Gordon Bennett – another month gone! Where the hell’s the time going? Our day at Bigland Towers has been dominated by the weather – but that’s what you get for living in the Pennines. We’d no plans to travel anywhere, the idea was to stay at home and continue gardening/cleaning/cooking but my outdoor activities were cut short by the advent of drizzle. That said, the garden’s looking much improved and my rock-breaking activity has tidied up the place as well as providing plenty of exercise! Dee’s been equally busy. We had some lamb rumps we’d purchased from the Bolster Moor farm shop which Dawn prepared and stuck in the slow-cooker, so whilst I’ve been working outside the house has been filled with some delicious smells.
We did nip out into Halifax to do some shopping as Dawn was on the hunt for some Guinness Zero. Our tastebuds diverge on these matters. Apart from the fact Dee’s teetotal the other major difference is she’s on the ‘dark side’ when it comes to beers whilst I prefer the pale hoppy variety (even in low-alcohol varieties). Many people say that Guinness Zero tastes just like the real thing, which could account for it’s popularity and scarcity. Only one local supermarket seems to stock it and that normally sells out fast. Sadly, Dee was disappointed as Sainsbury’s had none. We did try a Tesco Metro nearby where we live but the choices were poor (especially when it came to LA beers) and the the prices were racked up. On the bright side we bumped into a couple of friends which led us to a side trip to while away an hour playing pool in a pub just down the road from where we live. Well, I played pool with the boys whilst Dawn cast a critical eye over our efforts from the sidelines!
Now we’re back home, replete after a lovely meal of lamb, Yorkshire puddings and lots of veg. Ideal food as the weather’s taken a turn for the worse. Rainstorms have breezed in turning the evening into a very wet one indeed – just what you’d expect as a precursor to tomorrow’s bank holiday. Right now we can hear the sound of the rain beating against the cottage windows over the noise of the TV. Impressive!
When I got home and logged onto the web I found the sad news that an old photographic colleague and legend in the railway world (Brian Morrison) had passed away today at the age of 92. I’ll blog about Brian tomorrow as he deserves more than a passing mention but I’ll leave you with his image as today’s picture. Farewell Brian, we had some fun times over the years…
Many of Brian’s friends and colleagues attended his 80th birthday celebration at the Quainton railway centre back in March 2010. Here’s Brian with his certificate of appreciation from railway magazine editors.
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On Monday the Public Accounts Committee of MPs took oral evidence on the pause of HS2 construction at Euston station. Anyone expecting any real answers as to how we got to this sorry state will have been sadly disappointed at the session as it was more the ‘dunno’ show than generating any real insights. It was also curious for what was not said or discussed as much as what was.
For some reason the Committee decided to focus exclusively on Euston station itself and ignore another vital piece of that jigsaw. The Euston tunnels, which are essentially separate to the station but they’ve been paused too – as has construction of phase 2a from Handsacre Junction North of Birmingham as far as Crewe.
Now, Euston station is undoubtedly a mess but that’s no reason to postpone building the Euston approach tunnels. Plus, the tunnels are ‘critical path’ work. Without the TBMs for the Euston tunnels being launched from the Old Oak Common station box you can kiss goodbye to opening the HS2 station at Old Oak that’s now being talked about as a ‘temporary terminus’ for HS2 in London. Plus, if you don’t build the tunnels you won’t be running any HS2 trains into Euston – whatever final design’s cooked up!
The PAC session was billed as asking “how the risks to value for money are being managed” yet the session was all about the money and not about the value. We got bogged down in the minutiae of how much it would cost to secure the Euston site (even talking about hoardings) but nothing about the REAL value of money questions – such as how much the delays to building Euston would affect railway capacity and passenger usage of the truncated HS2 line to Old Oak Common. Nor was anything asked about the environmental costs of delaying HS2 – which are also financial – or the economic impact on ‘levelling up’.
Instead, what we heard from Dame Bernadette Kelly (Perm Sec at DfT), Alan Over (DG of High Speed Rail Group and SRO for HS2 at DfT) and Mark Thurston (Chief Exec at HS2 Ltd) was a sorry tale of government delay and dither and what happens when you let a Committee design something. Think of the problems with the Great Western Main Line electrification where everyone sticks their ‘pennorth’ into the specification so the costs keep rising.
Reading between the lines of what was being said at the Committee, this is what happened at Euston. Costs kept rising as Government changed its mind on the size of the oversite development (which impacted on the rail design), a new ‘partnership’ was established which added other priorities and considerations and the whole thing grew so that the agreed 2019 budget hopelessly was unrealistic when the wish-list was presented to the construction team who were meant to wrap it all up into a final, costed design that they could build.
I suppose you could describe it like this. You want your dream kitchen so you and all your family set an unrealistic budget, then you pore over an out of date catalogue whilst accepting suggestions from your neighbors and relatives on what’s needed. Then you call the builder. The builder weighs everything up, itemises it, sucks his teeth and tells you exactly how much that little lot will cost in the real world today.
Now, I have sympathy with the idea that Euston had to be paused. It’s clear the existing wish list (I won’t grace it with the name of ‘plan’) was far too expensive and that the dither and delays had added to the costs. Remember, Euston was originally expected to open at the end of 2026 with the rest of phase – despite what Kelly and Merriman have previously claimed, which I dealt with here. Plus, in the original plan we were going to get more (11 platforms) for less money. As we’re now 1/3 of the way through 2023 and there’s still no viable plan and in the intervening time we’ve seen rampant inflation, cost pressures due to Covid, the Ukraine war and Brexit so it’s hardly surprising costs have increased.
Some of this was touched on at the hearing, some of it wasn’t. Was was studiously ignored was the Government’s involvement in this expensive fiasco. Obviously, the witnesses were going to have to tread carefully (if you’re a civil servant criticising this Government can be very bad for your career) but not all the PAC members were Tories and could have asked awkward questions. The bizarre thing is none did. The nearest we got was Labour’s Nick Smith MP, who did ask some direct open questions and didn’t take fuzzy replies as an answer. But otherwise, it was a very poor show. Many questions were asked about ‘exactly’ how much the shutdown was going to cost and all three witnesses gave the same answer – ‘dunno’ – because no-one’s worked it out yet! The decision was only taken around 4 weeks ago and no-one’s looked at all the implications and crunched the numbers – which makes the Transport Minister Mark Harper’s initial claim that this was being done to ‘save’ money look even more ridiculous.
Mark Thurston did shed some light on what happens next. £2bn has been spent on the Euston area since the project began in what he describes as ‘no regrets’ investment (meaning its needed whatever the new station plans are). This includes all the preparatory and enabling work, all the works in the surrounding areas (like building new homes) and the work to the London Underground. A further £220 million will be spent on completing the TfL vent shaft and substation, the new construction skills centre and the station facilities block. This work will run to the autumn when the Euston station site will be secured and shut down. Ctte Chair Dame Meg Hillier questioned how long this would mean the site would be shut down as the timescale Thurston was suggesting was less than 2 years, or was it? Thurston explained that he expected the site to reopen in Spring 2025.
Alan Over did make two things clear in response to questions. One was that there’s no way the savings being asked for can be made without cutting the ‘wish list’ that’s been included in the final Euston design that the builders costed (which came in at £4.8bn) . the other was that, depending on what final ‘wish list’ is agreed by all parties, the Government may need to cough up some more money.
After 2 hours of being none the wiser on costs or timetables and with not having asked any of the really big question on value (never mind costs) the Ctte wound up. I can only hope they return to these matters having thought about the ‘big picture’ stuff and the real implications of the delays to HS2 and don’t get bogged down in the minutiae of mothballing building sites, but I won’t hold my breath…
Looking down on the Euston HS2 construction site in October 2021 at the bit no-one at the PAC talked about. The Euston tunnels…
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I’m taking advantage of the sunshine across West Yorkshire to get out and look at more Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) work and other bits of the rail network in what’s fondly described as ‘God’s own country’.
As Dawn was going into the office today she gave me a lift into Huddersfield so I could catch a train East. Walking over to the island platform I was shocked and saddened to see that the famous station buffet run for many years by husband and wife team of Chris and Gez had closed for good whilst I was away in Asia. Calling in for one of their excellent bacon rolls was often the start to a days adventures. Sadly, the strikes and Covid had taken its toll on their business over recent years, so they took the decision to close their doors on February 18th. They’ll be missed by many rail staff – if not by their waistlines!
Heading East my first stop was at Batley where I walked down to the old level crossing to update pictures of the old level crossing and signalbox which will be replaced by a new footbridge.
Stood by the signalbox looking across to the old GNR embankment and site of the new footbridge.
13:30.
After walking back to Batley and retraching my steps to Dewsbury I’m now in Leeds ready to head off to the next location I want to document improvements at, although this is off the main TRU route. Photography’s becoming more of a challenge as clouds are rolling in, although for some shots that’s no bad thing. Leeds station’s busy but not at the frenetic levels we see at the peaks.
Right now I’m sat on one of Northern’s 2-car Class 158s which is welcome because the wind’s really taking the heat out of the sun and Leeds station’s notorious for being cold. Feeling the strength of the solar rays through my seat window is a far more pleasant experience to being stuck out on the platform.
A variety of front ends and train classes at Leeds
My route out of Leeds follows the corridor HS2 would have used to enter the city. Mothballing this route is just another example of the criminal myopia and lack of ambition of our political classes. It does nothing for ‘levelling up’ or the environment. Truly, we have a government that knows the cost of everything and value of nothing (unless you count bungs to its friends and donors).
14:15.
My next stop was at Castleford, a tpwn I’ve not visited for a dozen years. The single platform station is having its second reinstated along with a new footbridge with lifts to link the two. Track improvements and resignalling have added to the package of improvements so that the station can be a useful diversionary stop away from the main Trans-Pennine route whilst its closed for upgrade work. It’s a great example of the spin-offs from TRU work that has long-term benefits other areas.
I didn’t hang around to explore the town. I’ll save that for another time. I merely used the 10 minute window in between services to get the pictures I wanted before catching the next train back to Leeds.
15:30.
There were two good reasons to get back to Leeds when I did and they arrived one after the other. First up was a Cross-Country double HST power car move from Derby to Neville Hill depot in Leeds.
Right behind it was the ‘Blue Pullman’ liveried HST set which had set out from Crewe on its way to Nevill Hill.
17:50.
Last stop of the day is Ravensthorpe station and LNW junction. This are will undergo massive changes as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade. The station you see will be closed and a new one built West of the junction (and behind the camera)so that it can serve both routes. The old London and Northwestern line to Dewsbury to the left and the old Lancashire and Yorkshire line to Wakefield on the right. Plus, the fast LNW Trans-Pennine lines will cross the L&Y lines in a dive-under rather than the existing capacity-constraining flat junction.
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Today’s been an odd start to the week. I was full of determination to hit the ground running after a lovely weekend and the day started well as I hit all my targets for exercise, then spent several hours working in the office getting paperwork and pictures organised. I even managed to tear Dawn away from her computer so that the two of us could go for a walk together. Then, all of a sudden my batteries drained, leaving me completely out of energy. It happens to me maybe once or twice a year and I’m assuming it’s down to doing too much whilst running on a nearly empty stomach (although I’d have thought a gut full of porridge would have kept me going). Poor Dee was quite concerned as it’s never happened when we’ve been together before.
As a supermarket shop was part of the plan I had a short sit-down whilst Dee stocked up on various bits which included cereal bars – one of which I soon scoffed in order to give me the boost I needed to get home. It seemed to work although it was a couple of hours before I felt energised enough to get my last couple of thousand steps in to hit my daily target.
Now I’m having a relaxing evening at home. Dawn’s been fabulous and sorted out jacket potatoes with tuna, mayo and a side-salad whilst I’ve been ‘busy’ watching the Public Accounts Committee hearing on the debacle of the HS2 station at Euston which has been ‘paused’ for a couple of years whilst the Govt and DfT work out what to do. I’ll blog at greater length about this when the transcript is published. I took copious notes but there’s nothing like having it verbatim.
My take from the hearing is that this really is just a pause and HS2 will make it to Euston. The railway’s an expensive white elephant without Euston as Old Oak Common simply doesn’t have the capacity to be the London terminus. Mark Thurston made it clear that whilst contractors are being stood down, the contracts haven’t been ended, there’s merely an agreement to pause them. Plus, some work at Euston (to the tune of £200-220m) will continue until the autumn as the TfL substation, skills centre and Euston station facilities block will be completed whilst the station site is made secure. So, in theory, the ‘pause’ could be as little as 18 months – if people can come up with a viable new station design in that time, although the depressing thing seems to be the focus on cost, rather than anything else – like what we need the station to actually do.
Interestingly, what wasn’t mentioned at all was Bernadette Kelly’s claim at the Transport Select Ctte hearing that opening Euston later was the plan all along.
Right, onto the picture of the day and another sign that spring is here – seen in our local woods earlier…
Hopefully my batteries will be recharged by the morrow as I’ve lots I want to do this week…
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I’ve been looking at progress on the trans-pennine railway route upgrade for some time now, both the record locations before the work started and now as it progresses. Last month I visited Stalybridge to see the result of the long blockade. You can find that blog here.
Yesterday I ventured out to an area I’d not visited since the upgrade began, the line between Batley and Cottingley. Some major work’s happening here in preparation for electrification. On this section it includes the physical relocation of two stations The first is Morley, the second is Cottingley where the new station will be renamed White Rose. Although happening during the TRU work, this replacement station had been planned for some time. Other works include the closure of Lady Anne crossing just outside Batley which involves removing the old Great Northern Railway bridge abutment to create the space to install a large footbridge. This will replace the road/foot crossing. It will also entail the closure of the last remaining manual signalbox on the route.
Here’s a selection of pictures from my trip.
Class 68 number 68025 ‘Superb’ approaches Batley with 1U52, the 1248 Scarborough to Manchester Piccadilly. It’s passing the newly laid crossing between Up and Down lines installed as part of the TRU upgrade to increase operational flexibility. The yellow digger above the signal is working grading the old GNR embankment at the site of Lady Anne crossing. The haul road on the right is built on the formation of the old GNR Batley branch which went to Birstall and Bradford, crossing over the present line at Lady Anne crossing. A 2009 archive shot showing the Signalbox at Lady Anne Crossing and one of the abutments of the old GNR line. The new footbridge will be built to the left of this picture.Seen from the opposite side of the tracks to the last picture, the signaller opens the gates to let a car across the line. The new footbridge is being built where the old bridge abutment is. Another view of Batley and the TRU work. It’s hard to imagine now but not only was this a four track line, it was also the site of three junctions. Between the yellow digger and the house on the right is the course of the GNR’s Beeston and Batley branch via Tingley. Where you can see the pile of sleepers in the cess on the left hand side of the tracks was the site of the junction for the single track LNWR Birstall branch.
Meanwhile, further up the line at Morley…
Here’s the existing station at Morley seen from above the tunnel mouth which literally on the stations doorstep. In the background you can see the site of the new station which is only a few hundred metres away. Work on the new station’s progressing well. As you can see, it’s a little more breathing room than the old station, but those reverse curves…Here’s Cottingley station which only opened in 1988. Passenger numbers have always been low, apparently, which is why its been proposed for replacement for quite some time. Seen from the footbridge at Cottingly station (behind the camera) TPE’s 185127 speeds past whilst working 1K23, the 1354 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull. In the background, just over the flowering Hawthorns you can see the buildings of the new ‘White Rose’ station.
I’ll be making regular visits to TRU locations over the next few months, showing the before/after as the route’s transformed.
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It’s a short blog from me tonight as I’m on nursing duty as Dee was truck down by a bad migraine this afternoon.
Today’s been another day of two halves. The morning was spent working from home, wading through yesterday’s picture haul whilst keeping on top of paperwork and household chores. The weather wasn’t brilliant and the temperature distinctly nippy, so much so I wasn’t sure I that was wasting my time when I pegged out a line full of washing. Despite the lack of sunshine I decided to nip out for a few hours to check on the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) work East of Huddersfield. Dawn was meant to be having an evening out with friends so I thought I’d get out too.
Luckily, by the time I got the train from Sowerby Bridge to Dewsbury the weather had changed and I was treated to some glorious sunshine, even if temperatures were still on the chilly side. I’m going to write about the TRU work in a separate blog as it deserves its own. I saw a lot of changes at the places I visited, some substantial. Here’s a couple of pictures to whet your appetite.
The new station at Morley begins to take shape. It’s being built a very short distance away from the original station which is just out of sight to the right. This view’s looking East.A TPE service races through Cottingley station. Opened in 1988 it’s being replaced by the new £26.5m ‘White Rose’ station built further West and will close as a consequence, probably at the timetable change in December 2023 if the new station’s ready in time. It wasn’t just new railways I looked at as I also stopped off to have a wander around Dewsbury, a town that used to have far more railways than the one it does now. Here’s the (sadly closed) Station hotel in the town centre. To the right was the site of the GNRs Dewsbury Central station which closed in 1964. The course of the railway is now part of the A638 ring road, hence the new bridge behind the hotel.Dewsbury still possesses some very grand buildings that reflect the towns Victorian wealth. Here’s the Town Hall. This Grade 2 listed building opened in 1889.
My day was cut short when Dee texted me to say she was unwell, but I’ve plenty of pictures to add to a blog tomorrow, and all taken in great weather too!
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Walking to Halifax station was enjoyable this morning. No rain for a change, even if the Calder valley was shrouded in mist.
Traffic was light too though dog-walkers were out in force. Having left the house at 06:50 I had time to spare to catch the 07:39. I ended up walking straight on to the 07:20 which was running 7 mins late due to a fault on one of the two Class 195/0s forming this four car train.
This service calls at Low Moor, the new (ish) intermediate station between Halifax and Bradford. I’m rarely on services that call here so I was impressed to see dozens of folk waiting to join us.
After a rapid exchange of passengers at Bradford Interchange and with enough time for the crew to swap ends we’re now on our way to Leeds. Looking around I’d say this car is 50-60% full. I’ve no doubt that’ll increase on our way into Leeds.
0755.
Sure enough, our call at New Pudsey resulted in one departing passenger replaced by seven joining – and that was just in my car. Passengers on this train are a mix of commuters and holiday-makers. I’m sharing a table with a couple in their mid 30s in high-vis cycling jackets and a young lad whom I’m assuming’s on his way to work.
08:45.
Being ahead of schedule has allowed me to get ahead of myself and take the scenic route. I had 6 minutes in Leeds to make a dash for LNER’s 08:15 to Kings Cross which I’m taking as far as Doncaster. Yes, Doncaster. OK, I lied about the ‘scenic’ bit! My trains formed of a 9-car Azuma and the loadings are healthy. Here’s coach H.
09:05.
My visit to Doncaster was brief. I had long enough to grab a couple of pictures and admire the varied collection of stock outside the Wabtec works (an AET ”Networker’ and Chiltern’s 165004 plus sundry Mk3 coaches) before it was time to jog over to platform 0, which I’ve never used before. I’m now on Northern’s 09:05 to Goole which is being worked by a 2-car class 158.
11:40.
S’cuse the gap. As soon as I arrived at RaiseE I was thrown into a round of introductions or discussions with old friends. Sadly, many of the conversations were pessimistic. Wether it’s Brexit or the shambles that’s government policy and rail finances (not to mention internal problems of some major players) the picture’s not a happy one.
However, the event focussed on the positive aspects and opportunities for the future. More of that later..
Harry Hill from Enable Ltd and Lucy Prior from Trough-Tec Systems Ltd with a joint presentation on collaborating with the supply chain to create a greener rail industry.
17:35.
The conference finished after lunch and after saying some goodbyes I left to make the most of the glorious sunshine. I realised I’d never really taken pictures around this way and that my ladt visit was in 2010 so I decided to make amends. The rail network’s a shadow of its former self as the dock lines are disused and the new Siemens factory – whilst rail connected – isn’t generating any traffic.
However, the docks are still used by shipping and the distinctive ‘salt and pepper’ buildings dominate the skyline nearby.
There’s also this rather interesting building that looks remarkably similar in style to certain London Underground stations. I’m guessing they were designed by the same architect.
Having spent an hour exploring I took a trip to the end of the line at Hull to add a few more library pictures. I’m glad I did. The classic view of the station throat is rapidly being closed off by tree growth.
22:00.
I’m now back at home after retracing my steps from Hull to Goole, back to Doncaster and thence on to Leeds and Bradford before arriving back in Halifax. The weather’s been glorious and the travel really interesting. I’ll flesh out more of this blog shortly but for now here’s a couple more pictures from my travels.
158853 works a Hull – Doncaster service past ‘salt and pepper’ the two water towers that dominate the Goole skyline. Hull has become a good place to find the seven members of Class 155. Built by British Leyland in 1988 for Calder valley services they’re rarely seen on their former home turf although they do put in appearances on the Hull – Halifax shuttles. Goole signalbox. It was built in 1909 by the North-Eastern railway to their standard ‘S4’ design. Over the years its lost the external wooden walkways with metal handrails that allowed access to clean the windows. The locking-room windows have also been bricked up which was probably done during World War 2 to add protection from bomb damage.
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Today’s certainly been a sociable one and very much a game of two halves – and that included the weather. This morning we awoke to what threatened to be makings of a sunny say, even though temperatures were sub-par with frost on the ground. My optimism rose with the sun, even if the temperatures didn’t. Dawn had to leave for an appointment over in Ossett whilst I stayed indoors wading through emails and paperwork, planning next week (which is looking rather diverse, providing different blogs from different locations). The pair of us arranged to rendezvous over in Mytholmroyd at lunchtime with me letting the train take the strain.
It was a great plan until it came time for me to leave the house. That’s when I realised the weather had turned to ratshit again and my plans to get pictures along the line were a wash-out. Mind you, poor Mytholmroyd’s used to washouts as its recent history of flooding attests to. The reason the pair of us were visiting was the AGM of the friends of Mytholmroyd station which was being held in a church hall adjacent to the station. Like many buildings in the village it’s been underwater several times as it sits next to the Cragg Brook which has regularly burst its banks to flood the town when the nearby Calder’s done the same. Now, some very expensive flood defenses protect the town, so although the weather was miserable we weren’t worried about being deluged.
The AGM turned out to be a great event. Dee and I have known the group for a long time and have made some great personal friends. Their meetings – which whilst they get the business done – are also social events. The food’s pretty good too! We were treated to home-made tray-baked steak pie (with a cheese version for veggies) along with peas, gravy and mint sauce – the classic pie and peas!
Suitably stuffed the attendees got down to business. Just under 30 people attended which included representatives from train company Northern, the new Community Rail Partnership which covers the whole of the Calder valley line and my wife representing Community Rail Network. Me? I was there to record the event and muck in any way I can. It was a very positive event despite the problems the rail industry’s facing at the moment. There’s lots of things to look forward to with the rail network in the Calder valley which is seeing an increase in passenger numbers with more to come as the place increases its profile as a tourist attraction and as an important diversionary route during the trans-pennine route upgrade.
To add to the calorie intake we were treated to home-made cake as a thank-you to Sue Mitchell who was standing down after many years from her role as Secretary of the group. Not that she’ll be retiring completely. Her partner Geoff was reelected as Chair! Here’s a few pictures from the event.
Meetings don’t have to be miserable. Geoff Mitchel (standing) talked about events whilst Richard Isaacs from Northern (behind the laptop) kept this part of the meeting in order. Retiring Secretary Sue Mitchell was presented with gift vouchers and a gorgeous home-baked cake which was divvied up between attendees.Pie and peas, coffee and cake, positive actions and laughter – what more do you need to be persuaded to join active community groups like this?
Meeting over Dee acted as a taxi to drop people off and keep them dry before the pair of us headed home for part two of the day. Having spent a couple of hours working it was time to head up to our local pub (The Big 6) to join friends for the Friday quiz. Admittedly, choosing to walk there probably wasn’t the wisest move as the rain was still pelting down but hey – at least we got in the steps!
Sadly, our regular quizmaster Mel wasn’t able to make it so the job of reading out the quiz questions fell to me by popular demand. My accent-neutral enunciated tones weren’t as much fun as Mel’s broad Lancashire but I got the job done. Dawn doesn’t normally manage to make or Friday gathering due to work commitments so today was a bonus as not only was Dee there but the rest of the ‘5 from the 6’ were too – which gave us chance to talk about our next joint adventure to Istanbul in three weeks time.
Now the pair of us are back at home having a relaxing night in. Tomorrow’s going to be another busy day but we both have hopes that Sunday many finally live up to its reputation as the day of rest – we’ll see. So, I’ll end today’s blog with a cartoon from the Pub Paper that I read the two quizzes from tonight. It seems rather appropriate…
Oh, before I go, I should mention that next weekend Mytholmroyd is hosting a very unique and very local event. The World dock pudding championships. Never heard of dock pudding? No, neither had I until I moved here. Sadly, we have an appointment elsewhere which means we might struggle to attend, but I’m determined to do so one year…
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Yesterday HS2 Ltd announced that they’d launched yet another Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) but this one had a couple of important differences to the five that are already in service.
Launched from the Atlas Rd construction site in North London by the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV), ‘Lydia’ is an upcycled TBM formerly known as ‘Ellie’. The TBM dug two sections of the Crossrail tunnels in the Capital – from Limmo Peninsula in Canning Town to Royal Victoria Dock, and between Pudding Mill Lane and Stepney Green completing a total of 2.23 miles.
Made redundant from that task the Shield head and cutting wheel along with other components were refurbished by the builder Herrenknecht. The 847m long TBM will now spend the next six months driving an 853 metre long tunnel to the Old Oak Common construction site. The TBM has an 6.2 metre internal diameter. Starting drilling at a depth of 5 metres below ground it will reach a maximum depth of 20 metres. 4,264 concrete segments will be used, forming 533 tunnel rings. The segments, each weighing over 3 tonnes, have been produced by Pacadar in Kent.
The new service tunnel will have two uses. The first is to be fitted with a conveyor belt that will connect with an existing conveyor at the Atlas Rd site to transport spoil to the HS2 London Logistics Hub at Willesden Euro Terminal where the spoil will be moved onwards to sites in Kent, Cambridgeshire (Foxton) and Rugby by rail. The second use will be to transport 8,010 tunnel segment rings to construct the HS2 tunnels from Old Oak Common to Euston. These segment rings are being manufactured by STRABAG in Hartlepool. Both sets of segments will be moved to sites by rail. HS2 Ltd estimate that the new service tunnel will save 70,000 lorry journeys being added to London’s roads. It’s an impressive commitment to making HS2 construction as green as possible, using rail and on-site services as much as possible to minimise disruption elsewhere.
The significance of this is that construction of the HS2 tunnels from Old Oak Common to Euston is still proceeding as planned – despite the delay to building Euston station itself. Let’s face it, if you’re not going to build Euston, you’re not going to need to build the expensive Euston tunnels!
Workers checking over ‘Lydia’ before yesterdays launch (pic c/o HS2 Ltd).
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On Friday I paid a visit to Stalybridge station to see the result of the engineering blockade that had transformed the stations Western junction. This is been totally remodelled and resignalled. The resignalling has extended to the Eastern side of the station although the track layout here remains unchanged. As well as track and signals a large number of overhead electrification masts and portals have appeared, although there’s still many more to be installed at further weekend engineering possessions before the wires can be extended.
Here’s a selection of pictures showing how the place looks now.
Looking West to Stalybridge Junction from the end of platform 3. This junction was remodelled as recently as 2011. This time some of the switches have been removed and replaced with a flat crossing (just out of sight around the curve). The formations been expanded by the removal of the old ATO oil siding in the far left, which has allowed tracks to be slewed. The remodelling appears to remove conflicts and certainly allows for faster line speeds across the junction. Bi-mode 769424 pulls into the bay platform 5 with a Southport-Stalybridge service. 185151 approaches platform 3 working 2E73, the 1158 Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield.185151 sits waiting time in platform 3. The newly installed portals are very much in evidence. 802208 approaches from the East whilst working 9M10, the 1006 Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street. The new portals have usurped the signal gantry that was installed (at great expense) at this location in 2012. And there it was – gone! The substantial signal gantry that was installed as part of the original Trans-Pennine electrification scheme but (apparently) was now in the way of the revised scheme for some reason. It’s no wonder many rail improvements cost so much money when plans constantly change and investment like this is wasted. It’s seen here in 2016.New signalling and OLE masts that have been installed at the East end of the station between platforms 3 and 4.Looking East along platforms 5 and 4 with new masts and portals in place where the former through tracks were situated. Looking along the railway viaducts by Waterloo Road. The bracket where the 2012 signal gantry was fixed to the side of the piers remains. 185107 calls at platform 4 outside the famous buffet bar whilst working 1K23, the 1354 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
