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willc
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« Reply #61 on: October 26, 2010, 15:32:55 » |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #62 on: October 27, 2010, 01:00:15 » |
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From the BBC» : Kemble to Swindon rail upgrade plan still on the cards
Plans to install a second railway track between Kemble and Swindon could still go ahead despite funding cuts, Network Rail has said.
A ^52m plan to double the capacity on the line had been put in doubt due to transport cuts and the abolition of Rural Development Agencies.
Network Rail said it was now working on a cheaper version of the scheme.
But Cotswolds MP▸ Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said government transport cuts still left the plans in doubt.
At present, trains on the Cheltenham to London route are delayed by a 12-mile bottleneck of single-track rail.
Details of the new double-tracking scheme have yet to be worked out in detail, but significant savings can be made over the old design, Network Rail said.
But Mr Clifton-Brown said he still was not sure if any of the ^45m pledged by the last government to the scheme could now be found.
He feared the line work could be pushed back from 2011 to 2015.
"I think the scheme still has big question marks over it. The existing unsatisfactory status quo will continue," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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caliwag
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« Reply #63 on: October 27, 2010, 09:12:39 » |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #64 on: October 27, 2010, 19:56:16 » |
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See also the Swindon Advertiser, for an interesting angle on the story: Rail scheme misses deadline for ^600m in regional pot
A major rail scheme to improve journeys between Swindon and Kemble faces a delay of at least five years after supporters failed to submit a bid for Government cash in time.
The Department For Transport said yesterday that no formal application for funding for the redoubling of a stretch of the rail line had been received under its so-called Regional Funding Allocation.
A pot of ^600m was announced yesterday to help fund local authority projects for the duration of the Network Rail Control Period 4, which runs until 2014-15.
But no business case was submitted for the Swindon project and it is still deemed to be in the early stages of development.
It means the earliest that a fresh application may be approved is within the next five-year period, which begins in April 2015.
It was hoped the scheme to double the 12.5-mile Swindon to Kemble railway line would provide a boost to rail passengers in the town and the wider region.
Campaigners say redoubling the line by laying another track next to it would bring great economic rewards, including from an hourly service Cheltenham to London linking to Gloucester.
Because the line becomes just one track for the stretch, trains currently have to wait in passing places and are often delayed, while the number that can run on it is always limited.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said yesterday: ^Under the Regional Funding Allocations system, regional and local bodies identified a longer list of schemes for future funding. The majority of these schemes were in the early stages of development with no business cases submitted to the DfT» . The redoubling of the Swindon to Kemble line is one such proposal and we have been clear that we cannot consider funding for new schemes such as this at this time.
^However, as Transport Secretary Philip Hammond made clear, Swindon to Kemble is the type of scheme which could be put forward for future alternative locally funded processes. Alternatively, it could be submitted as a proposal in the next Network Rail settlement from 2015.^
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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Railfriend
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« Reply #65 on: December 05, 2010, 18:50:04 » |
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mjones
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« Reply #66 on: March 23, 2011, 13:35:22 » |
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In the budget speech:
"1305: ^100m will be added to the science budget, Mr Osborne says. ^200m extra will be invested in regional railways - including schemes in Manchester, and Swindon to Kemble. ...."
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ChrisB
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« Reply #67 on: March 23, 2011, 15:05:00 » |
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anthony215
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« Reply #68 on: March 23, 2011, 15:16:57 » |
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This should be good when swansea to london trains are diverted when the severn tunnel is closed
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ChrisB
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« Reply #69 on: March 23, 2011, 15:25:33 » |
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They'll need to do Gloucester - Newport too though for that....
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chuffed
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« Reply #70 on: March 23, 2011, 16:03:53 » |
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No we didn't see it coming ,did we ?
All praise to the Cotswold group of past and present MP▸ 's who made this issue a real pain in the proverbial for both governments and who seemed to manage to mention Swindon or Kemble in the Commons every day for months!
Persistance pays off !
Could we but wish Dr Liam Fox could follow their example and leave his defence portfolio behind for a couple of minutes each day, to mention the Portishead rail link occasionally. His last meaningful contribution on this issue was an adjournment debate in 2007 at just short of midnight with just 3 MPs in the chamber....
Perhaps this is something those 2 bright up and coming Conservative MP's Charlotte(Leslie) and Chris ( Skidmore) could take up, to get themselves noticed, as it would surely benefit the whole of the Greater Bristol traffic clogged area.
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #71 on: March 23, 2011, 19:51:31 » |
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Brilliant news!
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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Railfriend
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« Reply #72 on: March 26, 2011, 19:13:38 » |
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Anyone know the time frame for the Swindon-Kemble redoubling to start? I would hope it would be within a few months, with the work crews and equipment on the Oxford-Worcester line being moved to it as planned earlier. There won't be much time saving if it's delayed until 2014, since it was first-in-line for the next five-year plan starting in 2015. So ... anyone have info on when the work will begin?
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ChrisB
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« Reply #73 on: March 26, 2011, 20:32:06 » |
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I suspect completion by 2014 was FGWs▸ best guess, given that was the suggedtion in their press release
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willc
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« Reply #74 on: March 26, 2011, 23:44:13 » |
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Anyone know the time frame for the Swindon-Kemble redoubling to start? I would hope it would be within a few months, with the work crews and equipment on the Oxford-Worcester line being moved to it as planned earlier.
Bit more complicated than that. While many of the Network Rail staff involved have worked on both schemes, the actual work on the ground on the Cotswold Line is being carried out by contractors, following a competitive tendering process. The same will have to be done for Swindon to Kemble. Thanks to the preparatory planning work already done, it shouldn't take too long to gear up for the detailed design and tendering processes. I'm sure Amey-Colas, which is doing the Cotswold track work, will bid, so you may end up with the same team, but it's not a case of finishing one job and moving across to the other end of the Cotswolds to start the next. |
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