STORM want Castleton railway yard for Metrolink development

In an open letter to all Rochdale councillors and to the Rochdale Council planning department, the chairman of Support the Oldham Rochdale Manchester Lines (STORM), Richard Greenwood MBE, has outlined the views of the group on the future use of the railway yard in Castleton. The site, which is large open space off Manchester Road in Castleton, could be redeveloped for housing by site owners CORUS but STORM believe it should play a part in Greater Manchester's up-coming Metrolink development.

CORUS have owned the site since buying it outright from British Railways in the nineties. The rail welding company ceased operations at the site, which was commonly known as Bagg's Yard by locals, in March 2007 but they still own the site and STORM believe 'there has been considerable speculation that CORUS may well be intending to apply for planning permissions for the site for residential development'. STORM believe that the site would be better used as a storage area for materials needed for the Metrolink development.

The letter in full reads:

"There is a considerable open space lying north west of the Railway, west of Manchester Road, Castleton, formerly used by CORUS for the welding of rails into long lengths as well as for the pre-fabrication of points and crossings and as storage of track-work parts. Much of this site is occupied by several lengthy sidings.

"Rail welding ceased in December 2006 and CORUS ceased operations there in March 2007.

"The whole site is owned by CORUS who purchased it outright from British Railways in the nineties.
 
"There has been considerable speculation that CORUS may well be intending to apply for planning permission for the site for residential development.

"Whilst the proposals would doubtless contain arrangements to safeguard the existing links to the East Lancashire Railway at Heywood, to lose what is the last remaining rail-served site in the Rochdale area could well turn out to be something that would be a cause for regret in future years.

"The upgrading of the eight miles of Metrolink track between Bury and Manchester Victoria is now commencing. The contractors (Carillion) have built half a dozen long sidings at Buckley Wells, Bury, to act as the railhead for the Metrolink materials. 

"There is a direct rail connection between the East Lancashire Railway sidings at Buckley Wells and the Metrolink system and also to the main line railway at Castleton via Heywood. All the materials for the upgrade will be conveyed by rail via Castleton, from Heywood to the Buckley Wells sidings.

"Something like 50,000 tonnes of stone ballast will be required and over 30,000 tonnes of this has already been transported by rail direct from quarries to this holding site at Buckley Wells. In addition something like 28 miles of rail, pre-welded into 720 feet lengths, will also be required.

"Large as the site is at Buckley Wells, as work progresses much more in the way of materials will be required. Some 25,000 sleepers, prefabricated points and crossings, drainage channels, conduits and so on will be needed. Most (if not all) of these will be worked into the former CORUS site at Castleton — mostly by rail - and a shuttle freight train will run between Castleton and Buckley Wells on a daily basis whilst the reconstruction of the Metrolink line  takes place. The materials will be taken by this shuttle direct to site, even as far away as Prestwich and possibly Victoria station in Manchester.

"Without the sidings at Buckley Wells and the availability of the old CORUS yard at Castleton it would be quite impossible to carry out the Metrolink upgrading work and have the bulk of the materials brought direct to site by rail.

"The lesson being learned here of the need for a network of sidings and huge storage area close to the scene of work needs to be borne in mind for the conversion of the Rochdale-Oldham-Manchester line to Metrolink. Some fourteen miles is involved, almost double the length of the Bury line. The time-scale will be longer as well. It is inconceivable that the materials should be brought by road except for the street running in the centres of Rochdale and Oldham.

"The sidings in the old CORUS yard at Castleton will be ideally placed for use again as the local storage and despatch area for the Oldham line conversion. There is nowhere else locally which could fulfil this role adequately.

"STORM believes it is essential that no planning permission is granted for the old CORUS site for non-rail use. This should be in the long term but certainly in the short term it should be at least until such time as the Rochdale-Oldham-Manchester line has been converted to Metrolink. If the old CORUS yard is not available, the costs of the conversion of the Oldham line will be considerably higher.

"Network Rail’s Rail Utilisation Study shows that an additional 50 rail passenger vehicles are urgently required for use mainly in the Greater Manchester area. The rail vehicle maintenance facilities locally at Newton Heath, Longsight and Ardwick are already full and will not be able to accommodate this increase. They may well be able to provide maintenance and inspection facilities for the increased fleet but could not physically house these vehicles when not in active use, e.g. overnight and on Sundays. Already there are what is known as “stabling points” for rail passenger vehicles at places like Blackpool, Wigan and Blackburn. STORM believes that the CORUS yard at Castleton would be an ideal stabling point with its close proximity to Newton Heath depot. Opportunities for rail-associated use in the future and its attendant employment possibilities should be borne in mind and the area should continue to be zoned for rail use for the foreseeable future.

"Looking even further into the future, if long distance road hauls are actively discouraged by Government policy perhaps because of climate change or fuel shortages, the CORUS yard could be developed as a rail/road freight interchange site.    Motorway access via an extension from the existing Business Park roads at Green Lane Heywood would be feasible.

"With congestion charging looming, there should be a greater emphasis on “Park and Ride”. This will mean large car parks needed at strategic station locations especially close to Motorway exits. It may be that a re-sited Castleton station to the other (west) side of the Manchester Road railway bridge with much of the CORUS Yard developed as the Parking area for Park and Ride with local feeder buses from various parts of the Borough such as Norden and Heywood would be advantageous. This would also facilitate the extension of the East Lancashire Railway to their own platform at this re-sited station for cross platform passenger interchange with Northern Rail services. Nothing should be done or approved which would prejudice this."