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Author Topic: Train lines closed in 1960s under Dr Beeching report could be reopened  (Read 25667 times)
grahame
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« Reply #30 on: February 16, 2017, 08:29:57 »

Ripping up the guided bus between Cambridge and St Ives, which cost a metric lorryload of council cash, to re-instate the railway? How much of a climb-down/about-face would that be?
[snip]
[snip]
If they rip it up and relay the railway as trams (it happened in Edinburgh) it could be hailed as a success with very little spin.

One of the multitude of issues I didn't address when looking at 5,000 miles returned to rail at the 'top' of this thread was how we could/would get there from where we are today.

There's a further section of the guided busway to the new Cambridge North Station still to be opened - it's been some considerable time in the building (feels like that anyway - I have passed it so many times) and technology has already moved on for that section.   They've been able to reduce costs by dispensing with the vertical concrete sections along the length, and now haw a flat surface with a demarcation between the two directional section indicated purely by a broken white line painted on the surface (a.k.a. a road).    If the will was there, it might seem to be a route forward to lay guide rails within the surface where future extensions take place, and as the "already crumbling" infrastructure becomes life expired and needs to be replaced.
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ellendune
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« Reply #31 on: February 16, 2017, 20:05:15 »

If they rip it up and relay the railway as trams (it happened in Edinburgh) it could be hailed as a success with very little spin.

Umm I think there was a bi of the Edinburgh tram system that was to be build on closed railway, but I think that was the bit that never got built!  The bit that was built was either on street or on a new corridor. 
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TonyK
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« Reply #32 on: February 19, 2017, 19:15:12 »

Sorry - another late nighter. I meant bus rabid transit. Part of Edinburgh's BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) route was used in the tramway.
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2017, 11:41:16 »


Who knows what might be possible in the post-Brexit, post-truth world? With all the cash we save by ceasing to be a partner in the largest market in the world, we could probably afford to reopen all these lines and more. Or we could just say we'd done it, and who'd know we were lying?
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TonyK
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« Reply #34 on: March 01, 2017, 19:31:24 »

Who knows what might be possible in the post-Brexit, post-truth world? With all the cash we save by ceasing to be a partner in the largest market in the world, we could probably afford to reopen all these lines and more.

You make I larf!  Grin
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Josh_Welby
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« Reply #35 on: March 02, 2017, 23:30:15 »


Who knows what might be possible in the post-Brexit, post-truth world? With all the cash we save by ceasing to be a partner in the largest market in the world, we could probably afford to reopen all these lines and more. Or we could just say we'd done it, and who'd know we were lying?

Yes, in Post-Briexit world we are opening and building huge railway lines - including the following

Slough to Heathrow Airport
Cambridge to Bedford via Sandy and Reading via Oxford
Crossrail
Crossrail 2 North London to South West London and Surry/Berkshire via Clapham Junction
Bakerloo Line to Hayes, Kent from Elephant and Castle
Thameslink 2000 now called Thameslink Project London St Pancras to Cambridge via a new tunnel which was live in 2015
and has not been opened until now and Finsbury Park
DLR (Docklands Light Railway) Extension to Plumstead and Thamesmead
Barking to Barking Riverside
Electrification between Gospel Oak and Barking in London
London Northern Line Extension to Battersea Power Station
The rerouting of the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction in Watford
HS2 (The next High Speed line(s))
HS3 Crossrail across the North of England

New old line that could open again is

Creigiau to Cardiff Central via Pentyrch, Llantrisant, Talbot Green and Cardiff Queen Street
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grahame
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« Reply #36 on: March 03, 2017, 04:29:29 »


Who knows what might be possible in the post-Brexit, post-truth world? With all the cash we save by ceasing to be a partner in the largest market in the world, we could probably afford to reopen all these lines and more. Or we could just say we'd done it, and who'd know we were lying?

Yes, in Post-Briexit world we are opening and building huge railway lines - including the following

Slough to Heathrow Airport
Cambridge to Bedford via Sandy and Reading via Oxford
Crossrail
Crossrail 2 North London to South West London and Surry/Berkshire via Clapham Junction
Bakerloo Line to Hayes, Kent from Elephant and Castle
Thameslink 2000 now called Thameslink Project London St Pancras to Cambridge via a new tunnel which was live in 2015
and has not been opened until now and Finsbury Park
DLR (Docklands Light Railway) Extension to Plumstead and Thamesmead
Barking to Barking Riverside
Electrification between Gospel Oak and Barking in London
London Northern Line Extension to Battersea Power Station
The rerouting of the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction in Watford
HS2 (The next High Speed line(s))
HS3 Crossrail across the North of England

New old line that could open again is

Creigiau to Cardiff Central via Pentyrch, Llantrisant, Talbot Green and Cardiff Queen Street

Welcome to the forum, Josh Welby.  Your point that a lot of projects are on the books or proposal list is well made. Looking beyond the south east (where most of your listed projects are located) you also have electrification from London to Swansea Cardiff, Oxford Didcot and Bristol Thingley ... which is so much of a topic on this forum.
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John R
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« Reply #37 on: March 03, 2017, 07:59:01 »

All of those projects were conceived long before the vote to leave let alone the actual date of Brexit. Some (eg Thameslink) will even be completed before Brexit.  And others are in a very early state of thinking and may not even happen. So it's a bit misleading to imply that they are the result of Brexit. The acid test will be whether or not they happen and how much Brexit influences the amount of funding available for them.

The comment about the tunnel to link Thameslink with the ECML (East Coast Main Line) is also misleading as it was always the plan to fit it out at an early stage of the Thameslink programme but it was never expected to be in service prior to Dec 18. The tunnel itself was constructed several years earlier again in anticipation of Thameslink.
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CyclingSid
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« Reply #38 on: March 03, 2017, 08:19:17 »

I noticed the following on the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) web site https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595431/cambrian-railway-decision-letter.pdf. It seems that ORR» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) believes that there should be no new (or reinstated) level crossings. Is this likely to affect any of the possible re-openings in the original list? It would seem to raise the financial difficulties considerably, especially for heritage railways. The replacement bridge for the Ufton Nervet crossing is reported to have cost £7m.
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ellendune
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« Reply #39 on: March 03, 2017, 08:36:13 »

Having just read the letter, I would take a different view of what ORR» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) said.  They were indeed opposed to the reinstatement of the level crossings on the A5 and A483 trunk roads.

Quote
The ORR referred to its established policy that there should be no new (or reinstated) level crossings on any railway, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and confirmed that it was opposed on safety grounds to crossings of the A5 and A483 trunk roads on the level. While continuing to have concerns about safety at other level crossings on the railway, the ORR said that it would rely on its existing powers in relation to the control and protection of level crossings when the position on the risks involved at each crossing and how they could be addressed became clearer.

Now I know the A5 and the A483 I agree these level crossings would no work on today's traffic. Indeed it seems Cambrian had already worked that ot for themselves. But the decision on the others it seems is still up for grabs.  The fact that ORR did not object to these at this stage suggests their mind is not completely closed and they would consider others on a case by case basis. 
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Rhydgaled
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« Reply #40 on: March 03, 2017, 13:14:52 »

I noticed the following on the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) web site https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595431/cambrian-railway-decision-letter.pdf. It seems that ORR» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) believes that there should be no new (or reinstated) level crossings. Is this likely to affect any of the possible re-openings in the original list? It would seem to raise the financial difficulties considerably, especially for heritage railways. The replacement bridge for the Ufton Nervet crossing is reported to have cost £7m.
Carmarthen-Aberystwyth would need a level crossing just outside Aberystwyth station as far as I can see, unless you significantly increased the length of the new tunnel you would need at the Aberystwyth.
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macbrains
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« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2017, 14:51:16 »

Witney to Oxford  (Yarnton) to take pressure off the awful A40
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Noggin
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« Reply #42 on: March 03, 2017, 15:04:31 »

I noticed the following on the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) web site https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595431/cambrian-railway-decision-letter.pdf. It seems that ORR» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) believes that there should be no new (or reinstated) level crossings. Is this likely to affect any of the possible re-openings in the original list? It would seem to raise the financial difficulties considerably, especially for heritage railways. The replacement bridge for the Ufton Nervet crossing is reported to have cost £7m.

It's affected the location of Portishead station and the crossing at Ashton Gate is potentially going to have to be taken out.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #43 on: March 03, 2017, 15:33:36 »


Who knows what might be possible in the post-Brexit, post-truth world? With all the cash we save by ceasing to be a partner in the largest market in the world, we could probably afford to reopen all these lines and more. Or we could just say we'd done it, and who'd know we were lying?

Yes, in Post-Briexit world we are opening and building huge railway lines - including the following
In the post-Briexit world, we will be in desperate need of a reopened line to Cheddar.
 Grin
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ellendune
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« Reply #44 on: March 03, 2017, 16:51:51 »

Witney to Oxford  (Yarnton) to take pressure off the awful A40

I think the chances of that reduced significantly following the vote, but I don't think that is anything to do with the EU» (European Union - about) or being out of it!
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