Yes, but as of this morning it is now energised all the way from Bristol to St Bride's.
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Great Western Electrification Progress
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Linda smith
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Oh? As someone told me on another group that the Severn tunnel section was still dead. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
Mordac
Established Member
Where on earth is St. Bride's?
oglord
Member
South-west of Newport. The feeder is the Imperial Park substation here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5457504,-3.0293724,711m/data=!3m1!1e3
kevin_roche
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Halfway between Newport and Cardiff.
Mordac
Established Member
Thank you! It'd be really helpful if future mentions of these obscure places (at least for those of us not from the vicinity) came with similar references, as I've often struggled to find them!
Steve Tasker
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Spent an hour,or so,at Didcot this a.m. and all IET’s both ways were pan up other than the Oxford’s.
Cardiff123
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I travelled between Didcot and Radley today and I was surprised to see lone masts up along the line between Didcot and Appleford.
Did NR start the process of putting up masts along the line to Oxford, but then had to abandon it when the wires to Oxford were cancelled?
I guess it makes sense to leave the masts in place in the hope sense is seen and the wires to Oxford are reinstated in future.
Did NR start the process of putting up masts along the line to Oxford, but then had to abandon it when the wires to Oxford were cancelled?
I guess it makes sense to leave the masts in place in the hope sense is seen and the wires to Oxford are reinstated in future.
swt_passenger
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Yes, they did start, and some reasoning was given in a post a couple of years ago:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...fication-progress.83452/page-148#post-2869776
Basically the idea back then was that it would allow for trains to shunt and enter Didcot sidings from the north. No idea about whether that facility will actually be provided though, I think the original EMU stabling plan is much changed.
The majority of the piles are in place all the way to Oxford too.
59CosG95
Established Member
Back on the current track of the wiring to Cardiff, wires are now up just before the Intersection Bridge. https://flic.kr/p/2hhnud4
59CosG95
Established Member
Also, switchgear, feeder wires, and earth wires are now popping up west (and also east) of Cardiff Central. https://flic.kr/p/2hguHnU
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
59CosG95
Established Member
Possibly. I haven't seen any "driver's eye view" videos of Didcot to Oxford recently (if anyone knows of one I'd be glad to see them), but it wouldn't surprise me if they've got most of the plain line piling done before the wires to Oxford got put on ice.
The more complex areas (feeder locations, crossovers, and Oxford itself) don't seem to have been done touched at all, unsurprisingly.
The ATS installation at Radley, just short of Oxford is complete, fenced and mothballed, visible just to the North West of the station, though no masts.
WAO
59CosG95
Established Member
Thanks for the info there WAO. That must be a Sectioning AT site, as it's considerably smaller than the massive AT Feeder Station at Didcot. I'm guessing that, if wires are un-paused, that Oxford will be "end-fed" pending any further wiring to the north.
I don't think it has been cancelled - just deferred?
If I recall correctly, it was decided not to proceed with the Oxford electrification until the resignalling and change of layout were complete.
The link below gives a map of the GWEP installations as proposed. Note the Radley and Oxford sites.
WAO
https://new.abb.com/news/detail/130...-145-million-order-to-upgrade-uk-rail-network
WAO
https://new.abb.com/news/detail/130...-145-million-order-to-upgrade-uk-rail-network
Piling work was carried out from the southern edge of Oxford down to Didcot at an early stage, as that was originally intended to be one of the first bits of the GW area to see electric trains, in the shape of emus on London services.
As the Oxford area was awaiting resignalling and associated changes to the trackwork and locations of points, along with the creation of the new junction for the Bicester line, no piling work was done through the city. When the time comes, they will at least know where all the signalling cables are located.
Whether it is a sign someone at Network Rail is optimistic about authorisation of wiring to Oxford being forthcoming shortly, I don't know, but a fresh round of lineside vegetation cutting has just been carried out between Didcot and the edge of Oxford, pretty much matching the section where piling is in place - though a fair few were not driven all the way into the ground a few years ago, so will need a further visit to finish the job.
Ploughman
Established Member
How much would you like to bet on that?
59CosG95
Established Member
That's a very encouraging sign! Hope NR still have all the old piling records for the ones that might have refused...
How much would you like to bet on that?
Quite a lot, as they are all in trackside concrete cable troughs, not lurking somewhere under the ballast.
You don't need records with 10ft of steel tube sticking up in the air...
Mintona
Established Member
Similar vegetation works to what @jimm mentions continue between Chippenham and Bristol. I previously mentioned some being done around Keynsham, Bathampton Jn and Thingley Junction, they’ve moved on to the Corsham and Box areas now. Box to Bathampton Jn is looking as clear as I can remember and a lot of the steel work that was put in place around Chippenham is now visible again after trees have been cleared right back. Hopefully some encouraging signs.
59CosG95
Established Member
Don't think it is - it certainly seems to show signs of the programme getting underway once again, given that Chippenham - Bristol & Didcot - Oxford seem to be getting de-vegged at the same time.
Coincidence? Unlikely.
Wiring resumption announcement? Hopeful.
Hotel? Trivago.
Legolash2o
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Thanks.
Just mapping the progress, I'll share some maps when done.
EDIT: Can somene confirm it's just the four platform tracks that are electrified at Newport and the two slow lines are not?
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If you mean the through lines, yes they are wired also. There would be no reason to not do them at the same time as everything else as it would be much more expensive to wire at a later date. It also adds resilience to the station area.
Legolash2o
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