Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

[LDECRexile]

3 new piled bases are in at Chorley, on the Down line in the cutting just east of the tunnel.
At the station, about 80% of the P1 platform face now has its edging stones.
P2 has also be quietly rebuilt without needing closure.

Thank you for this and your notes on the Ordsall Chord and Liverpool-Manchester Electrification threads. Things seem to be getting under way on the ground.

Paul and I aspire to go photographing later this week.

 

[WatcherZero]

Virgin getting a lot of stick for temporarily removing the blackpool-euston service due to the overnight possessions. Lot of blackpool residents seem to think their giving up and will never return.

 

[Class 170101]

Would be interesting to know what time the possession is given up and whether the 16:33 London to Blackpool has sufficient fuel to stable at Blackpool overmight and start the 05:21 Blackpool to Euston at Blackpool rather than come ECS from Preston.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Would be interesting to know what time the possession is given up and whether the 16:33 London to Blackpool has sufficient fuel to stable at Blackpool overmight and start the 05:21 Blackpool to Euston at Blackpool rather than come ECS from Preston.

It comes ECS from Crewe actually, and will still do so as far as Preston.
The press item says services from Blackpool start at 0539, so maybe the line does not open until 0530, which may be not early enough to start the Voyager from there.
There would also be crewing problems.

Oddly, the Voyager does still operate from Blackpool on Mondays.
So the engineering work must not apply at weekends.
The evening train goes back ECS all the way to to Central Rivers.

 

[Lankyline]

Virgin getting a lot of stick for temporarily removing the blackpool-euston service due to the overnight possessions. Lot of blackpool residents seem to think their giving up and will never return.

Might save Virgin some money

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Virgin getting a lot of stick for temporarily removing the Blackpool-Euston service due to the overnight possessions. Lot of Blackpool residents seem to think they are giving up and will never return.

I doubt it - I think the opposite. I remember in the 1980s (late?) Shrewsbury -Euston getting dropped - whereas if Wolverhampton -Shrewsbury had been electrified very unlikely. Blackpool residents need to start looking long term. Through London service electric all the way - can't be bad.

 

[DJH1971]

I doubt it - I think the opposite. I remember in the 1980s (late?) Shrewsbury -Euston getting dropped - whereas if Wolverhampton -Shrewsbury had been electrified very unlikely. Blackpool residents need to start looking long term. Through London service electric all the way - can't be bad.

And with Pendolinos this time round once done.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Lot of Blackpool residents seem to think their giving up and will never return.

There would be little point in Network Rail's plans for rebuilding Blackpool North station including two platforms long enough to take a Pendolino if Virgin had no intention of returning. I would hope that Virgin will make this point to anyone who contacts them with such a query.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There would be little point in Network Rail's plans for rebuilding Blackpool North station including two platforms long enough to take a Pendolino if Virgin had no intention of returning. I would hope that Virgin will make this point to anyone who contacts them with such a query.

Like Shrewsbury, it's a franchise commitment anyway (put there by Patrick McLoughlin).
We just need to check it's still in the new franchise ITT due by the end of the year.
I think Wrexham is also now a franchise commitment (it started out as a speculative venture by VT).

 

[WatcherZero]

I think the engineering possession is till 6am as the early Northern services are cancelled too. Of course the later Euston to Blackpool is still running.

 

[Lankyline]

Definitely no weekend possession, maybe those Blackpool residents that are complaining should read the press release more carefully (well the ones that can read anyway !) and be grateful that the line is being electrified. Not bad for a town that is effectively shut in winter

 

[QueensCurve]

Virgin getting a lot of stick for temporarily removing the blackpool-euston service due to the overnight possessions. Lot of blackpool residents seem to think their giving up and will never return.

I suppose they have the experience of their services being withdrawn about 30y ago. That however reflected the lack of electrification on the branch.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I suppose they have the experience of their services being withdrawn about 30y ago. That however reflected the lack of electrification on the branch.

I agree definitely part of the reason IMO. Hence my comment above. I remember catching the trains. Usually about 10 minutes in Preston where the electric was taken off and a diesel put on the front and of course the reverse for the return service.

 

[Whistler40145]

I'm a Blackpool resident and if we want a better service in the future, we have to put up and shut up.

Network Rail have to carry out necessary work and therefore Rail Replacement Buses are the only option.

Is the Blackpool North to Euston service starting at Preston using a Voyager or a Pendolino during the overnight closures?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I'd guess still a Voyager, since it attaches to the first service ex-Holyhead at Crewe.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I'm a Blackpool resident and if we want a better service in the future, we have to put up and shut up.

Network Rail have to carry out necessary work and therefore Rail Replacement Buses are the only option.

Hear, hear.

It applies to the whole railway in general.

Sadly we are trying to catch up after decades and decades of neglect. Now we have the added burden of trying to keep a service going while we are doing it. Sometimes buses are the only option.

 

[Whistler40145]

I agree.

We wouldn't be talking about this if BR had electrified the line as part of the 1974 electrification scheme.

 

[Sheepy1209]

Definitely no weekend possession, maybe those Blackpool residents that are complaining should read the press release more carefully (well the ones that can read anyway !) and be grateful that the line is being electrified. Not bad for a town that is effectively shut in winter

As a Blackpool resident no I'm not 'grateful' for the electrification. It's about time this package of improvements was made, not just the wires but the signalling and remodelling. We become anxious because we don't actually expect it to happen, and cheap jibes combined with dismissive comments about the town being 'shut' in winter don't do much to help.

 

[driver_m]

I'd guess still a Voyager, since it attaches to the first service ex-Holyhead at Crewe.

The plan was for it to change to a pendo when wired. That voyager will come in very handy elsewhere as things stand. Only speculating of course but that first Holyhead could be doubled up or used as a later Holyhead/Shrewsbury etc etc.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The plan was for it to change to a pendo when wired. That voyager will come in very handy elsewhere as things stand. Only speculating of course but that first Holyhead could be doubled up or used as a later Holyhead/Shrewsbury etc etc.

Agreed but of course IMHO - Wolverhampton -Shrewsbury is also screaming out for wires.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The plan was for it to change to a pendo when wired. That voyager will come in very handy elsewhere as things stand. Only speculating of course but that first Holyhead could be doubled up or used as a later Holyhead/Shrewsbury etc etc.

But it's starting from Preston and then following its normal diagram.
So no spare 221.

 

[edwin_m]

But it's starting from Preston and then following its normal diagram.
So no spare 221.

I think we may be mixing up the temporary situation during the work, when the 221 still runs but starts from Preston, with the situation after energisation when a 390 can replace the 221 entirely. Assuming another path can be found south of Crewe of course...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I think we may be mixing up the temporary situation during the work, when the 221 still runs but starts from Preston, with the situation after energisation when a 390 can replace the 221 entirely. Assuming another path can be found south of Crewe of course...

Ah, yes, sorry.
There are only 2 local (Lancaster) starters at the moment, and one of those runs via Birmingham.
I think we are just as short of 390s as 221s.
There's the GNWR/Alliance Blackpool service to fit in though (maybe!).

 

[Lankyline]

As a Blackpool resident no I'm not 'grateful' for the electrification. It's about time this package of improvements was made, not just the wires but the signalling and remodelling. We become anxious because we don't actually expect it to happen, and cheap jibes combined with dismissive comments about the town being 'shut' in winter don't do much to help.

Damn I should take up fishing, still easy for us Prestonions to wind up the Blackpool lot

 

[QueensCurve]

I agree.

We wouldn't be talking about this if BR had electrified the line as part of the 1974 electrification scheme.

As I recall, Blackpool to Manchester was BR's next priority for electrification after completion of Weaver to Glasgow in 1974. It didn't happen possibly because of the costs of the Farnworth Tunnel works.

At least it is happening now.

 

[Whistler40145]

I'm one of the happy Blackpool residents who's looking forward to the day when we've got electric trains to Blackpool North, at least it will rid us of the awful Class 142 Pacers.

 

[Sheepy1209]

Damn I should take up fishing, still easy for us Prestonions to wind up the Blackpool lot

....and I'm not even from Blackpool, I just live here but I still feel compelled to jump to its defence! (Should have known you'd be from Preston).

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The plan was for it to change to a pendo when wired. That voyager will come in very handy elsewhere as things stand. Only speculating of course but that first Holyhead could be doubled up or used as a later Holyhead/Shrewsbury etc etc.

How many free Pendolinos are there that could be used to replace a Voyager on that route (without ending up having to replace a Pendolino with a Voyager somewhere else)?

 

[PDG1949]

How many free Pendolinos are there that could be used to replace a Voyager on that route (without ending up having to replace a Pendolino with a Voyager somewhere else)?

This conversation's beginning to become vergin' on the ridiculous.........

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

How many free Pendolinos are there that could be used to replace a Voyager on that route (without ending up having to replace a Pendolino with a Voyager somewhere else)?

None, otherwise there wouldn't be Voyagers on Scotland-London services.
There is scope for off-peak 390 services, but they would need another path.
The only peak option is to divert the early Lancaster train (they already diverted an early Lancaster Voyager for the current service).