Teesside-2
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So when he promises to do something and does it you moan, when he promises something and he doesn't or you see lack of movement you moan?
Yes we are in a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Having a accessible station and using it is better than not having it. Passengers and workers will only benefit from this.
The alternative is to remove it and lose the station.
I wonder if this is a network rail leas decision anyway with Ben taking credit for keeping it at the fore front of network rails mind.
If that is the case are you going to moan about network rail?
Yes we are in a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Having a accessible station and using it is better than not having it. Passengers and workers will only benefit from this.
The alternative is to remove it and lose the station.
I wonder if this is a network rail leas decision anyway with Ben taking credit for keeping it at the fore front of network rails mind.
If that is the case are you going to moan about network rail?
I've absolutely nothing against public expenditure on required infrastructure but this build it and they will come approach is just wasting taxpayers money. Happy to moan at whoever came up with it - I'd be amazed if Network Rail are leading on this. What next, a siding to serve the freight centre that has been sat empty for two years?
Realistically, how much use do you see the railway station getting? A subsidized express bus service once passenger numbers have picked would be far more cost effective but you need to have a reach a realistic critical mass before this level of expenditure can be justified
Realistically, how much use do you see the railway station getting? A subsidized express bus service once passenger numbers have picked would be far more cost effective but you need to have a reach a realistic critical mass before this level of expenditure can be justified
Join Date: May 2009
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The Tees Flex DRT scheme is likely to end this year - you'd almost be better off repurposing that or some random BSIP funding.
Even this from 2021 seems more feasible
Even this from 2021 seems more feasible
Now a Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) transport report has revealed its unlikely to have any more services until the overhaul at Darlington Station is completed.
The paper stated: “Due to rail capacity constraints it is proving difficult to identify opportunities for service enhancement until after completion of the Darlington Station project in 2024. “Work is under way to develop a scheme to upgrade the station, which could facilitate a future increase in services.”
Buses run from Darlington station to the airport at the moment.
A 2020 combined authority report estimated the cost of making the current airport station safe – by removing a platform and the existing footbridge – would be about £700,000.
Chiefs ruled out moving the seldom-used stop closer to the terminal in 2019.
In the past, suggestions including more shuttle buses and even a horizontal travelator have been put forward to boost its use.
The paper stated: “Due to rail capacity constraints it is proving difficult to identify opportunities for service enhancement until after completion of the Darlington Station project in 2024. “Work is under way to develop a scheme to upgrade the station, which could facilitate a future increase in services.”
Buses run from Darlington station to the airport at the moment.
A 2020 combined authority report estimated the cost of making the current airport station safe – by removing a platform and the existing footbridge – would be about £700,000.
Chiefs ruled out moving the seldom-used stop closer to the terminal in 2019.
In the past, suggestions including more shuttle buses and even a horizontal travelator have been put forward to boost its use.
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My heart says I should welcome the restoration of the station which I should applaud but I guess we all know that this is another pre-election stunt, but in fairness that’s what politicians do.
I am old enough to remember when we had a reliable rail service (long gone) at a 30 minute interval and an electric pax carrying former milk float shuttling to/from the terminal plus a half decent number of flights to choose from. Guess what, the service was hardly used which is why the shuttle ended and rail services reduced. Car parking charges have now been hiked up but I still doubt if most would risk using public transport to catch a flight.
I am old enough to remember when we had a reliable rail service (long gone) at a 30 minute interval and an electric pax carrying former milk float shuttling to/from the terminal plus a half decent number of flights to choose from. Guess what, the service was hardly used which is why the shuttle ended and rail services reduced. Car parking charges have now been hiked up but I still doubt if most would risk using public transport to catch a flight.
Last edited by Grumpy1; 2nd Jan 2024 at 14:54.
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Road signs indicate the A67 road past the Airport Railway Station will be closed from 10th January to 26th January 2024
from 00.01 to 05.00 weekdays and 23.00 06.00 Sundays this i guess will be for the work on the station
signs have been in place since mid December
from 00.01 to 05.00 weekdays and 23.00 06.00 Sundays this i guess will be for the work on the station
signs have been in place since mid December
The station should be moved near to the entrance road and the housing so the passing busses can pick up the train passengers and bring them to the airport. Otherwise the major will have to buy himself a bus to travel from the station, like days of old.
SWBKCB I don't understand where you are coming from. Don't you want the airport to succeed? Access to any airport is vital. Try getting to Teesside Airport by public transport. Taxis are too expensive for a lot of people and not everyone owns a car. How do you get from Bishop Auckland or Shildon to the Airport. The station asset has been there for decades and has been allowed to fall into disrepair. Let's improve all the infrastructure and the passengers/airlines/flying clubs/ bizjets etc will come. We need this airport let's support it.
Dedicated airport rail facilities typically don’t really work until an airport reaches a critical mass of something like 10mppa. So, unless there is some way of influencing service providers to create an integrated hub or ‘park and ride’ style service for local people to access services to London etc.. then forget it. If the Mayor is able to squander more public money on this white elephant then I despair.
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This field of dreams thinking has seen £bns wasted in this country over many years. The idea that such a scheme should be supported without question boggles the mind.
Dedicated airport rail facilities typically don’t really work until an airport reaches a critical mass of something like 10mppa. So, unless there is some way of influencing service providers to create an integrated hub or ‘park and ride’ style service for local people to access services to London etc.. then forget it. If the Mayor is able to squander more public money on this white elephant then I despair.
Dedicated airport rail facilities typically don’t really work until an airport reaches a critical mass of something like 10mppa. So, unless there is some way of influencing service providers to create an integrated hub or ‘park and ride’ style service for local people to access services to London etc.. then forget it. If the Mayor is able to squander more public money on this white elephant then I despair.
You seem to forget he's a politican who made promises and was voted in by the people on those promises.
Unfortunately Pug this is how democracy works and if a Labour mayor got in they could pull back on the spending at the airport, but in the past that's not what the people wanted.
As mentioned before the airport is ahead of schedule on the 10 year plan.
Even if the place doesn't work the public will still own the land.
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“If more passengers arrive by public transport the airport will loose revenue from the carpark”
At one time the airport promoted parking as a benefit. With the recent price hikes it’s now more expensive to park for at MME compared with NCL, LBA or even further afield. A colleague who uses the KLM link has stopped using MME for this reason as its not much further to head north or south and there is also less chance of being cancelled. What a shame.
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At one time the airport promoted parking as a benefit. With the recent price hikes it’s now more expensive to park for at MME compared with NCL, LBA or even further afield. A colleague who uses the KLM link has stopped using MME for this reason as its not much further to head north or south and there is also less chance of being cancelled. What a shame.
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What white elephant?
You seem to forget he's a politican who made promises and was voted in by the people on those promises.
Unfortunately Pug this is how democracy works and if a Labour mayor got in they could pull back on the spending at the airport, but in the past that's not what the people wanted.
As mentioned before the airport is ahead of schedule on the 10 year plan.
Even if the place doesn't work the public will still own the land.
You seem to forget he's a politican who made promises and was voted in by the people on those promises.
Unfortunately Pug this is how democracy works and if a Labour mayor got in they could pull back on the spending at the airport, but in the past that's not what the people wanted.
As mentioned before the airport is ahead of schedule on the 10 year plan.
Even if the place doesn't work the public will still own the land.
There is an element of responsibility when making pledges, obviously that has gone to the wall in this populist political era, but still. To invest so much in this instance is verging on the criminal in terms of its negligence.
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£20m is alot but this money is coming from the windfall from HS2. The quoted revamp for the station was originally £6m so not entirely sure where they managed to get to £20m! Unless that's what he's been given as the windfall. There was mention of upgrades to other stations in the Tees Valley area as well.... is it possible that £20m is being spent across the region on stations?
£20m is alot but this money is coming from the windfall from HS2. The quoted revamp for the station was originally £6m so not entirely sure where they managed to get to £20m! Unless that's what he's been given as the windfall. There was mention of upgrades to other stations in the Tees Valley area as well.... is it possible that £20m is being spent across the region on stations?
Following the scrapping of the Northern leg of the HS2 rail line, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced an additional £8.55 billion of funding to be provided through city region sustainable transport settlements (CRSTS). This meant that the Tees Valley was allocated a total of £978m of funding for CRSTS for years 2027/28 to 2031/32.
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For a number of decades there was only ever a parliamentary train service. Which in words was one service each way a week. Used to be on a Saturday morning, then changed to a Sunday morning.
So that is the reason of hardly any passengers using the station.
The reason why it was least used station on the network.
For a number of decades there was only ever a parliamentary train service. Which in words was one service each way a week. Used to be on a Saturday morning, then changed to a Sunday morning.
So that is the reason of hardly any passengers using the station.
For a number of decades there was only ever a parliamentary train service. Which in words was one service each way a week. Used to be on a Saturday morning, then changed to a Sunday morning.
So that is the reason of hardly any passengers using the station.
Houchen even claims that Network Rail wanted to demolish the station but he’s ‘saved the day’ yet again and decided to keep it open using money from the HS2 windfall. I’m certain that the Tees Valley region has some actual transport shortfalls elsewhere that need cash injections.
Even the most ardent supporters of the airports development must question this utter nonsense.
Last edited by pug; 2nd Jan 2024 at 18:49.
Ok so what was the reason at that time that meant that the service operators did not stop there as part of the network? Was it possibly because there wouldn’t be any passengers using it so it would only serve to inconvenience people and times on the routes had they stopped there?
Even the most ardent supporters of the airports development must question this.
Even the most ardent supporters of the airports development must question this.
Yes, the Mayor has a democratic mandate to save the airport, but that doesn't mean he gets free rein to chuck good money after bad.
Agreed - there was only one train a week because there were no passengers. The rail company would have stopped it completely but to do so requires parliamentary agreement. I'd wager that there won't be enough passengers once the station is re-built to justify the moeny spent. Passenger numbers will need to climb significantly to justify the expenditure of the new station and the shuttle service that will be needed to support it and there will be stories/pictures of empty shuttle buses endlessly trundling around. And no, having a train station won't attract significant numbers of passengers to justify new services.
Yes, the Mayor has a democratic mandate to save the airport, but that doesn't mean he gets free rein to chuck good money after bad.
Yes, the Mayor has a democratic mandate to save the airport, but that doesn't mean he gets free rein to chuck good money after bad.
Did Santa not bring him any Lego again this Christmas?
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When there are gaps of many many hours during the day between flights, is the airport going to fund what will inevitably be an empty shuttle bus running backwards and forwards between the station and the terminal and if so for how many years?
The previous rail operator reduced the airport service and the number of stops at Dinsdale, Allans West and at one time even Eaglescliffe to accelerate the service between Darlington and Middlesbrough so I can imagine resistance to adding several minutes to each journey to accommodate airport stops. The mayor has stated that journey times will increase by only 45 seconds which sadly demonstrates either a lack of understanding unless he is just making things up again.
The previous rail operator reduced the airport service and the number of stops at Dinsdale, Allans West and at one time even Eaglescliffe to accelerate the service between Darlington and Middlesbrough so I can imagine resistance to adding several minutes to each journey to accommodate airport stops. The mayor has stated that journey times will increase by only 45 seconds which sadly demonstrates either a lack of understanding unless he is just making things up again.
Last edited by Grumpy1; 3rd Jan 2024 at 07:24.