Would it be a good idea to close Cheddington station?

[778]

If Cheddington staton closed would it inconveniance too many people?. The station is a over half a mile away from the village, so I would not expect many people to walk to the station, and it is not on a bus route, so most people who use the station are probably car drivers who could drive to Tring or Leighton Buzzard station if it closed. In 2022/23 48,014 passengers used the station, which is about 132 passengers a day. It has a half hourly service in either direction, so that comes to around 1 person getting on or off every train (132 divided by 96). I don't think all stations that are this quiet should close, but in this case there is a good alternative a few miles away (Tring) and it is in the middle of nowhere so maybe there is a good arguement for closure?

If trains no longer had to stop at Cheddington it could speed up journey times so it probably would benefit more people than it inconveniences. I am not sure why this station remained opened, and other stations on the WCML like Roade and Castlethorpe closed.

 

[The exile]

If Cheddington staton closed would it inconveniance too many people?. The station is a over half a mile away from the village, so I would not expect many people to walk to the station, and it is not on a bus route, so most people who use the station are probably car drivers who could drive to Tring or Leighton Buzzard station if it closed. In 2022/23 48,014 passengers used the station, which is about 132 passengers a day. It has a half hourly service in either direction, so that comes to around 1 person getting on or off every train (132 divided by 96). I don't think all stations that are this quiet should close, but in this case there is a good alternative a few miles away (Tring) and it is in the middle of nowhere so maybe there is a good arguement for closure?

If trains no longer had to stop at Cheddington it could speed up journey times so it probably would benefit more people than it inconveniences. I am not sure why this station remained opened, and other stations on the WCML like Roade and Castlethorpe closed.

Unless the alternatives are within a short walking distance - no. It’s also worth remembering that speeding up a service doesn’t necessarily benefit all the passengers on that service. If you cut 3 minutes (say) by leaving out a stop then people whose entire journey is on one side of that cut stop may find that their train now arrives 3 minutes later (before the cut stop) or leaves 3 minutes earlier (after it) meaning they can no longer use it.

 

[yorksrob]

Half a mile's easily walkable for most people.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Ideal location for a new town (or ecotown, or garden village, or whatever this week’s phrase is).

 

[The exile]

Ideal location for a new town (or ecotown, or garden village, or whatever this week’s phrase is).

No doubt in the opinion of all but existing locals!

 

[A S Leib]

As a rough estimate, Hemel, Berkhamsted and Tring – Leighton Buzzard and stations north of there is <200 passengers per day, and some of those would be going via Watford Junction on services not stopping between there and Leighton Buzzard, Milton Keynes or beyond. That's not a massive number of passengers you'd be saving three minutes for at the expense of a lot more difficulty for Cheddington.

 

[The Planner]

If trains no longer had to stop at Cheddington it could speed up journey times so it probably would benefit more people than it inconveniences. I am not sure why this station remained opened, and other stations on the WCML like Roade and Castlethorpe closed.

You are assuming you can do something in the timetable with those minutes saved.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No. It would be better to develop an eco-town around it.

 

[gordonthemoron]

No. It would be better to develop an eco-town around it.

Yes, and whilst Cheddington may be close to Leighton Buzzard and Tring on the map, the roads around there are poor

 

[Ghostbus]

The station car park seems to only have capacity for ~40 cars, so it seems quite likely closure would markedly reduce travel or increase car ownership, rather than just changing existing car owners journey patterns.

You have quite probably overlooked how many people in the village will have one less car than they need, due to being able to cycle in minutes to a station with a regular service to Euston and Milton Keynes. The village only seems to have at most 500 houses, so I'd say the station is probably a very big reason why they have such a healthy complement of leisure and home based businesses.

The local school, two pubs and maybe even the local shop have all probably needed the station to fill job vacancies at one time or another. It's unlike they can afford to live in the village, and not all will be able to run a car. The local bus service to Aylesbury isn't going to cut it, that being typical of how hard it is to serve such a small place off the beaten track with a genuinely useful bus service.

The Scout Troop, sports clubs and Church presumably appreciate the fact people not living in the village don't need to own a car or rely on lifts to attend. Not every village is so lucky.

Think not how you can drag the good people of Chessington down. Think how you can drag other less fortunate bumpkins up!

 

[Mgameing123]

Yes, and whilst Cheddington may be close to Leighton Buzzard and Tring on the map, the roads around there are poor

What is this ecotown thing. Is it just a fancy word for a new town? Anyways road connections can always be built and shouldn’t be main priority. We should focus on building this newtown around the railway but make sure it’s separate from Old Cheddington.

 

[gordonthemoron]

What is this ecotown thing. Is it just a fancy word for a new town? Anyways road connections can always be built and shouldn’t be main priority. We should focus on building this newtown around the railway but make sure it’s separate from Old Cheddington.

Yes, it is just a fancy name for a newtown, I would expect it to be around the station, otherwise what's the point?

 

[Meerkat]

No doubt in the opinion of all but existing locals!

In my harsh new world the locals would be told you can stay a little village OR you can have a station, not both.
However looking at the map building any decent number of new homes would require a lot of miles of new road to connect them to the main road network so its probably not viable

 

[Mgameing123]

In my harsh new world the locals would be told you can stay a little village OR you can have a station, not both.
However looking at the map building any decent number of new homes would require a lot of miles of new road to connect them to the main road network so its probably not viable

People can just take the train. No big deal.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You couldn't build an eco-Cheddington without taking in Mentmore, Cheddington, Horton and Slapton, but that's just how things are. Milton Keynes encompassed a load of traditional villages (and the traditional village centres are actually relatively unspoilt, as through traffic no longer runs through them).

Cheddington isn't some idyll, anyway, it's mostly 1960s-1970s housing estates. Making it bigger wouldn't really change much, indeed they'd gain in the form of local facilities like perhaps a supermarket.

 

[Mgameing123]

You couldn't build an eco-Cheddington without taking in Mentmore, Cheddington, Horton and Slapton, but that's just how things are. Milton Keynes encompassed a load of traditional villages (and the traditional village centres are actually relatively unspoilt, as through traffic no longer runs through them).

Cheddington isn't some idyll, anyway, it's mostly 1960s-1970s housing estates. Making it bigger wouldn't really change much, indeed they'd gain in the form of local facilities like perhaps a supermarket.

To be honest New Cheddington should be based on Pondbury. The reason why people are scared of growth is because all new housing we find is boring and have no character compared to older housing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

To be honest New Cheddington should be based on Pondbury. The reason why people are scared of growth is because all new housing we find is boring and have no character compared to older housing.

As noted the housing in Cheddington isn't exactly oozing character. There are a few cottages and an old church, but most of it is just 1960s and 1970s bog standard Barratt boxes and what look like ex-Council properties (though may just have been built at that sort of time for owner occupation). It's a bit like Chinnor or Deanshanger in that regard, there are a few such places in Bucks that you'd think would be idyllic but very much aren't. It's hardly a dump, but equally I don't think generic new housing around it would in any way drag it down.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If trains no longer had to stop at Cheddington it could speed up journey times so it probably would benefit more people than it inconveniences.

The only trains that stop at Cheddington are the all-stations inner-WCML stoppers. Anyone from Leighton Buzzard or MK would usually get the fast from Leighton Buzzard anyway and for anyone Tring and southwards would see no benefit to the time saving.

So who on earth would actually benefit?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The only trains that stop at Cheddington are the all-stations inner-WCML stoppers. Anyone from Leighton Buzzard or MK would usually get the fast from Leighton Buzzard anyway and for anyone Tring and southwards would see no benefit to the time saving.

So who on earth would actually benefit?

The only saving you could theoretically make would be to truncate all the local services to Tring, though that would be bad for connectivity as then the only way to make a journey to/from Leighton and places north to local stations would be to double back from Watford, and then only once an hour, so it's probably a non-starter.

In terms of time saving though there's a fair bit of commuting to MK, those people would save a couple of minutes, but it's a bit of a non-issue.

 

[Meerkat]

People can just take the train. No big deal.

That's not going to happen, and wouldn't be taken seriously by the planners. The local opposition would be huge without new roads to keep the traffic away from them.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Oct 2024 ==

The reason why people are scared of growth is because all new housing we find is boring

IMO modern estates are actually the most varied housing estates that have ever been built

 

[Mgameing123]

I have a question. In case this Cheddington New Town idea fails could we close Cheddington Station and build a new station at Cooks Wharf? It would both serve Cheddington, Pitstone & Ivinghoe.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's not going to happen, and wouldn't be taken seriously by the planners. The local opposition would be huge without new roads to keep the traffic away from them.

It wouldn't be unduly hard, paid for by planning gain, to run a road up alongside the railway to meet the Leighton Buzzard bypass, bypassing the B488. A road to Aylesbury would be more work but not impossible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Oct 2024 ==

I have a question. In case this Cheddington New Town idea fails could we close Cheddington Station and build a new station at Cooks Wharf? It would both serve Cheddington, Pitstone & Ivinghoe.

They're tiny places, any new station wouldn't be worth the money without substantial housing development. Cheddington is mostly surrounded by fields so would be a better location for that.

 

[Mgameing123]

You couldn't build an eco-Cheddington without taking in Mentmore, Cheddington, Horton and Slapton, but that's just how things are. Milton Keynes encompassed a load of traditional villages (and the traditional village centres are actually relatively unspoilt, as through traffic no longer runs through them).

Cheddington isn't some idyll, anyway, it's mostly 1960s-1970s housing estates. Making it bigger wouldn't really change much, indeed they'd gain in the form of local facilities like perhaps a supermarket.

You easily avoid consuming those villages into New Cheddington. Just look at Aarhus on Google Maps and look at how they still kept the villages of Egå and True without making them part of the city.

 

[Meerkat]

It wouldn't be unduly hard, paid for by planning gain, to run a road up alongside the railway to meet the Leighton Buzzard bypass, bypassing the B488. A road to Aylesbury would be more work but not impossible.

There would probably have to be a road right through from the A41/B489 junction to Leighton Buzzard, which would be useful as a through route but would be far too much road to be covered by planning gain unless you were going really big. Seem to be a lot of streams on the map round there - is it a bit of a soggy area?

 

[Bletchleyite]

You easily avoid consuming those villages into New Cheddington. Just look at Aarhus on Google Maps and look at how they still kept the villages of Egå and True without making them part of the city.

There's no need to. They're not idylls.

 

[Mgameing123]

There's no need to. They're not idylls.

Meh its a good idea to keep the local identities of these villages.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Meh its a good idea to keep the local identities of these villages.

Milton Keynes still preserves the identity of constituent villages (in many ways protects it, e.g. less traffic) while integrating into the whole.

 

[Mgameing123]

Milton Keynes still preserves the identity of constituent villages (in many ways protects it, e.g. less traffic) while integrating into the whole.

Milton Keynes is a huge failure of a Garden City in its right. The last thing we want is another car dependant new town!

 

[hvordan]

Meh its a good idea to keep the local identities of these villages.

Mentmore perhaps due to Mentmore House. Horton on the other hand is quite frankly just a road bottleneck with some houses on either side.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Milton Keynes is a huge failure of a Garden City in its right. The last thing we want is another car dependant new town!

Milton Keynes is a spectacular success against its intended criteria. It is rather unfair and not sensible to judge it against different criteria, though we wouldn't repllcate it directly due to the car no longer being the future.

It is also not a Garden City, it is a New City (a big New Town). The concepts are quite different (though related).