Extending the rail network
 

Why are there very rarely plans to increase or reopen railway lines with passenger numbers increasing all the time?

Macclefield (Cheshire) and Buxton (Derbyshire) are connected by a dangerous section of road which has to close more often than others due to an accident, bad weather or a combination of the two. There is a bus service between the two towns, but obviously if the road is closed the bus can't get through. To go between the two by train you have to go a long way round via Stockport and Buxton to Stockport trains get very busy normally when the road is open, so that is one route that I personally think should be introduced.

One line closed by Dr. Beeching (Sandbach, Cheshire to Northwich, Cheshire) carries one goods train a week. Yet the line goes through an average size town without a station (Middlewich) and goes right by Gadbrook Business Park in Rudheath near Northwich. The line would also allow a more direct service from Altrincham to Crewe, making the train more attractive option both in terms of cost and time.) The line must be in good enough condition for passenger trains as Holyhead to London trains have been diverted along it when the direct Crewe to Chester line was closed for engineering works.

There's also issues with parliamentary trains such as Stockport to Stalybridge and Chester to Runcorn, which would probably both get a fair number of passengers if they had regular services. Regarding the Chester to Runcorn one that journey takes 26 minutes, while Runcorn to Liverpool takes 23 minutes and Chester to Liverpool takes 45 minutes. So there probably could be a Chester to Liverpool via Runcorn service which would only take marginally longer than the Merseyrail service, hence providing much needed extra capacity between Chester and Liverpool at peak times.

A final point regarding the rail network is why are certain routes electrified and others aren't. For example, before the Metrolink in Manchester the local train service between Altrincham and Manchester was run by electric trains, but trains from Chester were diesel due to no overhead wires south of Altrincham. The track between Altrincham and Chester was prepared for electrification, however, British Rail decided it would cost too much and withdrew plans for it. Had it gone through it could easily have affected where the Metrolink goes south of G-Mex as diesel trains would had to be brought in to replace electric one, which would have been very uncommon. With longer distant routes it seems that many routes going in and out of London were electrified but routes used by other long distant trains weren't.

Given the terrain I don't think a railway line between Macclesfield and Buxton would be viable. There are no suitable valleys along which a railway could be built so much tunnelling would be needed to avoid steep gradients. This lack of a suitable route is the reason why the road is so hazardous. Even in the great days of railway building, when both towns were far more important than they are now, they were never directly linked probably for this reason.

I agree. I'm sure a few strategically placed stations and a well-timed service between Crewe-Northwich-Altrincham would work wonders. It would also ease some of the pressure on the Mid-Cheshire services between Northwich and Altrincham.

A Chester-Liverpool service via Runcorn could also serve Liverpool John Lennon Airport and provide commuters with an alternative to the daily traffic jams on the Runcorn-Widnes bridge.

A bit of track I would like to see reopened is the section from Colne to Skipton. Trains at present run from Blackpool to Preston and on through Blackburn & Burnley (line divides here for Leeds via Copy pit & Bradford) and on to Colne. I used this section quite regularly as a lad when I went spotting and still cant understand why they cut the line. It made a good divertion route as well to Leedsand the south.
There is a movement starting to get the tracks relaid = Hope they succeed!

It most likely will end up as a guided bus route as the Cambridge to Huntiongdon line will soon be.
John (G)

Electrify between Preston and Piccadilly!

And Hull to Doncaster/Leeds/York.:D

The problem with a Macclesfield to Buxton service would be that using the Buxton line the only direction you can go from Buxton is towards Stockport, which you can already do from Macclesfield. This would probably mean that there wouldn't be all that many people using the train between Macclesfield and Buxton at off-peak times unless a further line was built going in to Buxton.

With regards to additional trains between Runcorn and Liverpool, Virgin Trains would probably oppose it as they want to increase the number of Liverpool to London trains, not that they should always get their own way!


With regard to other services that haven't happened:

A local paper reported a few years ago that there was once plans to build a Macclesfield to Warrington service which would have called at Knutsford. I can't remember which station in Warrington it was planned to go into, but whichever station it was it could have cut journey times from the eastern side of Cheshire to Warrington and Liverpool and if it was Bank Quay station then also Bolton and Preston.

Cheshire County Council also stated quite a while ago that the Altrincham to Stockport line should be joined to the Manchester to Manchester Airport which is crosses, which is logical as the only trains which arrive at Manchester Airport without first calling at Manchester Piccadilly are local trains from Crewe or Alderley Edge.

How long ago was this? Are we talking pre-grouping?
I can imagine the North Staffs Railway planning a link between the Potteries and Liverpool Docks.

The article was quite a few years ago (before they started publishing most articles on the Internet) If I remember correctly it didn't say all that much about the proposal but just mentioned it in an article about how the train service could have been better.