Lydd Town Line

[03_179]

Just a speculative idea but could Lydd Town station be reopened?

The area is lacking a railway as such and there is a growing town close by (2011 population 6567), added to that the area has the RHDR as an attraction.

It's a 45 minute trip to Ashford International and only 21 minutes from the Appledore broanch which means it could be used as a commuter station.

From the look of the stations area currently it isn't used much meaning it maybe could be used as a large car park facility as well.

I know that from November 2018 there are no longer scheduled flights from Lydd Airport (sorry London Ashford Airport) but if the line could be extended coldit not be a better airport with a few regional air flights?

Apart from the Nuclear waste trains nothing else passes it.

Over to your guys .. what do you think ?

 

[alex17595]

One of the biggest problems I think is the amount of crossings on the line.

I count:
10 with only signs
1 with only warning lights but no barriers
1 with manual barriers (right next to a bridge so could be closed)

The station in Lydd is still there and on a passing loop. Its only 25 mins to drive from Lydd to Ashford.
May also cause problems at Appledore with the single track section to the south.

 

[03_179]

I think the single line is south of the junction with the Lydd Line.

Crossings would be a big issue but currently there are trains along the line (I know not frequently) but it is still an operational line.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

The line would require absolute and entire ripping up and re-laying with the crossings all upgraded to at least AHB with obstacle detectors now.

You'd want something like a 60-75mph line speed to cover the 7 miles in 6-7 minutes; and a crossover speed increase to about 40mph. With no call at Appledore needed due to low passenger usage, only Ham Street would be needed to call. No need to open Lydd Town; just build a good road to a Parkway-style station at Lydd Airport and a covered walkway to the terminal. This Parkway would therefore serve Lydd's town, Dungeness, Lydd on Sea and Greatstone; not sure about whether people from Littlestone and Romney would sooner go to Appledore or Lydd Parkway.

An overall 19 minute journey time to Ashford with a timed arrival of something akin to XX25/XX55 to connect with the Charing Cross, Victoria and St Pancras trains would be quite alright. No need for ludicrous bi-mode units.

 

[03_179]

Certainly it's an interesting idea.

The idea of a half hourly service to London would be interesting. And with a centralised station (not the old Lydd Station) something like your Lydd Parkway (I hate parkway names lol) with a large car park would definatly increase usage. With decent rail service maybe Lydd Airport (London Ashford Airport) would start having better flight options much like Southend Airport. Flybe increased it's flight from there in the past.

Obviously a 395 wouldn't be needed (after all there could be a change of train at Ashford for that) but a modern EMU/DMU would be good.

What is the currently line speed on the line along the Lydd Line? 20mph

Why would the whole line need ripping up?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

This was recently discussed in the thread,
Your suggestions for the next Southeastern franchise
Look from post #831 onwards.

But in summary... I'd say it's a nice idea and I'd love in principle to see new rail links re-opening. But a population of 6000 really doesn't cut it for the minimum tens of millions (I wouldn't actually be too surprised if it topped 100 million) you'd need to spend to get the line up to scratch for passenger services. And I believe Lydd airport currently has no scheduled flights at all, so not really any point opening a station for the airport.