Cleator Moor and Frizington

[backontrack]

Altnabreac's 5 golden rules of a successful rail reopening:

• Population of 10,000+
• 60 minutes (75 at a push) journey time of a major employment centre.
• Extant or mainly unobstructed trackbed
• Ability to extend an existing service so more terminal capacity is not required.
• Regeneration potential of a deprived area

Let's take a look at Whitehaven–Cleator Moor–Frizington in Copeland.

The Cleator Moor station would be in the centre of town under Leconfield. In terms of the preserved alignment, the Frizington station – at the foot of Parkside Road – is too far out of the way to be useful; a station at Yeathouse Road, midway between the closed stops at Yeathouse and Winder, has more potential to be useful for passengers. Seeking a new alignment from Frizington Park to the Newtown area of Frizington might be a desirable solution, though more costly.

• 7,000 in Cleator Moor, 3,600 in Frizington, 1,000 in Moor Row. [1 point]
• Less than 60 minutes to Whitehaven and Workington; additionally Carlisle could be reached in 100 minutes, though that may be pushing it [1 point]
• Entirety of the trackbed from Winder to Mirehouse Junction is extant as part of the southern branch of the c2c cycle route. Possibly new alignment required at Frizington end [0.5 points]
• There are still some peak-time Carlisle-Whitehaven services, but most have already been extended though to Barrow [0.5 points]
• Some potential for regeneration of the area, particularly Cleator Moor [1 point]

Probably scores 4 points on balance.

A few more thoughts.

• The connection would have to be reinstated at Mirehouse Junction
• In terms of the future of the line, an aspiration could be for a certain Carlisle-Whitehaven frequency with extensions to either Frizington or Barrow. The Cleator Moor services could potentially pick up the Dalston and Aspatria calls from the Barrow services (though Flimby, Harrington, Parton and Corkickle passengers want to get to Sellafield)
• A major centre of population for Moor Row, Cleator Moor and Frizington is Sellafield. Therefore, you probably can't open a railway to Frizington without first reinstating the loop and the third platform at Whitehaven so that interchanging from the Cleator Moor branch to Barrow services is easy. (And if you're going to have two platforms somewhere, wouldn't Corkickle be more useful than Whitehaven? It's directly south of the tunnel and would be the easiest for this kind of interchange)
• Cleator Moor is well-positioned for the road to Ennerdale, so throw that in if you want to
• Perhaps even a shuttle to and from Whitehaven (reversing into the north-facing bay platform) could be worthwhile. Mondays-Fridays, there's five buses an hour from Cleator Moor to Whitehaven, four of which start in Frizington (and two of which continue to Maryport via Workington and Harrington).

Probably a bit of a no-hoper, but I'd be interested to see peoples' thoughts.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is there any reason why this can't be provided effectively by bus?

 

[najaB]

It strikes me, at a glance, as entirely doable but of questionable overall value. Probably a category 5 project on my just made up list of categories:

1. Interventions on the existing network to remove serious capacity constraints (e.g. a grade-separated junction to replace a flat one on a mainline route)
2. Interventions on the existing network that improve connectivity or resilience (e.g. remodelling station approach to allow flexible platforming or upgrading a diversionary route)
3. Reinstatements that remove serious capacity constraints (e.g. redoubling a section of line or reinstating a chord - the Lentran Loop would fall into this category)
4. Reinstatements that bring large population centres (back) onto the network (e.g. Osmakirk branch)
5. Reinstatements that bring small population centres (back) onto the network.
6. Random crayon lines on maps that join arbitrary points.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Osmakirk? Do you mean Ormskirk-Skem?

 

[backontrack]

It strikes me, at a glance, as entirely doable but of questionable overall value. Probably a category 5 project on my just made up list of categories:

1. Interventions on the existing network to remove serious capacity constraints (e.g. a grade-separated junction to replace a flat one)
2. Interventions on the existing network that improve connectivity or resilience (e.g. remodelling station approach to allow flexible platforming or upgrading a diversionary route)
3. Reinstatements that remove serious capacity constraints (e.g. redoubling a section of line or reinstating a chord - the Lentran Loop would fall into this category)
4. Reinstatements that bring large population centres (back) onto the network (e.g. Osmakirk branch)
5. Reinstatement that bring small population centres (back) onto the network.
6. Random crayon lines on maps joining arbitrary points.

I think that's a fair judgement.

What brought me to actually ask this question in the first place is that my AA UK atlas actually shows the line as still being extant as far as Moor Row. Which it obviously isn't, but it got me thinking...this obviously isn't a high-priority reopening, but I just wondered whether it might meet some of the criteria. It's not one that I've ever really heard get mentioned.

For comparison, Millom (population 8,000) reputedly has one of the highest figures in the UK in terms of passenger footfall. However, that's because the railway line takes people to exactly where they want to go – Sellafield, Barrow, and potentially West Cumbria. In contrast, Cleator Moor passengers likely want to go to Whitehaven, Sellafield (would require a change at Whitehaven as well as a long wait there depending on paths through Corkickle, though the loop at St Bees is handy in that respect), and potentially Workington in terms of leisure travel.

For what it's worth, I think the reopening that could be most useful for West Cumbria would be Workington North. The temporary station was very conveniently sited for Dunmail Park.

Is there any reason why this can't be provided effectively by bus?

No, there isn't. There's four/five buses an hour on weekdays.

It's just that the alignment is there – and Copeland just happens to be a marginal constituency...

 

[najaB]

Osmakirk? Do you mean Ormskirk-Skem?

Yes, sorry. It was Skem that I was thinking about.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Why not reopen Whitehaven-Egremont-Sellafield?

 

[yorksrob]

Well, I've done the bus from Whitehaven a few times and would potentially use the train were it there.

Bus takes a long time, and I don't know the area well enough to know where to get off easily.

 

[backontrack]

Why not reopen Whitehaven-Egremont-Sellafield?

That would be a decent shout. The alignment is mostly preserved, but you'd have to bridge the A595 and work out a route through Egremont that didn't destroy the town. Egremont probably has more potential for new housing than Cleator Moor, and might also have a little visitor potential. You'd probably want a station at Woodend between Cleator and Bigrigg. It's a pity there isn't an easy way of running a line from Whitehaven to Sellafield via both Cleator Moor and Egremont.

 

[30907]

Just to point out that Altnabreac's rules refer to single station reopenings not line reopenings. Sorry!
Having Googlemapped, it's an intriguing (if heretical) thought that a line from Braystones through Egremont would today tap more traffic than via St Bees - it's fairly obvious why they didn't choose that option in the beginning, though!

 

[backontrack]

Just to point out that Altnabreac's rules refer to single station reopenings not line reopenings. Sorry!

Ah, but do they?

Extant or mainly unobstructed trackbed

 

[johnnychips]

The comedian Mike Harding said, “Have you ever been to Cleator Moor? It’s about two miles long and one house wide. When the chippy set on fire it took two years to burn down.“

Nucleated settlements, where houses are quite near to a potential station are different from linear ones, where buses will provide a more convenient service.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The comedian Mike Harding said, “Have you ever been to Cleator Moor? It’s about two miles long and one house wide. When the chippy set on fire it took two years to burn down.“

Nucleated settlements, where houses are quite near to a potential station are different from linear ones, where buses will provide a more convenient service.

Must admit that while I don't know the place well, I have been through it and I'm amazed it can support a 5 buses per hour service - I'd have thought half hourly at absolute most, I would more have expected hourly!

 

[backontrack]

Must admit that while I don't know the place well, I have been through it and I'm amazed it can support a 5 buses per hour service - I'd have thought half hourly at absolute most, I would more have expected hourly!

It's true – and, at some points during the day, it becomes 6 per hour!

• 31 (Maryport - Workington - Moorclose - Harrington - Distington - Whitehaven - Hensingham - Cleator Moor - Wath Brow - Frizington) every half hour (Stagecoach)
• 32 (Whitehaven - Hensingham - West Cumberland Hospital - Cleator Moor - Wath Brow - Cleator - Woodend - Egremont) every hour (Stagecoach)
• 31H (Whitehaven - Hensingham - West Cumberland Hospital - Cleator Moor - Wath Brow - Frizington) every hour off-peak (Stagecoach)
• 21 (Whitehaven - Hensingham - West Cumberland Hospital - Cleator Moor - Wath Brow - Frizington) every half-hour off-peak weekdays (Reay's)

There's also a daily return on weekdays on the X9 to/from Frizington (starting at Asby) to/from Newton Rigg via Cleator Moor, Whitehaven, Workington, Cockermouth, Portinscale and Keswick, which must be quite a journey.

 

[Altnabreac]

Just to point out that Altnabreac's rules refer to single station reopenings not line reopenings. Sorry!
Having Googlemapped, it's an intriguing (if heretical) thought that a line from Braystones through Egremont would today tap more traffic than via St Bees - it's fairly obvious why they didn't choose that option in the beginning, though!

They are intended to apply mainly to line reopening not to single station reopening. You can apply some of the same rules to single station reopening but you can get away with a slightly smaller population size for reopening on an existing line. Probably 5,000 as a rule of thumb.

Incidentally for this particular case I wouldn't class either West Cumbria or Carlisle as a major employment centre so I'd score it 0 on that criteria.