‘A Rare Opportunity’: Northern Will Run Service Along Heritage Railway Line For The First Time And Tickets Are Now On Sale
The title of this post, is the as that of this news item from Northern Trains.
This is the sub-heading.
Northern will run a service along a heritage railway line for the first time, to raise money for charity.
These four paragraphs add detail to the story.
Tickets are now on sale for the service, which will set off from Darlington station on Sunday, 22 February and complete a return trip along Weardale Railway before heading back to Darlington.
Northern has been working closely with Weardale Railway to organise this event.
The railway, which opened in 1847, is a popular tourist attraction and allows visitors to travel on heritage trains along a picturesque 16-mile route. It runs between Bishop Auckland West and Stanhope in County Durham.
In 2020, it was saved from administration by The Auckland Project, which has since provided significant investment to fund essential repairs and infrastructure improvements.
Note.
- The train will be one of Northern’s Class 158 trains.
- Tickets are being sold for £25 and the proceeds will be donated to two local charities: The Angel Trust, based in Bishop Auckland, and 123help4familys, based in Stanhope.
- The train will leave Darlington at 09:46 and finishes its trips up and down the Weardale Line at Darlington at 17:44.
I won’t be going, as I can’t fit the day together.
Is There Support For An Extended Service From Bishop Auckland?
I asked Google AI, this question, and got this mildly surprising answer.
Yes, there is support for extended services in Bishop Auckland, primarily through NHS GP extended access, which provides appointments outside of normal hours (6 PM – 8 PM weekdays and weekends) at Bishop Auckland Hospital. The Urgent Treatment Centre is available 24/7, and various community-based support services, including care agencies and mental health support, are also available.
If the hospital and the other medical facilities are open, surely in a rural area, if they are needed, transport should be available.
Is There A Need For More Housing In Bishop Auckland?
Yes, there is a significant, documented need for more housing in Bishop Auckland to address a, “chronic shortage of quality bungalows and assisted living” alongside a broader demand for modern, energy-efficient homes. The town is undergoing a regeneration with plans for increased, “affordable housing” and “100% affordable” developments (e.g., in “Westerton Road” and “Holdforth Crescent”) to meet the growing population and “economic needs”.
Note.
- A regular service to Darlington may make building more housing viable.
- Judging by the amount of new houses along the Northumberland Line, the new railway has encouraged their building.
Services and stations could be added as required, as appears to be being done on the Northumberland Line.
Proposals Submitted To Create Darlington To Dales Rail Link
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Durham County Council web site.
These paragraphs outline the proposals.
The proposals will focus on development of the Darlington-Dales corridor, improving the connectivity of towns and villages along the Weardale line. It will also review the possibility of providing a link to Crook.
This new rail link would support economic development along the Darlington-Dales corridor, helping to attract visitors and boost spend in these areas by connecting tourism sites including Hamsterley Forest, Bishop Auckland town centre, the Durham Dales, and the Weardale Railway.
The enhanced rail connectivity would also enable residents to access wider education and job opportunities, while reducing the environmental impact of the county’s transport system by providing an alternative to cars.
It looks at first glance to be practical proposals, that could be easily achieved without spending a fortune.
As Teesside has a plentiful supply of hydrogen and is even planning a depot for hydrogen trains, what would new Alstom Aventra hydrogen trains between Weardale and Saltburn via Darlington, do for tourism in the area?
Reopening The Darlington – Weardale Line To Passenger Services
On October 27th this Beeching Reversal Project was given £50,000 to build a case for reopening.
The current Weardale Railway is a heritage line, that extends the current National Rail service between Darlington and Bishop Auckland stations further up Weardale.
- It is a single track railway.
- The current operational length is 18 miles between Bishop Auckland West and Stanhope stations.
- The line could be extended a few miles to the site of the former Wearhead station.
- Thre is a station at the village of Stanhope which i has a castle, a community hospital and a population of 1,600.
- There is a station at the village of Frosterley which has a population of 700.
- There is a station at the village of Witton-le-Wear which has a population of 700.
- There seem to be lots of caravan parks along the river.
- From my virtual helicopter, the track looks in reasonable condition.
- There appear to be a couple of passing loops.
- There don’t appear to be any tunnels.
- The Weardale Railway has several bridges over the River Wear.
- I suspect the scenery is not bad.
To my untrained eye, this section of railway would appear to have possibilities for reopening, without any serious engineering problems.
These are a few of my thoughts.
The Connection To National Rail
This Google Map shows Bishop Auckland station, where the Weardale Railway connects to the National Rail network.
Note.
- The station appears to be well-placed in the town.
- There is plenty of space for tracks connecting the two systems.
I suspect that building a combined through and terminal station that would satisfy the needs of all stakeholders would not be the most challenging of tasks.
Could The Extended Line Have A Japanese Fairy Godmother?
Consider.
- Hitachi’s train factory at Newton Aycliffe is five miles to the South of Bishop Auckland.
- Hitachi have stated that they are developing battery-electric trains for lines without electrification.
- Developers of modern trains with complicated computer systems seem to go through many software versions.
I have to ask the question, if Hitachi would like to have a twenty-mile test track on their doorstep?
If they were testing trains that were agnostic about their power supply, the Weardale Railway would not need to be electrified, although there could be a couple of charging systems.
Would Access To The Quarries At Wearhead Be Needed?
The original Weardale Railway was built to access the quarries at Wearhead, but they switched to road transport some years ago.
This Google Map shows the Wearhead area.
Note.
- Wearhead is in the North-West corner of the map.
- There is a quarry and there used to be a fluorspar mine.
- The white scar at the East of the map was a cement works.
Is there something, that could possibly be mined in this area, that could be taken out by train.
I think it should be born in mind, that mining and quarrying used to be a very dirty and carbon-intensive industry, but big mining companies are now embracing zero-carbon technology.
Could A Holiday Company Like Center Parcs Develop A Site In The Wear Valley?
I noticed a lot of caravans and chalets, as I examined the line.
Could a big operator like Center Parcs develop one of their holiday centres?
It could even be developed with a station.
Is New Housing Needed?
Does the local authority want to develop housing along the line?
What Rolling Stock Will Be Used?
There is no point in extending the line in these days of global warming without providing zero-carbon trains.
The Tees Valley Combined Authority is keen on hydrogen and there are good reasons.
- There is hydrogen available from chemical plants on Teesside.
- Hydrogen will give the trains a long range.
- The trains would probably only need refuelling once a day.
- In addition, Alstom are looking for an order for their Class 600 train, which is a conversion of a Class 321 train.
But I have my doubts about Alstom’s trains and Hitachi have doubts about hydrogen.
Consider.
- Do you really want to run hydrogen trains on a line where steam trains run?
- Darlington station is fully-electrified and it is also to be remodelled for more capacity and High Speed Two.
- Bishop Auckland and Darlington is just twelve miles.
- Darlington and Saltburn is just thirty miles.
With charging systems at Bishop Auckland, Saltburn and Stanhope, I am fairly sure Hitachi could develop an electric train for Teesside’s railways.
Conclusion
Hitachi could be key to the design of the reopening of the Darlington and Weardale Line.
The Anonymous Widower 