A Walk Between Burnley Manchester Road And Burnley Central Stations
This is another walk in Burnley to go with A Walk Between Burnley Barracks And Burnley Manchester Road Stations.
Burnley Manchester Road and Burnley Central stations are not that far apart.
This Google Map shows Burnley’s three stations in relation to the Town Centre and Turf Moor.
The various locations are as follows.
- Turf Moor is indicated by the red arrow in the East.
- Burnley Barracks station is in the North-West corner.
- Bunley Central is at the North.
- Burnley Manchester Road is at the South.
- The Leeds and Liverpool canal weaves its way through the town passing close to Burnley Barracks station.
What the map doesn’t show is the terrain. The main station at Manchester Road is on one stretch of high ground and Central station and Turf Moor are on another.
So I walked down the hill from Manchester Road station, through the Shopping Centre and up the hill the other side to Central stion.
It was an easy walk down the hill followed by a stiffer one up to Central station.
Improvements to the East Lancashire Line.
In A Walk Between Burnley Barracks And Burnley Manchester Road Stations, I concluded the post with the following.
If new four-car Class 769 trains replace the current two-car scrapyard specials on the East Lancashire Line, the following will happen.
- Capacity on the route will be doubled.
- The service will be faster, due to the increased speed and power.
- No expensive platform lengthening will be required.
- An hourly service between Blackpool South and Colne will have no problems operating seven days a week.
- Some stations, like Burnley Barracks, will need improvements to handle the extra passengers.
Two trains per hour will need track work to add passing loops and modern signalling, and a few more trains.
The big question has to be asked, if stations like the single-platform Burnley Central can handle two trains per hour in both directions.
I discussed this in Improving The Train Service Between Rose Grove And Colne Stations and came to the conclusion, it was possible with a passing loop between Burnley and Brierfield stations, modern signalling and Class 769 trains.
It could all come together very nwell for the residents of East Lancashire.
Between Hebden Bridge And Burnley Manchester Road Stations In The Snow
I took these pictures from a train between Hebden Bridge and Burnley Manchester Road stations on the Calder Valley Line.
I believe that the area has some of the most scenic rail lines in the UK.
Electrification
It runs between the hills with lots of bridges and viaducts.
There are four tunnels; Weasel Hall , Castle Hill , Horsfall and Millwood on this section of the route.
It would not be an easy line to electrify with 25 KVAC overhead wires, from an engineering, political or environmental point of view.
This is a route though that needs to be improved.
I travelled on a Class 158 train, which are a 90 mph diesel multiple unit. But it was struggling to do 40 mph in the conditions.
Conclusion
Electrification may be an ideal, but Network Rail should first improve the line, so that the current trains and the future 100 mph Class 195 trains can realise their full potential.
Hebden Bridge Station
Hebden Bridge Station is Grade II Listed and is a busy station in West Yorkshire on the Calder Valley Line.
The service through the station is being improved.
The Wikipedia entry for the station has a section called Future Improvements. This is said.
The station will see a variety of improvements to facilities and train services from March 2017 onwards, as part of an investment package for the Calder Valley line as a whole. New lifts are finally to be installed to make both platforms fully accessible, whilst track and signalling upgrades will help reduce journey times in both directions and allow more trains to run to/from Bradford. This will result in the closure of the listed signal box here by October 2018, with control passing over to the Rail Operating Centre at York. New rolling stock and timetable improvements will then follow, with regular through trains to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport and Chester by late 2019.
Note the parcel lifts in the pictures, which will be converted for passenger use.
Turnback Facility
The pictures also show the turnback facility at the station, which allows trains to arrive from the West in the Westbound platform and then changeover to the Eastbound platform to go back to Manchester or Preston or perhaps other destinations in the future.
Electrification
When I first saw this Victorian station, I came to the conclusion, that it would be difficult to electrify in a sympathetic manner with 25 KVAC overhead wires, without upsetting English Heritage.
Now the Government has decided that there will only be selective electrification, I suspect Network Rail will file Hebden Bridge station in the tray marked Too Difficult.
But I also think that the station could be electrified using innovative methods to improve the passenger service in terms of frequency and times.
Consider.
- Modern bi-mode trains can switch between power sources automatically.
- Modern electric trains can raise and lower the pantograph quickly and automatically.
- Most modern electric trains made for the UK, can be fitted with third-rail contact shoes.
- To the West of the station, there are a succession of tunnels, that might be possible to electrify using overhead rails.
- Zero-carbon power sources for short lengths of electrification exist, as I wrote about in Solar Power Could Make Up “Significant Share” Of Railway’s Energy Demand.
- Although solar power might not be appropriate here, short lengths of third-rail electrification may be suitable.
- The turnback facility could also be electrified with third-rail to charge trains fitted with batteries.
Somewhere in my ramblings, I’m sure a solution exists to make Hebden Bridge an environmentally-friendly power station in the heart of the Pennines.
The Ordsall Effects
There is now a large brown steel elephant in the North, in the shape of the Ordsall Chord in Manchester, that connects most of Central Manchester’s stations together and to the Airport.
- Hebden Bridge is between thirty and forty-five minutes from Manchester Victoria station, depending on if you get a semi-fast or stopping train.
- Northern have plans to extend these Manchester Victoria to Leeds services all the way to the Airport.
- In fact from Monday, some of these services now terminate at Manchester Oxford Road station.
- When I mentioned to the lady in the cafe, that services would go to Manchester Airport within months, she was surprised and very pleased.
I suspect that Hebden Bridge will be one of the tourism centres of the North that will substantially benefit from a direct link to Manchester Airport created by the Ordsall Chord.
But this could only be the start.
To maximise the benefits of the Ordsall Chord, Northern and Network Rail will want to connect services that go North and South of Manchester, back-to-back across the City.
Northern have already said, that they’ll be trains going from Hebden Bridge to Chester and Liverpool by late 2019.
But I suspect these two cities won’t be the only ones getting a quality service from Hebden Bridge.
If the service ran directly over the Ordsall Chord, then historic Buxton and well-connected Crewe must be possibilities.
That turnback facility is starting to look important, as not all services will be needed to cross the Pennines.
Westwards To Preston, Blackpool and Liverpool
Currently, the only Westbound service is an hourly train to Preston and Blackpool North.
It is not enough.
The proposed Liverpool service from Hebden Bridge, that starts in late 2019, can either go via Manchester or Preston.
If it were to be the latter, a second fast train every hour, connecting Burnley, Blackburn and Preston would certainly be welcomed on what can be a very overcrowded line.
As all Calder Valley Line services stop at Hebden Bridge, the Ordsall Chord and Northern’s plans seem to be giving the town, a more than worthwhile economic boost.
A Double Crossing Of The Ordsall Chord
I caught the first morning train from Manchester Victoria station across the Ordsall Chord to Manchester Oxford station, where after buying hot chocolate, I took the same diesel multiple unit back to Hebden Bridge station.
A few points about the Ordsall Cord and its effects.
Mancunians Have Been Quick To Use The Chord To Their Advantage
It was only the second weekday of this Ordsall Chord service, but what surprised me was that quite a few of the early travellers went to the extra two added stations on the service.
This bodes well for the future in that when Piccadilly and the Airport are added, the passengers will surely travel.
Manchester Victoria Is An Inadequate Station For The Number Of Passengers
The station may have improved in recent years, since the new roof, better tram access and more retail facilities have been added, but it is still a rather poor station for passengers to walk around, compared to others with similar amounts of trains.
I took this picture as the train before mine unloaded passengers at Victoria station.
It is the typical scrum that you get at busy stations in the North.
The Ordsall Chord will affect Victoria in the following ways.
- There will be more trains passing through. This will increase the number of passengers entering and leaving the station.
- Passengers will change trains but not platforms at Victoria. This will mean that passengers will regularly wait for 15-30 minutes on the platform.
- Ideally services like Liverpool to Leeds and Newcastle, should have same or cross platform interchange with local services using the Ordsall Chord.
So what needs to be addressed?
Platforms
The Ordsall Chord is currently served by Plstforms 5 and 6.
These platforms are totally inadequate for the extra numbers of passengers and especially the extra passengers, who will wait on the platform, whilst changing trains.
- A coffee kiosk is needed on both Ordsall platforms.
- The platforms are not wide enough.
- There are not enough seats.
Both platforms are used to terminate services, which is totally against the philosophy of the Ordsall Chord. This must and hopefully will stop.
Ideally, Ordsall Chord services and important cross-Manchester services should have a platform layout, that means as many changes as possible are level.
Take the case of the elderly passenger with their presents in a bulky case going from say Liverpool to perhaps Rochdale for Christmas. They will not want to negotiate the bridge at Victoria, even by lift to change trains. And neither will staff.
But a cross or same platform interchange would be ideal for everyone.
The layout would all depend on how many services are going through the station..
Currently, the station has the following services.
- Five tph terminating at the station going West
- Six tph terminating at the station going East
- Three tph cross-Manchester services stopping at the station.
If these services could be simplified by joining East and West services back-to-back, we are looking at perhaps ten tph.
As there are many stations in London that handle fourteen to sixteen tph on two platforms, the following would surely be possible.
- Use one platform for all Westbound cross-Manchester and Ordsall Chord services.
- Use one platform for all Eastbound cross-Manchester and Ordsall Chord services.
Platform 5 and 6 would not be ideal for this, as the services should be on either side of a wide island platform, to allow passengers to reverse direction without changing level.
Lighting
I know it was early in the morning, but the picture shows how dark and dingy the station still is. Surely, just on the grounds of Health and Safety, the lighting levels must be improved.
The Overbridge
Surely, if the rebuilt Reading and Leeds stations can have escalators for their overbridges, then the equally important. but smaller Manchester Victoria, should have some on the busy overbridge.
The Interchange Between Tram And Train At Deansgate
Did people get off the train at Deansgate station to use the Metrolink?
Changing from train to tram at Victoria, involves a fight through crowds to get up the stairs to the bridge and then another another set of stairs to get to the Metrolink.
But at Deansgate station coming from Victoria, it is just a level walk across to the major Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink interchange.
It would appear that 2015 redevelopment of the tram stop and its link to the station were designed for the extra passengers, that the Ordsall Chord will surely bring.
Deansgate-Castlefield with its three platforms, also has a comprehensive list of services.
- 5 trams per hour to Altrincham
- 5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne
- 5 trams per hour to East Didsbury
- 5 trams per hour to Eccles via MediaCityUK
- 5 trams per hour to Etihad Campus
- 5 trams per hour to Manchester Airport
- 5 trams per hour to Rochdale Town Centre
Avoiding Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly station is one of my least favourite stations in the UK for using the trains.
- I always travel to and from Manchester in Standard Class, to avoid the crowded walk up and down the platform at Piccadilly.
- I know there’s a bridge at the London end of the train, but it is not directly connected to the Metrolink underneath.
- Buying a ticket for the Metrolink is a tiresome business, when I should just be able to touch in and out with my bank card.
- The forecourt of the station is always crowded.
- Only the above average food offerings for a coeliac give me any cheer.
Hopefully, when the services across the Ordsall Chord are fully developed, a lot of places I want to go will be available by changing trains at Crewe or Stockport.
Manchester’s Third City Crossing
In some ways the nearest London has to the Ordsall Chord is the railway across the South Bank connecting London Bridge, Blackfriars, Waterloo East and Charing Cross stations, which carries in excess of twelve tph. It appears to me and staff I have talked to, that passengers are using this route between Westminster and London Bridge, instead of the Jubilee Line. Especially, if they have bicycles!
Will Mancunians use the frequent service on the Ordsall Chord across the city, as a Third City Crossing?
Platforms At Salford Central Station
I hope the planned extra platforms at Salford Central station are built in the near future, as this would surely increase the use of the Ordsall Chord
Tickets To Manchester Stations
My ticket to Manchester from Euston was to Manchester Stns, which means i can get out at Deansgate, Oxford Road, Piccadilly or Victoria.
Surely, it should include Salford Central station.
Platforms At
There’s Still A Few Snags
In my trip, I went across the Orsall Chord four times.
Each time, the train waited a minute or so before proceeding over the bridge. Were there signalling issues, the trains were not quite to time or were the drivers just being cautious.
Conclusion
Now that the difficult phase is complete, it will be interesting to see how the swervices build up.
The Anonymous Widower 