MML Electrification: progress updates

[PJM]

Flying Phil, must have been close!

North to south.

Looking north from Market Harborough station taken from he car park. A cluster of 3 STCs one might be a TTC


North of platform 2 one TTC and the cluster in the background.


Directly south of platform 2 by the subway.



One TTC by the `low bridge` taken from the board walk by the river Welland and Jordan.





One TTC by ATS Kettering road.



One TTC, the end of Bellfields Lane leading under the bridge to Scotland Road.

 

[Elecman]

So since I have seen signs on bridges it must only have signs when a bridge goes OVER an electrified railway but not like this when an electrified railway goes over a road? Am I correct?

That is correct

 

[59CosG95]

Flying Phil, must have been close!

North to south.

Looking north from Market Harborough station taken from he car park. A cluster of 3 STCs one might be a TTC
View attachment 108531

North of platform 2 one TTC and the cluster in the background.

View attachment 108530
Directly south of platform 2 by the subway.

View attachment 108532

One TTC by the `low bridge` taken from the board walk by the river Welland and Jordan.

View attachment 108533

View attachment 108534

One TTC by ATS Kettering road.

View attachment 108535

One TTC, the end of Bellfields Lane leading under the bridge to Scotland Road.

Thanks for the hugely informative scoop here!

Re the photos, the STC in the middle in pic 1 is an SSA (an anchor without the back-tie), and the 'TTC' by the signal in pic 2 is actually a portal leg, which still needs its boom and its twin on the Down side.

 

[PJM]

Thanks for the hugely informative scoop here!

Re the photos, the STC in the middle in pic 1 is an SSA (an anchor without the back-tie), and the 'TTC' by the signal in pic 2 is actually a portal leg, which still needs its boom and its twin on the Down side.

Great thanks for the expertise. I have only just worked out what a TTC is! Or might be!

 

[Flying Phil]

Meanwhile, out in the countryside, between the Braybrooke Supply site (where the distant pylon can be seen) and Braybrooke worksite, quite a few masts and cantilevers to be seen.

 

[edwin_m]

Meanwhile, out in the countryside, between the Braybrooke Supply site (where the distant pylon can be seen) and Braybrooke worksite, quite a few masts and cantilevers to be seen.
View attachment 108545

Back to TTCs here (with the portal presumably related to terminating wire runs), just like over Sharnbrook, but different from the STCs seen on an earlier post. Any suggestions of a reason to explain this difference?

 

[59CosG95]

Back to TTCs here (with the portal presumably related to terminating wire runs), just like over Sharnbrook, but different from the STCs seen on an earlier post. Any suggestions of a reason to explain this difference?

I suspect it's due to the sharp curve, coupled with the fact that an access point for the lineside access track is there.
Keeping masts out of the access track/lay-down area as much as possible lessens any risk of damaging structures, especially while the lay-down area is being used for the electrification project itself.

 

[superkev]

Sorry but ive lost track a bit.
I see works are happening as far north as Market Harborough but not sure beyond to Sheffield.
How far north are structural works, piling etc currently in progress.
Do any bridges still need lifting to clear the wires.
K

 

[Flying Phil]

Hi Kev
I don't think that there has been any piling work ......yet! to the North of Market Harborough station + a couple of hundred yards to the Great Bowden road bridge.

 

[snowball]

Sorry but ive lost track a bit.
I see works are happening as far north as Market Harborough but not sure beyond to Sheffield.
How far north are structural works, piling etc currently in progress.
Do any bridges still need lifting to clear the wires.
K

Only Market Harborough is currently authorised, though the govt said in the Integrated Rail Plan that Nottingham and Sheffield will go ahead. There has been a report that the track will be lowered under two bridges south of MH.

 

[superkev]

Only Market Harborough is currently authorised, though the govt said in the Integrated Rail Plan that Nottingham and Sheffield will go ahead. There has been a report that the track will be lowered under two bridges south of MH.

Thankyou. Was any work done further north (bridges etc) before the scheme was Graylinged (paused).
K

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Thankyou. Was any work done further north (bridges etc) before the scheme was Graylinged (paused).
K

Straight answer - yes. Not sure which ones. I will try and find a link for you.

 

[Flying Phil]

Certainly one or two bridges near Syston were raised......and of course the new Great Central MML bridge at Loughborough was built with electrification clearances!

 

[InTheEastMids]

Thankyou. Was any work done further north (bridges etc) before the scheme was Graylinged (paused).
K

There was quite a lot of bridge works; some were raising parapets and others were completely rebuilt.
(I'm assuming if the parapets were raised, then they are not going to be further raised/rebuilt
Mostly 2016-ish (1 B.G.*)

Great Bowden Road, Mkt Harborough (the current scheme ends immediately south of this bridge; done in 2019 as part of wider MH scheme)
Main Street Great Bowden
Melton Road Langtons (underline bridge) was rebuilt in the last few years
Station Street Kibworth
Syston Road Cossington
Station Road Sutton Bonington

Grove Lane in Barrow on Soar just fell down in 2016 so presume was rebuilt with clearance.

I expect there's others. Haven't heard of anything north of the Trent though.

*B.G.= Before Grayling

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I know Wikipedia is not a super super reliable source and total confession I instigated the article and am main editor on it but here:

Midland Main Line upgrade - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Partial Quote

An article in the 6 August 2014 issue of RAIL Magazine gave a detailed account of the work that lay ahead. Rebuilding of bridges on the section of line between Bedford and Leicester had already been in progress for a while. Equipment for placing the various electrification tasks such as bases and overhead line equipment was scheduled to start April 2015. The completion date for electric trains arriving at Sheffield Midland station was cited as December 2020 - the cost given as 1.3 billion pounds and also included three station modifications at Leicester, Derby and Sheffield. 422 single track miles of wiring was supposed to occur and a total of 120 bridges modified. Bradway tunnel had already had some heavy maintenance. It was further pointed out that ECAM had been used (as in the project had been through this procedure)- a term the treasury used meaning Enhancements Cost Adjustment Mechanism. Pre- ECAM the cost had been quoted at 900 million pounds. Ryan Scott the Network Rail Programme Engineering Manager was quoted as saying that the minimum number of platforms at Sheffield station - (Sheffield Midland) would be wired to avoid having unnecessary cost added when the station was later remodeled. The whole MML scheme also overlapped with the Electric Spine project.

So that also shows that 6 August 2014 RAIL Magazine has an article on it and what had been done at the time and what lay ahead

 

[PJM]

Looking east towards Kettering at the Rushton compound today. Plenty of piles on the up side.



Looking west towards Desborough from the Rushton compound.


Rushton compound (taken towards the low afternoon sun- not too clear).

 

[Edvid]

Almost certainly for the neutral section (and associated MPTSC/MPATS), yes - specifically to support the cables for the traction power.

There are currently 4 bare portals between HPD and LTN; 2 are indeed near the East Hyde site (bookending the bridge over Thrales End Lane). The other 2 are some distance away on both sides.

On the deboostering side of things, no visible changes north of Harpenden yet as far as I can tell.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2022 ==

On second look, some BTs have been disconnected between Chalton ATFS and Flitwick, but they're still in situ.

 

[Flying Phil]

Gralistair's post makes very interesting reading £1.3 Billion for electrification to Sheffield - 422 track miles. 3 major stations and 120 bridges modified.....and stopped due to cost at that time I presume. Which puts HS2 at what, 100 times that cost, into perspective!
Anyway, I went out in the sunshine today, and there have been a few more cantilevers installed in the country sections. No significant piling or masts through Desborough. Lots of workers starting foundation work ( well, there are steel reinforcement "cages" etc in view) at Harborough Station on the West side.

 

[CdBrux]

Gralistair's post makes very interesting reading £1.3 Billion for electrification to Sheffield - 422 track miles. 3 major stations and 120 bridges modified.....and stopped due to cost at that time I presume. Which puts HS2 at what, 100 times that cost, into perspective!

Also interesting was the overlap with a part of the long since stopped electric spine project, I wonder if that reduced the benefits - which return, and probably much more so, by running HS2 trains on the line north of East midlands Parkway. It will be interesting to see if, with recent advances in technology, a substantial reduction in bridge rebuilds (I realise not the same as modifications) can be achieved.

 

[Bald Rick]

On the deboostering side of things, no visible changes north of Harpenden yet as far as I can tell.

On second look, some BTs have been disconnected between Chalton ATFS and Flitwick, but they're still in situ.

Went for a walk yesterday and the boosters between St Albans and Harpenden are disconnected.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Gralistair's post makes very interesting reading £1.3 Billion for electrification to Sheffield - 422 track miles. 3 major stations and 120 bridges modified.....and stopped due to cost at that time I presume. Which puts HS2 at what, 100 times that cost, into perspective!
Anyway, I went out in the sunshine today, and there have been a few more cantilevers installed in the country sections. No significant piling or masts through Desborough. Lots of workers starting foundation work ( well, there are steel reinforcement "cages" etc in view) at Harborough Station on the West side.

Yes that is interesting and given ECAM process was quite in depth, well was on a project I was on at the time, that ought to have given DofT certainty over project costs which had at that stage increased by 25% to 1.3B. It was then several years after this that Grayling pulled the plug and whether there had been more cost creep isn't clear so was it just by association with the ongoing GWEP debacle everything else got pulled I guess.
Perhaps when RNEP finally gets updated we will get an indication of what the project will cost now.

 

[59CosG95]

Went for a walk yesterday and the boosters between St Albans and Harpenden are disconnected.

Is that the quartet of boosters almost immediately north of St Albans,the quartet north of Sandridgebury Ln (got that right this time!), the quartet nr Eastmoor Park, or all 12?

 

[Meerkat]

Yes that is interesting and given ECAM process was quite in depth, well was on a project I was on at the time, that ought to have given DofT certainty over project costs which had at that stage increased by 25% to 1.3B. It was then several years after this that Grayling pulled the plug and whether there had been more cost creep isn't clear so was it just by association with the ongoing GWEP debacle everything else got pulled I guess.
Perhaps when RNEP finally gets updated we will get an indication of what the project will cost now.

I assumed that it got canned because the budget was going up and DfT looked at GWR and decided they had no confidence in the budget. Plus the GWR overspend was presumably coming out of money earmarked for the other schemes (at least at Treasury thinking level)

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I assumed that it got canned because the budget was going up and DfT looked at GWR and decided they had no confidence in the budget. Plus the GWR overspend was presumably coming out of money earmarked for the other schemes (at least at Treasury thinking level)

Had a trawl of the thread and there are clues in https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/mml-electrification-updates.110445/post-3264286 which among things Grayling suggests that due to HS2 its BCR had been significnatly impaired. Other posters at the time fundamentally question how it could drop from a BCR over 9 to under 2 just because HS2 was coming and was also questioned by transport select committee at the time. Anyhow with HS2 Eastern leg gone the BCR now looks extremely rosy again. Just need them to get on with authorising it and maybe with BoJo on a mission to make himself look good he may see this as a shovel readyish project he can promote to demonstrate he's levelling up.

 

[themiller]

Had a trawl of the thread and there are clues in https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/mml-electrification-updates.110445/post-3264286 which among things Grayling suggests that due to HS2 its BCR had been significnatly impaired. Other posters at the time fundamentally question how it could drop from a BCR over 9 to under 2 just because HS2 was coming and was also questioned by transport select committee at the time. Anyhow with HS2 Eastern leg gone the BCR now looks extremely rosy again. Just need them to get on with authorising it and maybe with BoJo on a mission to make himself look good he may see this as a shovel readyish project he can promote to demonstrate he's levelling up.

If this is shovel ready, why haven't Bristol, Oxford and Swansea been approved? Yes, I know it's speculation but....

 

[Class 170101]

Had a trawl of the thread and there are clues in https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/mml-electrification-updates.110445/post-3264286 which among things Grayling suggests that due to HS2 its BCR had been significnatly impaired. Other posters at the time fundamentally question how it could drop from a BCR over 9 to under 2 just because HS2 was coming and was also questioned by transport select committee at the time. Anyhow with HS2 Eastern leg gone the BCR now looks extremely rosy again. Just need them to get on with authorising it and maybe with BoJo on a mission to make himself look good he may see this as a shovel readyish project he can promote to demonstrate he's levelling up.

Also if they get MML done pronto before Bo Jo and the rest of the circus realise what a mess they have made of HS2 and really need to put 2B Eastern back in, in some form, BUT the wires will be up by then.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Because of IRP etc it will go ahead. However the treasury will want to break the scheme into a gazzilion portions and approve each bit.

 

[edwin_m]

If this is shovel ready, why haven't Bristol, Oxford and Swansea been approved? Yes, I know it's speculation but....

None of those places is in the "North" (which for many in the Government probably starts at Watford) and none of them is affected by cutback to HS2.

 

[John Webb]

Had a close look at the Napsbury access point this weekend. It seems to have been tidied up significantly and there is a very new 'welfare module' on site.

 

[Bald Rick]

Is that the quartet of boosters almost immediately north of St Albans,the quartet north of Sandridgebury Ln (got that right this time!), the quartet nr Eastmoor Park, or all 12?

The latter 2 quartets.

Because of IRP etc it will go ahead. However the treasury will want to break the scheme into a gazzilion portions and approve each bit.

I’m not sure the Treasury will be the driving force behind that, if it happens.

Had a close look at the Napsbury access point this weekend. It seems to have been tidied up significantly and there is a very new 'welfare module' on site.

indeed so. Looks like work is about to start!