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Trivia: What sections of unelectrified line carry the most trains per hour?

Nottingham59

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Considering lines that are not yet electrified, what sections carry the most trains per hour (tph)?
At this stage I'm only considering timetabled passenger services, and not including freight or ECS/NR movements. Or station throats.

I can think of the following:
  • Dore - Sheffield (8 tph, I think)
  • Sheffield - Meadowhall
  • Trent Triangle - Nottingham (7tph)
  • Trent Triangle - Derby (6tph)
  • Stourbridge - Snow Hill
  • Moor Street - Tysley
  • Bristol TM - Filton
  • Didcot - Oxford
Can anyone help me fill in the tph details for these? (I will edit this post as appropriate, thanks.)
Are there other unelectrified routes that carry, say, 6tph or more throughout the day? (EDIT: 1 tph means one train each way per hour)

EDITED LIST (Now frozen):
  • Sheffield - Meadowhall (11tph)
  • Cardiff Central - Queen St (11tph)
  • Marylebone - Neasden (8.5 tph)
  • Bristol TM - Stapleton Road (8.5 tph)
  • Crossgates - Micklefield (8tph: 4TP, 3NT, 1XC)
  • Exeter St Davids - Central (8tph)
  • Dore - Sheffield (8 tph)
  • Hull - Gilberdyke (7.5tph)
  • Halifax - Bradford (7tph)
  • Trent Triangle - Nottingham (7tph)
  • Mirfield - Ravensthorpe (6tph?)
  • Trent Triangle - Derby (6tph)
  • Leicester - Wigston (6tph)
  • Stourbridge Town - Junction (6tph)
  • Manchester Victoria - Rochdale (6tph)
  • Saughton Jn - Inverkeithing (6tph: 1 Aberdeen, 2 Leven, 1 Cowdenbeath, 1 Perth, 1 Dundee)
  • Thornaby - Middlesbrough (4.5tph)
  • Stourbridge - Snow Hill (4tph)
  • Moor Street - Tysley (3.5tph)
  • Didcot - Oxford
 
Last edited:
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R

RailUK Forums

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Cross Gates - Micklefield has 8tph too, but 9 or 10tph in peak
4tph TPE
3tph Northern
1tph XC

Northern extras in peak
 

ANDREW_D_WEBB

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The line from London Marylebone must be in with a shout for the most. Looking at RTT for 10:00-11:00 this morning shows 17 movements meeting your criteria.

Stourbridge Town - Junction branch sees 6 movents in each direction per hour giving a total of 12.
 

stuu

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Exeter St Davids-Exeter Central gets 8tph off peak, a few more peak
 

Darandio

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Unless i'm misunderstanding the thread, Thornaby to Middlesbrough should be 8-9 trains per hour.
 

The exile

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Off-peak, Bristol TM to Stapleton Road has (each way) I think:
2 XC
2 Gloucester/ Worcester
1 Filton
2 Cardiff
1.5 Severn Beach (approx 40 minute frequency)
 

Mcr Warrior

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Manchester Victoria to Rochdale, or vice-versa, on the line over to Leeds, has 6 trains (each way) during most of the day.
 

Nottingham59

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Unless i'm misunderstanding the thread, Thornaby to Middlesbrough should be 8-9 trains per hour.
I count 9 scheduled passenger trains through Thornaby in the hour after 1300h today, so I'd put that down as 4.5tph, thanks. 1 tph is one train each way.
 

Peterthegreat

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Considering lines that are not yet electrified, what sections carry the most trains per hour (tph)?
At this stage I'm only considering timetabled passenger services, and not including freight or ECS/NR movements. Or station throats.

I can think of the following:
  • Dore - Sheffield (8 tph, I think)
  • Sheffield - Meadowhall
  • Trent Triangle - Nottingham (7tph)
  • Trent Triangle - Derby (6tph)
  • Stourbridge - Snow Hill
  • Moor Street - Tysley
  • Bristol TM - Filton
  • Didcot - Oxford
Can anyone help me fill in the tph details for these? (I will edit this post as appropriate, thanks.)
Are there other unelectrified routes that carry, say, 6tph or more throughout the day?

EDITED LIST (ONGOING):
  • Marylebone - Neasden (8.5 tph)
  • Crossgates - Micklefield (8tph: 4TP, 4NT, 1XC)
  • Exeter St Davids - Exexter Central (8tph)
  • Dore - Sheffield (8 tph, I think)
  • Sheffield - Meadowhall
  • Trent Triangle - Nottingham (7tph)
  • Mirfield - Ravensthorpe (6tph?)
  • Trent Triangle - Derby (6tph)
  • Stourbridge Town - Junction (6tph)
  • Stourbridge - Snow Hill
  • Moor Street - Tysley
  • Bristol TM - Filton
  • Didcot - Oxford
Sheffield to Meadowhall is up to 11 per hour/direction
 

Nottingham59

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Well, yes, but the OP didn't make that particularly clear IMO.
Sorry about that. I've now edited the first post to make it clearer. Thanks

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

If you include freights, the Hereward line (Peterborough - Ely) can get up to 10tph.

I think freights are for another thread, thanks. But very important for justifying electrification.
 

A S Leib

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I'm not sure if it's too short to qualify, but I think there's ~5 tph each way at Shrewsbury from / to the south; 3 tph Birmingham, approximately 1.5 tph Hereford, Cambrian Coast mostly hourly with some gaps. Edit: just noticed you said not counting station throats.

It isn't consistently 6tph each way, but Newton Abbot to Exeter St. Davids has 7tph in some hours (towards Exeter, from 06:00 there's 6, 4, 4, 6, 7, 5, 4, 6, 5, 5, 6, 4, 7, 4, 5, 5, 3, 2, 3 and 2 departures, so in eleven out of twenty hours there's at least 5tph).

Bath to Bristol Temple Meads is also slightly short, but at least consistently 5tph (2tph London, 1tph Cardiff to Portsmouth, 1tph Gloucester to Weymouth / Westbury, 1tph Bristol to Westbury / Salisbury).
 
Last edited:

SuspectUsual

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EDITED LIST (ONGOING):
  • Sheffield - Meadowhall (11tph)
  • Marylebone - Neasden (8.5 tph)
  • Bristol TM - Stapleton Road (8.5 tph)
  • Crossgates - Micklefield (8tph: 4TP, 3NT, 1XC)
  • Exeter St Davids - Central (8tph)
  • Dore - Sheffield (8 tph)
  • Halifax - Bradford (7tph)
  • Trent Triangle - Nottingham (7tph)
  • Mirfield - Ravensthorpe (6tph?)
  • Trent Triangle - Derby (6tph)
  • Stourbridge Town - Junction (6tph)
  • Manchester Victoria - Rochdale (6tph)
  • Saughton Jn - Inverkeithing (6tph: 1 Aberdeen, 2 Leven, 1 Cowdenbeath, 1 Perth, 1 Dundee)
  • Stourbridge - Snow Hill
  • Moor Street - Tysley
  • Didcot - Oxford
  • Thornaby - Middlesbrough (4.5tph)

Is the Stourbridge shuttle the only one of those that’s a single track, so actually has an individual line with 12tph over it?
 

Mcr Warrior

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Just from a sample of 12:00 - 13:00 today towards Central

1 Rhymney - Barry Island
2 Bargoed - Barry Island
2 Merthyr Tydfil - Aberdare
2 ex-Treherbert
2 Caerphilly - Penarty
2 Coryton - Penarth

and that's 11.
I have departures from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Central that particular hour at 1204, 1207, 1212, 1215, 1224, 1229, 1234, 1237, 1242, 1245, 1254 and 1259. Which, I think, is a total of 12.

(You may have overlooked the 1234 from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Central, which runs from Rhymney through to Bridgend).
 

BigLedbury

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Stourbridge to Snow Hill is (sadly these days) 4tph.
Moor Street to Tyseley is 3tph stopping. 1tph passing from WMR. 2tph pass from Chiltern. And around 0.5tph pass from XC although a lot more down than up as I've just discovered.
 

D1537

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5tph each way plus irregular GCs - 5.5 would be generous.

I was looking at a morning rush-hour when there were 14 trains booked in one hour, so if you discount the GC that's 6.5tph. It may be fewer out of peak.
(As mentioned above the OP was unclear whether "tph" meant movement in an hour, or trains each way)
 

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