ISTR before the first lockdown you could find these services on RTT from the May 2020 timetable change and I do remember them being in passenger service starting from Wakefield Kirkgate, with an ECS movement from WKK to WKK.
I think it was initially proposed to run ECS simply to get the stock out of the way. This later switched to running in service, though I'm not sure what prompted the change. Possibly it was always the plan, but required changes to TPE's franchise agreement (remember those?
) to serve Kirkgate before it could be made official.
Makes sense. Certainly such a service would do reasonably well with Northern having largely abandoned the corridor, though running non-stop would mean not capturing the schools traffic to and from Mirfield.
Many many moons ago a takeaway in the Ravensthorpe area was involved in the disappearance of many local cats.
No doubt somewhere in the 5049 posts on this topic is the dates for going live on this section? You'd think the NR site might give a clue but i can't see any dates - they can't even forecast what the plan is for 2022 works!
The Integrated Rail Plan, published last month, includes a very unclear time chart showing completion of Manchester-Stalybridge some time in the 2020s. Other than that, nothing has been published about even a start date for erecting masts, let alone a completion date. The "dashboard" site claims on the one hand that piling for mast foundations (started in April) is 40% complete, and on the other hand that that job will be completed by the end of this year!
So i thought the regional strategic plans which were updated in May 21 might give a clue as to what is happening. Nope nothing there either although plenty of detail on renewals and opex expenditure but most regions plans are bereft of detail on enhancements expenditure just a headline number. Still we haven't had a global update of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) for over two years although perhaps now the IRP is issued they will be able to finally refresh it.
I don't recall seeing that document before, or its equivalents for other regions, but maybe I wasn't missing much.
When funding for it is actually confirmed ?
Both could be true?
Both are correct. The government has stated its intention to fully electrify the line. But the actual authorisation for contracts to be let, detailed design work to start etc. is not yet forthcoming.
There's an IRP decision in principle to electrify MML and TRU in full, despite both being "paused" for several years.
It is (sadly) necessary yet again to say that there are NO Standedge difficulties. It's just a tunnel, and not a narrow or low one either. You could even re-open one of the single bores for single-line working and electrify it first to ensure that you didn't delay the overall scheme while you had the luxury of long posessions in the main tunnel.
Wouldn't that mean people getting a concrete wall a few feet in front of their windows?
And less noise and light.
