The Anonymous Widower

Railfuture North East – New Station At Team Valley

When I wrote Beeching Reversal – Ferryhill Station Reopening, I used this document from Railfuture, for information.

The document lists a series of campaigns and a New Station At Team Valley was one.

This is their summary of this campaign.

Construct a new Station at Team Valley where ECML passes through Team Valley near the site of
the former Low Fell station. The station could be served by a new local service from York or
Darlington to Newcastle via the ECML, the existing TransPennine Express services, the new Teesside
– Tyneside service via the Stillington freight line, or by an extension of the proposed local service
from Northumberland. This proposal is particularly relevant because the roads into
Newcastle from the south are congested at peak times and there are air quality issues to the extent
that the City Council is considering charging arrangements to help limit the traffic flow

These are my thoughts.

Location Of The Station

This map clipped from Wikipedia, shows the location of Low Fell station on the 1911 Railway Clearing House map.

Note.

1. The still-open Dunston station in the West.
2. Low Fell station at the Southern junction of the triangular junction.

This Google Map shows the same lines today.

Note.

1. Dunston station towards the North-East corner of the map.
2. The triangular junction can be picked out.
3. The Team Valley, where according to Wikipedia, there are 20,000 jobs and large retail stores.
4. The East Coast Main Line passing down the Eastern side of Team Valley.

This second Google Map shows, where the station might have been.

Note.

1. The giveaway is the road leading to the bridge is called Station Road.
2. A Royal Mail site with lots of red vans is in the South-West corner of the map.
3. But was the station North or South of Eastern Avenue?

There’s certainly a lot of space.

Reasons For The Station

This Google Map sums up the reasons for the station.

Note.

1. The East Coast Main Line running down the East side of the site.
2. There are a lot of businesses in Team Valley.
3. If 20,000 work at the site, how many visitors does it get in a day?

Several trading estates and large shopping centres have railway stations in the UK. So why not Team Valley?

I can understand why Railfuture said this in their proposal.

This proposal is particularly relevant because the roads into Newcastle from the south are congested at peak times and there are air quality issues to the extent that the City Council is considering charging arrangements to help limit the traffic flow

I certainly can’t fault Railfuture’s desire to see a station at Team Valley

Current Passenger Train Services Through Team Valley

These services currently pass the location of the proposed Team Valley station.

• LNER – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh via York, Darlington. Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed
• LNER – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Newark North Gate, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle
• CrossCountry – Plymouth and Edinburgh via Totnes, Newton Abbot, Exeter St Davids, Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle
• CrossCountry – Southampton and Newcastle via Birmingham New Street, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, York, Darlington and Durham
• TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh via Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle and Morpeth
• TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Newcastle via Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, York, Northallerton, Darlington and Durham

Note.

1. All trains have a frequency of one train per hour (tph)
2. All trains call at York, Darlington and Newcastle.
3. I have missed out some of the intermediate stations, where trains don’t call at least hourly.
4. I have missed out stations South of Birmingham New Street.
5. A few Northern Trains services pass through at Peak times or to go to and from depots.

I suspect some of these services could stop and to encourage commuters to and from Newcastle, Durham and Darlington to swap from car to train,

I also suspect that Team Valley station needs a frequency of at least two tph and if possible four! Four tph would give a Turn-up-and-Go service to Darlington, Newcastle and York.

Planned And Possible Future Passenger Train Services Through Team Valley

From various sources, these services are either planned or possible.

High Speed Two

High Speed Two are planning the following services, that will pass through.

• Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub, York, Darlington and Durham.
• London Euston and Newcastle via Old Oak Common, East Midlands Hub and York.
• London Euston and Newcastle via Old Oak Common, East Midlands Hub, York and Darlington.

Note.

1. All trains have a frequency of one tph.
2. All trains call at York, East Midlands Hub, York and Newcastle.
3. All trains will be 200 metres long.

It is extemely unlikely, that these trains will stop in Team Valley station, but I would feel, that the platforms should be able to accommodate these trains and other long trains, to future-proof the design and to cater for possible emergencies, diversions or engineering works.

The longest trains on the route would probably be one of the following.

• A pair of five-car Class 800 trains or similar, which would be 260 metres long.
• A High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train, which would be 200 metres long.

Unless provision needed to be made for pairs of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.

East Coast Trains

From next year, East Coast Trains, intend to run a five trains per day (tpd) service between London and Edinburgh via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.

These will pass straight through Team Valley station.

Northern Powerhouse Rail

Northern Powerhouse Rail has an objective to to run four tph between Leeds and Newcastle in 58 minutes.

At present there are only three tph on this route, two tph from TransPennine Express and one tph from CrossCountry. All three services stop at Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle.

Northern Powerhouse Rail need to decide the stopping pattern for their four tph between Leeds and Newcastle, some of which could call at Team Valley

In Beeching Reversal – Ferryhill Station Reopening, I did a similar analysis to this for Ferryhill station and concluded that the fourth service should be a London Kings Cross and Edinburgh with just two stops at Newcastle and Leeds.

Railfuture’s Proposals

Railfuture said this in their document about services to Team Valley

The station could be served by a new local service from York or
Darlington to Newcastle via the ECML, the existing TransPennine Express services, the new Teesside
– Tyneside service via the Stillington freight line, or by an extension of the proposed local service
from Northumberland.

There are four services here.

• A local service from York or Darlington to Newcastle via the ECML.
• The existing TransPennine Express services.
• The new Teesside– Tyneside service via the Stillington freight line
• By an extension of the proposed local service from Northumberland.

I shall cover these three services in the next three sections.

A New Local Service From York Or Darlington To Newcastle Via The ECML

This service could have the following characteristics.

• It could call at York, Darlington, Northallerton, the new Ferryhill station, Durham, Chester-le-Street and Team Valley stations.
• It could be hourly or two tph.
• The Southern terminal could be York, Darlington or possibly Leeds.
• The route would be fully electrified, if the route between Leeds and York were to be finally wired.

If the Southern terminal were Leeds this would give Northern Powerhouse Rail, their fourth service between Leeds and Newcastle.

The Existing TransPennine Express Services

TransPennine Express runs these two services through Team Valley station.

• Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh via Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle and Morpeth
• Manchester Airport and Newcastle via Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, York, Northallerton, Darlington and Durham

Note.

1. You can make arguments for either or both trains to stop at Team Valley station.
2. Both trains connect to Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle.
3. You can argue for direct connections to Edinburgh, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport.

The arguments will be partly settled by the number of tickets purchased.

Tyneside And Teesside Via Ferryhill And The Stillington Freight Line

Will this proposed service call at Team Valley station?

• As this is likely to be the faster service between Tyneside and Teesside, I suspect this service will be a prime candidate to call at Team Valley station.
• It is also favoured to call by Railfuture.

It would be useful to know how many people from Teesside regularly go to Team Valley to work or buy something.

A Service To Northumberland

This would be a new service on a disused freight line to Ashington and Blyth.

Little has been settled yet about this line.

If trains went South of Team Valley, where would they terminate?

Thoughts On The Trains

It is likely, that Cross Country, East Coast Trains, High Speed Two, LNER andTransPennine Express will be running trains capable of 125 mph on the East Coast Main Line through Team Valley station.

In Beeching Reversal – Ferryhill Station Reopening, I said this about the trains for any passenger service that uses the East Coast Main Line between Newcastle and Ferryhill.

I also feel that as some of these services will be running on the East Coast Main Line between Ferryhill and Newcastle, it probably would be desirable for these services to be run by Hitachi’s Regional Battery Trains, which would be capable of maintaining the maximum speed for the route, as all the other passenger services can at present!

Increasingly, in the UK, over the last few years, we have seen increasing numbers of 110 mph local trains working on high speed lines, like the East Coast Main Line, Great Western Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Lines, as these increase the capacity and mix better with 125 mph expresses.

But it is my belief that in the future we’ll be seeing more 125 mph services on main lines to increase the capacity.

• Great Western Railway are already running Class 800 trains to Oxford and Bedwyn from Paddington.
• In Call For ETCS On King’s Lynn Route, I wrote about using 125 mph trains to speed up all services into Kings Cross.
• When High Speed Two trains start sharing the East and West Coast Main Lines, all services would probably need to be fast services on the shared lines.

The specification of Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train is shown in this Hitachi infographic.

I am certain, that the train could be built to this specification for high speed routes, like the ones I indicated earlier to Bedwyn, Oxford, Kings Lynn and to share with High Speed Two.

• 125 mph on electrified lines.
• 140 mph on electrified lines with full in-cab digital ERTMS signalling.
• 100 mph on battery power for 56 miles (90 kilometres)

Many places in the UK, will join Bedwyn, Oxford and Thanet in having high speed commuter services to their regional large city.

Could There Be A Combined Service?

As I said earlier, Railfuture are proposing these four services in the North East.

• A local service from York or Darlington to Newcastle via the ECML.
• The existing TransPennine Express services.
• The new Teesside– Tyneside service via the Stillington freight line
• By an extension of the proposed local service from Northumberland.

In the same document, they also say this about a Newcastle and Berwick service via Morpeth.

Developing a North of Morpeth Local Service by extending local Newcastle – Morpeth services to
Berwick offering an hourly service calling at all stations, possibly linking to similar service from
Berwick to Edinburgh. This service need not terminate in Newcastle and could be extended to serve
Team Valley and areas in County Durham that are on electrified lines.

It strikes me, that if you add up all their proposals, Railfuture could be proposing a Berwick and York service with the following characteristics.

Hourly or two tph.

Northern terminus of Berwick or Blyth.

Southern terminus of Leeds, York or Darlington.

Routing via East Coast Main Line to the North of Ferryhill station.

Routing via East Coast Main Line or Stillington Line and Eaglescliffe to the South of Ferryhill station.

Calling at York, Northallerton, Darlington, Ferryhill, Chester-le-Street, Team Valley, Newcastle, Manors, Ceamlington, Morpeth, Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth and Chathill.

Trains would be a version of Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train or something like it, with the specification I proposed earlier.

• 125 mph on electrified lines.
• 140 mph on electrified lines with full in-cab digital ERTMS signalling.
• 100 mph on battery power for 56 miles (90 kilometres)
• A four or five car train would probably be sufficient.

It would effectively be a High Speed Metro. And probably, one of the first of many, that will be built around the world.

Conclusion

A new station at Team Valley seems a sensible idea.

As my logic shows, I think that between Berwick and York, is a section of line, that might be able to support a High Speed Metro.

 

 

 

 

December 16, 2020 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Hitachi Regional Battery Train, New Stations, Railfuture, Team Valley Station, TransPennine Express | 1 Comment