Why did Haxby get funding instead of Strensall?

[HST43257]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section of the site - feel free to move.


So recently(ish) the government announced funding for Haxby station. This had been campaigned for a bit more than Strensall, but I believe Strensall would be much more effective in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

Haxby does have a higher population (about double) than Strensall but it has a bus every 10-12 minutes. I believe that with a solid 10 minute frequency, or even 7.5, Haxby would get even more people out of cars and onto good buses. It’s worth noting that the Number 1 bus (to Haxby) is one of the most used in York and the Number 5/5A bus (to Strensall) is one of the least used. This is because Strensall is further away and simply more people want to drive, despite the 15 minute bus frequency. Surely a station at Strensall would get more people out of cars, rather than Haxby residents going from bus to train.

As far as I’m aware, it was very much an either-or situation with the 2 stations, though I believe having both would be excellent.

 

[DB]

Haxby is bigger, plus might also attract passengers from Wigginton.

I agree that a sensible strategy would be to have one at Strensall as well - ideally with a large car park so that it could effectively act as a park and ride station for the area to the north and east.

 

[Halifaxlad]

Politics!

It kinda of reminds me why Elland got a station over Greetland!

Politics plain and simple!

 

[Timrud]

Haxby has almost double the population

 

[swt_passenger]

I thought this was still just funding of further development, not the actual build? We seem to have discussions of Haxby in quite a few existing threads though, it’s hard to keep up...

New Station calendar

A fair point. But even if 10% transferred to rail it would still make Faslane one of the busiest stations on the whl! 1605873708 BTW, if you look on twitter, eg @AlexHynes you will find links to recent pictures showing the uncovering of Levenmouth station during vegetation clearance.

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Taunton]

So recently(ish) the government announced funding for Haxby station. This had been campaigned for a bit more than Strensall, but I believe Strensall would be much more effective in terms of reducing carbon emissions ...

I have always believed that a key aim of public transport investment is the number of those who will be actually using it - the return on investment. Cost versus revenue is mainstream. Quoting carbon emissions is certainly a current fad, but principally seems used by proponents who can't get accepted by conventional means.

It’s worth noting that the Number 1 bus (to Haxby) is one of the most used in York and the Number 5/5A bus (to Strensall) is one of the least used.

Bit of a giveaway ...

 

[DB]

Bit of a giveaway ...

To an extent, but Strensall is far enough out that people will mostly have cars - and many of those wouldn't use a bus but might use a train.

 

[Class 170101]

Carbon emmissions seems a bit of misnomer to me, if people drive to a station = more carbon emmissions. Somehow need to make buses more 'sexy' so that people get one to the station to catch trains rather than use cars.

 

[D6975]

Here in Bristol we have a substantial fleet of buses that run on gas, producing only water as the ‘waste’ product - zero carbon. Unfortunately they are not ‘sexy’ as the gas is produced by a local sewage works.

 

[Oidawa]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section of the site - feel free to move.


So recently(ish) the government announced funding for Haxby station. This had been campaigned for a bit more than Strensall, but I believe Strensall would be much more effective in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

Haxby does have a higher population (about double) than Strensall but it has a bus every 10-12 minutes. I believe that with a solid 10 minute frequency, or even 7.5, Haxby would get even more people out of cars and onto good buses. It’s worth noting that the Number 1 bus (to Haxby) is one of the most used in York and the Number 5/5A bus (to Strensall) is one of the least used. This is because Strensall is further away and simply more people want to drive, despite the 15 minute bus frequency. Surely a station at Strensall would get more people out of cars, rather than Haxby residents going from bus to train.

As far as I’m aware, it was very much an either-or situation with the 2 stations, though I believe having both would be excellent.

The history of plans to reopen Haxby station are long and somewhat murky as successive attempts have gained and lost traction. Unfortunately circumstances and prevailing conditions of the day have previously made it a difficult or costly option. There were plans to reopen a short string of three stations including York Hospital, Haxby and Strensall, served by a shuttle service.

Successive local transport plans have gradually reduced this ambition down to just Haxby; with it serving the largest population and having the most viable site, and thus the best business case. It’s very difficult for local Councils without regional transport bodies (York does not have a TfGM, Metro, of SYPTE) with the resources to promote and develop station sites, as their chief concern is balancing an increasingly constrained budget and maintaining the roads.

Until recently we have not had the regional authorities such as Rail North and TfN to help make the case. It’s also only recently that TPE have updated their fleet and that Northern have developed plans to introduce new York to Scarborough services. These changes have made new station options on this line far more viable.

If City of York Council are to achieve any new station within the resources they have available, best to put its efforts into getting Central Government and the DfT to support and fund the construction of Haxby station; then if Haxby proves to be successful the neighbouring communities such as Strensall might stand a chance. Until then Haxby is the best hope for any new station on the York to Scarborough line, with the backing of Network Rail, Trans Pennine Express, Northern, TftN, local chambers of commerce, and the support of local residents.

 

[Irascible]

Carbon emmissions seems a bit of misnomer to me, if people drive to a station = more carbon emmissions. Somehow need to make buses more 'sexy' so that people get one to the station to catch trains rather than use cars.

You might find they just take the bus all the way in that case...

If I need to get to the nearest city I can get the "express" bus all the way - 70 mins and I hate busses - or get the bus to the nearest station - 25 mins - wait 20 mins & get the train - hourly, 24 mins which at least deposits me in the city centre but now it's as long a journey as the direct bus - or I can just drive for roughly half an hour including parking. OK my station options are somewhat orthagonal to the journey, but I doubt this area is a particularily special case.