| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/2809 Written by Lee on Monday, 8th January 2007 Here is a Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardwick_railway_station I would very much like to hear from anyone who lives near Ardwick station , or who has knowledge of the station / surrounding area. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/2824 Written by Steve35 on Tuesday, 9th January 2007 To quote from uk.railway newsgroup: "Ardwick is in the middle of urban decay and rundown industrial estates." You pass through it on the Manchester Piccadilly-Leeds Transpennine trains and it does look like it's in the middle of nowhere. It's only half a mile (if that) from Piccadilly so if you were going into the city you'd either walk or get the bus. Pretty pointless getting the train as you'd only be on it for about 1 minute. I suspect there may once have been passengers going to work in the adjacent industrial units but for whatever reason (recession?) this traffic died off. The station is a small island platform between the two tracks with a basic bus shelter and seat. It's too close to the city centre to turn into a Park and Ride so it isn't immediately obvious what it's purpose is these days. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/2828 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 9th January 2007 Cheers for that , Steve. I know from my own research (not promising , which is why I started this topic with the question I did) that Ardwick is going to be a tough one. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/2887 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 10th January 2007 Here is the view of Eye On Manchester (link below.) http://www.eyeonmanchester.com/category/public-transport/ Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/3024 Written by AidanORourke on Sunday, 14th January 2007 Hi, I am 'Eye On Manchester' alias Aidan O'Rourke, photographer and writer specialising in the recent development of Manchester. I feel very strongly about the way the railways around Manchester have been allowed to degrade. Quite a few lines and stations were closed in the post war years, some of which would now be viable again, if only they hadn't been abandoned. The same could be true of Ardwick Station. Yes, it's a tiny halt less than a mile from Piccadilly, and yes, the area around it has seen a steady decline over the years. But that area is currently undergoing redevelopment. New houses are being built not too far away. A new refurbished office development just a few steps away from the station will be opened shortly. I don't necessarily accept that a station that's a short distance from main station is necessarily unviable. It's all about critical mass. In Japan they have a dense and well used railway system, so a smaller station is still viable in that context. In the British context, where railways have been undervalued, underfunded and are consequently under used, a small station will 'drop off' the scale of what's considered viable. But what if, in a few years time, this area is able to support a station again? What kind of message does it send out about the railways when a station is closed? How much would actually be saved by closing the station? It's unmanned and surely it requires just some maintenance. I'm not going to start telling railway managers how to do their job, I'm just posing questions. Closing stations may not be the best strategy in the long term, and I think it sends out a negative message, so I would urge those responsible to think again. Personally I think all the disused railway lines around Manchester should be re-opened, and new ones built, but that's another story! Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/3025 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 14th January 2007 [quote author=AidanORourke link=topic=1009.msg3024#msg3024 date=1168801429] Personally I think all the disused railway lines around Manchester should be re-opened, and new ones built, but that's another story! [/quote] Hi, Aidan ... great to see you here and posting. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4205 Written by Tracker on Thursday, 8th March 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=1009.msg2809#msg2809 date=1168266871] Here is a Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardwick_railway_station I would very much like to hear from anyone who lives near Ardwick station , or who has knowledge of the station / surrounding area. [/quote] I use the station - what would you like to know? Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4217 Written by Nick Field on Friday, 9th March 2007 [quote author=Tracker link=topic=1009.msg4205#msg4205 date=1173367348] [quote author=Lee link=topic=1009.msg2809#msg2809 date=1168266871] Here is a Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardwick_railway_station I would very much like to hear from anyone who lives near Ardwick station , or who has knowledge of the station / surrounding area. [/quote] I use the station - what would you like to know? [/quote] Hi Tracker welcome to the forum. any information you could provide would be useful: Passenger numbers History - was the service better in the past Potential for the future if the right service were to be provided etc, how would the station fit into the overall network Any new development around the station etc etc Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4229 Written by Tracker on Friday, 9th March 2007 Hi Nick, Here goes: Passenger numbers are higher than some numbers I have seen (3 or 5 people), but not by much due to the very low number of trains stopping at the station. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4233 Written by AidanORourke on Friday, 9th March 2007 Yes, there are two things to note. When people say 'There are only 5 passengers a day so the station should be closed', actually the low number of passengers is because trains are not stopping there. Also the approaches to the statiion are not exactly salubrious. The other thing is that there is a lot of development going on all around the station. All it needs is a 'joined up' approach, and the station could be much better used. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4245 Written by Lee on Saturday, 10th March 2007 Many thanks , Tracker & Aidan. What are the chances of an effective Ardwick campaign being launched? I am mindful of the excellent efforts of Andrew Gwynne and others at Denton / Reddish South (link below.) http://www.andrewgwynne.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=20617 Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4251 Written by Tracker on Sunday, 11th March 2007 If the station closure process is implemented then I think a very effective case can be put forward (in terms of relieving road congestion). My understanding is that the closure proposal was a recommendation in a draft report. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/4297 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 13th March 2007 According to Network Rail , "Consultation responses are being considered and a final strategy will be published in early spring 2007." Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5077 Written by Lee on Thursday, 3rd May 2007 "Publishing its North West Route Utilisation Strategy yesterday (1 May) Network Rail said it would not pursue, for the time being, the closure of Ardwick, Denton and Reddish South stations which was included in the draft RUS (Transport Briefing 13/11/06). However, the infraco says it will reconsider closure if the stations require significant amounts of money spending on them in the future." (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/05/network_rail_drops_plan_to_clo.html#more Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - dropped! - 1009/5078 Written by Tracker on Thursday, 3rd May 2007 Please see the link for more details: http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=3996 Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5081 Written by Lee on Thursday, 3rd May 2007 Andrew Gwynne is now working closely with GMPTE to draw up a proper set of proposals for a service from Stockport into Manchester Victoria. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5090 Written by Tracker on Friday, 4th May 2007 Page 74 of the RUS states: "Option 5: Close Ardwick Station GAPS ADRESSED Low footfall stations DESCRIPTION Ardwick receives a low level of service (five trains a day: well above the legal minimum) because anticipated demand does not justify increasing it. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5092 Written by Lee on Friday, 4th May 2007 [quote author=Tracker link=topic=1009.msg5090#msg5090 date=1178265485]QUANTIFIED ANALYSIS There would be journey time benefit to passengers on trains no longer stopping at Ardwick. Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5095 Written by Tracker on Friday, 4th May 2007 Lee - Seems simple enough to me (but I am not a transport planner) - sometimes the best ideas are the simple ones! Re: Proposed Closure Of Ardwick Station - 1009/5386 Written by Tracker on Thursday, 24th May 2007 If you dig in to the detail - passenger numbers are up by 25% at Ardwick Station! http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529 link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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