Network Rail Capacity Study

As part of the Government's 'Restoring Your Railway' fund, Fylde Brough Council is developing proposals for the operation of a 2 trains per hour (Tph) service on the South Fylde line between Preston, on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and Blackpool South station.

Previous work (South Fylde Timetable Feasibility Study, January 2019) has indicated that a passing loop/limited doubling of the South Fylde line will be required to support a robust 2tph service. Platforming at Preston station is known to be a constraint and requires further investigation.

Part 1

A 2tph service can be compliantly timetabled at Preston based known changes driven by the Manchester Recovery Task Force (MRTF) and whether this alters the interventions previously recommended by the January 2019 work. Consideration will be given as to whether it is feasible to utilise the Goods Lines if a dwell is required before the new service makes its return journey. If that does not resolve any platforming difficulties encountered then consideration will be given to whether linking Blackpool South services with other services onto the East Lancs lines to Blackburn or on to Ormskirk is feasible and helps platforming.

Part 2

The analysis will also identify any other compliant paths for passenger services between Kirkham North Junction and Preston Fylde Junction in the Up and Down directions; this is to provide an indication of the remaining capacity available for a potential new service to Fleetwood.

Part 3

This analysis will also extend through to Blackpool South the paths identified for a 2tph South Fylde service at Preston as part of Network Rail's Continuous Modular Strategic Planning (CMSP) work for a post HS2 (Phase B) timetable and infrastructure, to see what service pattern this dictates on the South Fylde branch. In the CMSP work some of these services were linked with other services through to Ormskirk; this analysis will confirm whether any interventions are also required on this branch to support this service.

This element of the work has been direct awarded to Network Rail in line with the Council's contract procedure rules.