Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 10:15 28 Mar 2024
* Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
- Man suffers life-threatening injuries after train stabbing
* How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1992)
MOD Kineton tour, branch line society (*)

Train RunningCancelled
07:43 Swansea to London Paddington
08:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
09:12 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
09:29 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
09:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
09:46 Westbury to Swindon
10:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
10:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
10:41 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
11:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
11:05 Swindon to Westbury
11:16 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
11:23 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
11:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
11:50 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
12:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
06:00 London Paddington to Penzance
07:03 London Paddington to Paignton
07:28 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
07:33 Weymouth to Gloucester
08:38 London Paddington to Westbury
09:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
09:50 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
11:12 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
Delayed
06:05 Penzance to London Paddington
06:37 Plymouth to London Paddington
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington
09:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:23 London Paddington to Oxford
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 10:27:48 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[193] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[109] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[75] Return of the BRUTE?
[59] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[46] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
[26] CrossCountry upgrade will see 25% more rail seats
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Not everyone has a Devils Porridge Museum  (Read 3457 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40689



View Profile WWW Email
« on: June 25, 2018, 12:44:00 »

Why am I posting this under our "Berks and Hants" heading?  Because it's an out-of-area campaign I came across that has so many parallels in Berks and Wiltshire that it provides food for thought and a study - we can all learn from each others. 

The "other" line from Carlisle to Glasgow has always had stops at Annan, Dumfries and Kircolonel; stations at Greta and Sanquar having closed several generations ago but re-opened within my memory.  And there are now requests / suggestions that stations at Eastriggs and Thornhill be re-opened, together with a request / suggestion that Beattock on the main line from Carlisle to Glasgow should also re-open.

On Saturday, I spoke with a gentleman who's in the lead group for Thornhill.  He was telling me that it's about halfway along the 25 mile gap between Dumfries and Sanquar, double track, old platforms still in situ but would need replacing. Of a village of around 9,000 in population that it would serve, centred about a mile from the station site.  About school traffic, traffic to Carlisle and Dumfries, and a lesser extent to Glasgow, and about tourism in the area.  Estimates of rail traffic with the station re-opened are about 100k per annum.

It strikes me that both Eastriggs (middle of a 12 mile gap) and Thornhill have cases worth looking at. I understand Eastrigg's traffic estimate is around 50k journeys per annum.  There's an element of competition in adding 4 minutes to the run time of trains that stop at either and "would more minutes be a problem".  There should also be a huge element of co-operation because (from a passenger viewpoint) an extra few minutes on a very infrequent service makes only a small difference, but the extra passenger numbers gerenated by both stations will surely help cases for service improvements in the future, and joint marketing - pulling in Greta, Annan, Dumfries and Sanquar to share their already-learned expertise for the good of the line makes sense.

Other elements that came / come up.

Thornhill is on a double line.  Two platforms to re-open?   Footbridge?  A suggestion that one platform and a pair of crossovers might work (as per Malton) is something I would rather not comment on either way - I simply don't know.

Traffic abstraction.  How many of every 100 passengers using the train at Thornhill would be doing so instead of using Dumfries station?  Effect on any parallel bus services?

Local "road"side facilities. How would the roads / lanes cope?   Parking?

Businesses and attractions?   I think some were mentioned to me for Thornhill ... for Eastriggs, I 'picked up' the Devil's Porridge Museaum. 

It seems that as well as GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects), Scottish schemes have to go though three stages of STAG (Severn Tunnel Action Group) (Scottish Transport Assement Guidelines?) and the team / teams are on to that.  Just as with England, a long process but I do hope to be able to report further.

The Berks and Hants has stations.  A disparate mix of services and some gaps in what they provide. In some elements, one is ahead ... in some elements, the other is ahead.   One to keep an eye on and see if there are parallel lessons, me thinks.   But I will not be suggesting opening a porridge museum (for any sort of porridge) at Savernake.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page