The Anonymous Widower

First Bid For Sheffield To King’s Cross Paths

The title of this post is the same as an article in the February 2024 Edition of Modern Railways.

I have covered this before in FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service.

These are extra pieces of information.

FirstGroup Says It’s Only A Start

This is a fragment from the article.

First says the service of two return services per day would enable testing of the market before considering more complex services as plans for the East Coast main line timetable and fleet plans develop. The service is planned to be an additional operation under the brand of existing open access operator Hull Trains, although it would be operated as ‘a separate free-standing daily set of services’.

 

Nothing is said, but expansion could be extra services or destinations beyond Sheffield.

Currently, Hull Trains run seven trains per day (tpd) between London and Hull, with two tpd extending to Beverley.

• Would seven tpd be an objective for between Sheffield and King’s Cross?
• Five-car Class 802 trains could run the services and look like they fit all the Sheffield, Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford stations.
• Between Sheffield and Retford, the Sheffield and Lincoln Line is not very busy.
• Paths between Retford and London could be a problem.
• However, the new digital signalling would allow the Hull and Sheffield services to run as a flight in the same path, perhaps two or three minutes apart.
• The trains would use one of the longer platforms at King’s Cross, which can accommodate two five-car Class 802 trains.
• I suspect that the new service would use one of the through platforms at Sheffield.

I think, there are three possibilities for extending the service from Sheffield.

• Huddersfield with a reverse and along the Penistone Line after calling at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
• Leeds with a reverse and calling at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
• Manchester Piccadilly calling at Hazel Grove and Stockport.

Note.

1. I don’t think Huddersfield and Barnsley have a direct service to London.
2. Huddersfield will be on the main electrified TransPennine route.
3. Huddersfield station is being upgraded with more platforms and electrified.
4. The Penistone Line is being upgraded.
5. Leeds already has services from King’s Cross.
6. Manchester Piccadilly could be used , when there are engineering works on the West Coast Main Line.

I feel that the Huddersfield service is the one that could be successful.

Hull Trains-Style Customer Service

This is a sentence from the article.

The level of customer service on board would match that which Hull Trains currently delivers.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Woodhouse Station

This is a sentence from the article.

First says it will assess the requirement to invest in Woodhouse station to ensure its facilities are fit for purpose for long distance services and work in partnership with the station’s operator, as it did at Morpeth for Lumo services.

Woodhouse station certainly needs improvement.

Trains To Be Used

This is said in the article.

• As they want to start services in 2025, it looks like they will use the available Class 221 or 222 trains.
• But the article indicates that a consistent fleet for Hull Trains using possibly Class 802 trains would be best.
• The route will be cleared for both types of trains.
• Currently, overnight servicing for Hull Trains to Hull is done at Hull Botanic Gardens TMD.

I think that getting this route going by 2025 could give the project its own momentum and enable Hull Trains to add more trains to the fleet.

Timetable

Consider.

• The timetable is based on two trains per day (tpd) in both directions, seven days a week.
• The first train on Monday to Saturday from Sheffield leaves at 9:20, with the Sunday train forty minutes later.
• The second train on Monday to Saturday from Sheffield leaves at 16:54, with the Sunday train twenty minutes later.
• The first train on Monday to Saturday from London leaves at 12:48, with the Sunday train eight minutes later.
• The second train on Sunday to Friday from London leaves at 19:56, with the Saturday train thirty-one minutes later.

Note.

1. If there are no problems, one train could shuttle between London and Sheffield all week.
2. As Hull Trains have been using one train to boost some services to ten cars, I suspect they could run the initial Sheffield service with a five-car only Hull service. But what happens if they have a train failure?
3. If you catch the first train up from Sheffield and the last train down from London, you have 8 hours and 12 minutes in London on Monday to Friday, 8 hours and 43 minutes on a Saturday and 7 hours and 48 minutes on a Sunday.
4. It looks like, there is good time to watch a show or a match on Saturday and have a meal before returning North.
5. All last trains return to Sheffield about 22:00.

It looks to be a well-thought out professional-written timetable.

Timetabling From And To Huddersfield

This is a sentence from the article.

It is currently thought the first Up and last Down service will run as empty coaching stock via Meadowhall, so it is proposed to call there on such workings.

Suppose though what would be possible if the First Up and Last Down services started from Huddersfield.

• A train between Huddersfield and Sheffield could call at Barnsley and Meadowhall.
• Class 150 trains take around 80 minutes between Sheffield and Huddersfield via Barnsley.
• Class 802 trains could probably do that route in an hour, once the Penistone Line has been improved.
• The second train from London will arrive at Sheffield between 21:56 and 22:26.
• The first train to London will leave from Sheffield between 09:20 and 09:57.

It looks to me, that the following would be possible every night.

• The second Hull Train service from London arrives in Sheffield between 21:56 and 22:26.
• It continues to Huddersfield, where it finishes its journey after dropping passengers at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
• Overnight servicing is arranged.
• In the morning, it runs to Sheffield, picking up passengers as required at Barnsley and Meadowhall.

The train then forms the first Hull Train service to London between 09:20 and 09:57.

Meadowhall, Barnsley and Huddersfield would get 1 tpd to and from London King’s Cross.

Conclusion

There is certainly scope to create a useful set of services between London King’s Cross and South Yorkshire.

 

 

January 25, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Barnsley Interchange Station, Beverley Station, East Coast Main Line, FirstGroup, FirstGroup's Proposed Sheffield Service, Hazel Grove Station, Huddersfield Station, Hull Trains, King's Cross Station, Leeds Station, Meadowhall Station, Open Access Operators, Penistone Line, Retford Station, Sheffield and Lincoln Line, Sheffield Station, TransPennine Route, TransPennine Upgrade, Woodhouse Station, Worksop Station