don't we have a decent bus service along the A461? Heavy rail sure, for the connections to Dudley and Merry Hill, Great Bridge, Wednesbury..

If Oxford Way (http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=52.526796,-2.077832&spn=0.007572,0.029311) hadn't been stupidly built then the line could branch off the Stour Valley line from Wolverhampton so as to provide a viable bypass of Birmingham for freight.

 

[The Planner]

Both tracks heavy rail. There is enough space at the station locations for a third track so freight wouldn't have to wait for passenger services.

You wouldn't want freight to wait anywhere, it is a steeply graded track, as soon as you stop one then it would be game over for capacity. That is why I am against anymore than one station along there if it ever came to fruition.

If Oxford Way (http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=52.526796,-2.077832&spn=0.007572,0.029311) hadn't been stupidly built then the line could branch off the Stour Valley line from Wolverhampton so as to provide a viable bypass of Birmingham for freight.

There aren't huge freight moves from the Wolves direction to the South and v.v so it wouldnt really be worth it. Also the corridor is running close to capacity as it is, so adding crossing movements won't help at all, if they could work.

 

[Whistler40145]

I agree with reopening of Walsall to Lichfield, electrifying the South Staffs line would cut the need for freight being Diesel hauled. I would also build a chord linking the Sutton Park line to the reopened Walsall to Lichfield line, thus allowing freight direct access to Derby from Nuneaton & South East Midlands.

 

[The Planner]

I agree with reopening of Walsall to Lichfield, electrifying the South Staffs line would cut the need for freight being Diesel hauled. I would also build a chord linking the Sutton Park line to the reopened Walsall to Lichfield line, thus allowing freight direct access to Derby from Nuneaton & South East Midlands.

Not sure how it cuts the need for diesel haulage. The chord wouldn't be worth it, it would be just as quick to run round at Duddeston and go back to Tamworth as now.

 

[Whistler40145]

Mind you, having thought about it, any freight from the WCML via Sutton Park could easily reverse at Bescot.

 

[Badger]

You wouldn't want freight to wait anywhere, it is a steeply graded track, as soon as you stop one then it would be game over for capacity. That is why I am against anymore than one station along there if it ever came to fruition.

That's what I mean, there's enough space at the station locations for freight to go straight past, unless I'm missing something. I agree that stopping trains in front of the freight would never work.

This line has an infamous past for it's gradients: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Oak_rail_accident