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Author Topic: East - West Rail update (Oxford to Bedford) - ongoing discussion  (Read 145279 times)
Red Squirrel
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« Reply #225 on: March 21, 2019, 10:26:16 »

Quote
Isn't there about 14km of OHLE in place between Thingley Jct and Chippenham? Is this going to be energised, or will it become known as Chris Grayling's Washing Line?
Thingley Jct is just west of Chippenham and is where the grid supply point is.  At present there are some posts but no wires between Thingley and Chippenham.  Do you mean between Wootton Bassett and Chippenham?

Oh yes, I do. Thanks for the correction  Smiley
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ChrisB
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« Reply #226 on: March 21, 2019, 10:43:17 »

Do you mean Market Harborough, Chris?

Thank you, yes, sorry, I do.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #227 on: July 16, 2019, 15:18:35 »

From RAIL magazine

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Tender set to be issued for East West Rail rolling stock

The East West Railway Company (EWR Co) has confirmed its intention to begin a formal rolling stock procurement process in August.

RAIL can reveal that an Invitation to Tender (ITT (Invitation to Tender)) will be issued to supply 11 three-car self-propelled units for services due to commence in 2024 between Oxford, Bedford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.

It follows the conclusion of a rolling stock market engagement exercise that had been under way since November 2018, which involved workshops and meetings with manufacturers, suppliers and rolling stock operating companies (ROSCOs» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about)) from across the market.

EWR Co Chief Executive Simon Blanchflower said: “Reactions from the rolling stock market have been extremely positive. We’ve taken a purposeful approach to procurement, using this engagement period to effectively de-risk the project by working with the market to understand what’s available to meet our entry into service requirements, before defining our specifications. Thank you to anyone who has engaged with this process so far - your input has been invaluable.”

EWR Co was established in 2017 to oversee and accelerate the delivery of the East West Rail scheme to restore a direct rail link between Oxford and Cambridge (closed as a through route in 1967).

The line is being reopened in stages, with services running from Oxford to Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury from 2024, and along the full route to Cambridge some three to four years later.

I bet Vivarail will be taking part....
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #228 on: February 04, 2020, 14:25:12 »

I think I have posted this in the correct section (but willing to go and stand in the naughty corner if not)...
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/first-new-railway-in-50-years-between-oxford-and-bletchley-given-the-go-ahead?fbclid=IwAR2xDwTithYI7AAz-Z8aAKO-yGqzKnAV1CCdvOtZIR99Eo1MrO6AM83-Z9o

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First new railway in 50 years between Oxford and Bletchley takes major step forward

The first direct rail link in more than 50 years between Oxford, Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury has been given the green light for further work.

Today (Tuesday 4 February) the Secretary of State for Transport approved Network Rail’s Transport and Works Act Order application, granting permission for work to begin on the next phase of East West Rail.

Once complete, phase 2 of East West Rail would connect communities and businesses between Oxford and Bedford, and Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, with:

Two trains per hour each way between Oxford and Milton Keynes
One train per hour each way between Oxford and Bedford
One train per hour each way between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury
The new railway will also connect the Great Western main line, Chiltern main line, West Coast main line and Midland main line - providing passengers with much-improved cross-country rail links from East to West.

This would help create jobs, boost economic growth, encourage people out of their cars and onto public transport and enable sustainable housing development for generations to come.

Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West & Central Region, said: “Building a new railway would transform connectivity and journey times across the heart of the country. East West Rail promises to provide a greener, low carbon transport system which will bring huge benefits to passengers and businesses - driving economic growth and creating opportunities for housing and new jobs.”

Cllr Mark Shaw, chairman of the East West Rail Consortium, an alliance of local authorities which produced the original business case for the scheme, said: “This has to go down as one of the most exciting weeks in the history of East West Rail, with approval to begin major construction of the Western section coming just days after the preferred route between Bedford and Cambridge was announced. East West Rail will transform the way people travel within and across the region, supporting communities, boosting businesses, unlocking job opportunities, and getting people out of their cars. The Consortium and the local authorities along the line will continue to work with Network Rail and its partners to ensure the western section is now delivered as quickly and smoothly as possible.”

With phase 1 between Oxford and Bicester already complete, phase 2 involves track and signalling upgrades between Bicester, Bedford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, including reinstating a disused section of railway between Bletchley and Claydon Junction, north of Aylesbury Vale Parkway.

The work will deliver significant improvements to local travel, with the phased introduction of new rail journeys between:

Oxford and Milton Keynes: with trains stopping at Oxford Parkway, Bicester, Winslow and Bletchley.
Oxford and Bedford: with trains stopping at Oxford Parkway, Bicester, Winslow, Bletchley, Woburn Sands and Ridgmont.

Milton Keynes and Aylesbury: with trains stopping at Bletchley, Winslow and Aylesbury Vale Parkway

The East West Rail project is planned to be built progressively in phases, and once constructed would create a world-class rail link connecting Oxford, Bicester, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge.

For more information you can visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/east-west-rail/
« Last Edit: February 04, 2020, 14:30:47 by SandTEngineer » Logged
grahame
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« Reply #229 on: May 02, 2020, 07:42:41 »

Turning the "nose" of the Bletchley Flyover to point towards Bedford in addition to Northampton? 

From Network Rail Media Centre

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Region & Route: London North Western North West Central

Huge sections of a concrete railway flyover are being lifted out by some of the largest cranes in Europe to build the first direct rail link between Oxford, Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury in more than 50 years.

‘Bletchley flyover’ was built in the early 1960s and allows trains travelling from West to East to cross over the West Coast main line.

But now 14 of the flyover’s 37 spans need to be dismantled and rebuilt to modern standards for the East West Rail project.


My bolding - thought it allowed west to north, with west to east having to cross on the level
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bradshaw
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« Reply #230 on: May 02, 2020, 08:35:53 »

As far as I can see from Google Earth and Traksy, it crossed over the WCML (West Coast Main Line) to the south of the station and then connected with both the WCML and the Bedford line.
There is a buffer stop 2km to the west of the viaduct, this section being used as Swanbourne sidings.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #231 on: May 02, 2020, 10:03:47 »

As far as I can see from Google Earth and Traksy, it crossed over the WCML (West Coast Main Line) to the south of the station and then connected with both the WCML and the Bedford line.
There is a buffer stop 2km to the west of the viaduct, this section being used as Swanbourne sidings.

Correct.  There used to be an 'at grade' connection from the west end of the flyover to the WCML Fast Lines just south of the Bletchley station, almost under the flyover itself.  This then crossed to the Slow Lines and then to the Bedford Line platforms and rejoined the Bedford Line east of the flyover. A junction on the flyover itself allowed access to the Slow Lines towards Northampton at Denbeigh Hall Junction, and to the Bedford Line near Fenny Stratford station. At opening of the flyover there was also an shortlived curve from the west end of the flyover heading south to connect with the WCML.  So overall a quite complex set of junctions which quickly became a huge 'white elephant'.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2020, 10:23:43 by SandTEngineer » Logged
stuving
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« Reply #232 on: May 02, 2020, 23:01:12 »

Doesn't this current work sound typical of the way NR» (Network Rail - home page) always come up with costing many times higher than expected? As in "Ah, yes, the viaduct does already exist. But it's falling apart, so we'll have to replace several spans, and all the bearings, and most of the parapet and a new one will need new fixings. And you said you wanted new platforms too? Well, that looks like a new station, and if you want it upstairs that'll cost even more than a normal downstairs one ... though if the trains are short enough we can squeeze it onto the embankment which will save a bit. Until you need to lengthen it, of course."

To be fair, those are all genuinely necessary extra costs, whatever the actual price tag.
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ellendune
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« Reply #233 on: May 03, 2020, 08:18:02 »

All quite normal for a 1960's reinforced concrete structure.
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4064ReadingAbbey
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« Reply #234 on: May 03, 2020, 12:35:36 »

Doesn't this current work sound typical of the way NR» (Network Rail - home page) always come up with costing many times higher than expected? As in "Ah, yes, the viaduct does already exist. But it's falling apart, so we'll have to replace several spans, and all the bearings, and most of the parapet and a new one will need new fixings. And you said you wanted new platforms too? Well, that looks like a new station, and if you want it upstairs that'll cost even more than a normal downstairs one ... though if the trains are short enough we can squeeze it onto the embankment which will save a bit. Until you need to lengthen it, of course."

To be fair, those are all genuinely necessary extra costs, whatever the actual price tag.
According to a recent artist's impression I have seen somewhere - don't ask me where, please! - the part over at least the Fast line of the LNWR (London North Western Railway)'s main line is being replaced by a long bridge on the roof of which the flyover lines will be replaced. It looks a bit like the structure used on the Trent Valley flyover just north of Rugby station.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #235 on: May 03, 2020, 13:06:35 »

All quite normal for a 1960's reinforced concrete structure.
Or even a 1990s one.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/st-philips-causeway-needs-more-3611411
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« Reply #236 on: May 04, 2020, 11:13:16 »

I thought one of the plans of East West rail was to build a High Level Bletchley station on the flyover.
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stuving
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« Reply #237 on: May 04, 2020, 11:28:16 »

I thought one of the plans of East West rail was to build a High Level Bletchley station on the flyover.

No - or almost no - the TWAO (Transport and Works Act Order ) plans showed the new platforms on the embankment with only the short bit at the south end on the viaduct, on top of the ground-level access building. The same plans don't show any new viaduct as it was not new or different enough to need to go through planning. That implies the dodgy spans are being replaced like for pretty similar, though based on absence of evidence not evidence of absence of new designs.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #238 on: May 04, 2020, 11:31:34 »

Rediscovering the Varsity Line | The Cambridge - Oxford Railway video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrzM8cj0QG8

...and Cab Ride video on the Bletchley Flyover:
Part 1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6I7toFEjP_I
Part 2: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VDe8x0n6TP4
Part 3: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lTs_MNELWdw
« Last Edit: May 04, 2020, 11:37:46 by SandTEngineer » Logged
paul7575
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« Reply #239 on: May 04, 2020, 18:26:47 »

I thought one of the plans of East West rail was to build a High Level Bletchley station on the flyover.

No - or almost no - the TWAO (Transport and Works Act Order ) plans showed the new platforms on the embankment with only the short bit at the south end on the viaduct, on top of the ground-level access building. The same plans don't show any new viaduct as it was not new or different enough to need to go through planning. That implies the dodgy spans are being replaced like for pretty similar, though based on absence of evidence not evidence of absence of new designs.

The partial rebuild of the viaduct is subject to a separate “planning” application, (under permitted development rights) because it wasn’t applied for as part of the TWA Order, presumably because at that stage it was thought to be getting preventive maintenance only.  (Waterproofing etc?)
Milton Keynes planning Application no: 19/03082/PANOTH
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