Stations which should close

[142094]

One of the problems with the York - Sheffield stopper is that a lot of people will miss it in the timetables, unless they happen to get to the station and see it advertised. I'm not sure now but a few years ago when I was looking on NRE it wasn't being shown due to a faster XC service either a few minutes before or after.

Each time I've been on it has invariably been a 142 or 144. Also quite a good link to the stations at Ulleskelf, Church Fenton and Sherburn-in-Elmet which can be quite busy at times.

 

[tbtc]

One of the problems with the York - Sheffield stopper is that a lot of people will miss it in the timetables, unless they happen to get to the station and see it advertised. I'm not sure now but a few years ago when I was looking on NRE it wasn't being shown due to a faster XC service either a few minutes before or after.

Each time I've been on it has invariably been a 142 or 144. Also quite a good link to the stations at Ulleskelf, Church Fenton and Sherburn-in-Elmet which can be quite busy at times.

I guess the recast of services post TPE electrification may have a big effect on the Sheffield - York stopper (since you could give some of the Church Fenton etc stops to a more frequent Pontefract service, rather than the current York - Blackpool stopper, so speed up the longer distance services). Dunno...

 

[142094]

There are a few of the Blackpool trains which don't stop at Church Fenton IIRC, but it probably wouldn't matter as you'd still have to stop at Micklefield, East Garforth, Garforth and Cross Gates, which eats up the time. I'm sure the one I used to get from work, which stopped also at Church Fenton and Ulleskelf took around 45-50 minutes. One thing might be to remove the stops west of Church Fenton on BPN services and get more Selby - Leeds Northrn services, which could happen if the new East Leeds Parkway station is built soon.

 

[tbtc]

There are a few of the Blackpool trains which don't stop at Church Fenton IIRC, but it probably wouldn't matter as you'd still have to stop at Micklefield, East Garforth, Garforth and Cross Gates, which eats up the time. I'm sure the one I used to get from work, which stopped also at Church Fenton and Ulleskelf took around 45-50 minutes. One thing might be to remove the stops west of Church Fenton on BPN services and get more Selby - Leeds Northrn services, which could happen if the new East Leeds Parkway station is built soon.

My thinking was that if a beefed up Sheffield - York service took some of the Church Fenton/ Ulleskelf stops then you could run the Leeds - York services with just one or two stops each, thus sorting out the pathing east of Leeds and meaning that there's not one "slow" service an hour (roughly speaking the fast services take roughly 25 minutes and the slow one takes roughly 40 mins, so runs within just a minute or two of the "fast" services, so is little use to longer distance passengers). That should help even the passenger demand out a bit better.

 

[142094]

My thinking was that if a beefed up Sheffield - York service took some of the Church Fenton/ Ulleskelf stops then you could run the Leeds - York services with just one or two stops each, thus sorting out the pathing east of Leeds and meaning that there's not one "slow" service an hour (roughly speaking the fast services take roughly 25 minutes and the slow one takes roughly 40 mins, so runs within just a minute or two of the "fast" services, so is little use to longer distance passengers). That should help even the passenger demand out a bit better.

Aye the problem is the section coming into Leeds from the east, if another line could be added over the viaduct it would go some way to allowing services to speed up. Also doesn't help that there isn't a loop near Cross Gates, to allow fast services to pass the stoppers.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Aye the problem is the section coming into Leeds from the east, if another line could be added over the viaduct it would go some way to allowing services to speed up. Also doesn't help that there isn't a loop near Cross Gates, to allow fast services to pass the stoppers.

I wonder why if it would help they don't reinstate the through lines through Cross Gates station.

 

[172212]

I think Bordesley, definitely. It only opens on matchdays, and it's not even that close to the stadium

 

[142094]

I wonder why if it would help they don't reinstate the through lines through Cross Gates station.

Would be quite a simple job, and would come into its own when there are disruptions.

 

[Scotrail84]

Carstairs has to be in with a shout too. Also invergowrie station near Dundee.

 

[Flywaver]

Water Orton. We have Coleshill now. The track layout could be improved with line speed of 70 instead of 30mph junction. Water Orton just serves Trainspotters...

 

[lm321412]

Water Orton. We have Coleshill now. The track layout could be improved with line speed of 70 instead of 30mph junction. Water Orton just serves Trainspotters...

I would imagine this would be quite amusing, few of the Anoraks being chained to the railings as a protest of the stations closure!

 

[dvboy]

Wrexham Central.

 

[LE Greys]

Carstairs has to be in with a shout too. Also invergowrie station near Dundee.

Carstairs could do with a bit of modification. The south-east curve ought to be relaid on the old alignment that crosses a field east of the station, so XCs could round it at a higher speed. The current curve is only where it is so it can connect with a closed branch line, I don't think it ever had platforms. Probably, an all-new station somewhere nearer Carstairs itself might work. All this would allow the main line curve to be eased, possibly speeding it up to a full 125 EPS.

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=55.689052,-3.669348&spn=0.027481,0.077162&t=h&z=14

 

[Eagle]

The south-east curve ought to be relaid on the old alignment that crosses a field east of the station, so XCs could round it at a higher speed.

I've seen that line from the train many times; didn't realize it was a former track. Why was the curve downsized in the first place? you've already answered that, I'm an idiot

(Also as a pedant I have to point out that XC don't use that curve, it's VT and TPE, and the Highland sleeper. XC use the north curve, which for the record could do with doubling.)

 

[LE Greys]

I've seen that line from the train many times; didn't realize it was a former track. Why was the curve downsized in the first place? you've already answered that, I'm an idiot

(Also as a pedant I have to point out that XC don't use that curve, it's VT and TPE, and the Highland sleeper. XC use the north curve, which for the record could do with doubling.)

Not such an idiot, I went round that curve on a VT Voyager quite recently, so I'm the one being dense. And to be honest, I think I answered that in an edit.

 

[Eagle]

I went round that curve on a VT Voyager quite recently...

If you go round it in coach L of a double Voyager you can see the driver from your window.

(Actually I went round it on the sleeper last Friday morning in the 16th coach of 16; couldn't see out the window though.)

 

[asylumxl]

I think the Waterloo and City line should be closed. It'd do the bankers good to get exercise. Although, they get plenty in the proverbial sense in that they run off with everyones money.

 

[tbtc]

Carstairs has to be in with a shout too

For the level of service that it gets, and the cost of maintaining such a large staffed station with only a handful of services, there's certainly a case.

Carstairs is a frustrating one - in a different world it could be a busy hub, with WCML services stopping there to give decent connections to Edinburgh/ Glasgow/ Central Belt (a bit like Cornbrook on Manchester Metrolink, used as an interchange even if there were no people starting/finishing journeys there).

But that would require co-ordination between TOCs to provide a fairly regular interchange between (say) Glasgow/Stirling/Edinburgh services and (say) Manchester/ London/ Birmingham/ Liverpool services, which isn't going to happen any time soon (why should Virgin stop services there so that TPE passengers have better connections etc?).

Some stations (like Breich) are clearly no-hopers, but Carstairs could have been something.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I think the Waterloo and City line should be closed. It'd do the bankers good to get exercise. Although, they get plenty in the proverbial sense in that they run off with everyones money.

I guess it's too late to link it to anything else now (given how congested land under London's streets is, and how prohibitively expensive it would be to tunnel) but I'm surprised that this was never linked to anything else when it was constructed - if you were starting from scratch you'd maybe have the southern side of the Circle running that way between Westminster and Blackfriars. It'll never change now though.

 

[LE Greys]

I think the Waterloo and City line should be closed. It'd do the bankers good to get exercise. Although, they get plenty in the proverbial sense in that they run off with everyones money.

I'm not sure about the underground alignments or loading gauge, but is it possible to link the Drain to the DLR at Bank?

Cascade the stock to the Central Line or use it for spares.

 

[Eagle]

I'm not sure about the underground alignments or loading gauge, but is it possible to link the Drain to the DLR at Bank?

I think not; they are directly on top of each other, more or less, and perpendicular. It is possible, though probably unnecessarily expensive, to link it to Moorgate—you would need to enlarge the tunnels though.

I think the only plausible thing that'll happen to the W&C is maybe opening a new set of platforms at Blackfriars.

 

[RichmondCommu]

I think the Waterloo and City line should be closed. It'd do the bankers good to get exercise. Although, they get plenty in the proverbial sense in that they run off with everyones money.

Its workers in the City and Canary Wharf that ensure that people in the north get their Giro's every month. Trust me the Waterloo and City is a God send!

 

[Ivo]

I think the Waterloo and City line should be closed. It'd do the bankers good to get exercise. Although, they get plenty in the proverbial sense in that they run off with everyones money.

It's a very useful shortcut for us too you know!

I agree that it should have platforms at Blackfriars. It's not as though it's off-course.

 

[Eagle]

I agree that it should have platforms at Blackfriars. It's not as though it's off-course.

And (unlike the Central line at Shoreditch High Street), it wouldn't cause too much bother to close while the necessary works are carried out.

 

[asylumxl]

Its workers in the City and Canary Wharf that ensure that people in the north get their Giro's every month. Trust me the Waterloo and City is a God send!

That's fine. I'm not in the North and have a job and pay taxes and national insurance .

 

[ushawk]

I think Bordesley, definitely. It only opens on matchdays, and it's not even that close to the stadium

Its a good 15 minute walk, but still the closest to the stadium. Does get well used on matchdays too (have used it a few times).

Think Pevensey Bay and Doleham should be shut down in my neck of the woods. Pevensey Bay is a long walk along the A259 (which i dont think has a pavement along either) and Pevensey is served by Pevensey and Westham.

Doleham has literally nothing there, be interesting to see how many used it last year.

 

[bluenoxid]

With regards to Pontefract Baghill, what would be gained by sending York - Sheffield via Barnsley instead of direct?

I can see the benefits of closing mothballing Baghill, extra services to Featherstone, Kirkgate and Barnsley.

Featherstone gets a direct link to Sheffield and York. Kirkgate and Barnsley (plus any other stops served) get direct links to York.

Whilst the service would be longer and the service would involve route learning for staff over the curve, I can see some very useful benefits for the local areas served by providing this diversion.

The only problems is that the local stations north of Sheffield will lose 3 tpd and their direct links to York and Baghill would have to be mothballed and possibly closed if new services cannot be found for it (lets be honest, a parly might be an option to retain route knowledge but it is not a winner unless it is done late at night as part of a stock move)

With regards to extra services through the East of Leeds corridor, one option might be to send a Hull stopper via Castleford, so a York stopper would travel through 15/16 and roll through Castleford towards Selby and on to Hull.

 

[142094]

Interesting question that. Although sending more trains via Barnsley would give those stations direct links to York, there are already frequent services between Leeds and Sheffield so not sure how much time would be saved.

 

[MarkyT]

I nominate Battersby for closure on the Middlesbrough - Whitby line together with a new direct chord between Great Ayton and Kildale.

 

[Statto]

Think Hawarden Bridge on the Borderlines should close, only 7 trains a day stop there,[4 Morning peak, 3 Afternoon peak, in both directions] everytime i've been on a train that stops there hardly anyone has boarded or at alighted from the train.

 

[LadyDeltic]

Breich is an obvious example. It only gets a few trains a day and has a tiny annual passenger usage count (68 in 2010/11!), while the nearby stations at Fauldhouse and Addiewell see much more passenger use (over 43,000 and over 22,000 in 2010/11, respectively) and an hourly service.

No doubt someone's mentioned them already, but several stations in Angus would also be prominent contenders. Barry Links had 74 passengers in 2010/11 while Golf Street had 122; meanwhile, Carnoustie station, which is about a couple of miles from Barry Links and less than a mile from Golf Street, had over 91,000. It seems bizarre, but maybe I'm missing something.