Swindon to Kemble re-doubling - ongoing discussion and updates

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7699202.stm and video report, at  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7701023.stm

Chris from Nailsea.

[John R]

Maybe a revised scheme with a short dynamic passing loop somewhere in the middle should be proposed. Would reduce knock on delays when one train is late by enabling the train coming the other way to advance as far as the loop, and increase capacity when the ST is closed. Not ideal, but half a loaf is better than none at all.

[Btline]

Agree. Even one HST^▸ (High Speed Train) length loop, would reap major rewards.

That's what I think they could have done on the Cotswold line (in several places of course).

[John R]

Probably minimum should be enough to accommodate one full length freight train, else some of the diversionary benefit would probably be lost and the business case weakened. But I think we're agreed on the principle. 

Another puzzle to me is why when they relaid Standish Junction a few years ago they didn't increase the turn out speed. So trains have to slow to 40 ( IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly)) and then power up to get up the hill to Stonehouse (and then brake again to stop exactly 2 miles from the junction). Not very efficient.

[Lee]

Network Rail has provided no further evidence to support the scheme.

Really? 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed, Lee: that's what it says, on page 199 of the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) document, available at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/383.pdf : I, too was rather startled at that statement. 

[Lee]

The link below contain articles on this from a Welsh perspective.
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/11/plan_to_speed_up_south_wales_t.html#more

Also, some interesting comments from Bill Emery, the chief executive of the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about), on why some schemes were not funded :

Bill Emery, the chief executive of the ORR, said that he did not have the power to challenge the Government^s cap on expansion despite receiving several representations saying that it would worsen overcrowding.

The Government said that it would fund Network Rail to expand capacity by up to 22.5 per cent by 2014. Passenger numbers are currently growing at about 7 per cent a year. At that rate passenger growth will be double what the Government plans to accommodate, meaning that thousands more people will have to stand on trains each day for up to an hour.

Mr Emery said: ^We don^t have the power to say, ^That^s not enough capacity^. We have already drawn attention to the forecasts of high demand and it appears that passenger growth is holding up.^

He said there was also a possibility that the Government would not deliver all of the 1,300 carriages it had promised by the 2014 deadline. The ORR has approved the extension of 500 platforms to accommodate trains that are up to 12 carriages long.

The ORR approved ^26.7 billion of funding for Network Rail from 2009 to 2014, ^2.4 billion less than the company said it needed. There was no money for electrification of lines up to 2014 despite the claim by the Government this week that it wanted to convert lines from diesel to electric power.

[Ollie]

I'm not one for getting peoples hopes up but:

This was included in a internal news type thing all colleagues get:

"Work on redoubling the North Cotswolds route will begin next year, which includes a six-week blockade to kick-start the work. It is a shame that the Office of Rail Regulation didn^t give the OK to funding for a similar project between Swindon and Kemble, but we have been encouraged by possible alternative funding opportunities, and I hope to give you an update on this in the New Year. "

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, it's back on the agenda, apparently:

After a cross-party group of MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) met the transport minister the situation appears to have changed.  Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham said there was now clear ministerial backing.  "The first step is quite a major engineering study which will (cost) several million pounds, but we hope the government will make a considerable contribution to get that rolling."

For full details, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7848436.stm

[Ollie]

Further Update: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7878852.stm

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, Ollie! 

It is a turnaround of events for groups campaigning for the extra line.
In October the Office of Rail Regulator (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) said (the) scheme would not be included in Network Rail's business plan for 2009-14.
The ORR said the case was not funded because it was judged to be outside the scope of what the government wanted for improving punctuality and capacity.

Well, I'm glad to see Lord Adonis has put the ORR straight on that one, then!  

[paul7575]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) announces ^2.5m for preparatory research:

Doubling 12 miles of the single track between Swindon and Gloucester is an excellent project which has the potential to make a real difference to people travelling through the South Cotswolds on this line. It is also an important diversionary route between South Wales and London when the Severn Tunnel is closed.

"My Department will now work with the South West Regional Assembly and Welsh Assembly Government to explore other funding opportunities for the full scheme. The co-ordination between three organisations is a demonstration of the importance of this project.

"In total the Government has committed to investing ^15bn of public money in the railways in the next five years."

The funding will allow engineers to carry out a full evaluation of the existing route and produce detailed plans for work to be done.

Depending on the outcome of the report and funding for the project being secured, work on doubling 12-miles of single track into two lines on this busy Swindon to Gloucester route could start as early as next year.

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=397716&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

Paul

[eightf48544]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) announces ^2.5m for preparatory research:

This gets a mention in May's Modern Railways.  What I don't get is why does it cost ^2.5 million to study redoubling?

I'd do it for ^250,000 and still be overcharging.

I bet IKB^▸ (Isambard Kingdom Brunel) when he first surveyed the route it didn't cost that much.

[Btline]

I can do the study here and now:

START OF STUDY
It's needed.
END OF STUDY

There we are! Now, what was that? - ^2.5 million?

Seriously, ^2.5 million is a waste of money. We as a country need to stop these stupid "studies"! (the French have, why can't we?)

[willc]

It's not some sort of vague study of the desirability of the idea. As the DafT announcement makes clear, this is a proper detailed engineering evaluation, as part of the Network Rail Grip process, which will take the whole thing up to Grip Stage 4, where you fix the final option for the work, before you get the money in place and move on to the final design stage (ie where the Cotswold Line is now, at stage 5) and get out on the ground to do the work (which is stage 6, where the Cotwold Line will be from the summer).

And I expect Swindon and Wiltshire councils will also be expecting serious consideration to be given at this stage of the process to their aspiration to have a new station built to serve the north-west of the town or just beyond it at Purton.

It may look like a lot of money but in the context of the overall bill for the Cotswold Line scheme (estimated at^48m-^105m depending on who you believe) it's a drop in the ocean.