How to justify upgrading a railway line/service

[jonathanforste]

Hi,
Commuting from Stockton to Sunderland once a week on the northern rail service I wondered at what point will the service ever be upgraded. It takes 48mins so isn't fast and stops at 5 stations on the way.

If it was faster would more people use it justifying an upgrade? Whats involved in an upgrade, how much does it cost? Could it stop at the same stations if it had more carriages (2 atm)? Who decides these things, what equation do they use and how can I ask them to upgrade quicker?

 

[Anvil1984]

Hi,
Commuting from Stockton to Sunderland once a week on the northern rail service I wondered at what point will the service ever be upgraded. It takes 48mins so isn't fast and stops at 5 stations on the way.

If it was faster would more people use it justifying an upgrade? Whats involved in an upgrade, how much does it cost? Could it stop at the same stations if it had more carriages (2 atm)? Who decides these things, what equation do they use and how can I ask them to upgrade quicker?

The Durham Coast line often sees Northern trains with 4 coaches and fits without an issue. There were plans for a two services an hour until the pandemic hit, there’s just not enough staff for that at present. Without 2 trains per hour you’re not going to be missing stops out as they are all busy in their own right

The trains on the line are capable of either 75 mph (class 156) or 90mph (class 158). The limitation is track speed. It’s maximum 55 mph Sunderland - Seaham 60 Seaham to Hartlepool, 70 Hartlepool - Billingham, 60 Billingham to Stockton. However there’s slow speed (30 or below) sections for Sunderland Tunnel, Hartlepool Station and Norton Curve.

Other limitations are the available paths for trains mixing with Metros between Newcastle - Sunderland, Freight on the route and only one through platform at Hartlepool currently being used but that is due to be changing soon

 

[zwk500]

If it was faster would more people use it justifying an upgrade?

Possibly. Maybe even probably. depends on what other local options there are (in particular cars)

Whats involved in an upgrade, how much does it cost?

That would depend entirely on what was being upgraded - trains, track, both? Costs will be in the £millions of pounds for any work that makes a substantial difference (new trains, electrification, linespeed enhancements)

Could it stop at the same stations if it had more carriages (2 atm)?

That would depend on the platform lengths of the stations. Even if they aren't long enough for longer trains solutions like Selective Door Opening may be viable for certain stations.

Who decides these things,

A combination of the operator (Northern Rail), Network Rail, the Department for Transport, and the Treasury. At the moment: Great British Railways may change this.

what equation do they use and

I believe it's not 1 equation but several. However at heart it will be the benefit:Cost ratio - how much is returned to the economy for every £1 spent.

how can I ask them to upgrade quicker?

Start with the relevant MPs - fundamentally, it's public money that will be used to fund the upgrades. You can also get in touch with Northern Rail directly or contact good local councillors. Having a solid base of evidence to demonstrate that your proposal will deliver benefits will help move things quicker, but beware that proper economic studies cost several thousand pounds by themselves.

 

[Starmill]

I'm afraid there's essentially no hope of significant improvements in the short term beyond the additional flexibility of the restoration of the second through platform at Hartlepool, and that is still some years away.

 

[jonathanforste]

Thanks all interesting stuff

 

[A0]

Hi,
Commuting from Stockton to Sunderland once a week on the northern rail service I wondered at what point will the service ever be upgraded. It takes 48mins so isn't fast and stops at 5 stations on the way.

If it was faster would more people use it justifying an upgrade? Whats involved in an upgrade, how much does it cost? Could it stop at the same stations if it had more carriages (2 atm)? Who decides these things, what equation do they use and how can I ask them to upgrade quicker?

The question I'd ask is "how does it compare" with others - if you look at High Wycombe to London Marylebone for example, High Wycombe's population is 125k, vs Stockton's 85k - so both are medium / large places, both are about 30 miles from their destination.

Wycombe's station use pre Covid was about 3m, Stockton's was about 88k.

Wycombe's stoppers (it does get a fast which is part of the Marylebone - Oxford / Birmingham service, so we'll set that aside) call at 3 stops and take 40 mins. Were there a couple more stops that would easily be 45-50 mins.

 

[EastisECML]

When metro flow sees a metro frequency of 6tph from Sunderland to Pelaw then perhaps it will be worth running trains from Middlesbrough which terminate at Sunderland? Network Rail have already mentioned adding two more platforms at Sunderland as it used to be. So perhaps 2 tph all stations terminating at Sunderland and 1-2 tph fast continuing to Newcastle? Although I do wonder if a direct line from Hartlepool to Middlesbrough would be better?