There are better solutions than shutting Rose Hill Marple

[py_megapixel]

Mod note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/temporary-closure-for-rose-hill-marple.206872/

You're looking for a perfect solution when there quite clearly isn't one at this point in time.

There clearly isn't a perfect solution, But there's some much better solutions than shutting Rose Hill.

One that springs to mind is getting rid of the Hazel Grove to Blackpool service (temporarily). This service is almost entirely supplementary, in that there is only one station (Layton) where it is the only service. And surely the Layton call could be given to a different service on a temporary basis?

 

[Ianno87]

There clearly isn't a perfect solution, But there's some much better solutions than shutting Rose Hill.

One that springs to mind is getting rid of the Hazel Grove to Blackpool service (temporarily). This service is almost entirely supplementary, in that there is only one station (Layton) where it is the only service. And surely the Layton call could be given to a different service on a temporary basis?

Depends if that releases the right number of drivers at the right depots, and doesn't cause social distancing problems, say, via Bolton/Preston (where losing an hourly 6 car EMU would potentially be an issue)

I'm fairly sure Northern haven't decided on Rose Hill by throwing a dart at their network map.

Lots of factors to consider.

 

[py_megapixel]

Depends if that releases the right number of drivers at the right depots, and doesn't cause social distancing problems, say, via Bolton/Preston (where losing an hourly 6 car EMU would potentially be an issue)

I'm fairly sure Northern haven't decided on Rose Hill by throwing a dart at their network map.

Lots of factors to consider.

Yes I know, that was just a random example. I find it incredibly hard to believe that cutting Rose Hill and replacing it with a pathetic RRB which doesn't even cover the whole route, was the only option available to them

 

[Ianno87]

Yes I know, that was just a random example. I find it incredibly hard to believe that cutting Rose Hill and replacing it with a pathetic RRB which doesn't even cover the whole route, was the only option available to them

Of course it wasn't the only option.

But I can credibly believe it to be the "least worst" option a range of factors are weighed up against each other.

 

[daodao]

Of course it wasn't the only option. But I can credibly believe it to be the "least worst" option a range of factors are weighed up against each other.

The simplest and fairest option for the ex-GC services to the South & East of Manchester would be to provide all stations (other than Ardwick) with a regular hourly Mon-Sat service as follows:

• 1 tph all stops Sheffield-New Mills-Reddish-Piccadilly
• 1 tph all stops Rose Hill - Hyde - Guide Bridge and then non-stop to Piccadilly
• 1 tph all stops Hadfield - Piccadilly

I do not understand at all why this option, which is essentially the service currently being provided up to 12 September, was not chosen.

 

[Ianno87]

The simplest and fairest option to provide all stations (other than Ardwick) with a regular hourly Mon-Sat service would have been to run 1 tph all stops Sheffield-New Mills-Reddish-Piccadilly and 1 tph all stops Rose Hill - Hyde - Fairfield and then non-stop to Piccadilly. I do not understand at all why that option, which is essentially the service currently being provided up to 12 September, was not chosen.

Perhaps half capacity on two routes is worse for social distancing than whole capacity on one?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Perhaps half capacity on two routes is worse for social distancing than whole capacity on one?

I think a cut in frequency on the Hadfields was suggested? This might make sense if the drivers are from the same depot; it could be operated using 6-car sets so no capacity lost; normally it's 3 but I'm pretty sure it can be 6.

 

[jonnyfan]

I think a cut in frequency on the Hadfields was suggested? This might make sense if the drivers are from the same depot; it could be operated using 6-car sets so no capacity lost; normally it's 3 but I'm pretty sure it can be 6.

The majority of platforms along the route are too short for 6 carriages, the route is by far the busiest of the south east Manchester routes so a reduction in frequency is not an option.

Another issue with running Rose Hill services is the lack of diesel rolling stock. The new timetable on 14th September sees the diesel fleet utilised to the maximum level. I believe there is slack in the new 195 utilisation, but not all drivers are trained on them, so that brings us back to the need to get all drivers trained up. Otherwise we will get to the end of this year, and the Pacers all go and we end up with even less rolling stock available.

 

[Killingworth]

I can't see it being closed permanently any time soon. Passenger numbers had been increasing strongly in recent years. However, Northern can do some illogical things. Like early last year sending a 4 coach train to Rose Hill one Saturday morning which ran almost empty, and a Pacer on the Hope Valley that was so full people coudn't get aboard at Sheffield and up to Bamford when enough got off. (Ticket pricing! Last spring Northern were sometimes charging 1/3 of the fares being quoted by TPE and/or EMR for trains departing within half an hour of each other.)