Great Western Coffee Shop

Network Rail has awarded a contract to VINCI Construction UK Ltd. for the design and upgrade of 13 stations in west London and Berkshire and a separate contract for overhead line equipment to Balfour Beatty.

The stations contract covers significant improvements to stations from Acton Main Line to Maidenhead. Many of the stations on the route are being refurbished or partially rebuilt in preparation for Crossrail.

Proposed improvements along the line include new station buildings and ticket halls, new lifts to deliver step free access and longer platforms. The detailed design phase will start at the end of 2013 and main works will take place between mid-2014 and 2018.

The contract awarded to Balfour Beatty involves the installation of electric overhead line equipment between Airport Junction and Maidenhead across all tracks facilitating the delivery of Crossrail services as well as new high speed Intercity Express trains on the Great Western route.

The remainder of the Great Western route to Swansea is being electrified as part of a wider programme that will see electric services operate from late 2016.

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces it has been awarded a Crossrail contract by Network Rail for the electrification of a 12.5 mile section of the Great Western Main Line.
The contract covers the installation of new overhead line electrification equipment on all lines between Stockley Junction (near Heathrow Airport) and Maidenhead on the Crossrail West Outer section. It also includes supporting ancillary civils and power works.
This contract builds on Balfour Beatty's existing involvement in the Crossrail programme and follows the award earlier this year of the Track Infrastructure contract for the same section in the West Outer area.
Innovations being introduced by Balfour Beatty for this latest contract include new and enhanced plant solutions including Balfour Beatty^s new High Output Wiring Train which offers safer, more efficient installation of overhead lines.
Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Andrew McNaughton said:
^We are delighted to be awarded this contract and very much look forward to continuing our long-term relationship with Network Rail and continued support with the Crossrail programme.
^Our investments in specialist High Output plant solutions for these works confirm our ongoing commitment to the UK rail market and, in particular to the National Electrification Programme.^
Works commence on site in December 2013 and are due for completion in late 2016.

Something occurred to me the other day. Given that so much prep work is required for this electrification, with bridges being rebuilt, areas being cleared of trees, the cost of these new machines to install all the equipment, the complaints about the posts being eyesores etc ... why was OHLE chosen for electrification rather than 3rd rail ?

I'm sure there must be pro's and con's for both, but from the outside looking in, 3rd rail seems to be the cheaper option with the lest impact. Just curious if anyone knows ?

...This research has concluded that the potential benefits of changing to a 25kV OLE system are:
^ Cost reductions in the capital investment of installing an AC system when compared with a DC system.
^ Reduced energy losses and carbon footprint for 'like for like' service (comparing the same 4-car EMU service with AC and DC). Results also indicate that an equivalent AC service consumes at least 20% less energy.
^ Increased power, enabling higher average speeds, increasing capacity and as a result, reducing journey time by 3^5% (on average).
^ Reduction in safety risk to unintended trespassers from possible electrocution.

http://www.rssb.co.uk/RESEARCH/Lists/DispForm_Custom.aspx?ID=965

Stuving refers to  his grandfather's book on Electrical Engineering and quotes the comment: (plus the merits of three-phase versus single phase AC!

3 phase electrification with twin O/H was extensively used in Northern Italy from around the turn of centry until after the WW2. The problems with it were you needed two wires and the rails to carry the 3 phases plus the then AC motors then were fixed speed and with a limited top speed thus not sutiable for high speed.

I believe there are still a couple of stand alone  local systems in use in Switzerland not conneted to  the mainline which still use 3 phase and can be regonised by the twin O?H wires and pans.

There are currently no rail services operating above 100mph in the UK on the third rail network, yet the AC OHLE system is used worldwide for high speed rail services.

The third rail when viewed alone is cheaper to install than OHLE, but there are far more closely spaced power supplies required, which on balance makes an installation expensive.

Last but not least, it is no longer considered to be a 'safe system of work' for staff, under normal electrical regulations;  so it is only now considered for short extensions or infill schemes.

World Record is reported on various websites as 108mph, achieved by a class 442.

'Electrification' has been underway for a couple of years, because the whole project includes stuff like bridge rebuilding and/or track repositioning for OHLE clearance.  Then there's road access to build substations and network connection points and stuff.

The more visually obvious stuff like the masts takes some while to appear, but it doesn't mean nothing is happening, there are piled and excavated foundations for electrification masts around the Didcot area for instance.

I'd say it is wrong to say anything has stalled - it was never likely to start instantly with masts and wires appearing somewhere the very next day.

Paul

The bridge works at Oxford - which have caused controversy in the flooding issue (see separate postings) - and the row over closure of a level crossing serving some allotments at Oxford are to do with the pre-electrification work.

By the way, didn't the Southern Railway start off with overhead electrification in the early 20th century, then switch to third rail? As I recall, the third rail was originally meant for the densely worked London suburban services but when steam was withdrawn the third rail was expanded as the overhead electrification was by then long gone.

Also, wasn't the original Liverpool Street overhead electrification done at 15kv?

......... with the existing main transformer secondary winding re-wound with fewer turns to give 25kV rather than 33kV.

The primary rectifier transformer is 33kV the secondary is typically 300V ish depending on how its wound, the rectification give 750V dc.  The 33kV network is not suitable to provide practical power at 25kV.

THE timetable for a rail scheme that could cause months of disruption for the county^s motorists has been scrapped.
 
Network Rail has said a schedule it gave for rebuilding 28 bridges in the county is ^out the window^ after it admitted the original plans were not right.
 
But the company has now said that communities may only get four weeks^ notice ^ rather than the months of advance warning people were given when the plans were first revealed.
 
The scheme caused dismay after plans were announced late last year, with people worried about road disruption and councils raising fears about a lack of consultation.
 
The rail infrastruture company has now promised to give ^at least^ four weeks^ notice for each road closure.
 
But unlike in December, when the whole plan for the works was shown, there will be no full schedule released in one go.
 
The firm has said it will redraw the timetable after admitting the original one was ^misleading^.
 
The company needs to modify or rebuild the bridges over the next four years as part of its ^1bn electrification of the Great Western Mainline from London to Cardiff.
 
To put in overhead electric lines to power new trains, the company needs to raise several Victorian bridges by several feet.
 
It will need to close 19 roads, possibly for up to four months at a time, and in December gave the Oxford Mail a timetable for possible closures.
 
But senior project manager Nigel Fenn has now said: ^Those dates are all out the window.
 
^They were misleading. They would have been formulated over a year ago and train operating companies have produced new timetables since then.^
 
Mr Fenn said Network Rail has to notify the train operators of engineering work as much as two years in advance and work around their timetables ^ which have now changed since the original plans were made.

The line between London and Oxford via Didcot is due to be electrified by January 1, 2017.
 
The rest of the main line from Didcot to Bristol and South Wales, including the Oxfordshire stretch to Swindon, must be finished by January 1, 2018.
 
Under plans first revealed late last year, Network Rail said it could begin work on several schemes in the county at the start of 2014.
 
However, only one of those schemes has so far begun ^ at Fulscot Bridge in South Moreton ^ and all the other schemes that will take place over the next four years have yet to start.
 
Network Rail^s head of consents and environment, Nia Griffiths, said two or three Oxfordshire bridge modifications would start in the next six months, but the only one the company could reveal was a footbridge at Goring and Streatley station.
 
The firm said it does not need to consult ^ but is doing so anyway.

Mr Fenn said: ^We have permitted development rights. I can do whatever I like to the bridge, and we are given those rights by the Government.
 
^But we don^t like to enforce that and cause trouble.^

But the mayor of Wantage, Fiona Roper, said the town council had never been consulted over plans to raise Station Road bridge north of Grove by 1.3 metres.
 
She said: ^I think it is a shame they haven^t approached us. I am assuming they^re going to a higher level, the county council, but it would be nice to have a say.^
 
In January, Oxfordshire County Council rejected an application by Network Rail to close the road for up to six months from February 10, forcing Network Rail to look into other ways to carry out the work.
 
At the moment, the last road closure is due to begin at Christmas 2015.

Ms Griffiths said: ^We will give the Oxford Mail the dates for each of them as early as we can, which is as soon as it has been agreed with the county council.^
 
Wantage and Didcot MP Ed Vaizey, said: ^m very concerned about the process Network Rail is undertaking.
 
^There is a lot of evidence that it has not been well managed elsewhere. I am still trying to secure a meeting with them, but they are proving elusive. My constituents cannot afford the chaos and disruption which seems likely to take place without proper planning.^
 
Network Rail spokeswoman Anne-Marie Batson said: ^This programme is really fluid.
 
^One day we might say one thing then a week later it is something else but there is always a reason behind that.^
 

The main TF at the Reading grid supply point, probably has a ratio of 132/33. My point is that it could easily be 132/25. A direct ac supply would have lower impedance and losses and so would be able to supply much more power than via the pointless dc substations.

A 2x40MVA supply from the 400kV supergrid is fine for high demand areas but is OTT for suburban line conversions.

Engineering is optimising value for money, not spending a budget.


OTC