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    New railway lines?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8099912.stm

    Anyone live near any of these? If these figures are at all reliable (and ATOC aren't my idea of reliable) putting 40 new stations on 14 new lines on to the rail network for £500m doesn't sound bad.

    If the government tell us it's a lot of money, then we should remind them it's only £90m more than this:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/05/metronet-london-underground-ppp

    #2
    New railway lines?

    It's an excellent idea Tubby which is why it probably won't happen. The lines proposed make a lot of sense and if you wade through the report then on about page ten they mention re-opening the line to Consett (closed to freight 1984).

    If any of the lines proposed for re-opening had been in Scotland or Wales they would have been open by now.

    Comment


      #3
      New railway lines?

      A rail link from Fleetwood to Preston to link up with the west coast main line would surely be profitable - Fleetwood's a container port, with several ships a day ferrying stuff back and forward to Northern Ireland (all of which at the moment comes in and out of Fleetwood by single carriageway "A" road). The passenger ferries aren't as busy, as you can fly as cheaply from Blackpool to Belfast these days, but they still get their fair share, especially in holiday season.

      Comment


        #4
        New railway lines?

        On the positive side, finally re-connecting Hythe to rail services will boost local trade, bring in the tourist trade, and be invaluable in making the new container port at Dibden work.

        On the negative side, a bunch of nimbys who wouldn't be seen dead on public transport will complain.

        The idea will then be drowned under a sea of planning committees.

        Comment


          #5
          New railway lines?

          If any of the lines proposed for re-opening had been in Scotland or Wales they would have been open by now.

          Considering that no railway lines have reopened anywhere in the UK yet, I think that's unlikely. But don't let that get in the way of your parochial whining.

          Comment


            #6
            New railway lines?

            There's an old disused line in Cambridgeshire which is being revamped as a "guided busway". I have no idea what that means really, and don't have the patience to read through this wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway to try and work it out, and find out why it couldn't just have become a railway again

            Comment


              #7
              New railway lines?

              bl, I don't think that he's being parochial. There's been a couple of re-openings in Wales and Scotland thanks to the intervention of their Parliament/Assembly. Something that doesn't exist in England.

              Comment


                #8
                New railway lines?

                There has been a lot of re-opening stations on existing lines particularly in Strathclyde which still has a strategic transport authority.

                There seems to be a lack of this in England although you can see places with strategic transport bodies do get new trams, e.g. Croydon and Manchester.

                It is ridiculous that there are no intermediate stations between Didcot and Swindon (which Wantage would solve). But there are so many opportunities for sensible stations with Park and Ride facilities simply going to waste for the cost of a platform and a bus shelter.

                What would this cost?

                http://www.railbrit.org.uk/photos/20516.jpg

                Comment


                  #9
                  New railway lines?

                  Also Network Rail have, according to the late and very lamented London Connections blog, been working on creating a sort of generic, pre-fabricated station, which can be just plonked on a line wherever it's needed at relatively little cost.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    New railway lines?

                    http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/

                    Comment


                      #11
                      New railway lines?

                      Thanks!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        New railway lines?

                        There are plans to re-open some lines in Scotland, sure. None of them have actually been built yet though. And with the way things are financially, I'm far from convinced that a handful will get built, let alone all.

                        GO: yes he was. It was the standard "we spend too much on these Jocks/Taffs/immigrants/someone who isn't me" line.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          New railway lines?

                          ad hoc wrote:
                          There's an old disused line in Cambridgeshire which is being revamped as a "guided busway". I have no idea what that means really, and don't have the patience to read through this wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway to try and work it out, and find out why it couldn't just have become a railway again
                          It's basically a bus on rails. Theoretically it saves money on fuel, other running costs and infrastructure (doesn't need railway signalling equipment for example).

                          I had assumed any reopened line linking Cambridge city with the surrounding exapnding towns like Huntingdon would generate more traffic than a busway could manage (a bus can only carry 75-100 passengers, a train 200-300).

                          There are plans for a similar system in Ireland, linking Limerick and Waterford (the only long-distance cross-country line). Trouble is, it only carries 50,000 passengers per year (souce: Irish Times, 15 June).

                          Comment


                            #14
                            New railway lines?

                            There have been a few new/re-opened lines in Scotland, though: Stirling - Alloa (2008), Hamilton - Larkhall (2005), and a short branch in Edinburgh (2002), plus Airdrie - Bathgate which is under construction (i.e. way beyond plans).

                            Obviously my position is that this is all a good thing.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              New railway lines?

                              GO: yes he was. It was the standard "we spend too much on these Jocks/Taffs/immigrants/someone who isn't me" line.
                              No it wasn't.

                              I completely support the re-opening of any railway line. The ones in Scotland reopened recently include lines to Larkhall and Alloa with work progressing well on the Ardrie - Bathgate section. The Borders line to Galashiels is also progressing but may stall due to funding issues and Alloa - Fife circle is also under review.

                              Lines reopened in Wales recently include Barry - Bridgend and Cardiff - Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw Vale line is already carrying far more passengers than predicted in the original business case. This points to the models being used to justify the schemes being wrong.

                              As for the Cambridgshire busway, the old railway line has been torn up and replaced with a guided busway at a cost of £120m. It is one of the most contentious transport schemes in Europe and was opposed by almost everyone in the area except the local council and central government which chose to fund it. The scheme has already been put into a registered charity as it won't cover its construction costs (not unusual for a transport project) but may not make an operating profit either.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                New railway lines?

                                There's a lot on the Cambridgeshire bus thingy here.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  New railway lines?

                                  Also in Glasgow the Anniesland spur of the Maryhill line was completed and that required some land purchase and the building of a new line.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    New railway lines?

                                    Blameless, Paul's said some daft stuff but I don't think he was being anti-Scottish there.

                                    Scotland's got a better attitude to rail than England, even though it's by no means an obvious country for railways. See Christian Wolmar:

                                    http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2009/04/scotlands-railway-booming/

                                    Not quite as optimistic as the URL sounds but not bad either. The Transport Scotland body (under the auspices of the Scottish Government) sounds important.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      New railway lines?

                                      Just an observation, but I'm pretty sure that if Paul S posted nothing more than 'the sky is blue and kittens are nice', someone would find cause to call him a cunt.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        New railway lines?

                                        Remember the ten commandments of OTF?

                                        Anyway, back on topic:

                                        There are plenty of railway lines that could be reopened, but we need to get out of the mindset of everything being a profit and something being a community service. You can't always build a business case for money to be spent on it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. We have some of the best transport planners in the world in Britain but some of the worst politicians. It's not that they make the wrong decisions, it's that they don't make decisions at all!

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          New railway lines?

                                          Yes, but therein lies the paradox of politics: if you make bold decisions that benefit the minority, you're pandering to special interests and you lose your job, come next election, because you're out of touch with 'the people'.

                                          If you make decisions that benefit the majority, you're an ass-kisser who only cares about getting votes.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            New railway lines?

                                            Here's the cutting edge of English rail;

                                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler's_Ford_railway_station

                                            Any more reopened stations anywhere?

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              New railway lines?

                                              Ah yes, Corby- coincidentally a town with Scottish influence.

                                              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corby_railway_station

                                              Comment

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