West Lancashire transport masterplan

[Wavertreelad]

A story appeared in tonights Liverpool Echo (so it must be true!) headlined Rail Link to make Skem a gateway and the Ormskirk to Preston line would be electrified. The story appears to have originated from the press release below
from http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/news/press_releases/y/m/release.asp?id=201311&r=PR13/0563 Lancashire County Council below.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Well if Ormskirk-Preston done at 25KV AC OHLE, and followed on with Wigan Southport + reinstate curves then order a boat-load of dual voltage units, that would be wonderful but there surely would be higher priorities for spend out there.

 

[MK Tom]

I can't follow that link for some reason.

 

[Darren R]

The link doesn't work for me either, but I saw it reported on yesterday's BBC North West Tonight.

Call me cynical, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The idea has been suggested many times before, and come to nothing for various reasons which still apply today. I got the impression from the TV report that it was based on the councillor in charge of transport at Lancashire County Council saying that he thinks it's a good idea. He's probably correct, but it's going to need something far more concrete than that for me to believe there is any realistic chance of it actually happening though.

 

[WatcherZero]

Consultation

A six-week consultation on the plan will start 2 December and run until 24 January, allowing members of the public and local organisations to have their say on the plans. We'll also be holding consultation events in Ormskirk, Skelmersdale and Burscough where you will have the opportunity to talk to our staff about the plans in more detail. We'll post details for these events here soon.



Our proposals

Proposals in the masterplan for West Lancashire include:
Linking Skelmersdale to the rail network with a new rail station and bus interchange in the town centre.
Transform the way people in Skelmersdale travel by redesigning roads, removing underpasses and making it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport within the town and to access wider job opportunities.
Creating better cycling and walking links between Skelmersdale and Ormskirk, building on existing plans for a linear park along the former railway line.
A dedicated cycling and walking link between Burscough and Ormskirk to provide a direct off-road route via a new linear park.
Tackle congestion in Ormskirk town centre, building on options outlined in a recent study to manage and reduce traffic, focused on making walking and cycling more attractive options, including a new and innovative cycle hire scheme.
A complementary route management plan would realise the potential of a new Thornton to Switch Island link road in Sefton to provide a better route for traffic travelling between the M58 and Southport.
Investigate options and prepare a business case for electrification of the Ormskirk to Preston railway line to fulfil its potential as a commuter route.
Complete the proposed Tarleton Green Lane Link road by the end of 2016 to reduce HGV traffic through the village.
Investigating options to ensure access to services from rural areas

The plan rules out pursuing a bypass of Ormskirk as a recent study has shown current congestion is largely caused by local traffic, limiting the benefit of a bypass and meaning that a combination of other proposals as outlined in the masterplan will be more effective.

The plan also makes the case that it would not be feasible at present to pursue reinstatement of the railway curves at Burscough due to lack of a robust business case, but that nothing will be done to stop them being reopened in future if circumstances change.

They say that NR is open to including a Skelmersdale rail link in CP6 if they can prove the business case, so will be interesting to see the result of the study West Lancashire and Merseytravel jointly funded a few months ago. The concept they have in the Masterplan for a station is a spur off the Kirkby line with services from both Wigan and Liverpool, relocated bus station and also highways changes to remove underpasses from the town, it references a 2002 feasability study for the design so possibly the current feasability study might alter things.

On electrification their proposing a two phase project, first phase extend 3rd rail electrification to Burscough Bridge, second phase 25kv electrification from Burscough to Preston.

On Burscough curves they examined a Ormskirk-Southport, Southport-Preston and Ormskirk-Wigan curves but decided that there wasnt a sufficent business case for any of them so they wont be championing them until there is a change in the economics. They think a new Skelmersdale Rail/Bus Interchange station would offer sufficent improvement for Wigan-Ormskirk travellers.

Apart from 100k for the feasability study they arent putting any local contributions to the Rail proposals despite them being highest priority instead relying on rail industry funding/government grants. They are proposing £4.25m for a HGV/Farm traffic bypass of country lanes at Tarleton called the Tarleton Green Lane Link and £12.4m for the Ormskirk Town Centre Movement Strategy (traffic light improvements, junction widening, promotion of school buses, new entrance to Edge Hill University, pedestrian and cycle improvements across town particularly between the Rail and Bus stations)

http://council.lancashire.gov.uk/documents/s31538/Appendix A Draft Plan.pdf

 

[Lankyline]

Number of issues here,

1. Route to Preston is single track, would need loops or doubling
2. Why consider electrifying essentially a rural heavily subsidised single track route that would generate more users if linked to Southport
3.Imo there are only 2 stations, apart from Preston & Southport, that could generate reasonable passenger numbers, Croston & Ormskirk, plus you would have to consider rebuilding Midge Hall
4. Beeching closed the wrong bloody line, prat !!
5. Would love to see the reasons for no business case for Preston - Southport ? if you have ever tried driving in rush hour it can take over 1h 30 to Preston, current train time to Ormskirk 31mins, Burscough bridge - Southport 15mins

Unfortunately the comment to review the curves reinstatement if economic factors change is merely a get out clause to the those campaigning for reinstatement

 

[HSTEd]

Ormskirk to Preston with 2 trains per hour would enable faster Preston-Liverpool journeys than at present for large parts of Liverpool for large parts of the hour.

Might have some use for Scotland-Liverpool journeys.

 

[Dunc108]

Ormskirk to Preston with 2 trains per hour would enable faster Preston-Liverpool journeys than at present for large parts of Liverpool for large parts of the hour.

Might have some use for Scotland-Liverpool journeys.

I do hope the Ormskirk - Preston route does see improvements as the last few Ormskirk - Prestons ive done have left Ormskirk with the 142 almost full & lots of passengers doing the end to end journey. This tells me its a popular alternative to the route via St Helens. I think some think of the Ormskirk Branch as a quiet route but like everywhere else its just getting more & more busy...

 

[WatcherZero]

They are promoting the 1st phase electrification as having an hourly service from Burscough Bridge to Liverpool, the purpose is for Burscough residents to commute into Ormskirk. They also think Ormskirk-Burscough and Burscough-Preston electrification will offer speed improvements and I think they are implying the 3rd rail extension would reduce the DMU stock requirement/journey length for Preston services allowing a clockface timetable.

 

[Lankyline]

They are promoting the 1st phase electrification as having an hourly service from Burscough Bridge to Liverpool, the purpose is for Burscough residents to commute into Ormskirk. They also think Ormskirk-Burscough and Burscough-Preston electrification will offer speed improvements and I think they are implying the 3rd rail extension would reduce the DMU stock requirement/journey length for Preston services allowing a clockface timetable.

I can't see speed improvements on the Burscough / Preston section without line improvement ie doubling or loops, level crossing upgrades etc. Is the proposal 25kv to Preston (would be logical to connect with WCML) ? or 3rd rail, (which wouldn't) /
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Forgot to add, considering the locations the original Preston / Southport line served Penwortham, Longton, Hesketh bank / Tarleton, Crossens, compared to the original Preston / Liverpool (now Ormskirk) and look at how they have developed now there is no comparison, especially verses Croston, Rufford etc

if Beeching hadn't axed the original line, then we wouldn't have to be spending £4m+ on links road in Tarleton, or having to endure horrendous congestion on the A59 during rush hour that can extend at times even from Tarleton to Preston ! (10 miles)

 

[lancastrian]

Number of issues here,

1. Route to Preston is single track, would need loops or doubling

There is already a loop at Rufford between Ormskirk & Preston. If they didn't redouble the line, which they should, then the Rufford loop should be extended south round the North Burscough curve into Burscough Bridge Station. Along with a loop at Croston, you could probably get away with a decent service.

2. Why consider electrifying essentially a rural heavily subsidised single track route that would generate more users if linked to Southport

See my above comment. But the route from Southport, through Burscough Bridge and Croston to Preston should be electrified at 25kv AC

3.Imo there are only 2 stations, apart from Preston & Southport, that could generate reasonable passenger numbers, Croston & Ormskirk, plus you would have to consider rebuilding Midge Hall

Burscough as a decent enough population to generate reasonable passenger numbers. I do agree with you about Midge Hall. The way that Leyland is expanding to the west it wont be long before it is enveloped with housing.

4. Beeching closed the wrong bloody line, prat !!

I agree.

5. Would love to see the reasons for no business case for Preston - Southport ? if you have ever tried driving in rush hour it can take over 1h 30 to Preston, current train time to Ormskirk 31mins, Burscough bridge - Southport 15mins

Unfortunately it is almost impossible to use the train between Preston & Southport unless you are a complete rail fanatic, simply because of the time and at least a walk between stations at either Wigan or Burscough.

Unfortunately the comment to review the curves reinstatement if economic factors change is merely a get out clause to the those campaigning for reinstatement

The curve NEED to be reinstated right now, there is far too much messing about with consultants and other wastes of money. These two curves would open up the services between all the Stations from Preston to Aintree through to Southport much easily. Perhaps people might actually use the train for these journeys.

But one thing I would advise against is building dual voltage trains. Extend the third rail to Burscough Bridge from Ormskirk. And all the rest of the lines Southport to Wigan, Bolton, Atherton Manchester & Preston electrify at 25kv. Simples.

Hmmm made a bit of a mess of that, I need more practice at putting comments between quotes!

 

[Gareth]

The Skem link has been sorely needed for years. I'm glad they've stopped pondering about parkways in the middle of nowhere and have went for the town centre option, presumably with a delta junction for both Merseyrail and Northern Rail to branch off. It looks like they're looking at or around the site of Glenburn College. I reckon the closer they can practically get to the concourse, the better.

I'm not sure I understand the Ormskirk-Preston proposals. So Merseyrail and 3rd rail is extended to Burscough Bridge and then are they proposing a Burscough Bridge-Preston OHLE service? It does seem that this latter service should ideally go to Southport. Shame if there isn't a business case for that.

 

[Wavertreelad]

Any extension of the Merseyrail system will surely be OHLE making dual voltage stock a necessity especially if it was also to be extended to Warrington on the GLC route, and the Bidston line electrified. The network could then be upgraded in sections and funding spread out over a longer period. OHLE on the Ormskirk /Preston line would allow it to be opened up to freight traffic to and from the Port of Liverpool which as the report highlights is expected to see considerable increases in container traffic from early in 2015 and will affect Lancashire County Council long term planning of roads, rail and other public services in the west and south of the county. Whilst it is presently not possible to determine the exact demands of any new services, the logic would suggest one area of growth would be northwards towards Scotland. Having an alternative route to the WCML would relieve pressure in the long term on the Chat Moss route and provide operational flexibility, who knows as a freight also route it may also qualify for some EU funding or even Peel making some contribution.

 

[Lankyline]

The curve NEED to be reinstated right now, there is far too much messing about with consultants and other wastes of money. These two curves would open up the services between all the Stations from Preston to Aintree through to Southport much easily. Perhaps people might actually use the train for these journeys.

But one thing I would advise against is building dual voltage trains. Extend the third rail to Burscough Bridge from Ormskirk. And all the rest of the lines Southport to Wigan, Bolton, Atherton Manchester & Preston electrify at 25kv. Simples.

Should have clarified the point about a possible Preston Southport, yes it does depend on the curves being reopened, hey presto, direct service, but i do agree they should be reopened now, i thought OPSTA where pushing for this ?

Sorry forgot about the Rufford loop, but the only current reason i can think of for 3rd rail is of course fits right in with the current system on Merseyrail, dual voltage doesn't make sense for commuter use, but as for container traffic, then that becomes more of a proposition, but the question is how much work would be required to run container traffic from the Port via Aintree and via Ormskirk and would it be cost effective to do so ?

 

[HSTEd]

The Merseyrail stock will be 25kV capable so any extensions will use that as it would be cheaper (unless its just a few hundred metres or something)

 

[HowardGWR]

Just out of interest - is it certain Beeching closed the coastal route from Southport to Preston? I thought most closures took place after he went.

 

[Wavertreelad]

The Merseyrail stock will be 25kV capable so any extensions will use that as it would be cheaper (unless its just a few hundred metres or something)

Exactly I seem to recall reading an article somewhere suggesting that most of the existing 3rd rail infrastructure will reach life expiry within the life of the new Merseyrail stock that is due to come into service in the next few years. It is therefore makes good business centre to replace it with cheaper OHLE technology that is being developed as standard across most of the national network.

 

[HowardGWR]

Just out of interest - is it certain Beeching closed the coastal route from Southport to Preston? I thought most closures took place after he went.

My apologies, I've answered my own question - it was 1964 so well within Beeching. It was actually partially electrified too - astonishing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lancashire_Railway

 

[lancastrian]

My apologies, I've answered my own question - it was 1964 so well within Beeching. It was actually partially electrified too - astonishing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lancashire_Railway

Yes it was September 1964 that the Preston to Southport line closed. The first four stations out from Southport had an electric service. Meols Cop, Hesketh Park, Churchtown and Crossens. From my memory I think that it not only had a 20 minute service most of the day. At peak times there were through trains to Liverpool.

I wonder how well the electric service would be nowadays if it had stayed open? Also there was much objections to closure from Hesketh Bank. Even today you require at least a 2 mile drive from Hesketh Bank, JUST to get to the main Preston to Southport Road.

Beeching actually didn't close any line though personally, all he did was list them for closure and the Minister for Transport made the decision to close. In an interesting sideline, MORE lines were closed under the Labour Government of Harold Wilson, than under the previous Conservative one, who appointed Beeching. This was despite Labour's 'election promise' that they would STOP all the rail closures. The blame for many of the wrong rail closures lies equally between both parties.

 

[snowball]

Exactly I seem to recall reading an article somewhere suggesting that most of the existing 3rd rail infrastructure will reach life expiry within the life of the new Merseyrail stock that is due to come into service in the next few years. It is therefore makes good business centre to replace it with cheaper OHLE technology that is being developed as standard across most of the national network.

I assume the tunnels under central Liverpool and the Mersey don't have the headroom?

 

[mwmbwls]

Should have clarified the point about a possible Preston Southport, yes it does depend on the curves being reopened, hey presto, direct service, but i do agree they should be reopened now, i thought OPSTA where pushing for this ?

Sorry forgot about the Rufford loop, but the only current reason i can think of for 3rd rail is of course fits right in with the current system on Merseyrail, dual voltage doesn't make sense for commuter use, but as for container traffic, then that becomes more of a proposition, but the question is how much work would be required to run container traffic from the Port via Aintree and via Ormskirk and would it be cost effective to do so ?

A pragmatic approach needs to been taken as to which form of electrification is used where. The London Overground mixes and matches as required without difficulty.

Why do you feel that container traffic would need to run from the Port via Aintree? IIUC, Reinstating that line has hitherto been seen as an expansion of the Merseyrail system only.

 

[Wavertreelad]

I assume the tunnels under central Liverpool and the Mersey don't have the headroom?

I honestly cannot be sure on this point, but one would hope that as full sized stock has always been used, a solution could be found, otherwise we are stuck with third rail in the tunnels. Perhaps somebody with the necessary technical knowledge can confirm one way or another?

 

[8H]

Well one good thing is that the 19th century under river tunnels and underground station platforms have loads of headroom, so it's just the newer loops etc that may the problem.

 

[Wavertreelad]

A pragmatic approach needs to been taken as to which form of electrification is used where. The London Overground mixes and matches as required without difficulty.

The same approach could be used for Merseyrail, by using OHLE for any new extensions and then replacing the 750v system as it becomes life expired, although were there is a prospect of other operators using a stretch of the route, it might be necessary to advance the programme on some sections.[/QUOTE]

Why do you feel that container traffic would need to run from the Port via Aintree? IIUC, Reinstating that line has hitherto been seen as an expansion of the Merseyrail system only.

As it stands the only route from the Port is via the Bootle Branch to the Chat Moss line, which once electrified with additional passenger services will have little capacity for any large increase in the number of freight trains. Having an alternative route to the WCML and beyond especially heading north would allow freight traffic, and not just container traffic, to avoid the Chat Moss route and Northern Hub improving the reliability and journey times of services on both routes.

 

[Bevan Price]

Personally, I think the easiest and cheapest way of getting a railway back into Skelmersdale would be to reopen the line from Ormskirk to Skelmersdale (old station site), with a new extension to Skelmersdale "central area". Apart from vegetation, loss of a few bridges and some minor encroachment by buildings, the trackbed of the old line is mainly intact. Some of the Merseyrail electric Liverpool - Ormskirk services (initially every 30 minutes) would be extended to Skelmersdale.

Providing a Skelmersdale - Wigan service would be more expensive, possibly involving some tunnelling to reach the Kirkby - Wigan line, either a totally new alignment to somewhere near Upholland, or reinstating part of the Skelmersdale - Rainford line, but with a new connection at Rainford Junction (a small housing estate blocks the original junction here.)

As for north of Ormskirk, it would be preferable if the Merseyrail electric services could be extended to Burscough Bridge, which is a bit more convenient for the town centre than Burscough Junction.

I don't think that Burscough to Preston is likely to be electrified in the foreseaable future - unless some future government plants a large new town in the Rufford or Croston area - the current population is too low. In addition, Merseyrail style suburban units are not really suitable for services extending north of Preston, such as Liverpool - Blackpool, or any restored services between Liverpool & Scotland. (And you cannot realistically run any express services on the Ormskirk line without curtailing the existing local services. And as an aside, it would be equally difficult to retain fast services on the CLC line if Merseyrail Electric was ever extended from Hunts Cross to Warrington Central)

 

[HSTEd]

The new Merseyrail units will probably have a higher top speed than 75mph, which would reduce journey times below those achieved now with 313s and Sprinter/Pacers.

It wouldn't be that different a travelling experience from the existing Liverpool-Scotland/Preston journey.

 

[WatcherZero]

Doubtful they would be geared for much more than 75, 90 possibly if they were heading to Man Airport, otherwise you would lose the acceleration, Merseyrail is currently one of the slowest networks, I think its actually got a lower average journey speed than Metrolink :P

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Personally, I think the easiest and cheapest way of getting a railway back into Skelmersdale would be to reopen the line from Ormskirk to Skelmersdale (old station site), with a new extension to Skelmersdale "central area". Apart from vegetation, loss of a few bridges and some minor encroachment by buildings, the trackbed of the old line is mainly intact.

Would that be the one that had an intermediate station at Westhead Halt ?

 

[The Planner]

Would be a new build from the Wigan route according to rumours I have heard.

 

[Brian1947]

Being a bit cynical I have saved a copy of this wonderful Masterplan so that I can periodically review what improvements have actually taken place. Perhaps 2023 may be an appropriate year.

Seriously, many of the improvements in the plan are welcome but notably absentee was the Ormskirk town by-pass. It now appears the town no longer has any through traffic!

Extending the 3rd rail to Burscough should have been done years ago, but if this was done now then neither of the current stations has the potential to provide the number of car park spaces that would be required. Undeveloped land by the Junction station appears likely to be used for housing, an opportunity missed if rail travel is to increase. Extending to Burscough Bridge would be ideal to open up further travel opportunities but it must be remembered the Southport to Ormskirk services that ceased all those years ago (and before the age of the car) were not the best supported services in the area.

Providing a rail link to Skelmersdale is long overdue but as stated in a previous posting the council really does need to ascertain the journeys that could be made to and from Skelmersdale. There are perhaps 4 potential destinations – Ormskirk, Wigan, St Helens & Liverpool, the latter being the more obvious as a significant percentage of the town’s population originate from there. As any station would surely need to be in the vicinity of the town centre, i.e. the Concourse, then heading in a southerly direction to join the Wigan/Kirkby line looks to be one of the better options.