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Archive => Archived Boards => Local Issues => Topic started by: wheels on February 01, 2021, 04:10:26 PM

Title: Rail Consultation
Post by: wheels on February 01, 2021, 04:10:26 PM
This might be of interest to some although it's a lengthy read. You have to get to page 34 of the consultation document to find mention of the Marple and Rose Hill lines. Still the read past a lockdown afternoon and was of general interest.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/consultation-launched-to-improve-manchesters-railways
Title: Re: Rail Consultation
Post by: Dave on February 03, 2021, 04:43:34 PM
Interesting paper - thanks for the heads-up wheels.

The most striking thing about it is that this is an official government consultation!  A reminder that as a result of the pandemic our Tory government has quietly nationalised the railway system, reversing the privatisation of the 1990s.

To save others ploughing through the 34 pages, here's a precis: essentially the consultation is examining options for 'tidying up' the rail services and timetables serving central Manchester, focusing especially on those which pass through the narrow 'corridor' between Piccadilly platforms 13 and 14 to Oxford Road and Deansgate stations.  It seems that there are simply too many services passing through that bottleneck, meaning that any delay to one service is multiplied and passed on to others.  The idea is to find pragmatic short-term solutions, which can be implemented quickly (i.e. next year) and don't depend on new infrastructure.  And what it boils down to, quite simply, is re-routing some services so that they no longer funnel through the bottleneck.

As wheels says, our line is barely mentioned - obviously because no Marple trains go through to Oxford Road nowadays.  But the planners hope that any tidying up of the timetable will have wider benefits for all services in and out of Manchester.
Title: Re: Rail Consultation
Post by: Melancholyflower on February 03, 2021, 10:27:49 PM
Thanks for the precis. I'll just be happy with a functioning railway network at the end of all this.


A reminder that as a result of the pandemic our Tory government has quietly nationalised the railway system, reversing the privatisation of the 1990s.


I don't think you can deduce that the full network is being re-nationalised from this (though I would prefer that).

Northern Rail was re-nationalised before the pandemic and as consultation is based solely on Manchester and the north, with the co-operation of TPE, it's just a reflection of that isn't it?
Title: Re: Rail Consultation
Post by: Dave on February 04, 2021, 10:50:36 AM
Yes and no.  Just before the pandemic, a year ago, as Melancholy says the government renationalised North Rail and operated its services through a new publicly-owned company called Northern Trains.

Then once Covid got going and passenger numbers collapsed throughout the UK rail network, the government suspended all rail franchising and simply paid the train operating companies to carry on running their (mostly empty) trains. In other words, in effect the franchises were converted into concessions.  But then later last year, the whole franchising system was officially abolished by the government. We don't yet know what will replace it.  But for the moment, the entire network is, in effect, nationalised. Amazing! 
Title: Re: Rail Consultation
Post by: Melancholyflower on February 04, 2021, 03:57:55 PM
Interesting.

But when you've pretty much nationalised life, railways seem small in comparison!