NEWS
Support for Northern Hub plans
The majority of respondents to Network Rail’s consultation sup- port plans for the Northern Hub, with 80% saying it would make them more likely to use the train. Over 2,000 people took part in events across the area and offered online feedback.
The proposed Northern Hub would allow faster and more fre- quent journeys by better linking the network between Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and York- shire, via measures like the Ordsall Chord, further electrification, the restoration of Manchester Victoria, and timetable changes.
Network Rail’s Graham Botham said: “The scale of this consul- tation clearly demonstrates our ambition to stimulate economic growth by better connecting the towns and cities of the north. It is hugely encouraging that the over- whelming majority of the public in the region support our plans to make it easier for people to get to work, do business, go shopping and visit friends and family.”
Crossrail rolling stock to be PFI-funded
The Crossrail rolling stock will be funded through a PFI deal. Mayor of London Boris Johnson had wanted to pay for the 60 trains by raising the debt ceiling of Trans- port for London, but it is reported that Transport Secretary Justine Greening refused the request.
TfL is not allowed to increase its borrowing, which is currently at £6.4bn, by more than £1.9bn over the next four years. Financing the Crossrail carriages would breach that
guideline.Although the con- tract could still include about 30% public financing, this means that the deal resembles the contro- versial Thameslink procurement, which was won by Siemens. It has been argued by the Transport Select Committee and others that Siemens higher credit rating gave it a built-in advantage in financing large-scale projects.
The DfT said that the full details of the invitation to tender will be pub- lished early this year.
Network Rail has awarded a framework contract worth a po- tential £35m to Lafarge.
The company expects to pro- vide more than a million tonnes a year of ballast and other crushed rock material from its Mountsorrel Quarry, near Loughborough.
The contract will help secure the future of the 100-plus workforce.
John Bradshaw, who manages Lafarge’s relationship with Net- work Rail, welcomed the con- tract enthusiastically and added:
“There is a good chance anyone who has ever been on a train and looked down at the track will have seen Mountsorrel granite, as his- torically, Lafarge have supplied something like 50% of the ballast
used by Network Rail.”
The ballast – a 50mm crushed rock – forms the track bed on which railway sleepers are laid, keeping the track stable and en- suring trains can travel smoothly. It is compacted between, below, and around the sleepers to distrib- ute their load, facilitate drainage of water and keep down vegeta- tion that might interfere with the track structure.
Around 95% of the new ballast being supplied will itself be trans- ported by rail.
Construction work is set to begin on extending the Nottingham tram system, transport minister Nor- man Baker has announced.
The DfT will provide a maximum of £371m towards the total cost of £570m.
The two extensions will run to Chilwell/Beeston and Clifton, link- ing directly into Line One at Not- tingham station. Construction is due to begin in January, after the remaining contractual steps have been taken.
8 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 12
Baker said: “I am delighted that we are able to finally approve funding so that construction of Phase Two of the tram system can begin.
“Line One of the Nottingham tram has proved to be a great success in encouraging people onto public transport.
“These extensions provide the opportunity to build on that suc- cess, and give people in the south of Nottingham quicker, more con- venient access to the city centre
as well as providing an alternative means of accessing the city cen- tre for people commuting by car.”
Cllr Jane Urquhart, portfolio hold- er for planning and transportation at Nottingham City Council, said: “After ten years in planning and development, alongside the in- novation of the Workplace Parking Levy – our ambitious proposals to add two more lines to our tram network will now be realised.”
Services are expected to start in late 2014.
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