Could the Blyth and Tyne route be reopened?

[14xxDave]

The government could organise a demonstration special train on the Blyth and Tyne to show the locals what might be possible. Here in Oxford a while ago I joined a special DMU on the Cowley branch with a temporary "station" at the Business Park. I was very impressed, as I'm sure would the Red Wall voters.

Hmm, I thought that had already been done a while back?

 

[4-SUB 4732]

Boris’ ability to now open that (pardon me, but based on the service due to infrastructure) godforsaken hourly shuttle which helps nobody is the best chance he has of winning over any potential marginals.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Boris’ ability to now open that (pardon me, but based on the service due to infrastructure) godforsaken hourly shuttle which helps nobody is the best chance he has of winning over any potential marginals.

I'd rather have an hourly DMU than no train service.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

I'd rather have an hourly DMU than no train service.

But when you are looking at an hourly DMU that likely terminates early / misses stops (insert other excuse) due to pathing, and then looks at comparable tarmac traffic, an hourly DMU simply doesn’t cause a jot of modal shift.

Failure approaching. My crystal ball is active.

 

[Bletchleyite]

“We should bring electrification of Midland Mainline back and do the whole line through to Sheffield.

He's not wrong (for once). Having our InterCity mainlines unelectrified is a nonsense.

 

[yorksrob]

Fair play to the PM for announcing it !

Let's hold him to delivering it (and not allowing any reductions in the network).

To be fair, I think he's announcing in good faith here. Hopefully it will all survive post the COVID shock.

 

[marsker]

But when you are looking at an hourly DMU that likely terminates early / misses stops (insert other excuse) due to pathing, and then looks at comparable tarmac traffic, an hourly DMU simply doesn’t cause a jot of modal shift.

Failure approaching. My crystal ball is active.

According to Northumberland County Council's website, the proposal is for an all day half hourly service taking 35 minutes from Newcastle to Ashington commencing in late 2023. There has been locally the expectation of an announcement in the near future.

 

[Class 170101]

He'll get a kicking in Parliament for not announcing it there first. Hopefully the Speaker gets to task with him on that. Not that I think Parliament or frankly the Stock Exchange should have priority of announcements over the general population but still.

 

[gallafent]

Not that I think Parliament or frankly the Stock Exchange should have priority of announcements over the general population but still.

Well, parliament is available as a live stream, so in a strong sense that is available to the general population. https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons

 

[HarryL]

"Reversing the Beeching cuts" Ah that old politician chestnut, one for the bingo cards.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

According to Northumberland County Council's website, the proposal is for an all day half hourly service taking 35 minutes from Newcastle to Ashington commencing in late 2023. There has been locally the expectation of an announcement in the near future.

That relies (read further, I hope I’m not wrong) on freight not running.

 

[androdas]

The public consultation docs on the council website specifically mention freight capacity to the power station at Lynemouth will be maintained, as well as current and future plans the Port of Blyth has for the Cambois branch.
Full consultation document is here: Northumberland Council PDF
and the freight capacity is mentioned on p6

 

[bluenoxid]

The government could organise a demonstration special train on the Blyth and Tyne to show the locals what might be possible. Here in Oxford a while ago I joined a special DMU on the Cowley branch with a temporary "station" at the Business Park. I was very impressed, as I'm sure would the Red Wall voters.

Hmm, I thought that had already been done a while back?

Class 156 in 2008, which is probably a warning sign for the more recent runs on the Cowley and Fawley branches . I understand that a 158 was recently spotted trundling around the area so it might be a marker for things to come in the near future.

But when you are looking at an hourly DMU that likely terminates early / misses stops (insert other excuse) due to pathing, and then looks at comparable tarmac traffic, an hourly DMU simply doesn’t cause a jot of modal shift.

Failure approaching. My crystal ball is active.

Newcastle is not the best place to try and park up. The roads are alright but congestion is a bit of a pig as your options become more limited towards the city centre.

 

[swt_passenger]

The government could organise a demonstration special train on the Blyth and Tyne to show the locals what might be possible. Here in Oxford a while ago I joined a special DMU on the Cowley branch with a temporary "station" at the Business Park. I was very impressed, as I'm sure would the Red Wall voters.

There have been quite a few demonstrations, the last ECS move around the line by Northern was only a few weeks ago.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Dec 2020 ==

That relies (read further, I hope I’m not wrong) on freight not running.

They assume 64 passenger and 10 freight services a day in the planning documentation I have downloaded. I’ve been following it for years and there’s never been any reference to removing freight.