If you had £500m to spend on closed Northern rail lines

[lancastria]

If you had £500m to spend on reopening closed railway lines in the North of England, which ones would you concentrate on (and why)?
And how far do you think that money will take you?

 

[sportzbar]

At risk of going slightly off topic, personally I'd first spend that money adding the 2 platforms at Manchester Piccadilly and sort out the rest of the Castlefield corridor...

 

[Bletchleyite]

At risk of going slightly off topic, personally I'd first spend that money adding the 2 platforms at Manchester Piccadilly and sort out the rest of the Castlefield corridor...

Yeah, that. And possibly expanding Victoria.

But assuming that's not an option, connecting Skelmersdale to the rail network would be fairly high up the list, I reckon.

 

[Mag_seven]

I suppose the actual question is how much £500m would actually get you given the astronomical cost of anything rail related these days?

 

[30907]

I presume this relates to the latest Conservative pledge, which talks about "isolated towns," but seems to be being spun WRT the North?
£500m will get you 50 miles at Borders Railway prices.

I suppose it depends how you define isolation - geographically, I would put Bude top of the list, but the business case would struggle even with the subsidy. And you might want to focus on deprived areas.
As well as Skelmersdale, there's Ashington, and it might tip the balance for Skipton-Colne.

 

[JohnR]

Assuming it is for "the North":

Skipton-Colne: £100m
Ashington-Blyth: £200m
Stockton-Ferryhill: £200m

 

[Ianno87]

Skelmersdale if I had to pick one. Fits the budget, and provides a rational strategy need (connecting housing supply to employment).

 

[apk55]

Middlewich line is another possibility. Track in situ and usable, only need to consider platforms and minor track alterations. One problem I know is finding space at Crewe so may have to build a bay platform there.
Another possibility is extending the Eccles tram line to Worsley which would be a good place for a park and ride station.

 

[telstarbox]

I can't see the Worsley locals being huge fans...

 

[MarlowDonkey]

One problem I know is finding space at Crewe so may have to build a bay platform there.

On the left side, facing north, Crewe has what seems to be an abandoned platform or two.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I think the idea was for "UK" .....

When I read it in the paper today , one cannot but think that existing lines ( Ashington for example) would tick a few boxes for delivery , fairly quickly) - but as ever, other things kick in of a non business case issue) ....the money quoted does not go far really.

 

[Bald Rick]

I presume this relates to the latest Conservative pledge, which talks about "isolated towns," but seems to be being spun WRT the North?
£500m will get you 50 miles at Borders Railway prices.

£500m would get you 35 miles at Borders Railway prices - if it was delivered in 2012-4.

Skipton-Colne: £100m

Ha ha. Try £300m, minimum.


Ashington is a slam dunk. Skelmersdale has a lot going for it (although not a Beeching, or indeed any, closure IIRC). Portishead likely to happen too (albeit not in the ‘north’, but then it wasn’t announced as such.)

 

[Bevan Price]

Middlewich line is another possibility. Track in situ and usable, only need to consider platforms and minor track alterations. One problem I know is finding space at Crewe so may have to build a bay platform there.
Another possibility is extending the Eccles tram line to Worsley which would be a good place for a park and ride station.

Middlewich needs a lot of track work, to raise the speed limit to something a lot more than the current very low limit. (Is it still 20-25 mph for much of the route?)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

£500m would get you 35 miles at Borders Railway prices - if it was delivered in 2012-4.



Ha ha. Try £300m, minimum.

Skipton - Colne - one of my "favourites" - maybe try a free bus between the two to prove the market (if there is one), a few quid really in the bigger picture.

This hype about "reversing" Beeching is best done - dare I day it , by a refresh of the ATOC Connecting Communties report of a few years ago, (if there is an affordable way of doing that now with staff who actually know what they are looking at !) , the geography and economics have changed just a bit in the last 40 years or so.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Middlewich needs a lot of track work, to raise the speed limit to something a lot more than the current very low limit. (Is it still 20-25 mph for much of the route?)

A lot cheaper than restoring some long gone line. Key issue is , - to be boring - is there a market now.?

 

[Marton]

Guisborough

 

[Tobbes]

Not in the North, but Steyning and Cranleigh lines.

 

[bluenoxid]

This hype about "reversing" Beeching is best done - dare I day it , by a refresh of the ATOC Connecting Communties report of a few years ago, (if there is an affordable way of doing that now with staff who actually know what they are looking at !) , the geography and economics have changed just a bit in the last 40 years or so.

A desktop refresh would be nice and I would be supportive of that. Connecting Communities is now 10 years old.

What would also be useful is reviewing corridors where transport connectivity is weak despite the various push and pull factors that match other areas that are better connected and trying to work out what could be done.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Skelmersdale has a lot going for it (although not a Beeching, or indeed any, closure IIRC). Portishead likely to happen too (albeit not in the ‘north’, but then it wasn’t announced as such.)

True that the proposed line would be entirely new, rather than a reversal of a Beeching/Marples closure. The old railway to Skelmersdale (which the good Doctor did close) ran from Ormskirk to the area now known as "Old Skem". Large parts of the trackbed are still intact, particularly near the village of Westhead which is about halfway between Ormskirk and the "centre" of the new town. The old route wouldn't be much use for most of modern Skelmersdale.

Skelmersdale is a perfect example of 1960s short-termism. The railway was closed just as the new town was being built, and anyone who's visited Skem will see how car-centric it is. It also wasn't included in Merseyside, despite most of the new residents being relocated from the Liverpool area.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The route ran from Ormskirk via Old Skem/Blaguegate (Railway Road) to Rainford Junction (the station now called Rainford - you can see the curve of the northern platform where it came in if you go there and look, or at least you could last time I was there). The southern part is more likely to be "reinstated" but indeed on a different alignment.

Like the way Milton Keynes Central was not part of the original plan for MK, it was felt Skem wouldn't need a station because the New Town concept provided everything you'd need - housing, employment and entertainment. It didn't, of course, quite work that way, and Skem's run down nature might have at least in part been avoided had commuting to employment in Liverpool without a car been more viable. Might, of course - Kirkby has that link and is still very run-down.

 

[Energy]

You're also going to need trains for these services giving you 4 choices, new diesel trains as none or very few are available, electrify with new emus, electrify and use the emus which are currently in storage or use battery emus. That is basically 2 choices, new stock and/or electrify.

 

[JohnR]

You're also going to need trains for these services giving you 4 choices, new diesel trains as none or very few are available, electrify with new emus, electrify and use the emus which are currently in storage or use battery emus. That is basically 2 choices, new stock and/or electrify.

You forgot - Electrify elsewhere and cascade the diesel units....

 

[JohnR]

Ha ha. Try £300m, minimum.

The SERLAP report of 2016 quoted £104m. NO reason to suggest thats tripled in the last 3 years.

 

[quantinghome]

The SERLAP report of 2016 quoted £104m. NO reason to suggest thats tripled in the last 3 years.

There's every reason to think the quoted cost is significantly underestimated.

 

[Karl]

I'd reinstate both Burscough curves and have a direct link to Southport from Preston.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Middlewich. BCR of 4 to 1 (at the last time of checking) vs the borders railway's 0.5 to 1. Granted you have to build new platforms at Middlewich and Gadbrook Park, as well as rebuild Northwich to raise the platform hight and add a 3rd platform. Crewe could be tackled at a later date as part of HS2.

 

[The Planner]

Middlewich. BCR of 4 to 1 (at the last time of checking) vs the borders railway's 0.5 to 1. Granted you have to build new platforms at Middlewich and Gadbrook Park, as well as rebuild Northwich to raise the platform hight and add a 3rd platform. Crewe could be tackled at a later date as part of HS2.

Crewe is being tackled as part of HS2, Middlewich plays no part in it.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Crewe is being tackled as part of HS2, Middlewich plays no part in it.

I'm talking about finding/making a Manchester facing platform for the service to terminate at.

 

[xotGD]

Bishop Auckland - Durham

 

[tom73]

Referring to Post #4, astronomical prices, how about this, referring to Skelmersdale. QUOTE In September 2017, Merseytravel and Lancashire County Council committed £5 million into a study to investigate the possibility of re-opening the station. UNQUOTE. £5M just to talk about it and nothing else.