Convert stations to request stops in exchange for higher service frequency

[py_megapixel]

It seems that the frequency of service is a major factor in whether people are likely to choose the train over other options. There are also some lines with stations that receive a lower service frequency than the rest of the line.

Take the Buxton branch line near Manchester for example. The entire line has a half-hourly service (in addition to an hourly Hazel Grove terminator). However, Middlewood, Furness Vale and Dove Holes are only served hourly outside peak times. There must be other services like this.

Would it be viable to convert these stations, and others like them, to request stops, but have all trains booked to call? The trains would still not stop all of the time; the only differences are that passengers get more choice and journeys on some trains take a couple of minutes less or more.

 

[The Planner]

A request stop is a stop with no dwell and then you normally add performance time at a particular location or station stop to mitigate against actually having to stop. If you don't stop then you sit there, if not then everything should still run to time. It might not necessarily work.

 

[edwin_m]

Compared with buses, trains can run faster but take longer to stop so have to slow down considerably for a request stop even if nobody wishes to use it. So this suggestion would increase the journey time of the non-stop trains, which may reduce their patronage or increase costs if it means that extra trains are needed to maintain service frequency. The time penalty might reduce if stations were equipped with a request button that turned on a sign or lamp on the approach and the train could continue at full speed if this wasn't lit - but there would be a risk of disruption and complaints if people didn't realise they had to do this.

The performance allowance mentioned above would be essential if this was done on the Buxton line, because failure to arrive on time on the busy Stockport-Manchester section could cause huge knock-on delays to other services. So in practice trains with request stops would spend several minutes loitering - probably just before Hazel Grove - if the request stops weren't taken up on that journey.

Finally, as trains get busier it is more and more likely that there will be at least one passenger wanting each train at each request stop, and sooner or later it gets to the point where they might as well just become compulsory stops. There was a thread recently discussing the demise of many request stops in recent years, probably for this reason, and they are now generally confined to deep rural routes where the passenger numbers are still low enough for there to be a good chance of not having to stop.