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Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

hwl

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Just as important as the configuration of Piccadilly (HS) is what happens after NPR traffic turns left at Ardwick.
If the 10 miles to Stalybridge stay as now it will defeat the whole "High Speed" objective.
A tunnelled route at least guarantees a reasonably fast exit from Manchester.
Stalybridge is 8miles from Piccadilly with plenty of good and cheap surface options for at least 5 of that and a short section of new line following the old LMS Guide Bridge Yard- Stalybridge alignment would sort out quite a bit of the rest of the speed issues.
 
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InOban

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But in London, certainly north of the river, you're in London clay. In Sheffield you've got proper rock which will have cracks through which the water pours by the millions of litres per day.

Given the populations either side of the Pennines there should be multiple fast routes.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Stalybridge is 8miles from Piccadilly with plenty of good and cheap surface options for at least 5 of that and a short section of new line following the old LMS Guide Bridge Yard- Stalybridge alignment would sort out quite a bit of the rest of the speed issues.
The crawl round the reverse curves either side of Guide Bridge station always felt like a particularly slow section back when all TPE trains went that way. Not sure how you could improve that without a complete rebuild and realignment, along with segregating the Hadfield, Denton and Phillips Park lines.
 

hwl

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It doesn’t matter about the eastern branch times if it’s not built. What matters is the comparative journey time between the XC journey times via Sheffield & Derby vs journey times via Manchester. 35 mins will be enough to make people switch.
Make many but not all especially if you have interchanges at either end which would add to the walking.

The situation is not simple and binary but very complex especially when you want to get people to make choices about changing mode (i.e. from car) when there need to be a reasonable difference especially for end to end journeys i.e. away from intermediate locations around stations.
Leeds Birmingham (nearest carparks to stations) can often be quicker than XC.

The crawl round the reverse curves either side of Guide Bridge station always felt like a particularly slow section back when all TPE trains went that way. Not sure how you could improve that without a complete rebuild and realignment, along with segregating the Hadfield, Denton and Phillips Park lines.
(re) 4tracking at Guide Bridge and further west and rebuild on approximately the LMS alignment NE of the yard to Stalybridge Station (current bendy alignment is the "LNER" one) vs lots of tunnels and head houses)
 
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Dr Hoo

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Whilst I don’t know, it may be as tribute to the late Stuart Baker, of Rail Atlas and Intercity Express Train fame, and proud Yorkshireman.
Given the famous names associated with the nearby historic Thornhill Hall one might have thought that 'Savile Viaduct' might be more appropriate.

(Well, perhaps not, after all.)
 

quantinghome

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It doesn’t need to be big.
That may be true if you are only talking about reversing NPR services.

However, in the absence of the HS2 eastern leg (as seems increasingly likely), there seems to be an idea forming that Leeds services to Birmingham and London would run through Manchester. Putting the likelihood of such a scenario actually happening to one side, it's pretty obvious that IF it did happen, it would significantly increase the amount of reversing services, well beyond the capacity of the currently planned layout.
 

unlevel42

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But in London, certainly north of the river, you're in London clay. In Sheffield you've got proper rock which will have cracks through which the water pours by the millions of litres per day.
.
Given the populations either side of the Pennines there should be multiple fast routes.
Holes have been dug around Sheffield station for hundreds of years. There are flooded collieries, goyts, drainage adits, abandoned rail tunnels, sewerage etc.
 

yorkie

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billh

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A letter arrived at a relative's house from Network Rail today. Addressed to "Railway Neighbour" . The content is to inform that piling work this coming weekend 16th/17th will be in progress at Guide Bridge for electrification from Guide Bridge to Stalybridge as part of TRU. The work area is from Ashton Junction (east of the station) to just beyond the new Freightliner workshops at what was Guide Bridge North Junction. This sounds like like very good news to me!
 

59CosG95

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A letter arrived at a relative's house from Network Rail today. Addressed to "Railway Neighbour" . The content is to inform that piling work this coming weekend 16th/17th will be in progress at Guide Bridge for electrification from Guide Bridge to Stalybridge as part of TRU. The work area is from Ashton Junction (east of the station) to just beyond the new Freightliner workshops at what was Guide Bridge North Junction. This sounds like like very good news to me!
This really is an excellent bit of news. Although wouldn't it be "Guide Bridge West Jn" as per the Sectional Appendix?
1634110127153.png
 

billh

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I was using 60+ year old junction names! I am a bit surprised that GB west is where it is , being as the old Stockport Junction, in it's minimalist form is at the west side of the Station and GB West is at the east side, though it is west of GB East Junction, still operational ,I think? :D The letter included an aerial view with a red line marking the work area, no names of junctions quoted.
This really is an excellent bit of news. Although wouldn't it be "Guide Bridge West Jn" as per the Sectional Appendix?
View attachment 103942
 
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Watershed

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This really is an excellent bit of news. Although wouldn't it be "Guide Bridge West Jn" as per the Sectional Appendix?
View attachment 103942
Technically it doesn't even need to go as far as Guide Bridge West Jn - there is already a runoff towards the yard/Stalybridge. Though a lot of it is still original 1950s catenary, so I imagine you might see a wholesale renewals job at the same time.
 

59CosG95

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I was using 60+ year old junction names! I am a bit surprised that GB west is where it is , being as the old Stockport Junction, in it's minimalist form is at the west side of the Station and GB West is at the east side, though it is west of GB East Junction, still operational ,I think? :D The letter included an aerial view with a red line marking the work area, no names of junctions quoted.
Do you have a picture of the letter and aerial view?

Technically it doesn't even need to go as far as Guide Bridge West Jn - there is already a runoff towards the yard/Stalybridge. Though a lot of it is still original 1950s catenary, so I imagine you might see a wholesale renewals job at the same time.
AFAIK the OLE in Guide Bridge itself was renewed as fixed-tension Mk3 (not sure what Mk3 subtype it was) in the 80s. I'm guessing it'll probably go... although whether it'll be a GEML-style renewal or something else remains to be seen.
 

AM9

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Do you have a picture of the letter and aerial view?


AFAIK the OLE in Guide Bridge itself was renewed as fixed-tension Mk3 (not sure what Mk3 subtype it was) in the 80s. I'm guessing it'll probably go... although whether it'll be a GEML-style renewal or something else remains to be seen.
Given that the masts and gantries are the same as the GEML LNER designs, it would make sense to use a proven adaptation there.
 

billh

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Do you have a picture of the letter and aerial view?


AFAIK the OLE in Guide Bridge itself was renewed as fixed-tension Mk3 (not sure what Mk3 subtype it was) in the 80s. I'm guessing it'll probably go... although whether it'll be a GEML-style renewal or something else remains to be seen.
No picture,but i have the letter here.
There's been overhead line work going on overnight and week-ends between Fairfield and Guide Bridge, a worksite base is established at Manshaw Road,(road access to the line) near Fairfield. I suspect this maybe upgrade work in connection with TRU, nearly all the steelwork on this length is original 1950s DC and appears in good condition and will only require painting.
 

pdq

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I had an email from TPE this week. I have removed what I think are personalised links
As a TransPennine Express customer your opinions are very important to us, which is why we're inviting you to become part of our customer panel dedicated to the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

TRU is a multi-billion pound, transformative, long-term railway infrastructure programme that will improve connectivity in the North, particularly between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

It will support economic growth in the North and deliver real benefits for passengers and communities along this pivotal rail artery. For more information about the upgrade, click here.

Building a better rail network means modernising the infrastructure and while the full project has not yet been completely defined, it is likely that there will be some amendments to our usual timetable along the way, particularly at weekends. Your views and feedback about communications and travel during the upgrade are really important to us.

If you'd like to sign-up [personalised link to form removed] to become one of our panelists and give feedback on the delivery of TRU, then please click the button below where you'll be taken to a short sign-up survey. It shouldn't take you any longer than 5 minutes to complete. If you join our panel, we'll contact you by email no more than twice a month and participation in each survey is voluntary.

We are working jointly with Northern Trains Limited to host the customer panel. By signing up and becoming a panellist, you therefore agree for your details to be shared with Northern and Qualtrics (the system we use to host this survey) and to receive communications in relation to the panel from them. To find out more about how Northern use and manage your data, you can see their Privacy Policy here.

If anyone else has received the email, and the link takes you to a URL ending M5k91Q, then it's a generic link to the form and it could possibly be shared; otherwise it's a personal link to me.
 

snowball

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I came across an NR media release today announcing the relaying of the tracks from York to Colton
junction and beyond. Finished by Christmas.
Probably this one?


Work is now underway on a major project to renew the track between York and Church Fenton as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is a transformative, multi-billion pound railway programme that will improve connectivity in the North and support economic growth. It will bring faster, more frequent, more reliable services between York, Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester.
This phase of work will continue until Christmas 2021. It involves replacing the track on all four lines on the East Coast Main Line between York and Colton Junction, as well as both lines between Colton Junction and Church Fenton, to enable the route’s line speed to be increased to 125mph.
The work is being carried out by the Transpennine Route Upgrade East Alliance (TRU East), involving Network Rail, VolkerRail, J. Murphy & Sons and Siemens. The Alliance is delivering the infrastructure improvements on the Eastern part of the route between York and Leeds. These upgrades will deliver a high-performing, reliable railway for passengers with more trains and improved journey times.
The Alliance have carefully planned the project to keep disruption to passenger and freight services to a minimum, with the work will taking place over midweek nights.
The Alliance will soon start to prefabricate each 60ft-long section of new track at its new logistics hub at Gascoigne Wood, which will open in October. The new hub, which is just three miles from Church Fenton, includes a 400m rail head, running off the main network to allow engineering trains in and out of the facility.
Each new prefabricated track panel will be delivered pre-installed with signalling bonds, bolt holes and fish plates to join the new sections, which will reduce installation time on-site, enable faster progress, and give greater security around jointing systems.
Over Christmas 2020, the Alliance carried out work between York and Colton Junction to install 69 overhead line equipment foundation piles, a 65-metre-wide under-track crossing beneath the six tracks at Colton Junction, and adjusted 47 overhead line head-span structures. This work will enable the alignment of track and overhead line equipment to be completed through this section over Christmas 2021.
Between Colton Junction and Church Fenton, the Alliance also undertook one 54-hour and three 29-hour line possessions during July 2021 to enable the lines through this section to be re-aligned into their final position.



 

Ploughman

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Probably this one?


Are we going back to jointed 60fts instead of CWR?

The Alliance will soon start to prefabricate each 60ft-long section of new track at its new logistics hub at Gascoigne Wood, which will open in October. The new hub, which is just three miles from Church Fenton, includes a 400m rail head, running off the main network to allow engineering trains in and out of the facility.

Each new prefabricated track panel will be delivered pre-installed with signalling bonds, bolt holes and fish plates to join the new sections, which will reduce installation time on-site, enable faster progress, and give greater security around jointing systems.
 

hwl

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Are we going back to jointed 60fts instead of CWR?

The Alliance will soon start to prefabricate each 60ft-long section of new track at its new logistics hub at Gascoigne Wood, which will open in October. The new hub, which is just three miles from Church Fenton, includes a 400m rail head, running off the main network to allow engineering trains in and out of the facility.

Each new prefabricated track panel will be delivered pre-installed with signalling bonds, bolt holes and fish plates to join the new sections, which will reduce installation time on-site, enable faster progress, and give greater security around jointing systems.
To maximise the working hours it sounds like they will be doing some /most overnight then coming back to weld up later.
 

Brissle Girl

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The wording is a bit odd. It talks about renewing "all four lines between York and Colton Junction, as well as both lines between Colton Junction and Church Fenton". But there are also four lines on the latter section, so saying "both" doesn't make any sense. I'm assuming they just mean the Down and Up Leeds lines.
 

Ploughman

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Unless they intend relaying in panels as stated but then rerail with CWR afterwards.
Just like we used to do years ago. How long before they start using Gantries again?
Do I asume that it is not possible to relay the length of a single pair of CWR rails and weld it up in the same shift?
 

Ploughman

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Historically on that stretch of track on any line, we used to Relay Sat night using Tracklayer, followed by a Ballast cleaner with Tamping, Regulator and DTS.
Reopening track about 14.00 with follow up Tamp, Reg and DTS overnight.
Midweek nights was used for stressing and welding plus any follow tamps.
Possession of 1 pair of tracks with the other pair open to traffic with safety speed imposed.

I assume current traffic levels dictate the proposed method, just seems a step back.
The only problem areas we had was on the Leeds lines, with access now sorted, and the track spacing on the Leeds lines between St Helens bridge and Dringhouses were we had to have 3 tracks blocked over Christmas to get a safe space to pass trains while relaying the Up Leeds.THe 10ft is less than a 6ft.
 

Bald Rick

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Historically on that stretch of track on any line, we used to Relay Sat night using Tracklayer, followed by a Ballast cleaner with Tamping, Regulator and DTS.
Reopening track about 14.00 with follow up Tamp, Reg and DTS overnight.
Midweek nights was used for stressing and welding plus any follow tamps.
Possession of 1 pair of tracks with the other pair open to traffic with safety speed imposed.

I assume current traffic levels dictate the proposed method, just seems a step back.
The only problem areas we had was on the Leeds lines, with access now sorted, and the track spacing on the Leeds lines between St Helens bridge and Dringhouses were we had to have 3 tracks blocked over Christmas to get a safe space to pass trains while relaying the Up Leeds.THe 10ft is less than a 6ft.

Adjacent Line Open rules have changed since then. And there’s not enough Saturday nights!
 

td97

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Are we going back to jointed 60fts instead of CWR?
It is permissible to temporarily install as jointed with high tensile bolts for up to 4 weeks before welding occurs. Permitted up to 125mph too.
 

CAF397

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Technically it doesn't even need to go as far as Guide Bridge West Jn - there is already a runoff towards the yard/Stalybridge. Though a lot of it is still original 1950s catenary, so I imagine you might see a wholesale renewals job at the same time.
There is no run off of OLE towards Stalybridge from Guide Bridge. Masts, maybe one or two, but no wires.
 

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