Filton Bank 4-tracking visualisation

[D60]

^"Why would they do the others and not these..?"^

Because the scope of the project has been changed mid-project, with the "pausing" of electrification...

Haven't seen Network Rail's blurb on the project recently, but back in 2015/6, all bridges, work planned, and scheduled dates were included... and I seem to think dates for 'community drop-in sessions' were listed relating to the planned work on Church Road/Lawrence Hill bridge back in 2016..

Haven't checked recently, but presumably the Network Rail website has been updated to reflect the rescoping of the project..?

 

[D60]

Cannot post links on here on this rubbish phone (apologies, and don't know whether permission would be needed even if I could..), but a sequence of very interesting videos has been uploaded onto YouTube, on the 'Tatt boy' channel, showing most recent works on the project, in both up and down directions and on different sections of the route, during April and May 2018, and with informative descriptions..

The most recent upload is 14 May 2018, and shows an up journey on the northern half of the route commencing around the point where the existing (post 1984) pair of lines slews across from the 'relief' side to the 'main' side, in the vicinity of the one-time Ashley Hill/Muller Rd goods yard, and where vehicle access to this northern half of the project has been from behind the TrustFord Repair Centre (Petherbridge Way) and the Network Rail/Taylor Woodrow/Vinci compound off Dovercourt Road.

In addition to showing extent of ballast, sleepers and track in place following recent weekend possessions, it also shows :-

- New Lockleaze footbridge (2017/8)
- Constable Road bridge (untouched, original condition)
- Horfield Cutting, showing huge extent of tree clearance, restabilising and re-profiling of cutting sides completed, incorporating rock-filled gabions, and stone-layered cutting sides for stability, drainage, and to inhibit vegetation growth.. work which took from late 2016 through to early 2018..
- Location of crossovers to be installed south of Bonnington Walk.
- The widened formation through the site of the former platforms at the site Horfield Station, at Bonnington Walk.
- The high brick arches of Bonnington Walk bridge, including raised parapets, done during 2016.
- Stanley Farm footbridge, untouched..
- Filton South Junction, for Sth Wales, and newly realigned track into F.A.W. platform 3
- Filton Abbey Wood, showing ongoing work to create platform 4 for Sth Wales services.. and general view of nicely busy platforms at Abbey Wood..

Well worth a look for anyone who hasn't had a chance to view the scale and scope of the ongoing work at first hand.. sorry can't post link..! Maybe some kind person might oblige..!

 

[swt_passenger]

This should link to the above mentioned YouTube channel page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCteSMO_EteyJI6RIUSob67w

 

[3973EXL]

Filton Abbey Wood

Had some time to kill today, so had a look at the station work.
For anybody else interested;

 

[The_Engineer]

Filton Abbey Wood

Had some time to kill today, so had a look at the station work.
For anybody else interested;
View attachment 48261 View attachment 48262 View attachment 48263 View attachment 48264 View attachment 48265 View attachment 48266 View attachment 48267

That's coming along nicely! No doubt track work will follow on once the new platform is completed...….

 

[yanti]

Stapleton road closed on 30/06 for the bridge installation apparently

 

[Sean Emmett]

First span of the new Stapleton Road viaduct has been duly installed, with span 2 being lined up to follow.

 

[HowardGWR]

First span of the new Stapleton Road viaduct has been duly installed, with span 2 being lined up to follow.

Is that weathered steel? Oh, there will be moans then.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Sleepers now being laid out around Narroways on what will be the main lines. Infill between plats at Stapleton Road being dug out.

 

[HowardGWR]

Sleepers now being laid out around Narroways on what will be the main lines. Infill between plats at Stapleton Road being dug out.

If a kind colleague could stand on the new high footbridge at Narroways or at the northern end of Stapleton Road platforms, and take a shot or two, that would be much appreciated by we who are remote.

 

[Phil G]

If a kind colleague could stand on the new high footbridge at Narroways or at the northern end of Stapleton Road platforms, and take a shot or two, that would be much appreciated by we who are remote.

There are some good pictures posted on the great western coffee shop forum
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13113.420 you might have to register to see the pictures.

 

[snowball]

There are some good pictures posted on the great western coffee shop forum
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13113.420 you might have to register to see the pictures.

I'm unregistered and can see them.

 

[D1009]

Is it time to drop the "visualisation" from the thread title?

 

[HowardGWR]

Brilliant, just what I requested , thanks for the link. On the second photo towards Stapleton Road, I could almost envisage a 49xx pausing on that new up line to attach a banker at the rear on a heavy North West express.

They need to plant a creeper plant against those cutting walls to hide that scourge.

Edit: on the first photo, the 'ballast' on the right hand cutting is the filled in bit where the LMS line from Avonmouth to Kingswood Junction used to cross the GWR.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Extension to footbridge at Stapleton Road now installed.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Rails laid on new up main under Narroways footbridge. Will get pics next weekend.

 

[HowardGWR]

Extension to footbridge at Stapleton Road now installed.

Does that mean that the down platform will no longer be accessible to wheelchair users (from St Mark's Rd or Henrietta Street side)?
Looking forward to your photos, much appreciated.

 

[swt_passenger]

Does that mean that the down platform will no longer be accessible to wheelchair users (from St Mark's Rd or Henrietta Street side)?
Looking forward to your photos, much appreciated.

Looks like there’ll be ramps, connected where the red barriers are. Also mentioned in this Network Rail summary:
https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-co...-station-and-viaduct-factsheet-April-2018.pdf

 

[HowardGWR]

Looks like there’ll be ramps, connected where the red barriers are. Also mentioned in this Network Rail summary:
https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-co...-station-and-viaduct-factsheet-April-2018.pdf

Yes, thanks, it comes back to me now. Not visible in the photo is the position where an up relief platform ramp could go and I don't think there is to be one. Anyone who wanted to cross from the down platform to leave the station on the up side and who is disabled, will have to go down to St Mark's Road and cross under the bridge. There was also a big row, featured in the Bristol Post a while back, about people on the bridge who could peep-tom the folk in the bedrooms of the terraced houses on the up side, from the new position of the footbridge.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Narroways yesterday, looking North then South. Some rails drawn out but not clipped down.

 

[Zanahoria]

Took a trip from Abbeywood to Bristol Temple Meads. Here are 2 YouTube clips showing progress so far as viewed via an iPhone through the carriage window!

 

[HowardGWR]

^^^Great stuff. I'm surprised the track laying is being laid in fits and starts. One would have thought the civils would have done their stuff to ready the solum, the main job, and then the track to have been laid all in one go, or at least in bigger chunks. It would be interesting to know the ins and outs of this piecemeal approach. Even if it helps elapsed time on the project, it would appear, to an outsider, to be a more expensive option.

 

[contractor1]

^^^Great stuff. I'm surprised the track laying is being laid in fits and starts. One would have thought the civils would have done their stuff to ready the solum, the main job, and then the track to have been laid all in one go, or at least in bigger chunks. It would be interesting to know the ins and outs of this piecemeal approach. Even if it helps elapsed time on the project, it would appear, to an outsider, to be a more expensive option.

this is what happens & how things are planned when network rail gives a construction company!

 

[snowball]

this is what happens & how things are planned when network rail gives a construction company!

When Network Rail gives a construction company what?

 

[contractor1]

When Network Rail gives a construction company what?

A contract to relay 4 miles of track with multiple s&c

 

[Sean Emmett]

Seems sensible to me. Similar to piecemeal approach used on the Swindon - Kemble re-doubling i.e. get the easy bits done while trains are running and use the blocks to sort out the difficult parts.

My big beef is that the new Horfield crossovers make it more difficult to re-open a station for Horfield/Lockleaze, either on original Bonnington Walk site or at Constable Rd. But that is no fault of the contractors.

Interesting if it gets finished by Dec 2018 as planned, although defering the new timetable to May 2019 takes pressure off a bit.

Anyone have a diagram for proposed Bristol East Jn remodelling?

 

[swt_passenger]

Don’t the in use pair of tracks cross from one side to the other? Presumably that existing slew over a significant distance leads to a gap in both new tracks where they cannot do much yet.

 

[Sean Emmett]

Don’t the in use pair of tracks cross from one side to the other? Presumably that existing slew over a significant distance leads to a gap in both new tracks where they cannot do much yet.

Yes, around Milepost 3 - between the Muller Rd underbridge (2m 56c) and the Ashley Hill footbridge (3m 11c).

Clearly this area will be one of the areas tackled in the 3 week possession in Oct/Nov, if not in other blocks before.

Not easy to get pics as the new footbridge was still closed last time I passed by. Any idea when it was or will be opened?

 

[snowball]

Press release

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...e-number-of-tracks-into-bristol-temple-meads/

Network Rail completed work to strengthen St Mark’s road bridge in Bristol last month, as part of the project to double the number of railway lines between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood stations. The tracks are being doubled to enable an increase in trains from 2019 to help meet growing demand.

The strengthening of St Mark’s road bridge was the final piece of bridge work to be completed for the Filton Bank 4 tracking project, which has seen a huge amount of enabling work take place throughout 2018. Earlier this summer the new viaduct at Stapleton Road was installed, providing a complete path for the two new railway lines for the first time.

The project has also seen extensive earthworks carried out as well as platform extensions at Bristol Parkway and the construction of a new platform at Filton Abbey Wood. The upgrading of signalling and laying of new track between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood continues throughout the autumn and winter of 2018.

Alongside this work, Network Rail’s largest ever signalling upgrade was completed in April of this year, with more than 500 members of Team Orange working around the clock to replace 1970s signalling with state of the art digital equipment.

Together, both projects will transform rail travel into Bristol as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan and enable GWR to continue introducing new electric trains as part of their biggest fleet upgrade in a generation.

Network Rail’s major programmes director David Buisson said: “Doubling the railway lines between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood is a key part of our Railway Upgrade Plan, increasing capacity from 2019 to help meet growing demand.

The four tracks will also increase the resilience of the railway and assist to reduce the impact of any maintenance work in the area, as well as separating local stopping services from long distance, high-speed trains, improving reliability.”

As part of the Filton Bank 4 tracking project, the railway line between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood stations – including the Severn Beach line – will be closed for engineering work from Saturday 27 October to Sunday 18 November. Some trains will run to an amended timetable and buses will replace trains on some routes. During this upgrade, hundreds of engineers will be working around the clock to install new track and signals.

Members of the public are invited to find out more about the work at a drop-in session to be held on Tuesday 25 September at Horfield United Reform Church, Bristol, BS7 9RB.

Passengers are advised to check with their train operator before travelling during the upgrade work using the following links: –

www.gwr.com/bristol2018

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/bristol2018

To find out more about the upgrade work in the Bristol area please visit

www.networkrail.co.uk/bristol-upgrades

 

[Phil G]

Given this has got to one of the biggest track re-instatements going on at present I'm surprised there's not been more news posted on here in recent weeks as it's all getting rather interesting and the blockade to join up the final bits only a week away. There are some great pictures on the great western coffee shop and videos of the whole journey north and south bound from a couple of weeks ago. The fourth platform at Filton is making great progress and there is track over the new stapleton road bridge. Hopefully some of the locals will provide updates on here during the blockade.