Although to be fair, there is a diminishing number of active freight lines available to reinstate passenger services on - most of the “low hanging fruit” has now gone one way or another.
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Restoring your Railway Fund Update
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Doctor Fegg
Established Member
Still a few low-hanging freight lines though: Ivanhoe, Stocksbridge, Middlewich, and occasionals in South Wales and South Yorkshire.
John Hunt
Member
If the Knighton Jct - Burton (Ivanhoe line) re-opening gets past the next stage, a LOT of work needs to be done to restore the lost chord. (currently occupied by factory units)
If the factory units have to remain, services would have to reverse for travel to/from Leicester.
If the factory units have to remain, services would have to reverse for travel to/from Leicester.
Doctor Fegg
Established Member
They don't.
John Hunt
Member
After some digging, I have found this-
which does seem to include the cost of purchasing those factory units. But bearing in mind that the report is dated April 2009, allowing for inflation of the costs, also the economic situation for the next decade or so, is the scheme still viable?
(last time I travelled along this line was back in the 80s - Coalville depot open day - on a 2 car DMU. Speed was limited to 30mph. The cost to upgrade the speed must be astronomical now.) And how would the work affect the MML electrification work which will reach Knighton Jct soon?
I’d be surprised if the proposal serves the current Leicester station.
What would it serve instead? Head down to Market Harborough so people could change for London seems a stretch? I would have thought Leicester would be a main destination from the surrounding area the line passes through and the most convient interchange for further afield?
davidknibb
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it is of course possible, that doesn’t make it non-problematic.
As cost is as always the driving force here, would building a Leicester South be cheaper than reinstating a curve? Those bound for Leicester for work or shopping would have to change at Leicester South, which would be a disincentive. The curve makes operational sense, which ought to be the overriding factor.
davidknibb
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Well - cost and revenue. It is 25 miles as the crow flies from Burton to Leicester. There is no direct bus - which says something about demand. The train via Derby is an easy 50 minutes.
But what is the main objective of reopening ? To reconnect B with L , or to provide a service to Coalville, Ashby etc. Because if to connect B with L is the main objective - then look at the possibility of using the route B Willington,Long Eaton, Loughborough L. The Castle Donnington route is open for regular freight. This might take some 35 mins.
Otherwise what about a souped up tram from B to L, coming off the existing line somewhere near the Paddy Power Stadium and running on the road via The Uni,Infirmary Prison to the stn. It could be battery powered.
But what is the main objective of reopening ? To reconnect B with L , or to provide a service to Coalville, Ashby etc. Because if to connect B with L is the main objective - then look at the possibility of using the route B Willington,Long Eaton, Loughborough L. The Castle Donnington route is open for regular freight. This might take some 35 mins.
Otherwise what about a souped up tram from B to L, coming off the existing line somewhere near the Paddy Power Stadium and running on the road via The Uni,Infirmary Prison to the stn. It could be battery powered.
John Hunt
Member
Where exactly would this new station be located? Is there a link to this image please? One of the new stations proposed is 'Bede Island' - I'm not sure where this would be located.
Reading the original 2009 report referred to in post #95 fully, the scheme relies totally on the re-instatement of the Knighton North curve. OK, it means that some industrial units would have to be cleared (Screwfix, Dulux and a car park) but the cost is included in the report.
Re-instatement of the curve would not only facilitate entry to the current London Rd, it would mean any freight services to/from north of Leicester would no longer have to reverse. This means freight services would partially fund the re-instatement of the curve.
Shred Metal
Member
To link the two places (B and L) via an area that is lacking any transport better than a skylink bus. There’s a handful of towns and villages in NW Leics. / S Derbys. / S Staffs. that would hugely benefit from access to modern & regional rail transport, not to mention the commute the other way - that is to serve the growing commercial industrial areas (like Bardon (which I think Amazon are lobbying for)).
It’s a no brainer for the restoration fund!
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
It was on the branch somewhere between Narborough Road and Aylestone Road / Saffron Lane.
Vague I know, but if it’s to realise it’s potential as Leicesters’ ‘second station’ it would surely command some kind of attractive development, and in a an area visitors / confused travellers would likely want to arrive in. It was suggested the King Power redevelopment could help tidy a larger area, but football related traffic would be deterred..
Makes sense to utilise the reopened lines’ alignment for a ‘south’ station anyway
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Pork barrel politics at play here. But the comment about Labour is also correct.
InTheEastMids
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Some kind of update has appeared in the Leicester Mercury website (link below)
"Work to reinstate the Leicester to Burton railway line could begin as early as 2024 according to campaigners after a meeting with the Government."
www.leicestermercury.co.uk
"Work to reinstate the Leicester to Burton railway line could begin as early as 2024 according to campaigners after a meeting with the Government."
Work on rail link to Leicester 'could start in next two years'
Campaigners say the news is very encouraging
Some kind of update has appeared in the Leicester Mercury website (link below)
"Work to reinstate the Leicester to Burton railway line could begin as early as 2024 according to campaigners after a meeting with the Government."
Work on rail link to Leicester 'could start in next two years'
Campaigners say the news is very encouraging
The ‘not quite Leicester’ to Burton line, to be precise.
The line is also already open, so ‘not quite reinstatement’ either.
Killingworth
Established Member
'Could begin' is easy to write. 'Will begin' may even be written one day. 'Has opened' is likely to be written decades away, if it ever is. Work to reinstate in 2024 needs definition. What work? Does a funding study not already count?Some kind of update has appeared in the Leicester Mercury website (link below)
"Work to reinstate the Leicester to Burton railway line could begin as early as 2024 according to campaigners after a meeting with the Government."
Work on rail link to Leicester 'could start in next two years'
Campaigners say the news is very encouraging
Not from the Leicester direction it isn’t.
SWT_USER
Member
I presume the plan would be for a reversal and services to go to Leicester. Is this scheme likely to get off the ground in your opinion?
Questions that need answering for that would be - Reverse where? And how would that impact capacity on the critical Leicester - Wigston stretch?
I really don’t know about this project. It ticks lots of boxes, but access to Leicester station is a real problem.
Oh I see the triangle survives at the Burton-on-Trent end but line requires either a reversal or the true reinstatement of a curve which would involve the demolition of an industrial unit that obstructs the trackbed. There was also a branch that came within a few feet of, but did not connect with the GCML.
yoyothehobo
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I was up on the line around Ashby this week, it would need a spectacular amount of work to reopen it. The formation is rubbish, the track is a real mess, overgrown in places Very much not low hanging fruit.
Plus someone has nicked a bunch of signalling cable so its not even a freight line at the moment.
Plus someone has nicked a bunch of signalling cable so its not even a freight line at the moment.
And that would be tens of millions of pounds just to achieve, what, a 20 mile/hour curve? It would be a huge ask.
Pinus contorta
Member
I read a book recently while on lockdown by a guy who used to work the MGR trains on that line. I think parts of the line were prone to colliery subsidence and the track was nackered in places even then in the 1980's 90's.
www.leicestermercury.co.uk
Train driver Anthony recalls life working on the Leicester Line in his new book
Diary entries record anecdotes about drivers, guards, secondmen, shunters and clerks
Killingworth
Established Member
Yet trains are still pathed that way; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H23983/2022-09-16/detailed
I wonder when the last actually ran?
Glenn1969
Established Member
I'm 53. How many of the RYR schemes does Bald Rick expect to see open in my lifetime up until 2049 if I make it to 80 ) ?
InTheEastMids
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When potato magnate and NW Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen is quoted as saying "Very encouraged by Network Rail’s words ‘the Ivanhoe line brings the most benefits to the most people of any rail line reopening project that we are looking at’.", I'm not sure I understand the cynicism on this website? I'm sure he would never say anything that wasn't true...
www.thetimes.co.uk
Oh.
[Link above to a story on The Times website, April 2022 headlined "‘Dishonest’ MP Bridgen ‘lied’ about conduct in family dispute"]
Back on topic, this was not part of the terms of reference for the most recent (public) Network Rail study on Leicester in 2020, so hasn't been factored into their thinking, although they were aware that work under RYR was underway. (Of course HS2 Ph2B has also changed quite a bit since then too, and this may also affect Leicester). At the very least, I am sure the Ivanhoe business case will rely on a different funding pot picking up the tab for all the Wigston-Leicester works. Whilst this would eliminate conflicts with London trains, of course that capacity is being added for other reasons (e.g. Midlands Connect want new Leicester-Birmingham/Coventry services in their strategic plan, which coincidentally doesn't mention Leicester-Burton restoration).
‘Dishonest’ MP Bridgen ‘lied’ about conduct in family dispute
A Conservative MP lied under oath, behaved in an abusive, arrogant and aggressive way, and was so dishonest that his claims about a multimillion-pound family di
www.thetimes.co.uk
Oh.
[Link above to a story on The Times website, April 2022 headlined "‘Dishonest’ MP Bridgen ‘lied’ about conduct in family dispute"]
Back on topic, this was not part of the terms of reference for the most recent (public) Network Rail study on Leicester in 2020, so hasn't been factored into their thinking, although they were aware that work under RYR was underway. (Of course HS2 Ph2B has also changed quite a bit since then too, and this may also affect Leicester). At the very least, I am sure the Ivanhoe business case will rely on a different funding pot picking up the tab for all the Wigston-Leicester works. Whilst this would eliminate conflicts with London trains, of course that capacity is being added for other reasons (e.g. Midlands Connect want new Leicester-Birmingham/Coventry services in their strategic plan, which coincidentally doesn't mention Leicester-Burton restoration).
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