Is it though? Really? It may have been being run down in the 1960s but was killed stone dead by the Metro in the 80s. I'm not sure the basic facts on the ground have changed sufficient to warrant any particular "resuscitation" of the station. What does it provide that the Metro station a minute or two walk away doesn't also do and usually better?
It was stated as 1 tph in the link in post #635 last June, by @androdas - I think it’ll be difficult to pin down “initial” plans now.
My grandson spent a year in student accommodation within a short walk of Manors. It certainly is a bit isolated from the city centre thanks to the central motorway- but it didn't seem to stop them getting there. You have to know Manors railway station is there. I doubt he did, and nor did I when visiting him.
Direct links to/from Morpeth etc and in future Ashington. If either service runs through from the South /West then to /from there as well.
But why would anyone go to Manors to use them when they can go to Central (which has connections to/from all over the country) for the same train? Anyone who needs to get to/from Manors itself can use the Metro.
Ok - so the argument doesn’t apply if Manors station is in the middle of a desert that stretches half way to Central and there is therefore absolutely no reason to travel to and from the immediate area. I seem to remember quite a lot of building work going on round it last time I was there, so I assume that is not the case. I agree that maintaining it purely as a Metro interchange has little point.
Agree that there’s little point in a heavy rail connection to central at heavy rail frequencies - but that’s surely not the justification for it.
Manors is still the most convenient station for the University of Northumbria Campus directly adjacent to it. I can envisage usage of the station by students at certain times of day during term time.
I wonder what the percentage travel arrangements of those students are at this moment in time?
I think from one of the early project documents the loops were put in to allow the freight to run otherwise it would be a struggle to do a 1/2 hourly service plus the freight.
Having them pass at or near Benton Junction means that each pair of trains only blocks the Up ECML for half(ish) as many minutes.
Yes it'll be 158s, has to be as apparently to get the paths to work it needs to be 90mph capable stock which means 158s or nothing up at Heaton.
Wow, the pathing must be really tight. How many miles can they actually run at 90mph? It is 3.7 miles from Manors to Benton Jcn. Allowing for acceleration from a stop at Manors (or 40mph if not stopping) and then slowing for the approach control at Benton surely no more that 2 miles would be run at 90mph. Time saved over 2 miles would be 16 seconds.
See later replies, I was right but for the wrong reasons
Ah fair enough! I obviously got the wrong end of the stick
The 2019 scoping report for planning, back when it was intended to be built in four phases, had a loop around the single platform Seaton Delaval station, so that was definitely for freight only, and also loads of explanations about why the various track changes were exactly where they were, then the successor report in 2020 dropped all mention of track layouts, but clearly what has become the Seghill loop was a slight change because it was moved slightly further south and away from the station. I suspect the full extent of the track doubling further south of Newsham, as far as Red House Farm, might have been a late change as well, but it’s difficult to pin down exact distances from earlier reports.
Starting to take shape.
www.theguardian.com
Neat that the “Proper exciting” stuff is quoting Geoff Marshall. Looking forward to his video.From the Guardian
‘Proper exciting’: passenger trains to return to Northumberland Line after 60 years
Enthusiasts join test run of Newcastle to Ashington service, which will restart this summer following 19-year campaign
