APPENDIX 1
POTENTIAL RAIL IMPROVEMENTS IN NORTH WESTERN
ENGLAND INDICATIVE LIST OF SCHEMES PROPOSED (NO PRIORITY ORDER)
Restoration of passenger services on existing
lines
— Sandbach-Middlewich- Northwich.
— Clitheroe-Hellifield to link with
Settle- Carlisle.
Potential infrastructure enhancements
— Reinstatement of Burscough curves
to allow direct Preston-Southport and Ormskirk-Southport services
and Ordsall curve to allow trains from east to access Manchester
Piccadilly from Manchester Victoria.
— Grade separation at junctions such
as Euxton and Ordsall Lane.
— Increase capacity at Manchester Piccadilly
through Platforms 13-14 plus grade separation to reduce conflicting
movements across Manchester South.
Additional lines/double track
— Altrincham-Stockport to enable a
half-hourly service between Chester and Manchester via the mid-Cheshire
towns.
— Bolton- Blackburn double track to
enable a half-hourly service.
Additional passing loops
— Windermere and Blackpool South branches,
Ormskirk-Preston and Hope Valley to allow more frequent services
and/or services from a wider range of destinations.
Major line reopenings
— Manchester Airport Western link to
improve services from Cheshire, North Wales, Northern England
and Merseyside.
— Matlock-Buxton to provide an alternative
to Hope Valley route between north west and Derby/East Midlands
and open up a new route through, and to, the Peak National Park.
— Skipton-Colne to provide a direct
service between economically deprived East Lancashire and West
Yorkshire (Skipton/Leeds) and provide an additional Trans-Pennine
route.
— Bolton-Bury-Rochdale (possibly as
part of light rail Metrolink network).
— Manchester-Sheffield (via Woodhead)
to enhance Trans-Pennine services.
— Penrith-Keswick to provide a direct
rail service into the tourist critical northern Lake District.
Minor line reopenings
— Poulton-le-Fylde-Fleetwood to reconnect
Thornton Cleveleys and Fleetwood to rail network.
— Glazebrook-Partington to create alternative
freight route south of Manchester, relieving capacity through
chronically congested Platforms 13-14 at Manchester Piccadilly.
Station reopenings
— Skelmersdale (requiring two mile
rail restoration to re-establish link to town of 35,000).
— Leigh, Lancashire, population 42,000
(requiring reinstatement of four miles of track on former Leigh-Tyldesley
route, 0.5 mile new construction to join the Wigan-Manchester
main line to give rail access to Walkden-Manchester and/or to
Manchester via Metrolink light rail/street running).
— Small yet substantial towns and villages
which have no station and would benefit from restoration eg Garstang,
Coppull (on West Coast Mainline), Euxton (ex-ROF) Manchester-
Blackpool line.
Electrification—overhead
— Manchester-Blackpool North and South
routes via Wigan and Chorley.
— Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-York TransPennine
route.
— Liverpool- St Helens-Wigan enabling
through running to Scotland.
— Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham enabling
through services from Liverpool, Manchester.
Electrification—third rail system
— Ormskirk-Preston to recreate
the most direct Liverpool-Preston route.
— Kirkby-Wigan Wallgate to fill in
important gap in the electrified network.
— Liverpool-Bidston route.
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