Speeding up Newcastle-Morpeth(-Chathill) stoppers: Any options?

[najaB]

Passenger loops between Newcastle and Edinburgh (excluding the immediate environs of either):
- Morpeth
- Chevington
- Alnmouth
- Belford

I stand corrected - I was under the impression most of those were goods-only.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The other problem is that train 3 will be slow and overtaken so won't be used for through journeys.

It's not intended to be; the intention is purely to allow a useful service from all the intermediate stations. The point of running it fast from Newcastle to Widdrington is to pick up there from train 1 after train 2 has charged past. the point of train 1 terminating at Widdrington is to pick up from the lower stations and then get out of the way of train 2.

Is there anyone on here who can do proper timetable planning who can check if this theory would in fact work in practice and still allow for the other two fasts mentioned, plus any freight paths, and taking into account all the loops?

When I said high performance EMUs, I was thinking in terms of like the 395s, which could easily be done as the basic design is pretty much the same as that of the IEP, so a production line exists... Something that can very rapidly reach the full line speed...

 

[edwin_m]

It's not intended to be; the intention is purely to allow a useful service from all the intermediate stations. The point of running it fast from Newcastle to Widdrington is to pick up there from train 1 after train 2 has charged past. the point of train 1 terminating at Widdrington is to pick up from the lower stations and then get out of the way of train 2.

Is there anyone on here who can do proper timetable planning who can check if this theory would in fact work in practice and still allow for the other two fasts mentioned, plus any freight paths, and taking into account all the loops?

When I said high performance EMUs, I was thinking in terms of like the 395s, which could easily be done as the basic design is pretty much the same as that of the IEP, so a production line exists... Something that can very rapidly reach the full line speed...

I have attempted to plan a timetable for Newcastle-Edinburgh, but it was part of a feasibility study which would have involved a number of other potential service changes so not directly applicable to the present day service. However it does mean I have some understanding of the issues and constraints on that section.

What you propose is probably feasible in timetabling terms, but I do question the economics of providing two extra services, using a micro-fleet of high-performance units, for stations which today only barely justify a Pacer twice a day. Waiting in a loop would achieve virtually the same thing with fewer resources, and the bonus that nobody would have to change trains at somewhere as remote as Widdrington!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The theory behind this is that an hourly service would generate extra custom and that the units would not necessarily be part of a microfleet but part of a larger fleet that could speed up similar medium distance services with a number of stops where a lower performance train would get in the way of faster services.

In any case, I thought it up in response to the earlier posts, so it's more a "could it be done this way" than anything else.

Of course, the issue of changing at Widdrington can be avoided altogether if the loops are all in the right places to allow the fasts past without holding the all stops anywhere for too long.