East - West Rail update (Oxford to Bedford) - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

Indeed - I was referring to a time pre-elecrification confirmation....

[IndustryInsider]

Indeed - I was referring to a time pre-elecrification confirmation....

I don't know about that - well over a year ago Mark Hopwood was very enthusiastic about the idea.

[mjones]

So now it's all down to those bats, isn't it!

[IndustryInsider]

A joint delivery board has been formed to get the project up-and-running by December 2017.  It includes representatives of the East-West Rail Consortium as well as Network Rail and the DfT.

http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/east-west-rail-joint-delivery-board-announce-team-to-develop-new-electrified-railway-between-bedford-and-oxford/

[Electric train]

Scheme seems to have developed some real traction

[ellendune]

Are we any further resolving the issue of the Bats.  Will putting wires through the tunnel make this more difficult.

[IndustryInsider]

We'll know more when NR^» (Network Rail - home page) releases its Strategic Business Plan for CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019) next January, but East-West Rail have defined their expectations of what will operate and when on their website.  Here are extracts:

Q. What is the timescale for construction of the East West Rail link?

A. Network Rail are preparing a detailed project plan which will be available in January 2013 that will include the upgrading of existing lines, electrification and the re-construction of disused track. Work is expected to be undertaken in the following phases:

2013 -2014
Oxford to Bicester

2014 ^ 2017
Oxford area re-modelling
Bicester / Aylesbury to Bletchley including electrification

2017 ^ 2019
Bletchley to Bedford including electrification
Bedford area re-modelling

Q: When will it be ready by?

A: The aim is for the new East West Rail services to be running between Oxford and Bedford by December 2017. Full electrification between Bletchley and Bedford by Spring 2019

So that kind of hints that they'll be the electric service operating between Reading/Didcot and Bletchley/Milton Keynes by December 2017.  There is also be services between Reading/Didcot and Bedford by that date, although they will be diesel hauled until a full electric service can operate in Spring 2019.

[Electric train]

I know Project Teams in the Southern end  West Coast upgrade works have been asked to look at their workbank to see what resources are needed for East West Rail, all numbers on spreadsheets at the moment though no bums on seats

[IndustryInsider]

Further details on Network Rail's (NR^» (Network Rail - home page))'s CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019) plans from the East-West Rail perspective:

http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/network-rail-announce-plans-to-construct-western-section-of-east-west-rail/

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Buckingham Advertiser:

Learn more about East West Rail plan


The disused railway line at Winslow

There^s a chance to find out more about the plans for East West Rail and Winslow^s new railway station, at next week^s meeting of the Winslow and District Local Area Forum (LAF).

The meeting, which begins at 7pm on Thursday, January 17, at the Winslow Centre, will hear a five-minute presentation from Patrick O^Sullivan of the East West Rail Consortium, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Questions should be submitted by Monday, January 14, to ewheaton@buckscc.gov.uk

East West Rail is a long-awaited project to re-open the mothballed Oxford to Bedford railway line. And this week, Network Rail confirmed in its strategic business plan that East West Rail is among the ^6 billion of enhancements that have been committed to. The committed projects expenditure for East West Rail is listed as ^362 million at 2012/13 prices.

Plans for East West Rail include a new railway station for Winslow. People attending next week^s LAF meeting will learn about three different initial concepts for the station that are being considered.

A question has already been submitted on the siting of the new station. Other questions submitted concern bridges, rights of way and the expected time period for construction work.

A spokesman for the East West Rail Consortium said: ^We will give a brief presentation about East West Rail which will include the background to the scheme and an overview of the project. We welcome the opportunity to discuss plans and status of the East West Rail link with people in the Winslow area and to answer questions at this early stage in the project.^

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Buckingham Advertiser:

Possibility of new halt where two lines cross?


Mothballed track in the Claydons that will be re-instated as part of the East West Rail link

A new station in the Calvert/Steeple Claydon area, where the high-speed HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) railway line crosses the East West Rail line, could be a possibility if HS2 gets the go-ahead.

East West Rail, which has already been approved, will link Oxford to Bedford and Aylesbury to Bletchley, with a new station at Winslow. Construction work is set to begin in 2015 for completion in 2017.

The East West Rail Consortium has always said there was no plan to reopen a station at Steeple Claydon. But a list of questions and answers that has now appeared on the consortium^s website indicates thinking on the issue could have changed.

The Q&As came out of a meeting of the Winslow and District Local Area Forum at the Winslow Centre in January, when members of the public put questions to Patrick O^Sullivan, of the East West Rail Consortium.

The full list of Q&As has now be posted on the consortium^s wsebsite at www.eastwestrail.org.uk/winslow-and-district-find-out-more-about-east-west-rail/ And one raises the possibility of a station where East West Rail and HS2 cross.

The document says: ^We understand that HS2 Ltd is determined that there will not be an intermediate station between London and the West Midlands. However, if HS2 Ltd should receive parliamentary approval, there has been some community interest in a temporary ^halt^ on the East West Rail route in the Calvert / Steeple Claydon area to provide access for workers during construction of HS2.

^If demand warranted it, it would be possible to make this station permanent, to serve both the HS2 infrastructure maintenance depot and the local community. This would be on the basis that HS2 funded such a station and reached appropriate agreement with Network Rail and the East West Rail Consortium.

^The station could also offer benefits for people travelling from Aylesbury to Oxford as an interchange station potentially offering shorter journey times compared to changing at Winslow or Bletchley.^

A Bucks County Council (BCC^» (Bristol City Council - about)) spokesman told the Advertiser: ^We are lobbying the government to have a halt to service HS2 and possibly in the future to have a permanent station there if the demand was there to warrant it.^

[JayMac]

The return of Verney Junction?

....there has been some community interest in a temporary ^halt^ on the East West Rail route in the Calvert / Steeple Claydon area to provide access for workers during construction of HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)).

^If demand warranted it, it would be possible to make this station permanent, to serve both the HS2 infrastructure maintenance depot and the local community.

http://goo.gl/maps/AY4gO

 

[ChrisB]

From the Buckingham Advertiser:

“The station could also offer benefits for people travelling from Aylesbury to Oxford as an interchange station potentially offering shorter journey times compared to changing at Winslow or Bletchley.”

They forget that under current plans AYS-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) journeys would be via PRR^▸ (Princes Risborough) to join with the MYB^▸ (London (Marylebone))-OXF service - indeed, Chiltern are planning stops at PRR just for that. With the AYS-PRR branch needing to be redoubled under these current plans, connections there ought to be good.

I suspect it would also be quicker that way that going north to the junction station/Wilmslow.....and if so, the demand for Calvert Junction station would be minimal (staff halt for the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) depot? In which case, yes, HS2 needs to pay up)). Doubt it'll ever be more than a halt for HS2 construction (which *does* make a lot of sense)

[Electric train]

Intermediate stops on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) will be unlikely the station loops will need to be over 10km long, the loops need to be that long to allow breaking from line and then to accelerate to line speed.   Stopping trains on the main line would have too much impact on the through trains.

[IndustryInsider]

They forget that under current plans AYS-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) journeys would be via PRR^▸ (Princes Risborough) to join with the MYB^▸ (London (Marylebone))-OXF service - indeed, Chiltern are planning stops at PRR just for that. With the AYS-PRR branch needing to be redoubled under these current plans, connections there ought to be good.

The original EG3 timetable for the Oxford to London Marylebone services had intermediate stops after Bicester or Haddenham & Thame Parkway and High Wycombe only, so Princes Risborough (bar a couple of early morning and late evening services) wasn't going to be served.  I'm not surprised that the specification may have been refined over the years, but do you know what the current calling pattern thinking is?  If Risborough is to be added will Haddenham be dropped or will the service be slowed down a little and stop at both?