Table of contents for Issue 813 in RAIL

When Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016 after the ‘Brexit’ referendum, she sacked Chancellor George Osborne, prompting commentators to claim that she was going to kill off his flagship ‘Northern Powerhouse’. This would have been politically suicidal. How the country voted in the referendum clearly showed the folly of ignoring the Midlands and North. For unambiguous proof of the political resilience of the Northern Powerhouse, look no further than our high-octane National Rail Conference, in Manchester on November 1 (see News p8-9). Sponsored by Alstom, The Morson Group and Systra, chaired by Steve Norris and attended by 170 delegates, the NRC was a mouth-watering hint of northern things to come. (It also highlighted a potential fly in the ointment, but I’ll come back to that. Let’s stick with…

THE average age of Britain’s trains is increasing, official figures have revealed. The nation’s fleets had an average age of exactly 21 years in 2015-2016, representing a 0.8 year increase over the past year. This is the first time that the average age of the fleets has been higher than the 20.7 years recorded when the series was launched in the second quarter of 2000-2001. Caledonian Sleeper (CS) operates the oldest fleet, with an average age of 41.38 years. By way of contrast, TransPennine Express (TPE) operates the youngest, at just 9.48 years. Both CS and TPE have new train fleets on order. The Scottish sleeper operator will take delivery of Mk 5 carriages built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in 2018, and in the same year CAF…

Northern MD Alex Hynes has promised passengers that the franchise will be transformed before the December 2019 timetable change takes place. That is the date by which the operator has committed to withdraw all of the unpopular and near 30-year-old Pacers from its fleet - just 44 months into the nine-year franchise it started in April. Hynes said the franchise would be about much more than just new trains, however, with a personal pledge to shed its unwanted status as one of the worst historically-performing franchises in the National Rail Passenger Survey. He said: “We’re going to set new standards for rail travel, not just in the north of England but in the UK. In 2004 when the Northern franchise was first created this investment was nil, but we are…

GB Railfreight (GBRf) chief executive and founder John Smith made the case for continued support and investment in freight. He said that rumoured hikes in freight track access charges set by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) would destabilise the sector, and be contrary to statements made by other public sector bodies that would like to secure increases in rail’s share of the freight market. He added: “Freight is about growing GDP, how you generate your electricity, and how you make cars and construct buildings. But Network Rail, the ORR and the Department for Transport all say one thing and do another. “The ORR is considering increasing rail freight charges again as government seeks to reduce the key grants that generate growth in intermodal traffic. “If you want boxes…

Cuts to the cab fitment fund for european Train Control System (eTCS) signalling may delay the procurement of first-in-class fitment for all rolling stock, the Transport Committee claimed in its Rail technology: signalling and traffic management report, issued on October 27. It said the business plan for Digital Railway should make it clear how first-in-class design and cab fitment will be funded. The committee added that the Department for Transport (DfT) should monitor progress on cab fitment, how changes in funding affect the rate of progress, and what implications that rate has on realising promised increases in capacity. “We recommend that the DfT take steps to ensure that work on cab fitment and trackside infrastructure remain broadly aligned; it would be disappointing if trackside infrastructure was ready but could not…

Network Rail has announced its Christmas engineering programme, with up to 200 projects scheduled for completion over the period. The most significant disruption will take place on the lines leading into London Paddington and Liverpool Street stations as surface works continue ahead of the first Crossrail services next year. Bus replacement services and diversions will be in place on the Great Eastern Main Line, affecting services from the capital to Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich between December 23 and January 4 2017, while services from Paddington (including trains to Heathrow Airport) will be affected from December 24. Also in London, Southeastern services will not run to London Bridge and Charing Cross from December 24-28 to allow work to take place on the approaches to London Bridge under the Thameslink Programme. No…

THERE is a long-suppressed need for better rail access to Heathrow from the south, Rail Minister Paul Maynard has admitted. MPs heard during a Parliamentary debate on the link that it was “scandalous” that one of the world’s busiest airports is not connected by rail to south London and the whole of southern England. Seema Malhotra (Labour, Feltham and Heston), told the Commons: “The right scheme has the potential to transform public transport and regenerate areas with some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country.” Network Rail has been considering possible routes, following rejection in 2010 of the proposed Airtrack scheme that would have enabled direct services to Waterloo. It completed a feasibility study in 2015, identifying four options, each of which have an unusually high benefit to…

“The Department is exploring the provision of additional rolling stock to Southeastern, in order to lengthen services and increase capacity for passengers,” Rail Minister Paul Maynard told Clive Efford (Labour, Eltham) in a Commons Written Reply on October 21. “This requires extensive commercial negotiations with Southeastern. We are continuing to work with Southeastern to develop the business case, and an announcement will be made in due course.” Efford had asked if stock made redundant through the introduction of new trains on Thameslink would be made available. Thirty-six ‘377/1s’ will transfer from Southern to SET in 2017, according to devolution documents released by Transport for London in mid-October, but there are plans for more vehicles. One option could be new-build trains, while there is also the possibility of extending existing trains.…

Free WiFi is likely to feature in the next Welsh franchise, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales Guto Bebb said on October 19. Speaking in a Parliamentary debate about the franchise, Bebb was responding to a question from Louise Haigh (Labour, Sheffield Heeley). She had asked about the implementation of free WiFi after it was mentioned in a tabled amendment to the Digital Economy Bill. Bebb said: “As part of the devolution package, that is something to be agreed between the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government, but I am sure they will have heard the Hon. Lady’s comments.”…

PASSENGERS on Southern Railway face the prospect of further strikes in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Drivers who belong to both the ASLEF and RMT unions are being balloted for industrial action over what they say is an extension of Driver Only Operation (DOO). The union ballots close on November 18. Strikes could follow a week later, and Southern says virtually all services would be halted. Southern Railway said it was able to schedule 60 more services during the latest strike, compared with previous disruption. Between Haywards Heath and Victoria it promised a half-hourly service between 0700 and 2200. During previous strikes services ended around 1800 each day. The company said nearly all 156 Southern stations would see either a restricted train or bus service. Southern also said it…

Southern Railway restored its full timetable from October 31. It had run an emergency timetable since July 8, cancelling up to 340 trains a day. Services in Hove, Bognor Regis, Worthing, Havant and Southampton have now all returned to normal levels. The emergency schedule was intended as a short-term fix to the mass cancellations that took place due to insufficient staff being available to cover the roster. The aim was to run a more reliable and predictable service. At the time the company blamed high levels of train crew sickness, which it claimed amounted to unofficial industrial action. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) only discovered it had insufficient staff when it took over the former First Capital Connect franchise, and had to launch a recruitment drive. GTR said it moved 80…

Bombardier Transportation is to cut 7,500 jobs as part of a bid to make “recurring savings” of $300 million (around £245m) by the end of 2018. No details of where and when the cuts would be made were available as this issue of RAIL went to press, but the company says it will “streamline” its administrative and non-production functions while creating ‘centres of excellence’ for design, engineering and manufacturing in its aerospace and rail businesses. The company adds that the impact of the job cuts on total employee numbers will be “partially offset by strategic hiring” for ‘key growth programmes’. Bombardier Transportation employs around 3,500 staff at its UK rail operations.…

The ScotRail Alliance has produced a performance plan at Transport Scotland’s request in a bid to address a decline in punctuality to 89.6% in recent months. It follows a fall of 0.7% in the Public Performance Measure from 90.3%. The performance plan is split into three categories - trains, infrastructure and operations. Remedial action will be taken on the Class 156/158/170 diesel fleets including door, radiator and coolant system upgrades on the first two types, modifications to operating controls and systems that can lead to engine shutdown on the Class 158s, and upgrades to battery control systems, door control software and turbo systems on the Class 170s. On the electric fleets, the Class 314 and ‘318’ electric multiple units will receive upgrades to doors and traction systems; the Class 320s…

CONSTRUCTION of TransPennine Express’ 66 push-pull Mk 5A carriages has begun in Spain. The vehicles are being built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Besain, Spain. TPE Managing Director Leo Goodwin said: “I’m thrilled that the first of our new trains has now entered production, marking an important milestone in transforming rail travel across the North. “These new, modern trains will mean major improvements for customers and will really make a difference to the overall journey experience.” They will be delivered in 2018, and will enter traffic as 13 five-carriage sets, operating on TPE’s route between Liverpool, Manchester, Huddersfield, York and Scarborough, and Newcastle. From 2019 they will also run to Middlesbrough. Each train has 287 seats. The 66th carriage is a spare driving van trailer. All the…

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) adopted the single name of Rail Delivery Group from October 24. The change follows feedback from stakeholders and members of staff. Previously ATOC and RDG had operated under two names. The former delivered services to operators including: the Rail Settlement Plan; National Rail Enquiries; Rail Staff Travel; and schemes covering passenger train operations, engineering and major projects. RDG provides policy and communications functions representing the views of train operator owning groups, freight operators and Network Rail. Despite the name change, the activities carried out previously under the ATOC name and their funding are unaffected. “This is an important development for our organisation,” said RDG Chief Executive Paul Plummer. “The RDG has a key role to play in…

RAIL Minister Paul Maynard has thrown his weight behind calls to upgrade the West Anglia Main Line (WAML) between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge. Speaking on October 27 at the launch of a report written by the West Anglia Taskforce, Mr Maynard said he supported the group’s key recommendation to bring forward the four-tracking of the line between Coppermill Junction (south of Tottenham Hale), and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. Under current plans, this two-track section of the WAML is due to be doubled to accommodate Crossrail 2 services from 2033, but this date should be brought forward by up to a decade to relieve severe capacity constraints, the report adds. The Taskforce also recommends boosting capacity on the short spur from the WAML to Stansted Airport, and building new stations to…

“We have landed the right deal for the rail franchise. We need the same for the rail infrastructure,” Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles told RAIL on October 26. In an exclusive interview, Burles said improvements planned in the new nine-year GA franchise that began on October 16 require work from Network Rail, but that the operator is working with NR to achieve this. “We want to drive this in the corridors of power,” said Burles. He added that there is a collaborative approach between the two companies, which have agreed an Accord ( RAIL 812). “With this work we are bringing someone in from NR and creating a joint team. We are collaborative - let’s bring the right people. These people have contacts in Network Rail and can get…

Better compensation for late-running trains will be introduced on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) within the next six months, before being rolled out to other impending franchises. The so-called ‘Delay Repay 15’ scheme announced by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling on October 13 will entitle passengers to 25% of the total cost of a single fare for delays of between 15 and 25 minutes. Existing thresholds of 50% of the single fare for delays of 30 to 59 minutes, 100% for delays of more than an hour, and 100% of the return fare for delays of more than two hours will still apply. The policy will be introduced on GTR first, followed by the new South Western, West Midlands and South Eastern franchises. All future franchises will include requirements…

Warning lights will be installed at three level crossings in East Anglia where no warning systems or barriers are in place. The lights will be fitted at Thetford, Lakenheath and at Hockham Road (Roundham), where a tractor was hit by a train earlier this year. They will show green when the crossing is clear and red when a train is approaching. The warning systems do not need to be integrated with existing signalling equipment, meaning they can be installed more quickly than other types.…

Treatment for ‘150/0’ Great Western Railway 150002 is undergoing an internal refurbishment that includes fitting Passenger Information Systems (PIS) and a fully accessible toilet. The three-car Class 150/0 follows 150001, which was treated earlier this year. ‘92s’ move to Europe DB Cargo 92003 Beethoven and 92026 Britten have been exported for use in mainland Europe. They become the 11th and 12th Class 92s to be exported. ‘700s’ run to Sutton Class 700/0s began working Govia Thameslink Railway trains on the Sutton Loop on October 31. The eight-car ‘700s’ replace pairs of four-car Class 319s on the route. Preserved ‘20’ moved Class 20 D8098 (20098) has moved from its Great Central Railway base to the nearby Great Central Railway (Nottingham) for the Christmas season.…

Electrostars capable of 110mph entered traffic with Great Northern (GN) on October 10. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has cascaded nine Class 387s to GN from its Thameslink operations. The first to enter traffic was 387110, which worked the 0609 Letchworth-London King’s Cross. Later it ran to Cambridge. Initially Class 387/1s will be used on GN trains to Cambridge, but they will also serve Peterborough and will run to Kings Lynn next year. They are replacing GN Class 317s and Class 321s, which will go off-lease (all 12 ‘317s’ and six ‘321s’ are destined for Greater Anglia). In the longer-term, there is a study under way that could result in all trains between Kings Lynn and Cambridge running as eight-car trains, rather than the current four with the occasional exception. Other…

“There’s little in their performance plan to address the other problems the ORR found” SCOTRAIL’S October performance improvement plan contains little that’s revolutionary. It responds to a fall in train performance with promises of improvements to trains and track. There are promises of remedial work to fix door problems and faulty signals, and a promise to assign ‘golden train’ status to services that contribute most to overall delays. Last summer’s Network Rail Monitor from rail regulator ORR pointed to declining performance and explained it was due to a combination of the Forth Road Bridge closing (it had structural problems and the closure led to more people using trains), severe weather, a number of derailments in possessions and a shortage of drivers. The alliance of ScotRail and NR couldn’t do much…

EMT’s missing links RAIL 810 reports on possible improvements to East Midlands Trains services. By far the biggest deficiency is the lack of through trains from major places on the route to destinations beyond Sheffield, but EMT aspirations appear to be limited to improved connections. We are now in the 21st century. We should be actively planning for the ability of passengers to travel directly from large conurbations such as Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester and Loughborough (and East Midlands and Luton Airports) to Leeds, York/East Coast Main Line, Manchester, Preston/West Coast Main LIne and Liverpool. Nottingham and Chesterfield do currently have hourly through trains (inadequate Class 158 DMUs) to Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, involving reversal at Sheffield, and Derby and Chesterfield both have regular CrossCountry services to the North East,…

“Arriva and its German owners have done very well out of the deal, while putting very little back.” WALES has always had a rather poor deal from the railways. The iron road came late to the country, as shown by the 1851 map in my book, Fire & Steam, which shows more than 6,000 miles of tracks across Britain but a whole swathe of central and western Wales without a single line – making it the largest area, apart from the Scottish Highlands, yet to be connected. And so it continued throughout history. It was not until the late 1860s that a line was built through the centre of the country, but even today it is impossible to go from south to north Wales by rail without diverting into England.…

“It’s alright having good ideas, but if you don’t have the network of contacts then it’s not going to go anywhere.”Mark Smith, Head of Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, British Transport Police The importance of saving a life is impossible to quantify, but RAIL ’s National Rail Awards judges nevertheless had an easy decision to make when presented with Mark Smith MBE, of the British Transport Police. Following his long and patient campaign to revolutionise the BTP’s long-established but increasingly inadequate suicide prevention protocols, no praise could be too high for Smith’s personal contribution to the 7% reduction in fatalities recorded on the railway in 2015-16. This was achieved despite a worsening picture across the whole of society, making a Judges’ Special Award an honour befitting this extraordinary accomplishment. Smith’s…

The world-famous Tube Map was revised earlier this year, with the addition of London Trams. However, I really feel the map is now over-cluttered and (worse) misleading. It includes London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, TfL Rail (Crossrail), London Trams and the Emirates Air Line Cable Car. The original Harry Beck concept, of course, only had the Underground to deal with - and less of that than exists now. Where it is misleading is that while it shows Overground (which is part of National Rail), it omits all other National Rail services - not least Thameslink. Now the Beck concept was having the Circle Line on a much larger scale than the outer parts for clarity, and this still works to the extent that there is room to add…

“There will be extensive debate about the merits of heavy and light rail, and there is unlikely to be just one solution” The competition to run the Wales and Borders franchise from October 2018 will require a very different approach from bidders, compared to current practice. There have been past variations to the style of contracts, with the familiar requirement to judge the level of future revenue and the premium that can be afforded being replaced by a service contract to simply bid a price to run the specified timetable. The latter approach was used for the Govia Thameslink Railway and has not proved a success. Disregarding the breakdown in industrial relations, product quality has suffered. There is no incentive for the operator to improve the journey experience because it…

Richard Clinnick Assistant Editor richard.clinnick@bauermedia.co.uk LOCAL authorities have expressed concern regarding electrification of the Midland Main Line (MML), citing delays and the possibility of second-hand stock being cascaded to the route. Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council have said they hope that “the quality and frequency of Leicestershire to London services are not worsened by electrification delays”. The former said in a statement: “The council is concerned that electrification north of Kettering, through Leicestershire, has already been delayed from 2019 to 2023 and industry experts predict it could be delayed again, due to the rising costs of Network Rail schemes across the country.” Leicester City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, added: “The speed and reliability of the Midland Main Line service between Leicester and London is critical to the…

The average age of rolling stock is taken as of Quarter 4 (January-March 2015-2016). Changes in rolling stock average ages are recorded against the corresponding period the year before. If the fleet remains unchanged, the ORR expects the average age to increase by one year every 12 months. Should the increase for a train company be less than one year, this would indicate that new or younger rolling stock has been introduced or older stock phased out. Any increase greater than one year would indicate that older stock has been put into service or younger stock has been removed. A vehicle drops out of the dataset when its lease either expires or is terminated. Source: ORR.…

Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese repeated his call on the Government to commit to the construction of a new trans-Pennine main line, at a northern-themed National Rail Conference on November 1. Both he and Transport for the North Chairman John Cridland argued that a new railway was needed, and that incremental improvements to the existing network that are already costed to be delivered before the end of Control Period 5 (CP5) were not ambitious enough to unleash the fantastic growth opportunities available across the North. Network Rail’s North West electrification and Northern Hub programmes – which are due for completion by the end of 2019 at a cost of £1 billion - have already lowered journey times between Manchester and Liverpool from 49 minutes to 33. Infrastructure improvements,…

“Transport planning does take a decent slug of time, but I’m confident we will have a plan for the North which is deliverable on time and on spec.” JOHN CRIDLAND Transport for the North chairman rejects suggestions that Northern Powerhouse is mired in bureaucracy “This year is the biggest Christmas engineering programme ever, and will have some significant periods of disruption, but it will not be chaos.” MARK CARNE Network Rail Chief Executive dismisses fears of lengthy possession overruns this Christmas “You will not make a business case for investing in a new bit of railway on inter-city benefits alone. You have to look at freight and what is happening in the City Regions too.” JIM STEER GreenGauge21 director tells NRC delegates that the numbers do not stack up for…

Two RAIL contributors topped the Transport Journalist of the Year Award entries at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Annual Awards for Excellence on October 26. BBC South correspondent and regular RAIL contributor Paul Clifton won the title, making him the only person to receive the award four times, and only the second person to receive it more than once. RAIL columnist Christian Wolmar was runner-up in the category. The event, attended by around 500 people and held at the Lancaster London Hotel, was hosted by TV presenter Naga Munchetty. Awards were given in 16 categories in the field of logistics and transport, with other winners including Transport for Greater Manchester (in the Transport Policy and Planning category) and Amy Harhoff from Transport for the North (who won the…

Greengauge 21 (GG21) says the Government’s recent decision to give the construction of a third runway at London Heathrow Airport the green light means it is time to recognise the airport’s role as a rail hub. In a weblog shortly after the announcement on October 25 by the cabinet’s airports subcommittee, the lobby group said existing rail links should be expanded to serve a much wider catchment area. Pointing to the success of direct links to Manchester Airport, GG21 is calling for new services providing an hourly direct service to Heathrow from the South West, South Wales and Bristol, as well as the West Midlands and Oxford. It claims a new southern link could connect major markets in Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, for whom rail access to Heathrow is currently…

The National Training Academy for Rail (NTAR) claims to be among the first to adopt the Rail Engineering Technician ‘Trailblazer’ apprenticeship standard. It was developed over two years by employers including Network Rail, Siemens, South Western Trains and Transport for London. The three-stage process teaches apprentices the fundamentals of engineering, project management, passenger comfort and traction conversion. The final stage places apprentices in the workplace, where they will develop business-specific skills and complete the End Point Assessment.…

GTR’s owner received £48 million in compensation for delays from Network Rail during the financial year. It represents nearly half of the £106m in total paid out by NR during 2015-16. GTR, which also runs London Midland and Southeastern, billed for disruption due to infrastructure failures. GTR’s element was £29m. Govia said the money was passed to the Department for Transport, as it operates on a management contract. The Association of British Commuters, which campaigns on behalf of Southern travellers, said: “Passengers will be interested to hear whether the money is reinvested in improvements to the tracks and signals that cause so many of the delays.”…

The leaders of ASLEF and the RMT told MPs on the Transport Select Committee that the Southern experience showed privatisation was a “spectacular failure”. They also accused the Department for Transport (DfT) of “token consultation”, complaining that the unions were given no input into the awarding of franchises. Mick Whelan and Mick Cash told MPs that the DfT was responsible for the failure to reach a settlement in the long-running Southern dispute. Cash said disagreements over the issue of keeping a second safety-critical staff member on every train was central to the dispute, adding that he was angered by an attempt to “demonise” union members. “I am calling publicly, here and now, for a direct meeting between Chris Grayling, the unions and Govia to try to move the dispute on,”…

Network Rail (NR) started replacing nine sets of points and 240 metres of track at Fareham from October 22. The station was closed until October 31, with buses replacing trains. In addition to the track renewals, NR and Hampshire County Council are jointly investing £1 million in upgrading the station, with its operator, South West Trains, carrying out the work. The forecourt will be resurfaced, station access improved, a new accessible toilet fitted on the island platform and existing toilets upgraded.…

Network Rail’s (NR) ability to estimate costs of enhancement projects accurately has “proven to be unreliable”, according to an independent review commissioned by Transport Scotland (TS). In a summary of the report, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: “While issues have been encountered on each scheme, which has increased the costs, systemic causes across the portfolio have been observed.” EY’s Commercial Assurance Review of the Rail Major Projects Portfolio concludes that not only are costs unreliable, NR does not have a consistent approach to cost reporting, with costs presented on a range of bases. The study also highlights TS’ exposure to project cost increases has grown since NR’s reclassification as a public body. It adds that there is no dedicated system within NR to control, analyse, forecast and report costs, nor…

Work has started to install WiFi internet access on ScotRail’s Class 334 electric multiple unit fleet, as part of a plan to provide coverage on almost 90% of the operator’s trains by autumn 2018. WiFi hotspots will be fitted at 52 stations across Scotland. The company says that passengers on a wide range of routes, including the West Highland Line, will be able to access the internet on the move. Next up will be ScotRail’s Class 318/320 fleets, while the Class 158/170 and 380 fleets already offer onboard WiFi.…

Rail Minister Paul Maynard heaped praise on the West Anglia Taskforce and its leadership for being an exemplar organisation in demanding local rail improvements. Speaking on October 27, he went on to urge both current and future taskforce groups to study the West Anglia report published this summer, before presenting their own findings. He added: “This report is excellent. You are not the only taskforce currently at work, but I have said to colleagues in the House (of Commons) to talk to Sir Alan (Haselhurst MP) if you want to see how it’s done properly. “That makes you a model for other task forces to follow. The report couldn’t be clearer in what it recommends, what it wants to see and when by, based on solid evidence.”…

Deputy Mayor of London for Transport Val Shawcross told delegates at the West Anglia Taskforce meeting that the report and its findings have the full support of Mayor Sadiq Khan. Khan pledged that he would try to secure an upgrade of the WAML in his pre-election manifesto in order to support housing development in north London, and improve Londoners’ access to Stansted Airport and the key employment market of Cambridge. Shawcross added that investment was desperately needed to expand on the improvements already being delivered by the Stratford to Angel Road (STAR) project, which will result in improved services towards the southern end of the West Anglia Main Line by 2018. “The Mayor is very supportive of the Taskforce and made it a manifesto commitment to speed up journey times…

The transport lead of the West Midlands Combined Authority says the recent Direct Award to Arriva for the CrossCountry franchise ( RAIL 811) is a “lost opportunity” to boost passenger capacity. Roger Lawrence said: “The promised ‘39,000 more seats per annum at peak times by December 2017’ appears to equate to just 150 extra seats per day - or just two additional carriages - on the Edinburgh to Plymouth route through Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol. “This is hugely disappointing, given the continuing growth across the West Midlands rail network and the fact that there has been almost no increase in the capacity provided by the CrossCountry rail franchise since 2008/9. “With many CrossCountry trains already full to standing on peak services into and out of Birmingham, this is a critical…

Paul Stephen Assistant Features Editor paul.stephen@bauermedia.co.uk THE Severn Tunnel re-opened to passengers on October 22 following the completion of a six-week blockade to prepare the four-mile-long structure for electrification. Since September 12 more than 250 engineers from Network Rail and its contractors have spent 18,000 working days removing over 40 tonnes of soot from the 130-year-old tunnel, and installing eight miles of overhead conductor rails as part of the Great Western Route Modernisation programme. Track lowering also took place in the neighbouring Patchway Tunnels in South Gloucestershire and beneath Little Stoke Farm Bridge to create the required clearance for overhead wires. Dan Tipper, project director at Network Rail said: “It has been a phenomenal team effort involving close working with our principle contractors ABC Electrification and Babcock as well as…

The Department for Transport has started consultation on the closure of Norton Bridge station, between Stafford and Crewe on the West Coast Main Line. The little-used station has been served by rail replacement buses since 2004, following work on the West Coast Route Modernisation programme, and the DfT says it is seeking to resolve its future going forward into the next West Midlands franchise. Construction of a new station to serve the village, which has a population of around 600, is said to cost £18 million. Following an assessment about whether reinstatement of services would represent value for money, the DfT said: “We have reviewed the costs and the benefits of reinstating the station for train services, and have concluded that this is neither an appropriate nor responsible use of…

A dedicated train of Mk 3s cascaded from East Anglia is planned for ‘A1’ steam locomotive 60163 Tornado . The train is expected to enter service towards the end of 2019. The locomotive’s owning body, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, also says that it will undertake test runs in 2017 to pave the way for 90mph operation on selected routes, with the full support of operator DB Cargo. The Trust says the Mk 3s will be extensively refurbished. They are already fitted with Controlled Emission Toilets and at-seat power sockets, and now will also be equipped with WiFi. The final configuration of the train is yet to be decided, but it will include kitchen vehicles to provide meals for up to 250 First Class dining passengers, a new support coach,…

DB Cargo has fitted 27 Class 66s with remote condition monitoring equipment, and will fit a further three locomotives with the components. “We are initially fitting 30, and once we understand the results of that and the value and impact, we will take a decision as to whether we will fit any more,” DB Cargo Head of Maintenance Andrew Byrne told RAIL . He added: “Despite our industry-leading levels of reliability, what remote condition monitoring allows us to do is to see a fault developing before it manifests into a locomotive failure. This then allows us to manage the situation better for our customer, and also minimises network disruption.” Despite DB exporting more Class 66s to join those already abroad, this project will initially be UK-based. By October 24, the…

LORAM UK is to hire a main line-certified Class 50 from the Class 50 Alliance for crew training duties. The company has a certificate to operate its own trains between Derby and Old Dalby, and needs to train its crews. A deal has been struck for a preserved ‘50’ to be used. The locomotive (50049 Defiance ) is currently the only member of the C50A’s four locomotives passed for main line running, although 50031 Hood and 50044 Exeter have been used in the past on Network Rail metals. It will run between the two locations for training purposes, but whether it will be used beyond has still to be determined. LORAM UK does not own its own locomotives, but does own track machines and track grinders.…

“Forward vision and connectivity can be a radical catalyst for growth.” Graham Evans, MP A RUNCORN MP has backed HS2 and called for strategic thinking to improve connectivity in the North West, citing the “virtually impossible” journeys from Northwich to Widnes and Runcorn that he describes as a “nightmare”. Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on October 11, Graham Evans, the Conservative MP for Weaver Vale, said it would be a mistake to look at High Speed 2 as a standalone project. And he said that expenditure on other transport in the North West should complement the new line, to spread its benefits. “We have only to look at a French town, Lille, whose economy has flourished as a result of the connectivity of high-speed rail and the connection to…

Whenever I travel to Europe, I try to take the train if it can fit in with my schedule. So when I was asked to give a talk at Nancy in eastern France, I checked out the various options; the town has some TGV trains but there is also the nearby Lorrain TGV station. Finding out the right information was not easy, however. The Eurostar website offers various destinations in France but it did not offer me journeys changing in Paris (even though it involves only a walk of some 400 metres between Nord and Est stations) and therefore did not suggest the last train which left St Pancras at 1631 and gets me there at 1114 (by the way, is it not daft that you put ‘Paris’ into their…

THE message to Network Rail was clear: “Over-ambitious claims for improvements in capacity must be met with scepticism, and Network Rail should be very cautious about how it uses the 40% claim.” So say MPs in the latest report of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee. The claim comes from Network Rail’s Digital Railway publicity and is based upon its study of the South West Main Line from Waterloo. It reckons that a combination of ERTMS Level 3 signalling and automatic train operation (ATO) could permit 34 trains an hour between Waterloo and Woking, up from 28 today. ERTMS (often also known as ETCS) Level 3 signalling is not available. It is not developed to the stage where it could be installed any time soon. While NR Chief Executive…

“Looking round the room at some tremendous and committed railwaymen and women, I must admit that my first thought was ‘why me?’” Ultimately the success of our industry is driven by relationships and the determination to deliver top notch service to our customers. Rob Brighouse’s 40-year career as a railwayman reached new heights in January when he was appointed to the board of Network Rail - he is currently a member of the committees for audit and risk, safety, health and the environment, and treasury. But it was for his former roles as both Chiltern Railways Managing Director and deputy MD at London Overground that he received the accolade for Outstanding Personal Contribution in Senior Management at RAIL ’s National Rail Awards, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September…

One day in late October I returned from Waterloo to Bournemouth on my 2,660th journey between those stations - a total of just under 287,000 miles. That’s not terribly significant, as a daily commuter will achieve that distance in under seven years, whereas in my case it’s taken almost 60 years! What for me was significant is that I passed my one million miles by rail that day - 42% has been Standard Class on 12,914 trains and 58% First Class on 8,412 trains: 21,326 trains in all. As I have said before, keeping a record is either something you start doing when you’re young or you can’t do at all. There’s no way you can go back - unless you’ve kept a diary and calculate it all from scratch!…

NETWORK Rail Chief Executive Mark Carne said the company might be a public sector body, but it has to transform and behave like a private sector business. That was the message he gave to delegates at RAIL’s National Rail Conference, held at Manchester’s Midland Hotel on November 1. Core to the transformation will be tackling what Carne called the ‘five Cs’ – customer focus, cost competiveness, commercial funding, culture and capacity. On the first two ‘Cs’ he added: “Private sector businesses thrive when they deliver what their customers want, and so we have to devolve power to route businesses that are more closely aligned to the interests of train and freight operating companies. “And like any private business, if you’re not cost-competitive then eventually you’ll go out of business. We…

Transport Scotland Rail Director Bill Reeve has cited the success of the Borders Railway as an example of what can be achieved when Transport for the North (TfN) receives fully-devolved powers from the Department for Transport in the summer. Transport Scotland was handed control of the ScotRail franchise, rail strategy and Network Rail’s specification and funding arrangements north of the border in 2005. Since then patronage has grown by more than a third on Scottish railways, and performance and passenger satisfaction have both risen above the UK average. The Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank exceeded forecasted annual passenger figures in just six months from its opening in September 2015. “The 11 years we have had devolution in Scotland for railways has been a success, and the rail network in…

The Transport Select Committee has warned that “over ambitious” claims for improvements in capacity must be treated with caution. While the TSC welcomed plans to upgrade Britain’s railway with digital signalling and improved traffic management systems in its report Rail technology: signalling and traffic management, it urged caution. Network Rail (NR) has claimed that installation of the european Rail Traffic Management System (eRTMS) can provide a capacity gain of up to 40%, but witnesses to the committee’s inquiry expressed doubt whether this figure was realistic. In its findings, the committee said that the Department for Transport (DfT) should be “very clear” about the level of capacity improvement likely to be achieved, and that it should consider alternative ways of achieving the same growth in order to make an informed decision…

September was an 11th consecutive record-breaking month for eurotunnel, with the company reporting an 11% increase in traffic compared with September 2015 (with 136,590 vehicles transported). For the period January-September 2016 there was a 12% increase in traffic compared with the corresponding nine-month period in 2015. For cars, passenger shuttle traffic increased by 5% compared with September last year, with 217,014 vehicles transported. For January-September there was a 1% increase in traffic compared with the same period last year. however, there was a drop in the number of coaches transported - 11% for September 2016 compared with the same period last year. For January-September this year there was a 10% decline compared with last year’s figures.…

“Women are woefully underrepresented in our industry.” MARK CARNE Chief Executive of Network Rail says NR is determined to have a more diverse workforce. “Scotland must have full devolution of rail powers to reverse the current unacceptable industry performance.” HUMZA YOUSAF Transport Minister calls for devolution during an appearance at the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee in Edinburgh on October 26. “Engineering works are a necessity and they have to happen sometime, but the Government must ensure we don’t see a repeat of the chaos and overruns of previous years.” ANDY MCDONALD Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary says the Government is hypocritical for allowing Christmas engineering work again “One of the great things about travelling by train is that it allows you to work on the go.” JACQUELINE TAGGART ScotRail Customer…

Rail Alliance held an event in October to explore the importance of rail to the North of England and its role in the ambitions of the Northern Powerhouse. Among the speakers was Martin McKervey, a partner at Nabarro and board member of the Sheffield Region Local Enterprise Partnership, while Transport for the North Chief Executive David Brown provided an after-dinner speech. At the event, Brown said: “Historically the North hasn’t grasped the level of ambition needed, so one of our jobs is to maintain a level of ambition - to plan now, on a 25-year timescale, for the future. We are submitting our proposal next week for a sub-national transport body which will be a regional voice for strategic transport planning in the north of England.…

National Express is to withdraw from a contract to run Nuremburg’s S-Bahn system, despite being awarded it in February 2015. In a trading update issued on October 25, the company said: “The lengthy challenge by Deutsche Bahn has meant that the introduction of these new trains [planned for the start of the contract in December 2018], to significantly improve the service experienced by customers and underpin growth, would be substantially delayed.” It added that this could lead to National Express incurring “prohibitive additional cost”. It has informed the Bavarian Railway Authority, which awarded the contract, that it “is no longer in the interest of National Express and our shareholders to proceed”. NX operates the Rhine Munster Express concession, and will begin two Rhine Ruhr Express contracts in the coming years.…

House prices along Southern Railway routes have been adversely affected by the disruption to services, according to estate agent HouseSimple.com. Average house prices along the Brighton main line rose by £21,106 over the 12 months to July 2016, but has fallen by £1,875. The estate agent found only four locations in the Southern franchise area where prices continued to rise: Hove, Pulborough, Haywards Heath and around Gatwick. HouseSimple chief executive Alex Gosling said: “It would be a real kick in the teeth if home owners, who have had to endure the daily misery of delays, cancellations and strike action, started to see the value of their homes falling.” The study looked at routes within one hour and 40 minutes of London.…

Virgin Trains has launched its new Explorer mobile application, which promises to help passengers navigate more easily around stations. The first station covered is London King’s Cross, with the rest of its East Coast Main Line stations covered before the end of the year. The application highlights shops and platforms, and includes automatic sign translation for international customers into their own language. Future updates will include messaging, baggage tracking and real-time travel information. Features are also planned for visually impaired passengers, including audio cues guiding them around stations, planning optimum routes through the station, and location-based information confirming they are on the correct train. The application is free to download on Android and iOS operating systems.…

SCOTTISH Transport Minister Humza Yousaf is calling for full devolution of the country’s rail powers to reverse what he describes as “unacceptable industry performance”. Yousaf was speaking at the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee in Edinburgh on October 26, where he outlined the findings of an independent review into Network Rail’s (NR) corporate governance of railway infrastructure projects. The EY review (see separate story) has exposed what Transport Scotland describes as “fundamental weaknesses” in NR’s project governance, controls and performance reporting, as well as “weak and inconsistent cost forecasting and significantly higher costs to comply with national standards.” Yousaf said: “Scottish ministers and passengers up and down the country quite rightly have high expectations of our railway. At the heart of our £5 billion programme of improvements is an underlying…

A year-long monitoring of services on the Edinburgh-Tweedbank Borders Railway suggests that trains from the Scottish capital have only met ScotRail’s contractual Public Performance Measure target of 92.5% of trains arriving within five minutes of schedule on 12 weeks. For services from Tweedbank to Edinburgh the figures are even worse, with ScotRail meeting its targets on just seven out of 52 weeks. Trains were cancelled on the route on 47 out of 52 weeks. Right-time arrivals at Tweedbank have never exceeded 66.2% in any one week, while in the opposite direction, more than half of the trains arrive at Edinburgh Waverley late, with the best weekly figure of on-time arrivals standing at 49.8%. The figures were revealed by rail campaigners Bill Jamieson and David Spaven and cover the period from…

A consortium led by Ricardo Rail is to develop the first installation of the Repoint switch on London Underground infrastructure in early 2018. Designed by Loughborough University’s Control Systems Group, Repoint uses several actuators to move a set of points, rather than a single point motor. This means that should a single actuator fail, the remainder can continue to actuate the point, allowing trains to remain in operation until maintenance is scheduled. It also uses a ‘lift, hop and drop’ mechanism, which eliminates the friction caused by slide chairs and is faster to operate. Repoint can move a switch in under half a second, compared with around four seconds to actuation with conventional designs. Following an invitation to provide industrial development assistance in June 2016, Ricardo Rail has assembled a…

Villiers: Wales scandal “A scandal” is how former Rail Minister Theresa Villiers described the lack of electrification in Wales during Labour’s 13 years in Government. Villiers made the comment during a Commons debate on rail electrification on October 19. Breakfast for the stars Michelin-starred chef Sat Bains prepared a special breakfast dish for a delegation of East Midlands celebrities, dignitaries and businesspeople travelling to the Nottingham in Parliament Day on October 25.…

The transformative benefits promised by the new Anglia franchise can only be fully realised with parallel improvements to infrastructure: that was the message from Greater Anglia’s head of corporate affairs, Jonathan Denby. Speaking to West Anglia Taskforce supporters on October 27, Denby argued that an upgrade to the WAML was just one of a list of rail improvements needed to secure planned service upgrades over the nine-year franchise, that began on October 16. Greater Anglia has pledged to replace its entire fleet (1,043 vehicles on order) and introduce 1,000 new services, while also targeting significant improvements to its Public Performance Measure. “To fully realise the service upgrades, we must see parallel upgrades to infrastructure. At Ely North you very rarely get a project affecting so many operators, or indeed an…

THE Treasury will underwrite around £150 million from the European Regional Fund that is currently allocated to the £738m Welsh Valleys electrification scheme. This funding from the EU is now uncertain, as a result of the decision to leave the European Union following June 23’s Brexit referendum. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales Guto Bebb, responding to a question from Cheryl Gillan (Conservative, Chesham and Amersham) during a Commons debate on rail electrification on October 19, said: “The situation is very clear. The proposals for the South Wales Metro are part of the Cardiff city deal. They are a significant investment, and they include a contribution of around £110m from the European fund. My understanding from the Treasury is that it will - if necessary - underwrite that element of…

Network Rail is planning to build a 400-metre-long causeway around 30 metres into the sea at Teignmouth, to act as a wave-breaker that will help to prevent cliff falls in the area. Timing of the project - if approved - will depend on funding availability. Potential cost is £500 million. In its 2014 West of Exeter Route Resilience study, NR concluded that the risk of rock falling from the cliffs presented the most serious geotechnical risk to the Exeter to Plymouth railway - even more than tidal flooding. Network Rail Western Region Senior Communications Manager Julian Burnell said the company has completed an in-depth study of the Exeter to Newton Abbot section, to identify which areas need the most action to protect. The other option the company is considering is…

Freight and transport companies “need to decide quickly what their bottom line is on Brexit, or risk not having any say at all over the future”. That is the view of Stoke-on-Trent South MP and Commons Transport Select Committee member Rob Flello, who says the sectors have to decide exactly what their priorities are. “It is vital for the transport and freight sectors to work out what their most pressing concerns are, and then lobby government hard to ensure that the most basic conditions are met to enable them to trade successfully in future,” he said. Regarding freight, he said: “This is a £55 billion industry employing one and three-quarter million people and producing 5% of GDP. Its voice must be heard before any deal is struck.”…

WESTERN Bristol: North Somerset Council is seeking a £1.95 million Government grant to help fund a study into a new rail link or tramway to take pressure off the A38 corridor from the city centre to the airport. Brokerswood: The miniature system in the country park south of Trowbridge (operating since 1968) is to be relocated because its present home is set for redevelopment into holiday accommodation. Dawlish Warren: A holiday park that boasts eight converted Mk 1 coaches will be sold by auction at St Mellion on November 3 with a guide price of £125,000-£175,000. Although a going concern, the agents suggest the site is ripe for redevelopment. EASTERN Halifax: The current station building and approach bridge will be demolished and replaced by a new two-storey building with access…

FIFTY-FIVE locomotives are now allocated to railhead treatment train (RHTT) duties. The trains are used to clear leaves from the line during autumn, and are strategically located across the UK. They are operated as part of the Network Rail National Supply Chain (NSC) contracts, and apart from one circuit in Scotland they operate in top-and-tail fashion. DB Cargo has the most RHTT locomotives with 20, followed by Direct Rail Services (16) and GB Railfreight (14). Colas Rail uses five (one hired from Network Rail with another likely to follow). For DB, 66001/017 are based at Acton, and are fitted with tripcocks as they operate on parts of London Underground’s Metropolitan Line. DB 66019 is also fitted with tripcocks. Based at Peterborough are 66002, 66144 and 66145/165, while 66031/096 are at…

A PRESERVED Class 86/2 is joining the Rail Operations Group fleet. Main line-certified 86259 Les Ross/Peter Pan will join the pool of locomotives available to ROG. It will remain based at Willesden, with the company assuming responsibility for the management of the locomotive and its relevant Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) documentation. The electric locomotive is also available for use by ROG when not committed to other contracted works. Recently, it has been used on occasions for carriage heating at Ilford Depot. The immaculate electric blue locomotive has been owned by broadcaster Les Ross MBE for the past ten years and is maintained at Willesden depot, where it has been based for the past five years. One recent issue that has affected the ‘86’ has been a problem whereby the main…

Four-car dual-voltage 387304 was delivered to Bletchley on October 20. The Electrostar is owned by Porterbrook and is one of six destined for c2c. It was one of 20 speculatively ordered by the rolling stock leasing company, with the remaining 14 due to move to Great Western Railway. The ‘387/3s’ will begin entering traffic during this month, with all six in use by the start of the December timetable. Bombardier is building the trains at its Derby Litchurch Lane facility. So far 387301 and 387302 have completed their testing and moved to East Ham ahead of entering traffic, while 387303 has begun testing and will work with 387304.…

• The current HS2 proposal is exclusive and fails on many counts, beginning with the route to be taken from London. As a route to which incremental additions can be made as the century progresses, it is abysmal. It is to have three terminal stations in 300 miles, at Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. None has forward railway connections, and those at the first two will condemn onward passengers to walk to a separate station. In the 4,000 miles of high speed line in Europe, not a single new terminal station has been built. A terminal station costs time (and causes a junction conflict). By the time it has wound in and out and reversed, a through train serving termini such as Frankfurt, Marseille or Milan loses between 15 and 20…

Stringing wires above rail tracks to power electric trains usually comes with a programme of bridge rebuilds. Arched brick bridges generally receive a new concrete deck that’s high enough to allow the wires underneath. But now there’s a chance such bridges could keep their bricks. Freyssinet has developed and patented a method of cutting into brick arches to allow them to be raised. In a demonstration on October 26, the company lifted the arch of Moco Farm bridge by 900mm, before lowering it to sit 435mm above its original height. Fill the gap with concrete and line the face with bricks and you have a bridge looking much as before but with space to string wires below. The test bridge is on the Bletchley-Bicester line which is being returned to…

IN RAIL 811’s The Fare Dealer I mentioned the current Club 55 offers from Arriva Trains Wales and TransPennine Express (TPE). A reader sent me details of an offer he had stumbled across when booking a ticket online for a journey with Great Western Railway (GWR), offering really cheap fares for those aged over 60. Unusually GWR seems to have offered little publicity for this, and it took some digging to eventually find it at www.gwr.com/destinations-and-events/offers/over-60s-offer . It started in early October and the last date of outward travel is December 2, but all travel must be completed by 0429 on December 16. The whole of GWR is divided into three zones: East covers London to Oxford and Bedwyn; Central covers to Weymouth, Brighton, Taunton, Hereford and all South Wales;…

“We’re going through a change where we realise that NR is nothing more than the custodian of what I believe is the country’s most valuable asset - its railway.” York. A city of narrow lanes. A Roman city. A city of chocolate. A railway city. Its elegantly curved trainshed houses services for London and Scotland, the seaside at Scarborough, the tearooms of Harrogate and the grit of the Pennines. Tucked behind an arch cut through the city walls, and just beyond a small brick railway hut, is Network Rail’s local headquarters. Its modernity stands in contrast to the city’s railway heritage. From his desk on the fourth floor, Route Managing Director Rob McIntosh is determined to change the way NR works. He wants a company that listens to local communities.…