Hope Valley Capacity Scheme updates

[Killingworth]

The Dore loop was originally scheduled to be completed by last August during drier summer weather. For reasons previously noted that plan had to be changed and a revised plan requiring retaining walls was started. Track was due to be laid on 11th February.

Unfortunately this winter appears to have produced more rain than in any year since records were first kept in 1882 at the Weston Park weather station in Sheffield. Amateur records in the Dore area register higher amounts. Nobody locally can recall the water table being so high meaning that any new rain is unable to soak in. Result, a very wet worksite!

Sleepers were laid overnight but rails have not. There remains a short section of very muddy ground where the new trackbed appears to need to go beside the existing Dore West Junction. See my previous picture in Post 1701. A good view of that can only be seen from a passing train, or on the site itself.

 

[ricoblade]

Are they still on track for the 9 day block from 15th March?

 

[Elecman]

Are they still on track for the 9 day block from 15th March?

Isn’t it 25/03 rather than 15/03 ?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Are they still on track for the 9 day block from 15th March?

to do what?

 

[Rail Ranger]

The blockade is from Saturday 16th March to Sunday 24th March (inclusive). There is some useful information about diversions and replacement buses here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/e...etween Saturday,longer distance trains to use.

 

[Killingworth]

Letter received by local residents setting out details of blockades and other information.

 

[Class 170101]

The blockade is from Saturday 16th March to Sunday 24th March (inclusive). There is some useful information about diversions and replacement buses here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/engineering/hopevalley2024#:~:text=For nine days between Saturday,longer distance trains to use.

The map is pretty good actually. NRES should do this, they used to but not anymore.

 

[Rail Ranger]

It's good that the Barrow Hill line is being used by Cross Country and EMR.

 

[Killingworth]

39 years after the tracks between Dore Station and Dore West Junctions were singled we are fast approaching the day when they're redoubled and operational.

Trains are scheduled to run from 25th March with TPE 1B61 timetabled to pass through the new platform without stopping about 5.20 - normally stopping at 5.14. (The blockade ends at 5.15.)

What route training do drivers receive to cover the section that is being resignalled?



.

 

[CAF397]

A resignalling scheme booklet containing all the changes, and watch a video of the area concerned (a mixture of real footage and computer simulation).

 

[JD2168]

The blockade is from Saturday 16th March to Sunday 24th March (inclusive). There is some useful information about diversions and replacement buses here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/e...etween Saturday,longer distance trains to use.

The information provided by Northern is very clear & pretty easy to understand. With regards Cross Country & EMR it is good that they still sign the Barrow Hill line.

 

[Killingworth]

to do what?

To connect the tracks and signalling that's mostly now in place through Dore & Totley station and at Bamford and to decommission and remove what's in use now. The Dore loop must remain a concern as it has been wetter this winter than anyone can remember. That's probably not a March showstopper.

 

[Lemmy282]

With regards Cross Country & EMR it is good that they still sign the Barrow Hill line.

For the last few weeks EMR have been running route learning/familiarisation trains between Chesterfield and Sheffield via Barrow Hill and Woodhouse several times a day.
Cross Country already run services that way a few times a day as part of the normal timetable.

 

[modernrail]

39 years after the tracks between Dore Station and Dore West Junctions were singled we are fast approaching the day when they're redoubled and operational.

Trains are scheduled to run from 25th March with TPE 1B61 timetabled to pass through the new platform without stopping about 5.20 - normally stopping at 5.14. (The blockade ends at 5.15.)

What route training do drivers receive to cover the section that is being resignalled?



.

I wonder how the total cost of removal and reinstatement has worked out compared to just leaving it there.

Similar thoughts about Heaton Lodge/Mirfield area which went from 4 to 3 and is now going back to 4.

 

[edwin_m]

I wonder how the total cost of removal and reinstatement has worked out compared to just leaving it there.

Similar thoughts about Heaton Lodge/Mirfield area which went from 4 to 3 and is now going back to 4.

Certainly some of the infrastructure rationalisations of the 1980s have since been regretted. The Midland seems to have suffered particularly, with four-tracking later restored between Sharnbrook and Kettering and may ultimately come back round Leicester too. Single lead junctions were a particularly bad idea, because they take out capacity where it is most needed (best utilisation of a junction needs trains to and from the same route scheduled to pass there) and they also increase the risk of head-on collisions.

 

[WesternBiker]

To connect the tracks and signalling that's mostly now in place through Dore & Totley station and at Bamford and to decommission and remove what's in use now. The Dore loop must remain a concern as it has been wetter this winter than anyone can remember. That's probably not a March showstopper.

How long is the restored double track section between Dore & Totley station, and the junction, on which work appears yet to start?

 

[Tomnick]

How long is the restored double track section between Dore & Totley station, and the junction, on which work appears yet to start?

As much of the necessary track as possible is in, including all the turnouts. The existing single line wanders from one side of the formation to the other and back again though, so during the nine-day block it'll be slewed to the new alignment and then will just need new track dropping in to fill the gaps.

 

[takno]

How long is the restored double track section between Dore & Totley station, and the junction, on which work appears yet to start?

The junctions at both ends look complete to me from the pictures above.

 

[Jamesrob637]

How long is the restored double track section between Dore & Totley station, and the junction, on which work appears yet to start?

About 500 metres ish?

 

[WesternBiker]

As much of the necessary track as possible is in, including all the turnouts. The existing single line wanders from one side of the formation to the other and back again though, so during the nine-day block it'll be slewed to the new alignment and then will just need new track dropping in to fill the gaps.

About 500 metres ish?

Thank you both.

 

[ricoblade]

To connect the tracks and signalling that's mostly now in place through Dore & Totley station and at Bamford and to decommission and remove what's in use now. The Dore loop must remain a concern as it has been wetter this winter than anyone can remember. That's probably not a March showstopper.

Thanks for all the updates - my original thought on seeing the block announced in the media was "are they ready for it with all the wet weather we've had?", I guess the answer is "yes" but that they might not complete everything.

 

[Killingworth]

Thank you both.

The section being doubled is nearer 1.1 km.

The junctions at both ends look complete to me from the pictures above.

Almost, but there's more to it than that and there's still some complicated trackwork to be fixed. It's hard to see as the critical part of the current Dore West Junction is obscured by trees. The first picture is where the single section currently ends going west. The construction work for the new chord/loop is in the background, seen from there in my second picture. The red signal is by the end of the single section and is seen in both pictures. Telephoto lens foreshortens both. There's a big muddy difficulty in that area.



Updated 8.3.24


Great activity around the Dore & Totley station site ready for opening of the second platform on 25th March. That looks increasingly likely to happen on time.

I'm sure those with civil engineering knowledge will understand that completing construction of the extended Dore chord/loop in winter was always going to be challenging. During the wettest winter since records first began at Sheffield's Weston Park weather station in 1882 it's proving even more so.

The River Sheaf, separated from the site by an embankment, reached it's highest level at Twentywell Lane in 2007 at about 1.97m. That was well beaten in October 2023 at 2.25m and the level has remained unusually high ever since; https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/8299 The ground below Poynton Wood by Dore West Junction is totally saturated, as anyone looking out of a passing carriage window can see.

Thanks go to EMR for telling stakeholders "The Hope Valley Railway upgrade will continue through 2024, with further engineering works taking place. EMR services will also be amended to accommodate these works from Saturday 27 April to Wednesday 1 May, and between Saturday 24 and Thursday 29 August."

Those on the spot can understand why, and what that means. Limited service improvements from the redoubling at Dore, but maybe none from the freight orientated Dore loop until the autumn. Those now working on the project can very justifiably explain any delay on the exceptional weather.

 

[Tomnick]

Those on the spot can understand why, and what that means. Limited service improvements from the redoubling at Dore, but none from the freight orientated Dore loop until the autumn. Those now working on the project can very justifiably explain the delay on the exceptional weather.

You can't commission part of the scheme without commissioning all the scheme. The signalling for the redoubling through the station is designed around, and thus reliant on, the relocated Dore West Junction and thus the extended curve. Especially at this late stage, it's either all or nothing.

 

[Killingworth]

You can't commission part of the scheme without commissioning all the scheme. The signalling for the redoubling through the station is designed around, and thus reliant on, the relocated Dore West Junction and thus the extended curve. Especially at this late stage, it's either all or nothing.

Looking at the Dore loop work the odds would rather favour nothing! But could the current crossover be removed leaving the loop out of of use for a few weeks/months until the critical section can be completed?

 

[td97]

Looking at the Dore loop work the odds would rather favour nothing! But could the current crossover be removed leaving the loop out of of use for a few weeks/months until the critical section can be completed?

Don't underestimate the amount of work possible in a continuous blockade. Midweek overnights and even 29/54hr weekend possessions still have a lot of downtime due to waiting for the possession to actually be granted plus mobilisation of plant. This only needs to occur once in a blockade.

 

[GardenRail]

Why do people keep calling it a loop at Dore.....

Heeley is a loop, Bamford is a loop. Dore is not, it's a very inconvenient bit of Single Line.

 

[Killingworth]

Why do people keep calling it a loop at Dore.....

Heeley is a loop, Bamford is a loop. Dore is not, it's a very inconvenient bit of Single Line.

Because there's redoubling through Dore & Totley station and creation of a longer chord between Dore West and Dore South Junctions effectively creating a new loop between the Midland Main and Hope Valley lines.

Sometimes referred to in the project as the Dore loop, currently being used as the Dore chord. So chord or loop it's vital to achieving half the benefits of the scheme.

 

[The Planner]

Looking at the Dore loop work the odds would rather favour nothing! But could the current crossover be removed leaving the loop out of of use for a few weeks/months until the critical section can be completed?

There is another block for work at Chinley in a few months they could utilise if needs be.

 

[Killingworth]

The section being doubled is nearer 1.1 km.

Almost, but there's more to it than that and there's still some complicated trackwork to be fixed. It's hard to see as the critical part of the current Dore West Junction is obscured by trees. The first picture is where the single section currently ends going west. The construction work for the new chord/loop is in the background, seen from there in my second picture. The red signal is by the end of the single section and is seen in both pictures. Telephoto lens foreshortens both. There's a big muddy difficulty in that area.
View attachment 153746View attachment 153747


Updated 8.3.24
View attachment 153850

Great activity around the Dore & Totley station site ready for opening of the second platform on 25th March. That looks increasingly likely to happen on time.

I'm sure those with civil engineering knowledge will understand that completing construction of the extended Dore chord/loop in winter was always going to be challenging. During the wettest winter since records first began at Sheffield's Weston Park weather station in 1882 it's proving even more so.

The River Sheaf, separated from the site by an embankment, reached it's highest level at Twentywell Lane in 2007 at about 1.97m. That was well beaten in October 2023 at 2.25m and the level has remained unusually high ever since; https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/8299 The ground below Poynton Wood by Dore West Junction is totally saturated, as anyone looking out of a passing carriage window can see.

Thanks go to EMR for telling stakeholders "The Hope Valley Railway upgrade will continue through 2024, with further engineering works taking place. EMR services will also be amended to accommodate these works from Saturday 27 April to Wednesday 1 May, and between Saturday 24 and Thursday 29 August."

Those on the spot can understand why, and what that means. Limited service improvements from the redoubling at Dore, but maybe none from the freight orientated Dore loop until the autumn. Those now working on the project can very justifiably explain delay on the exceptional weather.

 

[duffield]

While the blockade is on and EMR are running only 1tph instead of 2tph from St. Pancras to Sheffield, I wonder if EMR will be able to strengthen most of their 5 and 7 car services to 2x5, or is there some reason why this won't happen and serious overcrowding will result?

Also I wonder if EMR will try to run 2x3 car 170s between Nottingham and Sheffield (beyond the odd service they already do this for normally), given that there will be no Northern services on this route during the blockade?