Could a railway appear on Jersey again?

[Howardh]

Jersey train company hoping to bring services back to island

Plans for a service between Corbiere and St Helier via St Aubin have been put forward.

www.bbc.co.uk

The railway trackbed is almost fully intact, no buildings on it as far as I'm aware, and looks ideal for running battery electrics (old tube stock?) and getting a spur to the airport would be fantastic! Also running along the prom would be no different than Blackpool trams. The island is plagued by heavy traffic, and that means buses take ages to do short distances in peak hours. I wouldn't be surprised if conversion back to rail/tram wasn't the cheapest/mile in the whole of the British Isles.
Thoughts??

Plans have been put forward to bring a regular train service back to Jersey for the first time in nearly 90 years.
Jersey Western Railway (JWR) said it wanted to set up an "affordable, comfortable and sustainable" service in the island, operating from Corbiere via St Aubin to St Helier, with a branch line to the airport.
Alexander Sparrow, founder of JWR, said if the plans were backed, trains would run every seven-and-a-half minutes with a journey costing £4.90.
Infrastructure Minister, Constable Andy Jehan said he was aware of the plan and was willing to listen to the ideas of islanders.

'Frequent service'​

The last regular service in Jersey ran between St Helier and Corbiere in 1936, before being shut down due to fewer people using the trains.
Islanders have put forward other proposals since the last trains ran to bring services back including a plan for a train or tram from the west of Jersey to St Helier, but none has become a reality.
Mr Sparrow said JWR's plans would utilise some areas previously used for rail services on the island which had since become a walking and cycling route.
He added traffic on the island had become a problem and having a consistent train service would bring many benefits.
"I think the main benefits are going to be a rapid transit service that is reliable, on time and has a frequent service period that is segregated from the traffic," Mr Sparrow said.

The proposal has received some criticism, with Kate Huntington from the Better Journeys Project saying it could result in a "beautiful area" being lost.
"The railway walk is very prized on the island, so I just can't imagine why we'd take that away from the huge number of people who use it now," Ms Huntington said.
"If we can't get people out of their cars to use the fantastic bus service that serves St Aubin and the airport, what on earth would a train do?"
Mr Jehan confirmed he had agreed to meet with Mr Sparrow at the JWR founder's request, to discuss the proposals.
Mr Jehan added: "This is not an infrastructure proposal, but I'm always willing to meet with islanders and listen to ideas."

 

[stevieinselby]

It feels like if congestion is a problem, a cheaper option would be to put bus lanes down Victoria Avenue and move some/most buses off Route de St Aubin, and this wouldn't detract from the walk along the seafront that is popular with visitors and locals alike. Alternatively, put regular bus gates along the Route de St Aubin so that it can't be used by through traffic.

 

[Howardh]

It feels like if congestion is a problem, a cheaper option would be to put bus lanes down Victoria Avenue and move some/most buses off Route de St Aubin, and this wouldn't detract from the walk along the seafront that is popular with visitors and locals alike. Alternatively, put regular bus gates along the Route de St Aubin so that it can't be used by through traffic.

The regular bus to the airport runs through the outskirts of St Helier to St Aubin, whereas for tourists a regular (20'?) dedicated airport service along the prom then up to the airport via the A12 would, to me, make more sense! But as for the railway, I'm sure that would double up both as a congestion limiter and tourist attraction, with the only real bottleneck being at St Aubin.

 

[SynthD]

The former trackbed is mapped here. https://www.RailMapOnline.com/UKIEMap.php?lat=49.19346&lng=-2.17797&zoom=14.0 and on Google Maps as the path mentioned in the quote.

The airport link looks difficult, but necessary. Either it branches off east of Les Quennevais and follow the river, or west of the village beside the leisure centre. In St Helier, the seawall would probably need to be rebuilt, no parking, to maintain the pedestrian and cyclist route. The station could go in the Les Jardins car park. Have not looked at St Aubin.

 

[Howardh]

The former trackbed is mapped here. https://www.RailMapOnline.com/UKIEMap.php?lat=49.19346&lng=-2.17797&zoom=14.0 and on Google Maps as the path mentioned in the quote.

The airport link looks difficult, but necessary. Either it branches off east of Les Quennevais and follow the river, or west of the village beside the leisure centre. In St Helier, the seawall would probably need to be rebuilt, no parking, to maintain the pedestrian and cyclist route. The station could go in the Les Jardins car park. Have not looked at St Aubin.

A station at St Quinnevais could be close enough to count as the airport's station, I've walked it (with suitcase!) to St Brelade often enough - but ideally a small shuttle mini-bus with space for cases could do the job. To be honest I'm not sure the railway/tramway needs to go any further than that, the west of the island from there is hardly congested and is covered adequately by buses.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

There was a metre-gauge line in operation during the German Occupation from St. Brelade to Ronez Quarry in the north of the island running past the airport. Most of it seems to have been roadside unfortunately. It was built by the Todt Organisation to transport materials for the extensive fortifications. The old Jersey Railway had also been reopened as metre-gsuge.

 

[agk2126]

In the ~90 years since the Jersey Railway closed, how has the population distribution changed on the island? I don't have immediate data but would guess, compared to 1936, far more people live outside the catchment area of the former trackbed. Of course, a railway does not need to be within walking distance of the entire island to be worth reopening, but what % of Jersey residents would be reasonably served by a new railway along the same alignment?

If (as I suspect) travel demand is much more dispersed than in the early 20th century, would Victoria Ave bus lanes with many branch bus routes make more sense?

 

[Howardh]

In the ~90 years since the Jersey Railway closed, how has the population distribution changed on the island? I don't have immediate data but would guess, compared to 1936, far more people live outside the catchment area of the former trackbed. Of course, a railway does not need to be within walking distance of the entire island to be worth reopening, but what % of Jersey residents would be reasonably served by a new railway along the same alignment?

If (as I suspect) travel demand is much more dispersed than in the early 20th century, would Victoria Ave bus lanes with many branch bus routes make more sense?

Most of the population is along that southern corridor. I suspect a lot of the thinking behind this is to appeal to tourists and congestion relief is a nice by-product! There is a little "toy" train (motorized) for kids and adults going up and down the prom, and in nice weather it's always well-used so be nice if it were upgraded to a proper train/tram on narrow-gauge rails, like the Isle of Man! Doubt that would be suitable for commuters and airport-goers though; probably needs a substantial unit.

 

[Chester1]

Maybe a good option for Very Light Rail using the old track bed and some street running?

 

[eldomtom2]

In the ~90 years since the Jersey Railway closed, how has the population distribution changed on the island? I don't have immediate data but would guess, compared to 1936, far more people live outside the catchment area of the former trackbed.

Actually the exact opposite! The main new development (i.e. a continuous urban area as opposed to new houses here and there) since the railway closed was Les Quennevais, right around the old trackbed.

Of course, a railway does not need to be within walking distance of the entire island to be worth reopening, but what % of Jersey residents would be reasonably served by a new railway along the same alignment?

If we take the population of the parishes it would travel through (St Helier, St Lawrence, St Peter, and St Brelade), that's about 57,000 people or 56% of the population. Obviously not everyone in these parishes would be served by the railway, but equally the railway would likely be used by people in parishes like St Saviour and St Clement taking the bus to St Helier and then the railway onwards to places like the airport.

 

[Howardh]

Maybe a good option for Very Light Rail using the old track bed and some street running?

I would have thought so, across St Aubin, maybe that leg to the airport and certainly through St Helier to the bus station - however buses from the west go via the underpass and round the back which might be too steep for such a tram, if so some re-alignment of the roads necessary which, of course, adds to the cost.

 

[Chester1]

I would have thought so, across St Aubin, maybe that leg to the airport and certainly through St Helier to the bus station - however buses from the west go via the underpass and round the back which might be too steep for such a tram, if so some re-alignment of the roads necessary which, of course, adds to the cost.

I certainly can't see the business case being positive for normal trams and the private sector train plan is bonkers. It is a compact island of ~80,000 people with an excellent bus network. VLR could potentially work for providing a higher status transport link between the main town the airport.

 

[eldomtom2]

It is a compact island of ~80,000 people with an excellent bus network.

I'm not sure (as a resident of Jersey) that I'd go that far. Adequate, perhaps.

 

[BerkshireRails]

What signalling system do you think they would go with?

 

[Howardh]

I'm not sure (as a resident of Jersey) that I'd go that far. Adequate, perhaps.

Think it's a bus system that's just about coping. It could do with a helping hand!

 

[vuzzeho]

What signalling system do you think they would go with?

Hopefully ETCS, surely?

 

[duffield]

Hopefully ETCS, surely?

Would you even need signals/ETCS? It's only about five miles, I would have thought you could run it on the "one engine in steam" principle with just one unit shuttling back and forth constantly.

 

[edwin_m]

Would you even need signals/ETCS? It's only about five miles, I would have thought you could run it on the "one engine in steam" principle with just one unit shuttling back and forth constantly.

It's only worth building a railway if the demand justifies a more frequent service than could be sustained by a single train.

However, I would have thought light rail technology with line of sight operation would be the way to go if this was ever revived (which to be clear it won't be). This would allow for foot crossings over the railway to get to the seafront, rather than needing lots of footbridges. The curve across the main road at St Aubin wouldn't be allowed as a heavy rail level crossing.

 

[BerkshireRails]

Would you even need signals/ETCS? It's only about five miles, I would have thought you could run it on the "one engine in steam" principle with just one unit shuttling back and forth constantly.

It might be possible get an every 30 minutes service pattern with that based on the Henley Branch being 4 1/2 miles with a half hourly diesel shuttle however passing loops would be best to enable a reliable service pattern.

It's only worth building a railway if the demand justifies a more frequent service than could be sustained by a single train.

However, I would have thought light rail technology with line of sight operation would be the way to go if this was ever revived (which to be clear it won't be). This would allow for foot crossings over the railway to get to the seafront, rather than needing lots of footbridges. The curve across the main road at St Aubin wouldn't be allowed as a heavy rail level crossing.

At this point wouldn't it just be better to brand it as a tramway rather than a railway?