Apologies if this is already on the card for the TRU - but having recently travelled to Hull from Leeds I noticed that after Micklefield the route is entirely twin track, meaning no opportunity for express services to overtake stoppers.
Theoretically, would it be possible to upgrade a section of track to quadruple track, to enable overtaking? Or is it just not feasible?
It'd be physically possible to quad track the line, particularly between Gilberdyke and Hull as this was quad track in the past. I'm not sure there is a need for full four tracking though. The line isn't hugely busy for a start. The current passenger service pattern is:
- 3 trains per hour from Sherburn/South Milford to Selby
- 3.5 trains per hour Selby to Gilberdyke
- 5.5 trains pet hour Gilberdyke to Hull
There's freight on top of this too. I think its unlikely that there'll be a huge increase in services. Maybe an increase to 8 passenger trains per hour at most between Gilberdyke and Hull.
Most passenger trains operate a fairly similar stopping pattern of east of Selby so journey time is fairly similar for all services. While there's 8 stops between Hull and Selby, 3 of those don't really serve anywhere and have very infrequent services, and another 2 only have an hourly service.
The main capacity issue is likely thr freight trains on the route. This will particularly be an issue if linespeeds are increased which is definitely being considered. Even so I don't think full four tracking will be considered. Its more likely that loops will be created to allow freight trains to be overtaken.
