Hull Trains Eyes Worksop And Sheffield Launch
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These are the two introductory paragraphs of the article.
Hull Trains’ proposed London King’s Cross – Worksop – Sheffield open access service would ‘give people more choice’, offer more flexibility in train fares and make the area better known, according to Labour Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw Jo White.
Speaking at the launch of FirstGroup’s Moving forward together: Why open access is essential for a better railway report on January 21, White said the service would increase opportunities for the growing population of Worksop, where new housing being built. Looking back at the history of open access, she said East Hull MP John Prescott had been a supporter of the original launch of Hull Trains.
I suspect that the ebullient John Prescott would have given full backing to Hull Trains proposed Sheffield service.
I have some thoughts about Hull Trains proposed service.
London Overground Syndrome
I am fairly certain, that this service will suffer from from London Overground Syndrome, which is defined like this.
This benign disease, which is probably a modern version of the Victorian railway mania, was first identified in East London in 2011, when it was found that the newly-refurbished East London Line and North London Line were inadequate due to high passenger satisfaction and much increased usage. It has now spread across other parts of the capital, despite various eradication programs.
It may be for slightly different reasons, but as Workshop station has good car parking and could have fast trains to London, it could attract passengers.
But I don’t think two trains per day will be enough.
Tram-Trains Between Sheffield And Retford Via Worksop
Consider.
- It’s under twenty-five miles between Sheffield and Retford, so this route would be possible using battery-electric tram trains, similar to those in South Wales.
- These tram-trains would also be suitable for the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Worksop via Mansfield.
- The speed limits are not fast and the distances are not great and I suspect battery-electric versions of Sheffield’s tram trains could handle all routes.
- By using temporal separation, Hull Trains services could be sneaked in early and late in the day.
As both cities of Nottingham and Sheffield have used or thought about using tram-trains, I’m sure Stadler could provide a suitable tram-train, that could work in the two cities and all the branch lines that used to serve the numerous coal mines.
It would be levelling up on a big way.
It could grow into a very comprehensive East Midlands Metro, that also served Derby, Doncaster and possibly Lincoln.
Stadler’s products can certainly be configured in many unusual ways.
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