SRFI for Parkside East (NLW)

[Chaplin77]

What does everyone think about this announcement regarding the Parkside East SRFI - it's close to Newton-le-Willows and the connection between the Chat Moss line and the WCML.

Tritax buys 221 acres in St Helens for 2.5m sq ft industrial - Place North West

Located within Liverpool City Region’s Freeport zone off Junction 22 of the M6, the scheme would also feature a rail freight interchange.

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

Located within Liverpool City Region’s Freeport zone off Junction 22 of the M6, the scheme would also feature a rail freight interchange.

Tritax Symmetry has acquired the 221-acre Parkside East site in St Helens site from a private trust in an off-market deal. The price was not disclosed.

The site was previously being promoted by developer iSec.

A masterplan proposing a 2.5m sq ft logistics scheme and a strategic rail freight interchange project are now in the works. The St Chad’s railway line runs adjacent to the north of the site and is equidistant from Liverpool to Manchester.

Doesn't the cancellation of HS2 North mean that the capacity north of Warrington would be constrained now for an SRFI? Plus the liklihood of NPR not being able to be built fully, if at all, meaning no capacity improvements on the Chat Moss line?

 

[The Planner]

What does everyone think about this announcement regarding the Parkside East SRFI - it's close to Newton-le-Willows and the connection between the Chat Moss line and the WCML.

Tritax buys 221 acres in St Helens for 2.5m sq ft industrial - Place North West

Located within Liverpool City Region’s Freeport zone off Junction 22 of the M6, the scheme would also feature a rail freight interchange.

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

Doesn't the cancellation of HS2 North mean that the capacity north of Warrington would be constrained now for an SRFI? Plus the liklihood of NPR not being able to be built fully, if at all, meaning no capacity improvements on the Chat Moss line?

File under most new freight terminals, make claims about the trains it can handle but end up impossible to path. I expect it will get built, though I was expecting it to be on the old colliery site. Not sure where the capacity is going to be if Port Salford ever gets going.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Looks like this is a plan for Parkside East, while there is another development for Parkside West which includes the rail access.
The proofreaders didn't spot that "the St Chad's railway line" actually refers to the Chat Moss railway line.
On the photo in the linked piece, the railway runs across the top of the site, with site access just to the east (right) of the M6.
The Huskisson Memorial is close by.
Last I saw, the former connection into the colliery site from Newton le Willows station had been lifted to make way for the recent Down platform extension.

 

[Chaplin77]

I heard the plans are to build reversing sidings on the old colliery site but the actual SRFI is on the other side of the M6. The plans for the warehouses on the colliery side have been changed to accommodate

 

[Jonny Donny]

The railway plans I was shown look to simply replace the former Parkside loops, except that the access from the Manchester direction is one signal section back. This stops access to or from Lowton and therefore the (north) WCML.
It seems a bit shortsighted really.
I was told it’s a NR/FL project and will mean that FL will no longer use Garston or Trafford Park.
Five years is the timescale but lots can change in that time both from a railway and political standpoint.
Don’t hold your breath.
And don’t forget the NIMBYS.

 

[Grumpy]

What does everyone think about this announcement regarding the Parkside East SRFI - it's close to Newton-le-Willows and the connection between the Chat Moss line and the WCML.

If you want to build a large distribution centre with easy access to the M62 and M6 which also has relatively easy rail access from the WCML and Chat Moss line then there really isn't anywhere else.
The WCML between Crewe and Preston is in cuttings/viaducts/passes through already developed land/passes through land unlikely to be given planning permission

 

[The Planner]

The railway plans I was shown look to simply replace the former Parkside loops, except that the access from the Manchester direction is one signal section back. This stops access to or from Lowton and therefore the (north) WCML.
It seems a bit shortsighted really.
I was told it’s a NR/FL project and will mean that FL will no longer use Garston or Trafford Park.
Five years is the timescale but lots can change in that time both from a railway and political standpoint.
Don’t hold your breath.
And don’t forget the NIMBYS.

Not sure how a third party freight depot can be a NR scheme. It will have a NR sponsor as an intermediary, but it will be third party led. I wouldnt expect the promoter to have a single operator deal either unless Freightliner were funding it.

 

[Jonny Donny]

Not sure how a third party freight depot can be a NR scheme. It will have a NR sponsor as an intermediary, but it will be third party led. I wouldnt expect the promoter to have a single operator deal either unless Freightliner were funding it.

Time will tell. I’m only going off what the people who have planned the railway side of it and the people who are going to install the railway side of it told me face to face.
That’s always assuming it happens at all.

 

[The Planner]

Time will tell. I’m only going off what the people who have planned the railway side of it and the people who are going to install the railway side of it told me face to face.
That’s always assuming it happens at all.

Doesnt sound right to me, how can they be in contract with anyone to install anything on the railway at this point, I would be amazed if it had any detailed design yet, let alone a DCO.