Is that a relatively new phenomena (in which case the overcrowded services should have been reflected in increased passenger numbers) or a long term thing (which the TOC hasnt addressed, despite the overall increase in DMU carriages at Northern)?
Hull has seemed to get a fairly good quality allocation of units from Northern (for all the grass is always greener in PTEs stuff that we see on here, Hull has had 158s on the kind of routes that would be Pacer dominated elsewhere under Northern), but it may be that theyve not increased the quantity of resources to cope with the crowding that you refer to (?). Weve certainly seen more DMUs thrown at Manchester/ Leeds to cope with increased demand there (but I dont know about Hull).
So these are the figures I was referring to
Approximately
75% of seats are taken on the Hull-Scarborough line throughout the peak period and loadings
can be up to 145% on the busiest services between Beverley, Cottingham and Hull in the peak
period (see table 20.1, figures from the yorkshire and Humber regional planning assessment for
the railway, 2007).
Table 20.1: Train loadings in the morning peak, by line
Line Peak train loading % Number of trains
in peak period
Harrogate to Leeds 213 5
Calder Valley Line to Leeds 168 6
Scarborough to Hull 145 6
Airedale to Leeds 142 6
york to Leeds
(stopper not via Harrogate) 140 3
Wharfedale line to Leeds 139 6
Five towns to Leeds 133 3
Sheffield to Leeds
(Northern via Barnsley) 131 4
(Apologies for the poor formatting!)
I think my key observation is that most of those listed above have received extra capacity. One of the key problems is that the current timetable has the most attractive peak arrival being from Scarborough, meaning any extra capacity provided would not be required for most of its journey.
I agree, but I think Hull's relative isolation is as relevant for showing the low base in 2004 as it is for showing little growth in the 12 years since then.
I think, additionally, the issue for Hull is that the city's main commuter belt- North East Lincolnshire- is effectively not connected to it by rail, and hasn't been since the New Holland ferry closed in the 70s.
I'm not sure you could say Hull's "main" commuter belt is in Lincolnshire. Surely it's the East Riding?!
Interesting comparison to be made in population:
Beverley 29,000
Driffield 13,000
Bridlington 35,000
Skipton 14,000
Ilkley 14,000
Noe clearly Leeds is always going to be a bigger draw than Hull, the potential market is significant given that the journey time to Bridlington is almost identical as Skipton at 40 minutes.
