Trams for Bournemouth & Poole

[PTR 444]

As a frequent traveller of the slow and often congested Bournemouth - Poole - Christchurch bus corridor, it is safe to say that the area is dying for trams. My ultimate aim is for a network serving the entire BCP conurbation, but as there is so much area to cover, I will start with phase 1, the central section of the line serving the town centre between Bournemouth and Branksome stations.

My proposed line starts at the barely used platform 1 of Bournemouth station, before heading uphill and turning right to join the Lansdowne road. On-street running will commence at this point, with intermediate stops at Lansdowne and Pavilion, before diverting into the pedestrianised area to serve the pier. From there, it will rejoin Exeter Road as far as the Square before briefly heading off to serve a station there. It will then commence on-street running again down Avenue Road, before turning off down Norwich Avenue with another stop near the Triangle. A tram-only bridge over the Cambridge Road dual carriageway continues the on-street section due west along Norwich Avenue W, before crossing the A338 to join the Bournemouth West branch line. The final leg of this route uses this line past Bournemouth Traincare depot, with an intermediate stop at Westbourne, before finally terminating at the Branksome station platforms.

The initial service will operate with a 10 minute frequency, although some services will terminate at Westbourne since the platforms at Branksome do not have the capacity to take all these trams.

 

[PTR 444]

This is my plan for phase 2 of the scheme. Heading west, it shares tracks with the main line railway between Branksome and Poole Park, where it diverts onto a new segregated route to serve Baiter Park. Beyond there, it will run along local streets as far as Lower Hamworthy with the exception of a short section around Poole Station which will use a new elevated right of way. Onwards from there, it will use the freight-only line to Hamworthy, which will be rebuilt to allow for more frequent tram-trains and a new station at Lake, before crossing the SWML and utilising the old Castleman Corkscrew route to a terminus at Upton. This will be future-proofed to allow for a possible future extension along the old railway to Broadstone and Wimborne.

 

[30907]

Thanks for this. Some thoughts:
1. Bournemouth depot - are you proposing to demolish part of it, or to run through none-too-large back gardens?
2. Branksome - for phase 1, a separate terminus (on the south side) would be more manageable.
3. Tram-train - I think this is your biggest problem: a service of any decent frequency (eg 10 minutes) will conflict with NR over a significant length. Sheffield is difficult enough to timetable, and the German examples I know of are either low-frequency tram-train or low-frequency heavy rail...
I could see a 10-minute service being too infrequent at peak times, at which point you have serious issues to resolve.

 

[PTR 444]

Thanks for this. Some thoughts:
1. Bournemouth depot - are you proposing to demolish part of it, or to run through none-too-large back gardens?
2. Branksome - for phase 1, a separate terminus (on the south side) would be more manageable.
3. Tram-train - I think this is your biggest problem: a service of any decent frequency (eg 10 minutes) will conflict with NR over a significant length. Sheffield is difficult enough to timetable, and the German examples I know of are either low-frequency tram-train or low-frequency heavy rail...
I could see a 10-minute service being too infrequent at peak times, at which point you have serious issues to resolve.

1. I am actually suggesting that part of the depot could get taken over by the tram operator for storage and maintenance of their fleet. Even so, the tram’s right of way would take over the northern tracks in the sidings where there are no buildings in the way anyway.
2. Thinking about it, this is actually a much better idea. I know there is a car park for a dealership in the way but I suppose that could always go elsewhere.
3. The only way to get round this would be to have street running all the way between Branksome and Poole. You could route the tracks via the existing M1/M2 bus routes but knowing how bad the congestion is along Ashley Road, I very much doubt a tram would be any quicker along there. Alternatively, you could send it down St Aldhelms Road immediately after Branksome before utilising the quieter Penn Hill Avenue, although I don’t know if this option would be viable as bus patronage isn’t great down there.

Saying that, I wonder if anyone’s ever proposed building a parallel deck directly above the existing railway and having trams run along that?

 

[PTR 444]

This is Phase 2a which is basically a link from the main route to the university quarter of town. It will be future-proofed to allow future extensions to be built towards Wallisdown, Kinson and Charminster. 8 trams per hour will operate from the University, with half of these going to Bournemouth and the rest going to Poole. In addition to this, an increased frequency of 8 trains per hour will operate along the main route from Bournemouth Station to Upton. Also note the diversion of Phase 2 south of Branksome to run along Lindsay Road towards Poole.

 

[The Ham]

It certainly wouldn't be a bad thing to do.

 

[30907]

Re Bournemouth depot - going round the north side would make more sense, just one flyover at the Branksome end to factor in. Don't think the Big Railway will want you to take part of their depot for stabling though!

 

[markymark2000]

Is Bournemouth Bus/coach Station was rebuilt, could you not run the trams into there (south side of the rail station) rather than the north side which takes up heavy rail space?

 

[PTR 444]

This is Phase 3 of my proposed BCP tram network. It is an extension from the western terminus of phase 2 at Upton, from where it will run next to the road at Creekmoor. Between Creekmoor and Merley, the line utilises the dismantled Castleman Corkscrew route apart from a short stretch in Broadstone where it has been built on. The section between Merley and Wimborne will run next to the B3073, before utilising street running for the final stretch into the town centre.