How fast could the Calder Valley get?

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Rochdale is expanding again isn't it? Is there room for another platform?

If the will was there it's not beyond the realms of possibility to return Halifax to 4 platforms. You could even cut a bay into the Leeds end of platform 3 for complete overkill. I'm in favour of overkill obviously, but I realise my box of crayons does not make a business case.

Are you old enough to remember Rochdale station in its heyday?

 

[Greetlander]

Are you old enough to remember Rochdale station in its heyday?

No - but I live in hope for Halifax

 

[Bevan Price]

To partly (effectively) restore one 4 track section, would it be feasible to restore the loop line from Bramley via Pudsey Lowtown to Laisterdyke ?
Maps show some properties on the track bed, mainly at the Bramley end, but apart from cost, there seem to be few major problems to stop reopening.
(When we remember that far more property has been removed when it has been decided "we need" to build a motorway (or HS2)).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

To partly (effectively) restore one 4 track section, would it be feasible to restore the loop line from Bramley via Pudsey Lowtown to Laisterdyke ?
Maps show some properties on the track bed, mainly at the Bramley end, but apart from cost, there seem to be few major problems to stop reopening.
(When we remember that far more property has been removed when it has been decided "we need" to build a motorway (or HS2)).

Where Pudsey Greenside railway station (the other closed Pudsey station on the loop line) once existed, were some warehousing units erected on the actual land area of the former station site and housing on what was once the area of the goods yard and sidings?

 

[Bevan Price]

Where Pudsey Greenside railway station (the other closed Pudsey station on the loop line) once existed, were some warehousing units erected on the actual land area of the former station site and housing on what was once the area of the goods yard and sidings?

Easy enough to remove if a scheme is regarded as "in the national interest.".
Not that I expect restoration of the Pudsey loop to get the go-ahead any time soon.

 

[sleepy_hollow]

Are you old enough to remember Rochdale station in its heyday?

Presumably meaning when both islands and their water columns were in use. And also, it appears that Fairburn tanks still operated some Halifax services. Heyday or not, Rochdale station always seemed a dark and dingy place to arrive. In fact I have no clear recollection of seeing sunshine in Rochdale, which was more or less what my parents said, the only time you saw blue sky or the sun was in Wakes Week.


Photo : second half of 1967?

More germane to the thread title, how have Calder Valley services accelerated over the years? A Goole to Rochdale journey seems a good sample to examine.

IN 1939: HULL - LIVERPOOL EXPRESS

1. From the 1939 LMS summer timetable, Table 149 for mainline C, we seem to have a Saturday through train:

Goole d 0714 Kirkgate a d 0752 Sowerby Bridge d 0822 Rochdale a 0855 taking 1h 41 min.

This is described as a summer Hull Paragon to Liverpool train.

Timetable from (1)

2. After this phenomenon has left Goole it becomes less clear how to make the journey. The stopper on Table 199 leaves Goole at 0720, reaching Kirkgate at 0817, the next departure for Manchester via the Calder Valley being the 0853, requiring a change at Todmorden, arriving there at 1001, departure 1042 for a Rochdale arrival at 1146 and a journey time of 2 h 50 min. The concept of trains stopping at Todmorden but not Rochdale leaves me speechless.

(These timings assume that the pm markers in the timetable have been incorrectly applied.)

IN SUMMER 1960/61: DIESEL TRAINS

3. Moving forward to June 1960/61 the London Midland region timetable, Table 117, combined with the NE region timetable Table 17 (Advertising Diesel Trains!) shows:

Goole d 0722, Kirkgate a 0812, Kirkgate d 0902 Rochdale a 1013 for a journey time of 2 h 51 min.

I certainly recall the long connection at Kirkgate, my mother used it for an early form of split ticketing, buying separate day returns for the journey on either side of Wakefield. Also, I understand, for shopping.

Timetables from Timetable World (2, 3)

4. TOMORROW, 29 APRIL 2023

From the National Rail planner, we can now rise a little later:

0742 from Goole to Leeds a 0852, connection in Leeds d 0912 Rochdale a 1013 for a journey time of 2 h 15 min.

This is caught up by the 0746 from Goole connecting at Doncaster and Leeds for the same 1013 arrival in Rochdale. For the rest of the day the service uses this connection pattern, Goole now having a somewhat attenuated service to Leeds.

So it appears that a Calder Valley journey from Goole to Rochdale has been accelerated by 36 min, unless you compare the 1939 through train, against which the current service is 34 min slower. I wonder how long the through train would take if it ran today?


Timetables

1. June 1939 LMS Timetable, Table 149: https://archive.org/details/1939LMS



2. June 1960 & 1961 Timetables: Timetable World:
NE Region Goole Local, 1960-06: https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.php?token=1913a511-c2a3-4e86-98b5-63a7af314506
LM Region, 1961-06: https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.php?token=86d0c85c-8fb5-457a-92d8-347ab9a35292



3. National Rail planner for tomorrow.