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1978

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  1. Complete waste of money when we can't get the MML electrification to Sheffield confirmed with contractors appointed and Sheffield station reconfigured to take more trains. The pinch points in both the Sheaf and Don Valleys also need to be resolved before trying to push more trains through on already crowded corridors for already crowded trains. Priorities.
  2. This thread has drifted far away from Don Valley restoration. Although being listed as an example of where HS2 savings could be spent a fully costed and convincing business case has yet to be made, as it does for the probably easier reopening of stations on the still open and active Barrow Hill line. That may be difficult. The Northumberland line to Ashington reopens next year using still actively used freight tracks restored to modern passenger standards but not electrified. It will be interesting to see how well a half hourly service is used.
  3. The truth is that many staff working 'on' the railway have been working for some sort of agency or sub-contractor for many years. Two examples Lots of members of Network Rail's orange trackside army work for sub-contractors and they often further sub-contract parts of their contracts, sometimes to self-employed former Network Rail employees. They may prefer to pick and choose the contracts on which they work. Northern have sub-contracted station maintenance. Previously it was to Carillion until they went bust and staff had to be hastily TUPE'd to a new contractor - from whom many had been TUPE'd not very long before!
  4. Very little expected to be running tomorrow and probably best not to rely on even them. These are what seem to be currently planned for Sheffield; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:SHF/2022-06-21/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=pax-calls&order=wtt
  5. Maybe we should go back to the days before 1911 when MPs got no payment and were expected to have independent means? In 1911 they were first awarded a £400 annual salary when average annual earnings were probably less than £80 . Today an MPs basic is £84,144 against average annual earnings of about £38k, so relatively quite a lot less. That's set by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. However that's an entirely different debate. The vast majority of workers manage to achieve settlements without getting any further than the occasional ballot to take industrial action. That is usually enough without it needing to be implemented. Unfortunately in the railway industry there's a very long history where both sides are so used to action being implemented that the mere threat has lost most of it's effect. As one who lived through the high inflation years of 50 years ago when it reached 25% pa I recall how many workers got left behind. Very many on the lowest wages do not have unions or the muscle to keep up let alone get ahead. I support all workers getting what they deserve. The difficulty is who decides what that is. 50 years ago automation and revised working practices were introduced to slim down and deskill work forces gradually over many years. If the job is essential and can't be automated or deskilled the employer will have to pay more and that's what ultimately will decide the issue. The unions know the trade off for higher wages is likely to be fewer jobs. In this case more rail passengers travelling on reliable trains bring in more income and need more people to provide the services. Both sides know this and don't want strikes, but it's the government holding the purse strings.
  6. It was the new chord at Hazel Grove giving access to the Buxton line that allowed the fasts to go via Stockport, but it's single track so can be a bottleneck. Currently TPE are unable to offer a regular and reliable hourly service between Sheffield and Manchester, particularly at weekends. That's partly due to a backlog of training meaning that although some trains will be seen running they're out of service. They've reduced lengths of many back to 3 cars rather than the 6 that had just become standard in 2020 before Covid. And they're hit by industrial action regarding rest day working. The better news is that East Midlands Liverpool-Norwich route is running with 4 cars more often than it had been doing.. The best news is that Northern are now running 6 car trains on most of their services at weekends. Get in the last 2 at Sheffield or Manchester for end to end journeys only - they'll be out of the platforms at all intermediate stations. For end to end users it will take 20-25 minutes longer but a single journey will normally be a lot cheaper than on TPE or EMR - maybe a quarter of the price in the same hour. Check it out. Work on the Hope Valley Capacity Improvement Scheme has begun and will not be complete until late summer 2023. There will be no direct trains between Sheffield and Chinley (meaning nothing via the Hope Valley to Manchester) on many occasions over that period. The next known for certain are every Saturday and Sunday in July. Here's the contractors' May newsletter to local residents; Volker/Story May Newsletter Current loadings are far more unpredictable than previously. Commuting traffic was regular and fairly stable. It still is- but most days still below 50% of pre-Covid. On the other hand leisure users have returned in force and are greatly influenced by weather and specific one off events, possibly running up to 125% of pre-Covid! Leisure users are not so bothered about an extra 20 minutes if it's 25% of the price. A strong case could, and no doubt will, be made for adding a second stopping service rather than a third fast once the current works are complete. It might only require one extra train unit and crew as there is a path for an hourly service from Piccadilly to New Mills that often sits at New Mills for 40 minutes before returning. To run another fast would need 3 units and crews and there's not enough spare capacity in the Manchester area and possibly at Sheffield for them - but that's possibly a topic for 2023. Platform 2C in Sheffield only takes 2 car trains.
  7. The original contract for the work was to run until September 2023 with full commissioning by that date, landscaping and tidying up to follow. That date has been pushed back to November 2023. The second track through Dore station should be in place by August 2022 but will only be used by engineering trains until platforms have been completed and the new Dore loop fully connected in mid 2023. During the blockades stopping services are planned to run from Piccadilly to Edale with mini bus transfer to Hope to link with coach from Chinley into Sheffield. A suggestion of single track shuttle into Sheffield past the works is unlikely to happen as that would potentially delay the work on safety grounds. Extending from Edale to Hope might be possible and would eliminate the need for mini-buses. The indicative timetable from December 2022 that was issued a few months ago for the Sheffield - Manchester route won't be possible for the stopping service. It might be possible to improve one or two services in 2023 but more likely a fuller recast of services may come from May 2024.
  8. I'll avoid entering this political tussle left/right, but would just mention that the problem with railways is capacity to absorb that significantly large volume of passenger or freight traffic from the roads at any time in the foreseeable future, be they electric trains or not. The volumes are huge. HS2 was supposed to increase capacity by being an almost totally separate system. As now planned we'll get minimal extra capacity from East Midlands to Sheffield. Our railway lines used to be lined with rail connected factories and almost every station had a goods yard. Most passenger trains carried parcels and larger items. More than half the original stations have long gone. We've built massive warehouses in open country away from railways. We've built large housing estates with gardens and meandering streets on the outskirts of all our towns, mostly well away from railways. When factories or housing are near a railway any stops by slow passenger trains, or shunting wagons into a siding, delays fast trains. Cars will remain essential for the start and finish of many journeys, as will delivery vans and HGVs. Maybe what we really needed was to plan SS1, the slower speed freight dedicated railway.
  9. We seem to be flying away from HS2. However it wasn't helpful to the east leg's cause that Sheffield promoted a no hope route and rubbished the Meadowhall option. I seem to recall the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce supporting those views. We won't know for certain what will actually get built for years yet, whatever is announced now, but the suspicion seems to be that part of HS2 east will be built south out of Leeds and also north up to the East Midlands leaving a big gap very noticeably north and south of Sheffield!
  10. Wishful thinking that the Stocksbridge line is close to reopening when the feasibility study can hardly have been started yet.
  11. Waverley will be planned with some park and ride capacity. An hourly service wouldn't be enough to attract most users, particularly with cars, to use it. Compare with stations at Chapeltown and Dore. Chapeltown has 2 trains an hour to Sheffield, one from Leeds and one from Huddersfield. Dore has an hourly service to Sheffield from Manchester, with additional hourly morning services to and evening services from Manchester. Chapeltown's last assessed passenger numbers were higher than for Dore and part of that must be attributable to the more frequent service. Waverley's likely opening hourly service would be on the Lincoln line, a less attractive destination for most users than either Leeds or Manchester. Consequently it would be likely to attract similar passenger number to Darnall -which is not very many. Of course an extra hourly service to Chesterfield on a new route from Sheffield via Barrow Hill might permit 2 stops per hour at Waverley. That would put up the cost a lot, and would run into pathing issues.
  12. Commuting time trains are still fairly quiet, most still less than 50% of pre-Covid loadings. That will vary if one or more of the operators has a problem. Generally speaking go for the normally 6 coach TPE trains for speed, space and punctuality. Avoid East Midlands on their Liverpool-Norwich route. They have a shortage of carriages so when it should be a 4 car train it's often only 2. They're more often late and tend to cost more. Take an extra 20-25 minutes and the Northern stopping service is cheaper and they're operating longer and better carriages than the old Pacers of recent memory. Some days they may be 3 car new Class 195s.
  13. Don't know if anyone else has noticed but QPark seem to have withdrawn the 30 minutes free parking at Sheffield station. Consequently on Saturday morning the small short term car park was full and the drop off zone was totally blocked with parked cars.
  14. Engineered as a toll road (turnpike) by Thomas Telford construction was financed by the Dukes of Norfolk and Devonshire and opened in 1821. It was never a commercial success and was lightly used. The Snake Inn sign came from the Arms of the 6th Duke of Devonshire which depicted a serpent.
  15. The likely announcement will be spun as good news - electrifying the MML to Sheffield by 2030 (meaning 2035, then 2040) and pausing HS2 east until reassessment when Covid outcomes are clearer. Can kicked down the road until next Parliament (filed with projects like postponed Heathrow 3rd runway).
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