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Exhibitors rolling in at Infrarail

As 2020 enters February at alarming pace, the industry begins to cast its eye towards the summer months. With a host of key dates on the horizon, May also sees the return of Infrarail, with the 13th edition of the international railway infrastructure exhibition taking place across three days between 12th and 14th of the month.

This year, Olympia London will play host to three days of industry showcases, presentations and networking opportunities. Famous for its stunning Victorian architecture, magnificent galleries and ornate barrel-vaulted roof, the venue also has excellent travel links to London and beyond.

Infrarail 2020 will once again have an international flavour, with visitors from more than 40 countries in attendance at the previous edition, including representatives from Atkins, Arup, Balfour Beatty, CAF, Costain, DfT, Keolis, Amey, Kier, Skanska, SNCF, TfL, Transport Scotland and Trenitalia.

With a comprehensive supporting programme including seminars, debates, live demonstrations and discussion forums, it will attract a high volume of visiting managers, engineers and buyers working at a senior level.

Exhibiting at Infrarail 2020 for the first time will be: » Bender UK, market leaders in electrical safety » Fujikura, leading manufacturers and suppliers of superior quality power and telecommunications products » Norwegian company Elkem, leading producers of high quality silicon-based advanced materials and related products, presenting the benefits of using Microsilica in rail networks. » Exception PCB Ltd, European time critical and technology driven PCB manufacturers, offering a global service to over 32 different countries.

To find out more about Infrarail 2020, or to make a stand reservation, visit ww.infrarail.com

New train fleets start to arrive

Yet more of the unprecedented number of new trains fleets that are on order have started to arrive on the network.

The first of 111 Class 720 Aventra trains, being built for Greater Anglia by Bombardier at Derby, has arrived at the Ilford depot. Already tested by Greater Anglia drivers at Network Rail’s RIDC Melton track at Old Dalby, Leicestershire, the programme will now continue with night-time running on the network. The first is expected to enter service in the spring. Merseyrail’s new train, the Class 777, has also appeared in the UK via the Channel Tunnel. The class has been testing at Siemens’ test track at Wildenrath in Germany since October. Stabled at Kirkdale, the new train will now commence on-network testing and should be in service by May. Greater Anglia’s other new train, the Class 755 diesel/electric bi-mode made by Stadler, entered service in July 2019. As deliveries continued, the new train replaced existing diesel-only services across the Greater Anglia network with the last route, Sudbury to Marks Tey, receiving its new trains on 21 January 2020.

There have been other recent introductions, including Hull Trains’ Paragon fleet of Class 802/3 trains, which entered service on 5 December.

Meanwhile, TransPennine Express is introducing three new fleets at once. Nova 1 (Hitachi Class 802/2) ran its first fare-paying service on 28 September. Nova 2 (Class South Western Railway Class 701 on test at Bombardier’s Derby factory.

397) followed on 30 November. Nova 3 (new mark 5 coaches hauled by a Class 68 diesel locomotive) had beaten both of them, running from Liverpool to Scarborough on 24 August.

And there are more to come. South Western Railway hopes to introduce its Class 701, another Bombardier Aventra, on routes between Reading and Windsor, by the middle of the year. Currently testing, 90 trains are on order.

2020 looks like being a bumper year for train spotters!

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The growing movement to reverse some of the infamous 'Beeching cuts' of 1963 has received a £500 million boost from government.

Dr Richard Beeching published his report “The Reshaping of British Railways” on 27 March 1963. It proposed the closure of 2,363 stations and 6,000 route miles of railway, and that some other lines should lose their passenger services and be used for freight only.

Despite local protests, the bulk of his recommendations were carried out. Not all were implemented - there were some notable exceptions such as the Settle to Carlisle line - but many areas of the country lost their railway services. The plan was, in some cases, to replace trains with buses, while in other areas the report sought to remove duplication and give passengers a single route between destinations.

Today, the popularity of train travel is increasing and government is promoting it as a way of reducing carbon emissions. It is therefore natural that there should be calls to reopen some of the routes and stations that were closed in the sixties.

One notable success story was the Borders railway. The original Waverley Route, 98 miles from Edinburgh to Carlisle via Hawick, was one of the last railways to close under Beeching, in 1969. The northern 35 miles, from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, reopened as the Borders railway In 2015.

Back in November, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to spend £500 million on reopening rail lines axed by Beeching. A charter train at Ashington in 2008.

Now the Government has committed £21.9 million to two routes and a new stations fund. £1.5 million will be used to develop proposals for the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line in Northumberland, while £100,000 for the same purpose goes to the Fleetwood line in Lancashire.

An ‘ideas fund’ will be created so that proposals can be brought forward for future investment - this will get £300,000 - and £20 million goes to the New Stations Fund which, in earlier guises, has already Been involved in reopening 10 stations around the country: » Pye Corner, Wales - opened 14 December 2014 » Newcourt, Exeter - opened 4 June 2015 » Lea Bridge, London - opened 16 May 2016 » Ilkeston, Derby - opened 2 April 2017 » Kenilworth, Warwickshire - 30 April 2018 » Warrington West station,

PHOTO: DAVID NADEN

Cheshire - 16 December 2019 » Bow Street station, Ceredigion, Wales - opening 2020 » Reading Green Park station, Berkshire - opening 2020 » Hordon Peterlee station, County Durham - opening 2020 » Portway Parkway, Bristol - opening 2020 Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Many communities still live with the scars that came from the closure of their local railway more than five decades ago. Today sees work begin to undo the damage of the Beeching cuts by restoring local railways and stations to their former glory.

“Investing in transport links is essential to levelling up access to opportunities across the country, ensuring our regions are better connected, local economies flourish and more than half a century of isolation is undone.”

Poulton-le-Fylde junction in 2008. The disused Fleetwoood branch, which goes off to the right, has received £100,000 funding for a feasibility study to reopen it.

to Cornwall more resilient

The collapse of the railway at Dawlish during a severe storm in February 2014 hit the headlines as Cornwall was cut off from the rest of the UK by rail. Just eight weeks later, the railway was once again open and transport links to the far west were restored.

Less well publicised was the landslip at Teignmouth, just one mile west of the work still going on at Dawlish, that took place on 4 March 2014. 20,000 tonnes of cliff face slumped on to the railway at the foot of the cliff. High pressure hoses were used to wash the earth away into the sea as Network Rail needed to get the line clear so that the line could reopen once the Dawlish works were completed.

Since then, plans have been developed to find a long-term solution to the stability of the costal cliffs along just over a mile of railway (1.8km) between Parsons Tunnel, near Holcombe, and Teignmouth.

The latest design, released by Network Rail for public consultation, moves the railway away from the most potentially hazardous areas of the cliffs but keeps the existing railway alignment at both the Parsons Tunnel and at Teignmouth ends of this stretch of railway.

Not only does this retain the beach, a popular local amenity, but the facility will be further enhanced by work surrounding the railway. A realigned coastal footpath, one metre wider than the current South West Coast Path, and safer for walkers as it will have edge protection, will be built along with a new, accessible footbridge over the railway at Sprey Point. Holcombe beach will have a new fully accessible ramp as access (pictured left).

Mike Gallop, Network Rail’s route director, said: “Our updated plans will ensure a resilient railway line for the whole south west while maintaining most of the beach and adding improved walking and leisure facilities. "The railway is a vital artery to the South West, which communities, businesses and visitors to the region depend on for connecting with the rest of the UK. We welcome views on our updated proposals before we apply for consent to undertake the work.”

Crossrail opening goes back again

In November (issue 180, December 2019), Mark Wild announced that the Crossrail programme, which is building Transport for London's new Elizabeth line across London, would be delayed until the first quarter of 2021.

He had earlier suggested that Christmas plus or minus three months was possible, but he was now sure that it would be plus rather than minus.

Since then, the situation has changed again. In a release dated 10 January 2020, Mark Wild (pictured below) said: “We are doing everything we can to get this railway finished and open. We continue to make

good progress with the central section now reaching substantial completion and we are increasingly confident that Bond Street station will be ready to open with the rest of the railway. “We have a comprehensive plan to complete the Elizabeth line and the milestones we must hit during 2020, including the testing of the signalling and train systems and safety assurance, but there are no shortcuts to delivery of this hugely complex railway.

“Our latest assessment is that Elizabeth line services through central London will commence in summer 2021 but we are aiming to open the railway as soon as we can. This forecast assumes a period of time will be required to undertake intensive operational testing. The key focus for everyone on the Crossrail project is commencing intensive testing of the Elizabeth line as soon as we can in 2020, to enable passenger service as early as possible in 2021.”

It must be noted that “services through central London” will not mark the completion of the project. Crossrail has further announced that, following the opening of the central section, full services across the Elizabeth line route from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east, connecting the eastern and western sections straight through central London, will not commence until mid-2022.