Manchester Victoria To Hebden Bridge
The weather wasn’t good as I took the hourly train on the Calder Valley Line between Manchester Victoria and Hebden Bridge stations.
The train was a Class 150 train, which as the first picture shows had been refurbished, but really on a line between the two of the biggest cities in the north, shouldn’t something better be used.
As with my earlier trip from Burnley Manchester Road to Manchester, the line has a fair selection of viaducts, tunnels and challenging structures.
The tunnels include the Summit Tunnel, which is a masterpiece of Victorian engineering, that has been in continuous use since the 1840s.
I don’t know whether Network Rail will want to electrify the Summit Tunnel, but I believe that it could be declared safe for IPEMUs to pass through without extensive modification.
East Of Todmorden
Between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, there is the Hall Royd Junction, which incorporates the Todmorden Curve and three more smaller tunnels. This Google Map shows the line East of Todmorden.
Note that the Todmorden Curve had not been built, when the Google Map image was taken. The three tunnels are not as long as the Summit Tunnel and are each about two hundred metres long.
The engineering isn’t probably as challenging as that between Burnley and Todmorden, but there will be a lot of it.
If IPEMUs are used, provided the track, tunnels and viaducts are up to scratch, then all that will need to be done is check everything out.
Now Huncoat And Rishton Want Todmorden Curve Service
The title of this article in the Accrington Observer says it all – Council writes to government calling for Huncoat and Rishton to be added to direct Manchester rail link.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next year or so, as more diesel trains become available.
Along this line from Preston to Todmorden, everything though does seem to be on the up.
Did five hundred metres of relaid track ever cause a such a large positive effect before?
The Todmorden Curve Has Helped A Campaign For More
The opening of the Todmorden Curve seems to have been a success according to press reports I’ve found, but this article from the Lancashire Telegraph, entitled New hope for campaigners looking to re-establish link between East Lancashire and North Yorkshire, shows that the opening is having other effects. This is the first paragraph.
A NEW hope has emerged for campaigners looking to re-establish a link between East Lancashire and North Yorkshire after a transport chief signalled concerns about possible logjams in Calderdale and Leeds.
The link between Colne and Skipton, which is mentioned in the article is shown in this map.
Skipton To Colne
It is being promoted by the Colne-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership.
Having explored the area a lot in the last couple of years. I feel very much that tram-trains perhaps linked to Blackpool and/or Manchester have a lot of possibilities. I said as much in Could Tram-Trains Be Used To Advantage In Blackpool? It may sound fanciful and ambitious, but a single track tram-train link from Colne to Skipton, would have a high passenger capacity and wouldn’t require the infrastructure of heavy rail.
Things seem to be moving fast in East Lancashire.
In North London, there has been strong enthusiasm for the recent extension of the Overground. I now perceive a wanting for more of the same.
So are the good citizens of East Lancashire behaving in the same way?
A Plea For Help From Lancashire
I have a Google Alert setup to look for stories about the Todmorden Curve. Normally, it picks up worthy stories about the Todmorden Curve and the new services from Blackburn and Burnley into Manchester.
However, today, I picked up this story from the Rissendale Express, which is entitled Rossendale Scribbler: Forget the bus station, we should look to rail to improve our transport links. This is the first couple of paragraphs.
Watching the TV news on Sunday night, I saw a report on the opening of the Todmorden Curve – a short stretch of railway which now makes it possible to travel directly from Burnley to Manchester by train.
As train fans know, this stretch of track is but a few hundred metres long, yet it’s taken an absolute age to get it opened.
So you’d think that if a rail link is good for Burnley and Blackburn, then one would be good for Rossendale, which lies to the north of Bury and south of Blackburn.
The Rossendale scribbler then goes on to explain how Lancashire County Council is giving £3.5million to create a bus station in Rawtenstall, whereas he and a lot of the locals would prefer a rail service. A couple of weeks ago I had to take a bus from Blackburn to Manchester and I know where my sympathies lie.
He then goes on to explain, that there is already a rail line, but it is a heritage railway called the East Lancashire Railway. He then says this.
After all, Rossendale has a head start over many areas wanting a rail link – the railway track is already down.
Of course, fans of the East Lancashire Railway speak of concerns that commuter services would damage the heritage railway which attracts so many visitors to the area.
That need not be so of course. The two could run side by side, and train services running on from the ELR to Manchester could bring more people to the heritage line.
Some suggestions put the cost of commuter services at £10.5m.
It strikes me that if it is best for all citizens of the area, then a solution must be found that allows commuters into Manchester to share the line with those that want to play with steam trains.
There is also this article on the Manchester Evening News, where rail enthusiast, Pete Waterman, talks a lot of sense about dual use of the line.
If the Todmorden Curve is a success, I think that there will be more pressure to bring a commuter service into Manchester via the East Lancashire Line.
And then you get a story like this in the Lancashire Telegraph, which is entitled TODMORDEN CURVE: £12m spin-off for Burnley’s economy
Enough said!
As someone, who lives in an area of London, that has been reinvigorated by the refurbishment of the North and East London Lines, I know the effect a good rail line can have on employment, leisure, business and housing opportunities. So if running services into Manchester, would give the area a significant uplift, the services should start.
Perhaps one way to do create a service would be use Class 399 tram-trains to extend the Metrolink from Bury, if they are proven to work successfully between Sheffield and Rotherham in the next few years. After all, the first phase of the Manchester Metrolink to Bury was built by converting the old East Lancashire Railway,
I’m certain, that if the Germans or the French were creating a system like the Manchester Metrolink now, they would look at tram-train technology based on the Karlsruhe model. But this type of tram-train operation only dates from 1992, so unfortunately Manchester didn’t have the option to look at it, when the Metrolink was first proposed in 1982.
Rounding The Todmorden Curve
I took these pictures as my train rounded the Todmorden Curve.
I was sitting on the left hand side of my train, which was going from Burnley to Todmorden and it did a sharp slow right turn to arrive in Todmorden station. This Google Earth image shows the location of the curve, but unfortunately, there is no image with the new curve.
Location Of The Todmorden Curve
Both lines to the east join and then lead to Hebden Bridge station. The line that goes on the top of the triangle leads off to the west and Burnley Manchester Road station and the line on the bottom of the triangle, that leads to Todmorden goes off to the South and eventually Rochdale and Manchester Victoria stations.
I think it is true to say, that this five hundred metres or so of new track, at a cost of just over eight million pounds has been designed and executed to a high standard and it will be interesting to see how the new curve effects the prosperity of this area of Lancashire.
Catching The Todmorden Train At Blackburn
These pictures are from Sunday and Monday, where I caught a train at Blackburn station for Manchester Victoria via Accrington, Burnley Manchester Road Todmodern stations.
As the pictures show it has recently been rebuilt to an island design, with a separate platform 4, which is generally used for the services between Blackpool and Colne.
I met a reporter from BBC Radio Lancashire today and said that there is no information at the station on how to get to the football ground. I then asked him about getting to the hospital from the station and he said it was difficult, especially as parking at the hospital isn’t the best.
Towns like Blackburn should have a frequent bus that calls at the station, that visits the important places in the town where visitors might want to go. From personal experience of getting to Ewood Park from the station, Blackburn is not one of the best and a bus service should be provided on match days, that is well-signposted as to how it is used at the ground and the station.
It’s All Happening In Todmorden On Sunday
Where I live in London a few years ago they opened a new rail service called the Overground and the transformation has been dramatic. Not least in the rise in passenger numbers, but also it seems in the drop on the number of unemployed youth hanging around on the street. Perhaps, now you can get to that job reliably, you have got a better and well-paid one?
I don’t know, as it’s many years since I went job hunting!
But this Sunday the Todmorden Curve opens to passengers as is reported in this piece in the Lancashire Telegraph. If nothing, the locals certainly seem excited!
You do have to wonder how many other short rail lines like this could be re-opened?
Where Is The Todmorden Curve When You Need It?
In my view, one of the biggest sins in good project management is to do jobs in the incorrect sequence.
In recent months, two important projects have been scheduled in the north of Lancashire.
Todmorden Curve
The Todmoden Curve is a short stretch of railway that will improve train services between Burnley and Blackburn to Manchester Victoria, by way of Todmorden and Rochdale.
The first train ran in May 2014 and from May 16th this year, there will be a full service.
Farnworth Tunnel
The Farnworth Tunnel has to be enlarged for electrification and it means that for the next few months, the direct route from Preston to Manchester will be very much reduced in capacity.
Work on this will start soon and the new reduced service kicked in today.
My Journey Today
At Preston on Friday, I asked if there would be a normal Blackburn Manchester service by the Ribble Valley Line. I was told yes and on reading the handouts from Virgin, there was no mention of any diversions or altered services.
But when I arrived at Blackburn station, I was told there was a bus to Salford Crescent, from where I could get a train to Manchester Piccadilly.
The bus took nearly ninety minutes and then I had to wait another twenty to get a train to Manchester Victoria, from where I got a tram to Piccadilly. There I got a train to Euston, which although it did go by a roundabout route because of engineering works, brought me safely to London.
It would have been so much easier to get from Blackburn to Manchester if the services by the Todmorden Curve were started before the partial closure of the Farnworth route.
The fact that the curve wasn’t opened before work on the tunnel started was a disgrace and it unnecessarily inconvenienced lots of passengers.
Mill Hill Station And Ewood Park
Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers is not the easiest ground to get to from the main station for the town.
Normally, I take a bus from the station, but it is not the easiest way as there is no relevant information, despite the fact that the bus station is outside the train one. Obviously, the natives are psychic in Blackburn.
So today, I decided to go via Mill Hill station as it looked like a downhill walk to the ground. This Google Earth image shows the area.
Mill Hill Station And Ewood Park
Mill Hill station is in the top left of the picture and the football ground is to the bottom right. These are some pictures of the station.
I didn’t post any of the maps and signposts at the station, as there isn’t any meaningful information on how to get to the football ground.
I don’t think I’ll bother with this route again, as it has little to recommend it and a station that desperately needs more information and disabled access.
It is a truly dreadful station and after the Todmorden Curve is fully open, you’ll need to change trains at Blackburn to get here from Manchester.
The Arguments Start On The Todmorden Curve
I’m not going to comment except suggest you read this article in the Burnley Express.
The Anonymous Widower 