East - West Rail update (Oxford to Bedford) - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[anthony215]

I do hope the east weast route is wired, that does give FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and advantage as they could extend the stopping service from London Reading - Oxford through to Milton Keynes.

Thats if they have enough class 319's or other EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit)'s

[ChrisB]

It won't get wired.

There's nowt in the consortium's costings for it.

[grandsire]

I thought we had reached the stage where ROSCOs^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about) do not want to fund new dmus because of their perceived unlikelyhood to find work in 10, 15 or 20 years time.   So does this not mean a continued programme of electrification?  In respect of the EW route it is supposed to offer a new cross country option from Birmingham to Reading, and is there not a tentative plan to put an electric coach into the Voyagers?  Given that its presumably cheaper to get a lot of the electrification gear into place during the rebuilding of the line, rather than retrofitting it later it could be worth putting a small bet on a change of plan and the line, at least west of MK^▸ (Milton Keynes) being electrified?

[eightf48544]

Routes like this are worth eletrifying  not just for their own sake, quiter smoother faster ride for passengers, plus the "sparks" effect on passenger numbers, but once Oxford Padd is done it would form a West Coast fully electrified diversionary route especialy if Acton - Acton Wells - Willesden ML is done as well it could even serve Euston.

Also doing Blechley - Bedford would stop the need to drag EMUS from Bedford to Blechley and if the MML^» (Midland Main Line. - about) is done North of Bedford yet more journey opportunities.

[paul7575]

In respect of the EW route it is supposed to offer a new cross country option from Birmingham to Reading, and is there not a tentative plan to put an electric coach into the Voyagers? 

The original proposal in the EWR project papers was that it would allow for the cross country service from the South Coast and Reading to Manchesterand the NW to avoid Birmingham, ie by using the Trent Valley.

This has been discussed elsewhere and no-one thought it was a viable proposal, because the vast majority of the existing passengers are people going to and from the Birmingham area.  Now if it was an additional service there might be something useful about it.

But I can't see it being electrified, at least until the Chiltern routes are at the top of the list...

[eightf48544]

The Scots seem to do this much beter than we do. When they reopened Addrie to Bathgate it was rebuilt as an electrified railway from the start.

OK it's probaly shorter thhn Oxford to Bedford but the EW line already links with an electrified mainline (WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line)) and will link to a 2nd in 2016 (GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line)) and  to third currently Thameslink Southward but hopefully extended Northward down the  MML^» (Midland Main Line. - about) slightly later.

So it seems to me it should be rebuilt as an electridifed line throughout from the start.

It could be financed with 6% 25 year railway bonds. The city would snap them up

[chuffed]

Bats won't halt rail plans



THE threat of bats in a railway tunnel near Wolvercote holding up a new Rail service from Oxford to London Marylebone looks to have been lifted.
 
Chiltern Railways and Natural England have told the Government they are close to solving the bat problem to get the ^130m scheme back on track.
 
Transport Secretary Justine Greening last month revealed the risk to bats and great crested newts presented a major obstacle to Evergreen 3^s scheme to create a fast Oxford-Bicester-London service.
 
Chiltern Railways and Natural England were given until today to set out measures to resolve the problem, that had resulted in the scheme being denied approval by a planning inspector.
 
The rail company and environment group told the Oxford Mail they had met the deadline with new proposals submitted to the Government, although the details have not been made public.
 
Natural England spokesman Melissa Gill said: ^Natural England met with Chiltern Railways and agreed a way forward in respect of the outstanding issues surrounding bats in the tunnel.
 
^We will continue to work closely with Chiltern Railways to assist them in addressing these matters in their revised application. We have confirmed to the Department for Transport that in principle there is a good prospect of a licence being granted if outstanding issues are dealt with in the way that we agreed, should the Department for Transport issue the transport works order.^
 
News that the planning inspector had withheld approval from the massive scheme came as a blow to commuters who had been looking forward to a new service within three years.
 
The inspector said the bats used the tunnel for roosts and foraging.

And he warned more trains travelling at higher speed would put bats at risk and make the tunnel unusable for them.
 

[IndustryInsider]

Bats won't halt rail plans

Here's the East West Rail Consortium's press release concerning the go-ahead of the project in CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019).

http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/East-West-Rail-release-FINAL.pdf

One wonders if the few campaingers against the scheme, most of which seem to live in North Oxford, will now give up the fight.  Or, now claim that loads of bats will be killed by flying into overhead electrified railway lines. 

[mjones]

Never mind the bats, just wait for all the scare stories about power lines and leukaemia...

[JayMac]

....and all the stories (most of which will be in the Daily Mail) about OverHead- Line Equipment (OHLE) affecting views and house prices and spoiling Victorian railway architecture......

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[IndustryInsider]

The East-West Rail Consortium have updated their promotional video to include the electrification aspect of it.  Looks like a 3-car electric train using redundant APT^▸ (Advanced Passenger Train) carriages will be the rolling stock of choice - right down to the carriage numbering! 

http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/video/

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the First Great Western press release:

First Great Western Managing Director Mark Hopwood has welcomed the decision to include the Western section of the East West Rail (EWR) in the Government^s strategy for transport.

Speaking at the East West Rail Consortium event to celebrate the announcement, Mark Hopwood said:

^Re-opening of the East West route provides some really exciting opportunities for First Great Western Customers. It opens up the potential to not just link Oxford and Milton Keynes but to develop other links from places like Bristol and Reading.

^We look forward to working with our partners to develop the line and the possible train service options. This is fantastic news for the towns and cities that the East West Rail will serve.^

Inclusion in the Government^s strategy means that funding for the project, including electrification of the Oxford to Bedford part of the route, has been confirmed.

Held on the Friday 12 October, a special train was provided to take representatives from the East West Rail Consortium, Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)), Network Rail and partners to view part of the EWR route.

Much of the route already exists as freight network or disused lines and necessary development work is currently being carried out to ensure the target re-opening is met by 2017.

[IndustryInsider]

Sounds like MH remains very keen to get the route included within the Greater Western franchise when it's up and running.

[ChrisB]

It does - but that's a change from previously when both Chiltern & FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were luke-warm in wanting to run it....

[eightf48544]

I would think any TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) going for the Greater Western Franchise would want run an electrified line linking the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) with the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) and MML^» (Midland Main Line. - about) and who knows the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line).