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Archive => Archived Boards => Local Issues => Topic started by: Steve Gribbon on May 24, 2018, 12:14:07 PM
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Good morning forum readers
I have recently been elected to the working group of TfGM and will be attending future meetings. I attended an initial briefing yesterday and the following areas (amongst others) are being looked into:
Air quality plan, identifying high count areas and looking into how these areas can be dealt with. This will be part of a Manchester 2020 plan and will be signed off in this coming year. There are a variety of avenues being researched at present into how this is managed. Personally I think this is a great idea, the environment is something I feel needs given the correct respect and assistance.
Tram connection strategy, prioritising routes such as Marple to Stockport (I am a firm believer this is essential), Marple to Manchester, Stockport to the airport and extending the East Didsbury line into Stockport and Hazel Grove.
Bus reform, changing operations of buses through Mayoral reform and looking into how services can be improved and become more user friendly, identifying new routes and protecting what is already running.
Cycling and walking schemes, there is a £160 million challenge across Greater Manchester for local Councils to secure funding for improvements to cycling and walking routes. I am hoping to get more details of this in June.
TfGM are also looking into taking over some smaller stations (to start with) to create a uniform approach to standards and quality. They are also looking at larger hub stations such as Stockport becoming more user friendly with more shops and cafes, perhaps more akin to York (this is my example, not one given to me).
I will update accordingly when I attend my 1st official meeting in June. Constructive comments as always are welcome but please bear with me if I cannot answer until I have been to my 1st full meeting. I will take any questions with me and do my best to respond as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading this
Kind regards
Steve Gribbon
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Hopefully, the state of our roads won't get lost within the ideology of an integrated transport system. We currently rely on them more than ever and we can't simply ignore this fact.
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Thanks for your comments Jimblob.
Kind regards
Steve
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see semmms referesh consultation which we can provide input too all the above included in it.
meeting in marple next week
www.hazelgroveconservatives.org.uk/news/semmms-refresh-consultation
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The key thing that as in most other European cities the trams should carry cycles. Indeed our buses should have a fitment on them to allow you to fit your cycle to the front of the bus.
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Does anyone know what the current planned opening time for the new airport relief road is currently, assuming there stil is one. The website contains everything except this key bit of information though some of the works listed up to June on the detailed plans seem to be end phase ones.
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Tram connection strategy, prioritising routes such as Marple to Stockport (I am a firm believer this is essential), Marple to Manchester, Stockport to the airport and extending the East Didsbury line into Stockport and Hazel Grove.
Steve it’s really good to know you will be pressing for progress on getting these tram (or tram-train) routes established. It’s been talked about for years, but that’s all it’s been - talk - and the issue seems to have been parked on the ‘too difficult’ pile for too long. Good luck!
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Steve it’s really good to know you will be pressing for progress on getting these tram (or tram-train) routes established. It’s been talked about for years, but that’s all it’s been - talk - and the issue seems to have been parked on the ‘too difficult’ pile for too long. Good luck!
Thanks for your support Dave. The train link from Marple to Stockport is something I had worked on prior to being elected as Councillor, I'm delighted to have been chosen to represent where we live and will be doing my best to create something like this which we deserve as well as helping with other projects.
Like anything that is new, I will be meeting new colleagues and seeing how protocols of questions and discussions are carried out before looking at the best way forward for us.
I'm really looking forward to this challenge.
Kind regards
Steve Gribbon
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Steve, Dave has always been a consistent supporter of train tram but jim certainly less than convinced. Journey times would be longer, there would be no toilets and cycles current would not be carried. A heavy rail link to Stockport must be the priority.
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Heavy rail - light rail - who cares? Beggars can’t be choosers and any rail link will be a godsend!
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Steve, Dave has always been a consistent supporter of train tram but jim certainly less than convinced. Journey times would be longer, there would be no toilets and cycles current would not be carried. A heavy rail link to Stockport must be the priority.
A heavy rail link will never, ever happen. You'd be better off campaigning for Metrolink to take bikes.
As for toilets, we're talking commuter services. Toilets are not a priority. The London Underground runs some very long durations without a single toilet on its trains quite happily.
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The key thing that as in most other European cities the trams should carry cycles. Indeed our buses should have a fitment on them to allow you to fit your cycle to the front of the bus.
I have seen such bus bike racks in Seattle and Vancouver. They look fantastic. Unfortunately the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency seem completely anti the idea according to this article
https://cyclebath.org.uk/2015/06/04/front-of-bus-cycle-racks-the-dvsa-says-no/
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Heavy rail - light rail - who cares? Beggars can’t be choosers and any rail link will be a godsend!
Well actually I have got a right to chose Dave and I would definitely chose not to have light rail or train/tram and I'm at liberty to express that choice to our new representative.
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I have seen such bus bike racks in Seattle and Vancouver. They look fantastic. Unfortunately the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency seem completely anti the idea according to this article
https://cyclebath.org.uk/2015/06/04/front-of-bus-cycle-racks-the-dvsa-says-no/
I'm with the DVSA. It looks like a hazard on any number of levels, whether empty or loaded. Thankfully it would seem we have more sense than Canada and the US.
Just no....
:)
RH
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I'm with the DVSA. It looks like a hazard on any number of levels, whether empty or loaded. Thankfully it would seem we have more sense than Canada and the US.
Just no....
:)
RH
Apparently 50% of the bus fleet in the US has bike racks. That's a huge amount of learning that can be gleaned on whether they're a hazard or not.
Incidentally the ones I saw in Seattle and Vancouver fold up when not in use, thus meaning they're not particularly hazardous.
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Well actually I have got a right to chose Dave and I would definitely chose not to have light rail or train/tram and I'm at liberty to express that choice to our new representative.
You are perfectly in your right to have your views. However I'm curious to know what you think the cons are of a light rail approach are, given they are - to you - so bad that you consider that we'd be better off with no rail link at all rather than use them.
For the record here are my pros and cons of a Metrolink approach vs heavy rail.
Metrolink
Pros
- assuming local buy-in (council, TfGM), stands a good chance of being built. Metrolink has a very high success rate for getting its extensions built. They're building one right now.
- will offer a fantastic frequency of service - Metrolink runs during the day with a least a 12 minute frequency. Five trams an hour is game changing and is a key reason why Metrolink has been the success it has. It gets people out of cars
- easier to enhance service if it proves to be succesfull. Just double the trams (n.b. may need to buy more trams but that's a LOT easier than buying new trains
- completely accessible service - no problems with wheelchairs boarding.
- integrated ticketing with National Rail
- locally accountable for its successes and failures
- Metrolink offers great Sunday, Bank Holiday and evening services - far beyond National Rail. They even run Boxing Day
Cons
- If street running is involved, traffic can cause problems. This is an if because we don't know if a route would be mixed in with traffic
- no on-board toilets. Given the average journey on light rail is 4.3 miles in England, probably not that big a deal
- no bikes currently allowed
- no guaranteed staff at stations
Heavy rail
Pros
- Allows two bikes per train to be carried - currently. Not guaranteed for ever - some rail companies do not take cycles in peak hours. Northern may one day take the same policy
- All trails currently have toilets. Again, not guaranteed for ever. Some trains do not have toilets.
- National rail ticketing
- Guaranteed to have NO street running. Only congestion is caused by other trains
- Remote chance some stations may have some limited staffing!
Cons
- requires buy-in from national government. The same national government who don't even want to fully electrify our local train lines
- lack of any real support for opening completely new train lines from national government
- at best would most likely offer two trains an hour - frequency is not a game changer and is unlikely to take many people out of their cars
- poor accessibility. Whilst new stations would be accessible, most of the existing network has poor accessibility.
- limited capacity to increase services if successful. As we see with the current services in Marple and Rose Hill, extending services is extremely difficult
- limited ability to increase train lengths as national government seems to hate spending money on the north
- no local accountability. Just look at the state of Northern Railway right now and all anyone can do here is moan whilst National Government sits there going "This is fine!"
- likely to get a poor bank holiday, Sunday and weekend service based on the precedent of what already happens with national rail
Incidentally from both lists I have ignored things that could be boiled down to operational difficulties (strikes, signal failures etc) as both modes can have those problems.
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Apparently 50% of the bus fleet in the US has bike racks. That's a huge amount of learning that can be gleaned on whether they're a hazard or not.
Incidentally the ones I saw in Seattle and Vancouver fold up when not in use, thus meaning they're not particularly hazardous.
Having worked for a number of US owned multinationals, can I respectfully suggest we're better off NOT taking a Health and Safety lead from them!
The prototype one you put a link to folded up as well. It was just as much a hazard up as it was down. That's still a "No" from me.... However if you have a link to a US one I'm happy to review it from a UK perspective.
RH.
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Having worked for a number of US owned multinationals, can I respectfully suggest we're better off NOT taking a Health and Safety lead from them!
The prototype one you put a link to folded up as well. It was just as much a hazard up as it was down. That's still a "No" from me.... However if you have a link to a US one I'm happy to review it from a UK perspective.
RH.
This is King County Metro's bike rack page. It contains a video that shows the bike racks in operation.
https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/travel-options/bike/loading-unloading.aspx#bike-loading-video-1
King County Metro is the main bus operator in the Seattle area and covers the King County area of Washington state - population around 2.1m. King County Metro is the local state transit authority and runs its own services.
Similarly, this is the Translink page for Vancouver's buses. They show similar racks to King County.
https://www.translink.ca/Rider-Guide/Bikes-on-Transit/Bikes-on-Buses.aspx
Translink organises the Greater Vancouver bus network and again is a government organisation. It directly operates most of the buses. Some are subcontracted to another municipality.
Both videos show bike racks on single decker buses. This video from Community Transit shows them on one of their "double tall" buses
https://www.communitytransit.org/busservice/bikes
Community Transit are another transit authority and run some express services into Seattle.
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Well actually I have got a right to chose Dave
In your dreams, wheels! Tfgm will do the choosing, not you or me!
Andrewbowden's summary of pros and cons is very good, but as he says, there is one critical factor which trumps all others: a tram or tram-train route stands a chance of being built. The prospect of a heavy rail route being built between Marple and Stockport is so remote that we can safely forget about it.
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Dave, Andrews summary says nothing about how uncomfortable trams are and how much longer journeys take.
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Dave, Andrews summary says nothing about how uncomfortable trams are and how much longer journeys take.
You never been on an uncomfortable train then? There are Pacers running down the line to Marple and Rose Hill that give me backache - horrible backache - on the 25 minute journey to Manchester.
And then there's the washboard seats of Thameslink...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43131060
I'm not clear how you can rule out an entire mode of transport on the basis of comfort of one particular type of vehicle. Metrolink will buy more trams at some point. They may have different seats...
Speed? Depends on the journey. How much longer the journey takes? Again the stopping trains are hardly high speed... Yes some journeys can be slower. The train is faster between Ashton and Manchester than the tram. It's faster because between Ashton and Victoria there are no stops. Yet the tram's amazingly popular... Arguably that's because it's far more useful to people because it has more stops. The train between Ashton and Manchester is useless if you want to go to Audenshaw or Droylsden.
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The problem for TfGM is that they had the right idea in the 1970s with a cross rail type scheme that electrified all commuter lines with an underground section through the city centre with new central stations. It had the potential to deliver a frequent high capacity multi carriage trains that increasingly with the massive growth of the Manchester city region we now need. This was rejected by the then government as too ambitious with a backdrop of industrial decline and falling rail use. TfGM went back to the drawing board and came up with a lesser capacity, slower and much cheaper solution, Metrolink. They did the best that government would allow for Manchester at the time.
In simple terms the strategy that they recently produced and subsequently Stockport builds on the 1980's thinking. I believe it is wrong considering that rail growth is predicted to increase in the coming decades. Existing rail lines into Manchester should never be considered for Metrolink tram-trains, they simply will not cope with the predicted demand and on routes such as Marple/Rose Hill will be running at much lower frequencies to allow for normal rail traffic, I believe that they will be slower than the existing service. What is good about Metrolink is that it is better than the bus, so routes to Eccles, Ashton etc. open up new rail corridors that would never be viable using heavy rail. This is the case with Marple to Stockport, however, the business case will be difficult if not almost impossible to justify.
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The problem for TfGM is that they had the right idea in the 1970s with a cross rail type scheme that electrified all commuter lines with an underground section through the city centre with new central stations. It had the potential to deliver a frequent high capacity multi carriage trains that increasingly with the massive growth of the Manchester city region we now need. This was rejected by the then government as too ambitious with a backdrop of industrial decline and falling rail use. TfGM went back to the drawing board and came up with a lesser capacity, slower and much cheaper solution, Metrolink. They did the best that government would allow for Manchester at the time.
The real problem was the election of a Conservative government in 1970 which couldn't give a damn about anywhere north of the Watford Gap. The government was not prepared to contribute to a railway tunnel beneath Manchester that was not much more than a mile long to create a Greater Manchester north-south railway link with a tunnel from Piccadilly to Victoria. This was deemed by the Conservative government to present too many engineering problems and be too expensive. The response was very different when 26 miles of tunnelling and 14.8 billion pounds and rising was required for London Crossrail. We didn't get a tramway system in Manchester, we simply got different rolling stock on the already existing Altrincham and Bury railway lines and a tramline across Central Manchester and this was supposed to be the answer to all of our public problems when the trains and buses were sold off. To be fair the tramway system has evolved: there was nothing wrong with the trains to Oldham other than a need for new rolling stock so trams were not needed there either but the tram links to Eccles, Didsbury and the Airport have been important additions to the Greater Manchester Transport network. The greatest problem that the train system in Manchester faces is the massive subsidisation of train networks in Europe that comes from the huge profits made by Northern trains and Trans-Pennine. Promises of reinvestment by these railway companies whose only aim is to milk the travelling public dry on clapped out trains are forgotten. There has been a massive hike in fares because the Conservative government state that the general taxpayer should not subsidise rail travel in an attempt to reduce the pressures on our crumbling roads which were turned into giant pot-holes by the Conservatives/LibDems cuts in maintenance. Marple does not need a tramway system to Manchester: we already have a railway for that! Marple needs a public transport link to Stockport that is an alternative to sitting on a 383/384 bus (or indeed in your car) for nearly an hour when the roads simply grind to a complete halt because the population of Marple will continue to increase and there are just too many cars and the only option I see other than a helicopter service is a tram that takes us across to the Buxton-Stockport- Manchester line or a tram that takes us to Stockport on the Guide Bridge to Stockport line at the other side of the Reddish Vale viaduct or a bit of lateral thinking and investment that takes a tram as far as the M60 on the existing railway line then a new link that uses the old railway track at the back of Brindale Road in Brinnington, under the Jack and Jill tunnel then the old railway track/TPT with a descent to a bridge across Tiviot Way, continue across the derelict land between the River Tame and Lancashire Hill flats to the bottom of Lancashire Hill then tram tracks on the Lancashire Hill bridge across the M60 and Princes St into Stockport. Unfortunately while we have a majority of people in Marple who have a democratic right to vote for a Conservative government to keep their taxes down by limiting public investment outside London and the South east I really don't see how we can have any hope of improvements in public transport and reduction of traffic problems in Marple.
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Good evening
Many thanks to so many who have contributed to this page so far, all opinions are welcome and there are some very good points that have been raised.
The first meeting isn't until mid June so please keep the comments coming and I will continue to make note of them. I will be seeing a couple more people before the meeting who have expertise in transport, I want to make sure I hit the ground running straight away for us.
Kind regards
Steve Gribbon
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Good morning all who read this.
I attended the TfGM meeting and am now on the rail sub committee. I have emailed a TfGM executive asking about the rail link (not metrolink) between Marple And Stockport, this has been passed to the development and planning team who are going to contact me.
I will as promised update on here with any developments relevant to our area.
Kind regards and enjoy your weekend.
Steve
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Good morning all who read this.
I attended the TfGM meeting and am now on the rail sub committee. I have emailed a TfGM executive asking about the rail link (not metrolink) between Marple And Stockport, this has been passed to the development and planning team who are going to contact me.
I will as promised update on here with any developments relevant to our area.
Kind regards and enjoy your weekend.
Steve
Thanks for info
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That's good to know Steve. It's a really important issue, and having someone from Marple directly involved can only help.
That said, it would be pretty astonishing if a 'heavy rail' (i.e. not Metrolink or tram-train) connection were ever to be constructed between Marple and Stockport, and if that is not achievable I think we need to be prepared to accept a tram link rather than no link at all.
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That's good to know Steve. It's a really important issue, and having someone from Marple directly involved can only help.
That said, it would be pretty astonishing if a 'heavy rail' (i.e. not Metrolink or tram-train) connection were ever to be constructed between Marple and Stockport, and if that is not achievable I think we need to be prepared to accept a tram link rather than no link at all.
All you need to do is extend the Rose Hill line circa 2 miles along the Middlewood Way and connect with the Hazel Grove to Sheffield line. You then create a circular link which enables most of Tameside, Romiley and Marple to access Stepping Hill and Stockport.
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All you need to do is extend the Rose Hill line circa 2 miles along the Middlewood Way and connect with the Hazel Grove to Sheffield line. You then create a circular link which enables most of Tameside, Romiley and Marple to access Stepping Hill and Stockport.
if only it will be you cant do this you cant do that acient woodland etc what about the bikes , ...
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All you need to do is extend the Rose Hill line circa 2 miles along the Middlewood Way and connect with the Hazel Grove to Sheffield line. You then create a circular link which enables most of Tameside, Romiley and Marple to access Stepping Hill and Stockport.
Where would you the curve, and there are also changes of levels to sort out.
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Where would you the curve, and there are also changes of levels to sort out.
It would join before the old High Lane Station site at Disley tunnel. Yes it is steep so it would require a curve on adjacent farm land.
A circular heavy rail Manchester-Hazel Grove-Rose Hill-Manchester would be far more use than a tram-train link to Didsbury using the same alignment or a tram that then turned off at Hazel Grove and went up a new A6 bus lane.
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I agree that what hatter suggests could work - in the unlikely event that the political will and the financial support could be found to make it happen.
Similarly, I think a 'chord' at Reddish Vale linking our line to the Stalybridge - Stockport line just before Reddish South could also work. Both routes look as though they would provide a 20-minute journey from Marple to Stockport, and, importantly, at all times of the day, including rush hours!
But I'm still very sceptical about the likelihood of any heavy rail plan actually being built. Whereas Metrolink has a remarkable track record (geddit) of getting new lines and extensions built quickly.
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I agree that what hatter suggests could work - in the unlikely event that the political will and the financial support could be found to make it happen.
Similarly, I think a 'chord' at Reddish Vale linking our line to the Stalybridge - Stockport line just before Reddish South could also work. Both routes look as though they would provide a 20-minute journey from Marple to Stockport, and, importantly, at all times of the day, including rush hours!
But I'm still very sceptical about the likelihood of any heavy rail plan actually being built. Whereas Metrolink has a remarkable track record (geddit) of getting new lines and extensions built quickly.
If I remember correctly, the Stalybridge-Stockport line is one of the "ghost lines" which runs once per week.
Edit: yes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockport%E2%80%93Stalybridge_line (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockport%E2%80%93Stalybridge_line)
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If I remember correctly, the Stalybridge-Stockport line is one of the "ghost lines" which runs once per week.
Edit: yes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockport%E2%80%93Stalybridge_line (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockport%E2%80%93Stalybridge_line)
One passenger service a week - in each direction. The line's also used for freight. The section between Guide Bridge and Stalybridge is also used by services to Huddersfield and Transpennine destinations.
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Excellent that we have a voice in TfGM, please keep us updated, Steve! A line to Stockport would be fantastic.
I lived in South Reddish for 5 years before moving here and from my experience of constant heavy traffic on the only other commuter routes to Manchester (both road of course) the place was crying out for a regular rail service to Manchester taking in both Denton and Gorton. If the will was there it would be up and running now.
The example is not quite the same as Marple as we already have two stations, but given that both serve Piccadilly and neither Stockport, it has always seemed stupid.
The Middlewood Way is a popular location but if the railway was resurrected tomorrow with a curve off to Hazel Grove I would not be sorry. Extension to Macclesfield would be useful too though think they have trammelled over it like all the other hacked Beeching lines.
I read somewhere that a service to Stockport could be diverted at Belle Vue, and given all the waste land around there this does seem a viable option.
And historically one shouldn't rush to blame the Conservatives for all the problems of the railways. Ernest Marples was a crook, and privatisation was a grave mistake, but Labour continued presiding over (after promising to reverse) a huge amount of Beeching cuts from 1964 right through to 1970 and beyond. They even closed lines down that he hadn't even recommended which would be an absolute godsend in easing motor congestion were they open now. The whole debacle is under-reported and often misunderstood.
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Heard yesterday that the Bredbury bypass had been scraped any info anyone .
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Where did you here this? I know that the government wants the council to come up with a cheaper solution, but I don't think they have categorically said no to the A6-M60 bypass.
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Try here:
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manch
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That link doesn't work for me. Anyone else having problems.
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https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/controversial-477m-m60-link-road-14832120
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Government in Westminster don't want to spend money on thing SHOCK!
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Where did you here this? I know that the government wants the council to come up with a cheaper solution, but I don't think they have categorically said no to the A6-M60 bypass.
The bluebell pickers will be happy
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Government in Westminster don't want to spend money on thing SHOCK!
I suppose after spending £14.8 Billion on Crossrail they are a bit skint. Perhaps they could let us have the left-over tarmac..
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I suppose after spending £14.8 Billion on Crossrail they are a bit skint. Perhaps they could let us have the left-over tarmac..
Thats now over buget by one billian before its started .
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I suppose after spending £14.8 Billion on Crossrail they are a bit skint. Perhaps they could let us have the left-over tarmac..
Westminster didn't find £14.8billion to pay for Crosrail. Only about a third of the money came from Westminster. The remaining two thirds has come from local sources - local taxes and businesses.
If London hadn't stumped up most of the cash, Crossrail would never have happened.
Crossrail 2 will be similar.
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Westminster didn't find £14.8billion to pay for Crosrail. Only about a third of the money came from Westminster. The remaining two thirds has come from local sources - local taxes and businesses.
If London hadn't stumped up most of the cash, Crossrail would never have happened.
Crossrail 2 will be similar.
its still one billian over budget and could be fifty billian over .
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its still one billian over budget and could be fifty billian over .
I have only seen comments that it its spend is £500m ahead of budget (not over budget) and that it is within its spending plan. This was from May. Even if it is overspent that does not mean the money will come from Westminster.
Given the budget was less than £15bn, an overspend of £50bn would be nigh on impossible.
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Heard yesterday that the Bredbury bypass had been scraped any info anyone .
If that MEN article is to be believed it's not actually been scraped or even scrapped, but the government are saying that a 'lower cost alternative' needs to be found. Let's hope it can, or the Torkington Road - Dooley Lane - Bents Lane gridlock will only get even worse ::)
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Good afternoon.
Please forgive me for jumping in mid way through a road discussion but I thought it a good time to update following my TfGM meeting last Friday.
I enquired (both by email and during an end of session discussion) the feasibility of a heavy rail link from Marple into Stockport by creating a spur onto the Reddish line. I was told it had been looked into and dismissed due to the lack of available platform space. This isn't physical space, it's the time space that is needed to allow a train to arrive, embark/disembark and depart. However this research was done several years ago and since then both timetables and service reduction have taken place.
The TfGM officer was positive and helpful, we are going to meet away from a public to see if this situation can be revisited. I believe this idea has decent public support and is worth pushing for. I will of course keep everybody updated accordingly.
I hope this message is to the satisfaction of those who read it, I am doing what I can to try and get better, safer and more environmentally friendly transport into where we live.
Kind regards
Steve Gribbon
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Hopefully, we don't have to wait until HS2 bypassed Stockport to get the platform space for more local services.
Good afternoon.
Please forgive me for jumping in mid way through a road discussion but I thought it a good time to update following my TfGM meeting last Friday.
I enquired (both by email and during an end of session discussion) the feasibility of a heavy rail link from Marple into Stockport by creating a spur onto the Reddish line. I was told it had been looked into and dismissed due to the lack of available platform space. This isn't physical space, it's the time space that is needed to allow a train to arrive, embark/disembark and depart. However this research was done several years ago and since then both timetables and service reduction have taken place.
The TfGM officer was positive and helpful, we are going to meet away from a public to see if this situation can be revisited. I believe this idea has decent public support and is worth pushing for. I will of course keep everybody updated accordingly.
I hope this message is to the satisfaction of those who read it, I am doing what I can to try and get better, safer and more environmentally friendly transport into where we live.
Kind regards
Steve Gribbon
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I enquired (both by email and during an end of session discussion) the feasibility of a heavy rail link from Marple into Stockport by creating a spur onto the Reddish line. I was told it had been looked into and dismissed due to the lack of available platform space.
Thanks for this report Steve. I'm not surprised that you were told the scheme is not viable, but I am surprised at the reason you were given.
There were once, long ago, 'bay platforms' at the north and (I think) the south end of platforms 1 and 2, similar to platform 3a which is still in use.
If a route from Marple via Bredbury and the Guide Bridge line were to be built, the northern bay platform (platform 1a) could easily be reopened. Similarly, if the route via the Middlewood Way and Hazel Grove were constructed, a south-facing bay platform (1b) could be opened.
It hard to believe that that is the real reason.
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Thanks Dave
This is why I'm going to delve a bit deeper and see what comes back, I'm going to see what can be done but to me being polite and courteous is key as the last thing I want is to be told no further dialogue will take place.
Kind regards
Steve
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Hopefully, we don't have to wait until HS2 bypassed Stockport to get the platform space for more local services.
HS2 is unlikely to release any much capacity at Stockport. The existing intercity trains will just be reconfigured to stop at more places and enhance services along the traditional lines.
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Thanks for this report Steve. I'm not surprised that you were told the scheme is not viable, but I am surprised at the reason you were given.
There were once, long ago, 'bay platforms' at the north and (I think) the south end of platforms 1 and 2, similar to platform 3a which is still in use.
If a route from Marple via Bredbury and the Guide Bridge line were to be built, the northern bay platform (platform 1a) could easily be reopened. Similarly, if the route via the Middlewood Way and Hazel Grove were constructed, a south-facing bay platform (1b) could be opened.
It hard to believe that that is the real reason.
It's not just platform space. To get to a reopened 1a or 1b the train would need to crossover the lines to platforms 0 and 1. That has capacity implications. For there to be no capacity implications a new line would need to come in and be independent of everything else that's already there.