Wigan North Western Station Set For Platform Extension Work
The title of this post. is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the first three paragraphs.
Wigan North Western is set to undergo a multi-million-pound platform extension to provide passengers between Manchester and Leeds with longer trains.
The work is part of the Great North Rail Project and will see Platform 3 made longer to allow four-carriage trains to call at the station.
Northern can then provide extra capacity for passengers and move trains in and out of its new £46m depot at Ince-in-Makerfield.
This Google Map shows Wigan North Western station.
Note.
- The six platforms are numbered 1-6 from North-East to South-West.
- Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are used for trains that start at the station and go to the Alderley Edge, Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge.
- Platform 1 is quite long and regularly handles two trains at the same time.
- Platforms 2 and 3 could probably be longer.
- Platforms 1, 2 and 3 appear to have their own private access track direct to Wigan Springs Branch TMD to the South, where multiple units can be serviced and washed.
- The access track sneaks down the East side of the West Coast Main Line, so that trains don’t block the track, when transferring to and from the depot.
- The double-track going North between the station and the large building leads to Wigan Wallgate station.
This picture shows the Platforms 1, 2 and 3 at the station.
If you look at the train movements early in the morning, trains come out of the depot and start their first diagram from one of the three platforms on the left.
Lengthening Platform 3 will make this easier and more efficient.
Wigan North Western Station, West Coast Main Line And High Speed Two
Wigan North Western station is currently served by the following Avanti West Coast services on the West Coast Main Line.
- London Euston and Glasgow Central – Hourly
- London Euston and Glasgow Central or Edinburgh via Birmingham New Street – Hourly
- London Euston and Blackpool – Four trains per day
TransPennine Express also run four trains per day between Liverpool Lime Street and Glasgow Central.
The station is also planned to get two hourly High Speed Two services, which should be delivered in Phase 2a of the project.
- London Euston and Lancaster via Old Oak Common, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Preston.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle and some other stations, depending on the Scottish destination.
It certainly looks like Wigan North Western station is being updated to have a comprehensive network of local electric services to give a large number of stations, good access to current West Coast Main Line and future High Speed Two services.
High Speed Two Through Lancashire Stations
The direct London and Scotland services are proposed to be as follows.
- They will run at a frequency of two trains per hour (tph)
- They will be formed of two classic-compatible 200 metre long trains.
- They will split and join at Carlisle, to give both Edinburgh and Glasgow a two tph service from London.
- One tph will stop at Old Oak Common, Preston and Carlisle in England.
- The second train will also stop at Birmingham Interchange in England.
Adding the services together, it would appear that the following services will run through Lancashire.
- One tph – London Euston and Lancaster – One 200 metre train
- Two tph – London Euston and Scotland – Two 200 metre trains.
- One tph – Birmingham and Scotland – One 200 metre train
This totals up to four tph.
I will now look, at the High Speed Two traffic through the various stations.
Warrington Bank Quay
I know Warrington Bank Quay is in Cheshire, these days, but High Speed Two trains will pass through.
Current plans include a by-pass round Warrington will be built for Phase 2b.
- Before by-pass four tph will pass through Warrington Bank Quay, with one stopping.
- After by-pass only one stopping train will pass.
If the High Speed Two service replaces the current Avanti West Coast service to Scotland, any problems at the station should be easy to solve.
Preston
Preston would appear to have three tph from High Speed Two passing through, with all stopping.
Phase 2b will add another tph.
Lancaster
Lancaster would appear to have two tph from High Speed Two passing through, with none stopping.
In addition, one service from Euston will terminate.
Phase 2b will add another tph, that passes thrugh.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that this relatively small project will be worthwhile.
How many other projects of this size need being added to the network urgently? I can think of possibly three within a dozen miles of my house, of which at least one is down to Beeching and/or British Rail’s cost cutting of the 1960s or 1970s.
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund Has Staying Power
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Tempus column of The Times.
It is a good explanation of how energy storage funds like Gresham House work.
I believe they are very much the future.
Some of the new forms of energy storage, that I talk about on this blog tick all of the boxes and may even satisfy an extreme supporter of Extinction Rebellion.
- Extremely environmentally friendly.
- Higher energy-density than lithium-ion
- Lower cost per GWh, than lithium-ion
- Much longer life than lithium-ion.
- Safe to install in built up areas.
- GWh-scale storage in a football pitch space or smaller.
The UK’s largest battery is the 9.1 GWh Electric Mountain pumped storage system in Snowdonia and there is talk about over 100 GW of offshore wind turbines in UK waters. There will be masses of energy storage built in the UK in the next forty years to support these wind turbines.
Conclusion
Companies like Gresham House Energy Fund seem to have developed a model, that could provide the necessary energy storage and a safe reliable home for the billions of pounds in the UK, that is invested in pension funds.
Lithium-ion batteries will be reserved for mobile applications.
Social Distancing In An Empty Train
On Sunday morning, I went to Croydon to look at Windmill Bridge, in Croydon, which I wrote about in Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme – Lower Addiscombe Road / Windmill Bridge.
On the way, I found myself in a more or less empty carriage, as these pictures show.
It all got me thinking.
- Generally, the rule in most of the world, is that you should keep a given number of metres apart.
- But supposing, that each public space were to be given a figure for the maximum number of people, who can occupy the space.
- I think, this has already happened in London, where thirty passengers seems to be the maximum number allowed on a double-deck bus.
- Buses and train carriages are public spaces.
But supposing each space was to be assigned a figure for the number of people present, below which the wearing of masks would be optional.
On a bus or train, the customer announcements would change appropriately.
Some might argue, it would be confusing, but it might nudge passenger behaviour in the right way.
- More might travel.
- More might travel at less busy times.
- I suspect that many on a long commute, take their masks off, as they get near home, as te train empties out anyway!
- It should be born in mind, that many modern trains, trams and buses, may know how many passengers are on board, as they can count passengers.
The Anonymous Widower 