Restoring your Railways: Winning schemes announced

[StretfordEnd96]

Stockport to Ashton? But that’s not closed…

Stockport to Ashton is closed - it's never seen a passenger service (as far as I'm aware) - you may be confusing this with Stockport to Stalybridge, in which there is a passenger service but only a skeleton one day a week one (following huge cuts to the once hourly service in 1989)

Coincidently, if it's Ashton-Under-Lyne rail we're talking about, there is no physical possible connection between the two at the moment heading up from Stockport - it gets close but the junction near Ashton Moss faces you away from Ashton Station not towards it .. (historically it was a triangle junction and this was possible)

But, perhaps the conscious is Metrolink, as the current Stockport to Ashton route runs over the top of the Metro on Ashton Moss

 

[javelin]

Could be wrong, but I think this might refer to a new station on the Middlewich line at Rudheath, southeast of Northwich. There is a 'Gad Brook' area here, and Gadbrook Park road close to the line.

Looks like I got it,

Cash to help restore Crewe to Mid Cheshire rail link part of Budget Levelling Up awards

CREWE'S MP Kieran Mullan has welcomed the Chancellor's Autumn Budget and Spending Review, which includes plans to invest in restoring passenger services on a forgotten South to Mid Cheshire rail link.

crewe.nub.news

There is still a freight track along the route, which branches off at Sandbach towards Middlewich and a long-running campaign by the Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association has called for the reinstatement of a a Mid Cheshire to Crewe passenger link with new stations at Middlewich and Gadbrook Park at Rudheath on the outskirts of Northwich.

 

[Sheridan]

Disappointed that places like Amlwych are considered over Fleetwood, Stocksbridge, etc. The government needs to invest more in rail lines in England rather than Wales all the time.

I can only assume this is some sort of wind-up?

 

[William3000]

Disappointing to see East Anglia get nothing yet again.

 

[tbtc]

It's almost like all of the speculation on here (about how various lines are "shovel ready" or "on the front burner") are just hype over reality - as if the Government are prioritising feasibility studies into fairly modest projects rather than finally allowing some rural hamlet a train station, the lightweights!

 

[Bald Rick]

Disappointing to see East Anglia get nothing yet again.

Very few bids received for East Anglia (6 in total), and those that were are absolute no hopers (Hunstanton, Haverhill for example). Some other regions submitted 20-30 proposals.

The possible reopening of Wellington (Somerset) is a promising move, but there are a few issues:
The railway is right at the edge of town

IIRC there are some significant housing proposals around there. Might change the balance of the town geographically and socio-economically.

 

[Glenn1969]

It's almost like all of the speculation on here (about how various lines are "shovel ready" or "on the front burner") are just hype over reality - as if the Government are prioritising feasibility studies into fairly modest projects rather than finally allowing some rural hamlet a train station, the lightweights!

And they are just feasibility studies. I replied to one post on Facebook today suggesting Stocksbridge will take 20 years and even then they will probably say No like they will to most of the rest of these schemes

 

[Starmill]

Disappointing to see East Anglia get nothing yet again.

Someone needs to actually bid for the money if they want to win it. Not a lot of activity in the area.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ve posted previously out what being a ‘winning bid’ means - it’s simply a small amount of contributory funding to do an initial Strategic Outline Business Case, or refine something that has already been done. I’d be surprised if more than half get beyond that stage, as in my experience many of these proposals simply won’t be able to make a business case.

For those that do make a successful initial SOBC, they are then in the queue for more serious funding for proper feasibility and development. What we have seen today is, presumably, the very best of those emerging from the queue (Fawley, Wellington, Cullompton). Even then there’s no guarantee that these three will be taken forward, although their chances are much better.


Also, let’s remember about what hasn’t been announced. This is the third and final round. 200 proposals were received (although some of these are ‘repeats’ sent in again at round 3 after not being selected in rounds 1 or 2). 38 schemes have been awarded the £50k. The rest are now officially out of the running for central government funding. There’s some old favourites in there...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Oct 2021 ==

And they are just feasibility studies.

They are not feasibility studies. They are business cases. Most will have little in the way of feasibility beyond lines on a map (for the reopened lines proposals).

 

[Brush 4]

Yes, good point, all of the reopenings under construction are of lines that were never lifted except Bedford- Cambridge if that is definitely happening. It will be interesting to see if any routes that are overgrown jungles actually make it to the spades in the ground category. This will be the real test of Reversing Beeching. Hopefully Project Speed can get say, the S&D open by next Tuesday. No that's just being silly.....Wednesday.

 

[Bald Rick]

Bedford- Cambridge if that is definitely happening

Not definitely, but it does have a good chance.

Claydon - Bletchley was pretty close to an ‘overgrown jungle’ and that is happening.

However, the real test of ‘Restoring Your Railway’ will be if socio-economics trumps politics.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

My long ago "O" level Welsh cannot assist , as a medieval (or older) language with subtle modernisms , I suspect "giraffe" is not in the vocabularly.

I have fond memories of an ATS garage on Anglesey that proclaimed it did "Teiars. Batris. Siocs. Egsosts. Brecs."...

I suppose some sort of local North Wales service could assist serviceplanning , something like a Llandudno - Bangor - Gaerwen - Amlwch would be postulated.

I expect to be shot down inflames any hour now....

I can see the logic of having a North Wales stopper. Llangefni? At an extreme pinch. But Amlwch? It's the sort of one-horse town where the horse has been boiled up and is currently the main ingredient of the stew at a pub you wouldn't want to go into.

If you were to have a North Wales stopper which terminated at a reopened line somewhere beyond Bangor, then Caernarfon is the obvious choice. But that's another thread.

 

[IanXC]

So it sounds like 38 schemes (over all 3 rounds) have finally been awarded part funding for development of a business case. I wonder when we can expect to see the first of the outcome of these, and what the next steps in the process look like?

 

[AlastairFraser]

Is this:
Colne, population under 20,000, with an existing rail station and line to Burnley
Skipton, population under 20,000 with an existing rail station and line to Keighley and onto Bradford
~12 miles of new line to connect two very small towns, with only a few small villages en-route.

On the face of it, it looks like this wouldn't justify anything more than a basic bus service, not even a tram line, but a new rail line must be pie in the sky. There's towns which are larger with no rail service at all and towns and cities vastly larger without rail connections to their neighbouring towns.

Is this some sort of missing piece which connects two large towns or cities, or opens up some hefty freight flows which aren't possible? Is there some sort of strategic benefit?

It would prove a useful northern Trans-Pennine line, everyone wanting the Western Central Belt/Lancs/Cumbria from Yorks has to schlep back down to Mcr/ take the slow and infrequent Leeds to Settle/Morecambe lines or change in Edinburgh, or take the slow and relatively infrequent York to Blackpool North service that has to wind its way through the Calder Valley taking up valuable paths there, take 25 mins to do the 12 miles over the Copy Pit route to the East Lancs line, then finally gain a bit of speed up the East Lancs. With 10 miles of new double track railway and 5 miles of upgraded track, you'd be able to shave 30 mins off a lot of journeys at least and introduce more Calder Valley expresses and stoppers across to Burnley, maybe a station on the south eastern outskirts of Burnley.

 

[javelin]

So it sounds like 38 schemes (over all 3 rounds) have finally been awarded part funding for development of a business case. I wonder when we can expect to see the first of the outcome of these, and what the next steps in the process look like?

We already have; Totton and Fawley, Wellington and Cullompton, and Bury - Rochdale (being funded separately) were all selected in round 1.

Edit: Forgot Okehampton too.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Nice to see "Buckley Wells" to Rawtenstall i.e Bury to Rawtenstall. I presume this will be a Metrolink extension, it would put Haslingden/Accrington/Rawtenstall itself/Bacup within reach of most of GM by public transport. I suspect Burnley Bus Company and Northern may be against it on revenue grounds, it would absolutely destroy the former's Witchway revenue and take away a good chunk of revenue on the Blackburn to Mcr via Todmorden from Northern. Burnley Bus Company could recover the service by extending one of their Mainline services to run a frequent feeder service over the hills to Rawtenstall and run a less frequent motorway bus down the M65/A56/M66, then the Bury New Road as normal from Burnley into Central Mcr. Also could find new business running a frequent motorway shuttle down the motorway from Accy to Rawtenstall a lá Pendle Wizz and increase 464 frequency.

 

[AM9]

It got a share of £50k. It's not even going to pay much of the cost of the most basic business case

If there is a business case!

 

[Bald Rick]

So it sounds like 38 schemes (over all 3 rounds) have finally been awarded part funding for development of a business case. I wonder when we can expect to see the first of the outcome of these, and what the next steps in the process look like?

I think I covered it in post #43 above. Given that the first round of ‘winners’ was announced about a year ago, those business cases must all be done now, as evidenced that three of them have been taken further.

 

[RPI]

A fairly large new development has been built near the railway, but that is mostly finished. The major new developments are south of the A38, essentially filling in the area out to the bypass. Much handier for the motorway than the railway unfortunately

Maybe, but as anyone who drives into Exeter knows, it can take 45 minutes just from the M5 junction into the City Centre at times

 

[swt_passenger]

What I would like to see from DfT is the list of the nearly 200 applications received over 3 phases but marked up with a one line reason explaining why they failed to go forward to the final 38. As mentioned a small number were repeated In different phases.

It seems to me that if there were ever to be a next phase, future applicants need to be made aware of the typical pitfalls, mistakes, dreams, etc etc…

 

[Glenn1969]

What I would like to see from DfT is the list of the nearly 200 applications received over 3 phases but marked up with a one line reason explaining why they failed to go forward to the final 38. As mentioned a small number were repeated In different phases.

It seems to me that if there were ever to be a next phase, future applicants need to be made aware of the typical pitfalls, mistakes, dreams, etc etc…

They were of course all dreams. I don't see many of the 38 making much progress either

 

[Doctor Fegg]

What I would like to see from DfT is the list of the nearly 200 applications received over 3 phases but marked up with a one line reason explaining why they failed to go forward to the final 38.

You could FoI that. I've seen people do similar for DfT cycle funding applications.

 

[javelin]

What I would like to see from DfT is the list of the nearly 200 applications received over 3 phases but marked up with a one line reason explaining why they failed to go forward to the final 38. As mentioned a small number were repeated In different phases.

It seems to me that if there were ever to be a next phase, future applicants need to be made aware of the typical pitfalls, mistakes, dreams, etc etc…

I don't think it works like that. Being selected will be more about which voters they want to bribe, and how much they are willing to pay.

 

[zwk500]

The price is surely lower than a full Skipton to Colne route

Yes, apologies I have edited to make that clear

Are shunters needed to couple loco to freight?

The person is. No guards on freight these days and the drivers need a 2nd person to indicate the stopping position etc.

 

[urbophile]

My long ago "O" level Welsh cannot assist , as a medieval (or older) language with subtle modernisms , I suspect "giraffe" is not in the vocabularly.

jiràff.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Oswestry - Gobowen line - would this make Oswestry a through station or replace Gobowen as terminal? I vaguely know the area.

Oswestry would be a terminus from Gobowen.
But with a north-facing junction at Gobowen it's difficult to see what services could start/end at Oswestry - the main traffic would be towards Shrewsbury.
The route also crosses the busy A5 on the flat which won't be cheap or popular.

Gaerwen to Amlwch? What's the Welsh for "you're having a giraffe"?

This must be North Wales' answer to Carmarthen-Aberystwyth - can't have South Wales cornering the fantasy market.
There is an official desire to link Llangefni (county town, a short way down the branch) to Bangor, but the route via Gaerwen is very indirect.
Again, there's no obvious service to start/end there unless you deprive Holyhead.
The best candidate for reinstatement commercially is Bangor-Caernarfon, but new roads have taken its trackbed (and a new Caernarfon eastern bypass is under construction).
Bangor-Caernarfon would probably do better business than Bangor-Holyhead.

 

[D821]

Oswestry would be a terminus from Gobowen.
But with a north-facing junction at Gobowen it's difficult to see what services could start/end at Oswestry - the main traffic would be towards Shrewsbury.
The route also crosses the busy A5 on the flat which won't be cheap or popular.




This must be North Wales' answer to Carmarthen-Aberystwyth - can't have South Wales cornering the fantasy market.
There is an official desire to link Llangefni (county town, a short way down the branch) to Bangor, but the route via Gaerwen is very indirect.
Again, there's no obvious service to start/end there unless you deprive Holyhead.
The best candidate for reinstatement commercially is Bangor-Caernarfon, but new roads have taken its trackbed (and a new Caernarfon eastern bypass is under construction).
Bangor-Caernarfon would probably do better business than Bangor-Holyhead.

Thanks, I don't wish to see N. Wales or the borders deprived of good transport links but neither of those schemes seem to make much sense.

 

[CdBrux]

Nice to see "Buckley Wells" to Rawtenstall i.e Bury to Rawtenstall.

Where is Buckley Wells? Couldn't find any mention on Google maps, so assumed it was something to do with Bury

 

[camflyer]

Disappointing to see East Anglia get nothing yet again.

Reinstating the Newmarket West Curve at Chippenham would be a obvious one for the region especially with the Soham station opening soon.

I suppose there are fewer marginal constituencies in East Anglia.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Reinstating the Newmarket West Curve at Chippenham would be a obvious one for the region especially with the Soham station opening soon.

I suppose there are fewer marginal constituencies in East Anglia.

Did any local MP or council think of applying for that under the Restoring your Railways fund? If no-one submitted a proposal for it the first place, then it's rather obviously not going to go anywhere, irrespective of any other considerations like numbers of marginal constituencies!