Speculative Silly idea fun-time: 'Darlington-Aycliffe Parkway'

[cuccir]

The East Coast Mainline crosses the A1 at junction 59, just north of Darlington.

Have there ever been any suggestions of a 'parkway' style station here? If not, why not - wouldn't there be a market? It's easily accessible from most of County Durham, Teesside, Richmondshire etc, without the difficulty of driving into Darlington.

Or does Darlo itself simply serve this population well enough without the need for such a station?

Class this as part of the nonsense speculation threads, but I'd be intrigued to hear a few thoughts!

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Edit - for clarity, the location I'm looking at is here.

 

[Harbornite]

Fun isn't allowed on here, check the forum rules.

Nah, in all honesty it seems like a decent site with fairly good road access. I cannot comment on whether or not there is sufficient demand for a station here .

 

[telstarbox]

Two considerations:

Line capacity - if you stop at your station is there capacity to stop at the town station as well and maintain the service?

Abstraction - if your new station takes passengers away from the town station, as opposed to generating new traffic itself, the business case collapses. You also need to think about the connecting traffic between the mainline and the branches to Bishop Auckland and Middlesbrough/Saltburn.

 

[FQTV]

In isolation, I think it's a very good idea indeed.

It would almost certainly be a case of being careful what we wish for though, as Darlington Bank Top is already something of an anachronism.

If other franchise developments see more traffic from Teesside heading through Yarm, then interchange numbers are going to fall even more at BT.

It would be a tragedy, in my personal opinion, for anything to happen to Bank Top, but everytime I pass through, I marvel at what the costs of maintenance and operation must be for that trainshed, with comparatively little business going on beneath it.

So, before a parkway is considered, I'd rather see a real development plan for Bank Top to secure its future.

In other news, I think that I'd probably prefer to see the increasingly abandoned expanses of Tyne Yard developed into a park and ride parkway for Newcastle and Gateshead, with Metro and bus connections, before anything else in this neck of the woods.

 

[AndrewP]

I think its a great idea if it does not hold up existing trains too much as it would have a big catchment area from North Yorks too (including me when heading north).

Darlington Bank Top is a Grade 2* listed building so there are no real worries there.

With regard to the comment on Tyne Yard being used for Park and Ride I believe this has been mentioned in the plans for the upgrade of the Tyne and Wear metro.

How about HS4 linking York and HS2 / HS3 to Newcastle with a Durham Parkway?

 

[DarloRich]

This is a preposterously silly idea. There is absolutely no need for this station. None.

The current station well serves the surrounding area and all of the locations suggested by the OP as being in the catchment area of this new station.

Madness & completely pointless. I cant even bring myself to point out why obvious as it is!

I'd probably prefer to see the increasingly abandoned expanses of Tyne Yard developed into a park and ride parkway for Newcastle and Gateshead, with Metro and bus connections, before anything else in this neck of the woods.

Tyne is a High Out Put Base

 

[backontrack]

Perhaps a local service would be more in order, if an hourly path can be found - serving Gateshead, Chester-le-Street, Ferryhill, Durham, Aycliffe and Darlington.

However, the first 4 could be served by the Stillington service, and there probably aren't the paths...

 

[DarloRich]

Perhaps a local service would be more in order, if an hourly path can be found - serving Gateshead, Chester-le-Street, Ferryhill, Durham, Aycliffe and Darlington.

However, the first 4 could be served by the Stillington service, and there probably aren't the paths...

how do you get from Darlington to Aycliffe to Ferryhill? The lines are not connected other than at Darlington.

There is also the small problem of no station at Gateshead or Ferryhill. In the case of the latter is the catchment there to justify it? For the former does the metro no provide adequate connections to Newcastle Central?

 

[bluenoxid]

how do you get from Darlington to Aycliffe to Ferryhill? The lines are not connected other than at Darlington.

There is also the small problem of no station at Gateshead or Ferryhill. In the case of the latter is the catchment there to justify it? For the former does the metro no provide adequate connections to Newcastle Central?

The Metro provides adequate connections but because of the zoning system, costs transferring passengers a disproportionate amount of money.

 

[DarloRich]

The Metro provides adequate connections but because of the zoning system, costs transferring passengers a disproportionate amount of money.

the 57 million buses per hour also offer a good service!

I am not convinced a reopened Gateshead station would be of much use considering the changed travel facilities since closure. Where would we put the new station?

 

[bluenoxid]

Nowhere near Gateshead. I agree that money is better spent elsewhere such as Washington or Team Valley. Heworth and Central offer reasonable connectivity.

 

[cuccir]

T
Madness & completely pointless. I cant even bring myself to point out why obvious as it is!

Given that was the precise question asked, perhaps you might answer, rather than being rude about it. Is it the case that Darlington offers sufficient parking and is easy enough to drive into?

There is also the small problem of no station at Gateshead or Ferryhill. In the case of the latter is the catchment there to justify it? For the former does the metro no provide adequate connections to Newcastle Central?

On another line, there'd be a case for a station at Ferryhill. But as its the ECML with no 'local' services running, it wouldn't seem to be justified (what would serve it?).

 

[DarloRich]

Given that was the precise question asked, perhaps you might answer, rather than being rude about it. Is it the case that Darlington offers sufficient parking and is easy enough to drive into?

1. The land geography at the proposed site does not suit a new station interchange
2. it is in the middle of nowhere with little immediately local population
3. The A167 from the town to the motorway is a standard road rather than a dual carriage way and would have to carry all the traffic destined from the station rather than the current station.
4. it would be difficult to rebuild this road as it runs through residential areas
5. There is no railway connectivity at the new station. You lose all interchanges with the Tees Valley/ Teesside lines.
6. Connectivity is lost from the North Yorkshire catchment due to road layouts. Only Richmond or Catterick can easily access the A1
7. The population density and affluence of the North East does not justify this kind of investment
8. Road connectivity form Teesside is made more difficult without an extension of the A66 by pass to the north of the town.
9. Whinfield Road and Salters lane struggle with traffic now because of the lack of the above bypass.
10. Roads links from NW county Durham point to Darlington not the motorway
11. An entirely new bus network would be needed to move people form the town to the new station
12. Coatham Mundeville is in a conservation area

Will that do for starters?

On another line, there'd be a case for a station at Ferryhill. But as its the ECML with no 'local' services running, it wouldn't seem to be justified (what would serve it?).

I doubt it there is a case. Ferryhill has a population of about 12,000. You might pull in from Spennymoor and Sedgefield plus the local villages but the numbers aren't massive and the bus service to Durham is OK.

 

[tbtc]

Perhaps a local service would be more in order, if an hourly path can be found - serving Gateshead, Chester-le-Street, Ferryhill, Durham, Aycliffe and Darlington

An hourly service would be a waste of time at Gateshead.

Practically nobody would use it to Newcastle (given there's a dozen Metros per hour, practically a bus per minute over the Tyne).

On another line, there'd be a case for a station at Ferryhill. But as its the ECML with no 'local' services running, it wouldn't seem to be justified (what would serve it?).

That's the reason I'd suggest for not building a station.

At the moment the existing Chester le Street struggles - given that there's not a "local" service to stop at it, so it relies on InterCity services being slowed down.

I think that the headline times from London/ Birmingham/ Manchester to Newcastle/ Edinburgh etc are probably going to be so sensitive that you'd struggle to get services to stop at a new station.

Given how busy the A1 can get, there's certainly merit in a Parkway station, but I don't think that this example is the answer. A better site could be where the Leamside line crosses the A690 right by the Durham Park & Ride site (near Ramside Hall etc) - given parking problems in Durham/ convenient for Wearside etc. And, in the absence of other services on the Leamside line, there'd be scope for a relatively frequent stopping pattern.

On minor trouble is re-opening the ... oh... not such a simple idea But, still, in an ideal world...

 

[DarloRich]

Given how busy the A1 can get, there's certainly merit in a Parkway station, but I don't think that this example is the answer. A better site could be where the Leamside line crosses the A690 right by the Durham Park & Ride site (near Ramside Hall etc) - given parking problems in Durham/ convenient for Wearside etc. And, in the absence of other services on the Leamside line, there'd be scope for a relatively frequent stopping pattern.

On minor trouble is re-opening the ... oh... not such a simple idea But, still, in an ideal world...

were the mythical cash available to spend on one or the other project i would spend it on Leamisde. I think it would benefit more people, especially if linked to the metro & NR