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  1. W

    Why the Portishead Delay?

    That's not part of the phase 1 works but has been costed under the phase 2 proposal which is a further £60m over and above the phase 1 cost of £116m. I recall from the planning applications that various work compounds need to established strengthening works in the section from Pill to Ashton...
  2. W

    Caledonian Sleeper

    GWR for the pullman services have/had chefs on-board which partly why the price is so high. Lunch/Dinner is plated by the chef and breakfast was plated by the customer host or the chef depending on what you'd ordered. Remember the 80x full kitchen is quite a bit better fitted out as a...
  3. W

    Are the users of "Intercity" TOCs primarily long distance travelers or commuters?

    I'd say the volume of these flows returning in part depends on value of business done for the companies in question asking staff to make such journeys. Certainly from a work perspective as very regular business meeting commuter prior to march '20 I haven't attended a single physical client...
  4. W

    Most effort/work spent on a railway project that ultimately never happened?

    The aspirations the DfT had at the commencement of the IEP programme in 2008 and the retender/review of 2012 where significantly more broad than the reality today. ETCS was planned back then to have been deployed on parts of the ECML by now. At the point Virgin bid on the East Coast franchise it...
  5. W

    Most effort/work spent on a railway project that ultimately never happened?

    Very roughly the IEP ITT of nearly a decade ago identified that 50% (130miles) of the ECML route kings cross to newcastle (270miles) is potentially suitable for line speed running in-excess of 125mph subject to upgrades, of that the Selby diversion (22miles) and Skelton Jn to near Croft Jn...
  6. W

    Caledonian Sleeper

    CS post pandemic will need to decide if the service is to be primarily business or (premium) leisure then tailor to offer to suit. The mk5 interior specification certainly indicates that the thinking at the time was to make the service primarily focus on premium leisure travellers with larger...
  7. W

    The future of Heathrow Express Post Crossrail

    TfL have for a number of years been replacing bus lanes with cycle paths slowing down buses and where permitted taxi's too. Taxi's can not as it stands use all bus lanes, some are for buses (and cyclists only). So Taxi's have been struggling against TfL subsurface for a while of course the...
  8. W

    The 'hijacking' of St Pancras by HS1 and the resultant long walk from Euston Road

    IIRC the original plan would have extended only one MML platform all the way back. Quite a lot of space was lost due to the security requirements for E* and the need without converting the undercroft to provide a wide enough thoroughfare at platform level to the extension. Personally it always...
  9. W

    Lockdown in England from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December

    If you where a retailer with X £ thounsand or £ million of Christmas stock would you really wish to gamble on being open in December to try and clear said stock or January for that matter? Time limited stuff like decorations and food gifts have basically no market come Jan 1st. Social...
  10. W

    Lockdown in England from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December

    Personally I'd expect non essential retailers to start Christmas sales immediately with a view to get the Christmas stock shifted, betting on a reopening in December with only 20 days to shift stock that would normally be sold over 50 days is not a good plan. The Christmas period and the lack...
  11. W

    can public transport ever recover from COVID-19

    Office five days a week will become the exception rather than the rule post covid, with employers going for a far more varied work pattern including full time WfH through to 3 or 4 days in the office. Peak demand will drop but this might be offset by increases in off-peak as mixed working also...
  12. W

    Crossrail opening delayed (opening date not yet known)

    In theory TFL where one of five operators around the world recieve as much in farebox income as the system costs to operate. MTR (HongKong) and three Japanese system operators where the other four. 1601928671 The TFL how we're funded page refers to everything TfL does, so tube, rail, buses and...
  13. W

    Rail Franchises to be Replaced with Fixed Fee Contracts

    One of the more complex aspects of the DfT/ONS Covid transport usage figures is understanding the nature of journey and means of transport used prior to March for a same journey. Saying that car usage is back to normal effectively assumes that journey's made in February by car are now back to...
  14. W

    London City Airport - Missing on Elizabeth Line Map & OSI indication?

    North Quay is planned for completion 2024 so not all that long after the much delayed XR project. The North Quay development will make the currently massively oversized poplar bridge make sense as the CW end will link directly onto the North Quay central podium and county end will gain a proper...
  15. W

    Rule on in-cab signalling for 140mph - just UK?

    GWML ATP has the capability to rely line-side signals to the cab and of course speeds, very roughly the system functionality level is similar to a modern ETCS level 1 implementation in that communication is intermittent at only balise or loop locations. In a different world maybe BR or later...
  16. W

    Great Western Electrification Progress

    Crowbridge road bridge was I thought a 1930's / 40's construction, it's a plate girder construction which as method had fallen out of use by the 60's. The usage of rolled sections for shorter spans and box girders for longer was common in the 60's and 70's. Even still the construction is a flat...
  17. W

    DfT: South Western Railway NOT Financially Sustainable

    GWR under direct award 5? is effectively a concession rather than a franchise with DfT defining the outputs and GWR responsible for delivery. The management contracts post 2013 will in end see the franchise having operated for longer under management contracts than the original franchise term. I...
  18. W

    Flybe problems - did they take rail improvements into account?

    The difficulty with simple annual mileage or self declared schemes is that their already is a cottage industry in clock wind back services for both resale and lease / finance mileage under reporting. Adding tax to the mix will result in wider percentage of population using such services to...
  19. W

    Flybe problems - did they take rail improvements into account?

    The leisure traveller just isn't going to pay £150 - £160 one way when easyjet have tickets for as little as £25. The Birmingham > Bristol, Manchester > Bristol flow prices are a problem in terms of trying price a Glasgow > Bristol flow competitively against easyjet. I've actually done Bristol >...
  20. W

    Great Western Electrification Progress

    The problem with construction is mobilisation, something rarely understood by clients/customers before you can actually start doing any work on the ground you first need to survey, design, price and procure the works realistically this is going to be a two to three year process. So to achieve...

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