Observing Trains At Stafford Station
I’m fairly certain, that I’ve only been to Stafford once in my life, in the past. That would be in 1968, when I went to English Electric in the town, when I was looking for a job on leaving Liverpool University.
In the end, my first job on leaving was at ICI in Runcorn.
As Stafford station, is on the West Coast Main Line, I’ve been through the station many times, on my way to Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Scotland and other places in the North West of England.
I travelled North to Stafford in one of London Northwestern’s Class 350 trains, which definitely had ironing board seats. Some of these trains are being replaced with new Class 730 trains.
Stafford Station
This OpenRailwayMap shows the layout of platforms at the station.
Note.
- Platforms are numbered starting with Platform 1 in the East.
- There are five through tracks for passenger trains and a double-track goods loop.
- All tracks are electrified and bi-directional.
- The platforms are three hundred metres long, but I feel they could be lengthened to take the 400 metre long High Speed Two trains.
- The platforms are certainly long enough for pairs of 200 metre long High Speed Two trains, to split and join at the station.
These pictures show Stafford station.
Note.
- The station was built of concrete in the early 1960s.
- It has a unique feature, in that there is a waiting area above the tracks, so kids of all ages can watch the trains speed through.
- It has been improved several times in recent years.
- It is step-free with several lifts.
I feel, the station could be converted into a major High Speed Two hub station.
High Speed Two Services
This graphic shows High Speed Two services after Phase 2b is completed.
Note.
- Everything to the right of the vertical black line has now been cancelled
- Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
- Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
- Each of these trains will have a frequency of one train per hour (tph).
These High Speed Two trains pass through Stafford.
- London and Lancaster/Liverpool Lime Street – Split/Join at Crewe
- London and Crewe/Runcorn/Liverpool Lime Street
- London and Stafford/Stoke-on-Trent/Macclesfield
- London and Manchester Airport/Piccadilly
- London and Manchester Airport/Piccadilly
- London and Manchester Airport/Piccadilly
- London and Edinburgh/Glasgow – Split/Join at Carlisle
- London and Edinburgh/Glasgow – Split/Join at Carlisle
- Birmingham and Edinburgh/Glasgow
- Birmingham and Manchester Airport/Piccadilly
- Birmingham and Manchester Airport/Piccadilly
In addition space will need to be found for these other services.
- Avanti – London and Chester/North Wales
- Avanti – London and Blackpool
- Freight – London and Liverpool/Manchester and Scotland
That gives a total of at least fourteen tph through Stafford station or one every 257 seconds.
Between Stafford and Crewe, with the completion of the flyover at Norton Bridge, there is effectively four tracks all the way, so this should give enough capacity to allow fourteen tph between Stafford and Crewe.
Between Stafford and Handsacre junction, where High Speed Two will join the Trent Valley Line about half the route is four-track with the rest being just two-track.
Will the two-track section be able to handle fourteen tph? I suspect it will, especially, as it is sandwiched between two four-track sections.
These are my thoughts about making the most of capacity through Stafford station.
Could Pairs Of High Speed Two Trains, Split And Join At Stafford?
Stafford station has 300 metre long platforms and pairs of High Speed Two Trains are 400 metres long.
Looking at maps and pictures of Stafford station, I suspect that lengthening the platforms at Stafford would be possible.
In the provisional High Speed Two service diagram, that I displayed earlier, these are two services.
- London and Crewe/Runcorn/Liverpool Lime Street
- London and Stafford/Stoke-on-Trent/Macclesfield
These could be run as a pair of trains between London and Stafford.
One advantage of running the two services as a pair, is that it would reduce the number of trains between Stafford and Handsacre junction by one, which might help the scheduling of trains through the double-track section, of the Trent Valley Line.
Fitting In The London and Chester/North Wales Services
Consider.
- These important services will soon be run by five-car Class 805 trains.
- The trains are diesel-electric.
- A pair would be 260 m long.
- There are ten trains per day (tpd) on the route.
The service has a few problems.
- It takes up a path between Crewe and Handsacre junction via Stafford, where train paths are at a premium.
- It is not zero-carbon.
- If London and Holyhead times were reduced, it would probably attract more passengers to the route.
As there are plenty of spare paths on High Speed Two, due to the cancellation of the Eastern leg, the easiest way to speed up the service would be to use High Speed Two between Handsacre junction and London.
200 metre long High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains could be used, but this would need one of the following.
Electrification between Crewe and Holyhead. Although this was promised by the last government, I suspect the antis will stop it.
Partial electrification between Crewe and Holyhead. As Crewe and Holyhead is only 105.5 miles, I suspect a creditable scheme to use battery-electric trains could be developed. These trains could be useful in opening up High Speed Two to other destinations.
Could Other Services Piggy-Back On London and Chester/North Wales Services?
The London and Chester/North Wales services would all be run by 200 metre long High Speed Two trains.
There would be no reason, why on the London end of the journey, they could be paired with another High Speed Two train to and from another destination.
- They could split and join with a Blackpool service at Crewe.
- They could split and join with a Barrow service at Crewe.
- They could split and join with a second Stoke-on-Trent/Macclesfield service at Stafford.
Services like these, would improve the coverage of High Speed Two.
As with the joining of the Liverpool Lime Street and Macclesfield services, the pairing of trains reduces the number of paths needed on the double-track section of the Trent Valley Line to the South of Stafford.
Other Splitting And Joining At Stafford
It may be possible to arrange other splitting and joining at Stafford.
By rearranging the Manchester and/or the Scottish services, it might be possible to reduce the number of trains, through the double-track section of the Trent Valley Line.
There are certainly several possibilities.
Conclusion
Stafford station could be crucial, in making High Speed Two Lite feasible.
HS2 Moves Stafford Ahead At High-Speed
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on StokeonTrentLive.
It seems a positive headline in comparison to some you usually see about High Speed Two.
The subtitle doesn’t have any negative words either.
Construction has begun on the first section and there will be a community and business roadshow this August to find out more.
Perhaps people from Staffordshire have a positive outlook on life.
After all, with respect to High Speed Two, Stoke will be one of the first two cities in the country outside London to receive a high speed service.
Stoke might even be first!
The Anonymous Widower 