Trent Valley upgrades during VHF

[MarkWi72]

I've been doing a little research into the WCML and it's post-Steam history. One issue which I am interested in , (and I am aware of some parts of this) is the Trent Valley Section modernisation. The obvious This is Rugby-Stafford. I am aware some parts were 4 tracked during early-mid 00s modernisation. I would like to understand how it was upgraded (signalling was I think and I know about the Nuneaton flyover). I also am aware a modernisation was done to the higher speed crossovers at Colwich.

Are there any new and past track diagrams for pre-2004 and present track layouts?

How as this improved timetabled speeds?

 

[jfollows]

"Past" was

• 4-track Rugby-Brinklow, but fast lines on the inside, with some of the down slow out of use
• 3-track Brinklow-Attleborough Junction
• 4-track Attleborough Junction-Nuneaton-Tamworth
• 2-track Tamworth-Lichfield-Armitage Junction
• 4-track Armitage junction-Colwich Junction with the down fast on the outside

Signal boxes at Nuneaton, Atherstone, Polesworth, Tamworth, Coton Crossing, Hademore Crossing, Lichfield, Colwich Junction

The Nuneaton flyover already existed but was out of use.

No higher speed crossovers at Colwich, significantly. Some discussion at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/colwich-junction-in-the-1980s-vs-today.221018/#post-5260641

Also Rugby station was completely upgraded more recently, which makes a big difference to the majority of trains that don't stop.
My rule of thumb used to be Euston-Rugby 1 hour, Euston-Colwich 1h30m. Now it's usual to pass somewhere like Tamworth in 1 hour, Colwich in 1h10m.
I have a lot of historic information, too big to post here.
For current status, Trackmaps (formerly Quail) and the Sectional Appendix (https://www.networkrail.co.uk/indus...ators/national-electronic-sectional-appendix/) are good resources.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The Wikipedia article on the WCML upgrade has some information which may help - the references certainly.

West Coast Main Line route modernisation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The West Coast Main Line is a key strategic railway line in the United Kingdom. It links the cities of London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle. Virgin Trains took on the franchise to run train services on the routes in 1997 and as part of the agreement wanted an upgrade to the railway line to allow for faster more frequent trains to grow the business. The upgrade started in 1998 and was completed in 2009. It came under parliamentary and media scrutiny because of cost and schedule overruns.[3] Further improvements such as the Norton Bridge rail flyover were completed after these dates. The project is sometimes given the acronym WCRM - West Coast Route Modernisation.

 

[swt_passenger]

The Railways Archive website has a DfT progress report written in 2006 during the project that included a few of the WCRM before and after track layouts.

Here’s a direct link:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DfT_WCMLProgress2006.pdf

The railways archive website has a whole load of similar reports accessible here:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=487

 

[starlight73]

I also just found this photo which is of widening work at the site of Armitage station (closed station south of Rugeley Trent Valley)

File:Armitage former station WCML widening geograph-3236678-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The Railways Archive website has a DfT progress report written in 2006 during the project that included a few of the WCRM before and after track layouts.

Here’s a direct link:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DfT_WCMLProgress2006.pdf

The railways archive website has a whole load of similar reports accessible here:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=487

I also just found this photo which is of widening work at the site of Armitage station (closed station south of Rugeley Trent Valley)

File:Armitage former station WCML widening geograph-3236678-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Fantastic information - perfect for my personal research. thanks for posting.

 

[Railsigns]

I worked on the Trent Valley 4-Tracking project - I produced the signalling scheme plan for it. I attended several meetings at the Lichfield project office and had some visits to site to see the work in progress (I took some photos).

 

[Bald Rick]

in the 1997 iteration of WCRM, the Trent Valley was to be completely resignalled, with a 4th track added Rugby to Brinklow, and a 3rd and 4th track added from Lichfield to Armitage. Rugby was too difficult, Nuneaton was a problem child, and the rest was to be largely untouched other than the resignalling (with TCS, the forerunner of ETCS).

After the PUG2 deal was done in 1998, there was some serious fretting about the Trent Valley, which after much feasibility work, timetabling work and ‘discussions’ with freight operators led to additinal scope, namely the third and fourth tracks from Tamworth to Lichfield, Nuneaton flyover (a diveunder just south of the station was considered but extremely risky), closing Hademore crossing, and Rugby. Albeit Rugby was more about getting some serious journey time benefit to offset some of the lack of 140mph.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I worked on the Trent Valley 4-Tracking project - I produced the signalling scheme plan for it. I attended several meetings at the Lichfield project office and had some visits to site to see the work in progress (I took some photos).

Wow. Brilliant

 

[MarkWi72]

Thanks all, very interesting.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

TV4 was one of the best upgrades of WCRM, along with Rugby and (eventually) the Norton Bridge grade separation.
However, it still left 75mph on the slow lines except on the new Tamworth-Armitage section which became 110/125(EPS).
A pity HS2 trains will complicate the operation north of Lichfield.
I didn't enjoy the 4 years (except summer) of weekend service reduction and diversions via the Grand Junction though.

 

[ThreeIfByAir]

Brinklow to Nuneaton was left as three-track -- is that a bottleneck for Down trains? If they quadrify it, it'll need a flyover because the Down Fast from Rugby to Brinklow is on the outside, so I'm guessing that they did a cost-benefit and decided that adding the fourth track wasn't worth it. But I'd be interested to hear what happened there...

 

[jfollows]

Brinklow to Nuneaton was left as three-track -- is that a bottleneck for Down trains? If they quadrify it, it'll need a flyover because the Down Fast from Rugby to Brinklow is on the outside, so I'm guessing that they did a cost-benefit and decided that adding the fourth track wasn't worth it. But I'd be interested to hear what happened there...

The down fast used to be on the inside, and the down slow was mainly abandoned, until the upgrade work in which the new down fast could be built on the unused former down slow. But I guess it’d only be worth it if the current strategy of making freight trains wait for a long gap and the going for it doesn’t work - they used to follow the xx.40 Manchester train and we’d often pass a small queue of freight trains waiting for us. I haven’t checked when the similar gap is in the revised timetable.

 

[Bald Rick]

Brinklow to Nuneaton was left as three-track -- is that a bottleneck for Down trains? If they quadrify it, it'll need a flyover because the Down Fast from Rugby to Brinklow is on the outside, so I'm guessing that they did a cost-benefit and decided that adding the fourth track wasn't worth it. But I'd be interested to hear what happened there...

Not really a bottleneck. When that part of WCRM was planned, it was to see 3 Manchesters at roughly 20 minute intervals, plus another three Virgin services each effectively flighted with them. That leaves plenty of space for a freight to cover the 8 miles (the freights take 4 minutes longer than a Pendolino for a Class 4, 4.5mins for a Class 6).

Lots of reasons why putting down a 4th track would be expensive, two of them being the M6 and M69.

 

[The Planner]

Brinklow to Nuneaton was left as three-track -- is that a bottleneck for Down trains? If they quadrify it, it'll need a flyover because the Down Fast from Rugby to Brinklow is on the outside, so I'm guessing that they did a cost-benefit and decided that adding the fourth track wasn't worth it. But I'd be interested to hear what happened there...

It wouldn't. You would likely remodel the south end of Rugby P2/3 slightly so the fast went through the platform. The slow would carry on via P1

 

[waverley47]

It wouldn't. You would likely remodel the south end of Rugby P2/3 slightly so the fast went through the platform. The slow would carry on via P1

I'm going to have to check your logic on this one I'm afraid.

You would need a flyover to bring the down slow through platform 2 (on the inside of the formation) over the down fast to meet the down slow at Nuneaton (outside of the formation) without conflicting.

Currently there are no conflicts between any routes in the down direction, with trains from Northampton to either of the Trent Valley and Birmingham grade separated from the fast, and trains from the fast lines also being able to take either of the routes without conflicting.

If you changed it with your logic, you'd find that slow trains (most freights) heading from Northampton up the Trent Valley were crossing in front of fast trains heading to Birmingham.

 

[The Planner]

I'm going to have to check your logic on this one I'm afraid.

You would need a flyover to bring the down slow through platform 2 (on the inside of the formation) over the down fast to meet the down slow at Nuneaton (outside of the formation) without conflicting.

Currently there are no conflicts between any routes in the down direction, with trains from Northampton to either of the Trent Valley and Birmingham grade separated from the fast, and trains from the fast lines also being able to take either of the routes without conflicting.

If you changed it with your logic, you'd find that slow trains (most freights) heading from Northampton up the Trent Valley were crossing in front of fast trains heading to Birmingham.

Its the cheapest way of doing it, though its incredibly unlikely to ever happen once HS2 phase 1 is open as the amount of fasts down the TV diminishes.