Stockport Platform Zero Closed

[Peterthegreat]

A few years ago an additional platform was added at Stockport and became platform zero. This was mainly used by services heading towards Hazel Grove and beyond.

However since Covid it has remained closed. This in turn is adding several minutes to most trains heading towards Sheffield.

So does anyone know the real reason it is no longer used?

 

[The Planner]

A few years ago an additional platform was added at Stockport and became platform zero.
This was mainly used by services heading towards Hazel Grove and beyond.
However since Covid it has remained closed. This in turn is adding several minutes to most trains heading towards Sheffield.
So does anyone know the real reason it is no longer used?

Its not closed. It has several trains booked into it, part of the issue is staffing it.

 

[Fokx]

It hasn't been continuously closed since 2020, it was utilised last week infact

It requires a 3rd dispatcher when open

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Saturday at 17:43 ==

A quick scan on real time trains shows it was last used on 28th August (yesterday)

 

[Revaulx]

It was a legacy of the half-baked and never completed Stockport resignalling scheme from WCML Upgrade days.

The plan involved changing the existing paired by direction layout to paired by use, with the existing up fast and slow island becoming the up and down fast. The Hazel Grove line would conflict with this, hence Platform 0.

It all ended up on the too hard pile, which is why we still have all those lovely LNWR lever frame signal boxes on Britain’s premier main line

 

[jfollows]

It’s used frequently, as others have said, but it’s difficult to access and difficult to staff.

It’s not too bad when all the services to a particular destination use it, but when they’re split across other platforms it’s a right pain; for a short while the Alderley Edge terminators used it which made getting to Wilmslow from Stockport frustrating when trains ran late.

It’s also impossible to use from the up fast - all trains using it have to use the up slow from Slade Lane Junction, which is a pain if it’s a non-stop service put behind a stopper there - and the Altrincham line isn’t accessible from it.

So it only really gets used infrequently, but not never. And the Alderley Edge terminators currently use platform 1.

 

[dcbwhaley]

A few years ago an additional platform was added at Stockport and became platform zero.
This was mainly used by services heading towards Hazel Grove and beyond.
However since Covid it has remained closed. This in turn is adding several minutes to most trains heading towards Sheffield.
So does anyone know the real reason it is no longer used?

It is still in occasional use. On Monday I boarded the 1643 to Buxton from platform 0. No ticket checks

 

[edwin_m]

I've a feeling the original intention was to lay an extra track to the south so trains could get from platform 0 to the Hazel Grove line without going back onto the Up Slow (expected future Up Fast). This would have made it much more useful.

But it didn't happen, possibly because of the difficulty of putting into the signalling once this wasn't being replaced but perhaps they decided there wasn't enough space.

 

[The Planner]

It was a legacy of the half-baked and never completed Stockport resignalling scheme from WCML Upgrade days. The plan involved changing the existing paired by direction layout to paired by use, with the existing up fast and slow island becoming the up and down fast. The Hazel Grove line would conflict with this, hence Platform 0.

It all ended up on the too hard pile, which is why we still have all those lovely LNWR lever frame signal boxes on Britain’s premier main line

It got removed as the cash ran out, not because it was too difficult.

 

[Revaulx]

It got removed as the cash ran out, not because it was too difficult.

Ah - fair enough. So the design was actually finalised?

 

[CHAPS2034]

It is still in occasional use. On Monday I boarded the 1643 to Buxton from platform 0. No ticket checks

I would suggest more than occasional. As was mentioned up thread, it is dependent on a dispatcher being available.

On Friday I was waiting on P0 for a Norwich train. Needless to say, it was delayed getting to Piccadilly and the Buxton stopper which should be behind it, arrived first. Just after that left, the dispatcher came along and told everyone the Norwich would now depart from Platform 2 just as a manual announcement was also being made.

Cue a tidal wave of passengers heading for the subway; at least in these situations they open the barriers and check that anyone who needs assistance is helped out. In these situations I have seen the departure delayed to ensure anyone who needs assistance manages to board the train.

P0 is planned to handle the EM Norwich and Northern Buxton stopper throughout the day though this doesn't always happen due to operational and staffing issues.

 

[LRV3004]

A quick scan on real time trains shows it was last used on 28th August (yesterday)

It was indeed in use yesterday as myself and my partner were out on a GM Rail Ranger and we were at Stockport when platform 0 was closed.

Aside from the obvious of looking at Traksy, a big clue is when mass recorded announcements about platform alterations suddenly get broadcasted about services which will “now depart from platform 1”.

Some of the announcements were for services not due for another two hours! As mentioned in the thread, it’s the staffing levels that dictate whether platform 0 gets used or not.

 

[lowe1409]

Seeing as Stockport station manages fine with just platforms 1-4 In its current layout, What's the point of using platform 0 at present?

 

[The Planner]

Seeing as Stockport station manages fine with just platforms 1-4 In its current layout, What's the point of using platform 0 at present?

There is a combination at the back end of the hour with the Alderley Edge, Norwich and Stoke where you'd need to do some reshuffling without 0.

 

[apinnard]

Railtrack’s mismanagement of Ansaldo (which itself provided a terrible product) didn’t help. Thankfully the Manchester South kit is being replaced back end of next year/early 2028.

 

[childwallblues]

When first opened all Liverpool to Sheffield services used it. Nowadays they mainly use Plaform 1.

 

[The Planner]

Railtrack’s mismanagement of Ansaldo (which itself provided a terrible product) didn’t help. Thankfully the Manchester South kit is being replaced back end of next year/early 2028.

Autumn next year.

 

[LowLevel]

There is a combination at the back end of the hour with the Alderley Edge, Norwich and Stoke where you'd need to do some reshuffling without 0.

You end up putting a minute or two into the Norwich waiting for the Alderley Edge to clear and the Stoke runs on the fast into platform 2, usually. Not really a huge problem though the long speed restriction at Disley Tunnel also now eats into things too.

 

[lowe1409]

There is a combination at the back end of the hour with the Alderley Edge, Norwich and Stoke where you'd need to do some reshuffling without 0.

Then if needed, just retime the alderley/Norwich by a couple minutes. Feels like it'd save on time and confusion in the long run

 

[The Planner]

Then if needed, just retime the alderley/Norwich by a couple minutes. Feels like it'd save on time and confusion in the long run

As above, its the Norwich you have to retime.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

What do you guys mean when you say "the platform needs to be staffed"?

 

[LowLevel]

What do you guys mean when you say "the platform needs to be staffed"?

It is remote from the other platforms and on a tight curve so it requires it's own member of platform staff to dispatch trains.

 

[Trackman]

going back a few years or even a decade was it classed as OOU (out of use)?

 

[apinnard]

going back a few years or even a decade was it classed as OOU (out of use)?

I assume it would have been less of a white elephant had the resignalling of Stockport not been canned in the early 2000s.

 

[Starmill]

going back a few years or even a decade was it classed as OOU (out of use)?

It was never closed.

It's simply that it isn't very useful. It brings only a very minimal positive effect on timings. Accordingly in March 2020 Avanti didn't have it open to passengers except where absolutely necessary for trains to run, which wasn't often back then. They ended up staying in the habit of not having it open.

Anyway, apparently Avanti are committed to staffing it now whenever it's necessary, although that doesn't mean it will be open all the time.