Suggestions for new short-ish lines

[deltic08]

From National Library of Scotland's Maps website, it was an overbridge (as were the 2 other road crossings immediately east).

Thank you. I presume the bridge was demoiished?

 

[zwk500]

Thank you. I presume the bridge was demoiished?

Well it isn't there so somebody has demolished it. Not being in any way local I don't know anything for sure, but my guess would be when a major housing development was built shortly after the closure the opportunity to widen and flatten the road was jumped at. Assuming the railway hasn't changed level, the road would have needed a reasonable incline on either side to clear the line, and the bridge certainly wouldn't have been wide enough for the junctions it now has.

Of the bridges to the east, Parkhall Street may simply have been infilled - there's one parapet and the curbstones suggest the structure is still there, although you'd need somebody local to confirm it. One parapet of the bridge carrying Main Street also appears to have survived - it's less clear if this bridge was infilled or the parapet was specifically kept when the bridge was demolished. Again, it'd need local knowledge.

 

[William3000]

I think I'd favour perhaps doubling the HoW and having alternate trains to Weymouth and Bournemouth.

Weymouth seems to be a bit of a honeypot destination in itself.

It's ~600m across a complex densely developed street pattern. Hackney was entirely on railway land and required no demolition. En route reversals of DMUs at for instance Bradford interchange and Sheffield do not take as long as you claim. Bradford is typically 3m from arrival to departure. Sheffield seems to allow 6m to 8m.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jan 2025 ==


If you could path them you could recreate a Bristol/Bath to Bournemouth service via Yeovil and a direct chord at Dorchester of some design. Perhaps Bournemouth could become the default destination for Heart of Wessex services instead of Weymouth. Weymouth connections would be available from Dorchester South. A problem with expansion in this direction is the single line east of Dorchester.

In practice what is more common where people are switching lines? Do they walk the 600 metres across Dorchester? Or change at Upwey or Weymouth? What are the timings like and are tickets valid on all three of the above? I know not only half the Weymouth to London Waterloo trains stop at Upwey though.

 

[MarkyT]

Up until the c.2000 rebuild of Leeds station, the stub of the viaduct line was retained for additional stabling but seldom saw use- and there were a couple of stabling roads beyond the P12 (now P15) track on the footprint of P16 which were more suitable. IIRC it was Mk4 stock that was unsuitable- though this was moot anyway as neither P12 nor the adjacent stabling sidings were wired at the time.
My understanding is that 23m stock could only use the line at walking pace even before it became a siding (Trans-Pennine was entirely Mk1 & Mk2 operated in those days), but as the future plans for Trans-Pennine (as well as much of the present-day stock) will be or is 26m stock, the gauging situation is unlikely to improve. The wiggly section closest to Leeds station would be particularly difficult, you may just about get away with a single track- which obviously wouldn't have the capacity to render the present-day routing redundant.
There's also an OHLE mast pretty much slap bang in the middle of where any track or tracks accessing the viaduct would need to be- which isn't in itself a deal-breaker but does complicate matters somewhat.

The curved section to the east is ~200m radius, possibly the root cause of the gauging restrictions. Maybe the straighter section to the west (yellow) might be used with the curves replaced by a more gently aligned new viaduct (green/orange) :

In practice what is more common where people are switching lines? Do they walk the 600 metres across Dorchester? Or change at Upwey or Weymouth? What are the timings like and are tickets valid on all three of the above? I know not only half the Weymouth to London Waterloo trains stop at Upwey though.

Booking engines typically send people via Weymouth so it must be a valid route, not counted as doubling back. Sometimes if you can cross Dorchester in a few minutes, you can get a previous train. Upwey down platform is not fully accessible from the up side or the street, with a stepped footbridge only. Connections are variable. Some trains just miss there, others have a 30 minute+ wait. It's not a particularly interesting place to have to wait a couple of hours if you have missed a train. If the Weymouths could serve Dorchester South station, there's much right outside the station to explore if you have an extended wait but also with a better service on the Waterloo line there's a lower chance of being stuck there for so long.

 

[Grumpy]

Is that the viaduct in Leeds that crosses Gelderd Road, the A643, and Domestic Street?

Yes

 

[Farnborough]

You could probably deliver most of the benefits with a new station on the North Downs line near to Frimley station (would also be useful for the "Frimley4 Business Park" and the retail park there. It would also be slightly closer to Farnborough Sixth Form College than Farnborough North.

You could build it so the access was from ramps down from the A325 bridge over the A331/railway and you'd only need to cross one road to get between the two.

Such a short walk interchange would be useful in its own right...

While I'd welcome this addition, there are a few logistical challenges:

1. It'd be less than a mile from Farnborough North - not sure how that would work?
2. There are existing ramps down from the A325, for the Blackwater Valley footpath - they'd need a bit of improvement, but the basics are there.
3. However, there's not a lot of space available to build a station... https://maps.app.goo.gl/aG7QPbmkB2B3aQiX6

On the other hand, a Frimley Watchmoor Park/Waters Edge halt would be half-way between Frimley and Camberley, and serve both Sainsbury's, and the adjacent business park - however, whether building a station on Crabtree Woods Park would be acceptable is a interesting debate. Plus, I'm not sure the ridership would justify it.

 

[The Ham]

While I'd welcome this addition, there are a few logistical challenges:

1. It'd be less than a mile from Farnborough North - not sure how that would work?
2. There are existing ramps down from the A325, for the Blackwater Valley footpath - they'd need a bit of improvement, but the basics are there.
3. However, there's not a lot of space available to build a station... https://maps.app.goo.gl/aG7QPbmkB2B3aQiX6

On the other hand, a Frimley Watchmoor Park/Waters Edge halt would be half-way between Frimley and Camberley, and serve both Sainsbury's, and the adjacent business park - however, whether building a station on Crabtree Woods Park would be acceptable is a interesting debate. Plus, I'm not sure the ridership would justify it.

Being less than 1 mile isn't ideal, however it's likely to remove a lot of pedestrian movements at the level crossing at Farnborough North.

As you wouldn't need much more than platforms (at either station) the amount of width required would be limited.

Also, for Watchmoor Park, you would also within 800m (seen as a typical walk that a lot of people would be willing to make to access a rail service) have a number of properties and roads along Frimley Road including Wilton Road.

Whilst Wilton Road is home to a football club, it's unlikely to generate much rail traffic, however given that it's likely only for the cost of building a stain, even fairly small annual flows going fairly short distances would still be beneficial.

However for many walking a bit further is still viable and so it's likely the catchment would be a fairly reasonable area.