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Borders Railway - Now Open

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deltic08

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Revised date for tracklaying. Put back from late June to October possibly due to availability of Dutch tracklaying machine.
 
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fgwrich

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Revised date for tracklaying. Put back from late June to October possibly due to availability of Dutch tracklaying machine.

Sounds like BAM are doing things their way then - the A-B was done pretty quickly with Balfours doing the contract and utilising their Harsco NTC Machine (New Track Construction)! Pity they're not making use of the NTC this time around then!
 

92002

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Sounds like BAM are doing things their way then - the A-B was done pretty quickly with Balfours doing the contract and utilising their Harsco NTC Machine (New Track Construction)! Pity they're not making use of the NTC this time around then!

So why would they hire in a machine from the opposition when they own a perfectly good one themselves.
 

fgwrich

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So why would they hire in a machine from the opposition when they own a perfectly good one themselves.

Because Balfours is possibly ready to use and may not require a waiting time of October until their own piece of kit arrives, is set up and possibly requiring crews to be trained up on it unless they bring their own across (which is fairly common these days within construction!)?
 

92002

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Because Balfours is possibly ready to use and may not require a waiting time of October until their own piece of kit arrives, is set up and possibly requiring crews to be trained up on it unless they bring their own across (which is fairly common these days within construction!)?

That doesn't sound like a good commercial reason to hire in the opposition to me. So long as they complete the contract to time and costs everyone will be happy.

I know of many other capable contractors who could complete the job now, but that may not be a commercially sensible idea or within the BAM budget.
 

fegguk

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It says on there web site that the structures on the line will be completed to enable track laying in October. Judging by progress at various sites this looks realistic. I don't suppose they could start lay track before then. If it is safe to assume that they will want to start at Newcraighall and keep going until the reach Tweedbank then everything needs be ready near enough at once.

The time from when they started laying track on the Airdrie-Bathgate to completion of the line was about 9 months which is a similar timescale to this project. Although the Borders line is about twice as long most of it is single track compared to the double track A-B.
 

DunsBus

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Had a look at Heriot today, work is now under way to turn the former B709 through the village into a cul-de-sac. A tunnel is being dug under the railway and this will form the pedestrian link between Heriot and the A7. The junction of the B709, the C11 and what is now the access road into Heriot is in the process of being tied-in. Signposts are starting to go up and trunking for street lighting is being laid - it looks as if the A7 junction and the B709 as far as the C11 and former B709 will be lit.

Stone surfacing is also starting to appear on the trackbed.
 

deltic08

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Had a look at Heriot today, work is now under way to turn the former B709 through the village into a cul-de-sac. A tunnel is being dug under the railway and this will form the pedestrian link between Heriot and the A7. The junction of the B709, the C11 and what is now the access road into Heriot is in the process of being tied-in. Signposts are starting to go up and trunking for street lighting is being laid - it looks as if the A7 junction and the B709 as far as the C11 and former B709 will be lit.

Stone surfacing is also starting to appear on the trackbed.

I looked at Shawfair today. Trackbed here appears to be concrete with ballast size aggregate. Still much to do near the Cockatoo restaurant with the closed A6106 road needing digging out.

Packs of sleepers positioned along the route. I was told they would be recycled sleepers but the ones being unloaded today are brand new.
 

PaxVobiscum

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Latest episode of Borders Railway - From Start To Finish now online. Some interesting bits - though it is targeted at a fairly wide audience.

We hear more from the Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond,
(EDIT: That's not one of them!)
authors David Spaven and Dennis Lovett, we look at the work done on the iconic Hardengreen Bridge which is almost complete and we drop in at Langlee School in Galashiels to find out what the kids are learning about health and safety on the Railway. Stuart MacKay from BAM tells us all about ballast, sleepers and drains.
 
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PaxVobiscum

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Link doesn't work properly for me. Did he say where? Hard to think of any worthwhile populations missed.
That link works fine for me, as with the one I posted.
He has said this before without indicating where the (stations) would be. Let's hope it's Melrose and Hawick he has in mind.
 
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fegguk

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That link works fine for me, as with the one I posted.
He has said this before without indicating where the (stations) would be. Let's hope it's Melrose and Hawick he has in mind.

More likely Portobello and Abbeyhill Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG) have been campaigning for these. Reopening the junction to Abbeyhill from Waverley has been proposed as part of EGIP as a siding for terminating trains. So why not build a station there and link it to the south via Peirshill. Though I don't think these would enhance services to the Borders slowing them further.

Heriot and Fountain I imagine would be non starters.

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...-re-open-portobello-railway-station-1-3448630
 

clc

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More likely Portobello and Abbeyhill Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG) have been campaigning for these. Reopening the junction to Abbeyhill from Waverley has been proposed as part of EGIP as a siding for terminating trains. So why not build a station there and link it to the south via Peirshill. Though I don't think these would enhance services to the Borders slowing them further.

Heriot and Fountain I imagine would be non starters.

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...-re-open-portobello-railway-station-1-3448630

Salmond's comments were made in the context of government investment in the Borders so I would have thought he was referring to new stations in that region.
 

fegguk

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Salmond's comments were made in the context of government investment in the Borders so I would have thought he was referring to new stations in that region.

He says "...seven stations just now we are going to be looking at another two..." This doesn't indicate to me they will necessarily be in the Borders. if the were then where? If he were looking at extending the line I think he would have referred to building more railway not just stations. If he is not talking about extending the railway where would you like him put 2 more station in the Borders.

Who knows it fun to speculate. I'll ask him the next time I see him

Over the next month I am sure we will get plenty of carefully worded promises
 

clc

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He says "...seven stations just now we are going to be looking at another two..." This doesn't indicate to me they will necessarily be in the Borders. if the were then where? If he were looking at extending the line I think he would have referred to building more railway not just stations. If he is not talking about extending the railway where would you like him put 2 more station in the Borders.

Who knows it fun to speculate. I'll ask him the next time I see him

Over the next month I am sure we will get plenty of carefully worded promises

On reflection, he might have been referring to Reston and East Linton.
 

fegguk

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On reflection, he might have been referring to Reston and East Linton.

You could be right most Scottish politician have a limited knowledge of the geography of the Scottish Borders. When assisting at an election a few years ago the party HQ (no names pack drill etc) offered to send leaflets to Hawick by train. I waited in the Station Hotel until shutting time.
 

railjock

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Track down in Bowshank tunnel.
 

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railjock

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http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/08/06/borders-railway-gets-its-first-track/


The first section of track of the new 30-mile Borders Railway has been laid in Bowshank tunnel.

Although the Borders line is a single track railway, the 200-metre tunnel has double track which is part of a 6.4-kilometre dynamic passing loop. In the tunnel clearances are tight due to the requirement for passive provision for electrification. Hence the tunnel has slab track.

On a visit to the tunnel on August 5, Global Rail News was advised that it had taken the contractor, BAM Nuttall, two weeks to install the slab track on the down loop and saw that work had just started on the up loop.

On August 9, the project’s first switch and crossing is to be installed at Tynehead, 2.5-kilometre north of the line’s summit at Falahill.

Track laying will commence in October at the northern end of the line and is planned for completion by the end of the year.

BAM Nuttall will call on BAM Rail from Holland to lay track using the technique employed on the HSL-Zuid, the Dutch high-speed line which is expected to lay track at the rate of one kilometre per day.
 

fgwrich

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http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/08/06/borders-railway-gets-its-first-track/


The first section of track of the new 30-mile Borders Railway has been laid in Bowshank tunnel.

Although the Borders line is a single track railway, the 200-metre tunnel has double track which is part of a 6.4-kilometre dynamic passing loop. In the tunnel clearances are tight due to the requirement for passive provision for electrification. Hence the tunnel has slab track.

On a visit to the tunnel on August 5, Global Rail News was advised that it had taken the contractor, BAM Nuttall, two weeks to install the slab track on the down loop and saw that work had just started on the up loop.

On August 9, the project’s first switch and crossing is to be installed at Tynehead, 2.5-kilometre north of the line’s summit at Falahill.

Track laying will commence in October at the northern end of the line and is planned for completion by the end of the year.

BAM Nuttall will call on BAM Rail from Holland to lay track using the technique employed on the HSL-Zuid, the Dutch high-speed line which is expected to lay track at the rate of one kilometre per day.

Good to see the first major signs of progress on the line. However, and not fully related to this story I do still find it disappointing that the majority of the line is being designed and built as a single track line - not that I expect large parts of it to be doubled in the very near future, but having looked through a fair amount of the photos of the construction progress recently, there does seem to be a slight overuse of Gabion Baskets to shore up cuttings cutting out over the second track - Gorebridge for example, new bridge structures further down the line near to Herriot appear to be single as is the new bridges in Gala, with the bridge over the Gala Water appearing to be central with the old double track spans. I know it's a line that won't be doubled any time soon, but in some areas there does appear to be a little bit of a lack of foresight into the lines potential future. Almost slightly reminiscent of some of BR's actions during the 80s on many former double track routes, of slewing the track into a central position making redoubling difficult.
 

NotATrainspott

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Good to see the first major signs of progress on the line. However, and not fully related to this story I do still find it disappointing that the majority of the line is being designed and built as a single track line - not that I expect large parts of it to be doubled in the very near future, but having looked through a fair amount of the photos of the construction progress recently, there does seem to be a slight overuse of Gabion Baskets to shore up cuttings cutting out over the second track - Gorebridge for example, new bridge structures further down the line near to Herriot appear to be single as is the new bridges in Gala, with the bridge over the Gala Water appearing to be central with the old double track spans. I know it's a line that won't be doubled any time soon, but in some areas there does appear to be a little bit of a lack of foresight into the lines potential future. Almost slightly reminiscent of some of BR's actions during the 80s on many former double track routes, of slewing the track into a central position making redoubling difficult.

Your points have been a matter of contention for many advocates of the scheme but these are a result of cost increases elsewhere that have pushed the need for economies to be made. The Act of the Scottish Parliament that authorised the line demanded that it be built all the way to Tweedbank or not at all so as to stop the temptation to end at Gorebridge, where the line's business case switches from Edinburgh Suburban Commuter to regional connectivity and investment. It would have been nice to have more funding that would have allowed more money to be spent on preserving the full double-track alignment, but it was not to be. The line has been designed however with passive provision for 4tph to Gorebridge for future commuter demand. 2tph beyond here is predicted to be more than ample for a line of this type, especially when each service can be extended to 6 carriages if the need arises. The line will never have a primary role in cross-border rail traffic even if it were extended to Carlisle as the same timeframe would see the HS2 route extended to Scotland and the G&SW line electrified, so there is not much point in providing for future through traffic that will never come. In future, 4tph to Gorebridge, 2tph to Tweedbank and/or Hawick and then 1tph all the way to Carlisle would be more than sufficient for all purposes. From a reliability perspective most trains will stay on the eastern side of Waverley and will run for only a few miles on tracks shared with other services before reaching the new railway, so there's not as much chance of delays causing problems as there would be on other shorter reopenings such as Alloa or Larkhall.
 

clc

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I guess if they hadn't value engineered it to such an extent it wouldn't have got built given the cuts in public spending and bearing in mind the business case isn't great.
 

PaxVobiscum

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Does anyone have photos of the new track?
Does that mean signals can be errected

There a single picture of the new track at Bowshank tunnel in the link given in post #652 above. If it's a picture of the "first switch and crossing at Tynehead" which according to the link was due to be installed yesterday, then I would keep an eye on RailScot over the next couple of days (not that I have inside information).
 

onyxcrowle

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There a single picture of the new track at Bowshank tunnel in the link given in post #652 above. If it's a picture of the "first switch and crossing at Tynehead" which according to the link was due to be installed yesterday, then I would keep an eye on RailScot over the next couple of days (not that I have inside information).


Ok thank you
 

railjock

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There a single picture of the new track at Bowshank tunnel in the link given in post #652 above. If it's a picture of the "first switch and crossing at Tynehead" which according to the link was due to be installed yesterday, then I would keep an eye on RailScot over the next couple of days (not that I have inside information).


Nothing at Tynehead yesterday.
 
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