New station in Killingworth

[A S Leib]

I’d like to see the Northumberland Line make a dent in the traffic in North Tyneside but I won’t hold my breath.

(Quote from https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ned-to-passengers.204414/page-39#post-7051650)

That might be helped by North Tyneside Council hopes for a station in Killingworth.

A new station on the East Coast Main Line could be created at Killingworth as part of regeneration works.

North Tyneside Council bosses have now signed off plans to explore the feasibility of the new station in the Killingworth area.

I'd expect there to be more desire for that if Northumberland line passenger numbers match or exceed expectations. I think there's a risk of it becoming a Reston or East Linton, especially if the Northern Morpeth services aren't able to regularly call at a station there. Even if they can, once per hour might not be enough to get people to switch from buses. The X65 takes 25 minutes from Killingworth to Newcastle and runs twice an hour (but not after 19:00 or on Sundays); given that I think Newcastle – Northumberland Park will be ~15 minutes, I can't see such a service being massively competitive time wise.

 

[Snex]

Killingworth should be served by the Metro imo.



They could easily do a short branch line off the yellow line, something like that with very little difficulty, especially if the stuff down to Washington ever happens as those trains need to go somewhere.

There's already future plans for housing where all the yellow crosses are so it's not as it's serving nothing. Be nice to build the transport first in the UK once rather than building houses with no public transport.

 

[jh64]

I'm really not sure where a mainline station would go, as just about all the best spots for it have now been filled in with houses, so it might as well end up being named for Dudley where it'd be closer to. Would be nice to see though!

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

Is there a big need for a station at Killingworth with Northumberland Park and Cramlington near by? I get there has been a lot of house building in the area but it doesn't seem feasible.

Although, it would be nice to see an EMU calling there in the future after stops at Widdrington, Pegswood and Cramlington. Fantasy, I know!

 

[Snex]

Is there a big need for a station at Killingworth with Northumberland Park and Cramlington near by? I get there has been a lot of house building in the area but it doesn't seem feasible.

Although, it would be nice to see an EMU calling there in the future after stops at Widdrington, Pegswood and Cramlington. Fantasy, I know!

To be fair, ignoring reality, if there was a frequent train service from Durham to Morpeth stopping at places like Cramlington, Dudley, Killingworth, Forest Hall, Wiltshire Drive, Heaton, Newcastle, Saltwell, Team Valley, Birtley, Chester Le Street, Newton Hall it would be extremely popular.

Obviously in reality there's no free paths to do anything of the sort so it's just going to be an infrequent hourly service, at best. Pointless really.

 

[Killingworth]

Killingworth. George Stephenson. Rail 200. New station. Good idea! I'm chuffed about that.

Since I cycled that area in my youth it's changed. Lots more houses. Commuting. No pits. Sounds a good bet.

Look at map. Not much room for a new station with car parking, but conceivable, at a price.

Looks at railway pathing and priorities down the ECML. Delicate!

 

[Meerkat]

Looks at railway pathing and priorities down the ECML. Delicate!

Thats why we need a high speed diversion line from as near Newcastle as possible to at least north of Pegswood, preferably Widdrington. Speed up the long distance trains and allow for a frequent suburban stopper service to be run [puts crayons away]

 

[A S Leib]

Thats why we need a high speed diversion line from as near Newcastle as possible to at least north of Pegswood, preferably Widdrington. Speed up the long distance trains and allow for a frequent suburban stopper service to be run [puts crayons away]

Given how far west Edinburgh is and the lack of anywhere else large enough to really justify a high-speed station between Newcastle and Edinburgh (apart from maybe a TGV beetroot-style parkway in the Borders), at that point I wonder if a new line all the way to Edinburgh would be feasible. On the other hand, I think a direct route means going through the Cheviot Hills, not to mention construction in central Newcastle and Edinburgh (depending how far out there's capacity on existing lines), and that's using a sledgehammer for this thread's aim of getting Killingworth a station.

 

[HSTEd]

Given how far west Edinburgh is and the lack of anywhere else large enough to really justify a high-speed station between Newcastle and Edinburgh (apart from maybe a TGV beetroot-style parkway in the Borders), at that point I wonder if a new line all the way to Edinburgh would be feasible. On the other hand, I think a direct route means going through the Cheviot Hills, not to mention construction in central Newcastle and Edinburgh (depending how far out there's capacity on existing lines), and that's using a sledgehammer for this thread's aim of getting Killingworth a station.

Well, at the risk of derailing the thread, I think you probably would want a new line all the way to Edinburgh, but I think it would probably run in the A68 corridor rather than following the ECML.

In any case, I agree that's not really that relevant for this.
I do wonder whether a network rail station is really a better option than a Metro branch though.

 

[A S Leib]

I do wonder whether a network rail station is really a better option than a Metro branch though.

Agreed. What's the maximum frequency which could be run through the current metro core? Given that it's 10 tph now whilst parts of the tube get 30 tph+, I'd guess adding an extra line with services every twelve minutes shouldn't be a massive issue providing the fleet's more reliable than it seems to be now.

 

[Swanley 59]

Are there any plans to increase capacity on the congested Morpeth - Newcastle section? I guess 100/110 mph EMUs are out of the question for the Northern stoppers, so is there any scope to create a couple of extra paths by changing from three- to four-aspect signalling?

A better service to Cramlington should take precedence over a new station at Killingworth.

 

[A S Leib]

I guess 100/110 mph EMUs are out of the question for the Northern stoppers

Would there be any problem with using 755s, if they took over all Newcastle / Middlesbrough Northern services?

 

[Swanley 59]

Would there be any problem with using 755s, if they took over all Newcastle / Middlesbrough Northern services?

A brilliant idea, but, alas, I think we are really straying into the realms of fantasy! A 158 turning up instead of a 156 is as good as it will get for the foreseeable future.

 

[Bald Rick]

What does @Killingworth think about this?

 

[D6130]

What does @Killingworth think about this?

See post #6.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Nov 2024 ==

(apart from maybe a TGV beetroot-style parkway in the Borders)

We already have that....it's called Reston!

 

[swt_passenger]

Agreed. What's the maximum frequency which could be run through the current metro core? Given that it's 10 tph now whilst parts of the tube get 30 tph+, I'd guess adding an extra line with services every twelve minutes shouldn't be a massive issue providing the fleet's more reliable than it seems to be now.

It’s been operated at up to 20 tph in one or two peak hours if you go back far enough. The new fleet was supposed to bring back 6 tph on both lines, so 12 tph in the core.

 

[geordieblue]

It’s been operated at up to 20 tph in one or two peak hours if you go back far enough. The new fleet was supposed to bring back 6 tph on both lines, so 12 tph in the core.

Even a few years ago it was something like 17tph in the morning peak including the extras (which ran I think from Monkseaton/South Gosforth to Pelaw). No idea if they’ll bring this back after the new fleet arrives.

 

[Northumbriana]

Is there a big need for a station at Killingworth with Northumberland Park and Cramlington near by? I get there has been a lot of house building in the area but it doesn't seem feasible.

Those two places are miles away from Killingworth. Why would people from Killingworth head several miles North or East to get a train to Newcastle?

 

[swt_passenger]

Those two places are miles away from Killingworth. Why would people from Killingworth head several miles North or East to get a train to Newcastle?

I suspect there are more suitable metro stations than considering Cramlington or Northumberland Park National rail. The closed station at Killingworth, (or is it Forest Hall?), can’t be a significant distance from Benton, they're both on the same “station road”. I’m sure this aspect has been discussed before.

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

Those two places are miles away from Killingworth. Why would people from Killingworth head several miles North or East to get a train to Newcastle?

Northumberland Park is a 7 minute drive down the A19 and is comparable to driving from Pegswood to Morpeth.

With the low fares and decent service, it may be attractive to people who don’t want to battle through the traffic on the Central Motorway or Jesmond to Newcastle, especially with the Tyne Bridge works on.

Cramlington, I’ll give you that one.

 

[Bald Rick]

See post #6.

oops

 

[Snex]

Northumberland Park is a 7 minute drive down the A19 and is comparable to driving from Pegswood to Morpeth.

With the low fares and decent service, it may be attractive to people who don’t want to battle through the traffic on the Central Motorway or Jesmond to Newcastle, especially with the Tyne Bridge works on.

Cramlington, I’ll give you that one.

Northumberland Park P&R is a ghost town, barely anyone uses it, and is also seriously insecure lately.

The train won't change that since the Metro would still be quicker, for the vast majority of people anyway, and it would make more sense to go to Four Lane Ends regardless.

 

[Killingworth]

Northumberland Park P&R is a ghost town, barely anyone uses it, and is also seriously insecure lately.

The train won't change that since the Metro would still be quicker, for the vast majority of people anyway, and it would make more sense to go to Four Lane Ends regardless.

The Northumberland Park area is currently amidst a muddy construction site with the Northumberland line station a long way from complete. It's not convenient for Killingworth.

 

[Snex]

The Northumberland Park area is currently amidst a muddy construction site with the Northumberland line station a long way from complete. It's not convenient for Killingworth.

Yeah agreed, I wouldn't park a car there even if it was tbh. Quite often use the station (connect via bus) and it's rife with anti social behaviour problems lately.

The place has been down to 2 floors until quite recently, aswell, since the local yobs decided they'd smash all the panels on the stairwells.

Not a place I'd want to leave a car and generally a really unpleasant station lately. Not helped by the fact a fair chunk of lights are broken, the glass on the seating area has been smashed and there's currently graffiti all over the station stairwell.