Hope Valley Capacity Scheme, Transport and Works Order approved

[1978 14]

Over 3 years since anyone last posted here until today.

 

Examination of the Planning details show Network Rail engaging with Sheffield Planning as long ago as 2005. They'd been doing their internal planning for years before that. The entire business case would be different if started today, post Covid.

 

Manchester bound commuter trains are no longer rammed thanks to TPE providing 6 coaches and so many now working from home. Traffic to ManchseterAirport has all but ceased and that link has been withdrawn, probably permanently.

East Midlands are still struggling with old 158 andc 156 units, supposedly 4 car but often short formed with 2 - or cancelled thanks to a variety of stock and crew shortages, plus RMT industrial action.

Northern's Pacers have gone and many trains are now new 195s, often 3 car, and 150s, sometimes 4 car - especially Saturdays and  Sundays. Leisure users are returning far better than commuters.

 

The original business case spoke of freight from the Hope Valley cement works and paid scant attention to aggregates from the Buxton area quarries. Aggregate traffic has grown enormously since this scheme was planned and is now the bigger user of freight paths .   

 

The scheme was originally formulated to provide 4 fast passenger paths per hour between Sheffield and Manchester, reduced to 3 before the public inquiry in 2016. Realistically it has to be questioned if that is still necessary. Two  reliable fast services an hour with at least 4 carriages would currently suffice. Make them all 6 cars and it should cope for several years. Make the stoppers 4 car - and possibly extend the New Mills service limited stop from there to provide reserve capacity when the fasts fail for whatever reason! (Sending the Cleethorpes - Airport train to Liverpool instead, as is being planned, is unlikely to improve punctuaility.)

 

That would leave more room for the aggregate trains with plenty of passenger capacity on a variety of services. Currently Northern fares undercut the other two by big margins at many times and on most days. On 195 and refurbished 150 trains the extra 20 minutes end to end is  no hardship for very many.

[Annie Bynnol 611]

Other changes:

The reduction in the number of 'fly ash' trains from the power stations for the cement works, will be more than compensated by the nine 'slate' trains a week from Llandudno Junction via Crewe and Derby, or Stockport, or Romiley.

The Buxton aggregate traffic might be slightly reduced with the re opening of Penmaenmawr sidings.

[Annie Bynnol 611]

The work has officially started with the main contractor on site.

 

The Hope Valley line will be closed on Sunday 29th May and then every Saturday and Sunday in July(inc Aug 1st).

Further closures/reduced service will occur as construction work at Dore will not finish until Feb 2023 and signalling/Bamford loop until April 2024.

[1978 14]

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.

 

[RollingJ 1,993]

6 minutes ago, LovePotion said:

Sheffield - Manchester Piccadilly is very well served by the current express trains. 2 fast trains an hour sounds about right. I believe the councillors/MPs over estimate actually how many people travel to Manchester from Sheffield. If anything, they should extend the Transpennine service to the airport. Changing trains with holiday luggage is not good. Sheffield no longer has an airport, so providing a link to a major airport is vital. I understand that Liverpool and Luton airports do not fly to a range of destinations as large as Manchester, especially trans-Atlantic flights. 

 

The hope valley services would benefit from an increased frequency at key tourism times, such as Saturday midday services. It's the bus service to the Peak district that needs improving. A bus every two hours between Castleton and Sheffield is poor.

Some Sheffield-Manchester services did use to run through to the airport, but were removed because of capacity problems in the Manchester area.

[RollingJ 1,993]

Track space.

[Annie Bynnol 611]

26 minutes ago, LovePotion said:

Sheffield - Manchester Piccadilly is very well served by the current express trains. 2 fast trains an hour sounds about right. I believe the councillors/MPs over estimate actually how many people travel to Manchester from Sheffield. If anything, they should extend the Transpennine service to the airport. Changing trains with holiday luggage is not good. Sheffield no longer has an airport, so providing a link to a major airport is vital. I understand that Liverpool and Luton airports do not fly to a range of destinations as large as Manchester, especially trans-Atlantic flights. 

 

The hope valley services would benefit from an increased frequency at key tourism times, such as Saturday midday services. It's the bus service to the Peak district that needs improving. A bus every two hours between Castleton and Sheffield is poor.

The train frequency is not the problem although three fast an hour will be possible soon.

The under capacity is a serious and known concern to the rail operators with serious overcrowding on some services despite doubling of some train lengths. 

 

The 03 25 airport train still run as does one  late train. There will not be any return to hourly airport trains as they block the throat of Piccadilly station. Use the Nottingham Liverpool service for a cross platform change at Piccadilly. 

 

TheX57 bus to Glossop and  Manchester ended due to lack of passengers

Three buses every two hours to Hathersage(271/272 and 257), Hope and Castleton(271/272 and 256),

Two buses an hour to Bamford  Station bus turn around(271/272 and 256/257)

Bus every hour on weekends and BH between Ladybower, Bamford, Hope and Castleton.

 

There will be late night and weekend disruption to Manchester on the railway for up to two years for work at Dore and Bamford.

 

[Annie Bynnol 611]

2 hours ago, LovePotion said:

It's the local stopping services that are needed most on that route. They don't need to run all the way to Manchester, they could terminate at Chinley where they won't block the mainline to Stockport.  Over recent years this service has become incredibly popular with people travelling to Edale and the likes, sometimes bicycle space is sparse or simply not there! I counted 6 bikes on one train, overlapping in to the aisle, a sure trip hazard. At one point they were every two hours, I think on weekdays, that was a nightmare!

Many of the through/stopping trains from Sheffield used to stop/terminate at New Mills Central easily connecting into the Manchester local trains.

When the line from Chinley to Stockport was built in 1986 the mainline trains were diverted away from New Mills Central leaving the stoppers

Chinley used to be a very important junction and had several platforms with routes to Buxton, Stockport, Manchester and Sheffield. There is plenty of room for it to be used as an interchange and could quite easily be adapted.  

 

The stoppers as you say are more popular than ever, with new trains, cheaper fares and guaranteed seating. The hourly service to most stations and connections with the 256/7 and H1 at Bamford. A lot more passengers use it to get to Manchester.

 

Terminating at Chinley would mean that Hope Valley residents would loose access to Manchester and Manchester would lose access to the Hope Valley.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Annie Bynnol

[1978 14]

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.