Why Does it Take Such Effort to Close Stations?

[HSTEd]

Although access to Liskeard station from that side of the town isn't hard, there is obviously a steep hill between the two, and I think it would be prudent to consider how the facility could be improved for anyone wishing to travel to the south of the town. Unless you were to drastically remodel the railway, there's no way the reversal at Coombe is going to be eliminated, even though I believe there was possibly once an avoiding curve back in the mists of time. If I remember correctly, the rules of the signalling system in operation also makes reference to "station limits", which would be a bit difficult if you hadn't got a station!

Perhaps what needs to be done is to construct a low-cost, two-carriage platform somewhat closer to the nearby level crossing, so that the train stops within the platform whenever the reversal is done. This would shave a bit of time off the amount taken to faff around with drawing forwards into the platform, dispatch away from it, and clear the level crossing again, which isn't exactly instant. It would also mean that some risk is marginally reduced to the train crew, as they would potentially (depending on design) have a fixed platform and ramp to access the ground frame, avoiding the need to use what can be quite slippery cab steps. But best of all - the doors could be released in the platform whenever the train operates on the branch, meaning every train would call there. I am sure the local businesses wouldn't mind that at all, even if only one or two customers and staff used it. Better than the current situation!

My own personal suggestion for fixing Coombe Junction is to fit a very small cheap gondola between Liskeard station and the Coombe Junction platform, then convert the Looe Branch into a Coombe-Looe shuttle.
The line through to Liskeard would be retained for freight (does it still run?) and stock movements, but otherwise would not realy be used often.

The journey time between the two stations on a Gondola would be a minute or two and by virtue of not being a railway solution it is likely to be not much more expensive than moving the platforms at Coombe.
And it would allow the trains to easily go clockface hourly over the remaining section of the line.

The Gondola would be short and would need only a relatively low capacity so is likely to be relatively inexpensive, and a flat pack solution!

 

[yorksrob]

My own personal suggestion for fixing Coombe Junction is to fit a very small cheap gondola between Liskeard station and the Coombe Junction platform, then convert the Looe Branch into a Coombe-Looe shuttle.
The line through to Liskeard would be retained for freight (does it still run?) and stock movements, but otherwise would not realy be used often.

The journey time between the two stations on a Gondola would be a minute or two and by virtue of not being a railway solution it is likely to be not much more expensive than moving the platforms at Coombe.
And it would allow the trains to easily go clockface hourly over the remaining section of the line.

The Gondola would be short and would need only a relatively low capacity so is likely to be relatively inexpensive, and a flat pack solution!

You mean an additional change to get to Looe ? I don't think that'll catch on.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Interesting trivia - but all of the fares from Teeside Airport to Darlington/Dinsdale, except for the Off-Peak Day Single, are redundant. Getting a return is useless, as the only available type is a day return, and there's only one service week, westbound, so it's physically impossible to use the return journey portion! Same for the 'anytime' fare - there's only a Sunday service, so there's no service on which the off-peak isn't valid.

 

[HSTEd]

You mean an additional change to get to Looe ? I don't think that'll catch on.

Well if you view a Gondola as a mode of transport like a train yes - but if you view it as the ultimate expression of the travellator (since the waiting times are measured in seconds) then no.

 

[Llanigraham]

My own personal suggestion for fixing Coombe Junction is to fit a very small cheap gondola between Liskeard station and the Coombe Junction platform, then convert the Looe Branch into a Coombe-Looe shuttle.
The line through to Liskeard would be retained for freight (does it still run?) and stock movements, but otherwise would not realy be used often.

The journey time between the two stations on a Gondola would be a minute or two and by virtue of not being a railway solution it is likely to be not much more expensive than moving the platforms at Coombe.
And it would allow the trains to easily go clockface hourly over the remaining section of the line.

The Gondola would be short and would need only a relatively low capacity so is likely to be relatively inexpensive, and a flat pack solution!

I doubt it!!

 

[yorksrob]

Well if you view a Gondola as a mode of transport like a train yes - but if you view it as the ultimate expression of the travellator (since the waiting times are measured in seconds) then no.

I suppose it depends how long one has to wait for it !

 

[158756]

Kempston Hardwick has no access to anywhere without a car. Yet the line just 1/2 mile away is situated next to a mass distribution centre network of Asda and Sainbury's on one side with a retail park literally across the track on the other. Kempston Hardwick was built for brick workers for a site which was demolished in the 1980's and probably gets less than a couple 100 passengers per year. I truly believe by moving the station down the track it would generate a lot more revenue from shoppers and workers.

For the record its not half a mile to walk. You have to take the road route which is rural, has no pathway and is approximately 2 miles around. When people use the internet to find the nearest station and get dropped off there, they are in for a shock when all they see is fields.

It would certainly get more use it it was moved, yes. But building a station nowadays would probably cost at least £2m. If it got the same usage as Ridgmont that'd only be an extra 20,000 or so passengers per year - so it will never be high on the list for funding. There isn't any retail park near the distribution centres on Google maps?

Maybe the future residents of Wixams will find the station useful given it looks like they're never going to get their own.

 

[lyndhurst25]

It can be that hard to shut stations if the will is there, as this list demonstrates:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives....erbrstations/listofclosuredatestopassenge2682

 

[PR1Berske]

It can be that hard to shut stations if the will is there, as this list demonstrates:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives....erbrstations/listofclosuredatestopassenge2682

The last station on that list was 2005, and that was under very specific circumstances.

 

[richieb1971]

It would certainly get more use it it was moved, yes. But building a station nowadays would probably cost at least £2m. If it got the same usage as Ridgmont that'd only be an extra 20,000 or so passengers per year - so it will never be high on the list for funding. There isn't any retail park near the distribution centres on Google maps?

Maybe the future residents of Wixams will find the station useful given it looks like they're never going to get their own.

Kempston Hardwick station is at the bottom of the pic (bit of yellow highlighting in the fields)
Above that you have the Distribution centres of Asda and Sainsbury's
Above that you have the whole of Kempstons Woburn industrial estate
To the right of that you have the Kempston Retail park.

Someone once said the best place to put a station is on the A421 bridge. That way you could have a path going either direction to the retail park, cover the industrial estate and also have a path going the other direction for the distribution centres. Most people would use cars, but that would be quite an attractive station compared to the rest of the line that has nowhere near that kind of activity that close to the railway.

 

[pdeaves]

The last station on that list was 2005, and that was under very specific circumstances.

and most of the others before (not all, admittedly) were either replaced by some other station or, effectively, converted into light rail. The Aberystwyth-Devil's Bridge line is there that didn't really close, it was sold and continues to operate. Westbourne Park, as an example, only closed to main line services; it remains open for the Underground.

 

[HSTEd]

I doubt it!!

Monocable Gondola systems under normal circumstances cost $10-30m/km
Emirates Air Line was a bit of a mess but partially that was due to the absolutely enormous towers to get the line over the river at an enormous height, and other architectural flourishes.

Remember Gondolas and the like are built entirely flat pack and assembled in places far more challenging to work in than rural Cornwall.

You wouldn't get a new railway grade platform for much less than £10m I don't expect.

The Koblenz Rheinseilbahn cost $20m all up or so, and is a kilometre long tricable gondola with far greater capacity.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Yes it is good that stations cannot be closed on a whim, but present position is absurd

Pilning is a good example. How on earth is it acceptable to remove the footbridge and so scrap the westbound 'service' at an open station?

If NR, the TOC or whoever want to close it, which judging by its twice a week Saturday 'service' they clearly do, then there needs to be a transparent process involving the regional and local authorities, and other stakeholders.

As it happens Pilning is close to a newly planned junction off the M49 and could be a good park and ride to both Bristol and South Wales. If the trains were electric they would fit into current paths.

Oh for some joined up thinking.

 

[Daz28]

What is the penalty for breaking the law in this case, who would prosecute them, and who would be prosecuted?

 

[HSTEd]

What is the penalty for breaking the law in this case, who would prosecute them, and who would be prosecuted?

Any members of the public may bring a private prosecution if they so wish, and the court would likely issue an injunction requiring the service to the station continue - if it doesn't the TOC, or even the DfT (so the secretary of state) would likely be held to be in contempt.

 

[backontrack]

In answer to the OP's question, because at one time many years ago, the 'powers that be' decided that they could close stations with limited scrutiny and barely any accountability to either the general public or other stakeholders such as local authorities and business.

The political backlash this caused has ensured that railway closures, quite rightly remain politically toxic to this day.

And I, for one, am not complaining.

Neither am I.

 

[backontrack]

It can be that hard to shut stations if the will is there, as this list demonstrates:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives....erbrstations/listofclosuredatestopassenge2682

Almost all of those stations closed either due to line upgrades, conversion to or replacement by underground or light railway (or, in the Vale of Rheidol stations' case, heritage railway), strategic relocation, replacement & renaming, closure to speed up a service when there was already a tube station there (Westbourne Park and Moor Park), or due to necessary repairs which were deemed unprofitable to carry out. Grangetown and Cargo Fleet lost their raison d'être when local factories closed. Rowntree Halt in York was shut when the company was acquired by Nestlé. After Balloch Pier and Tilbury Riverside lost their boat services, they went into serial decline, leading to closure. Broad Street, Dover Western Docks and Dalston Junction closed when it was decided to relocate their rail services to Liverpool Street. Dalston Junction was later reopened. Incursion of new infrastructure - Ascot Way - led to the closure of Watford West and Croxley Green. The opening of Meadowhall station put paid to Brightside, which struggled on for five more years.

Since 1985, the only rail stations in the UK to close due to sheer low usage are Altofts, Abertafol, Gogarth, Ditton, Errol, Greatham, Elsham, Brocklesby, Attercliffe Road, Godley East, Miles Platting, Park, Primrose Hill, Sinfin North, Sinfin Central, Barlaston and Wedgwood. That's 17 stations in 33 years, or one station every two years, approximately.

(By the way, the lovely station buildings at Brocklesby are still extant, being listed and all.)

 

[The Quincunx]

It can be that hard to shut stations if the will is there, as this list demonstrates:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives....erbrstations/listofclosuredatestopassenge2682

Ahem - I was the person who compiled that list for the Rail Regulator in about 1999. From a file provided by the Department of Transport. The missing bits are where the holes were.

 

[richieb1971]

My colleague at work said if its really hard to shut down railway stations that get no use that the government should apply the same rules to post offices.