A source who has been extremely helpful regarding Melksham and other issues recently reminded me that there are similiarities between Melksham station and Wetheral station , which is the most westerly station on the Tyne Valley Line.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetheral_railway_stationAs the link above states :
"The station was closed during the Beeching Axe but later reopened on an unstaffed basis."
Here is a link to the current bus timetable for Wetheral.
http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/Service75from08May04[1].pdf
Page 76 of the North East Regional Planning Assessment.
"More selective stops at stations on the Tyne Valley route to improve the speed
and frequency at the better used stations and to reduce the delays caused by
stopping at the least used locations, and with the potential for bus/rail integration
at Hexham to give better links from the surrounding area to Newcastle."
The map on Page 39 shows the daily number of passengers for each station in the area.
The map on Page 42 shows the daily passenger trips on each section of line in the area.
Both are low on the western section of the Tyne Valley Line , and will get lower if the service is modified as described.
Page 88.
"The Tyne Valley route is a double track railway open on two long shifts but closed
from approximately midnight to 06:00 each night. It can convey RA10 (25.5 tonne)
axle load traffic and W8 gauge container traffic (8'6" containers).
There is roughly an hourly service from Carlisle to Newcastle operated by Northern
Rail, but also including four services contained within the ScotRail franchise and
operating through to south west Scotland. Most of the Northern services continue
beyond Newcastle to Middlesbrough via Sunderland and the Durham Coast. This is
supplemented by an hourly service between Hexham and Sunderland and additional
trains between MetroCentre and Newcastle.
The Tyne Valley line is used by some Anglo-Scottish freight and trains to/from
industries in Cumbria and there are approximately 13 freight paths a day in each
direction over the Tyne Valley. It is also used as a diversionary route when there are
blockages to either the East Coast or West Coast Mainlines."
As you can see from Page 7 , figure 10 of the link below , the Tyne Valley line is projected to achieve high-level growth to 2015.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3108_Route%209%20North%20East%20Routes.pdf"Coal traffic is to be diverted off the Settle to Carlisle
line and onto the Newcastle to Carlisle line from
time to time to allow planned track works. As a
result, the volume of freight traffic along this section
will significantly increase when such diversions
occur."
Here are some relevent links.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4776296.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4765883.stmBelieve it or not , the Settle-Carlisle line is also projected to achieve high-level growth to 2015. this is shown on Page 6 , Figure 9 of the link below.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3121_Route%2023%20North%20West%20Rural.pdfOne of the things that the Settle - Carlisle , Tyne Valley and Melksham lines all have in common is that their stopping passenger train services appeared in the withdrawal or modification lists of the original Beeching Report and nearly all of the stations on them were listed for closure.
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