Capacity Crunch At Chester
This is the title of an article by Rhodri Clark in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which discusses the various rail issues that will be tackled around the City of Chester.
This is the sub-title to the article.
Pressure is mounting for rail infrastructure and service enhancements to alleviate road congestion in the thriving Mersey Dee region.
The Modern Railways article discusses the following.
Each is discussed in separate posts.
A Little Chord Goes A Long Way
This article in Rail Magazine is entitled Halton Curve Gets The Green Light.
I wrote about the Halton Curve in Could Tram-Trains Be Used To Advantage In Liverpool? I said this in a section entitled Upgrading The Halton Curve
Funds have been made available to upgrade the Halton Curve, so that trains can reach Chester from Liverpool South Parkway via Runcorn.
The Halton Curve
The two blue squares indicate the two ends of the current single-track curve. The top one is where the curve leaves the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line south of Runcorn station and the bottom one is where it joins the Chester to Manchester Line east of Frodsham.
The main reason for doing this would be to allow trains from Chester and North Wales better access to Liverpool Lime Street and South Parkway stations, and the John Lennon Airport.
As the Tier Two and Three electrification plans for the North as they effect Merseyside, includes full electrification of the lines around Chester, this would mean that an upgraded curve would be electrified.
There are probably good reasons to add an extra track to the curve, which would make it possible for Chester to be a new southern destination of the Northern Line.
The Rail Magazine article says this.
The Liverpool City Combined Authority has approved a range of projects aimed at improving travel across Merseyside, including reinstatement of the Halton Curve.
Also endorsed by the Welsh Government and by Cheshire West and Chester Council, bringing the line back into full use will entail an hourly direct service between Liverpool and Chester, and the extension of some services into Wales.
So just as the Todmorden Curve helped with the rail system around Burnley and the Ipswich Chord helped in Suffolk, will the Halton Curve help to develop the railways on Merseyside?
What is interesting about this decision, is that this appears to be a Liverpool decision, not one from Central Government.
Should more infrastructure decisions be devolved?
I think it’s very much a big yes!
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The Anonymous Widower 