Morecambe Electrification Bid

[ole man]

Good point.
If low power, moderate speed, low cost, lightweight 25kVAC overhead is an option for minor lines then a good place to try it out is needed. On such lines freight (if any) would be diesel hauled while passenger trains are electric.

Main line heavy electric trains could use such lines as an alternate route subject to severe power and speed limits.

The Middlewich branch would be another good place to experiment.

Do you know what the linespeed for trolley wire is!!
It is only used in depots,and slow speed routes.
As stated in many replies on this thread, including mine it is a total WASTE of time, there are many other routes that would come way above this route.
If Morecambe-Lancaster is electrified i will do it in just my hard hat, and will work for nothing.

 

[Lampshade]

Do you know what the linespeed for trolley wire is!!
It is only used in depots,and slow speed routes.

Isn't the speed limit from Morecambe South Junction to Morecambe only 25mph though?

To be honest, it'd be much easier to put a PPM on there and be done with it.

 

[ole man]

Isn't the speed limit from Morecambe South Junction to Morecambe only 25mph though?

To be honest, it'd be much easier to put a PPM on there and be done with it.

Totally agree with you, This total waste of time project will be costing Lancashire council a lot of money,which in the present day of cut backs is shameful.

 

[driver9000]

Isn't the speed limit from Morecambe South Junction to Morecambe only 25mph though?

South Junction-Bare Lane (to just before Bare Lane Junction) is 25mph then 55mph (on UD Morecambe) through Bare Lane then:

Up and Down Morecambe is 45mph dropping to 30mph just before Morecambe
Up and Down Heysham is 40 mph

Heysham line itself is 40mph to the Power Station GF then 20mph.

 

[S19]

This probably sounds like a pipe dream, but for me they should focus on getting better use out of the Heysham Branch rather than electrification

Build a couple of halts at the Globe Arena (Morecambe FC) and somewhere near the Bypass (maybe a small park and ride station?) and get a 2 hourly service to and from Heysham Port going. There are lots of staff at Heysham Power Stations (who could use Heysham Port station) who travel from outside the area and it's a pain in the backside getting from south Lancaster to Heysham and vice versa!

There are lots of residents of Heysham who work in Lancaster, and I would imagine quite a few in Preston too so a decent rail link from Heysham would be quite successful in my opinion.

To give those of you an idea of how bad traffic is in the area, I used to work on the south side of Lancaster and most days it took me longer to get home to Morecambe then it did when I worked in Penrith!

 

[HSTEd]

Do you know what the linespeed for trolley wire is!!
It is only used in depots,and slow speed routes.
As stated in many replies on this thread, including mine it is a total WASTE of time, there are many other routes that would come way above this route.
If Morecambe-Lancaster is electrified i will do it in just my hard hat, and will work for nothing.

Well trams that use trolley wire can get 50mph, but I do agree with you on it being pointless, a PPM is probably a far better bet.

 

[driver9000]

A PPM wouldn't cope with loadings on the line. Especially at peak times.

 

[Nonsense]

If the ultimate aim is a 100% electrified railway, how is this pointless? I'd even go so far as to say that not wiring it now is guaranteed to become one of those 'wasted opportunities' that everyone here likes to moan about.

Stock availability aside, converting the Lancaster - Morecambe/Heysham shuttle to electric must be an easy win, mustn't it? Its a couple of miles, bugger all in the grand scheme of things.

 

[driver9000]

Stock availability aside, converting the Lancaster - Morecambe/Heysham shuttle to electric must be an easy win, mustn't it? Its a couple of miles, bugger all in the grand scheme of things.

It would make perfect sense if it was a self contained service but it isn't. The units for Morecambe and Heysham all interwork with Cumbrian coast or Leeds duties meaning an EMU wouldn't be able to be used on the services.

They (the council) have bigger things to be thinking about in the city before they go off shouting about wanting to be included in electrification. They would be better off looking at how they can be a part of improving the local rail service and improving the horrendous traffic clog that Lancaster suffers from. Sadly though it seems Lancaster city council aren't interested in the city they are supposed to be promoting and looking after. There is so much the city and county council can do to improve things before going off down the electrification route.

 

[Gathursty]

This is actually a good idea.

I will say that in the future, when more immediately sought electification procedures have been done, then I will welcome this too. However, as other people have made the same points as I will, I think the crippling problem is the bottleneck of the River Lune and its effect on the road network and the Heysham Branch.

The new bypass will, I hope, be brilliant for the area and bring relief to commuters. As for the branch line, there is no room to put a spur to miss out Morecambe on the way to Heysham which is annoying. Another issue I have with the line is that Heysham, the village, has no station, but to put one in would be a bit too far for some people to walk and would be too close to either Morecambe or Heysham.

Similarly, reintroducing Middleton Road Bridge Halt as a kind of Park and Ride (Let's call this Heysham Parkway) would again, be too close to Heysham Port but maybe a bit closer to the village and would link up with bus routes terminating/beginning at Trumacar Lane.

One could simply turn Heysham Port station into an all-singing, all-dancing Park and Ride facility and force the 2A etc.. to stop there but this might be pushing the erm.. boat out since by the looks of it, doesn't seem to be much room there for more expansion.

Going back to electrification. I agree to it, but after work has gone in to providing a reason for Heysham villagers to commute by rail, not simply those at the Port.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The new bypass will, I hope, be brilliant for the area and bring relief to commuters. As for the branch line, there is no room to put a spur to miss out Morecambe on the way to Heysham which is annoying.

This new bypass has been needed now for very many years. The matter of road traffic congestion has already been mentioned in this thread.

 

[Get-Pulled-Off]

It would make perfect sense if it was a self contained service but it isn't. The units for Morecambe and Heysham all interwork with Cumbrian coast or Leeds duties meaning an EMU wouldn't be able to be used on the services.

Well, that's only because they are diagrammed that way, they don't have to be. There is only one advertised through service from Morecambe to Barrow and no return service. I know what you mean though, a unit turns up on a Barrow-Lancaster and then works the Morecambe shuttle. At the same time the Morecambe shuttle then works a Barrow back.

But there is no logical reason why you couldn't keep the electric unit on the Morecambe all day, with the Barrow-Lancaster working back to Barrow with a crew swap if needed.

 

[snail]

as other people have made the same points as I will, I think the crippling problem is the bottleneck of the River Lune and its effect on the road network and the Heysham Branch.

That's one reason why the rail route goes the way it does. Tram-trains on the old route would be one solution and serve more people but there's the issue of how anything gets across the river. The old railway bridge is now a 3-lane road, perpetually clogged with traffic if my experience is anything to go by when I am in that area.

 

[Buttsy]

Well, that's only because they are diagrammed that way, they don't have to be. There is only one advertised through service from Morecambe to Barrow and no return service. I know what you mean though, a unit turns up on a Barrow-Lancaster and then works the Morecambe shuttle. At the same time the Morecambe shuttle then works a Barrow back.

But there is no logical reason why you couldn't keep the electric unit on the Morecambe all day, with the Barrow-Lancaster working back to Barrow with a crew swap if needed.

Alternatively, as Windermere isn't being electrified as part of the recent scheme, run some TPE 319s to Morecambe from Manchester Airport!

 

[ole man]

Well trams that use trolley wire can get 50mph, but I do agree with you on it being pointless, a PPM is probably a far better bet.

If you have a closer look at the trolley wire on 50mph routes, you will find double contact wire as on midland metro, so technically not trolley wire, on country parts of the Manchester Metro it is catenary and contact