No agreed. Crayonista mode - would be OHLE Salford Cresent/Lostock Junction to Wigan then Southport + Preston Ormskirk with all curves reinstated and bi/tri-mode stock and if 3rd rail became life expired replace gradually with OHLE. Wigan Kirby while you are at it too! OK crayonista mode off.
Regulators are dead seat against any extension of third rail though aren't they. The new Merseyrail stock is meant to be capable of conversion to dual voltage so it can run on 25kv OHLE, so would it not be simpler just to stick in some basic overhead cabling (it's not exactly high speed).
I thought they were OK with short extensions, rather than there being a blanket ban. I suppose it depends on a few things... The extension to Skem and whether electrification will come through from Wigan at any point (bridges depending obviously). As the second of these is a long way off, it's more likely that 3rd rail will make it to Skem and the change to 25kv would be there, eventually.
Third railing the Southport line, and from Kirkby to Wigan, would allow both to become an integrated part of the Merseyrail network. If you do that, you could just fill in the bridge under Wallgate, and run all the eastbound trains that currently run from Wallgate in/out of North Western.
I am aware of plenty of level crossings on third rail lines, but those lines were electrified when regulations were nowhere near as tight as today.
It's not necessary to construct bridges to get over third rail routes. Plenty of places exist on the third rail network where there is simply a gap in the third rail over level crossings.
There is a substantial amount of traffic from this line, particularly Orrell and Pem in the Manchester direction, from my experience over two thirds of traffic in this area is through traffic at Wigan so terminating at Wallgate is a non starter.
Yes, I am well aware of that fact. However it would be a big enough political hurdle to simply extend third rail, even ignoring the fact that the regulations and standards will almost certainly have changed since mass extensions of third rail last occured. And on the Wigan - Southport line there are crossings every few hundred yards in some areas.
They would interact with Northern services for less distance than the current interaction at Hunts Cross. There are also fewer services going north out of Wigan than there are at Hunts Cross.
Who suggested that?
Maybe, but the last train still leaves Manchester at 1826 and no Sunday service is provided. Note that Northern do not see fit to allow an easement for Off Peak Day tickets to be used on the 1826 departure from Manchester Victoria. There cannot be that much demand for shoppers if Northern haven't even bothered to add a simple easment to Pemberton and Orrel tickets...
Liverpool to Southport is 47 minutes - that is a common journey and is rather a long time for some people to go without access to toilets. Liverpool to Wigan would not exceed that...
I know. I commute to and from Pemberton when I can - but they key words there are 'when I can'. The service as it is now is woefully inadequate. Trains start too late, finish too early, are slow, dirty, too small, and too infrequent.
But to keep the character of Merseyrail as an urban/suburban metro network, expansion should be more or less within the current boundaries. There are plenty of new stations (some of them already actively planned) that could be added to existing lines, and the reopening of the Edge Hill - Bootle line, the restoring of trains to Gateacre and the rest of the outer-city loop at least as far as Broad Green, would make much more sense than sending toiletless metro trains miles into the countryside. Skelmersdale, Burscough and possibly Neston, would be sensible extensions but I can't think of any others. Even Warrington would probably be better served by an improved service (a mix of fast and slow trains) on the CLC as far as Manchester.
Often claimed but unlikely to be a real reason not to do it, if demand is so burgeoning as you claim - there are lots of trains to Kirkby in the evening, and lots to other, similar areas with many of the same social problems where an evening service is provided anyway. The signalling arrangements are more likely to present a reason - but this is only a question of money.
You claim there's lots of demand from shoppers. Shoppers aren't forced to pay high anytime fares on any other route to leave Manchester in the evening, only those going back to Pemberton and Orrell. It's nothing to do with the 'squeeze on finances' - they just like charging more because they can. Or more likely because so few people use it, there is nobody to complain.
Off Peak tickets within the local area restrictions should be valid on the final journey opportunity of the day in all circumstances. It is far from difficult to identify the small number of affected stations within Greater Manchester and introduce a time based easement, or an easement for that specific train. Easy. Loads of other operators do it but Northern have decided not to. What sort of shopper will voluntarily pay £11 for Pemberton to Manchester? It's near double the price...
