A solution to Castlefield Corridor conundrum?

I read with great interest the article on the Castlefield Corridor ( Analysis, RAIL 895). My understanding is that the current operational plan of 15tph can never work effectively.

It appears that the solution of four-tracking this section of railway is costly, plus the disruption to current rail services and the surrounding business and community concerns are too much to contemplate?

It would be interesting to know what a quadrupling of the Castlefield Corridor would look like in terms of cost and physical appearance, what would have to be demolished, and what the service post-quadrupling would potentially look like. Here are a few points from a layman’s perspective:

London Underground’s Northern Line Extension of 3.2km (I believe) is going to cost £1.2 billion - £375 million per km.

Crossrail, including tunnels, is projected to cost £18.25bn for in total 117km - £156m per km.

Does that mean that the Castlefield Corridor could expect, as an average, £265.5m per km (£520m if the Castlefield Corridor is at a minimum 1.96km in length?

What can you get for £520m? Can you quadruple the track? Could you build a Vic/Pic tunnel?

Could some Manchester Airport services be diverted through a link from the west through Manchester Airport, linking into the Mid-Cheshire line at Ashley and then onto the West Coast Main Line at Hartford, Northwich? Perhaps extra Piccadilly terminal south-facing platforms at a rebuilt Mayfield, Manchester station.

This would give services another route into Manchester Airport and terminating in Manchester,

If you make the decision that all those North West starting point stations don’t necessarily need to travel along the Castlefield

Corridor with the possible extra revenue earning stops, and that they can still terminate in Manchester City Centre at a new Mayfield station, then perhaps the Manchester Airport Western extension is the answer. This all puts HS2 as a separate project.

Andrew Rossiter, Northwich

Clearly the answer to the Castlefield Corridor capacity problem is to limit trains to 12 each way per hour.

This still provides a very comprehensive service - two off the Irlam line, four off the Eccles line, four off the Bolton line and two off the Ordsall Chord.

It would surely help if a service could be provided via the Ashton Moss-Stockport line. It is a roundabout route, but for a journey from (say) Stockport to the Victoria area of Manchester it would probably be quicker than a train to Piccadilly and a change to Metrolink. It would enable Reddish South (a well-situated station) as well as Denton to have a decent service once again.

The service could work through from Blackburn via Bolton, and from Stockport travel on to Knutsford via Altrincham, maybe serving a new station where it crosses the Metrolink.

For many people, a through train via a longer route is often preferable to the uncertainty of awaiting connections.

Rev. John P Hitchen, Manchester