backontrack
Established Member
It strikes me that a symptom of the huge under-investment we have of our rail network is that:
a) There are many towns on lines that are open that don't have stations (like Elland and Haxby).
and
b) There are many sizeable places that don't have services running through them at all. Many of these have no lines due to the worst part of the Beeching Axe - the actual destruction of the lines and alignments - like Hawick, St Andrews and Tavistock - but there are still many that do have lines - like Levenmouth, Washington and Ashington.
But forget about those. I want to focus on
c) Where there are stations and lines in some areas, we struggle to get the best out of them due to the low levels of investment we have. We could get much more usage out of them relatively easily by improving services to them, upgrading station facilities, bringing in newer rolling stock, re-siting some stops or introducing some doubling projects.
So hang the closed lines and stations, just for this thread; they are very important, but I want to focus on areas of our current network that aren't being used to their full potential.
It seems that The Esk Valley Line is a good place to start. There are many people who are better qualified than myself to talk about this line and more capable of doing so, so I will pretty much leave it to them. But I will say this: the line needs more double track, better rolling stock...and better marketing. I mean, it's the only line in the UK to enter the North York Moors National Park. And it goes it Whitby, of all places - with an abbey and a picturesque harbour. And it serves a heritage railway line. It baffles me that so few people seem to know about it.
Then there are stations. Featherstone doesn't seem like it's the best-placed for the town it serves, and perhaps Feniton would be better on the other side of the A30 - still relatively close to Feniton, but nearer to Ottery. Lakenheath seems to be a big talking point, and various people have discussed how services could be improved there. But where else?
a) There are many towns on lines that are open that don't have stations (like Elland and Haxby).
and
b) There are many sizeable places that don't have services running through them at all. Many of these have no lines due to the worst part of the Beeching Axe - the actual destruction of the lines and alignments - like Hawick, St Andrews and Tavistock - but there are still many that do have lines - like Levenmouth, Washington and Ashington.
But forget about those. I want to focus on
c) Where there are stations and lines in some areas, we struggle to get the best out of them due to the low levels of investment we have. We could get much more usage out of them relatively easily by improving services to them, upgrading station facilities, bringing in newer rolling stock, re-siting some stops or introducing some doubling projects.
So hang the closed lines and stations, just for this thread; they are very important, but I want to focus on areas of our current network that aren't being used to their full potential.
It seems that The Esk Valley Line is a good place to start. There are many people who are better qualified than myself to talk about this line and more capable of doing so, so I will pretty much leave it to them. But I will say this: the line needs more double track, better rolling stock...and better marketing. I mean, it's the only line in the UK to enter the North York Moors National Park. And it goes it Whitby, of all places - with an abbey and a picturesque harbour. And it serves a heritage railway line. It baffles me that so few people seem to know about it.
Then there are stations. Featherstone doesn't seem like it's the best-placed for the town it serves, and perhaps Feniton would be better on the other side of the A30 - still relatively close to Feniton, but nearer to Ottery. Lakenheath seems to be a big talking point, and various people have discussed how services could be improved there. But where else?
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