Dorking to Horsham line discussion

[stadler]

Moderator note: Split from

Which railway lines are the least used in this country?

There are lists of the least used stations (currently Denton in Lancashire a town of 36.5k - why?) but I couldn't find one on the actual lines themselves, I'm not necessarily saying that any should be closed but which are the least profitable

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Dorking to Horsham has to be a very strong contender. That line is always extremely quiet. I have had at least ten occasions now over the years when I have had the entire train to myself for the whole journey.

There are rarely more than ten people onboard. You might get twenty maximum on some rare occasions. Even during peak times, I have had extremely quiet trains with just a couple others onboard. So even the peak trains are quiet.

I use this line regularly, and I think it has to be a contender for the least used line in the country.

It has always baffled me why it gets such poor usage considering it gets an hourly service and links two major towns.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Dorking to Horsham has to be a very strong contender. That line is always extremely quiet. I have had at least ten occasions now over the years where i have had the entire train to myself for the whole journey. There is rarely more than ten people onboard. You might get twenty maximum on some rare occassions. Even during peak times i have had extremely quiet trains with just a couple others onboard. So even the peak trains are quiet. I use this line regularly and i think it has to be a contender for the least used line in the country. It has always baffled me why it gets such poor usage considering it gets an hourly service and links two major towns.

If it became a Dorking Horsham shuttle using a single unit, meaning the double 377s were turned back earlier at Dorking, a few 377s would be freed up so that more services out of London Victoria and London Bridge could be strengthened. Plenty of singles could really do with being doubles, and plenty of doubles could do with being triples. Speculative territory there though.

 

[stadler]

If it became a Dorking Horsham shuttle using a single unit, meaning the double 377s were turned back earlier at Dorking, a few 377s would be freed up so that more services out of London Victoria and London Bridge could be strengthened. Plenty of singles could really do with being doubles, and plenty of doubles could do with being triples. Speculative territory there though.

I agree with that. That actually sounds like a very good idea. A single three coach 377/3 would be more than enough capacity for a Dorking to Horsham shuttle even at peak times. It is only 22 minutes from end to end giving a turnaround of 8 minutes at either end. So one single three coach 377/3 would be enough to provide an hourly shuttle all day long. Then as you say that would free up more units for strengthening other services.

 

[devon_belle]

If it became a Dorking Horsham shuttle using a single unit, meaning the double 377s were turned back earlier at Dorking, a few 377s would be freed up so that more services out of London Victoria and London Bridge could be strengthened. Plenty of singles could really do with being doubles, and plenty of doubles could do with being triples. Speculative territory there though.

Sound idea in principle, but in practice are passengers mostly travelling between Horsham and Dorking on this route? In my experience they mostly go beyond Dorking, so that change could just compound the issue of low passenger numbers.

On the other hand, the units would indeed be better used elsewhere. I've sometimes wondered about splitting at Dorking, but I don't know if that would save (m)any units.

Another thing is that you'd probably have to alter signalling so P1 at Dorking can be used to terminate and return a passenger service, otherwise every train would be using P2 and P3. Not an insurmountable problem, of course.