Market Harborough - Northampton Proposed Re-opening

[SargeNpton]

And Roade's station closure had been proposed pre Beeching - one BR proposed closing as far back as 1958 but had been deferred.

Roade station is one of the few 'reopenings' in Northampton which I think actually has some merit - the others being some form of Rushden Parkway station and at a push, Desborough station.

Roade was proposed for re-opening 20 or so years ago, with the county council providing some of the funding. I understand that the sticking point was that Railtrack/Network Rail wanted platforms on the fast and slow lines, but that the council only wanted to fund a station on the slow lines.

 

[A0]

Roade was proposed for re-opening 20 or so years ago, with the county council providing some of the funding. I understand that the sticking point was that Railtrack/Network Rail wanted platforms on the fast and slow lines, but that the council only wanted to fund a station on the slow lines.

I have to say Northants CC (now departed) gets a bad press on many things, but that was an eminently reasonable position to take.

There's no way to access the Northampton loop at Roade, so any Northampton bound services would have to be on the slow lines by then. So what use would fast line platforms have been ? A bit like the ones a few miles further down at Wolverton they wouldn't have seen any regular use, so building them "just in case" would have increased the cost and been a bit of a waste.

 

[The Planner]

Roade was proposed for re-opening 20 or so years ago, with the county council providing some of the funding. I understand that the sticking point was that Railtrack/Network Rail wanted platforms on the fast and slow lines, but that the council only wanted to fund a station on the slow lines.

And there isn't anything wrong with that, as long as the expectation is that when a slow line block is needed its getting bus replacement. If it was that or no station then I know what I would compromise on.

 

[RT4038]

Perhaps it was because rural, agrarian communities had neither the need nor the means to travel far; or because Northampton has been at a crossroads of road communication since the Romans, and was always road-orientated (there was a number of coaching inns in the town). Anecdotally, none of my neighbours, in a comparatively affluent area of Northampton, ever travel by train so the lack of lines, or the poor service on the line that is still open, causes absolutely no comment or concern.

Yes, Northamptonshire is very very rural, apart from the town of Northampton itself, and the Iron and shoe 'reef' Rushden/Higham Ferrers/Raunds/Wellingborough/Finedon/Irthlingborough/Kettering/Desborough/Corby. Both sections are/were quite insular and self sufficient. Once the motor bus appeared, to take people on the relatively short journey into Rushden or Wellingborough or Kettering, any quantity of local travel by train evaporated. It is interesting to note that the through bus service between Rushden and Northampton was very thin into the 70s, but then Rushden had its own Department store etc, so why go further afield? (and I suppose Bedford or Kettering was closer) . Northampton as a town was very self sufficient and I suppose little need to go further afield,

 

[Merle Haggard]

And there isn't anything wrong with that, as long as the expectation is that when a slow line block is needed its getting bus replacement. If it was that or no station then I know what I would compromise on.

Well, the Northampton - Wolverton - Milton Keynes Central railway replacement bus that runs on many Sundays drives through the middle of Roade...

It was curious that when Roade station closed all three platforms were removed very quickly, but the former station at Castlethorpe, Bucks, closed earlier than Roade, retains the platforms to the present day.

 

[A0]

And there isn't anything wrong with that, as long as the expectation is that when a slow line block is needed its getting bus replacement. If it was that or no station then I know what I would compromise on.

Is there a way to get from the fasts to the slows in the vicinity of Roade ? I couldn't see one on Google Earth - in which case when there was / is a slow line block, then surely it'd would have been a bus replacement from Milton Keynes to Northampton as it is now ?

 

[A0]

Well, the Northampton - Wolverton - Milton Keynes Central railway replacement bus that runs on many Sundays drives through the middle of Roade...

Which makes perfect sense - because if you've served Wolverton you either have to cross all the way back across MK to reach Junc 14 to use the M1 or you either go via the lanes or over to Stony Stratford and pick up the A508 which takes you through Roade.

Clearly if the RRBs didn't need to serve Wolverton it would probably be quicker to use the M1.

 

[A0]

Yes, Northamptonshire is very very rural, apart from the town of Northampton itself, and the Iron and shoe 'reef' Rushden/Higham Ferrers/Raunds/Wellingborough/Finedon/Irthlingborough/Kettering/Desborough/Corby. Both sections are/were quite insular and self sufficient. Once the motor bus appeared, to take people on the relatively short journey into Rushden or Wellingborough or Kettering, any quantity of local travel by train evaporated. It is interesting to note that the through bus service between Rushden and Northampton was very thin into the 70s, but then Rushden had its own Department store etc, so why go further afield? (and I suppose Bedford or Kettering was closer) . Northampton as a town was very self sufficient and I suppose little need to go further afield,

Not only Rushden - Raunds, which is a little further and is smaller than Rushden had a department store until as recently as 2013 !

 

[Merle Haggard]

Which makes perfect sense - because if you've served Wolverton you either have to cross all the way back across MK to reach Junc 14 to use the M1 or you either go via the lanes or over to Stony Stratford and pick up the A508 which takes you through Roade.

Clearly if the RRBs didn't need to serve Wolverton it would probably be quicker to use the M1.

Indeed; but my post was a response to what I interpreted as the suggestion that if a station were provided at Roade it would be a problem to serve with an R.R.B. when the New Line is blocked by engineering work

 

[Intercity110]

I’d love it, but then it would mean closing the NLR and the brampton valley way which have provided some lovley days out so no.

 

[Nottingham59]

Is there a way to get from the fasts to the slows in the vicinity of Roade ? I couldn't see one on Google Earth - in which case when there was / is a slow line block, then surely it'd would have been a bus replacement from Milton Keynes to Northampton as it is now ?

The nearest is Hanslope junction, halfway between Roade and Wolverton

OpenRailwayMap

OpenRailwayMap - An OpenStreetMap-based project for creating a map of the world's railway infrastructure.

www.openrailwaymap.org

 

[Jimini]

Not only Rushden - Raunds, which is a little further and is smaller than Rushden had a department store until as recently as 2013 !

Was that Peter Crisp, opposite the church?

 

[Merle Haggard]

On the Stratford & Midland Junction between Olney and Towcester, Wikipedia has this gem

"On the first service, it was reported that one person alighted at Salcey Forest, but no-one joined, whilst at Stoke Bruerne, seven joined and one alighted. The service, which ran from Olney to Towcester, stopping also at Stoke Bruerne, attracted no more than twenty passengers a week and the SMJ incurred a loss of £40"

Pretty bad, I know. But here's a quote from 'Portrait of the Central Wales Line' about a committee that discussed possible economies on the line. For the year ending 30. 6. 1959 Ffairfach; Local services receipts - £10/19/1d. Long distance receipts - £10/10/8d Clifton Down special - £25/1/6d - total £46/11/6d. At the time, it was staffed.

Ffairfach remains open today. Perhaps the excursion tipped the balance - or maybe there is a variation in the treatment of different areas.

 

[A0]

Was that Peter Crisp, opposite the church?

No, it was a Co-op Home & Furniture store. Now QD Discount, but if you look on Google Streetview the earliest records they have is when the Co-op was still open.

Ffairfach remains open today. Perhaps the excursion tipped the balance - or maybe there is a variation in the treatment of different areas.

There was - Labour kept the Heart of Wales line open after George Thomas pointed out how many seats they'd lose, but the Waverley line which was equally unremunerative was closed - that ran through Liberal and Conservative held seats......