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Merry Hill


Heartland

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In 2005 there was a proposal to extend the waterfront at Merry Hill with a new residential and business centre built of disused land. There was also a plan to extend the West Midlands Metro to it. The Metro extension was planned to be made by 2009. This metro extension has yet to happen although that project will go ahead soon. Can any body advise if any of the buildings shown have been constructed yet?

 

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The only bit of 'disused' land is the strip opposite the embankment moorings. The other direction towards Parkhead is part cutting and would require a lot more work and, assuming it's still there, relocation of the steel terminal. 

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21 hours ago, pearley said:

The only bit of 'disused' land is the strip opposite the embankment moorings. The other direction towards Parkhead is part cutting and would require a lot more work and, assuming it's still there, relocation of the steel terminal. 

I may be wrong, but I believe the steel terminal is not only still there but busier than ever.

Suitable sites for railfreight terminals are thin on the ground and objected to at every level by the neighbours!

George

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The steel terminal is probably the last vestige of the old Round Oak site and at one time home to some of the former locomotives used there. There is also a plan I understand to restore a passenger service to Brierley Hill.

Objections!- yes there is a NIMBY link there I suspect, but why especially as there is a prospect of improved transport  

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1 hour ago, Heartland said:

There is also a plan I understand to restore a passenger service to Brierley Hill.

The Midland Metro (trams) are going to get a new line to Brierley Hill from Wednesbury. Built mainly on the old railway alignment, including over Parkhead viaduct,, which will need a major rebuild.

 

MP.

 

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17 hours ago, furnessvale said:

I may be wrong, but I believe the steel terminal is not only still there but busier than ever.

Suitable sites for railfreight terminals are thin on the ground and objected to at every level by the neighbours!

George

Certainly when you look over the parapet of the overbridge on Stourbridge Road the rails look as if they are still in use. 

I do wonder if the extension of the Metro to Walsall and Merrill, being over existing rail routes, would be a better return on investment than the extension from New Street Station to Broad Street. 

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8 hours ago, pearley said:

Certainly when you look over the parapet of the overbridge on Stourbridge Road the rails look as if they are still in use. 

I do wonder if the extension of the Metro to Walsall and Merrill, being over existing rail routes, would be a better return on investment than the extension from New Street Station to Broad Street. 

For anyone that is interested, it appears that an average of ca. 3000 tons of steel per day is brought in by rail for onward distribution by road.

I understand that the planned metro extension will allow for the reopening of the route for freight trains as well (obviously NOT sharing the same track).

George

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On 11/4/2017 at 17:19, Heartland said:

I did not think it had been done, but have not been over there recently. No doubt a scheme that has not yet been proceeded with, like Icknield Port

The Icknield Port scheme is progressing.  Currently contractors are being sought for the construction work. 

CBOA is in discussion regarding deliveries of construction materials by water.

regards

David L

 

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3 hours ago, furnessvale said:

For anyone that is interested, it appears that an average of ca. 3000 tons of steel per day is brought in by rail for onward distribution by road.

I understand that the planned metro extension will allow for the reopening of the route for freight trains as well (obviously NOT sharing the same track).

George

The first bit is correct. I think it's three trains a day Monday to Friday and and one on Saturday. They all pass about 150 metres from my house at about 2,200 tonnes fully loaded and I pretty much never hear them. Don't tell the anti-HS2 folk.

As for not sharing tracks that wouldn't be possible for conventional trams but tram-train is the new thing. Basically a light rail vehicle with heavy rail crash worthiness characteristics that is now operating (at least in trial mode) on the Sheffield Supertram extension to Rotherham. It would be a mistake to suppress capacity for the Metro at the design stage. Can't see how else the extension could be done realistically other than sharing tracks. I could find out, I think one of my crew on last years BCN Challenge has worked on the proposals.

JP

 

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31 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Can't see how else the extension could be done realistically other than sharing tracks. I could find out, I think one of my crew on last years BCN Challenge has worked on the proposals.

JP

 

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/development/midland-metro-extensions/wednesbury-brierley-hill/

 

It's all in here. The plan seems to be to share the corridor, but not the tracks. In some places. there will be two tram lines and two heavy rail lines. In most, the track bed will be widened within the existing railway land with retaining walls to cuttings and embankments and it will be two tram lines and one heavy rail. Where the formation is constrained (passing under the WCML and the BCN new mainline, Parkhead viaduct) there will be one heavy rail line and one bidirectional tram line.

I assume because the tracks are not shared, tram-trains are not required, though that might be a bit of a problem if a tram ever comes around a curve to be confronted with a derailed steel train strewn across the formation.....

 

MP.

ETA The above applies to the trackbed from Brierley Hill to Wednesbury, which is currently not in use by Network Rail. I guess NR want to keep the option of reopening it for freight. I don't think that the tram route uses any mileage of the track which is currently open to the steel terminal.

Edited by MoominPapa
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54 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

I assume because the tracks are not shared, tram-trains are not required, though that might be a bit of a problem if a tram ever comes around a curve to be confronted with a derailed steel train strewn across the formation.....

 

 

Compared to being in a mini on a foggy November night sandwiched between 2 x 44tonnes HGVs.....................................

................................I'll take my chances on the tram!

George

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11 hours ago, MoominPapa said:

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/development/midland-metro-extensions/wednesbury-brierley-hill/

 

It's all in here. The plan seems to be to share the corridor, but not the tracks. In some places. there will be two tram lines and two heavy rail lines. In most, the track bed will be widened within the existing railway land with retaining walls to cuttings and embankments and it will be two tram lines and one heavy rail. Where the formation is constrained (passing under the WCML and the BCN new mainline, Parkhead viaduct) there will be one heavy rail line and one bidirectional tram line.

I assume because the tracks are not shared, tram-trains are not required, though that might be a bit of a problem if a tram ever comes around a curve to be confronted with a derailed steel train strewn across the formation.....

 

MP.

ETA The above applies to the trackbed from Brierley Hill to Wednesbury, which is currently not in use by Network Rail. I guess NR want to keep the option of reopening it for freight. I don't think that the tram route uses any mileage of the track which is currently open to the steel terminal.

I think your latter point is correct. That was certainly the case in the earlier scheme but I don't recall provision for freight north of Round Oak in that scheme. However it seems the current proposal is over a decade old in its design so it may be the same plan reincarnated. That would explain why it's separated not combined. I have the opportunity to go to a talk by a TfWM planner on Thursday. If I am able to go along I may ask if tram/train has been considered as an alternative to parallel running. It's entirely possible the demand for freight will be nil.

JP

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On 11/6/2017 at 20:25, Captain Pegg said:

The first bit is correct. I think it's three trains a day Monday to Friday and and one on Saturday. They all pass about 150 metres from my house at about 2,200 tonnes fully loaded and I pretty much never hear them. Don't tell the anti-HS2 folk.

As for not sharing tracks that wouldn't be possible for conventional trams but tram-train is the new thing. Basically a light rail vehicle with heavy rail crash worthiness characteristics that is now operating (at least in trial mode) on the Sheffield Supertram extension to Rotherham. It would be a mistake to suppress capacity for the Metro at the design stage. Can't see how else the extension could be done realistically other than sharing tracks. I could find out, I think one of my crew on last years BCN Challenge has worked on the proposals.

JP

 

The first tram train units are operating on trial on the existing Sheffield tram system, but the extension to Rotherham is not yet open - though most of the infrastructure is in place.  As you say, light vehicles cannot share tracks with heavy rail, but vehicles with a heavier construction can do so, and in fact this has been the case on the Tyne & Wear Metro for some years - trains and lighter (if not light) vehicles are kept apart by a modification to the signalling system, with TPWS* provided at every signal, not just those protecting junctions etc.

* Train Protection & Warning System

Regards David L 

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Did the monorail at the shopping centre reach to the canal near the pub? There was a plan to extend it to a reopened railway station but I believe it closed in the 90s a few years after it opened. Apparently it was deemed unsafe and needed the fire brigade attendance for evacuation if the cars failed between stations but is still in use in Australia where it was then sold to.  The station above M and S is still there on the roof of the complex.

image.jpeg

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29 minutes ago, Ace 01 said:

Did the monorail at the shopping centre reach to the canal near the pub? There was a plan to extend it to a reopened railway station but I believe it closed in the 90s a few years after it opened. Apparently it was deemed unsafe and needed the fire brigade attendance for evacuation if the cars failed between stations but is still in use in Australia where it was then sold to.  The station above M and S is still there on the roof of the complex.

 

My old Pearson guide shows the route of the monorail. 

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On ‎06‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 20:56, MoominPapa said:

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/development/midland-metro-extensions/wednesbury-brierley-hill/

It's all in here. The plan seems to be to share the corridor, but not the tracks. In some places. there will be two tram lines and two heavy rail lines. In most, the track bed will be widened within the existing railway land with retaining walls to cuttings and embankments and it will be two tram lines and one heavy rail. Where the formation is constrained (passing under the WCML and the BCN new mainline, Parkhead viaduct) there will be one heavy rail line and one bidirectional tram line.

I assume because the tracks are not shared, tram-trains are not required, though that might be a bit of a problem if a tram ever comes around a curve to be confronted with a derailed steel train strewn across the formation.....

MP.

ETA The above applies to the trackbed from Brierley Hill to Wednesbury, which is currently not in use by Network Rail. I guess NR want to keep the option of reopening it for freight. I don't think that the tram route uses any mileage of the track which is currently open to the steel terminal.

More up to date information on the Metro proposals available here . Vegetation clearance on the old rail alignment started earlier this year, and the current plan is for services to begin in 2023.

12 hours ago, fanshaft said:

The first tram train units are operating on trial on the existing Sheffield tram system, but the extension to Rotherham is not yet open - though most of the infrastructure is in place.  As you say, light vehicles cannot share tracks with heavy rail, but vehicles with a heavier construction can do so, and in fact this has been the case on the Tyne & Wear Metro for some years - trains and lighter (if not light) vehicles are kept apart by a modification to the signalling system, with TPWS* provided at every signal, not just those protecting junctions etc.

* Train Protection & Warning System

Regards David L 

After this year's National Audit Office report into the Sheffield Tram Train project, I doubt we will see another!

"In May 2012, when Ministers approved the programme, the Department expected Network Rail’s modification of the national rail network to cost £18.7 million and the tram-train scheme to be completed by December 2015. By December 2016, the cost of these works had quadrupled to £75.1 million and Network Rail’s project is now expected to be completed in May 2018."

51 minutes ago, Ace 01 said:

Did the monorail at the shopping centre reach to the canal near the pub? There was a plan to extend it to a reopened railway station but I believe it closed in the 90s a few years after it opened. Apparently it was deemed unsafe and needed the fire brigade attendance for evacuation if the cars failed between stations but is still in use in Australia where it was then sold to.  The station above M and S is still there on the roof of the complex.

image.jpeg

The monorail closed in 1996.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/5/2017 at 17:51, MoominPapa said:

The Midland Metro (trams) are going to get a new line to Brierley Hill from Wednesbury. Built mainly on the old railway alignment, including over Parkhead viaduct,, which will need a major rebuild.

 

MP.

 

Looks like it is going to be announced today

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/11/20/200m-funding-green-light-for-midland-metro-extension/

Tim

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3 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

Funding was confirmed by the West Midlands Mayor on Monday:

https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/250m-government-transport-cash-signals-go-ahead-for-midland-metro-extension/

 

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