East-West Rail (EWR): Consultation updates [not speculation]

Bald Rick · 15 Jan 2020

a good off said:
None, but when late running occurs there are now longer signal sections which doesn’t help matters.

Which signal sections are longer?

RailUK Forums

Bald Rick · 15 Jan 2020

59CosG95 said:
At the risk of this becoming split into a separate thread...
When the Breckland Line was resignalled in 2012, was it done with 3-Aspect signals, replacing home/distant 2-aspect semaphores?
I suspect cost and predicted traffic levels might have had a part to play with the longer signal sections.

Yes two aspect.

cle said:
Is there another Liverpool St hourly fast planned? And another Birmingham service too?

Not another Liverpool St, as the West Anglia is full south of Broxbourne.

eastdyke · 15 Jan 2020

cle said:
Nobody seems to want to tackle Ely North...
.....

I think that rather a lot of people want to tackle 'Ely North'.
Agreeing what should be done, what can be done and then coming up with the money is quite another matter. ......

eastdyke · 15 Jan 2020

Maltazer said:
While looking for that in the prospectus, I spotted another requirement - grade separation of Ely North junction. That could be a whole thread on it's own!

Or you could add to the existing thread which pre-dates this one:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/ely-north-junction-upgrade-proposals.68376/
Hope that there is plenty of cash ....... and then plenty more .......
And then plenty more again for Ely North - Peterborough.

Adrian1980uk · 15 Jan 2020

The long term aim in the prospectus seems a bit pie in the sky thinking, more platform capacity at Norwich, train changes at readham.. I'm not so sure.

Time will tell, ely North is the big issue, no real cost effective way round it I guess

a good off · 15 Jan 2020

Bald Rick said:
Which signal sections are longer?

Shippea Hill - Lakenheath, Lakenheath -Brandon on both Up and Down lines.

Railwaysceptic · 16 Jan 2020

Bald Rick said:
A complete rebuild. Most of it is fen.

Across Stilton Fen the ECML line speed is 100mph. Did that require much work or was it adequate already?

Ladder23 · 16 Jan 2020

Don’t suppose Bletchley freight sidings (I believe it’s called, adjacent to CS) could be used for keeping stock on the EW once done? It’s unused but functional, I not long ago maintained the hand points.

work-traveller · 16 Jan 2020

EWR Phase 2 TWAO expected to be granted by the end of January.

Bald Rick · 16 Jan 2020

Railwaysceptic said:
Across Stilton Fen the ECML line speed is 100mph. Did that require much work or was it adequate already?

Yep it had a lot of work. And it was in a reasonably good state to start with.

camflyer · 16 Jan 2020

si404 said:
No, it's because they see things as either/or that they don't want a via Cambourne route.

They also say that direct St Neots-Cambridge service should exist, but shouldn't be heavy rail as heavy rail doesn't serve all the villages in between. It's classic false dichotomy thinking - that there can only be one service between two places, so either you have fast heavy rail, or local light rail, but you can't have both.

Where they are convincing about not serving Cambourne with E-W Rail is when they say "because we're going to Cambourne, but aren't going to Bassingbourn, serving the latter is a good idea".

I've been living and working in the Cambridge area for 20 years and in that time I've seen it change from a fairly sleepy University town to the booming tech capital of Europe. However, if something significant isn't done to the transport system in the next few years then the city is going to become a victim of its own successes. Yesterday evening it took me almost an hour to get from the Science Park to the city centre.

Of all the proposed solutions, the Cambridge Connect light rail network makes the most sense. Add that to East West rail, a Cambridge South station another improvements in the region then we might be getting somewhere - but we can't afford to spend the next 5 years talking about it.

David Stevens · 17 Jan 2020

You could walk that distance in an hour. Cycling is probably a better option though.

Andyjs247 · 23 Jan 2020

Since the New Year there appears to have been a general increase in construction activity. Although it is still dark at the times I regularly use Charbridge Lane level crossing Bicester, there is now visible progress beyond the railway boundaries. The hedges have been cut back and the site levelled where a new bridge is due to carry the A4421 over the railway. There is now a stack of redundant track panels in the compound nearby that has been established nearby on Bicester Road in Launton. On a recent trip towards Winslow there was signage at various locations warning of road closures etc for East West Rail particularly around Calvert.

Neen Sollars · 29 Jan 2020

Seems a bit early in the day but Parliament timetable gives Transport questions tomorrow (Thursday 30th) at 9.30am. No doubt the hot topic is franchise nationalisation, but could it also be the day that East West Rail is given the official green light?

camflyer · 29 Jan 2020

Neen Sollars said:
Seems a bit early in the day but Parliament timetable gives Transport questions tomorrow (Thursday 30th) at 9.30am. No doubt the hot topic is franchise nationalisation, but could it also be the day that East West Rail is given the official green light?

I would have thought it would be saved for the Budget on March 11. Chancellors love announcing big infrastructure projects.

fenman35 · 30 Jan 2020

The route from Bedford to Cambridge was announced according to BBC Cambs, going via Cambourne with stations at St Neots (south) and Cambourne. Gong to be very crowded Cambourne to Cambridge with GCP busway , the mayors local metro and now heavy rail

mr_jrt · 30 Jan 2020

Press Release: https://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/202...elight-as-central-section-route-is-announced/

ashkeba · 30 Jan 2020

Is there a new map, please?

Railwaysceptic · 30 Jan 2020

mr_jrt said:
Press Release: https://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/202...elight-as-central-section-route-is-announced/

I'm very pleased that a route that incorporates Bedford Midland Station has been chosen. I don't live in the area but it never made any sense to me to exclude that station from a new scheme intended primarily to link various locations together.

I'm also pleased that they're considering ways to eliminate the level crossing problem in Bicester.

itfcfan · 30 Jan 2020

ashkeba said:
Is there a new map, please?

It seems route E has been chosen. I believe the preferred route (lowest cost) previously was route A. Route E as costed as £3.4 billion at 2015 prices, while route A was costed as £2.0 billion at 2015 prices. Route E must have been determined to have substantial benefits to allow such a higher cost to be chosen.

Source: https://www.railengineer.co.uk/2019...-alternative-routes-for-bedford-to-cambridge/

DarloRich · 30 Jan 2020

So: Route E is North out of Bedford?

it seems a sensible decision

eastdyke · 30 Jan 2020

mr_jrt said:
Press Release: https://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/202...elight-as-central-section-route-is-announced/

The consortium being the Political/Local Authority drivers but it seems strange that I can find no other 'announcements'. Nothing on East West Rail Company site for instance.

camflyer · 30 Jan 2020

Yes, seens a sensible decision - serving an existing and well established community rather than one which is still on the drawing board. Both Cambridge City and South Cambs councils had been lobbying for Route E.

Now just get on with it!

eastdyke · 30 Jan 2020

Good for Cambourne, very very good for Bedford (except even more local access to Bedford M will not help local parking and traffic). Not sure about 2050 though, all the current Administration will be long gone by then

But move on soonest, get the consultations under way around the detail .....

Tobbes · 30 Jan 2020

Good and brave decision - but a detailed map would be really helpful. I presume the large cost reflects not just the new route, but includes a major rebuild of Bedford Midland?

ashkeba · 30 Jan 2020

Thank you @itfcfan for the map. Does this mean they may use the former railway bed from Toft to the M11? Or is that desired by one of the other projects?

camflyer · 30 Jan 2020

Tobbes said:
Good and brave decision - but a detailed map would be really helpful. I presume the large cost reflects not just the new route, but includes a major rebuild of Bedford Midland?

This is only the preferred route decision. We are still a long way off the "detailed map" stage.

Tobbes · 30 Jan 2020

ashkeba said:
Thank you @itfcfan for the map. Does this mean they may use the former railway bed from Toft to the M11? Or is that desired by one of the other projects?

I wouldn't have thought so - this is where the Millard Radio Observatory is, and it is quite a way from Cambourne which is also at the top of the hill. I'd always presumed that if Route E was selected, it would run north of the old route, through Dry Drayton over the A14/M11 and then come in along the busway (ie, the old railway to new platforms at Cambridge North.

work-traveller · 30 Jan 2020

camflyer said:
I would have thought it would be saved for the Budget on March 11. Chancellors love announcing big infrastructure projects.

Formal press announcement on Tuesday 4th February

Tobbes · 30 Jan 2020

camflyer said:
This is only the preferred route decision. We are still a long way off the "detailed map" stage.

Fair enough - is this decision accompanied by the cash required to do it over the cheapest option?

Edit: It seems Grant Shaps has announced it: https://www.cambridgeindependent.co...HA9VvlQYje6JAHipIyklXYMRF7dREo2e-m3v_hPrbiiOM

East-West Rail (EWR): Consultation updates [not speculation]

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