Reopening the Stoke – Leek Line
On October 27th this Beeching Reversal Project was given £50,000 to build a case for reopening.
These are my thoughts.
The State Of The Line Today
This sentence describes the Stoke Leek Line in Wikipedia.
The Stoke to Leek line is a mothballed railway route, which up until 1988 was used by BR freight trains to reach the quarries at both Cauldon Lowe and Oakamoor.
This map was also clipped from Wikipedia.
Note.
- Leek is at the top of the map.
- Leek is a town of 21,000 people.
- The distance between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek is about eleven miles by road.
- The Waterhouses branch Line leads to the quarries.
- The Churnet Valley Line is a heritage line.
I have flown by virtual helicopter along the line and you can see a single-track railway amongst the weeds.
Leek
This Google Map shows Leek.
The original station was demolished to make way for the Morrisons supermarket.
I suspect that there is sufficient space close to the supermarket to fit in a simple single-platform station for the single-track from Stoke-on-Trent.
Rolling Stock
I suspect this line would best be served by battery-electric trains.
- It’s no more than a dozen miles.
- There is electrification at Stoke-on-Trent station.
- Leek has the lower altitude by 220 ft.
I suspect a charging system would be needed at Leek.
Vivarail’s Class 230 trains could be ideal for this line.
Freight
Reading about the line, it appears that there are plans that propose reopening the line for traffic from the quarries.
It would need to be decided, if freight were to be allowed on the line.
Conclusion
This could be a useful passenger line, with a freight capability, if that were needed.
The Anonymous Widower 