News
HE British government has announced plans to invest an additional £4.2bn to upgrade key sections of the rail network in England and Wales between 2014 and 2019, in addition to the £5.2bn already committed for projects currently underway. The new spending will extend electrification and add capacity to enable the network to cope with growth. One of the largest projects is an £800m scheme to create a so-called electric spine running from the port of Southampton to the north.
This involves: 25kV ac electrification from Southampton to Reading, and from Oxford to Coventry and Nuneaton on the West Coast
Main Line (WCML) creating a new electrified link from Oxford via Bletchley on the WCML to Bedford, which includes reopening a disused section of line to the
west of Bletchley, and electrification of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Corby, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. Electrification between Southampton and Reading involves conversion of the section south of Basingstoke from 750V dc third rail to 25kV ac overhead. This will be a pilot scheme for the eventual conversion of the entire rail network south of London from third rail to overhead electrification.
S
COTTISH transport minister Mr Keith Brown set out the government’s plans for the development of Scotland’s rail network on June 21, pledging a £5bn investment between 2014 and 2019 and reform of the ScotRail franchise.
The plans include further
improvements to the Perth - Inverness Highland Main Line, upgrading of the Aberdeen - Inverness line, and electrification of around 100 route-km per year. Much of the investment will focus on the Edinburgh - Glasgow Improvement Programme,
8
British investment plan to spark electrification surge T
In brief
troubled fleet remains in the balance. The trains were withdrawn last November following two separate incidents of signals being passed at danger. Trafikstyrelsen has specified that dynamic brakes, which were not operational when the incidents occurred, must now be used at all times.
International
More than a year after Trainose cut all international train services in Greece, services were restored between Greece and Macedonia on July 14. However, just one train per week operates between Thessaloniki and Skopje, with
The Midland Main Line will be electrified between 2014 and 2019 under plans announced last month.
Work is already underway to electrify the Great Western Main Line from London to Reading, Oxford, Newbury, Bristol and Cardiff. This is now to be expanded to include branch lines to Windsor, Marlow and Henley-on- Thames, the Cardiff - Swansea main line, and the so-called Valleys commuter lines in the Cardiff area. A £500m western connection to London’s Heathrow airport
Scotland outlines five-year plan
which encompasses the electrification of both lines through Falkirk by 2016. However, the scope of this project has been reduced to cut costs, and plans to increase Edinburgh - Falkirk High - Glasgow services from four to six trains per hour and electrification of the lines to Dunblane and Alloa have been shelved. The next ScotRail franchise will start in 2014 with a term of 10 years. Caledonian Sleeper services will split from the franchise and will be tendered separately for a period of up to 15 years.
is also proposed. The line from Walsall north of Birmingham to Rugeley on the WCML will be electrified at a cost £30m for commuter services and as a diversionary route for mainline trains. The East Coast Main Line
from London to Leeds and Edinburgh has been allocated £240m to ease bottlenecks and install ERTMS on the southern end of the route.
An additional £322m has been allocated to the £477m Northern Hub project to increase capacity and improve services radiating from Manchester and its airport. The lines from Blackpool and Liverpool to Manchester, Leeds and York are already being electrified, and this will now be extended east to Selby. Improvements in the London area include £350m to lengthen platforms at Waterloo to provide capacity for 120,000 additional daily commuters. The plan also includes £200m to improve the freight network, £300m to cut journey times, £200m for stations, £140m for development and innovation, and £65m to improve level crossings.
a journey time of four hours. Bosnia Herzegovina Federal Railways (ZFBiH) and Croatian Railways (HZ) have failed to reach an agreement on a new passenger service between Sarajevo and the Croatian port of Ploce. ZFBiH says the level of track access charges in Croatia make the service unviable, while HZ points out that international services are not eligible for discounted fees.
Ireland
Irish Rail (IE) is to extend the provision of free Wi-Fi to the remainder of the inter-city network after it awarded a contract to FleetConnect, Ireland, to equip its entire fleet of 234 class 22000 dmu vehicles with Icomera X6 mobile access and applications routers. The 67 CAF locomotive-hauled coaches used on Dublin - Cork services are already Wi-Fi-enabled.
Latvia
Latvian Railways (LDz) achieved a 12% year-on-year increase in freight volumes in the first half of 2012, reaching 33.5 million tonnes. This year the railway expects to exceed the record 59.4 million tonnes it carried in 2011.
Netherlands
In an unexpected move, the Dutch Environmental and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) has banned Vossloh G1206 and G2000 diesel locomotives from operating light engine on the
IRJ August 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60