CIP’s UK Offshore Wind Project Granted Development Consent
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has approved the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Morecambe offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
The article also shows this map from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
Note.
- The 480 MW Morecambe wind farm is shown in yellow.
- The 1.5 GW Morgan wind farm received its DCO in August 2025.
- The 1.5 GW Mona wind farm received its DCO in July 2025.
- Both Morgan and Mona wind farms are being developed by a consortium of EnBW and JERA Nex bp.
- Morgan and Morecambe wind farms will connect to the grid at Penwortham substation.
- Mona wind farm will connect to the grid at Bodelwyddan National Grid substation in Denbighshire, North Wales.
- Morgan and Morecambe wind farms appear to be being developed jointly.
I must admit, I’m a bit surprised that Mona doesn’t connect to Penwortham substation.
Could High Speed Two Serve Blackpool North?
Consider.
- Blackpool North station is electrified and will have an electrified route to London Euston HS2 and Birmingham Curzon Street stations, when High Speed Two opens.
- Yesterday, both 11-car and 9-car Class 390 trains, which are longer than single High Speed Two classic-compatible trains, used Blackpool North station.
- Blackpool is noted for fresh air and fun.
- Blackpool needs leveling-up. Surely High Speed Two will help with this?
- Blackpool has a unique Modern and Ancient tramway to bring residents and visitors to High Speed Two.
I am fairly sure, that single High Speed Two class-compatible trains could use Blackpool North station.
But could another High Speed Two service have a path between London and Preston to serve Blackpool?
Because of the cancellation of Phase 2 of High Speed 2, there are spare paths on High Speed Two between London and the West Midlands.
If the core section of High Speed Two is extended Northwards to Crewe, as advocated by Dyan Perry of the High Speed Rail Group, that I wrote about in The Future Of HS2 Could Lie In Its Original Vision, this would create extra paths to Crewe.
It looks to me, that the tricky part of the route is between Crewe and Preston.
This diagram shows High Speed Two services, as they were originally envisaged before Phase 2 was discontinued.
Note.
- Trains to the left of the vertical black line are Phase 1 and those to the right are Phase 2.
- Full-Size trains are shown in blue.
- Classic-Compatible trains are shown in yellow.
- Blue circles are shown, where trains stop.
- The dotted circles are where trains split and join.
- In the red boxes routes alternate every hour.
Click on the diagram to enlarge it.
Note that if Phase 1 were to be completed to Crewe, there would be five full-size and five classic-compatible trains using the West Midlands and Crewe section of the High Speed Two route, of which five trains would terminate at Manchester Piccadilly HS2 station and two classic-compatible trains would terminate at Liverpool Lime Street.
So just three Scottish trains and one to Lancaster would go North of Warrington Bank Quay station, which would be an average of one train every fifteen minutes.
High Speed Two will be fully digitally signalled and I’m sure that trains could run as flights of two or more trains, a couple of minutes apart.
This would mean that a London and Blackpool North service could run say two minutes behind one of the London and Scotland services to Preston
- Between London and the West Midlands, there would be twelve trains per hour (tph).
- Between the West Midlands and Crewe, there would be also be twelve tph.
- Between Crewe and Preston, there would be five tph.
I believe it would be possible for High Speed Two to run a London and Blackpool North service, provided that the London Euston to Crewe core of High Speed Two is completed soon after Phase 1 is completed.
It should also be noted, that I believe the second Scottish service from London could also have a flight with another service. So could Barrow or Blackburn have a High Speed Two service from London?
Mayors Head To Parliament With Plan For Northern Arc To Deliver Green Growth
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Liverpool City Region.
These four bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham take case for backing Northern Arc to Treasury – as new data shows North can drive green growth and unlock £90bn for UK economy
- Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester Mayors will meet with ministers and MPs today, and Andy Burnham will give evidence at Business and Trade Select Committee on the UK’s industrial strategy
- Economic analysis shows that investing in transport infrastructure and a pipeline of projects across the North would benefit the whole UK economy, improving living standards and closing the North-South productivity gap
- Mayors will also address Innovation Zero World Congress in London, showing how city-regions can create high quality jobs by pioneering low-carbon innovation
These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.
The right investment would create a growth corridor, stretching from the Mersey to the Pennines and connecting into West and South Yorkshire, underpinned by transport networks that would include a new railway linking Liverpool and Manchester.
The Northern Arc area spans regions with close economic ties to Lancashire, North Wales, Hull and the North East. With international connections through the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Airport, it’s well positioned for global trade.
If I have a problem with the mayors’ thoughts, the plan outlined in the news item is rather Liverpool/Manchester-based with Hull being the only city outside that area getting a mention. Do Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Burnley, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Leeds, Preston, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Stockport, Wigan and York exist?
For instance you would expert a report from Liverpool and Manchester’s Mayors to call for a new railway between their two cities. And of course they do!
The current TransPennine Lines has two main routes across the Pennines between East and West.
If ever there was a rail route, designed by Topsy, it is the North TransPennine Route.
- There are six separate services, if you ignore Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley, which is a shuttle to fill a gap in rail services.
- In the West trains terminate at Huddersfield, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria
- In the East trains terminate at Edinburgh Waverley, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, Redcar Central, Scarborough and York.
- Terminals like Huddersfield, Hull, Liverpool Lime Street, Newcastle and York are some of the best terminal stations in the UK, but others are very second rate.
I suspect, this North TransPennine Route structure brought about the demise of TransPennine Express.
The South TransPennine Route on the other hand, although it was built by several different railway companies, they were all intent on the same thing. An East-West route across the Pennines through Doncaster, Manchester and Sheffield.
- The Western terminal is Liverpool Lime Street, which in my view is the finest grand terminus in the UK, in terms of architecture, onward connections and operation. It is also the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world, in that it dates from 1836.
- The Eastern terminal is Cleethorpes, which is an efficient four-platform recently-refurbished station, that is within a hundred metres of some of the best gluten-free fish and chips, I’ve ever tasted on the pier.
- Intermediate stations include Liverpool South Parkway, Warrington Central, Birchwood, Irlam, Urmston, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Barnetby, Habrough and Grimsby Town.
- Liverpool South Parkway has a bus connection to Liverpool Airport
- Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield and Doncaster are stations with comprehensive onward connections.
- The route is electrified between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly and at Doncaster.Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes is 148.2 miles
- Hazel Grove and Doncaster is without electrification and is 52.3 miles long.
- Cleethorpes and Doncaster is without electrification and is 52.1 miles long.
- I believe that Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler could supply battery-electric trains, that would be able to work the route, with the addition of a short length of overhead wires at Cleethorpes, so that trains could return to Doncaster.
- Trains go straight through all the intermediate stations, so there are no time-wasting reverses.
- Journey time is just over three and a half hours.
I believe that a mouse-quiet battery-electric train would pack in the punters, if only for the novelty.
But.
A battery-electric train would probably knock perhaps thirty minutes off the journey.
The timetable would be an hourly train at all stations.
The service would pass the mother’s birthday test, in that you could easily visit any station from any other and buy your mother lunch before returning on a convenient train.
There are connections to and from London at Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield and Doncaster.
It could be a very useful East-West train service.
Could Liverpool Develop A Massive Zero-Carbon Data Centre?
There is an article in The Sunday Times today, which is entitled Google Signs Nuclear Deal To Power AI Data Centres.
These are the first three paragraphs of the article.
Google has struck a deal with a nuclear power start-up to provide low-carbon energy for its data centres and AI operations, marking a world-first in the tech industry.
The California-based company said the agreement to buy energy from multiple small modular reactors developed by Kairos Power could help spur a nuclear revival in America.
The first reactor is scheduled to come online in America by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035.
I am not against nuclear-powered data centres, but could Liverpool build a massive zero-carbon data centre?
This Google Map shows Liverpool Bay, which is a vast expanse of water that stretches along the North Wales coast to Anglesey and all the way to the Isle of Man.
Note.
- The Isle of Man in the North-West corner.
- Liverpool, Birkenhead and the River Mersey in the South-East corner.
- Anglesey in the South-West corner.
- Blackpool with Morecambe Bay to its North in the North-East corner.
Liverpool Bay could be one of Europe’s zero-carbon energy powerhouses.
Wind Farms In Liverpool Bay
At the present time, these wind farms are producing electricity or planned in Liverpool Bay.
- Barrow – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2006
- Burbo Bank – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2007
- Burbo Bank Extension – 258 MW – Commissioned in 2017
- Gwynt y Môr – 576 MW – Commissioned in 2015
- North Hoyle – 60 MW – Commissioned in 2003
- Ormonde – 150 MW – Commissioned in 2012
- Rhyl Flats – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2009
- Walney – 367 MW – Commissioned in 2010
- Walney Extension – 659 MW – Commissioned in 2018
- West if Duddon Sands – 389 MW – Commissioned in 2014
- Awel y Môr – 500 MW – Planned
- Morecambe – 480 MW – Planned
- Mona – 1500 MW – Planned
- Morgan – 1500 MW – Planned
Note.
- 2509 MW has been commissioned.
- 3980 MW is being planned.
- That is a total of 6489 MW
I suspect more space in Liverpool Bay could be developed with wind farms.
Mersey Tidal Power
The Mersey Tidal Power project has a web site.
If it is built, it will probably be built by the South Korean company; K-Water and use some of the design principles of the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station.
It will likely have an output of around 1 GW and take ten years to build.
In the 1970s, I did some project management consultancy for Frederick Snow and Partners, and they showed me their plans for a Severn Barrage.
Their futuristic vision for the Severn Estuary was never built, as the Prime Minister of the time; Harold Wilson, felt coal was the future. See Last Of The Many!
I suspect that the Mersey Tidal Power project will be another variation on a proven theme.
Morecambe Bay Bridge And Tidal Barrage Proposal
In the Wikipedia entry for Morecambe Bay, there is a proposal for a bridge and tidal barrage across the bay, where this is said.
In 2004, a proposal was made to build a bridge across the bay flanked by wind turbines and using tidal power. Proposals from Northern Tidal Power Gateways in 2019 outlined a tidal barrage with a road running along on top.
If the Mersey Tidal Power project is a success, then why wouldn’t one across Morecambe Bay, be one too?
500 MW of zero-carbon tidal power would do nicely!
Nuclear Sites At Calder Hall, Heysham And Wylfa
These three nuclear stations have supplied electricity to the North-West of England.
- Calder Hall was the original Magnox site, which the Wikipedia entry says had a nameplate capacity of 240 MW and was decommissioned in 2003, after running for 47 years.
- Heysham is a powerful site which the Wikipedia entry says has a nameplate capacity of 2452 MW and will be decommissioned in 2028.
- Wylfa is an older, smaller Magnox site which the Wikipedia entry says had a nameplate capacity of 1190MW and was decommissioned in 2015.
As the sites are cleared, I am sure that we’ll see more nuclear power stations built on the sites.
How Much Electricity Does A Data Centre Use?
I found this paragraph in an NESO document.
Regardless of this, if we were to use existing market data and modelling projections, this could point to annual data centre electricity consumptions of between 3.6 TWh in 2020 to as much as 35 TWh by 2050.
Dividing by the hours in a year, indicates that an individual data centre could use between 0.4 and 4 GW of electricity.
Using my rough figures here from wind, tidal and nuclear, I suspect that the power on the Mersey will generate enough power for at least one data centre.
Liverpool Is On The Right Side Of The Country For Cables To North America
Cables will go straight out of Liverpool Bay, pass to the North of Ireland and across the Atlantic to somewhere like Puget Sound.
Liverpool has a superb location for a Transatlantic data centre, that connects to networks on both sides of the pond.
Could Underwater Data Centres Be Developed In Liverpool Bay?
This page on the Microsoft web site is entitled Microsoft Finds Underwater Datacenters Are Reliable, Practical And Use Energy Sustainably
These three paragraphs detail the research.
Earlier this summer, marine specialists reeled up a shipping-container-size datacenter coated in algae, barnacles and sea anemones from the seafloor off Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
The retrieval launched the final phase of a years-long effort that proved the concept of underwater datacenters is feasible, as well as logistically, environmentally and economically practical.
Microsoft’s Project Natick team deployed the Northern Isles datacenter 117 feet deep to the seafloor in spring 2018. For the next two years, team members tested and monitored the performance and reliability of the datacenter’s servers.
I would assume that Microsoft have continued the research, as with something like this you can’t be too careful.
But it would appear, that data centres and their servers could be submerged under the waters of Liverpool Bay.
London And Liverpool Will Be Under Two Hours By Train Within A Year
New Class 807 trains, which will be delivered within a year, will improve the train service between the two cities.
- Train times will be brought to around or even below two hours.
- , The extra trains will allow a second hourly service to be added.
- The extra service will additionally stop at Liverpool South Parkway station, for the airport.
- High Speed Two is claiming one hour and fifty minutes, between London and Liverpool.
Liverpool already has one of the best rail terminals in the North of England, as these pictures show.
With these service improvements, it will have a service to London and the South, that will be second to no other Northern station.
Liverpool Has A Refurbished Partly-Underground Suburban Railway With New Trains
Liverpool’s Metro is one of the best in Europe for a medium-sized city.
The Metro is also expanding with new routes and stations.
These pictures show the new Headbolt Lane station, which is swerved by the UK’s first battery-electric trains.
Liverpool Has Easy Access To Two International Airports
There are two international airports close by; Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester International.
- For Liverpool Airport, it’s a bus from Liverpool South Parkway station or an express bus from Liverpool city centre.
- For Manchester Airport, it’s a train from Lime Street station.
I am fairly sure, that a hydrofoil could connect Liverpool’s Waterfront and the Tidal Barrier to the airport.
North-West England Has A Rich University Tradition
Liverpool, Manchester and the surrounding area has several world-class universities and research establishments.
Some like The Pandemic Institute would be able to find uses for all the computing power and artificial intelligence on offer at a powerful data centre.
Liverpool Is A World City
Liverpool is a World City, where there is plenty of sport, entertainment and things to do.
Conclusion
Liverpool is installing the power infrastructure for a very large data centre, that will be able to handle the world’s largest and most difficult problems.
RWE’s Welsh Offshore Wind Project Powers Ahead
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Natural Resources Wales has awarded marine licences for RWE’s Awel y Môr offshore wind project off the North Wales Coast.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The offshore wind farm, which could power more than half of Wales’ homes, has secured all of its necessary planning approvals with the award of its marine licences from Natural Resources Wales, RWE said.
The marine licences have been awarded on behalf of Welsh Government ministers following the granting of a Development Consent Order in September.
With all the wind action in the East, we tend to forget that the Liverpool Bay area has a lot of wind.
- Awel y Môr – 500 MW – Before 2030
- Barrow – 90 MW – 2006
- Burbo Bank – 90 MW – 2007
- Burbo Bank Extension – 258 MW – 2017
- Gwynt y Môr – 576 MW – 2015
- Mona – 1500 MW – 2029
- Morecambe – 480 MW – 2028
- Morgan – 1500 MW – 2029
- North Hoyle – 60 MW – 2003
- Ormonde – 150 MW – 2012
- Rhyl Flats – 90 MW – 2009
- Walney – 367 MW – 2010
- Walney Extension – 659 MW – 2018
- West Of Duddon Sands – 389 MW – 2014
Note.
- This is a total of 6709 MW to be delivered before 2030.
- All the wind farms have fixed foundations.
- RWE have an interest in three of the Welsh wind farms.
The Times today has this article which is entitled Energy Minnow Sees Pathway To Irish Sea Gasfield Via London IPO, where these are the first three paragraphs.
An energy minnow that is seeking to develop a gasfield in the Irish Sea is planning to list on Aim, the junior London stock exchange, in an attempt to buck the downturn in initial public offerings.
EnergyPathways has announced its intention to float, seeking to raise at least £2 million.
It owns the rights to Marram, a small gasfield discovered in 1993 about 20 miles offshore from Blackpool. It is seeking permission from the government for its plan to develop the field in the Irish Sea quickly by connecting it with existing infrastructure that serves the already-producing gasfields in Morecambe Bay. It aims to be producing gas as soon as 2025.
This gasfield should produce enough gas until the large Liverpool Bay wind farms come on stream at the end of the decade.
Landmark Levelling Up Fund To Spark Transformational Change Across The UK
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from the UK Government.
These are the four bullet points.
- More than 100 projects awarded share of £2.1 billion from Round 2 of government’s flagship Levelling Up Fund.
- Projects will benefit millions of people across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and create jobs and boost economic growth.
- £672 million to develop better transport links, £821 million to kick-start community regeneration and £594 million to restore local heritage sites.
- Successful bids include Eden Project North in Morecambe, a new AI campus in Blackpool, regeneration in Gateshead, and rail improvements in Cornwall
The press release expands the last bullet point.
Projects awarded Levelling Up Fund money today include:
Eden Project North
Eden Project North will receive £50 million to transform a derelict site on Morecambe’s seafront into a world class visitor attraction. It will also kick-start regeneration more widely in Morecambe, creating jobs, supporting tourism and encouraging investment in the seaside town.
Note.
- Because of its closeness to the West Coast Main Line, it will have excellent rail connections to all over the North of England and Central and Southern Scotland, through Lancaster, which will only be a shuttle train away.
- One of High Speed Two’s direct destinations will be Lancaster, which will be served by High Speed Two by hourly trains to Birmingham, Carlisle, Crewe, London, Preston, Warrington and Wigan and by two-hourly trains to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lockerbie and Motherwell.
- London and Lancaster will be a journey of just two hours and three minutes.
I believe that this high quality rail access will ensure the success of the Eden Project North.
Cardiff Crossrail
Cardiff Crossrail has been allocated £50 million from the fund to improve the journey to and from the city and raise the economic performance of the wider region.
The Cardiff Crossrail is obviously a good project from the little that I’ve read about it. But it does need a web site to explain the reasoning behind it.
Blackpool Multiversity
Blackpool Council and Wyre Council will receive £40 million to deliver a new Multiversity, a carbon-neutral, education campus in Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway Central Business District. This historic funding allows Blackpool and The Fylde College to replace their ageing out-of-town centre facilities with world-class state-of-the-art ones in the heart of the town centre. The Multiversity will promote higher-level skills, including automation and artificial intelligence, helping young people secure jobs of the future.
Blackpool certainly needs something.
My suggestion in Blackpool Needs A Diamond, was to build a second Diamond Light Source in the North to complement the successful facility at Harwell.
I don’t think the two proposals are incompatible.
Fair Isle Ferry
Nearly £27 million has been guaranteed for a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle in the Shetland Islands. The service is a lifeline for the island, supporting its residents, visitors and supply chains, and without its replacement the community will become further isolated.
Note.
- Will it be a British-built ferry?
- Will it be hydrogen-powered? After all by the time it is built, the Northern Scottish islands will be providing enough of the gas to power a quarter of Germany.
- Surely, a hydrogen-powered roll-on, roll-off ferry will be a tourist attraction in its own right.
I hope the Government and the islanders have a good ship-yard lined up
Gateshead Quays And The Sage
A total of £20 million is going towards the regeneration of Gateshead Quays and the Sage, which will include a new arena, exhibition centre, hotels, and other hospitality. The development will attract nearly 800,000 visitors a year and will create more than 1,150 new jobs.
I don’t know much about the Sage, but this project seems very reasonable.
Mid-Cornwall Metro
A £50 million grant will help create a new direct train service, linking 4 of Cornwall’s largest urban areas: Newquay, St Austell, Truro, and Falmouth/Penryn. This will level up access to jobs, skills, education, and amenities in one of the most economically disadvantaged areas in the UK.
I wrote about this scheme in The Proposed Mid-Cornwall Metro, where I came to this conclusion.
I believe that a small fleet of Hitachi Regional Battery Trains could create an iconic Metro for Cornwall, that would appeal to both visitors and tourists alike.
Judging by the recent success of reopening the Dartmoor Railway to Okehampton in Devon, I think this scheme could be a big success. But it must be zero-carbon!
Female Changing Rooms For Northern Ireland Rugby
There is £5.1 million to build new female changing rooms in 20 rugby clubs across Northern Ireland.
Given the popularity of the female version of the sport in England, Scotland and Wales, perhaps this is a sensible way to level it up in Northern Ireland. As rugby is an all-Ireland sport, perhaps the Irish have already sorted the South?
Blackpool Needs A Diamond
Every year there are more and more depressing reports about Blackpool and there was another today.
Something dramatic needs to be done.
One of the successful scientific weapons that has been deployed on any number of problems, including the Covid-19 and malaria, has been the impressive Diamond Light Source at Harwell.
When I talk to researchers at universities in the North, they would love to able to use it more, but it is fully booked and getting access is difficult. There is also the travel problem.
I believe that the solution is to build Diamond 2 in the North. And what better place to build it than Blackpool. The city has good rail and tram links and plenty of accommodation.
Now, that’s what I call levelling-up.
Northern Cities And COVID-19
If you look at the official Government statistics for the total number of cases of COVID-19, as of May 3rd, the number of cases in the two major cities in the North West as follows.
- Leeds – 1463 out of a city population of 789,194 (0.18%) and a metro population of 2,638,127 (0.05%)
- Liverpool – 1454 out of a city population of 494,814 (0.29%) and a metro population of 2,241,000 (0.06%)
- Manchester – 1154 out of a city population of 547,627 (0.21%) and a metro population of 3,748,274 (0.03%)
- Newcastle – 939 out of a city population of 300,196 (0.31%) and a metro population of 1,650,000 (0.06%)
- Nottingham – 537 out of a city population of 321,500 (0.17%) and a metro population of 1,610,000 (0.03%)
- Sheffield – 2191 out of a city population of 582,506 (0.38%) and a metro population of 1,569,000 (0.14%)
Note.
- All populations come from Wikipedia.
- Why is Liverpool 40% worse than Manchester?
- Why is Sheffield the worst?
I will add a few smaller towns andcities.
- Blackpool – 465 out of an urban population of 139,720 (0.33%)
- Caldervale – 252 out of an urban population of 200,100 (0.13%)
- Hull – 469 out of a city population of 260,645 (0.18%)
- Middlesbrough – 566 out of an urban population of 174,700 (0.32%)
- Stoke-on-Trent – 509 out of a city population of 255,833 (0.20%)
- York – 315 out of a city population of 209,893 (0.15%)
I’d like to see full statistics plotted on a map or a scatter diagram.
The latter is a very powerful way to plot data and often they highlight data points that lie outside the underlying pattern of the data.
£500m Fund To Restore Beeching Rail Cuts Goes Ahead Amid Criticism
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A government fund is to be launched later to restore historic railway lines closed more than 50 years ago under the so-called Beeching cuts.
The two initial grants are for studies about reopening the Northumberland Line to Blyth and Ashington in the North East and to Fleetwood to the North of Blackpool.
Blyth And Ashington
Consider.
- The tracks already exist.
- There may still be some freight traffic on the route.
- Connections to the Tyne and Wear Metro appear possible.
- The Tyne and Wear Metro already shares tracks with other freight and passenger services.
- New stations and probably new signalling will be needed.
- The distance between the proposed Northern terminals and the connections with the Tyne and Wear Metro are under twenty miles, which could make battery operation easily possible.
- The Tyne and Wear Metro is currently procuring a new fleet of trains.
I believe that these branches could be integrated into the Tyne and Wear Metro, providing that the new trains have the right specification.
Light rail vehicles like the Class 398 tram-trains being procured for the South Wales Metro should be able to run these services.
But other manufacturers might have better solutions!
Fleetwood Branch
This extension would need the following.
- Restoration of the existing track between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood.
- One or more new stations.
- Probable resignalling.
In a simple installation, there is probably space to put a bay platform in Poulton-le-Fylde station, so that a shuttle service could be run to Fleetwood.
But services could also be extended to Preston.
Blackpool though has other rail problems like what are they going to do with the Blackpool South Line.
I believe Blackpool could use similar solutions on both the Blackpool South and Fleetwood Lines to create a bigger solution for the whole of the area.
Conclusion
It looks to me that the government has started with two schemes that are possible and where the track still exists.
It is to be hoped that the two studies come up with easy-to-build and fundable schemes, which are the first of many.
Blackpool Tramway Is Reaching Towards The Station
On Saturday, I went to Blackpool and rode the Blackpool Tramway to Fleetwood to see Ipswich play.
This Google Map shows the current walking route between Blackpool North station and the North Pier tram stop.
Note.
- The station is in the North East corner of the map.
- The North Pier tram stop is by the North Pier!
- The main tram route passes North-South across the map, close to the shore end of the pier.
- The walk is along Talbot Road.
- Close to the station is a branch of Wilko.
The new tram tracks will be laid along Talbot Road and these pictures show the current progress of the new tracks.
Note.
- The spur is twin-track.
- The first two and the last pictures appear to show the tram tracks going into Wilko.
- The tram tracks appear to share the road with other traffic.
- There is a full triangular junction where the spur meets the main North-South tramway.
A few extra facts and thoughts.
What About Wilko?
The Wilko store will either be demolished or modified and the space will be used by a tram stop.
- It will be reached by an underpass from the station.
- I suspect it will have two platforms.
- One platform might be for trams to the North and the others for trams to the South.
- There will probably be a few kiosks and small shops.
Done well and it would give passengers a good welcome.
The Track Layout
The track layout with the full triangular junction and a double-track to the station gives a lot of flexibility.
- Trams can go between the the tram station and the North.
- Trams can go between the the tram station and the South.
- Trams could even come from the North, reverse in the station and go out to the South! Or vice-versa!
I also think it has been designed to be ready for expansion of the Blackpool Tramway.
A Tram Stop At Talbot Square
I have found a document on the Blackpool Council web site, that says this.
A tram stop on Talbot Square would be developed while road layouts are being examined so the new scheme would interfere as little as possible with drivers.
There is certainly enough space.
Could Tram-Trains Connect At Blackpool North Station To The Blackpool Tramway?
This Google Map shows Blackpool North station and the nearby Wilko.
I think it would be possible for tram-trains to come straight through the railway station and connect to the Blackpool Tramway.
- I would suspect that a frequency of between four and six trains per hour (tph) would be possible.
- The Tram-trains would have a battery capability with a range of perhaps twenty or thirty miles.
- The tram-trains would obviously come from Preston.
- But would they go on to Blackburn, Burnley, Clitheroe, Colne, Ormskirk, Southport and/or Todmorden.
The designs of the tracks, Blackpool North station and the proposed Blackpool North tram stop, would not seem to rule out the creation of a tram-train network with the Blackpool Tramway as the Western terminus.
Tram-Trains To The South
The new tram link at Blackpool North station will link the station to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and other attractions South of the North Pier.
To not annoy and discourage visitors, the frequency should be at least six tph or one tram every ten minutes. as little Harry and little Summer won’t late any longer!
Tram-trains to and from Preston and beyond, would have the following effects.
- A lot of visitors wouldn’t have to change between train and tram.
- They would reinforce the service between Blackpool North station and the Southern terminus at Starr Gate.
- They might cut the number of cars needing to park in Blackpool.
- Blackpool would become the only place in the world where you could see heritage trams, modern trams and tram-trains using the same system.
This tram-train link would surely improve the economy of Blackpool and the \Fylde Coast.
But the tram-trains don’t need to terminate at Starr Gate.
This Google Map shows the Blackpool Tramway’s Southern terminus and depot at Starr Gate and the nearby Squires Gate station.
Note.
- Starr Gate Depot on the West side of the map.
- The turning loop for the trams outside.
- Squires Gate station four hundred metres to the East.
I don’t think it would be difficult to connect the two rail systems.
- Tram-trains would be able to more freely between the Blackpool Tramway and the South Fylde Line to Kirkham & Wesham and Preston stations.
- The route between Kirkham & Wesham and Preston stations is electrified.
- The length of the section without electrification between Kirkham & Wesham and Blackpool South stations is just over twelve miles.
- The route West of Kirkham & Wesham station is single-track, but could probably be capable of handling more trains per hour, with some improvements like sections of double track.
I can’t see why tram-trains with a battery capability, which could be similar to those destined for the South Wales Metro, couldn’t run an extended service between Preston and the Blackpool Tramway.
- Tram-trains would change systems at Blackpool North station and Squires Gate/Starr Gate.
- Tram-trains would call at all stations and tramway stops in both directions.
- A frequency of at least two tph in both directions would be my preference.
- Tram-trains could easily handle the section without electrification on batteries charged on the existing electrification.
- It would provide improved public transport links to the important golf course at Royal Lytham.
I also feel that running battery tram-trains on the South Fylde Line could be an affordable solution to improving public transport in the area.
Tram-Trains To The North
The same arguments that can be used to allow tram-trains to go South along the Blackpool Tramway, will also work, for allowing tram-trains to go to the North.
But there is no railway in good condition to create a loop, as can be done to the South.
Perhaps, two tram-trains per hour could go to Fleetwood Ferry tram stop and use the loop to return to Blackpool North station.
Fleetwood would regain a rail service to Preston, that appears to have been discontinued in the 1960s.
Reinstatement Of The Fleetwood Branch Line
The Association of Train Operating Companies has proposed the reopening of the Fleetwood Branch Line, which would connect Fleetwood with Poulton-le-Fylde on the electrified line to Blackpool North station.
The branch is also being developed for heritage purposes.
I do wonder though, that a tram-train solution, where tram-trains run between Preston and Fleetwood via Kirkham & Wesham, Blackpool North and the Blsckpool Tramway, may give a higher return.
Obviously, a full study needs to be done.
Other Issues
On my trip to Fleetwood, two other issues were obvious.
A Distinct Lack Of Shelters
I took this picture, as I returned to the trams after the match.
At the time it was chucking it down!
Perhaps, they’d increase ridership, if passengers had some more shelter.
Bank Card Ticketing
I rarely carry cash these days, as I generally use contactless payments, for all payments under thirty pounds.
But on the Blackpool Tramway, you have to use cash!
That is so Nineteenth Century!
Conclusion
Blackpool Tramway can be built into a much more comprehensive and more customer-friendly tram and tram-train network.
The Anonymous Widower 