An interesting idea for a thread.
Whilst we froth about reopening services to various rural hamlets, there are a lot of
existing stations on
existing lines that don't get the treatment that they deserve.
If it costs ten million pounds for a mile of new line (based on the Borders route) then there are lots of open stations that we could improve before we start worrying about reconnecting villages in the middle of nowhere.
A few suggestions (along with reasons why they may not happen):
Dore. Prime commuter territory in a relatively wealthy part of Sheffield (on a busy A-road that can see buses take an hour to cover what the train achieves in five minutes). But it's a station on a single track chord, on a line where most of the services are limited stop long distance ones (Cleethorpes/ Norwich to Manchester Airport/ Liverpool), so even if/when it gets redoubled, there's no guarantee that everything will stop there.
The Colne branch (north of central Burnley). This
should be good rail territory, given the frequency of the parallel bus services. But the combined passenger numbers of the three stations (Colne, Nelson, Brierfield) is around three hundred and fifty departing passengers per day (130,000pa) - pretty pathetic. Lack of through trains to Manchester may be a factor (though all services on the line serve Burnley/ Accrington/ Blackburn/ Preston). Maybe a passing loop and a half hourly service would be more attractive, in terms of taking passengers away from buses/ cars (but, given all the other things do with a "spare" DMU, it's hard to see this as a top priority).
Musselburgh. Prime Edinburgh commuter territory with a University campus next door, but held back due to being a "local" station on a relatively "Intercity" line. Same goes for
Chester le Street, Morley and Batley which seem similarly hampered by being too small for the longer distance services to stop at (but would do a lot better if they were on their own line).
Cwmbran. One of the biggest places in Wales but gets a poor railway service, possibly because it's restricted to through trains from Cardiff to Shrewsbury (instead of being on a separate branch line, like many towns in south Wales). Any additional services may be hampered by lack of paths through Newport.
York to Hull. It's going hourly in the new Northern franchise, but this has long felt like a forgotten service, remaining irregular in the era of clockface improvements elsewhere. Rather than worrying about rebuilding the Beverley route, we should focus attention on the under-appreciated service that exists between the cities.
Knutsford. Well, someone had to mention it...
(anyhow, I'll let people get back to worrying about Bentham/ Brigg/ Battersby/ Baghill etc)
I think the Hope Valley route stopper should be an hourly service in the summer timetable. Granted it is at weekends but I think there is a case for it in the summer too.
Year round freight is the problem there (significantly fewer freight services at the weekends, hence the increased frequency possible).
Par - Newquay
A service once every three hours in each direction, using a single dogbox which is barely half full. Newquay is a sizable town and the mainline route from Paddington - Plymouth - Par - Penzance is very well used indeed. I'm not surprised numbers are low on the Atlantic Coach branch as it isn't a very attractive service to those who would likely use the line on a frequent basis
Newquay seems a good shout - it's not just a population of twenty thousand, it's a popular destination in its own right (so the trains wouldn't just be "people leaving for the nearest big city in the morning and returning at teatime", there ought to be decent loads in both directions during the daytime too).
Hopefully the doubling of frequency west of Plymouth and the increase in DMUs for GWR will make something possible here. Then again, I'd run through services from the main line to Falmouth too.
For me, the Newquay branch feels like one of those routes that,
if it didn't currently exist, people would be insisting on it re-opening because it would get millions of passengers per year, but as it does exist, it's a bit neglected and badly served.
(hmm, speaking of the Falmouth branch, it's been a while since anyone has mentioned a "Penryn-style solution" on here... did that fall out of fashion as the solution to infrastructure problems on various routes?)
Shrewsbury - Knighton/Llandrindod
I boarded a single 153 at Shrewsbury a couple of weeks ago on the HOWL. Nearly every seat was taken and about 75% of the passengers on board were heading to Knighton. The line only receives about 4 trains a day with the last train leaving very early (6pm ish). Extra shuttles could run between the existing through trains as there is clearly a market, and I believe more would come if the service was more frequent.
Swansea - Llandeilo/Llandovery
For identical reasons mentioned above. The last train leaves Swansea at like 18:20, way too early for the Swansea - Llandeilo part! A couple were heading to Swansea from Llandeilo (I think they were heading out for a meal in Swansea) and they only realised en route that the last train would leave 15 minutes after they arrive. I imagine they'd be put off next time. Demand is there but the infrequency of services is extinguishing it!
The Heart Of Wales line is a real mess. You've got a couple of well used stations in the middle, but need to run through lots of poorly used ones to get there. But the stations at the Swansea and Shrewsbury end do get rather good numbers - it's a shame that they are held back by the need to maintain four a day to the quiet shacks.
Lincoln to Doncaster (EMT), would probably make for a useful service. It's 50 mins currently, but is run rather sporadically. Currently, passengers have an hourly "via Retford" or "via Lincoln" journey, of at best 1hr 20. Making this hourly should reasonably allow for much better patronage.
Agreed - two places with populations of around 100,000, around thirty miles apart, Doncaster is a hub for various ECML destinations - the service between them is pretty rubbish when you consider these things. Roads aren't fast in that neck of the woods, so a regular rail service should be competitive.