Railwatch 087 - March 2001

North East

By Peter Wood

Wensleydale reopening The good prospects for the Wensleydale Railway Company were outlined to the branch meeting in Durham in December by chief executive Scott Handley. Initial plans are based on reopening the 12-mile stretch between Leeming Bar (adjoining the A1 road) and the market town of Leyburn. There is pressure from local residents to reinstate the Hawes-Garsdale link. The most expensive section is likely to be from Aysgarth to Hawes. Railtrack is being supportive and the project may be able to buy some track from the Settle-Carlisle line.

TR&IN Paul Salveson of TR&IN addressed our branch meeting in October.

Future meetings A speaker from the Campaign for Borders Rail has been invited to our annual general meeting on 31 March at Newcastle. We also plan to invite Bernard Garner and John Usher of Nexus to talk to a future meeting about the 21st century rail proposals for Tyne and Wear.

Operating difficulties Northern Spirit local and regional services were not immune from the chaos imposed by Railtrack and the weather at the end of last year, leaving the impression that some train operating companies seemed to have lost the will to keep their trains running. Particularly galling was the closure of the Durham coast line, south of Sunderland for several weeks. It took Northern Spirit a month (just before services were resumed) to issue timetables of the alternative services at such major stations as Newcastle and Sunderland. We are seeking a meeting with NS manging director Nigel Patterson to discuss this failure to manage the situation.

Virgin territory There are reports Virgin CrossCountry will not be running through trains to and from the north-east beyond Birmingham from June 2003. We hope there will continue to be an alternative to the private car and National Express coaches for such journeys.

Northern franchise RDS north-east representatives will be attending the north-east Rail Passenger Committee's conference at York - titled Local trains for local people, together with representatives from the rail industry, other users, local authorities and regulators. Speakers from Railtrack, Northern Spirit, First North Western, TR&IN and the BBC's Alan Whitehouse will be taking part.

Tyne Valley stations A study undertaken by Northumberland County Council has recommended improved services for some of the westerly (beyond Hexham) stations in the Tyne Valley but is cautious about station reopening. Perhaps Haltwhistle should be developed more as a rail head to serve the surrounding area.

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