Reinstatement Of The Bury-Heywood-Rochdale Lines
This is one of the successful bids in the First Round of the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
This article on Rochdale OnLine is entitled Successful First Step To Restore Rochdale-Heywood-Bury Railway Line.
The work can now begin to fill out what is possible, with the award of funding from the Government to go towards a full study.
The funding was welcomed by Tony Lloyd, the MP for Rochdale, who is quoted as saying this.
Metrolink services and the rail service from Rochdale to Manchester provide transport to the city centre, but it does not provide the kind of connections we need to get around the city region, in particular, from Rochdale and Heywood to Bury.
“The current public transport offering between Heywood and Manchester city centre is provided by bus services but during the busiest times of the day this journey can take more than one hour, limiting the borough’s residents’ access to the many jobs located there.
What will the new rail link look like?
In Rossendale Reopening Prospect, I gave my views, based on an article in the February 2019 Edition of Modern Railways, which had the same title.
Summarising the other article, I can say the following.
The Track
I described the track like this.
The plan envisages reinstating the route between Rawtenstall and Castleton Junction on the Calder Valley Line.
The section between Rawtenstall and Heywood stations, via Bury Bolton Street station is the heritage line of the East Lancashire Railway (ELR). It is best described as predominately single-track with passing loops.
The route is about twelve miles long.
The Services
These are given as follows.
- Manchester Victoria and Bury Bolton Street
- Bury Bolton Street and Rochdale
- Bury Bolton Street and Rawtenstall – Peak Hour shuttle.
It is suggested that the third route would be run by the ELR.
The Stations
The following stations will be on the route.
Most will need updating, but Heywood would probably be a new station.
The Trains
The original article suggests Class 230 trains, but several others are possible. The proposed battery-electric Class 331 train is surely a possibility.
Conclusion
This could be a very sensible scheme.
Rochdale Still Doesn’t Have A Direct Link To Manchester Airport
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Richdale Online.
I recently went to Rochdale to see Ipswich play and what surprised me about the town, was how far it was from my hotel close to Manchester Victoria station.
I went on a tram and it took over an hour and it was also very crowded.
I then walked about a mile to the football ground. Luckily a friendly Rochdale supporter showed me the way.
But is Rochdale’s link to Manchester Airport, any worse than say Walthamstow’s link to Heathrow or Gatwick.
- Rochdale Town Centre to Manchester Airport by train – 1:05
- Rochdale Town Centre to Manchester Airport by tram – 2:02
- Rochdale Station to Manchester Airport by train – 0,:55
- Rochdale to Manchester Airport by taxi- 0:27
- Walthamstow Central to Heathrow Airport by Underground and Heathrow Express – 1:05
- Walthamstow Central to Heathrow Airport by Underground – 1:27
- Walthamstow to Heathrow Airport by taxi – 1:27
- Walthamstow Central to Gatwick Airport by train – 1:22
Note.
- All journeys, except the taxis, need at least one change.
- My lawyer son lives in Walthamstow and always flies from Heathrow.
- He gets there by Underground, with one cross-platform change at Finsbury Park.
- Crossrail won’t help the man on the Walthamstow Underground.
- In Manchester the taxi is quicker, but it isn’t in London.
These are my thoughts.
Mancunians Are More Impatient
Not my view, but the view of a Northern station guy, who has worked on Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly and busy stations on the London Overground.
He thought that they were sometimes in such a hurry to get on a train, that the train is delayed.
He also said, if you ask Londoners to stand behind the yellow line, they do. Mancunians don’t!
Access To Northern And TransPennine Trains Is Bad
Consider.
- There is often a step up into the train in Manchester.
- Manchester Metrolink is generally step-free into the tram.
- Parts of London Underground/Overground are step-free.
- The new TransPennine trains have pathetic and slow end-door access.
The two train companies have bought fleets of trains that are not fit for purpose.
The Manchester Airport Rail Link Is At Full Capacity
Manchester Airport station, does not have the best rail line from the City Centre.
Wikipedia says this.
Any future additional services to the Airport are in doubt without further infrastructure works; unresolved issues surround the lack of new ‘through’ platforms at Manchester Piccadilly which have been shelved by the government and the Styal Line to Manchester Airport operating at full capacity with little resilience to absorb delays.
The Rochdale Online article blames the stations in Manchester, but the Styal Line is equally to blame.
The Long Term Solution Is High Speed Two
In the 2030s, High Speed Two will solve the problem by using a tunnel between Manchester Airport and the City Centre.
It will also do the following.
- Provide direct access between Manchester Airport and the Midlands, the South and London.
- Provide direct access to Liverpool and Warrington in the West.
- Provide direct access to Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds, Hull and the North East, in the East.
- All services will probably be at least five trains per hour (tph).
But High Speed Two won’t provide a direct link to Richdale.
Passengers between Rochdale and Manchester Airport will still have to change in the City Centre.
Unless of course, some TransPennine services to Manchester Airport are discontinued, as they can be done by High Speed Two.
This would free up paths to add extra services to Manchester Airport.
An Interim Solution
Not only Rochdale, but other towns and cities across the North like Bradford moan about lack of a direct service to and from Manchester Airport.
So what would I do?
Ban Freight Trains Through The Castlefield Corridor
This may not be possible, but it should be a long term objective.
It will cost money, but it would release capacity through the Castlefield Corridor.
Ban Trains Without Level Access At Stations In The Castlefield Corridor
I know that Northern and TransPennine have just bought a load of new trains, but they make matters worse in the stations through the Castlefield Corridor.
All Trains To The Airport Must Be Eight Cars
This makes sense as it increases the capacity, but use the same number of paths.
- Eight-car Class 379 trains – Stansted Express – 160 metres and 418 passengers
- Five-car Class 802 trains – TransPennine Express – 130 metres and 342 passengers
- Eight-car Class 331 trains – Northern – 190 metres and 568 passengers
It does appear that the new trains are also setting new standards for train length.
ERTMS Signalling Should Be Installed Between Manchester Victoria And Manchester Airport
ERTMS signalling would give more flexibility on the route.
Create A Manchester Airport Express
This has been suggested and would have the following characteristics.
- Running between Manchester Airport and Manchester Victoria via Deansgate, Manchester Oxford Road and Manchester Piccadilly.
- Eight cars
- Airport-style interiors
- Step-free access at all stations.
- Four tph
- Running twenty-four hours a day.
- It would have step-free access to the Metrolink at Manchester Victoria, Deansgate and Manchester Piccadilly.
Ideally it would use dedicated platforms at Manchester Airport and Manchester Victoria. The platform at Victoria would hopefully have cross-platform interchange with services going through the station from East to West.
Reduce TransPennine Services To The Airport
TransPennine Express runs the following hourly services to the Airport
- Cleethorpes via a reverse at Manchester Piccadilly.
- Edinburgh or Glasgow via the Castlefield Corridor
- Middlesborough via the Castlefield Corridor
- Newcastle via the Castlefield Corridor
Why not cut-back either the Newcastle or Middlesborough service to Manchester Victoria and make sure it has good cross-platform access to the Manchester Airport Express?
These services are regularly cut-back anyway due to the congestion.
Demolish Manchester Oxford Road Station And Build A Station That’s Fit For Purpose
Manchester Oxford Road is one of ultimate design crimes on the UK Rail network.
- The new or refurbished station would be step-free.
- Platforms would be able to accept two hundred metre long trains.
- A well-designed bay platform would be provided to turn trains from the North efficiently.
- Up to four tph could probably be turned back.
Network Rail do station and track layout design generally very well and I’m sure that a redesigned Oxford Road station could improve capacity through the Castlefield Corridor.
Improve Deansgate And Manchester Piccadilly Stations
If longer trains are to be run through the Castlefield Corridor, then the platforms at these two stations will need lengthening and passenger access will need to be improved.
Is There A Place For Tram-Trains?
Manchester are keen on using tram-trains to improve the Metrolink network.
This map clipped from Wikipedia shows the layout of the Metrolink in the City Centre.
Note.
- Manchester Piccadilly, Deansgate and Manchester Victoria all have step-free connections to the trains to and from Manchester Airport.
- The new Trafford Line will branch off at Pomona.
I think it is likely, that any new lines run by tram-trains will pass through at least one of the connecting stations.
This will increase the list of places that will have good access with a single change to and from Manchester Airport.
Conclusion
There would appear to be a lot of scope to create a high-capacity link between Manchester and the Airport.
But it does appear that the current timetable leaves little or no room to expand the service.
That is why, I believe a simpler but higher capacity service, based on a Manchester Airport Express could be developed.
Football At Rochdale
My trip to the North was partly to see Ipswich play at Rochdale, which is a ground, that at which I’d not seen a match before.
I had been to the ground before, as when I went to all the ninety-two clubs in the Premier and Football Leagues in alphabetical order by public transport, I visited on a very hectic day 31, which is described in 92 Clubs – Day 31 – Rochdale, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday.
On this visit, I took the Metrolink to Rochdale from outside the Arndale Centre and then it was a walk of thirty minutes, with the last section up a steep hill.
I did have a guide in a friendly Rochdale supporter.
This Google Map shows the route.
The football ground is in the North-East corner and the red the red arrow indicates Rochdale Interchange, where the tram terminates.
- My companion said there used to be a special football bus, but now there is just an occasional regular service.
- I estimate the distance was about a kilometre and a half.
Going back, a very kind Ipswich supporter and his brother gave me a lift to the tram, which was much more a personal taxi, than mass transit.
It was a good night for the six hundred or so Ipswich fans, as Ipswich won by the ony goal and went back to the top of the League.
Conclusion
Most people seem to have driven to the ground and parked in the surrounding streets. As did my lift!
In London, supporters would be more likely to go to any sporting event on public transport, as it is more frequent and parking doesn’t exist.
As population gets more dense in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, public transport will have to get more comprehensive to serve new housing, as the roads will not be able to cope.
I should say, except for getting there, it was a good stadium to visit and the Away seats were some of the best, I’d used in a smaller ground.
This Backlash Just Had to Happen
Last night in Rochdale, various factions attacked the takeaway and the police, that used to be owned by some of those on trial for sex offences in Liverpool Crown court.
And people wonder why Rochdale has such an awful run-down town centre.
With all the goings on there, would you let any of your children go near the place? And would you go there yourself, if there were a decent alternative nearby? Of course, you wouldn’t!
It strikes me before you try to build up the town centre, you must give it a steam clean first, to remove all the low life of whatever race they are to a place, where they can’t do any more damage.
Rochdale
To illustrate how bad some of our town centres have become, BBC Breakfast is looking at Rochdale, where 1 in 6 of the shops are empty, today.
Surely the problems of Rochdale are going to get worse in the next couple of years, when they open the Metrolink to Manchester.
As it opens in Summer 2012, it looks like some of the rats have left before the ship sinks, making the problems worse. Dorothy Perkins, Mcdonalds and The Body Shop were named in the program.
It looks a classic case of planning a city bit-by-bit in isolation. The new Metrolink will bring people into the centre for their shopping. But it seems, they haven’t thought about Rochdale.
On my travels I did go to Eccles and that town surprised me. So what have they done right in Eccles and wrong in Rochdale?
The Anonymous Widower 