[Archived] Train Station For Ewood And South Blackburn

[cruz]

Years ago the idea of a new train station behind Ewood park was mooted but it died a death.

There's now a campaign to get the plans realised

http://www.funplace2b.co.uk/rovers-train/

[gumboots]

Years ago the idea of a new train station behind Ewood park was mooted but it died a death.

There's now a campaign to get the plans realised

http://www.funplace2b.co.uk/rovers-train/

According to a friend of mine who was instumental in getting the line through to Clitheroe open again, there are problems with its being a single track at that point. Raises safety issues apparently.

[roversmum]

According to a friend of mine who was instumental in getting the line through to Clitheroe open again, there are problems with its being a single track at that point. Raises safety issues apparently.

They need to watch that programme that's currently on tv about Hill Trains in India. 100+ year old trains, single tracks running through the middle of towns and about two inches from people's houses, election campaigners walking en masse on the railway lines through the station, etc - don't think they have EVER heard of health and safety! It's on BBC4 and is available on bbciplayer, the next episode is next Sunday.

[Fife Rover]

Years ago the idea of a new train station behind Ewood park was mooted but it died a death.

There's now a campaign to get the plans realised

http://www.funplace2...k/rovers-train/

I can't see why single track working should cause a problem. They should be using token working sections with no train driver allowed to enter a section unless he is posession of the token for that section and there is only one token for each track section. That system has worked well ever since railways began.

[cruz]

The single track runs from Blackburn to near Bromley cross I think so why an extra station should make a difference is beyond my pea brain

[FourLaneBlue]

According to a friend of mine who was instumental in getting the line through to Clitheroe open again, there are problems with its being a single track at that point. Raises safety issues apparently.

It seems it would be too costly to build and also to make the line double track for most of it. That said...I thought at that point is was double track? I thought it only become single track after the Darwen stop when it goes through the tunnel on its way to Entwistle then Bromley Cross?

That is why there is usually a wait when going to Bolton/Manchester after Darwen for the other train to go through the tunnel.

Is that not right?

[gumboots]

It seems it would be too costly to build and also to make the line double track for most of it. That said...I thought at that point is was double track? I thought it only become single track after the Darwen stop when it goes through the tunnel on its way to Entwistle then Bromley Cross?

That is why there is usually a wait when going to Bolton/Manchester after Darwen for the other train to go through the tunnel.

Is that not right?

I don't know. Only reporting what I was told

[92er]

It seems it would be too costly to build and also to make the line double track for most of it. That said...I thought at that point is was double track? I thought it only become single track after the Darwen stop when it goes through the tunnel on its way to Entwistle then Bromley Cross?

That is why there is usually a wait when going to Bolton/Manchester after Darwen for the other train to go through the tunnel.

Is that not right?

I am pretty sure it's single track most of the way from Blackburn to Darwen.

[cruz]

Single track from Cob Wall to just before Bromley Cross with it briefly going to two lines just for Darren station

[Tris]

It seems it would be too costly to build and also to make the line double track for most of it. That said...I thought at that point is was double track? I thought it only become single track after the Darwen stop when it goes through the tunnel on its way to Entwistle then Bromley Cross?

That is why there is usually a wait when going to Bolton/Manchester after Darwen for the other train to go through the tunnel.

Is that not right?

No.

There is a passing loop at Darwen, but other than that the track is single from Blackburn to Bromley Cross. Trains travelling in opposite directions at peak time pass trains coming the other way at both Darwen and Bromley Cross, because the journey time between the two is 13 minutes.

ie - a train leaves Darwen at 8.00am and occupies the single line until it reaches Bromley Cross at 8.13.

Then a train going the other way leaves Bromley Cross at 8.15, and it occupies the single line until it reaches Darwen at 8.28.

So the most frequent schedule possible in either direction is every half hour. This is what they try and do in the morning and evening peaks, but it often falls down and knocks the timetable in both directions into chaos.

Why is this relevant for a station at Ewood Park? Well because the standard frequency on the line is 1 train per hour each way.

That will never change whilst the single track section remains. That means 150 seats per hour each way using the trains used today. So it would take 10 hours to get just 10% of Ewood's capacity to the new station assuming all trains in both directions only carried people going to Ewood Park (and started running at 5am).

This will never happen until they double the tracks between Blackburn and Bromley Cross. On the bright side, I've heard very recently that plans to do just that are moving in the right direction. On the negative side, even if the project was approved tomorrow, the way the railways plan and execute spending these days means that it wouldn't be realised until around 2020.

[Neil Weaver]

It seems it would be too costly to build and also to make the line double track for most of it. That said...I thought at that point is was double track? I thought it only become single track after the Darwen stop when it goes through the tunnel on its way to Entwistle then Bromley Cross?

That is why there is usually a wait when going to Bolton/Manchester after Darwen for the other train to go through the tunnel.

Is that not right?

It's a year or two since I did Blackburn to Bolton on the train, but pretty sure it's single track right the way from Blackburn (till Bromley Cross-ish). There's a passing loop at Darwen (station) but that's the only two track part. Fife's right that it works fine, problem is the time having an extra stop in the single track section. If the route is heavily used - I know there's not that many trains but it could well be there isn't much slack in there that would allow trains to take longer between Blackburn and Darwen - it would mean (at least) doubling the track like Darwen and installing the extra signalling that means.

Then there's building a station, giving it road access, parking.......

Grabbi Graeme's a train man isn't he so he might be able to throw a bit more light on all this.

Anyway, bit unlikely to happen methinks unless some kind benefactor has a few million to throw away, or the council has lots of spare budget from something like a scuppered bus lane plan.....

Edit : see Tris has just explained this rather better than me.

[Gav]

It’s a great idea, but will never happen because of the reasons Tris has already mentioned.

Also this line is constantly in the news for being unprofitable and close to closure, so that’s another reason it’s a none starter.

[mellison24]

It’s a great idea, but will never happen because of the reasons Tris has already mentioned.

Also this line is constantly in the news for being unprofitable and close to closure, so that’s another reason it’s a none starter.

REALLY? I wouldn't believe that for a second! Surely one of the most used lines in the NW?

[47er]

Wish the group well, its a worthy aim. However I think the bureaucrats will strangle the will to live from them over the next 10 years. Meanwhile what's wrong with fleets of buses from Blackburn Town Centre and Darwen Town Centre to Ewood just like it used to be? Surely they made a profit?

[cn174]

REALLY? I wouldn't believe that for a second! Surely one of the most used lines in the NW?

Lol, don't be daft! There's 4 trains per hour between Preston and Manchester, 4 trains between Liverpool and Manchester, etc etc.

[JAL]

Great idea, but for Blackburn right now and in the immediate future it(the town) needs fans to pass through the town centre, rather than stop off at Ewood, such is the fragility of Blackburn's town centre.

Sorry folks but economically its dead, though a good idea it is.

[FourLaneBlue]

On the negative side, even if the project was approved tomorrow, the way the railways plan and execute spending these days means that it wouldn't be realised until around 2020.

Ah well...something to look forward to, eh?

[jim mk2]

Years ago the idea of a new train station behind Ewood park was mooted but it died a death.

There's now a campaign to get the plans realised

http://www.funplace2...k/rovers-train/

First, it's not, and never has been, a "train" station.

It's called a railway station, always has been, always will be. Someone please amend the thread title.

There won't be a station for Ewood until the line is redoubled between Blackburn and Bolton, and even then it would depend in part on funding from local authorities who would rather spend taxpayers' cash on another roundabout or useless bypass.

The line was built with double track in the 1840s and sadly reduced to single line in the 1970s owing to short-sighted authorities who saw it as prelude to full closure.

Thankfully passenger traffic is thriving again (if not freight) and there are plans to redouble the line. Electrification is also a possibility but probably not in my lifetime. Those expansion plans will of course be thrown in the bin should the Tories regain power in the next election.

[cruz]

Great idea, but for Blackburn right now and in the immediate future it(the town) needs fans to pass through the town centre, rather than stop off at Ewood, such is the fragility of Blackburn's town centre.

Sorry folks but economically its dead, though a good idea it is.

Can't remember the last time I went for a pint in Blackburn. I only use it to change lines at the train station these days

[Beta Ray Bill]

First, it's not, and never has been, a "train" station.

It's called a railway station, always has been, always will be. Someone please amend the thread title.

There won't be a station for Ewood until the line is redoubled between Blackburn and Bolton, and even then it would depend in part on funding from local authorities who would rather spend taxpayers' cash on another roundabout or useless bypass.

The line was built with double track in the 1840s and sadly reduced to single line in the 1970s owing to short-sighted authorities who saw it as prelude to full closure.

Thankfully passenger traffic is thriving again (if not freight) and there are plans to redouble the line. Electrification is also a possibility but probably not in my lifetime. Those expansion plans will of course be thrown in the bin should the Tories regain power in the next election.

If you think the position we are in now is bad, just think what a pickle in nationally we'd have been in if Beeching II was ever adopted...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeching_Axe

scroll past the what did happen, to the section on what was proposed, and have alook at the map... eeek!

[jim mk2]

If you think the position we are in now is bad, just think what a pickle in nationally we'd have been in if Beeching II was ever adopted...

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Beeching_Axe

scroll past the what did happen, to the section on what was proposed, and have alook at the map... eeek!

Getting off subject here, but the Beeching cuts were an act of national vandalism instigated by a Tory transport minister (Ernest Marples) who had vested interests in the road haulage industry. He'd be in prison these days for corruption.

The Tories had another go at closing the railways in the 1980s through the Serpell Report and of course were responsible for the farcical privatisation of BR in the early 1990s led by a civil servant named Stewart Robson who later turned up on the board of Barclays Bank before it almost went bust two years ago. Another candidate for HMP.

Back on subject, an Ewood railway station is a good idea and in an ideal world of joined-up public transport thinking but it would be built but I doubt it ever will even with line double track because there are too many operational and funding difficulties.

[47er]

Getting off subject here, but the Beeching cuts were an act of national vandalism instigated by a Tory transport minister (Ernest Marples) who had vested interests in the road haulage industry. He'd be in prison these days for corruption.

The Tories had another go at closing the railways in the 1980s through the Serpell Report and of course were responsible for the farcical privatisation of BR in the early 1990s led by a civil servant named Stewart Robson who later turned up on the board of Barclays Bank before it almost went bust two years ago. Another candidate for HMP.

Back on subject, an Ewood railway station is a good idea and in an ideal world of joined-up public transport thinking but it would be built but I doubt it ever will even with line double track because there are too many operational and funding difficulties.

Even more off the subject Jim but allow me to recommend a book on this subject------Eleven Minutes Late by Matthew Engel. Has a lot on our Ernie and the 1990's privatisation. Very funny book as well.

[Hughesy]

And who is going to pay for this line!?

[SAS]

National rail/the government.

Its been needed for a while now, and thats without even thinking about Rovers.

However when it comes to investment, East Lancashire seems to get completely shunned.

Preston, Manchester, Liverpool seem to be getting an awful lot of investment in everything not just rail.

Surely there is more need to spend money in deprived area`s rather than massive cities.

[Gav]

Another reason that the project won’t happen anytime soon, is the lack of access to the proposed station. Plenty of land available near the Manxman pub, but access is a big stumbling block by all accounts.