Yeah, but the Arriva Sky Express from Darlington failed, and so did the Arriva 12. I doubt the train will be that much help!

I don't get what you mean.

Numbers using the station are at a low - but only a couple of trains a day actually call there.

I don't get what you mean.

Numbers using the station are at a low - but only a couple of trains a day actually call there.

Sorry, was a bit confusing!

Nobody was using the bus services to the airport, so they got cancelled. If nobody is visiting by frequent bus service, surely having a frequent rail service makes no difference, because nobody would use that either?

I don't get what you mean.

Numbers using the station are at a low - but only a couple of trains a day actually call there.

Aye this is it. Most regular users are season ticket holders, which have to be from point A to point B. It's pointless getting a season ticket if you've potentially got to wait a couple of hours for a train home. In Blaydon and Dunston's case, there'd probably be a lot more demand if it was a T&W Metro stopping there, and not a NR train.

Sorry, was a bit confusing!

Nobody was using the bus services to the airport, so they got cancelled. If nobody is visiting by frequent bus service, surely having a frequent rail service makes no difference, because nobody would use that either?

No worries, just wasn't sure.

As an airport, it is struggling.
Not many commercial aircraft use the facility, so passenger numbers (regardless of how many trains stop), are going to be low.

However, if only a handful of trains do stop there each day, it is hardly going to encourage those who could use it, to actually use it.

I think each station on that list needs to be looked at as a bigger picture.

Aye this is it. Most regular users are season ticket holders, which have to be from point A to point B. It's pointless getting a season ticket if you've potentially got to wait a couple of hours for a train home. In Blaydon and Dunston's case, there'd probably be a lot more demand if it was a T&W Metro stopping there, and not a NR train.

Northern did say that Blaydon and Dunston would feature additional trains serving.
I think those two stations will struggle for passengers as long as there is a regular bus service in the area.

No worries, just wasn't sure.

As an airport, it is struggling.
Not many commercial aircraft use the facility, so passenger numbers (regardless of how many trains stop), are going to be low.

However, if only a handful of trains do stop there each day, it is hardly going to encourage those who could use it, to actually use it.

I think each station on that list needs to be looked at as a bigger picture.

Think it's 2 a week, one for each platform.
The terminal is nowhere near the station and indeed, nowhere near any houses either.

Northern did say that Blaydon and Dunston would feature additional trains serving.
I think those two stations will struggle for passengers as long as there is a regular bus service in the area.

The frequency and fares make using Northern Rail completely unappealing, when there's a frequent Blaydon Racers bus which only takes a few minutes longer...

Think it's 2 a week, one for each platform.
The terminal is nowhere near the station and indeed, nowhere near any houses either.

Two a week?!

Just checked on the CrossStinky app and none of: Durham Tees Valley, Teesside Airport or Middleton St George appear on the list of station names.

No idea what else it could come under.

If you can't book tickets to the station...

Two a week?!

Just checked on the CrossStinky app and none of: Durham Tees Valley, Teesside Airport or Middleton St George appear on the list of station names.

No idea what else it could come under.

If you can't book tickets to the station...

Yes it's the 1020 Darlington-Metrocentre and 1050 Metrocentre-Darlington both on Sundays

Yes it's the 1020 Darlington-Metrocentre and 1050 Metrocentre-Darlington both on Sundays

I was looking at the Metrocentre-Darlington journey, just last week as part of a trip out.

Will make sure I don't get off a few stops too early

Two a week?!

Just checked on the CrossStinky app and none of: Durham Tees Valley, Teesside Airport or Middleton St George appear on the list of station names.

No idea what else it could come under.

If you can't book tickets to the station...

it comes under Tees-side Airport.

Two a week?!

Just checked on the CrossStinky app and none of: Durham Tees Valley, Teesside Airport or Middleton St George appear on the list of station names.

No idea what else it could come under.

If you can't book tickets to the station...

You can book tickets to the station. Purchasing a ticket to the station has a quirky attraction to rail enthusiasts - many people buy tickets as a collector's piece but never make the actual journey.

It was covered in a 2010 BBC documentary made for Radio 4 entitled 'Ghost Trains of Old England'.

Here's the programme synopsis:

Just one train a week runs between Stockport and Stalybridge. It never returns. "There is no service from Stalybridge to Stockport", says a platform sign, cryptically. The Stockport-Stalybridge service is what's known as a "parliamentary train" and exists only so that the rail company can avoid going through formal closure proceedings. Running the single weekly service costs only £50, but to close it down would cost far more. Of the intermediate stops on the line, Network Rail notes: "Data collection including observation has been unable to record any use of these stations".

In this programme, Ian Marchant travels these little used lines and forgotten stations. There is Teesside Airport station, the least-used stop in Britain, with just 44 passengers a year. It has only one train a week, is a 20 minutes walk from the airport (a journey which involves negotiating a locked gate), and the airport has a different name anyway.

Then there is the train that goes from Manchester to Brighton - except that since the Manchester to Brighton direct service has been abolished, a semi-secret replacement bus travels once a week from Ealing Broadway to Wandsworth Road, two stations that were never on the Manchester-Brighton route anyway.

Most bizarre is the case of Newhaven Marine, a station which is technically open, and is served by one train a day. But the station is behind a locked fence and passengers are forbidden to get on the train, which does not appear on any timetable. The company offers to provide a taxi service to any passenger "in possession of a valid ticket". But it is impossible to buy a ticket.

Who are the people who use these secret trains which are also buses and taxis? Mostly rail enthusiasts and hobbyists who collect rail tickets. But occasionally a real passenger stumbles across a service and uses it almost by accident. And what does it say about the British attitude to rules that we stick within the letter of the law while entirely subverting their intention?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vhhcf

It occasionally re-airs from time to time.

You can book tickets to the station. Purchasing a ticket to the station has a quirky attraction to rail enthusiasts - many people buy tickets as a collector's piece but never make the actual journey.

It was covered in a 2010 BBC documentary made for Radio 4 entitled 'Ghost Trains of Old England'.

Here's the programme synopsis:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vhhcf

It occasionally re-airs from time to time.

Yeah, the subject has appeared on the BBC website in the 'magazine' section.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/short...s-revealed

Was privileged today... My 19:30 Northern Rail Service from Newcastle Central Station to Nunthorpe departed from Platform 10.

I see off peak tickets are changing on Monday 8 Sept, which means they cannot be used over the evening peak in certain areas and one of those is Hexham to Newcastle.

http://www.northernrail.org/tickets/Off-...rce=Poster&utm_medium=Offline&utm_campaign=Off-peak-restrictions#faq2

I see off peak tickets are changing on Monday 8 Sept, which means they cannot be used over the evening peak in certain areas and one of those is Hexham to Newcastle.

http://www.northernrail.org/tickets/Off-...rce=Poster&utm_medium=Offline&utm_campaign=Off-peak-restrictions#faq2

I wonder if bus services on the Tyne Valley will consequently see greater use?

I wonder if bus services on the Tyne Valley will consequently see greater use?

80p difference between the Off Peak and Anytime return fare between Hexham & Newcastle...

80p difference between the Off Peak and Anytime return fare between Hexham & Newcastle...

Exactly... This will cost commuters £2.40 more than the equivalent return fare (£5.50) on the bus, where commuters have the option of travelling on service 10, service 74, or services X84/X85 (maximum of five buses per hour).

Let's not forget about the high backed seating, free Wi-Fi, and power sockets available on some of those buses too..!

I personally find that the walk from the rail station to the town centre also comes as an inconvenience, compared to the bus.

I rest my case.

Exactly... This will cost commuters £2.40 more than the equivalent return fare (£5.50) on the bus, where commuters have the option of travelling on service 10, service 74, or services X84/X85 (maximum of five buses per hour).

Let's not forget about the high backed seating, free Wi-Fi, and power sockets available on some of those buses too..!

I personally find that the walk from the rail station to the town centre also comes as an inconvenience, compared to the bus.

I rest my case.

But then you get all the nutters who go on the buses, and worse, photograph them!

http://www.theladbible.com/albums/aftern...ae52c74096

Haha!

Maybe a new station for East Durham....

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/bus...-1-6843921

Landslip at Brampton, with trains forced to turn back on themselves.
Signalling issues at Blaydon, add to problems.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29489445

A derailed freight train near Heworth is causing issues with Northern Rail services across the region.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29925049

Clegg gets involved in rolling stock debate.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29925049

Clegg gets involved in rolling stock debate.

The rolling stock seems the least of their worries at the moment. They want to try looking at the farcical number of cancellations, due to crew shortage.

Spotted a 'MoTrain' in York today, on 158758:

Northern Rail: 158758 by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/north-east-a...ay-8124853

Opperman gets behind electrification bid.

Passenger numbers don't justify electrification.

I don't think they do on the Windermere branch either but that's due to be done I believe!

Passenger numbers don't justify electrification.

Any source for this info?

Any source for this info?

As an ocassional user myself, most carriages are empty, except on some occasional journeys - mainly the curry train.

I don't profess to be a regular customer on the Tyne Valley line, but in my limited experience, I agree with Scott that there are often a lot of empty seats in trains on this line.

Last summer; I purchased a 'Four in Eight day' Rover Ticket, which saw me travelling up and down the Tyne Valley on an almost daily basis (as I had also purchased a few return tickets to Hexham/Carlisle for the days in between if my memory serves). On a morning, I used the run towards Carlisle which is allocated a ScotRail train. The passenger numbers on this peak-time train were far from great; whilst I have absolutely no idea how many passengers it would take to equate to a profit on this sort of service, I was always surprised at the amount of spare seats and how a fairly frequent service could be justified. Each evening I returned on a different train, and there was only one occasion (out of Carlisle) where there was a lack of seats available. A Class 142 train had been allocated, which may help people work out which one this may have been. Passenger trends may well have changed since the summer of 2013, but Scott's post would suggest otherwise.

I still use the Northern Rail trains from Metrocentre to Newcastle, Heworth and Sunderland regularly now. I haven't really been able to identify any correlation with passenger trends on Saturdays: sometimes they're near enough empty, other times they're borderline full.