That’s a long walk from the station or sidings though , there is a redundant accommodation building near the Signalbox though that’s closer and could be repurposed
No it’s an NR maintenance delivery unit and a Lom/ Moms office onsite too
Indeed - I don't think it's possible to improve services without sourcing another unit from somewhere.
Very true.
but not at 17:00 in November!
On the contrary - for those who fancy a wild, damp night Ribblehead is just the place to go!
Simple, until you remember that trains from Nottingham would come in from 'F' and have to leave via 'B' at Leeds. And arrive from 'A' and leave via 'F' when heading back south. Which means nothing can move in or out of the west of a rather busy Leeds Station while those movements are happening. Yes, I know they could come into the middle routes, and the services run on Sundays, but there's good reasons why trains to/from specific areas are pathed to specific platforms and routes most of the time.
It's not quite that bad - lines A, B, C and D can all be used to access the Aire Valley (and indeed there are a few diagrams currently which are booked to use D).
Indeed. There's quite an untapped market there given the relatively high density but poor connectivity of rail in the area.
This situation can be improved by trains reversing at Wakefield Kirkgate, heading to Westgate and approaching Leeds from there thus reducing conflicts at Leeds. I have been on a Leeds-bound Hallam Line train that was disrupted so did that move at Wakefield before it formed a service to Morecambe from Leeds.
This something where mobile phones and a QR code make data collection far more cost effective than it ever could be. A decent survey would be of benefit to all parties around travel into the area for walking.
Unfortunately there is no mobile phone signal at Horton or Ribblehead due to the Yorkshire Dales National Park authority not permitting the construction of aerials within the park boundary.
Surely a small aerial could be fitted in the car park, if for no other reason than to enable emergency calls.
Quite possibly. It's ironic that the National Park authority have allowed Network Rail to build GSM radio towers at every station on the line, which are about four times the height of the average mobile phone mast.
As it was related to the safe operation of the railway the National Park authority probably doesn't have the power to refuse directly, in a similar way to how heritage assets can be demolished if operationally necessary.
The one NR have built at Ais Gill fills me with disgust every time I pass it. Absolutely no regard for the wild and beautiful place it is in. They could have made an effort.
We never had CSR (Cab Secure Radio) on that part of the network....went straight from NRN (National Radio Network) to GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communication - Railway).
"Did you come from Nottingham or Sheffield?" "No."
Well, yes, true. I do see an LNER set in P1 one sometimes. But for most of the day the routes and platforms are grouped, there's no slack at Leeds to be too creative. Sadly.
That has the disadvantage of hitting an already-busy stretch between Wakefield W and Leeds. The stoppers to/from Featherstone don't call at Outwood, for example. And there's nowhere to squeeze in the (Bradford-)Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham via Westgate service, whch would have cut journey times to Sheffield and Nottingham by 20 minutes (and should be the next improvement along that route, not anything else (in my opinion)). Even the proposed third London-Leeds train would have run the other way, avoiding both Wakefield stations.
Well the Nottingham service was supposed to be running via Westgate by this point anyway, so there must be room... ...I'm not sure the route is even back to pre-Covid service levels yet. And they managed to fit in the EMR HST's, which no longer run that way either too, plus the old Huddersfield terminators and the assorted capacity-draining shunt moves are gone.
Well the advantage of Ribblehead (and Horton in Ribblesdale) is that decent and scenic day or half-day hikes start right from the stations, whereas in the Lake District you would generally need to catch a bus as well to access the good stuff, which then leaves you pressed for time.
On a pedantic point, Surveys are usually seen as quantitative data. You need to interview people to get qualitative data. There is obviously some crossover as surveys can include free text entry, but personally I wouldn't put too many questions like that on a survey of this kind.
one problem is people will cram3 or 4 adults in a car and go walking together. Railway can't compete with that.
No, but it can offer service for those who can't drive, or for making point to point trips.
Well, it can, because the railway can cram a lot more than 4 people in a train. Where rail can't compete is flexibility of location and time.
Probably only a select few are allowed out, having washed off their woad, to staff the refreshment cabins and mutter incomprehensible directions to hikers.
Even better for stargazing as the skies are pretty dark there when not cloudy/raining
settle-carlisle.co.uk
You just have to hope you're lucky and get the one day of the year it's not raining up there...
In what way is it disgusting? Interestingly enough EE appear to have erected masts at Aisgill / Mallerstang now so there is some movement and there is a mobile signal only 3/4 of a mile from Ribblehead now