European Railroad Discussion > Eccentric English?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18644343

It seems a bit strange but there is a logic in there. Much better to keep lines open and operational, you never know when you might need them. It sounds like the rail operators are keeping their options open for diversionary routes and Driver/Guard route knowledge. Quirky though!

Steve

I found a website that I think will help answer the question of where do these Ghost Trains and or Parliamentary Trains operate. http://www.psul4all.free-online.co.uk/intro.htm

I only had time this morning before work to check out one listing against locations in the TRACKatlas and found that some of these may be a simple as an operation around one leg of a what in the US we call wye junction, as is the case for the listing for Allington West Junction - Allington North Junction. This could take hours to figure out all the possibilities so have at it, I guess.

Jim

driver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18644343
>
> It seems a bit strange but there is a logic in
> there. Much better to keep lines open and
> operational, you never know when you might need
> them. It sounds like the rail operators are
> keeping their options open for diversionary routes
> and Driver/Guard route knowledge. Quirky though!
>
> Steve

The real purpose is to avoid the need to go through the statutory closure process and deal with objections, real and imagined, and spend a shed full of cash in the process. Far better withdraw a service but run one train a week at an inconvenient time, to maintain the fiction that the line is still open, despite it being of no practical value to anyone.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/12 13:22 by 86235.

I can see some parallels with the "franchise runs" operated by US interurban and streetcar lines.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

There is another reason. A few Chiltern Railways services are timetabled to run into London Paddington so that drivers have some route experience if and when services are diverted due to maintenance, etc. This may not be the only example. I don't remember if the services are run at a time when no-one is expected to be on the train.

I found another Ghost Train. Leaving Stockport at 10:13 am and goes through Denton and Reddish South and Guide bridge arriving at Stalybridge at 10:36 am Friday morning only. Twenty three minutes and it only runs once a week between those two places. It does show up on http://www.traveline.info/ and the http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/ and of course the Northern Rail site. If I find any more I'll stick them in here on this thread.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/13 12:55 by tq-07fan.

That is one of the classic ghost trains, it only runs to prevent the necessity of a formal notice of closure.