The Anonymous Widower

Crossrails For The North

Regularly there are references in the media for Crossrail for the North.

This article in Rochdale Online is entitled Andy Burham calls for ‘Crossrail for North’

Note that the misspelling of Andy Burnham; the Mayor of Manchester’s name is from the web site.

Andy Burnham and many others have a point that West-East connections across the North are not good, but it is not that simple.

Hence the reason, I’ve called this post Crossrails For The North and not Crossrail For The North.

Northern And London Crossrails Compared

If you look at Greater London, the distance between Reading and Shenfield stations, which are two of the termini of London’s Crossrail, is about eighty miles and when Crossrail opens a train will take about one hour forty minutes.

By comparison, Liverpool to Leeds is just over seventy miles and the current fastest trains take ninety minutes with two stops at Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield stations.

Those that live East of Leeds, keep reading.

The differences between the two routes, when Crossrail opens will be mainly down to the number of stops, frequency and connectivity.

• The Northern Route is shorter and hence marginally faster.
• The London route has more stops.
• The London route has a higher frequency.
• The London route is electrified.
• The London route will be served by specially-designed Class 345 trains.

But possibly most importantly, the London route connects to a large number of North-South cross-city railways.

It is sensible to think of London’s Crossrail as a loose ball of chunky knitting wool with a big fat needle stuck through it.

The ball of knitting wool is Central London with all its Underground and Overground Lines.

• Bakerloo Line – North-West – South-East through City Centre
• Central Line – West-East through City Centre
• District Line – West-East through City Centre
• East London Line – North-South to East of City Centre
• Gospel Oak to Barking Line – West – East to North of City Centre
• Hammersmith and City Line – West – East through City Centre
• Jubilee Line – North-East through City Centre
• Metropolitan Line – West – East through City Centre
• Northern Line – North-South through City Centre
• Northern City Line – North from the City Centre.
• North London Line – West – East to North of City Centre
• Piccadilly Line – North – West through City Centre
• Thameslink – North – South through City Centre
• Victoria Line – North-East – South-West through City Centre
•  Waterloo and City Line – South from the Centre Centre
• West London Line – North-South to West of City Centre

Crossrail is the big fat needle struck right through the middle.

You could actually argue that not just one big fat needle is through the middle, as Crossrail is paralleled by some of London’s historic Underground Lines.

• The Central Line connects at Stratford, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Ealing Broadway stations.
• The District Line connects at Whitechapel and Ealing Broadway stations.
• The Metropolitan Line connects at Whitechapel, Farringdon and Paddington stations.
• In the future, the North London Line will connect at Stratford and the new Old Oak Common station.

Crossrail is going to be a massive playground for the duckers-and-divers, as they search for the fastest route.

How London Crossrail Will Develop

London Crossrail is not a complete system, with certain connections not of the best.

• Eurostar from St. Psncras International
• HighSpeed services from Stratford International
• HS2
• Piccadilly Line
• Scottish and Northern services from Euston and Kings Cross
• Victoria Line

Several of these connections can be addressed by smaller projects like the necessary rebuilding of tube stations like Bank, Charing Cross, Euston and Oxford Circus.

A lot of London politicians are pushing for Crossrail 2 , but London will be given a big increase in capacity with Crossrail and I think there is an opportunity to redefine the scope of the later project, in the light of what happens after Crossrail opens.

Consider the following, which will happen after Crossrail opens.

• Huge pedestrianisation will happen in the City of London and the West End.
• Hopefully, walking in large parts of Central London will improve to the standard of the bus- and car-free Central Liverpool.
• On foot interchanges like Oxford Circus-Bond Street and Bank-Liverpool Street will be easier and quicker than now.
• The long-neglected and ill-fated Northern City Line is getting new trains, higher frequencies and hopefully a deep-clean of the stations.
• Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations will effectively become one station with world class connectivity.
• The Waterloo and City Line will be improved and probably go 24/7!
• Waterloo station will get a forty percent capacity increase this summer.
• The Northern Line Extension to Battersea will open in 2020.
• New trains will have been delivered for London Overground’s Liverpool Street and Gospel Oak to Barking services.

Londoners will fully exploit the network and importantly Transport for London will have detailed information from the ticketing system on the routes taken and the bottlenecks as they develop.

Access For All

Access for All is a National programme, that is making stations all over the country accessible to as many passengers as possible.

Check the list of stations being updated under Access For All

After the General Election, I would not be surprised to see funding for this programme increased all over the country, as it is both necessary and a quick way to attract more passengers to the railways.

New Stations

Since 2000, seventy-four new stations have opened or reopened.

I can rarely remember stations reopening last century, but the 4-5 new stations every year since the turn of the Millennium, seems to have continued this year with the opening of Cambridge North, Ilkeston and Low Moor

The New Franchises

Five franchises have been awarded lately.

• Greater Anglia
• Northern
• ScotRail
• South Western Trains
• TransPennine

A feature of all these franchises is that the operators are introducing a lot of new trains and substantially refurbishing others.

Will this trend continue?

Obviously, the operators have done their sums and find that new trains attract more passengers.

There is a major problem with new trains, in that capacity to build them must be getting very short. I also don’t think that Chinese trains will be welcomed.

If I was Prime Minister, I’d make sure there was enough capacity to build and refurbish trains in the United Kingdom.

Building Crossrail 2

There is no doubt that at some time in the future, Crossrail 2 will be built.

But unlike Crossrail, which is a massive project similar in size to the Channel Tunnel,, the electrification of the Great Western Railway or HS2, it is a collection of smaller projects that can be phased over the years, with each phase giving substantial benefits to London, train companies and passengers, be they Londoners, commuters, visitors or tourists.

I would build it in the following sequence of sub-projects.

1. Four-Tracking Of The West Anglia Main Line – Extra capacity on the West Anglia Main Line is needed for both improved London-Stansted-Cambridge services and Crossrail 2.
2. New High-Capacity Crossrail-Compatible Trains North of London – Greater Anglia and London Overground have already ordered these trains to replace the current thirty-year-old trains.
3. Station Improvements North of London – Improvement are much needed and are already planned and underway at Tottenham Hale and Meridian Water.
4. Improve Connection To Sub-Surface Lines At St. Pancras Station – The current connectivity is terrible between these lines and Thameslink and the HighSpeed lines to Kent.
5. Connect Euston Square Tube Station To Euston Station To Give Extra Capacity During Euston Rebuilding For HS2
6. Introduction Of A New Stratford-Tottenham Hale-Angel Road Service – The delivery date for STAR is 2019.
7. Introduction Of Chingford-Walthamstow-Stratford Services – This would improve access to Crossrail and take pressure from the Victoria Line.
8. New Stansted And Cambridge Services From Stratford – Greater Anglia have suggested this and there’s even an unused loop at Stratford, that could be used to turn trains and allow them to call at Stratford International for Eurostar to the Continent and HighSpeed services to Kent.
9. More Terminal Capacity for Trains From North of London – The Stratford loop would increase the terminal capacity for Greater Anglia and also give access to the Jubilee Line for London Bridge, Waterloo and Westminster.
10. Use Improved Capacity At Waterloo To Increase Services On Proposed Crossrail 2 Southern Branches – The extra capacity should help.
11. New High-Capacity Crossrail-Compatible Trains South of London – South Western Trains have indicated this will happen.
12. Station Improvements South of London – Improvements are much needed.
13. Rebuild Euston Tube Station In Cnjunction With HS2 –

Only when these phases are completed, would the central tunnel  be bored.

This step-by-step approach has several advantages.

• The pace of the project can be geared to the finance and resources available.
• Some developments can have a significant local design and scope input.
• Much needed stations can be built early to generate passengers and cash flow.
• Trains can be follow-on orders to Crossrail.
• The suburban sections of the route will always be available for passenger traffic.

When Crossrail 2 is complete, the second big fat knitting needle has been stuck in the ball of wool.

What Can The North Learn From London?

I would argue that one of the keys to London’s success over the years has been its comprehensive multi-layered public transport system.

• Crossrail, Crossrail 2, Thameslink and the Overground could be considered the top layer.
• The Underground, the Docklands Light Railway and the suburban electric trains are the middle layer.
• Buses form the local and bottom layer.

Underneath a walking and cycling layer is emerging.

The North of England can be considered a series of local transport networks, which are connected by a series of major lines, which are equivalent to London’s Crossrail, Crossrail 2 etc.

Northern Connect

I find it interesting that Northern are introducing a Northern Connect service, which Wikipedia describes as follows.

From December 2019, Northern will operate a network of twelve Northern Connect interurban express services. Eleven of these will be operated by brand-new Class 195 diesel multiple units and Class 331 electric multiple units, whilst the Middlesbrough to Carlisle via Newcastle route will be operated by refurbished Class 158 units.

Places that will be served by Northern Connect routes include Bradford, Chester, Halifax, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Newcastle, Preston, Sheffield, Barnsley, Lincoln, Wakefield and York.

Local Networks In The North

Some of the local Northern networks in places like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield are certainly better than others.

It could also be argued that the six cities I named, are among the most successful and vibrant cities of the North.

I feel that for the railways to be successful in the North and for some cities to have a major improvement in prosperity, that some of the local networks need substantial improvement.

TransPennine And Feeder Routes

The starting point is to detail the Northern Connect and TransPennine Express services in the North.

The Northern Connect services given in the January 2016 Edition of Modern Railways are as follows.

• Middlesbrough to Newcastle
• Newcastle to Carlisle
• Hull to Sheffield
• Nottingham to Bradford via Leeds
• Lincoln to Leeds via Sheffield and Barnsley
• Liverpool to Manchester Airport via Warrington
• Chester to Leeds via Warrington, Manchester Victoria and the Calder Valley
• Blackpool North to York via Preston and Leeds
• Barrow to Manchester Airport
• Bradford to Manchester Airport via the Calder Valley.
• Blackpool to Manchester Airport
• Windermere to Manchester Airport

I suspect plans have changed since January 2016, but the possible routes are a good start.

According to Wikipedia, TransPennine routes are as follows.

• Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle via Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Leeds and York
• Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough via Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield, Leeds and York
• Manchester Airport to York via Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield and Leeds
• Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough via Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds and York
• Manchester Piccadilly to Hull via Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds and Selby
• Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Meadowhall and Doncaster
• Manchester Airport to Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central via Manchester Piccadilly

These routes will change in the next year, when the Ordsall Chord opens.

The opening of the chord, may mean that certain services to Manchester Airport, will not need to reverse at Manchester Piccadilly.

Summarising the East-West routes across the Pennines gives.

• Newcastle to Carlisle
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via the Calder Valley Line
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Huddersfield
• Blackpool North to Leeds via Preston and the Calder Valley Line
• Manchester Piccadilly to Doncaster via the Hope Valley Line and Sheffield

None of these lines are fully electrified.

They are also connected to their ultimate destinations by feeder lines.

• Liverpool to Manchester Airport via Warrington
• Chester to Manchester Victoria via Warrington
• Liverpool to Manchester Victoria
• Leeds to Newcastle via York
• York to Middlesbrough
• York to Scarborough
• Leeds to Hull

Only the following lines will be fully electrified by December 2017.

• Liverpool to Manchester Victoria
• The West Coast Main Line
• The East Coast Main Line
• Some Suburban Routes in Blackpool, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston
• Some Suburban Routes in Bradford and Leeds

Most of the routes will have to be run by diesel or bi-mode trains.

The Crossrails For The North

There are five East-West routes across the Pennines used by Northern Connect and TransPennine Express.

• Newcastle to Carlisle
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via the Calder Valley Line
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Huddersfield
• Blackpool North to Leeds via Preston and the Calder Valley Line
• Manchester Piccadilly to Doncaster via the Hope Valley Line and Sheffield

To these I would add two extra lines.

• Leeds to Carlisle via Settle
• Preston to Leeds via Burnley, Colne and Skipton.

Note

1. I have added the Settle-Carlisle Line, as it is world-renowned, is in excellent condition and if provided with a decent train service, could be a major attraction, that would bring tourists to the area.
2. The Skipton to Colne Line should be reinstated, to create a direct connection between the electrified local networks servingLeeds/Bradford and Liverpool/Manchester/Preston.

But there would be seven magnificent routes across the Pennines, which could be updated to the following objectives.

• Frequent trains on all lines with at least two trains per hour (tph)
• 100 mph running where possible.
• As high a frequency as possible on the core section between Manchester Victoria and Leeds. Plans exist for six tph, which is a good start.
• In the East trains would fan out to Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Hull, Newcastle and Scarborough, as they do now.
• In the West trains would fan out to Blackpool, Chester, Crewe and Liverpool.
• Lots of cross-platform connections at stations like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester Victoria, Newcastle, Preston and York with long distance North-South services to London and the South and Scotland.
• All stations would be step-free with lifts or ramps.

In addition provision should be made early to make sure that there are good connections to HS2.

Electrification

Obviously, electrification would be an ultimate goal on all these East-West routes.

But there are various problems with the electrification of the Peenine sections of the routes.

• These lines have large numbers of low bridges and high viaducts.
• Electrification would need to be robust because of the weather.
• Electrification gantries might not fit well in the scenery.
• Installation and servicing of overhead electrification may not be an easy process.

On the other hand, the noise of diesel trains might not be welcomed.

However, I believe that in the next ten years much quieter self-powered trains will be commonplace.

At the present time, if diesel or bi-mode trains are acceptable, then they should be used to provide a service.

Looking at the various feeder routes to the East and West of the Pennine sections, it is a different matter.

• Routes are less challenging.
• There are fewer bridges and viaducts.
• Installation and servicing of overhead electrification would be easier.

There is already a lot of electrification at the East and West, which could be extended to places like Chester, Hull and Middlesbrough.

A Pennine core without difficult electrification, between electrified feeder routes may be the most efficient way to run the routes using bi-mode trains.

It might be sensible to use Class 88 bi-mode locomotives instead of the currently proposed Class 68 locomotives with rakes of coaches, as is planned by TransPennine Express.

A Hull to Liverpool service would run under the following power.

• Hull to Bradford via Leeds – Electricity
• Bradford to Stalybridge- Diesel
• Stalybridge to Liverpool via Manchester Victoria – Electricity.

Around thirty miles would be on diesel and the difficult electrification in the Pennines would be avoided.

Infrastructure

This table is a brief summary of the routes.

• Newcastle to Carlisle – Double track, 18 stations
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via the Calder Valley Line – Double track – 17 stations
• Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Huddersfield – Double track – 14 stations
• Blackpool North to Leeds via Preston and the Calder Valley Line – Double track – 14 stations
• Manchester Piccadilly to Doncaster via the Hope Valley Line and Sheffield – Double track – 18 stations
• Leeds to Carlisle via Settle – Double track – 10 stations
• Preston to Leeds via Burnley, Colne and Skipton – Part Single track

Note.

1. Most routes are double track, which aids train scheduling.
2. All except Skipton to Colne seem to be in good condition.
3. I can’t find much information about speed limits.

I think it is true to say, that none of the routes could be a high speed line, although a large proportion could have substantial speed increases.

From what I have seen in East Anglia, I suspect most routes could be upgraded to 100 mph, which with the train frequencies of say four tph could give a substantial increase in service quality.

Stations

Many of the secondary stations on these routes are not blessed with facilities like ticket machines, lifts and step-free access.

If I compare, what I see on the web, with what I have experienced in East Anglia, the quality of the smaller stations is not good.

Services

The services along the lines are not of a high frequency or of a high speed, but Northern and TransPennine Express intend to increase frequencies and speed.

The new trains with their faster stops will help.

This is said about the Future Services of TransPennine Express on Wikipedia.

A twice-hourly service between Manchester and Newcastle will be phased in between December 2016 and December 2017, made up of the existing service from Liverpool and a reinstated service from Manchester Airport. Trains between Liverpool and Newcastle will be extended to Edinburgh via the East Coast Main Line, giving a twice-hourly service between Leeds and Edinburgh together with an hourly CrossCountry service. Trains between Liverpool and Scarborough will be rerouted via Manchester Victoria and Newton-le-Willows to provide a half-hourly fast service between Liverpool and Manchester. It is also planned to operate a six train per hour frequency between Manchester and Leeds, up from five today.

I can’t find anything about timings.

A High Speed Line

Building a new high speed line will be difficult, expensive and may take years, as there will probably be a need for a costly tunnel through solid rock between Manchester and Leeds.

So a prudent Project Management strategy could be phased in the same way I proposed for London’s Crossrail 2.

• Increase Line Speed – This would probably give the largest benefit, as it would enable more and faster trains.
• Electrify From Leeds To York – This would enable TransPennine’s Class 802 trains between Liverpool/Manchester Airport and Newcastle/Edinburgh to run more efficiently.
• Electrify From Liverpool To Manchester Airport Via Warrington – This would tidy up electrification between Liverpool and Manchester.
• Electrify To Chester From Crewe and Warrington – This would link North Wales to the TransPennine routes.
• Electrify From Leeds To Hull – This would be a comparatively easy electrification.
• Create The Skipton To Colne Link – This would link the two Norhern suburban electric networks and become a valuable transport asset for both local residents and visitors.
• Improve Stations – Better facilities and atep-free access is desperately needed. Especially at secondary stations.
• Improve Local Networks In Selected Cities – Some are much better than others.
• Increase Train Frequencies – Run at least two tph on all routes.

Hopefully, a decent service can be provided, until a new high speed route can be built.

One great advantage that this project has compared say to the electrification of the Great Western Railway, is that because there are several current routes, if one needs to be closed for a short time, there is a suitable alternative.

May 21, 2017 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Calder Valley Line, Hope Valley Line, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Northern Rail, Skipton To Colne, Trains, TransPennine Express | Leave a comment