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Scorn poured on Blackpool to Preston tram plan



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Published Date: 03 March 2008
By Rob Stocks
THE voice of rail users on the Fylde has poured scorn on plans to extend Blackpool's tramway to Preston.
Paul Nettleton insists the proposals would never work, claiming they would cause delays to other trains and ruin plans for greater community involvement on the South Fylde Line.

Mr Nettleton, of the Blackpool and Fylde Rail Users Association group which stands up for the thousands of passengers who use the two routes in and out of Blackpool, said: "These tramway plans fly in the face of the plans for the Community Rail Partnership (CRP) for the South Fylde line.

"A lot of hard work has gone into these plans, and come May, the CRP will be in full flow.

"This involves the use of heavy rail, whereas the tramway is light rail, so immediately there is a bit of a problem."

As revealed in The Gazette last week, Blackpool's regeneration company ReBlackpool – together with the North West Development Agency – is bidding for £50m of European funding for a new "hybrid" tram.

Switch

Already trialled in Germany, the new tram cars switch from electric to diesel power to run on non-electrified railways.

It is hoped it will mean Blackpool trams could run all the way from Fleetwood to Preston, via the South Fylde rail line. It will also serve Blackpool Airport.

But Mr Nettleton believes trams joining the main line from Blackpool North to Preston at Kirkham, could cause delays.

The line speed on that route is currently 70mph, but Network Rail is considering raising that limit to 90mph in the future.

Mr Nettleton said: "What happens at Kirkham Junction, when trams, which at a guess have a top speed of maybe 50 or 60mph, would use track which has currently a maximum line speed of 70mph, potentially more.

"A two-year-old could work out the fact that the trams would cause massive delays.

"These plans are ill-conceived and have not been thought through at all."

Mr Nettleton said Blackpool Council and ReBlackpool should instead press government to invest in the existing rail infrastructure.

He said: "It must seem rather strange for a rail user group to be against proposals involving a tramway.

Campaign

"However, in our view, it cannot work, and if the council wants to see regeneration, then it should join us in a campaign to get both rail routes into the town electrified. Only then might we see the valuable link to London restored."

ReBlackpool said their plans were at the very early stages.

The full article contains 426 words and appears in Blackpool Gazette newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 03 March 2008 8:00 AM
  • Source: Blackpool Gazette
  • Location: Blackpool
 
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fyldecoast,

fylde 03/03/2008 08:26:47
Waste of time idea. The trains are already there to Preston and who would own all this, not Blackpool council or BTS that's for sure. We need the trams giving a direct link to the airport TERMINAL not way down the road at the station . Similarly the numerous times proposed link to North Station need actually doing, then we might see something like an integrated sysem.
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PaulK,

Wyre 03/03/2008 09:22:02
How much would it cost to rip up the tracks and catenaries and turn the whole route into a dedicated bus lane? We wouldn't need a rail station or airport spur then. The vehicles would be much cheaper and your car radio will still work when a bus drives past.
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cliffc,

Middlesbrough 03/03/2008 13:40:36
Hi

The idea of main line trains and a rapid transit system shareing the same line can and does work, Up here in the north east when thay wanted to extend the Metro system to Sunderland part of the system is now run on the same lines as the normal train service between Newcastle and Middlesbrough, allthough not technicly trams the Metro trains dont have that big a top speed, and I would say any new trams built to run this new service would be as fast if not faster than the current metro trains.

Cliff C
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claremont,

Rail User 03/03/2008 15:23:47
Another poorly thoughtout idea... civil servants trying to waste more money....
what should happen is... A) re open fleetwood via thornton to poulton rail line.. B) extend the current tram system to Blackpool North Station and the Airport via Squires Gate Station.
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Not Quite Hayek,

03/03/2008 15:54:02
Mr Nettleton seems to grasp part of the big picture that local bureaucrats, intent on spending more taxpayers' money on grandiose projects and sinecures, are deliberately avoiding.

Blackpool is crying out for electrified lines to join it to the West Coast Main Line. We are cut off from the rest of the country without it!

However, I do not think that the hyrbid system should be entirely dismissed. It sounds viable for certain projects and I would probably disagree with Mr Nettleton about slower trams causing problems if they were to be used on a heavy rail network. Unless a metro-style system is being planned, I cannot imagine the frequency of heavy rail traffic will be subject to delays. In North, the train to Preston runs once an hour, for example.

Something I've briefly considered, which would perhaps be the least cost and most beneficial, would be to electrify the Blackpool North line and re-rail Talbot Road. Any replacement train station, as part of the new civic centre, could be a light/heavy rail hub, joining the Blackpool North line with the rest of the Blackpool tramway, which could then join the Blackpool South line at Squires Gate.

It would seem crazy to miss out on the opportunity of electrifying the Blackpool North line, at least! I would much rather £50m was spent doing that than on preserving old systems.
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Not Quite Hayek,

03/03/2008 15:56:02
I should add that PaulK hits the right note, too. Buses are proven to be more efficient than both heavy and light rail and the cost of replacing rail lines with bus lanes is relatively low with new developments in this area, not to mention quick to put in place!
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Yorkshire Rose,

03/03/2008 16:14:48
Buses are all well and good but they make some people travel sick like my Mother, whereas the train and tram don't.
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Tone from Thornton,

Thornton 03/03/2008 17:14:09
It's another crazy idea that will NEVER happen. Just like the proposed link road off the motorway, years of planning, meetings and public money spent then what .. SCRAPPED.
Just improve what we already have rarther than spend money on another fairy story.
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Paul Nettleton,

Blackpool 03/03/2008 21:49:47
Not Quite Hayek doesn't know his railway timetables very well. The Blackpool North line has on average four trains an hour to Preston, with the South line having one per hour.If I recall, the grant that Blackpool got to upgradethe tramway included 16 new sets of rolling stock. Therefore, based on that quantity, the service could be quite intense going through to Preston. The track layout at Kirkham and beyond, does not lend itself well to have 'light rail vehicles' using it and based on the theoretical number of services, the number of tracks would have to be increased between there and Preston. The money could be better spent on getting electrification which would enable long distance destinations e.g.Edinburgh, Newcastle etc to become the norm
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OUCH,

lancs.. 03/03/2008 22:14:45
I think paul is right.. a better link to other towns & cities..Direct links.. may?? bring visitors here if they don't have to change stations etc..BUT if?? you are going to spend so much On new fast link to preston etc.. why can't you add another line.. next to our local system, which then will not be held up by the slower local trams..??or even so when it actually meets the towns lines then take it overhead for the remainder of the short journey..IF?? a system has been in place( similar to what you want) in New york,it goes over the town in places, why can't it be done here.??
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