Midland Main Line Upgrade: You’re In Charge

[Jorge Da Silva]

If you had unlimited cash and you were in charge of upgrade the Midland Main Line what would you include? What would the service pattern look like after the upgrade?

 

[johnnychips]

Please can you change the title to You’re.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Please can you change the title to You’re.

Thanks

 

[LLivery]

Full Electrification: Bedford - Doncaster and routes from Sheffield to Leeds.

New Stations
1. Edgewarebury (M1 London Gateway). Build homes on the green land adjacent and have a park & ride for the M1 into London. Served by Thameslink slows.
2. Wixams. Already planned to serve new housing
3. Clapham Oakley. Serving both settlements and Park and Ride for north Beds.
4. Rushden Pkwy. Serving Rushden, Higham F and Irchester. Would be happy however, with a bus link serving all the large settlement to Wellingborough and making it a railhead.
5. Burton Latimer. Maybe.
6. Desborough & Rothwell
7. Kibworth
8. Clay Cross

Station upgrades
Rebuild totally Bedford Midland into a Midland-EWR interchange. 7-8 platforms.
Rebuild Luton and Hendon station buildings.
Refurb MH Bdwy.
Syston second platform.

Tracks
Four tracking: Leicester - Syston
Double tracking: Corby - Manton Jun

Rough timetable
Thameslink as is.
2tph London - Corby. 1tph to Melton using battery power. Calling at: Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden, Clapham, Bedford, Luton, Luton AP. 8-12 car Regional.
1tph London - Nottingham. Calling at: Bedford, Market H, Leicester, EM Pkwy, Beeston. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Nottingham. Calling at: Kettering, Market H, Leicester, Loughborough. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Sheffield. Calling at: Leicester, EM Pkwy, Derby, Chesterfield. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Sheffield. Calling at: Bedford, Leicester, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield. 8-9 car Intercity
1tph Bedford - Sheffield. Calling at: Clapham, Rushden, Wellingborough, Burton, Kettering, Desborough, Market H, Kibworth, Leicester, Syston, Loughborough, EM Parkway, Ilkeston, Langley Mill, Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Dronfield. (Designed to connect local areas). 3-4 car Local.
1tph Reading - Nottingham. Calling at: Oxford, Bicester, Bletchley, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham. 4 car Express Regional.
1tph EWR XC. ...Oxford, Bletchley, Bedford, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph Nottingham - Leeds (electric). 3-4 car Northern Connect.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Full Electrification: Bedford - Doncaster and routes from Sheffield to Leeds.

New Stations
1. Edgewarebury (M1 London Gateway). Build homes on the green land adjacent and have a park & ride for the M1 into London. Served by Thameslink slows.
2. Wixams. Already planned to serve new housing
3. Clapham Oakley. Serving both settlements and Park and Ride for north Beds.
4. Rushden Pkwy. Serving Rushden, Higham F and Irchester. Would be happy however, with a bus link serving all the large settlement to Wellingborough and making it a railhead.
5. Burton Latimer. Maybe.
6. Desborough & Rothwell
7. Kibworth
8. Clay Cross

Station upgrades
Rebuild totally Bedford Midland into a Midland-EWR interchange. 7-8 platforms.
Rebuild Luton and Hendon station buildings.
Refurb MH Bdwy.
Syston second platform.

Tracks
Four tracking: Leicester - Syston
Double tracking: Corby - Manton Jun

Rough timetable
Thameslink as is.
2tph London - Corby. 1tph to Melton using battery power. Calling at: Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden, Clapham, Bedford, Luton, Luton AP. 8-12 car Regional.
1tph London - Nottingham. Calling at: Bedford, Market H, Leicester, EM Pkwy, Beeston. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Nottingham. Calling at: Kettering, Market H, Leicester, Loughborough. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Sheffield. Calling at: Leicester, EM Pkwy, Derby, Chesterfield. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph London - Sheffield. Calling at: Bedford, Leicester, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield. 8-9 car Intercity
1tph Bedford - Sheffield. Calling at: Clapham, Rushden, Wellingborough, Burton, Kettering, Desborough, Market H, Kibworth, Leicester, Syston, Loughborough, EM Parkway, Ilkeston, Langley Mill, Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Dronfield. (Designed to connect local areas). 3-4 car Local.
1tph Reading - Nottingham. Calling at: Oxford, Bicester, Bletchley, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham. 4 car Express Regional.
1tph EWR XC. ...Oxford, Bletchley, Bedford, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds. 8-9 car Intercity.
1tph Nottingham - Leeds (electric). 3-4 car Northern Connect.

I like it. The Timetable looks good and some good plans full electrification to Leeds/Doncaster, reopening some stations and four tracking around Leicester. I would add Four Tracking around Sheffield southern approach and reopen Heeley and Millhouses stations.

 

[mr_jrt]

Track:
New: Extending the Hendon lines to the outskirts of St Albans on London Road.
New: Four-tracking Glendon North to Syston.
Reinstating(?): Four-tracking Syston-Manton
Grade separation at all junctions.

Stations:
Reopen: Stations for towns > 5000 pop. between Manton and Bedford. (not going to itemise!)
New: Bedford North, out by Clapham, served by Thameslink, maybe EWR?
Rebuilt: Bedford Midland with 6 or more platforms on all lines, with turnback sidings. Served by IC, Thameslink, EWR.
New: Bedford South/Wixams, served by Thameslink, maybe EWR?
New: St Albans North, to serve the northern side of the city, and to mitigate moving the existing station further away. Served by Thameslink.
New: Move St Albans station south to London Road. 6+ platforms, with turnback sidings. Served by IC, Thameslink, LO.
Tweaked: Radlett, served by LO.
Tweaked: Elstree & Borehamwood, served by LO.
New: Scratchwood Parkway, P&R for London by the M1. Served by Thameslink and LO.
Tweaked: Mill Hill, served by LO.
New: Grahame Park, served by LO.
New: Silkstream, served by LO and the Northern Line.
Tweaked: Hendon, served by LO only.
New: Brent Cross, served by LO only.
Tweaked: Cricklewood, served by LO only.
Tweaked: West Hampstead, served by Thameslink and LO.

Obviously OHLE throughout.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

New stations

• Heeley
• Millhouses
• Desborough
• Rushden
• Brent Cross West
• Wixams
• Oakley
• Burton Latimer
• Kibworth
• Clay Cross

Station Upgrades

• Bedford Midland: Rebuilt as 8 platforms
• Leicester: Rebuilt as 6 platforms
• Chesterfield: New fourth platform
• Syston: Second Platform
• Dore & Totley: 2 new MML platforms
• Loughborough: new platform 4

St Pancras would have increased capacity to take capacity 2tph per platform (taking total to 8tph)

Infrastructure Changes

• Wigston-Syston Four-Tracking
• Electrification from Bedford to Leeds/Doncaster
• Four Tracking from Chesterfield to Sheffield

Timetable

• 1tph: London St Pancras-Nottingham: Bedford, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston and Nottingham
• 1tph: London St Pancras-Nottingham: Bedford, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway and Nottingham
• 1tph: London St Pancras-Sheffield: Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield
• 1tph: London St Pancras-Leeds: Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds
• 1tph: London St Pancras-Corby: Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Oakley, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby
• 1tph: London St Pancras-Derby via Melton Mowbray: Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Oakley, Rushden Parkway, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton and Derby
• 2tph: London St Pancras to Leicester: Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Oakley, Rushden, Wellingborough, Burton Latimer, Kettering, Desborough, Market Harborough, Kibworth and Leicester
• 1tph: Sheffield to Nottingham via Derby: Heeley, Millhouses, Dore and Totley, Dronfield, Chesterfield, Clay Cross, Derby, Long Eaton, Attenborough, Beeston and Nottingham

 

[John Webb]

Track:
New: Extending the Hendon lines to the outskirts of St Albans on London Road.
.....
New: St Albans North, to serve the northern side of the city, and to mitigate moving the existing station further away. Served by Thameslink.
New: Move St Albans station south to London Road. 6+ platforms, with turnback sidings. Served by IC, Thameslink, LO.
.......

There are numerous restrictions on extending the Hendon lines further north:
No room at Mill Hill Broadway;
need for a third Elstree tunnel
width restrictions at Elstree & Borehamwood station and north of there;
ditto at Radlett.
As for resiting St Albans City Station to London Road, this is hedged about with problems - the high level of the railway here, inadequate space for car parking and the bus station, local road infrastructure etc. (It is worth noting that the railway originally was planned to run further East than it does, with a station on London Road near to the Mile House Lane junction, but the city fathers persuaded the MR to go to the present location closer to the city centre by swapping council owned land with the MR - legend had it that this was due to the building of the city prison, but it wasn't!)
Similar restrictions on the available space would also limit what could be done on the North side of St Albans.

No one so far has mentioned the potential rebuilding of Napsbury Station South of St Albans - one side bounded by the former Hadley Page airfield so little restriction on width, and plenty of room to set up a park and ride just off the A414 North Orbital to serve St Albans and London-bound commuters. It would also serve the well-developed 'village' of London Colney and Napsbury, with around 10,000+ inhabitants who've got to travel 3 or 4 miles to get to either St Albans City or Radlett stations.

 

[mr_jrt]

Napsbury is traditionally on my wishlist, actually. I just felt there's just not enough population in the catchment area, and it's all green belt, so thought I'd leave it off as too much of an open goal for the naysayers. I have my P&R at Scratchwood.

As for your points:

Mill Hill Broadway I think is actually the limit of what can be done easily. Extending the lines up to the west side over the car park with a pair of terminal platforms should be very easy.

Yes, you would need a third Elstree tunnel. Not cheap, but not impossible by any means. The width restrictions at Elstree and Radlett are the biggest issues. A shame, as there was clearly enough room at Elstree before all those flats sprung up on the goods yards. Radlett I know less well as I used to commute from Elstree!

I agree London Road isn't without its problems, but depending on how brave you were the golf club over the road looks promising for parking and/or bus station provision! Height-wise, it just adds to the cost - it's not an engineering blocker. In an ideal world I'd love to have an orbital rail route running underneath too - but that's something else entirely.

 

[Bald Rick]

But why would you move St Albans station further away from where the balance of the population of St Albans lives?

Re St Albans north - this would be great for me personally. But you could only stop services on the slow lines, which is only half the peak service of St Albans City. It would get some use, but I have grave doubts as to the business case: there would be a lot more losers than winners. There would certainly be very little new to rail traffic.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Napsbury is traditionally on my wishlist, actually. I just felt there's just not enough population in the catchment area, and it's all green belt, so thought I'd leave it off as too much of an open goal for the naysayers. I have my P&R at Scratchwood.

As for your points:

Mill Hill Broadway I think is actually the limit of what can be done easily. Extending the lines up to the west side over the car park with a pair of terminal platforms should be very easy.

Yes, you would need a third Elstree tunnel. Not cheap, but not impossible by any means. The width restrictions at Elstree and Radlett are the biggest issues. A shame, as there was clearly enough room at Elstree before all those flats sprung up on the goods yards. Radlett I know less well as I used to commute from Elstree!

I agree London Road isn't without its problems, but depending on how brave you were the golf club over the road looks promising for parking and/or bus station provision! Height-wise, it just adds to the cost - it's not an engineering blocker. In an ideal world I'd love to have an orbital rail route running underneath too - but that's something else entirely.

The continued debacle (and not much action) on the "critically" needed Strategic Rail Freight terminal at Radlett is a strong local cause celebre. There are local planning proposals for a "garden village" which would assist the restoration of a new Napsbury station for the slow lines only. Not a bad idea in view.

Taking the golf course at the south end of St Albans would bring a very large and well connected protest. You can imagine who uses this facility - and more importantly , who they know. Do oot go there.

 

[cactustwirly]

Mines pretty simple:

1tph Leeds; calling at Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield & Leeds

1tph Nottingham; calling at Luton Airport, Kettering, Market H, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston & Nottingham

1tph Sheffield; calling at Leicester Loughborough, East Mids Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield & Sheffield.

1tph Nottingham, calling at Market Harborough, Leicester, East Mids Parkway & Nottingham

2tph Corby; calling at Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering & Corby

I'd spend the money on re-modelling Wellingborough to remove the low speed through the station.
Re model the Leicester area, to improve the speeds through the area.

 

[mr_jrt]

I'd move it because:
a) It's really not far at all - Picking an favourable arbitrary destination, The Maltings, it's 15 minutes and 0.8 miles from London Rd. It's 13 minutes and 0.6 miles from City station.
b) It enables you to reach it from the south with more tracks.
c) It's on a larger road, improving road access.
d) Having two stations gives a wider overall catchment area.
e) Removing the current station might allow easing the curvature, increasing non-stop speeds on the fast lines.
f) It has the potential for a direct interchange with any future orbital Herts route using the former alignment towards Hatfield.

As for only being able to serve the slow lines, yes. But all the other interventions would mean Thameslink wouldn't need to use the fast lines at all, making full stops on them south of Bedford unlikely. The model is the WCML, basically. So, starting at St. P, limited pick up only at St Albans & Luton, full stops at Bedford, Kettering, & Leicester. Thameslink/slow lines service handles everything else, including reopened stations. Passengers can change to IC services for faster journey times if ticketing allows. Post-HS2 those limited pick-up only stop become full stops.

 

[Aictos]

Mines pretty simple:

1tph Leeds; calling at Luton, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield & Leeds

1tph Nottingham; calling at Luton Airport, Bedford, Kettering, Market H, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston & Nottingham

1tph Sheffield; calling at Leicester Loughborough, East Mids Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield & Sheffield.

1tph Nottingham, calling at Luton, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Mids Parkway & Nottingham

2tph Corby; calling at Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering & Corby

I'd spend the money on re-modelling Wellingborough to remove the low speed through the station.
Re model the Leicester area, to improve the speeds through the area.

Amended with station stops put in to improve connections between South MML destinations and North MML destinations

 

[John Webb]

I'd move it because:
..........
e) Removing the current station might allow easing the curvature, increasing non-stop speeds on the fast lines.
f) It has the potential for a direct interchange with any future orbital Herts route using the former alignment towards Hatfield.
........

The curvature at London Road - all part of the 'deviation' from the original planned route - is little different from that through the present station and would still be a limiting factor, so little to be gained by that.
And as Chief Planner says, trying to use the golf course or part thereof would be very unpopular with locals.......
The likelihood of a future "orbital Herts route" is extremely small - much less than the possibility of adding extra tracks to the MML, I would have thought - due to the developments in Hatfield in particular since the St Albans-Hatfield line closed.