Johnson was as committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail as he had been to Crossrail

[1.618034]

There are two Standedge tunnels on the main route between Manchester and Leeds, via Diggle and Marsden. One rail and one canal.

I'd fuck off the barges, let them do the more scenic Leeds/Liverpool route that goes north, and convert the Standedge canal tunnel to rail.

Simple.

 

[mat]

I thought was the idea?

Forgot to add they didn't want to run it any further than that anyway. Just create a rich mans rail link to London.

 

[KPXBLN]

There are two Standedge tunnels on the main route between Manchester and Leeds, via Diggle and Marsden. One rail and one canal.

I'd fuck off the barges, let them do the more scenic Leeds/Liverpool route that goes north, and convert the Standedge canal tunnel to rail.

Simple.

Not sure if you’re serious but if you are, canal tunnels are basically the width of one narrow boat plus some clearance. Even if it was practical to block/divert the canal you’d have to massively enlarge the tunnel to use it for trains

 

[andyhinch]

Not sure if you’re serious but if you are, canal tunnels are basically the width of one narrow boat plus some clearance. Even if it was practical to block/divert the canal you’d have to massively enlarge the tunnel to use it for trains

Get the barge to Leeds ? Might be faster in the long run.

 

[bluethrunthru]

Get the barge to Leeds ? Might be faster in the long run.

Only if all the Uber bath chairs are booked

 

[East Level 2]

The railroads in the USA would start at both ends and meet in the middle, should be the policy here to avoid the usual shafting.

They'd never meet up if Johnson, Grayling, Schapps and Raab were planning the routes.

 

[1.618034]

Not sure if you’re serious but if you are, canal tunnels are basically the width of one narrow boat plus some clearance. Even if it was practical to block/divert the canal you’d have to massively enlarge the tunnel to use it for trains

Ah. Balls.

I'm a layman. Forgive my ignorance.

So what was the original upgrade plan?



How about a monorail over the top?

-)

 

[bluejon]

Ah. Balls.

I'm a layman. Forgive my ignorance.

So what was the original upgrade plan?



How about a monorail over the top?

-)

probably herds of whippets in flat caps

 

[mat]

I have to laugh.

One of the "improvements" being touted is faster journey times from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway.

A 7 mile stretch of branch line used mainly by freight being upgraded from 50mph to 90mph for a non existant rail service between a major city and a station in the middle of nowhere we call East Midlands White Elephant.

20 years ago they planned to upgrade that line for increased passenger traffic and build the parkway there as it was less than a mile transfer to East Midlands airport. Naturally they decide it would cost too much and it was far cheaper to build four platforms in the Midland Mainline next to a power station with no bus connections because the TOC that manages it demanded extorniate prices for a skylink service to stop there. So they could use a sister company to offer cheap fares to london from the north east to london where they caught their buses and transferred to train at EMP to get passenger numbers up.

One year they proclaimed record numbers of footfall there. This was because Nottingham Station was closed for remodelling over the summer.

Smoke and mirrors. Billions going into Tory party donors pockets again.

 

[Vic]

There are two Standedge tunnels on the main route between Manchester and Leeds, via Diggle and Marsden. One rail and one canal.

I'd fuck off the barges, let them do the more scenic Leeds/Liverpool route that goes north, and convert the Standedge canal tunnel to rail.

Simple.

There are three railway tunnels (the original single track tunnels, disused, and the double track). Having legged a canal boat through Standedge, I can't imagine converting it would be any cheaper than boring a new tunnel.

You'd have to look at where the Tories want to "improve" services and work out how many marginal constituencies are involved.

The obvious thing would be to have the new line Manchester-Leeds and run HS2 trains that way to Leeds, and maybe HS2 trains on ordinary lines from Brum to Nottingham (Toton) and Sheffield. Unless they mean to build HS2 to East Midlands Parkway and then run the HS2 trains north.