The Leamside line

[DarloRich]

I still cant see xc or tpe wanting to run that way. They dont want to run down the coast to serve sunderland. Passenger services could work but i can only see a demand for northern services to newcastle. I cant evem see much demand for those services either tbh. Why go that way from boro when you can go to Darlo then newcastle in a shorter time. If you want these sevices stillington needs upgrading to cope and work is needed between Thursdale and Ferryhill to seperate these trains from ECML trains. Metro usage on the northern end IS a potential as is freight usage over the whole route but all parties will need to cough up. I would love so much for this line to be open as i spent my childhood watching trains run up and down from my grandparents house but i fear i wont see another trains down there again!

 

[turbo mick]

I see network rail have upgraded the durham coast line from ryhope grange through to Stranton near Hartlepool from absolute block to TC block do you think network rail are thinking else where than reinstating the leamside line

 

[tbtc]

The problem with a new line is (as they say in Yorkshire) "it's neither nowt nor summat".

It takes longer to get to Newcastle (almost twice as long as other services from Darlington, which would probably mean people getting off there and changing).

You could change at Belmont for an extended Metro service to Sunderland? Maybe, but then by the time the Leamside service is at Belmont an ECML service would have got to Newcastle (where you can change for the Metro).

Sunderland passengers will probably prefer either a direct service to/from Sunderland or will continue to change at Newcastle.

Washington is a big place without a railway station, but as things stand a through Newcastle - Washington - Darlington service wouldn't work IMHO.

 

[RochdalePioneers]

Whilst we're looking at possible Metro extensions, how about South Hylton - Penshaw - Washington? Add an eastern facing curve off the Victoria Viaduct.....

 

[PinzaC55]

Whilst we're looking at possible Metro extensions, how about South Hylton - Penshaw - Washington? Add an eastern facing curve off the Victoria Viaduct.....

I doubt if it is technically feasible. The existing curve onto the Victoria Bridge is extremely tight and such an arrangement wouldn't serve Penshaw which was a major traffic source "in the day".

 

[142094]

I see network rail have upgraded the durham coast line from ryhope grange through to Stranton near Hartlepool from absolute block to TC block do you think network rail are thinking else where than reinstating the leamside line

The main reason is to send freight the Durham Coast way, especially with the amount of stuff coming in from abroad into Tyne Dock for the power stations. Silly thing is that they still haven't reinstated the eastern chord at Brockley Whins.

 

[PinzaC55]

The main reason is to send freight the Durham Coast way, especially with the amount of stuff coming in from abroad into Tyne Dock for the power stations. Silly thing is that they still haven't reinstated the eastern chord at Brockley Whins.

The chord at Pontop Crossing was closed before the Metro was opened and I guess it would involve major alterations to the signalling and possibly the catenary.

 

[142094]

Was included in the last RUS, don't think it needed anything major to bring it back into use (points are still there intact, but would more than likely need replacing). Might make the chance of a direct South Shields - Sunderland Metro more realistic.

 

[tbtc]

Was included in the last RUS, don't think it needed anything major to bring it back into use (points are still there intact, but would more than likely need replacing). Might make the chance of a direct South Shields - Sunderland Metro more realistic.

Maybe even extend Grand Central services to south Tyneside (would be easier to terminate at Shields than at Sunderland)?

 

[PinzaC55]

Maybe even extend Grand Central services to south Tyneside (would be easier to terminate at Shields than at Sunderland)?

Except that South Shields station is wholly owned by Nexus and the station isn't remotely suitable for HST's?

 

[AutoKratz]

Washington is a big place without a railway station, but as things stand a through Newcastle - Washington - Darlington service wouldn't work IMHO.

I agree that a route from Darlo would not work but the service universally proposed is from Newcastle to Middlesbrough.

 

[142094]

Maybe even extend Grand Central services to south Tyneside (would be easier to terminate at Shields than at Sunderland)?

Lol, if only they had kept the original station. Part of the line was used for access to Westoe Colliery, so a lot of the abandonded line could be used. Chichester Metro still has the avoider around the back of the Newcastle bound platform. Big problem at Tyne Dock with the landscaping done for the new station access.

Also heard that if the Leamside line was reopened, a new mainline station could be built in Gateshead, possibly where the old Gateshead East and West used to be.

 

[PinzaC55]

I'll try to put this another way. Imagine the Leamside reopened and upgraded to passenger carrying standard, but not electrified. In BR days as I said diversion this way might add 20 minutes to journey time. Let's say this was reduced to 12 minutes - not a big deal, and you are not competing for paths with as many trains as on the ECML.
The last time Washington was served by passenger trains was in 1963 and even then it was only ONE train a day in each direction.
According to Wikipedia the population figures for the 2001 census were -
Durham 29,000
Washington 53,000
Not counting the catchment areas.
Imagine you were Crosscountry and you had the opportunity to have a station serving a population not far off twice that of Durham and didn't have to share it with EC and TPE as they have to at Durham?
Wouldn't that sound like a good deal?
GCT from Sunderland has been a big success even though they have to share it with Northern Rail and the Metro.

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

If you're gonna extend the metro, do a South Hylton-Washington-Pelaw loop, with a new curve onto the Victoria Viaduct from the East. Ensure that the Metro OLE is high enough between Victoria Viaduct and Pelaw to allow for future reopening south to Tursdale Jcn.
You could grade separate the Jcn at Tursdale for Northbound traffic, as per the plan at Hitchin.

 

[tbtc]

I agree that a route from Darlo would not work but the service universally proposed is from Newcastle to Middlesbrough.

Agreed, I was just responding to the suggestion that long distance services (TPE/ XC) be diverted via Washington...

 

[jontylol]

Apparently the viaduct has been blocked off. No idea how, who by or what for. Any ideas?

 

[142094]

This recently or some time ago?

 

[jontylol]

Recently. I havent checked it out myself yet though.

 

[142094]

Haven't heard anything about this, will have to search for some more infomation.

 

[DarloRich]

I havent heard anything - I bet it is being pinched as we speak!

 

[jontylol]

Apparently its a fence :/

 

[Jonny]

I seem to remember a BBC Look North reporter walking along it...

on camera

(IIRC over 6 months ago for the legal people)

Highly questionable, even given that at least three level crossings have been "severed" (the equipment and short sections of track removed and filled in with tarmac where the road crosses) and the Victoria viaduct is between two of them.

 

[ReverendFozz]

I seem to remember a BBC Look North reporter walking along it...

on camera

(IIRC over 6 months ago for the legal people)

Highly questionable, even given that at least three level crossings have been "severed" (the equipment and short sections of track removed and filled in with tarmac where the road crosses) and the Victoria viaduct is between two of them.

The level crossings at Fencehouses and Barmston/Sulgrave near Nissan has been lifted, I walked my dog along the line just before Xmas, and as well as the track needing to be sorted(it is down to single track in places, due to theft), land is slipping away in Washington between and Victoria Viaduct, I think it may be the same on the southern end of the leamside

 

[william]

Personally, I think extending the Sunderland branch of the metro (South Hylton) to Fence Houses, where connections could be made with conventional trains, would be a good idea. Potential mainline stops on the Leamside at Heworth, Washington, Fence Houses, Durham Parkway, Sherburn (currently has no connection to Newcastle, Sunderland or Tesside), Ferryhill (perhaps a single platform on a loop, similar to Dunbar), and then onto Stockton and Teesside.

 

[Jonny]

The level crossings at Fencehouses and Barmston/Sulgrave near Nissan has been lifted, I walked my dog along the line just before Xmas, and as well as the track needing to be sorted(it is down to single track in places, due to theft), land is slipping away in Washington between and Victoria Viaduct, I think it may be the same on the southern end of the leamside

The most northerly severence is at Follingsby Lane (just south of the now idle Coal "Disposal Point"). South of Fencehouses it appears to be in decent-ish condition (just from looking over the fence/bridge). A quick scan of Google Earth suggests that the track isn't severed at all south of Fencehouses and seems not to have too much vegetation over it.

 

[swt_passenger]

A quick scan of Google Earth suggests that the track isn't severed at all south of Fencehouses and seems not to have too much vegetation over it.

You could be looking at anytime in the last 5 or 6 years when the picture was taken though.

That was what we found when looking at an overhead view of a 460 in Eastleigh a feww days ago...

 

[Jonny]

You could be looking at anytime in the last 5 or 6 years when the picture was taken though.

That was what we found when looking at an overhead view of a 460 in Eastleigh a feww days ago...

Dated 2008 according to Google Earth's on screen display IIRC -I don't have time to go beck - and backed up by street view (more recent) in at least one location.

 

[PinzaC55]

"The level crossings at Fencehouses and Barmston/Sulgrave near Nissan has been lifted"

Are you sure about that? I read that Fencehouses crossing had simply been Tarmacced over.

 

[swt_passenger]

Dated 2008 according to Google Earth's on screen display IIRC -I don't have time to go beck - and backed up by street view (more recent) in at least one location.

Even the dates displayed on Google maps and Google Earth aren't necessarily right either - but Streetview is obviously fairly recent.

 

[ReverendFozz]

Even the dates displayed on Google maps and Google Earth aren't necessarily right either - but Streetview is obviously fairly recent.

"The level crossings at Fencehouses and Barmston/Sulgrave near Nissan has been lifted"

Are you sure about that? I read that Fencehouses crossing had simply been Tarmacced over.

Streetview in this Area is fairly Recent, 2008-09 I think.

Yes it looks like Fencehouses and Sulgrave have indeed just been tarmacced over, but still, if it were ever brought back into use the track would need to be replaced anyway

Check out this page with Pictures I have put on

the link is http://mistafozz1982.0catch.com/streetviewpics.html

Between Sulgrave and Victoria Viaduct there is a lot of vegetation, and some parts look like a small wood, and land is sliding away from the tracks, to go with the theft of a about 1 mile of track, to bring Leamside back into operation it would be at a hefty cost I would imagine.

I'm led to believe that southern stretches of the line are in a much better condition than the Northern Stretches