NORTHERN HUB
to accommodate 11-car Pendolinos. But traders did not want a closure during the holiday season.
Jurkowski said: “It basically came down to doing it much earlier than we’d be ready to do it, or to push it towards the end of the 2016 holiday season. So, the start date for the new services to Blackpool will be postponed by a couple of months while we finish the work off. But Blackpool will re-open with a new service pattern and new electric trains operating.”
Virgin is planning to start running diesel services to and from Blackpool at the end of this year, using Voyagers, but the extended platforms plus electrification offers more opportunities from 2017.
Remodelling and resignalling
Kirkham & Wesham is another station to be remodelled: it actually takes longer for trains to use the ‘fast’ lines that bypass the station than to go through it, because of the speed of the connections at either end.
“We’re looking to remodel the layout so it’s faster and more efficient, for both stopping and fast trains, and it’s easier to maintain for the next 30 years,” Jurkoswki told us. “We’ll be building an additional platform at Kirkham too.”
Doing the resignalling earlier is more sensible, Jurkowski said, than trying to make the new electrification system compatible with the five old mechanical signal boxes. “For example, how do you make servicing of mechanical signalling safe when there’s electrified wires around? We’ve brought forward those plans to incorporate resignalling with electrification. It makes much more sense.”
Alliance
The bulk of the work on the North of England Programme will be delivered by an alliance of Network Rail and contractors including BAM Skanska, Siemens and Balfour Beatty. A separate alliance will handle the Transpennine electrification east of Stalybridge, managed by the LNE route team from York.
The plans are still subject to final review, as part of the regular affordability check process. “The next tranche, of which Blackpool is part, is going through its funding review cycle over the next couple of months. That sharpens up the focus of the scope but we’re confident that will be confirmed,” he added.
“We then instruct the delivery teams at Infrastructure Projects to carry out the works
Jurkowski said: “The operators have been very good at working with us, Northern and FTPE particularly, but all of them have been engaged and have had a say in how the programme has been developed.”
Although most benefits are yet to come, the December 2013 first-phase electrification commissioning let FTPE start its electric services from Manchester Airport to Scotland. He said: “That was quite a critical date for them, one we achieved – but it took a lot more work than just electrifying Manchester to Newton-le- Willows to enable those services to run.
“This December, the same is happening for Northern, with the introduction of electrified services between Liverpool and Manchester. There’s a lot going on collectively between us
within the parameters we’ve determined – budget, timeframe, specification, etc.”
Disruption
The Blackpool works are typical of the North of England Programme enhancements, in that short-term disruption is required for longer- term gains.
Jurkowski said: “The railway network in the north west has not seen this scale of investment and modernisation for over a generation. However, to undertake that modernisation does require access to the railway to actually rebuild it, and some of the works are difficult to do and take longer than weekends or overnights.
“Therefore, to have the benefits of the electrified and modernised railway, you do have to disrupt travellers. We’re
– driver training, depot electrification, and so on – for that to happen.”
The Class 319s to operate those services – ex- Thameslink stock – need new livery, but are also undergoing a refurbishment, Northern confirmed to us.
Safety first This
being Network Rail,
safety is key. working very hard with
industry partners to make sure that is managed as best we can, and also to highlight the benefits it will bring, so people understand the need to do the works.”
He praised the communications teams at Network Rail and the operators for doing such a good job on this so far, especially for projects like the Chorley tunnel.
Pain and gain
With their franchises coming to an end, both Northern and First TransPennine Express (FTPE) have had to manage disruption to their services (and any resulting bad press) without a guarantee that they’ll benefit from the improvements.
The incumbents have made it onto the shortlists to run the new franchises – although Abellio is no longer partnered with Serco for the Northern bid – but competition will be fierce.
Blackpool-Preston has four level crossings set to close, with new footbridges being put in. New fencing has been installed on the Liverpool to Manchester route, cables have been buried to deter theft and vandalism, rubbish has been cleared to deter copycat fly-tipping, and vegetation has been cut back to destroy ‘hiding places’. Bridge parapets are being made a safe height across all the electrified lines. Network Rail also has a programme warning schoolchildren about the dangers of electrified railways.
The work has not been incident-free,
unfortunately. A new wiring train is out of service for modification following an accident in which a wire broke, though luckily no-one was seriously injured. Jurkowski said: “We’re addressing that and making sure that kind of incident is either very unlikely or can’t happen again.”
The ‘single programme’ approach makes safe delivery more likely, as everything can be planned in advance, and last-minute rushes and crisis periods can be avoided or mitigated.
“We need to ensure we’ve got sensible workloads, sensible periods in which to deliver the work, and the right resources to do it. That’s a critical aspect in achieving safe delivery,” he told us.
Busier and busier
Big projects starting next year include the vital Ordsall Chord – subject to the consents being achieved – and the Farnworth tunnel.
Jurkowski told us: “We’ve completed some elements – Huyton-Roby, phase one electrification, some of the works at Manchester Airport, and so on – but this is only the start of it. 2015 will get busier and busier.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
More from our interview with Martin Jurkowski – including how freight benefits from the programme – at the RTM website.
rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 14 | 73
Martin Jurkowski
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