Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

[61653 HTAFC]

Being from Huddersfield, the name of that crossing always makes me do a double-take when mentioned in relation to putting wires up!

 

[jonesy3001]

Being from Huddersfield, the name of that crossing always makes me do a double-take when mentioned in relation to putting wires up!

Huddersfield did come up first when checking on google maps, til I seen the manchester version.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Huddersfield did come up first when checking on google maps, til I seen the manchester version.

Makes sense really, being a station rather than a level crossing. Must admit when I first saw reference to Berry Brow crossing, my first thought was "is there a foot crossing I'm unaware of?" Because as far as I know the first foot crossing on the Penistone line is on the double track section between Stocksmoor and Shepley, and the only road crossing is at Dodworth (now that Barnsley has closed).

Apologies for the diversion!

 

[Jamesrob637]

There is a gantry on the bridge over the M60 at Ashton.

 

[Greybeard33]

BBC North West Today lunchtime news, 8th November, had a package about the W1 Manchester to Stalybridge electrification, including Network Rail video of wires being strung up. The NR interviewee had the appropriate surname of Ashton!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Saw some good progress today on Man Victoria to Stalybridge.
Lots of steelwork up around Ashton, and earth wires up on a lot of it, including round Miles Platting curve.
Two sections of catenary wire up between Baguley Fold and the M60.
Still some gantry gaps close to Bromley St Bridge, and there are plenty of portal beams to erect between the masts in places.
At Stalybridge Station, there are piles between P4 and P3 for about half the length of those platforms.
Nothing yet for P1 or the two bays, unless they are having a big cantilever structure across all lines.

 

[snowball]

Press release

172-year-old railway siding unearthed in Huddersfield

A long-forgotten railway siding, dating back to the 19th Century has been discovered in Huddersfield, as the Transpennine Route Upgrade gains traction.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

A long-forgotten railway siding, dating back to the 19th Century has been discovered in Huddersfield, as the Transpennine Route Upgrade gains traction.

The siding at Hillhouse – used for harbouring off-duty trains – was unearthed while teams studied maps from 1850 to help inform a multi-billion-pound rail upgrade set to transform the region.

It is thought that the siding, which composed of train sheds and railway turn tables, was used to house and maintain trains, as well as transport cattle, coal and other materials across the UK when the line formed part of the Manchester & Huddersfield Railway.

Over the last three months, Network Rail has been carefully uncovering the historic site, near Alder Street, to ready the route for twice as many tracks in the future. This will unlock the ambitions of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, making way for faster, more frequent trains running along a greener, electrified railway.

A programme of survey work was carried out with support from the Archaeological Services WYAS. The results confirmed that the foundations of the old sidings were buried just below the surface, spurring the specialists to bring the area back to how it would have looked over 172 years ago.

 

[class 9]

Press release

172-year-old railway siding unearthed in Huddersfield

A long-forgotten railway siding, dating back to the 19th Century has been discovered in Huddersfield, as the Transpennine Route Upgrade gains traction.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Harbouring off duty trains, WTF???

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Saw some good progress today on Man Victoria to Stalybridge.
Lots of steelwork up around Ashton, and earth wires up on a lot of it, including round Miles Platting curve.
Two sections of catenary wire up between Baguley Fold and the M60.
Still some gantry gaps close to Bromley St Bridge, and there are plenty of portal beams to erect between the masts in places.
At Stalybridge Station, there are piles between P4 and P3 for about half the length of those platforms.
Nothing yet for P1 or the two bays, unless they are having a big cantilever structure across all lines.

Really great news. Thanks for the update and post.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Really great news. Thanks for the update and post.

Something I forgot to mention - the Rochdale lines up to Miles Platting are evidently not being wired east of Man Vic East Jn.
While there are quite a number of 4-track gantries, there are some 2-track TTCs on the Ashton route only.
The registration gear is therefore going up only over the Ashton lines.
There is a single mast on the Brewery Jn curve, at the Philips Park end.

 

[zwk500]

Something I forgot to mention - the Rochdale lines up to Miles Platting are evidently not being wired east of Man Vic East Jn.
While there are quite a number of 4-track gantries, there are some 2-track TTCs on the Ashton route only.
The registration gear is therefore going up only over the Ashton lines.
There is a single mast on the Brewery Jn curve, at the Philips Park end.

Is wiring to Rochdale part of any phase of the TRU project?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Is wiring to Rochdale part of any phase of the TRU project?

Not to my knowledge. I am sure I read somewhere it is high priority for the future but I don't blame Network Rail for really focusing on core TPU.

 

[zwk500]

Not to my knowledge. I am sure I read somewhere it is high priority for the future but I don't blame Network Rail for really focusing on core TPU.

Makes sense, although a bit of a shame to miss the opportunity to share some costs.

 

[Glenn1969]

Makes sense, although a bit of a shame to miss the opportunity to share some costs.

Rochdale is on the Calder Valley route. Most local stakeholders want wires to go up but I don't see it in the current dire financial situation

 

[zwk500]

Rochdale is on the Calder Valley route.

I know, it just seems a logical extension.

Most local stakeholders want wires to go up but I don't see it in the current dire financial situation

Sadly, I agree.

 

[edwin_m]

Something I forgot to mention - the Rochdale lines up to Miles Platting are evidently not being wired east of Man Vic East Jn.
While there are quite a number of 4-track gantries, there are some 2-track TTCs on the Ashton route only.
The registration gear is therefore going up only over the Ashton lines.
There is a single mast on the Brewery Jn curve, at the Philips Park end.

Trains coming from Rochdale direction can cross onto the Ashton lines just after Miles Platting, but the first set of right-handed crossovers where Ashton trains can cross to/from the Rochdale lines is not until just before the crossing of the Irk, and beyond here it appears on aerial mapping that all tracks are or will be electrified. So the part of the Rochdale lines that isn't being electrified can't be used by electric trains anyway - unless there's a plan to electrify out to Newton Heath or beyond, and I haven't seen any serious suggestion of that.

 

[snowball]

Is wiring to Rochdale part of any phase of the TRU project?

No but post #5245 contained this:

Miles Platting has only the junction triangle wired but no plain line towards Rochdale.

 

[swt_passenger]

Harbouring off duty trains, WTF???

NR press office reaching out to their target audience, which they seem to think is the local reception class.

 

[the sniper]

Harbouring off duty trains, WTF???

Did they drop anchor there?

NR press office reaching out to their target audience, which they seem to think is the local reception class.

Would it even make sense to them?

 

[Geeves]

As mentioned its been the case for a long time that only the slow lines out of Victoria provide access the Stalybridge direction, so the wires on the fast lines are only there to enable shunting at present

It seems fairly set now that the stopping trains to Rochdale will go to Blackburn so at present even if the wires went up nothing would use them, as for beyond Rochdale thats in the too hard box right now.

 

[zwk500]

As mentioned its been the case for a long time that only the slow lines out of Victoria provide access the Stalybridge direction, so the wires on the on the fast lines are only there to enable shunting at present

It seems fairly set now that the stopping trains to Rochdale will go to Blackburn so at present even if the wires went up nothing would use them, as for beyond Rochdale thats in the too hard box right now.

Thanks for this.

 

[snowball]

Press release claiming that the first wires have gone up on the Stalybridge line, somehow not mentioning that there have been wires up for weeks or months.

The text confirms the report in #5826 that Stalybridge will be closed for 26 days in March.

It includes a 4-minute video clip which is the best short video I've seen recently of the actual process of stringing up the wires. It was clearly used as the basis of the item on NW Today mentioned in #5975.

First wires installed to power faster, greener trains in Greater Manchester

Electric wires that will power faster, cleaner, and more reliable trains between Manchester and Stalybridge were installed over the weekend as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Electric wires that will power faster, cleaner, and more reliable trains between Manchester and Stalybridge were installed over the weekend as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade.

The wires are the initial step towards fully electric local services between Manchester and Stalybridge by the middle of the decade - meaning better, greener, and more reliable trains for passengers in Greater Manchester.

Electric wires will eventually stretch from Manchester Victoria to York, passing through Huddersfield and Leeds, as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. The multi-billion pound project will bring one of the countries key travel corridors into the 21st century, with 70-miles of fully electric, digital railway.

The successful installation of the overhead electric wires marks a key steppingstone in the major project to improve services between Manchester and Stalybridge, which will see Stalybridge station close for 26 days in March while significant upgrades to track and infrastructure take place.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is the biggest investment on the Transpennine route since the 1870s and will transform rail journeys across the North. These improvements will enable more trains to run between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York giving passengers more choice and more seats.

Hannah Lomas, Principal Programme Sponsor for the Transpennine Route Upgrade said: “Once complete, the Transpennine Route Upgrade will transform travel in the North of England, reducing our carbon footprint by 87,000 tonnes of emissions each year, and providing a route that passengers can rely on.

“The installation of the very first Transpennine Route Upgrade electric wires in Greater Manchester is a major step toward a future of faster, greener and more reliable travel between Manchester and Stalybridge.”

 

[td97]

No but post #5245 contained this:

That now looks to be portals on approach to the junction (adjacent to the length of Collyhurst sidings) which change to TTCs at Miles Platting junction. There are some very wide portals, some spanning all 6 tracks (up/down fast, up/down slow, and both siding roads). No OLE equipment will be attached for the fast lines.

Spoiler: Summary

• Manchester Victoria - Rochdale Rd: 4 track portals with a single TTC just before the bridge.
• Rochdale Rd - Osborne St: 2 track portals (slow lines only)
• Osborne St - Collyhurst St: 2x 4-track portals, remainder TTCs
• Collyhurst St - Miles Platting junction: all 4/5/6-track portals
• Miles Platting junction slow lines: all TTCs
• Miles Platting junction fast lines: none.
• Brewery Junction - Philips Park West junction: none.

From Victoria to Miles Platting, there is only a 500m gap in overhead structures for the fast lines.

 

[jonesy3001]

Are they just putting the wires up overnight or are they putting in more gantries on the remaining bits?
Take it they'll do the guide bridge line during the march blockade?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Press release claiming that the first wires have gone up on the Stalybridge line, somehow not mentioning that there have been wires up for weeks or months.

The text confirms the report in #5826 that Stalybridge will be closed for 26 days in March.

It includes a 4-minute video clip which is the best short video I've seen recently of the actual process of stringing up the wires. It was clearly used as the basis of the item on NW Today mentioned in #5975.

First wires installed to power faster, greener trains in Greater Manchester

Electric wires that will power faster, cleaner, and more reliable trains between Manchester and Stalybridge were installed over the weekend as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Excellent video who needs HOPS with this combination of RRVs and staff a nice production line.

 

[59CosG95]

Checking one.network for the next twelve months gives quite a few planned Network Rail works along the A635/A670 corridor between Stalybridge & Standedge Tunnel. There are a couple east of the Marsden portal too.

 

[matacaster]

I might be wrong as I only briefly saw it out of the train window, but there seems to be some site clearance work near Morley tunnel, is this in preparation for TRU changes?

 

[59CosG95]

I might be wrong as I only briefly saw it out of the train window, but there seems to be some site clearance work near Morley tunnel, is this in preparation for TRU changes?

It is indeed TRU work; Morley station is being relocated slightly north.

 

[matacaster]

It is indeed TRU work; Morley station is being relocated slightly north.

Ta, spades in the ground, progress indeed!

 

[SuperNova]

Press release claiming that the first wires have gone up on the Stalybridge line, somehow not mentioning that there have been wires up for weeks or months.

The text confirms the report in #5826 that Stalybridge will be closed for 26 days in March.

It includes a 4-minute video clip which is the best short video I've seen recently of the actual process of stringing up the wires. It was clearly used as the basis of the item on NW Today mentioned in #5975.

First wires installed to power faster, greener trains in Greater Manchester

Electric wires that will power faster, cleaner, and more reliable trains between Manchester and Stalybridge were installed over the weekend as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Most likely because there was supposed to be a visit from a Minister... and then Truss' government fell to pieces.