Southampton-Redbridge area Signal upgrades

[387star]

A load of bagged up new signals and new gantries have been put up and left for at least two years. Obviously connected to the freight as a lot of the bagged signals are on the dock/freight yard branches....

Anyone know when work will resume or why it's been left like this?

 

[swt_passenger]

I think there are significant further track changes at the Millbrook end yet to start, alongside the Western Docks entrance lines. Or put another way it isn’t just about completion of the longer sidings at Redbridge.

Something I just remembered is the down (western) docks branch has to be extended back under the Mountbatten Way road bridge, and that requires a footpath closure.

But I haven’t seen any published details, Network Rail’s publicly available “Network Change” documentation rarely includes the nitty gritty stuff.

 

[Dunfanaghy Rd]

Back when I was working ABP sent us a Powerpoint from NR showing the stages of the job, start date was in 2017-18!

Briefly:
Redbridge: Extend Nos 1 & 2 Reception to Country to give an increased run round length. GF to remain.
Millbrook: Down Docks Branch connection moved towards London, into the Down Loop Extension'
Millbrook: Signal E851 at the Dock Gate (Gate 12) to be replaced with a Stop Board (E851). An additional Stop Board (E853) in the Up Docks Branch, which becomes bi-directional. Both Stop Boards apply to Down Trains. Signal E852 for Up trains from the Docks remains.
Maritime: Remodel the throat area by extending Road B into Reception No 1, and installing a scissors crossover between the new track and the Arrival / Departure Road.

The Stop Boards at Gate 12 are to allow NR to take possessions outside the gate without having to place stop boards and detonator protection inside ABP property. (All to do with overlaps in advance of signals, or some such.) As an aside, one night I had to ask the PICOP's agent (asleep in his car!) to get permission to lift the protection to let me run an engine round in the Docks!

I've not been down that way for some time, so I don't know how they are getting on. I know that the timing went west due to the Council refusing permission to extend at Redbridge. has that been resolved? (Another example of Local Authority wasting other peoples' money, perhaps.)

Pat

 

[Tio Terry]

From memory, it all goes back to the Freight Train Lengthening project for trains between Southampton and the West Midlands. It was advance works for The Electric Spine, which seems to have ground to a halt!

 

[swt_passenger]

Back when I was working ABP sent us a Powerpoint from NR showing the stages of the job, start date was in 2017-18!

Briefly:
Redbridge: Extend Nos 1 & 2 Reception to Country to give an increased run round length. GF to remain.
Millbrook: Down Docks Branch connection moved towards London, into the Down Loop Extension'
Millbrook: Signal E851 at the Dock Gate (Gate 12) to be replaced with a Stop Board (E851). An additional Stop Board (E853) in the Up Docks Branch, which becomes bi-directional. Both Stop Boards apply to Down Trains. Signal E852 for Up trains from the Docks remains.
Maritime: Remodel the throat area by extending Road B into Reception No 1, and installing a scissors crossover between the new track and the Arrival / Departure Road.

The Stop Boards at Gate 12 are to allow NR to take possessions outside the gate without having to place stop boards and detonator protection inside ABP property. (All to do with overlaps in advance of signals, or some such.) As an aside, one night I had to ask the PICOP's agent (asleep in his car!) to get permission to lift the protection to let me run an engine round in the Docks!

I've not been down that way for some time, so I don't know how they are getting on. I know that the timing went west due to the Council refusing permission to extend at Redbridge. has that been resolved? (Another example of Local Authority wasting other peoples' money, perhaps.)

Pat

I think the Redbridge end extensions are open and in normal use since the end of last year some time, it’s all the other stuff nearer Millbrook that is unclear.

The planning stuff did drag on for a longer time than expected though, there was a second consultation at some point.

 

[cogload]

A load of bagged up new signals and new gantries have been put up and left for at least two years. Obviously connected to the freight as a lot of the bagged signals are on the dock/freight yard branches....

Anyone know when work will resume or why it's been left like this?

In relation to the 775M lengthening project. The work should be complete Springtime next year.

 

[swt_passenger]

A load of bagged up new signals and new gantries have been put up and left for at least two years. Obviously connected to the freight as a lot of the bagged signals are on the dock/freight yard branches....

Anyone know when work will resume or why it's been left like this?

As a follow up to my first answer, I spent a bit more time searching on the inter web, and found a pdf document on ORR's site here:
appendix-7.pdf

...but it's flipped and unreadable in that document.

So here's an "unflipped" copy of the scheme plan - I guess there'll be people here who can interpret it properly, but on the basis that “red is new”, you could get an idea of roughly how much is already done?

 

[Tio Terry]

Sounds like the Freight Train Lengthening Project that I was involved with a few years back. I guess it's not been finished for some reason. I've been retired for roundly three years!