MML Electrification: progress updates

[WymoWanderer]

Bedford station already needs a multistorey car park... The present ones are regularly full by 8am and remain so unti mid afternoon.

Or better still, a parkway station built between Bedford and Wellingborough (such as the suggested Rushden Parkway at Irchester)

 

[mr_jrt]

It was my understanding that Bedford's ticket office was being rebuilt so that the Marston Vale platform (1a) could be extended through the site. It's not planned to be the case, but that would give 2 platforms for EWR and two for Thameslink.

 

[edwin_m]

I'm sure they could find space north of Bedford to slew the Up Slow to the west and put in a centre turnback or two. That would be far cheaper than remodelling the station.

 

[38Cto15E]

There was a semaphore signal at Sharnbrook which was still there around 20 years after the re-signalling but I think it has now disappeared.
It was 'aqquirred' by the adjacent garden centre on the up side and I think it was an old Sharnbrook goods line signal.
No doubt someone who lives locally can elaborate.

 

[richieb1971]

I'm sure they could find space north of Bedford to slew the Up Slow to the west and put in a centre turnback or two. That would be far cheaper than remodelling the station.

I don't know how far north you are stating. If the alignment at Oakley cottages is to be adjusted for better line speed on the slows (The slows are still aligned as if a platform is present but its not). That would give you a considerable amount of space for a small loop on the east side from the cottages to Highfield Road. Or you could leave the alignment as is and put a centre loop where the old platform used to be. But thats 2.5 miles north of the station. There is adequate parking for a driver or 2. Because of the differential of the slows and the fasts in height there are not many other options. I think having a stabling point north of the station is crucial going forward. The spur at the north end of the station already functions this way, but that will be lost obviously. I am excited at the prospect of Bedford being a "through" station rather than train parking area.

 

[WymoWanderer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-42647871
Long term plans for a garden village on the northern outskirts of Sharnbrook including a station.

 

[richieb1971]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-42647871
Long term plans for a garden village on the northern outskirts of Sharnbrook including a station.

I can hear the protests from wixams right about now.

 

[Flying Phil]

That development is very close to Santa Pod Raceway (Drag Racing) ....We could hear the cars where we lived... 3 miles away on the other side of the A6!

 

[WymoWanderer]

That development is very close to Santa Pod Raceway (Drag Racing) ....We could hear the cars where we lived... 3 miles away on the other side of the A6!

It's bad enough being only 2 miles away although the worst part is the boy racers on their way to/from Santa Pod events.
Also Santa Pod has 3 wind turbines and many solar panels near it now too so that may well complicate matters.

 

[Olaf]

This is one of the best summaries I have seen - although, as an outsider it is difficult to know whether it was 'weak management at NR' or 'DfT instance in-spite of NR management raising concerns' that got us into this position.

Thank you.

The political decision made by the coalition would have been passed to the DfT Minister to implement, however the ORR post-mortum indicated that Network Rail was ineffectual in resisting what it knew was a hard task - something that was added at the tail-end of the CP5 negotiations. Subsequent details such as the under-estimates of the costings and effort required to implement the CP5 Electrification program (and it's ongoing inability to achieve a firm grasp on delivery) suggest that Network Rail was not in a position to offer any substantive material in support of it's reservations and senior management are likely to have been aware of this.

 

[Olaf]

I don't think Grayling is uneducated. He probably knows he cannot meet the expectations and just says whatever he needs to, to deliver something much cheaper on his watch.

If I were Grayling i'd let OHLE go ahead to reach Corby and then re-assess the situation at that point.

The decisions have been made for the MML; it will be for the new franchisee to provide bi-modes, with NR having already adjusted planning to and its program for the MML to support their introduction.

 

[Olaf]

I think Graylings failures are more to do with geography. London has had upgrades after upgrades after upgrades. Now it has a new railway in the making, new stations like London Bridge and if you go back a few years a total revamp of KX and St Pancras. What has the north gotten in the way of new rolling stock? Even HS2 which is supposed to serve the north won't be ready for another 10+ years. I believe the needs of the north to be of a lesser expense and easily done if the northern constituencies were able to steal some of the funding given to the south east.

This MML project is proof that when you go north priority suddenly becomes non existent. Unless of course you count Scotland, which has its own epicenter of commerce and trade and a government which seems to put railways at little bit higher on agendas.

Please engage with the facts and the real world.

 

[Olaf]

Oh trust me - I totally agree. I just wish the incumbent of a post where engineering knowledge would be an asset was chosen more carefully.

Engineering knowledge is useful but not essential at Ministerial level.

Consider that the Rail Directorate within the DfT is the holder of all such relevant experience within that Department, while a Minster's role is to take advice, make decisions based on policy, available funds, value for money, and other considerations, none of which has Engineering skills on the critical path.

 

[Chris125]

I mean, if you are only going to run two trains per hour each way with electric traction, it seems an awfully expensive job to reinstall four tracks north of Sharnbrook AND electrify all four to Glendon (or Kettering Sth Jcn, Im not sure.) Surely, someone will sooner or later say: hang on! Let's either not go for the total four track solution -or, if we do - let's wire only the slow lines north of Bedford and save a fair few million on the 22 miles of fast lines?
Short-term thinking, you might say? Of course, but hasn't that always the case - especially with the Midland?

Don't forget the scheme is also designed to increase freight capacity - 6 passenger and 3 freight paths per hour each way between Bedford and Kettering IIRC.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Don't forget the scheme is also designed to increase freight capacity - 6 passenger and 3 freight paths per hour each way between Bedford and Kettering IIRC.

What is the point of the extra freight paths? I mean, they can't have that many paths south of Bedford, surely? E-W rail is not longer for freight, AFAIK. Don't get me wrong, I am all for these improvements north of Bedford - just in these days of cutbacks, it seems so inviting to, er, cut back.

 

[Chris125]

What is the point of the extra freight paths? I mean, they can't have that many paths south of Bedford, surely? E-W rail is not longer for freight, AFAIK. Don't get me wrong, I am all for these improvements north of Bedford - just in these days of cutbacks, it seems so inviting to, er, cut back.

Is there anything that says freight won't use EWR?

 

[Olaf]

Is there anything that says freight won't use EWR?

There was a change in the scope of the project in the most recent update that appear to de-emphasis the freight considerations though that does not necessarily mean that expectations have changed, just that the specific work items are no longer deemed to be required.

 

[richieb1971]

Took a trip to Souldrop on the MML today. For the first time in the past 7 years that i've been going to this location you can actually see the tunnel entrance from the road bridge. Previously the vegetation blocked all of this view.

 

[InTheEastMids]

I had time to take a look at the progress around Corby at the weekend.

I counted just under 20 masts up adjacent to the new A43 (red line), there may be more that are not visible from the roads
Piling is more extensive and I saw piles all the way up to Harpers Brook viaduct (blue line) - it might have gone further
The main works compound is sandwiched between the railway and the A43 (Orange line)

I couldn't see any evidence of much happening further back towards Glendon Junction, and it could be that more has been done towards Corby, that isn't easily visible.

 

[A0wen]

I had time to take a look at the progress around Corby at the weekend.

I counted just under 20 masts up adjacent to the new A43 (red line), there may be more that are not visible from the roads
Piling is more extensive and I saw piles all the way up to Harpers Brook viaduct (blue line) - it might have gone further
The main works compound is sandwiched between the railway and the A43 (Orange line)

I couldn't see any evidence of much happening further back towards Glendon Junction, and it could be that more has been done towards Corby, that isn't easily visible.

Not much is going to happen around Corby station until the Cottingham Road bridge works are done (it's being raised to accomodate OHLE) which is starting this week and goes on for 8 months.

Nothing has started around Wellingborough station yet - I would guess the first part is to reinstate the second running line and 4th platform - and presumably some platform extensions, because P3 is way too short at present.

 

[Flying Phil]

Thanks for the picture, map and updates Richie, ITEM and AO.

 

[richieb1971]

The crossing here has a notice on it. Strangely it refers to bridge alterations but I didn't stay long enough to read it all. The bridge in the distance in the above picture was only redone a year ago or so. The fast lines look a bit tight for OHLE. As you can see there are pocketed areas where the 4th track reinstatement has taken place. I'm not too impressed at the pace in which the work is done though. Its taking ages to do little bits here and there. If the bridge needs redoing thats not exactly brilliant is it? It might have been talking about the bridge i'm taking the picture from but that bridge has more clearance I believe.

 

[snowball]

Grayling was before the Transport Select Committe again today (called back after his previous appearance). No doubt the video is online but I haven't taken the trouble to watch it. There were a couple of clips on BBC Look North (Leeds). He was defiant that MML electrification would not be good value for money.

 

[whhistle]

As you can see there are pocketed areas where the 4th track reinstatement has taken place. I'm not too impressed at the pace in which the work is done though. Its taking ages to do little bits here and there.

Yeah... there's loads of places where they've done 10/20/50 metres but then there's some sort of obstruction so they just stopped. Sometimes there's no obstruction. It's just a bit haphazard in the building.

 

[B&I]

Grayling was before the Transport Select Committe again today (called back after his previous appearance). No doubt the video is online but I haven't taken the trouble to watch it. There were a couple of clips on BBC Look North (Leeds). He was defiant that MML electrification would not be good value for money.

Given the incontestable benefits on a busy main line, how is it possible for electrification not to be good value for money if you extend the time scale long enough?

 

[hwl]

Given the uncomfortable benefits on a busy main line, how is it possible for electrification not to be good value for money if you extend the time scale long enough?

HS2 shortens the time scale though

 

[Flying Phil]

HS2 shortens the time scale though

I don't really understand how HS2 will affect the majority of traffic on the MML - maybe the Sheffield passengers will get a quicker journey but for anyone South of there (Nottingham/Leicester/Bedford) the MML will be quicker/easier.

 

[DarloRich]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-42647871
Long term plans for a garden village on the northern outskirts of Sharnbrook including a station.

Baroness Young of Old Scoone - genius - i hoped for some tweedy crusty old Tory but she is actually a new Labour peer and former head of the Care Commission

I can hear the protests from wixams right about now.

Indeed! lets see if either ever happens - the councils are too willing to let the developers off the hook.

 

[InTheEastMids]

Yeah... there's loads of places where they've done 10/20/50 metres but then there's some sort of obstruction so they just stopped. Sometimes there's no obstruction. It's just a bit haphazard in the building.

I think it's just a case of doing the easy bits first.
The cynic in me thinks has the benefit of suggesting faster progress, because you get to a bigger number of metres of track laid more quickly. Project steering committee thinks everything's going great!

Being less cynical, I suggest that moving some of these obstacles will require significant shutdowns of at least the slow lines, and maybe the plan is to do that as part of a blockade once the new timetable is in use

 

[mwmbwls]

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/520222f2-1679-4da9-9ab6-65f9bf5f195f

Chris Grayling called to account over the disappearing CBR for the Midland Main Line - Watch and Weep