Plymouth Station - refurbishment, improvements, timetable changes, events and incidents (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Have to agree with you there RichardB.

Temple Meads is another example. Platforms 13 & 15 were out of use for many years. I doubt the station would cope without them today.

[Lee]

What is really needed is to rationalize the over capacity of platforms and make a smaller but improved station.Something like Newton Abbot with maybe 4 or so platfoms would be more appropriate now for current and future traffic levels at Plymouth station in the 21st century.

What is really needed is a buffet that doesnt close just as I arrive in the early evening..

[JayMac]

... and a decent pub within walking/stumbling distance. 

[woody]

The present Plymouth station dates from a time when there were 2 main lines to London from Plymouth the present GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) via Newton Abbot and the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) via Tavistock/Okehampton(the present platforms 7 and .Plymouth also once had an extensive local rail network the infrastructure of which apart from the route to Tavistock now long gone.You also had the GWR and LSWR competing for passengers and mail off the transatlantic liners that used to call at Plymouth in the era before air travel killed that off.
 My point is that Plymouth is no Bristol or Swindon rail wise and never will be because of its relatively peripheral geographical position and the limited rail access at the end of what is effectively a 55/60mph secondary line,it cant even support a small regional airport anymore(today is the last day of scheduled flights from Plymouth airport.Yes there will be increased use of the railways in Plymouth as elsewhere(Tavistock re-opening hopefully) but suggestions that somehow that rail traffic levels will ever justify the present pre-Beeching number of platforms at Plymouth station are at present remote.Thats what the head says but the heart says that I would love to be proved wrong on this one.

[marky7890]

Even if more platforms were needed, couldn't the Dock sidings be used as platforms (like Platform 3)? Of course the old Royal Mail bay cant be used due to the height of the platform, but the siding next to Platform 3 could be used for DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) starting and terminating at Plymouth, and the same goes for the bay next to the old mail siding.

[vacman]

What tosh, Plymouth is up to capacity most evenings and mornings, with the large amount of terminating trains staying in the platforms until they can be taken to Laira.

[FlyingDutchman]

Why Can't the original Platform 1 & 2 nearest the station building be used if they are short of capacity.

Guy

[woody]

Why Can't the original Platform 1 & 2 nearest the station building be used if they are short of capacity.

Guy

Because for a large part of the day Plymouth stations platforms are well under capacity.I arrived back in Plymouth yesterday at 1925 on the 1606  from Paddington to Penzance and apart from our train on platform 4 there were only two 15x units parked in the platform 3 bay platform.The rest of the station was completely empty not an unusual situation I can assure you at Plymouth now for large parts of the day when the majority of travel is done.For the most part all Plymouth station has to cope with is an hourly FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train),an hourly X country(if it is not terminated at Newton Abbot due to late running),a 2 hourly Gunnislake and the very occasional Penzance/PlymouthNewton Abbot locals.Newton Abbot station seems to cope with virtually the same traffic levels plus the Paigntons with only 3 platforms!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

i think the question has to be, what benefit would their be from spending money on removing platforms shortening them?

[vacman]

Newton Abbot struggles as soon as there are any infrastructure problems that cause delays but Plymouth is used to capacity in the peaks, Penzance could manage with one platform off-peak but all are needed when all the terminators come in at night, your logic is flawed, what should they do, remove the platforms after the morning peak then rebuild them every night?

[woody]

I take your point vacman about the terminators at night I was just making the point that for most of the day plymouth station is way over capacity platform wise and I was thinking that if ever the station platforms were remodelled /modernised some time in the future that it would be more cost effective to reduce the overcapacity.To me there is nothing worse than seeing a huge half empty station as its give the impression of decline.

[Lee]

I wonder whether there is a wider question here.

We have now entered a "McNulty era", where saving shedloads of money in some shape or form is going to be the order of the day. Without wishing to make a judgement on the rights and wrongs, history (both distant and recent) suggests that the idea of "rationalisation" of infrastructure considered "redundant" tends to rise up the agenda during such times.

If so, it could create an interesting clash of approaches, at a time when significant investment is either being made now or being planned for schemes such as Cotswold and Swindon-Kemble redoubling.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

i think the opposite should happen, platform 3 should be made into a threw platform

[vacman]

I take your point vacman about the terminators at night I was just making the point that for most of the day plymouth station is way over capacity platform wise and I was thinking that if ever the station platforms were remodelled /modernised some time in the future that it would be more cost effective to reduce the overcapacity.To me there is nothing worse than seeing a huge half empty station as its give the impression of decline.

It may well be quite off peak, but its still up to capacity at times of the day, if the capacity was done away with then it wouldnt cope!

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi

I wonder what happen to this plan they had in 2009


http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/NEW-NORTH-CROSS/story-11460250-detail/story.html

Guy