West Coast franchise extended for nine months
by Jayne Dubois
Virgin has been granted a nine-month extension on its West Coast franchise, which will now run until December 2012. Three new Pendolinos will come into operation before this time, increasing capacity, and other Pendolinos will gain extra coaches. Rail minister Theresa Villiers said: ‘When
this extension expires in December 2012, the government will have completed a competition for a new operator to run services on the line under a new longer style of franchise that gives the operator more incentive to invest and more freedom to innovate and deliver for passengers.’ Virgin Trains is currently getting revenue
support payments for the franchise and the company admitted that it thought the DfT’s target revenue for the franchise extension was ‘challenging’.
LU bridge project recognised
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London Underground has won the top prize in the Small Civil Engineering Project category at the British Construction Industry Awards for its District Line rail bridge replacement scheme. Judges were impressed that in one weekend an 80-year- old bridge was removed and replaced with a new 90 tonne steel structure, constructed in Newport, South Wales, and placed between Ravenscourt Park and Hammersmith stations. Kirit Patel, LU project manager,
said: ‘Installing this bridge in one weekend was a huge engineering challenge.
The Toc expects to get 80 per cent revenue
support for the extension period – but if revenue exceeds expectations, the DfT will receive 80 per cent of the difference. The next franchise will run from December
2012 to March 2026, with an option for a 20-month extension. Virgin has been shortlisted for the franchise, along with Abellio, FirstGroup, Keolis/SNCF. Virgin Rail Group chief executive officer
Tony Collins said: ‘We are delighted to have agreed an extension to the current West Coast franchise. It is great news for passengers and will also deliver value for money to taxpayers. ‘The extension will bring continuity and
allow us to run services for passengers at an exciting and challenging time for the country with the London 2012 Olympic Games next year. ‘We will also be working hard to introduce important extra capacity on the West Coast.’
Network of tunnels discovered under Liverpool’s railway system
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A labyrinth of tunnels has been discovered underneath
Liverpool, causing problems for the railway above it.
Contractor Amalgamated Joseph Williamson
Construction noticed ballast disappearing down a hole at sidings on the Liverpool to Manchester line and called in specialists Lanes for Drains, who found a two-metre high tunnel underneath the tracks. Matt Mulheran of Lanes, said that the tunnel, and many others like it, stretch for miles around the Edge Hill area. ‘They were the creation of Joseph Williamson, a wealthy businessman and property owner. His commercial success earned him the name the King of Edge Hill, whilst his tunnel building
brought him the moniker, the Mad Mole,’ Mulheran discovered after researching the subject. ‘He wanted to provide the
unemployed with work,’ he explains, ‘so he set them to work digging tunnels.’ Lawrence Longthorne, construction manager at Amco, added that the tunnels were dug out of the bedrock: ‘It must have been really hard graft for the men.’ Filling the tunnel in proved a lot more straightforward, however. Lanes pumped concrete mixed with a foaming additive into the cavity.
ARRIVA TRAINS WALES’ CLUB 55 OFFER ENDS
Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) has no plans to make its seasonal cut-price fares for travellers over 55 permanent throughout the year, Rail Professional has learned. The company’s Club 55 offer,
which expires 11 days before Christmas, has proved ‘popular and successful’. However ATW,
PAGE 10 DECEMBER 2011
which is subsidised by the Welsh government, declined to say whether or not its promotion has been profitable. Club 55 was first launched
in 2009 and this year has run from early September. It enables travellers to go anywhere on ATW’s network, including Manchester,
for £18. ‘Longer distance routes are especially popular,’ an ATW spokeswoman said. Although the offer is ‘widely
used’, statistics showing the level of demand won’t be available until after the current scheme ends. ‘We’ve seen increased numbers of this age group but there’s no way of knowing
how many people previously travelled with ATW on a regular ticket aged 55-plus compared with those using the offer,’ she added. ‘As Club 55 is a promotion, there
are no plans at this point in time to make it permanent.’ ATW has yet to make a decision about repeating its seasonal offer.
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