A Station At Leicester Forest East
Leicester Forest East is known to most, as a services on the M1, but as this Google Map shows, it is more than that.
Note the Park-and-Ride site at Meynell’s Gorse.
The Leicester and Burton-on-Trent Line runs past the North of the site.
Two Options For East Leeds Parkway Station
The proposed East Leeds Parkway station is a little bit more than your average parkway station.
The Wikipedia entry starts like this.
It will be served by trains from the west of Leeds which would normally terminate at Leeds station; by continuing eastwards to this station, it is hoped that extra capacity for through trains would be created at Leeds. The station would also form the first phase of electrifying the railway line to the east of Leeds. As a parkway station, the intention would be to allow for a park-and-ride service and the plans include parking for 500 cars.
It also adds these points about the station.
- The station will be on the Selby Line.
- It will have two long platforms for Inter City trains and a bay platform for terminating services.
- Proposed Ilkley/Bradford to London services could stop at the station.
- Most importantly, the Local Authorities seem to be prepared to back the station with funds.
Wikipedia also says there are two possible locations for the station.
This Google Map shows East Leeds.
Note the string of stations on the Selby Line running from West to East.
The original location was to put the parkway station at Micklefield, which is in the East, where the line crosses the A1M close to Micklefield station.
Newer plans suggest that the station should be in the region of Thorpe Park, which is close to the major interchange, to the west of where the Selby Line crosses the M1.
I suspect both locations have their merits, but that the Thorpe Park location may have a lot more space and a convenient brownfield site, as this Google Map shows.
The Selby Line runs from West to East at the top of the map.
The site is cetainly well-served by the roads in the area.
A Station For Leeds/Bradford Airport
When I wrote The Glasgow Airport Rail Link Will Be A Tram-Train, I put in a section about the rail link to Leeds/Bradford Airport.
I had just read this article on the BBC is entitled Leeds Bradford Airport railway station one of three planned.
This is said.
The proposed new station about one mile (1.6km) from the airport would also act as a park and ride for commuters to Leeds and Harrogate.
I wonder if the trains at Leeds/Bradford Airport will go the last mile?
Even if the link is not electrified, why can’t we imitate the train/trams in Zwickau, that I wrote about in Riding The Vogtlandbahn.
A diesel multiple unit like a Class 172 train, refurbished for Airport and Park-and-Ride duties could leave the Harrogate Line at the Park-and-Ride and then proceed under tram rules on a dedicated track to a tram-like station at the Airport.
The needed infrastructure would be simple, with no electrification and stations built like the simple affairs on the London Tramlink, with no bridges.
Why not?
Obviously, the ideal solution would be to electrify the Harrogate Line and have trains run into the airport using onboard energy storage.
My only worry about the concept is that of an Airport Link doubling as a Park-and-Ride.
It would need careful capacity planning and be designed so that more frequent and longer trains could be accommodated if the need for more capacity arose.
After all, we don’t know if Yorkshire will vote to exit England!
A Nation Of Shopkeepers
The phrase a nation of shopkeepers, has often been said about the British or the English in a derogatory manner by the French and others.
The Fort Kinnaird Retail Park in Edinburgh is according to Wikipedia, the second largest in the UK.
This Google Map shows the layout of Fort Kinnaird.
Note the two Borders Railway stations of Brunstane and Newcraighall to the East of the Park, where lines lead to to Waverley station and the Borders .respectively.
But there are other railways in the area.
- The East Coast Main Line runs North-South, just off the map to the East.
- Leading away to the West is the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway, which is now a freight-only link across the city.
- Links exist between the East Coast Main Line and the Junction Railway.
So it could be said that a lot of trains pass Fort Kinnaird.
Plans are in development to open up the Junction Railway to either heavy rail or trams.
Surely, it would be sensible if there were a station at Ford Kinnaird to tie it all together.
If I’m right, the Scots are surely a nation of rail-connected shopkeepers.
Looking For Holmes Chapel Road Station
In my list of stations, there is a Holmes Chapel Road station, which try as I could, I couldn’t find.
In the UK, there are two types of enthusiastic amateurs, who get involved with trains.
The first group are those, who want to drive, repair, rebuild and clean old engines and other rolling stock. Now I’m not against looking and riding behind old steam engines, but getting my hands dirty is not for me anymore. If it ever was!
The second group are in some ways the more interesting and are epitomised by those, who fought for the rebuilding of the Borders Railway, where through their efforts, cynical politicians and civil servants were convinced to rebuild a railway from Edinburgh to the Borders, that has been to the benefit of residents, visitors and business between Edinburgh and the Borders.
Another campaigning group is the Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association, which I discovered by finding their web site by accident.
One of their ambitions is to reopen The Sandbach – Middlewich – Northwich Railway Line. this page on their web site explains their aims.
The re-opening of this railway line to passenger traffic and construction of a new station has been a long-standing ambition of Middlewich residents, Middlewich Town Council, the Mid Cheshire Rail Link Campaign and the Mid Cheshire Rail Users’ Association.
Middlewich (population 13,600) is the largest town in Cheshire without a railway station. More than 50% of the working population of the town commute out of Middlewich by car and the majority of these work in Greater Manchester.
Back in November 2008 the Middlewich Railway Steering Group engaged The Railway Consultancy to investigate the costs and benefits of reopening the line to passengers along with the building of a new station in Middlewich. The recently published report findings show that the industry threshold required to take the project further have been achieved.
My elusive station is actually Middlewich station.
This Google Map shows, what I take to be the site of the station, which was closed in 1960.
Note that the station is on Holmes Chapel Road.
There’s more about the project under Proposed Services in the Wikipedia entry for the Mid-Cheshire Line.
I wish the group lots of luck in getting their dreams fulfilled.
Tarbock Island Or Halewood South Station?
This document on the Merseytravel web site is their plan of what they would like to do in the future and when it talks about new stations on the Lines between Liverpool and Manchester, it always talks about a station at Tarbock Island or Halewood South.
I suspect the main purpose is to create a Parkway station, soi that cars and their passengewrs can come into the City using the rail system rather than their vehicles.
Tarbock Island Station
This Google Map shows the are around Tarbock Island, where the M62 Motorway from the East meets the Liverpool Orbital Motorway; the M57.
The Liverpool to Mainchester Railway is across the top of the map, with stations from West to East aqs follows.
There used to be a fourth station in the area. Huyton Quarry station which was possibly on a loop from the main line.
Looking at the map, it will be a difficult exercise to find space for a station to connect to the centre of Liverpool.
Halewood South Station
This Google Map shows the area around the bottom of the Knowsley Expressway.
There are two East-West rail lines and the A 562 from the Silver Jubilee Bridge over the Mersey.
Bridges Across The Mersey
This area is going to get very busy with road traffic, when the Mersey Gateway opens in late 2017.
But that bridge is going to have a toll, as will the existing crossing.
The issues surrounding the tolls are discussed in this article on the BBC, which was written before the 2015 General Election.
Conclusions
So would a Halewood South station be a good idea?
There are just so many issues.
And which of the two stations will be built?
Merseyrail has an interesting problem!
A Station At Hadley
Hadley is a possible station in Telford.
This Google Map shows the area around Hadley.
There are two railway lines in the area, both of which had Hadley stations in the past.
- The Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury Line goes across the map from Wellington station in the West to Oakengates station in the East. New Hadley Halt station was on this line.
- There is also a short single-track line on the route of the Stafford to Shrewsbury Line, that leads in a North-Easterly direction to the Telford International Railfreight Park. Hadley station was on this line.
As the single-track line doesn’t go past the Railfreight Park, it would appear that the new station will be built on the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury Line.
Ironically, New Hadley Halt shation closed the day after Telford Central station opened.
British Rail didn’t seem to have the word future-proofing in their vocabulary.
Stations Between Mossley Hill And Edge Hill In Liverpool
Greenbank Park and Wavertree have been named as possible station on this route.
I can’t find any reference to a new station at Greenbank Park on the Internet.
This document on the Merseytravel web site is their plan of what they would like to do and it has no mention.
Wavertree station did exist until the 1950s.
At University, I visited the area a lot and even lived in a Hall of Residence by Greenbank Park. I also proposed to C, close to the Park.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note the four-track railway passing to the East of the area, which is actually crossed by the iconic Penny Lane.
- Two fast lines take expresses to and from Liverpool Lime Street.
- Two slow lines handle the slower trains.
- Trains generally stop on the fast lines at Mossley Hill and West Allerton stations.
- There are no stations between Mossley Hill and Edge Hill.
It looks to me, that it is not an efficient way to run a railway and Merseyrail’s preferred four trains an hour (tph) frequency would be impossible.
This diagram from Wikipedia, shows the lines in the area.
Note how between Mossley Hill and Edge Hill stations, there used to be Sefton Park and Wavertree stations.
- As Greenbank Park and Wavertree stations have been named as possible stations, it would only be recreating the same philosophy as when the line was built.
- I suspect that no station would be created at Penny Lane, as it would attract too many tourists. But Greenmbank Park would be a short walk.
- Surely, the local trains would run on the slow lines, to avoid delaying the expresses.
- Services on the fast lines would only stop at Edge Hill and Liverpool South Parkway.
- Four tph would certainly be possible with Merseyrail’s new trains between Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway.
- Services might even be able to access Liverpool Airport running as trams, as I believe they can.
Edge Hill station has never been fully developed for passenger services.
- There are tunnels from the station to stations at Liverpool Riverside and Crown Street.
- Crown Street station might be reopened to serve the flagship development at Paddington Village.
- Proposals exist for a station at Kings Dock linked to Edge Hill via the Wapping Tunnel.
- Trains can access the Canada Dock Branch from the station.
- The station has connections to Manchester, Preston, Warrington and Wigan.
Could Edge Hill be developed as a satellite station for Lime Street, just as Stratford is for Liverpool Street in London?
A Station At Great Cornard
I can’t find anything about a possible station at the village of Great Cornard.
This is a Google Map of the area.
Note Sudbury station at the top of the map from where the Gainsborough Line turns South along the course of the River Stour towards Bures and Marks Tey.
A single-platform station at Great Cornard would seem to be a feasible proposition from an engineering point of view.
It could provide a valuable commuter and leisure route to Colchester and London, especially, if as I suspect Greater Anglia will run trains between Sudbury and Colchester Town via Marks Tey and Colchester.
The train company are probably analysing various scenarios concerning a new station at Great Cornard.
A Station At Doncaster Sheffield Airport
This article on the Doncaster Free Press is entitled Plans for £150m train station for Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
To say the plans put forward by the Peel Group, who are the owners of Doncaster Sheffield Airport are ambitious would be an understatement, but they do seem sound.
The plan would see the East Coast Main Line diverted closer to the Airport, where a station would be provide. Kings Cross would be within 90 minutes.
This Google Map shows Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Note that the East Coast Main Line crosses the map starting in the North-West corner and then going through the village of Rossington and past the Northern Racing College.
I suspect that the Airport have done their homework and that the plan is well-thought out and feasible.
- It would create a well-connected Airport for everybody between Stevenage and Newcastle.
- The East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and Retford has a lot of double-track. A loop must give scope for separating freight and slow traffic from high speed trains.
- With modern trains like the Class 801 trains, a stop at the Airport will not slow services like a stop of an InterCity 125 would.
- As in the future, we’re looking at up to four trains per hour between London and Newcastle, surely, a high speed line through Doncaster without any other traffic would be an advantage.
In some ways, the fact that all this is possible, is down to the foresight of the Victorian engineers of the Great Northern Railway, who designed a route for high speed.
It should also be stated that Doncaster Sheffield Airport has air cargo ambitions.
Consider.
- It has a massive runway, that was able to accept the Space Shuttle in an emergency.
- The airport has lots of space for cargo terminals.
- The largest cargo planes, that exist only in the minds of Airbus and Boeing engineers would be welcome.
- The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, which is a major freight route between the South East and the North passes the airport.
- Plans exist to create a network of high speed package carrying trains. I’d use Doncaster Shjeffield Airport as a hub.
- Amazon already fly freight to and from the Airport. Deliveries could leave the United States in the evening and be in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester for a morning delivery.
It looks like the Peel Group have a plan to create a transport interchange for both passengers and freight for a cost of millions, not billions. But it were to be worth spending billions, I’m certain that they can obtain it.
The Anonymous Widower 