YorkshireBear
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Jul 2010
- Messages
- 8,686
I may be a biased local, but Dore would be top of my list.
It's a single track section on a main line between Sheffield and Manchester, which would be enough of a bottleneck were it not for the fact that it's also the location for the single platform station - which means no scope to stop more services there because they need to get off the single track chord as soon as possible.
Some suggestions here are in the "nice to have" category - e.g. no operational urgency but it'd allow steam excursions at scenic branch lines. Dore is a bottleneck on the only route between two of the biggest cities in England and should be a much bigger priority.
Ideally I'd have six platforms at Dore (two on the Sheffield - Manchester line, two on the Sheffield - Chesterfield line and a two platform terminus in between them to allow local services (from Barnsley/ Doncaster etc) to run through Sheffield Midland and free up platform space (where there's not enough space for layovers). Complete crayonista wibble, I know - so I'd settle for a second platform in the meantime!
I hope Dunbar gets done too - before we start worrying about finding the funds to build stations at tiny places on the ECML between Edinburgh and Newcastle like Reston.
Currently a northbound LDHS service has to cross the southbound line twice on the flat, which can cause delays to the busy services - it deserves a second platform.
Being originally from Sheffield this was the one that struck me. I also like your 6 platform idea, i had similar thoughts when HS2 was to be at Meadowhall with a fast Dore-Sheffield-Meadowhall EMU service on a four tracked section with new stations. All very much pie in the sky though.