Station usage figures

[whole diary]

[tramway]

On another note, nice to see Avoncliff usage up

Probably down to the increasing use of that section of canal having narrowboats permanently occupied. It'll not be too long before you can walk to Bath without setting foot on dry land.

It also means that pretty much every early morning train now stops as there are now a couple of passengers, they'll be removing the X soon from the timetable. 

[eightf48544]

What surprises me is tha Denton and Reddish South actually appear and are not bottom considering they have one train a week in one direction only. It must be rail enthusiasts making the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) run the trian. I thought it was usually a taxi.

Related link.
http://www.andrewgwynne.labour.co.uk/b46abd47-6168-4094-21b4-913b02fc50c6

Good to see such a good campaign what about getting some West Country MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) riding on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains? There must be places to go with pubs as good as Staylybridge station.

In the 60s it was often quicker to get to Sheffield from London on the electric to Stockport DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) to Guide Bridge and electric to Victoria via Woodhead.

[John R]

Thanks SW lines. I'm now left wondering what the point/use of these stats is.

If anyone is making decisions based on these figures then they are missing something.
Personally speaking, as my local service aint exactly great I would most likely drive to
the next station yet if the local service was there I would definitely use it more.

The figures never show a "potential" or "what if"...

The report (which it says should be read before interpreting the figures) makes it clear the limitations of the count, and explains why situations such as the Tyndrum figures occur. (It highlights Tyndrum as an example.) So I'm sure that anyone actually using the figures to assist in planning decisions will appreciate the limitations.

And no, the figures don't show a potential or what if. Again, they're not meant to. They are stats of actual usage.   

[Lee]

On another note, nice to see Avoncliff usage up

Probably down to the increasing use of that section of canal having narrowboats permanently occupied. It'll not be too long before you can walk to Bath without setting foot on dry land.

It also means that pretty much every early morning train now stops as there are now a couple of passengers, they'll be removing the X soon from the timetable. 

That said, the Avoncliff stop in the 0600 Portsmouth-Cardiff service was removed in the May 2008 timetable, but with no impact on journey times.

[r james]

How is it that a train station can have just one service per week?  Surely from a timetable and oprational point of view it would be begter to have at lest one train per day?

And Im sure that if good deals were used, passengers would actually use those stations@

[Lee]

How is it that a train station can have just one service per week?  Surely from a timetable and oprational point of view it would be begter to have at lest one train per day?

Relevant link....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilning_railway_station

[eightf48544]

How is it that a train station can have just one service per week?  Surely from a timetable and oprational point of view it would be begter to have at lest one train per day?

And Im sure that if good deals were used, passengers would actually use those stations@

Basically it's a way of not closing these stations and having to go through the statutory process and be accussed in the press of running down the railways.

Politics the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) can we've not closed any stations for X years. What they don't say is that there are number where we've drastically reduced services such as Melksham.

On the latter point if services were provided they would be used as was proved by Wessex at Melksham where as the service improved the figures went up.

I can't remeber which but either Denton or Reddish South is right by a hugh supermarket, I think Sainsbury's.

[John R]

I travelled that route in January on a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train diverted to Manchester Victoria (by accident - just happened to be going to Manchester that day.) It struck me that the Stockport - Stalybridge line passes through some reasonably populated areas, as well as the journey opportunities afforded for passengers from Stockport accessing the TransPennine route without going into Manchester.

It's a lost opportunity, but I suspect this will be recognised and addressed in the next few years, as it's so obvious. 

[Lee]

I travelled that route in January on a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train diverted to Manchester Victoria (by accident - just happened to be going to Manchester that day.) It struck me that the Stockport - Stalybridge line passes through some reasonably populated areas, as well as the journey opportunities afforded for passengers from Stockport accessing the TransPennine route without going into Manchester.

It's a lost opportunity, but I suspect this will be recognised and addressed in the next few years, as it's so obvious. 

Related issues have been recognised and addressed by GMPTE^▸ (Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. Now TfGM^▸ (Transport for Greater Manchester. )), but unfortunately things are rather stalled at present (link below.)
http://www.gmpta.gov.uk/uploads/agendas/2/92/Reports/Item%2006.%20Dec%202008%20Rail%20Timetable.pdf

GMPTA Aspirations. 2tph service to Victoria (Stockport MBC, Tameside MBC, GMPTA).

Outcome of Initial Discussions ^ Given the present operational constraints over the route, and the need for capital investment to achieve the above aspiration, no changes are proposed.

[r james]

I just dont see how it cant be worth running at least two services a day, ie one in each direction?

Even Pear tree station where I come from in Derby sees a basic usable service!! 

Why did it come about that the service was reduced to such a level and when?

[Lee]

I just dont see how it cant be worth running at least two services a day, ie one in each direction?

Even Pear tree station where I come from in Derby sees a basic usable service!! 

Why did it come about that the service was reduced to such a level and when?

Archive quote from the Save The Train forum :

A bit of history may be of interest:
Manchester has two main stations - Victoria in the north of the city and Piccadilly in the south. Until 1989 (give or take a year) trains from north of Manchester (eg Preston, Bolton) used Victoria and trains from the south (eg Birmingham, London) used Piccadilly. The Transpennine trains from Newcastle/Scarborough/Hull/York/Leeds to Manchester and Liverpool also used Victoria station, passing through Stalybridge en-route. If you were making a journey from the North into Victoria and required a connection to the south from Piccadilly you had to get across Manchester city centre either by walking, taxi or using a bus that existed specifically to link the two stations (this was a few years before the tram system opened). All in all a bit of a hassle.

To try make things easier for any Transpennine passengers travelling to and from the south BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ran a shuttle service from Stalybridge to Stockport via Denton and Reddish South. Stockport is on the line from Piccadilly to the south so by using the Stalybridge-Stockport train you could pick up a train to the south at Stockport rather than having to go into Manchester and make your way from Victoria to Piccadilly. So the shuttle was there basically for the convenience of passengers making a North-South journey across Manchester.

However in 1989 (give or take a year) the Transpennine trains were rerouted from Victoria to Piccadilly so now there was no need to make the awkward journey across Manchester from Victoria to Piccadilly. This re-routing made the Stalybridge-Stockport shuttle somewhat redundant and it was reduced to the one train per week service needed to avoid having to go through with the closure procedures.

I don't know how much traffic Reddish and Denton attracted when there was a regular service but I suspect it was just a bonus to BR, the end-to-end traffic from Stockport to Stalybridge would have been the reason for the service.

It's worth pointing out that even if Reddish and Denton were to close the line itself would remain open.

For the future it would be interesting to see if a Stockport-Manchester Victoria service via Reddish and Denton would be viable. In recent years there has been a lot of office development in the north of Manchester near Victoria so there's potentially a demand from commuters living south of Manchester who want easy access to the northern part of the city. In addition, looking at a map, Denton station is adjacent to the M60/M67 interchange so there might even be Park and Ride potential assuming it was possible to get from the motorway to the station.

[Lee]

The new joke station I think is going to have to be Buckenham...

Indeed, the Buckenham service (not to mention its "promotion") is rather a joke.

Buckenham was served by one train on Monday-Fridays, but the service now consists of no services on Monday-Fridays, one service in each direction on Saturdays and four services in each direction on Sundays (reduced to three from 14 September.)

However, promoting usage of the Buckenham service (or indeed bothering to make sure they know when the trains actually call at Buckenham) doesnt appear to be high on the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership's list of priorities. Their website actually says to use Brundall instead, as Buckenham is served on Sundays only (link below.)
http://www.wherrylines.org.uk/route.htm

Their area map also states that Buckenham Station is served on Sundays only (link below.)
http://www.wherrylines.org.uk/images/Lingwood%20&%20Buckenham%20Sign.paths.s.pdf

There is a caveat that the information is correct at the time of uploading to the internet (April 2007), but its still a pretty poor show, considering we are now in June 2008.....