UK: New electrification?

Martyn Read · Sep 27, 2002

Taken from Railnews magazine, www.railnews.co.uk

With big chunks of the West Coast mainline due to be shut for multiple weeks for rebuilding, the SRA (Strategic Rail Authority) has come up with some contingency plans. There are some interesting new routes starting up, and also some extra electrification to be used as a diversionary route. The article is below.

SRA ACTS ON WEST COAST
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Railnews | September 2002

Extra services to run during major work on upgrade of main line

Britain's first main line electrification for almost a decade is to go ahead early next year as part of a new plan to speed up modernisation of the West Coast main line and save £4 billion.

The eight-mile route between Crewe, Cheshire, and Kidsgrove, Staffs, is to be electrified to provide a diversionary route while work on upgrading the West Coast line is accelerated by the Strategic Rail Authority and Railtrack.

While routes are blocked for 17-week periods next year and in 2004, a new train service will be introduced between London St Pancras, via Leicester to Stockport and Manchester.

Extra trains will also run between Birmingham and London Paddington, following a separate announcement by Railtrack that it is to install a new electronic signalling system in less than 12 months between Banbury and Leamington Spa.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the new master plan for West Coast works unveiled by the SRA would see the project finished two years earlier than planned, and would save £4 billion. "Virgin will be able to run their new Pendolino trains at 125mph to Manchester by the end of next year.

"We are finally getting control of the costs of the project. Chunks of the line will be taken out of commission totally because that will enable us to do the work more cheaply, because it is very expensive to have a series of very short stoppages." The Transport Secretary said the track work was a necessary evil if the railways are to improve.

SRA chairman Richard Bowker said: "The new programme is based around a series of strategic projects, including two 17-week total line possessions: the first from Colwich, in Staffs, via Stoke-on-Trent to Cheadle Hulme, just south of Stockport, next summer.

"The second is currently scheduled for the beginning of 2004, running from Crewe to Cheadle Hulme.

"By adopting this new approach, we are delivering more than 60 miles of new railway in a little over four months for each project, when under the existing programme it would have taken up to two years."

Mr Bowker said that from September 2004 trains on the Manchester routes would operate at 125mph with tilt with a journey time of about two hours.

North of Preston the line speed would be 110mph but trains would be able to benefit from high-speed tilt and the journey time from London to Glasgow is likely to be reduced by 30-35 minutes.

A more detailed work programme issued by Railtrack shows that the first project to be completed, "in early 2003," is electrification of the Crewe-Kidsgrove line. This was originally planned to be electrified when the West Coast route was modernised in the 1960s, but was a casualty of government spending cuts.

The last 25kv ac electrification in Britain was of the North London Line, approved in 1994.

Next summer Euston-Manchester services will also be routed via Crewe and Wilmslow for 17 weeks.

Then at August bank holiday next year Euston-Milton Keynes will be closed for nine days, including two weekends, with an alternative train service between St Pancras and Wellingborough, and bus links to Milton Keynes.

There will also be additional services via the Birmingham-Paddington route, following resignalling of the former GWR route.

The SRA said there would also be strengthened services between King's Cross and Glasgow, via Edinburgh, and a new service between St Pancras and Stockport and Manchester via Leicester - a return to the pre-Beeching service that operated when the West Coast route was being electrified.
Click to expand...

Alan · Sep 27, 2002

Thanks Martyn. At last they seem to be getting to grips with the WCML upgrade. Prolonged closures are the way to go, as short overnight or weekend possessions are far to wasteful.

At least the upgrade plans have got another route under the wires. Now, how about closing the ECML between Doncaster and Peterborough, and electrifying the line through Spalding?

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