Worthless post beeching openings.

[Coolguy22468]

I was looking at post beeching opening which are now worthless to the rail network. the ones I thought of were.

Sinfin Branch Line, opened in 1978 and closed in 1998 after low passenger usage.

Teeside Airport, opened in 1971 and currently served by 2 trains per week.

Can anyone think of any others?

 

[sheff'd victoria]

Im going to throw a spanner in the works by saying Rotherham Central Station

Yes it is closer to the town centre blah blah blah , but Rotherham lost its Inter-City traffic when Masborough closed in 1987

They should have kept both stations open

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Coleshill Parkway. 2tph each way, a massive car park and still so, so little traffic.

 

[Coolguy22468]

Coleshill Parkway. 2tph each way, a massive car park and still so, so little traffic.

In my opinion it would of been better to reopen a station at nearby Kingsbury instead.

Liverpool South Parkway is another one, grand station but a white elephant.

 

[telstarbox]

*would have

 

[sheff1]

Liverpool South Parkway is another one, grand station but a white elephant.

It always seems busy when I am there. As well as the airport traffic, there seems to lots of transfers between the mainline & Merseyrail platforms plus substantial park and ride business.

 

[bluenoxid]

Dunston???

 

[furryfeet]

Coleshill Parkway. 2tph each way, a massive car park and still so, so little traffic.

What are the car parking charges like ?

 

[northwichcat]

It always seems busy when I am there. As well as the airport traffic, there seems to lots of transfers between the mainline & Merseyrail platforms plus substantial park and ride business.

I think the issue is the Airport traffic is not as high as it was expected to be. Maybe a reduction in the onward bus fare would help with that or the introduction of a cheaper period return for the Airport bus.

 

[Mojo]

It's free

 

[John55]

Liverpool South Parkway is another one, grand station but a white elephant.

I am surprised a station which was used by 970,000 people in 2010/11 is considered a white elephant when Waterloo International stands out as a shining beacon of waste.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

What are the car parking charges like ?

£0.00 to park there.

It's not really in a prime location though, and I'm not entirely sure who it was built for. Coleshill is on the very edge of Birmingham (its about ten miles from the city centre) and the bulk of the population of the town is closer to Martston Green station than to Coleshill Parkway. The station is too far off the M6 to be used as a park and ride for people coming into Birmingham from the south, by the time you reach the station you could be at Spaghetti Junction and it's not really that great to get to if you are coming down the M42 from Tamworth either. Outside of the peak hours when traffic in and out of central Birmingham can he absolutely horrendous there isnt really much cause for people to use it.

All that said, what kind of numbers are they looking for at Coleshill? It's been open five years, and 150,000 people used it in year four. That is about 3000 a week, which might work out at 500+ a day in the week and 300+ a day at weekends, and usage has increased by 20-30% every year it has been open. Is that acceptable?

 

[transmanche]

Dunston???

Well that was a re-opening, after the service was diverted from the Scotswood route.

 

[Wath Yard]

Lostock Hall hasn't been a resounding success, especially not as a park and ride. Though the car park is an embarrassment, is almost impossible to find, and can only fit about 5 cars.

 

[Holly]

I think the issue is the Airport traffic is not as high as it was expected to be. Maybe a reduction in the onward bus fare would help with that or the introduction of a cheaper period return for the Airport bus.

A Heathrow style PRT (linking more than just the airport and railway station) is what is needed to boost traffic.

 

[Eagle]

About six or seven years ago, we'd all have said Corby, right? Opened April 1987, closed June 1990.

 

[northwichcat]

I am surprised a station which was used by 970,000 people in 2010/11 is considered a white elephant when Waterloo International stands out as a shining beacon of waste.

It sounds like you've correctly added the interchange figure to the entry/exit figure for rail usage. However, if you were looking at the cost of South Parkway in comparison bus passenger numbers would need to be looked at as well.

Incidentally, 'people' is the wrong term. If I make 10 return journeys to a station per week, I'm still one person.

 

[Kingsbury Jn.]

In my opinion it would of been better to reopen a station at nearby Kingsbury instead.



Liverpool South Parkway is another one, grand station but a white elephant.

I would agree with that for self-evident reasons!
* *Another possible cause is that an Off-Peak return to London Euston is priced at £47! We, on here, know how to reduce that (to £26.50) with multiple tickets but the occasional traveler will probably just decide to go by car.

I occasionally use Liverpool South Parkway, at weekends, to get a Northern line service. It has been eerily quiet each time.

 

[Coolguy22468]

I occasionally use Liverpool South Parkway, at weekends, to get a Northern line service. It has been eerily quiet each time.

I have been there and it has been very quiet for the size of station it is. Is platform 4 in use there yet as well?

 

[TrainBoy98]

One simple answer: Stratford International *laughs to self* really dont understand international . Apart from during the olympics (even then it wasnt the best) its pointless!

 

[Manchester77]

stratford internation wasn't part of the origanal CTRL thing so was alloud to have international services call however it has been preposed and will most likely go ahead imo

 

[Roverman]

The problem with Liverpool South Parkway is that it is too far away from LJL Airport. Its even further away than Garston was!

You can't even get a fast train direct to London from there!

 

[Philip Elliott]

Coleshill Parkway is pretty busy now but only because the parking is now free (until 2015). It cost a whopping £17m to build and was justified based on car park receipts so financially it is still a basket case. Most of that cost was of course for the car park and bridge to access it. Certainly not for the platforms...

 

[Eagle]

I wonder if it'd attract more passengers if the Stagecoach 777 bus link between the station and Birmingham Airport was more widely publicised (you'd be getting a lot of passengers from the Leicester area, and possibly further afield). IMO this link would be better if it was available as a through RailAir fare, like Woking to Heathrow for example.

 

[Coolguy22468]

I wonder if it'd attract more passengers if the Stagecoach 777 bus link between the station and Birmingham Airport was more widely publicised (you'd be getting a lot of passengers from the Leicester area, and possibly further afield). IMO this link would be better if it was available as a through RailAir fare, like Woking to Heathrow for example.

I think with Coleshill its a small town not big enough for that size of station. I still think that Kingsbury would have been a better station to open.

 

[howittpie]

I am suprised no one has said East Midlands Parkway apart from when a train connects with the Megabusplus service it is deserted. Though the stopping pattern of trains does not help this

 

[Eagle]

I think with Coleshill its a small town not big enough for that size of station. I still think that Kingsbury would have been a better station to open.

That's not what I'm talking about at all. I'm talking about the market for journeys between the East Midlands and Birmingham Airport. The fact that the interchange happens to be in a small town is irrelevant.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I wonder if it'd attract more passengers if the Stagecoach 777 bus link between the station and Birmingham Airport was more widely publicised (you'd be getting a lot of passengers from the Leicester area, and possibly further afield). IMO this link would be better if it was available as a through RailAir fare, like Woking to Heathrow for example.

Uno Problemo!! That service don't exist no more at Stagecoach. This is its current timetable

http://jp.networkwestmidlands.com/...dLPxx_lineVer=1&outputFormat=0&itdLPxx_debug=

 

[The Planner]

I think with Coleshill its a small town not big enough for that size of station. I still think that Kingsbury would have been a better station to open.

What would you expect to stop there ? The only trains that would are the Nottinghams, even then they need to build the planned headshunt at the oil/scrap terminal.

 

[6Gman]

In my opinion it would [of] have been better to reopen a station at nearby Kingsbury instead.

Liverpool South Parkway is another one, grand station but a white elephant.

But LSP was not a reopening; it was the rebuilding of two existing stations. I would agree it's a touch 'over the top' but that's partly because it has to stretch between two existing stations! [Though I appreciate one of them was moved slightly]