NEWS
West Coast blockade – late hand back causes delays
Network Rail has had to apologise for a late hand back of the West Coast Main Line after the bank holiday weekend’s blockade, which caused delays for passengers.
It said: “We apologise for the delays caused as a result of the late hand back of the line.
“Everything possible was done to complete the work on time, and we will review what happened to determine what lessons can be learnt so future work at Watford can be delivered and completed as planned.”
The works on one of the UK’s most intensively-used sections of rail infrastructure are part of an £81m project to upgrade the railway around Watford, which has long been a problematic area.
The main contractors for the bank holiday works were AmeyColas and Siemens. Three
signalling
gantries, 30 metres wide and weighing 12 tonnes each, were installed over six lines using a 40-tonne
crane.
began to renew S&C new ballast.
Engineers and add
Network Rail spokeswoman Anne- Marie Batson told RTM before the works: “We’re also renewing five sets of points, including a full- depth ballast renewal for each one. AmeyColas will be delivering the trackwork, with Siemens providing the signalling support for the points’ renewals as well as undertaking works as part of their resignalling scheme.”
Apart from the late hand back, the works
were completed successfully, she said.
As part of the main project, all signalling between Kings Langley and Bushey will be renewed and more than 15km of new track will be laid. The OLE will be made more reliable and Orphanage Road Bridge will be replaced to allow for future line speeds of 125mph.
Network Rail is also replacing three critical junctions north and south of Watford and renewing the signalling system in the area. It will also replace the track crossovers with track that is easier to maintain, reducing future disruption.
Dyan Crowther, route MD for Network Rail, said: “The section of track at Watford is one of the most intensively used, high- speed sections in the UK and has seen
tremendous growth in
traffic and passengers over the last five years. There is never a good time to close the railway but this work is essential to maintain reliable
train services for the
millions of passengers who travel on this route every year.”
The next blockade is the August bank holiday. Network Rail’s bank holiday closures programme causes “less disruption than the only other alternative
of closing the line
for 54 consecutive weekends”, it says.
East West Rail target date slips back to March 2019
on the line have been unveiled. The station,
opening next
summer, will be built on the site of the derelict Water Eaton silo, demolished last year.
Network Rail has nearly finished its Oxford to Bletchley electrification feasibility
study the wider (GRIP 2), East West but
the target date for completion of
Rail
western section has slipped to March 2019. December 2017 had earlier been suggested as the completion date.
Phase 1 of the East West Rail western section, Oxford to Bicester, is still on track for March 2016, and design plans for the new Oxford Parkway station
4 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 14
Rob Brighouse, MD at Chiltern Railways, said: “Oxford Parkway will transform travel between Oxford and London when it launches in summer 2015.”
The upgrade and extension of the Oxford to Bicester line facilitates the new Chiltern Railways service
between Oxford and London, providing an
alternative to the
crowded GWML services via Reading into Paddington.
The western section of East West Rail – Oxford to Milton Keynes and Bedford – is committed and funded. Network Rail and Chiltern Railways are managing delivery of the project via the Bicester to Oxford Collaboration. A joint venture led by Carillion and Buckingham Group is the design- and-build contractor for the £87m works.
The ‘central section’, Bedford-
Cambridge, is at an earlier stage and will be difficult and costly. Campaign group Railfuture
welcomed
the extra
detail
provided by Network Rail in its CP5 Enhancements Delivery Plan but added: “[The 2019 delivery date] is a great disappointment and is the result of the schedule needing three years,
from now to 2017, to
obtain the Transport & Works Act Order to permit the project. And this is for a total of about 30 route miles of re-built line.”
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