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| Birmingham Cross City 06/02/2010 at 22:40 #667 | |
GeoffM
6376 posts |
Any idea what the "two of the four tunnels" reference in this Wiki article is about? I don't know if it's referring to the four tunnels either side of New Street or something else. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-City_Line SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
| Birmingham Cross City 06/02/2010 at 22:40 #6481 | |
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GeoffM
6376 posts |
Any idea what the "two of the four tunnels" reference in this Wiki article is about? I don't know if it's referring to the four tunnels either side of New Street or something else. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-City_Line SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
| Birmingham Cross City 06/02/2010 at 22:54 #6483 | |
Underwood
748 posts |
Not 100% sure, but I would assume it was Birmingham as there's no other location that fits in with that sentance. There are 3 exits at New Street with 4 tunnels, and I would imagine the 2 tunnels of the 4 for locals is the Five Ways tunnel(s) and the slow line tunnel at the Aston end? Cheers, James. Log in to reply |
| Birmingham Cross City 07/02/2010 at 01:15 #6490 | |
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Adrian the Rock
111 posts |
I don't think the comment makes any sense at all. Currently, New St has four lines in/out of either end. In the up direction there are two Stour Valley lines (North side, ex LNW) which are the ex-LNWR lines towards Coventry, and two Derby lines (South side, ex MR) towards Grand Jct where trains can turn either left towards Water Orton or right towards Camp Hill (or Leamington via Bordesley Jn). The line to Aston diverges at Proof House Jn; these originally connected to the Stour Valley lines but the remodelling a few years back took them over the flyover so they now connect into the Derby lines without crossing the Stour lines on the flat. At the other end, the two Stour Valley lines (North side, ex LNW) head towards Soho/Wolverhampton, and the Gloucester lines (South side, ex MR) towards Kings Norton. The cross city line comes in on the Gloucester lines and leaves in the Aston direction, hence the earlier remodelling. But there are long-distance trains on all four pairs of lines: to London and NW England/Scotland on the Stour Valleys, to NE England and Reading/Bournemouth on the Derby, and to the West Country on the Gloucester. West Country trains can run via Camp Hill, though this is slightly longer, but this still involves departing on the Derby line. So you either build a new tunnel for the cross-city, thus removing it from the Derby/Gloucester lines, or you stick with the status quo. Apart from the Gloucester, running all West Country trains via Camp Hill there's no sensible option to restrict any of the lines in/out of NS to local trains only. Log in to reply |
| Birmingham Cross City 07/02/2010 at 20:07 #6511 | |
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GeoffM
6376 posts |
That's what I thought it meant, reserving use of the tunnels to cross city only. It is true that even the current service means that cross country trains have a lot of slack timing to fit in between stopping services between Kings Norton and Five Ways so sending the XC via Camp Hill makes sense until you consider that many XC would now have to reverse in New Street which takes a couple of extra minutes on top of a through service, thus using more platform time in an already busy station. Add to that the section between Proof House and New Street gets busier as you're now routing more trains through there. Camp Hill trains can access the Stour lines directly without touching the Derby lines - in fact some are timetabled to do so - but this uses a slow, reversible line which means headways are long. So I agree with Adrian's first statement! SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
| Birmingham Cross City 08/02/2010 at 22:39 #6541 | |
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pbinnersley
431 posts |
The comment about the cross city using two of the four tunnels is linked to the "re-opening" of Curzon Street station (on your right as you approach New Street from Coventry). This refers to the , now dead, Arup proposal for a Birmingham "Grand Central" station http://www.arup.com/_assets/_download/download488.pdf. This would have been mostly dead end platforms with trains from Derby to Bristol reversing and running via the Camp Hill line. Similarly Coventry to Wolverhampton trains would have reversed and run via Aston. Moor Street would have been be included into the "Grand Central" complex, but with no physical connection to the Snow Hill Lines. New Street would have been reduced to a commuter station (Cross City & Coventry-Wolves) and a lot of the station site could have been sold off (to fund the development?) Regards, Peter. Log in to reply |