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.
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Another silly o’ clock start. I’ve been up for an hour getting ready to head South to meet up with my ‘partner in crime’ for a couple of days exploring HS2 railway construction and mitigation sites, but first I’ve got to get to Banbury. The weather’s looking bleak. The rain’s already started here in the Calder Valley so Dawn’s being a star and giving me a lift to the station so that I don’t get a soaking from the off! I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to keep popping back to see what I get up to…
07:30.
Thanks to Dee I arrived at Halifax station dry and in plenty of time. Having bid Dawn au revoir I caught the 07:14 Halifax-Hull, an earlier train than planned which gives me an extra 6 minutes in the bank. As it’s starting from Halifax it’s also far less crowded, despite being worked by a 2-car Class 158 today. No doubt that situation will change once we’ve reached Bradford and beyond.
Even so, I’ve bagged a table seat, plugged my phone into the USB socket to keep it charged and begun to catch up with the waking world.
Almost as soon as we left the cheerful Guard conducted a ticket check. With the train being quiet we swapped cheeky banter as I asked when the trolley service came round!
07:40.
As I predicted, the train filled up at Bradford Interchange. My bay and the opposite table are now full. There’s a young businessman of Indian extraction sat opposite whilst the rest of the seats have been taken by a mother and daughters – also of Asian extraction but further South and East. I haven’t heard them speak so I can’t tell where they hail from originally.
Now we’re heading towards Leeds on a miserable day weather-wise. The sky’s a monotone grey, producing the light drizzle that soon has you soaked as it has the ability to permeate almost any clothing.
08:25.
My time at Leeds was brief, just 15 minutes. I hardly had time to get the camera out but then there wasn’t much of interest to photograph on such a grey day. Making my way to platform 15 I waited for Cross-Country’s 08:11 to Bristol Temple Meads which arrived spot on time. Consisting of two four-car Class 220s the service was reasonably busy. The was plenty of custom for it at Leeds, although several were only going as far as our next stop at Wakefield Westgate where we exchanged them for more long-distance travellers. The cross-country network is all things to all people. Some use it for short hops as the timings are convenient whilst others appreciate its reach and use it for far longer journeys – students and senior travellers especially.
Cross-country may not be the biggest operator but it’s certainly the most far-reaching. Although the network’s been cut back from its height its tendrils radiate from Birmingham afar as Penzance and Aberdeen. What a shame the dept of transport have no idea what to do with it other than cut its train-fleet by forcibly retiring their high-speed train fleet with no plan for replacement. Their capacity is desperately needed in the summer, especially now passenger numbers have bounced back and the state of the economy’s forcing more people to holiday in the UK.
11:00.
My trip to Birmingham was uneventful, although it gave great views of the HS2 construction sites at Washwood Heath and Curzon St, where the pillars for the elevated station deck are springing up like mushrooms. I filmed this as we passed.
Building HS2’s Curzon St station.
Birmingham’s wet. Very wet, so I was glad to seek shelter on Chiltern Railways 10:55 from Moor St which will carry me to my rondezvous in Banbury.
In a sign of the times I popped into a shop in New St which sells baguettes. It was always a busy place. For years the filled baguettes cost 99p and made a cheap and tasty meal. Then, post Covid they increased to £1.20. Today they’re £2.20. It may have been the time of day but the shelves were full but the shop empty. I was the only customer.
20:15
Apologies for the gap in blogging but we’ve been busy. I’m about to get something to eat then I’ll come back and fill in the gaps. In the meantime, here’s a few pictures to tease..
We were here at the Chiltern tunnels South portal where one of the ‘porous portals’ is being constructed now the area is cleared and the TBMs are over half way to the North portal. This one is over the London-bound track. Progress on the Colne Valley viaduct is impressive. It’s really come on since my last visit. Here’s a view of the launching girder ‘Dominique’ seen from the Denham waterski club site. One of the thousands of precast bridge segments that have been made on site at West Hyde is moved along the completed bridge to the launching girder ‘Dominique’ where it will be lifted and then turned before being dropped into position. The segments are made on site then moved from the factory along an internal haul road and onto the viaduct.
23:25.
Right, time for bed. It’s been a busy day although the latter part was foiled by the weather when the skies opened and stayed open, making photography next to impossible. Even so, we reconnoitered a few more HS2 construction sites which will allow us to pop back tomorrow when the weather’s improved before moving on to look at others.
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I’ve not blogged about these people for quite some time for the simple reason there’s been nothing of interest to blog about. But I wanted to do a round-up and potted history as I still get asked where they went and my last blog on the subject is way out of date. So, what did happen to them?
The short answer is, in 2022 their campaign collapsed completely with the demise of the Extinction Rebellion inspired ‘HS2Rebellion’ and the last remaining protest camp. Politically, their campaign had given up the ghost several years before.
This was always going to happen. Support had been ebbing away for years as it had become clear to all but the most blinkered that pretending HS2 could be stopped when construction was well underway was a fools errand. The protest camps were always a sideshow. They were an attempt to attract publicity and raise funds but they never stood a chance of success as they were poorly supported, many were in the wrong place and the people in them were such a rag-bag of conflicting ideologies and interests. A mixture of Nimbys, part-timers who just turned up to party plus a tiny hard-core of ‘professional’ protesters who drifted from one lost cause to another. The camps also attracted their fair share of ne’er-do-wells and damaged people, hence some camps getting reputations for thievery, sexual harassment and violence. Some young idealists attracted to the cause through social media soon had their dreams shattered by the reality of life in the camps and never returned. Plus, wealthy Chiltern Nimbys and a rag-bag of anarchists and left-wing dreamers (and a few thieves) were always going to be uneasy bedfellows – as it proved. Many opponents of HS2 in the Chilterns weren’t too sad to see the back of the camps.
The kamikaze tactics of people in the camps also limited their effectiveness as once people were arrested they had bail conditions imposed which kept them away from HS2 sites. Other had injunctions taken out against them which kept them away from places like the first protest camp at Harvil Rd near London. Support also waned when the camps nearest to London were evicted as that’s where the biggest pool of weekenders and party people came from. The final camp was in rural Staffordshire, far away from the Nimby heartlands of the Chilterns and London, plus local support was lukewarm to say the least. Money began to dry up too. In the past people had donated 10s of 1000s via various crowdfunders but these became mired in controversy as no-one ever knew where the money actually went. This led to some very public spats and fallings out which I’ve documented in the past.
The final nails in the coffin were the eviction of the ‘Bluebell’ camp in Staffordshire which fell extremely quickly. Three activists retreated into a tunnel that had been dug underneath the camp and stayed their for 47 days in an attempt to attract publicity, but they received very little. No-one was really interested in three people in a hole in the ground that was so far away from the Londoncentric media. Euston Sq gardens it wasn’t!
Meanwhile, events in the High Court in Birmingham were about to hammer home the final nail…
HS2 Ltd had applied to the High Court for a route-wide injunction that would ban any further disruptive protests or trespass on HS2 land. Over the years HS2 security and bailiffs had amassed a huge amount of evidence showing the dangerous, disruptive and violent nature of the protesters and this evidence was submitted to the Judge. Ironically, evidence was also provided by the protesters themselves through some of the video recording and livestreams they’d stuck on social media in an attempt to drum up support and funds. This backfired spectacularly in court! The old adage about ‘give ’em enough rope’ couldn’t have been more apt! There are thousands and thousand of pages of court documents, which you can find here.
After months of deliberations, Mr Justice Knowles granted the route-wide injunction on the 20th September 2022.
Contrary to claims from the protesters, the injunction did not make protesting against HS2 ‘illegal’. The injunction’s very specific in its wording about what it covers, which is;
(2) PERSONS UNKNOWN ENTERING OR REMAINING WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE CLAIMANTS ON, IN OR UNDER LAND ACQUIRED OR HELD BY THE CLAIMANTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE HIGH SPEED TWO RAILWAY SCHEME SHOWN COLOURED PINK, AND GREEN ON THE HS2 LAND PLANS AT https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-route-wide-injunction-proceedings (“THE HS2 LAND”) WITH THE EFFECT OF DAMAGING AND/OR DELAYING AND/OR HINDERING THE CLAIMANTS, THEIR AGENTS, SERVANTS, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, GROUP COMPANIES, LICENSEES, INVITEES AND/OR EMPLOYEES
(3) PERSONS UNKNOWN OBSTRUCTING AND/OR INTERFERING WITH ACCESS TO AND/OR EGRESS FROM THE HS2 LAND IN CONNECTION WITH THE HS2 SCHEME WITH OR WITHOUT VEHICLES, MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT, WITH THE EFFECT OF DAMAGING AND/OR DELAYING AND/OR HINDERING THE CLAIMANTS, THEIR AGENTS, SERVANTS, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, GROUP COMPANIES, LICENSEES, INVITEES AND/OR EMPLOYEES WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE CLAIMANTS
(4) PERSONS UNKNOWN CUTTING, DAMAGING, MOVING, CLIMBING ON OR OVER, DIGGING BENEATH OR REMOVING ANY ITEMS AFFIXED TO ANY TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT FENCING OR GATES ON OR AT THE PERIMETER OF THE HS2 LAND, OR DAMAGING, APPLYING ANY SUBSTANCE TO OR INTERFERING WITH ANY LOCK OR ANY GATE AT THE PERIMETER OF THE HS2 LAND WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE CLAIMANTS
With the injunction in force it was game over for the protesters who’ve never attempted to set up another camp, or break the terms of the injunction. To reinforce the seriousness of their position, a couple of protesters were given jail time for contempt of court. As usual the protesters tried to spin this as being jailed for protesting. It was no such thing, but you flout the authority of the courts at your peril! One of the protesters, Elliott Cuciurean (aka ‘Jellytot) remains behind bars now.
In October 2022 one of the protesters named in the injunction (James Taylor, aka ‘Jimmy Knaggs’) started to raise money for an appeal, but his application was refused on the 9th December 2022. There will be no appeal. In typically underhand fashion, the news of the refusal of leave to appeal has been kept quiet. It’s not mentioned on any of the protest groups Facebook pages. Instead, there’s still a Crowdfunder running to raise money to fund the non-existent appeal – although no-one’s been mug enough to donate for quite some time. Here’s a screenshot from today.
No update since May 2022. No news the appeal was refused but the crowdfunder’s renewed for another 30 days every time it expires. With just 10 days left that means it was last renewed Early January – long after the appeal was refused!. Sounds like a scam to me…
So, it’s game over for the protest camps and the protesters trying to interfere with HS2. Now scattered to the four winds with many of them having simply disappeared, there’s no way back for them. HS2 ‘rebellion’ exists only as a few social media accounts which occasionally recycle the odd newspaper article critical of HS2 or try and raise more money for the lad in prison. No-one’s trying to stop HS2 anymore…
The political campaign died even earlier. Originally, there had been 2 main groups opposing HS2. The High Speed 2 Action Alliance (HS2AA) based in the Chilterns and ‘StopHs2’ based in Kenilworth in Warwickshire. HS2AA gave up in 2016 after getting the Wendover tunnel extension as that was on their doorstep. StopHS2 staggered on until 2020. They were only two people, Joe Rukin in Kenilworth and Penny Gaines in err…Bournemouth! Joe was the main mouthpiece who would do the media interviews where he’d often lie through his teeth – all to no avail! He’s left behind an interesting legacy on Social Media – a trail of lies and half-truths which really haven’t aged well.
During the injunction proceedings Rukin was named as a defendant and was forced to admit that StopHS2 had given up campaigning against HS2 in 2020!
As for the supposed ‘StopHs2 North’, it doesn’t exist. There’s no such organisation. You can’t find any trace of it anywhere. Stop HS2 have even given up posting stuff on their website now. From posting stuff daily they only managed 6 stories last year, the last of which was in June 2022. There’s been nothing in 2023 and I doubt there will be.
Political pressure was the only hope of stopping HS2 but it never stood a chance as it never had any real political support in Parliament, especially in the Lords which has always been very pro HS2. When the Phase 1 HS2 bill passed 2nd reading in 2014 only 41 MPs voted against the bill. More than half of them are no longer MPs!
The Phase 2a Bill (West Midlands to Crewe) passed 2nd reading on the 30th January 2018 with another crushing majority of 295 to 12. Interestingly enough, some of the 41 MPs who voted against Phase 1 voted FOR phase 2a whilst others abstained! I blogged about it at the time here.
Phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester) passed 2nd reading on the 20th June 2022. By this time those voting against had dwindled to just 6 whilst 206 MPs voted for. The 6 were the usual suspects, including Greg Smith the hardline Brexiter from Buckinghamshire and (equally Brexity) Bill Cash. In fact, a Venn diagram of MPs who’re rabid Brexit supporters but who also oppose HS2 would be an almost perfect circle. This would encompass the few former Labour MPs who opposed HS2, like Kate Hoey. Co-incidence? I think not. You can see the malign influence of the Tufton St cabal at work here. After the 2019 election when there was a new intake of MPs noises were made about reforming a Parliamentary group of MPs who opposed HS2 called the HS2 Review Group but it never came to anything.
The problem for these few MPs and the Tufton St cabal is there are no more Parliamentary votes on HS2 for quite some considerable time. Legislation to build HS2 all the way to Manchester has passed. 2nd reading is the only stage that really matters as that establishes the principle of the bill. 3rd reading in the Commons and the process in the Lords can’t change that. By the time the next Hybrid bill appears we’ll have a new Government. Barring a disaster the Tories will be out on their arses and Labour will be in with a huge majority – and Labour are committed to building HS2 in full.
So, there’s really nowhere for the remaining opponents of HS2 to turn. They’re a dead duck politically and the protesters are finished. All that’s left is a dwindling bunch of Nimbys, right-wing libertarians and faux ‘greens’ wasting their time ranting in their social media echo-chamber. No-one sees them as a threat to HS2.
Meanwhile, HS2 construction is speeding up unopposed. Many of the major structures on Phase 1 are already under construction (for example, the Chiltern tunnels are already 50% complete) and work will only ramp up more this year. Civils Work on Phase 2 a to Crewe will be starting shortly whilst the Petitioning Ctte for Phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester will be sitting through 2023. It will be interesting to see how many people actually petition this Ctte as there were always so few StopHS2 ‘action’ groups on this section of the line.
I suspect this will be my final blog on the anti Hs2 campaign as it’s ceased to exist in any meaningful way. Oh, there might be some mad ones to poke fun at sometime during the year, but that’s it. It really is all over now. Most of my time now will be spent reporting on progress building HS2, not on those who so spectacularly failed to stop it!
Folks familiar with Malaysian railways will know about the great strides the country has taken to modernise the railway from Padang Besar by the Thai border all the way down to the peninsula’s Southern tip at Johor Baru, opposite Singapore. What was a slow, antiquated, colonial-era, single track railway mostly under the control of Victorian semaphore signalling has been upgraded (stage by stage) into a double-track electrified railway with modern bi-directional colour-light signalling capable of speeds of up to 160kph.
The final stage – the 197km section from Gemas (Junction with the East Coast railway to Kuala Lipis) to Johor Baru is well underway, albeit late. The US $2.26bn contact to rebuild the route was won by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and work began in January 2018 with an original completion target of 2021, this has now been officially extended until this year, but the delay shouldn’t detract from what’s an impressive piece of civil engineering.
This isn’t just a case of slapping down an extra set of tracks next to the originals. In many cases the new line runs on a brand new alignment that not only takes the kinks out but also flattens gradients and crosses through towns on long viaducts. Then there’s the unseen work, the thousands of concrete piles driven into the ground to stablise the formation, the pinning and shotcreting of cuttings, plus the extensive drainage work. For those of you unfamiliar with the line, here’s a picture I took from the back of a train heading North from Johor Baru near Chemak in February 2017. A 160kph line? I think not…
There’s also 11 brand new and substantial stations. Kempas Baru, Kulai, Leyang – Leyang, Rengam, Menkibol, Kluang, Paloh, Bekok, Labis, Genuang and Segamat, plus 3 entirely new ones at Senai, Chamek and Tenang. Some of these are large four-platform stops with associated freight yards and/or depots.
The completion of this section of line will see the demise of loco-hauled passenger trains on most of the West coast line. Currently, locomotives work the trains between JB and Gemas where passengers transfer to/from electric trains for Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth or Padang Besar. The only one likely to remain is the sleeper train between Tumpat on the East Coast line and Johor Baru.
Here’s a look at progress, seen from a loco hauled train from Johor Baru to Gemas on the 15th January 2023. Johor Baru station was rebuilt back in the early 2010s, the new line work starts a short way North, before the freight lines from docks at Pasir Gudnag and Tanjung Pelapas join the route. I’ve loads of pictures and can’t add them all to this blog, but you can find the rest of them in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.
25103 named ‘Pulau Bedong’ prepares to leave Johor Baru with the 8-car (7 passenger coaches and a generator car), 08:30 to Gemas. 25103 is a 1500hp loco built by General Motors, Ontario, Canada. 12 were supplied in 1990 followed by another 5 (25201-205) in 2002. Our train leaves the outskirts of Johor Baru. The scale of the work involved can be seen, from embankment stabilisation to rebuilt bridges. The new (straighter and flatter) route passes over the old at the junction with the freight line out to the East of Johor Baru which serves a container terminal and a shipyard. Major civils work just North of Kempas Barou station. A new concrete box (presumably for the new line) is being built whilst a lot of piling work is going on between it and the new loco depot which is just out of shot to the right. The rebuilt connection with the line to the container terminal at the port of Tanjung Pelapas trails in from the left. Double tracking and installation of concrete OLE masts South of Kulai. The refurbished interior of the Hyundai coaches which made up part of our train.The substantial new station at Kulai takes shape. This will have four platforms. Double tracking preperations South of the new station at Layang-Layang which can be seen in the distance.Layang-Layang station showing the approach roads and other works which form part of the contact. The new stations are substantial with all modern facilities, including being fully accessible and with level boarding with the new trains.The modern take on railway cottages. Each station is being provided with staff housing. This is Layang – Layang.Here’s a real contrast that shows the substantial difference between old and new at Renggam. The new station’s been build on a viaduct. The roof to the right is that of the original station building on the original rail level. A new electricity substation at Mengkibol which will feed power to the 25kv overhead wires. Our train arrives at Mengkibol. The scale of the rebuilding becomes obvious in views like this. Mengkibol has been laid out with extensive sidings. At the moment it’s used as a base for a lot of construction trains, including this one,top and tailed by two ex-Indian Railways YDM4 locomotives. The sleeper train from Kuala Lipis on the ‘jungle railway’ as the East coast line is still sometimes called passes us at Mengkibol on it’s way to Johor Baru. It’s hauled by 24102 ‘Mat Kilau’, one of 26 such 2,400hp locos supplied by Hitacahi in 1987. Another greatly elevated station, this time at Kluang. The blue tin roof to the right leads down to the temporary station building from the makeshift platform on the other side of my train.
Another temporary station building, this time further North at Paloh.More substantial cutting stablisation. This time at Bekok.All the old railway level crossings have been abolished (and all the lineside fenced to stop two or four legged creatures straying onto the tracks) in order to raise line speeds and prevent the risk of a derailment. This bridge is between Bekok and Labis.Another ex-Indian railways Class YDM4 on ballast duties. This time at Labis. The ‘knitting’ (the actual overhead wires) start to appear from milepost 605, South of Genuang.Here’s progress on the rebuilding South of Genuang. Moat of the infrastructure’s complete, including the fencing protecting the line. All that remains is to complete wiring the OLE.I found this modern British built locomotive from Clayton in this new three-road shed at Genuang. It’s branded ‘Pestech’ (I’m assuming there’s a clue in the name there) but I’ve no idea what the purpose of the new shed will be. High above the streets, the new elevated railway passes through Segamat. It’s such a contrast to the original line.A variety of vintage traction used on construction trains stabled or dumped at Batu Anam near Gemas, Furthest left and right are two ex-Indian Railways YDM4s but I haven’t a clue what the origins of the two centre locos are. A closer look at the other two old locomotives at Batu Anam. Any help in identifying them is appreciated. Journey’s end at Gemas, junction with the East coast railway. Here’s the old station which survives intact with the massive new station behind and to the right. There were plans to turn the old station into a museum, hence the presence of various items of old rolling stock. There was also going to be an exhibition inside the buildings but everything is closed up and empty. The main building used to be home to an excellent restaurant but this has vanished. I’m assuming it was a victim of Covid. A little cafe remains but that only sells hot and cold drinks – and boiled eggs. The main exhibit which has recently been repainted is 22131. 40 Co-Co Class 22s were designed by English Electric and built by Metro-Cammell between 1970-71. For many years they appeared all over the Network but were retired from the 1990s onwards. Three (22109, 22115 and 22127) were sold on to be used on contractors trains, rebuilding the lines North of Gemas, but none appear to remain in service. 22131 is one of four (the others being 22121 (renumbered as 22110), 22125 and 22134 which has been preserved. Here’s what the future looks like. A Class 93 waits to operate the 15:20 service from Gemas to Butterworth via Kuala Lumpur. These 6-car EMUs are built by CRRC Zhuzhou, China. 19 of these trains arrived between 2013-2018 with another 10 on order. Powered by Siemens traction equipment, the trains normal maximum operating speed is 140kph. They’re clean, quick and comfortable, but not as much fun as the old trains!
As you can see, it’s not going to be long before the rebuilding of the line’s finished and loco-hauled trains become rare beasts on Malaysian railways, so – if you want to sample them I’d do so this year. If you’re interested in other photographs of Malaysian railways I have a collection from 2011-2012 which you can find here. They certainly show how much things have changed!
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/
This article has appeared in the latest Rail Director magazine. I’m reproducing it here with extra pictures taken during my visit.
HS2 Euston visit.
On the day that HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson announced that Euston station was to have only 10 HS2 platforms but the whole station would be redeveloped in one phase I was on a site visit looking at progress on this massive project. The visit began with a briefing from Tom Venner, Managing Director of the Euston Partnership. The partnership (established in July 2020) brings together all the stakeholders and delivery partners to enable Euston to be developed together as a single scheme, under a board chaired by Network Rail’s Sir Peter Hendy. Tom updated us all on the Partnerships strategic aims whilst outlining the complexities of redeveloping the 5th busiest station on the national network, integrating it with HS2 and meeting the aims and aspirations of the local communities who have many different (and sometimes competing) priorities.
The task is vast in scale and fraught with challenges. 60 acres of the Euston area is under Government ownership and incorporated in the scheme. It’s the largest real-estate development in the capital that will take many years to complete – hence the desire to minimise disruption to local residents and users of the station by completing the scheme in one phase rather than two, even if these competing ambitions mean the Hs2 station’s platform numbers are a sub-optimal solution. It’s a difficult balancing act. Whilst the £2.6bn redevelopment will now be constructed in one long project it’s still being broken up into elements. Phase 1 is the concourse, 2 is the trainshed and 3 is opening up the Eversholt St side of the station with commercial development. The Somers Town side of Euston has always seemed to have had its back turned to this deprived area of London and the Euston masterplan is determined to address this deficiency and give the whole station more permeability
Because of all these changes a revised concept design for the new Euston won’t be available before the end of the year, so none of us yet know what the new Euston may look like in the future.
Our briefing in the HS2 office in the podium was held against the competing background noise and vibration from heavy machinery breaking up the foundations of the old Grant Thornton tower block outside. This site will become part of the expanded London Underground station that will take the HS2 strain off the existing cramped concourse. Across Melton St’s the HQ of the Royal College of General Practitioners where every GP in the country visits to sit their exams. As a considerate neighbour, HS2 has agreed to halt noisy work like this when these crucial events take place. It’s a good example of the balance that needs to be struck.
The remains of Grant Thornton house seen from our briefing room in the Podium. The cellar levels are gradually being excavated and cleared.
Our inspection tour began on the site of the HS2 platforms on the Western side of the current station that’s been cleared of residential and commercial properties – plus the 50,000 bodies exhumed from the former St James’ burial ground which will be re-buried at Brookwood cemetery near Woking. It’s now one vast open area that exposes the footprint of the new station.
This will be the site of the HS2 platforms, albeit below present ground level. In the background you can see the old London Underground station entrance and the grey clad building that covers the current work to build the new Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) which will replace it. A view looking North showing the piles installed to build the new Western Wall of the HS2 station. Beyond the grey HS2 offices and hoardings are the Hampstead Rd and some of the new homes built to replace those demolished to make way for HS2.
Here the first permanent structures are appearing in the shape of some of the 161 piles for the foundations of the station’s Western boundary wall. There’s much work to do yet. Another 7-10 metres comprising 820,000m3 of earth has to be dug out to reach basement level and negotiations are ongoing on the best way of removing the earth from site in a manner that will have the least impact on the roads and neighbourhoods around Camden. The HS2 platforms will be built 8 metres below ground level In a concrete box 90 metres wide and 500metres long. To prevent blocking nearby roads there will be a basement below which will have road access for service vehicles and staff parking as well as containing equipment rooms.
A completed section of the Western boundary wall of the new HS2 station with the old station in the background.
Meanwhile, the London Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) in the former station building on Melton St is being relocated with work expected to be complete in 2024 when it will be replaced by ‘the sugar cube’. Work’s currently taking place under a temporary building to lessen the noise impacts on neighbours such as the GPs college. During site clearance a Victorian cobbled Rd was found near the site of the former Maria Fedelis school. This was identified as Little George St which featured in the very first Sherlock Holmes novel (A Study in Scarlet) written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.
Forming the boundary at the North end of the station site is the Hampstead Rd bridge which will be reconstructed and extended to allow HS2 to pass under the busy A400. Like the TSS, this work is expected to be completed in 2026, removing the last constraint to completing the new tracks into Euston. This is another complex operation due to the need to provide sufficient clearance for HS2 tracks.
Our next stop was the new multi-storey site offices located on Stanhope St opposite the former Euston Downside carriage shed. There’s an excellent viewing platform atop the site which gives grandstand views South across Euston and central London and North to where the HS2 tunnel portals are to be built. The birds-eye view lets you appreciate the sheer size of the site and the amount of activity taking place as well as the proximity to the existing Euston station throat, which presents its own challenges. Opposite, we could see the truncated Granby St bridge, another crossing which will be extended to allow HS2 to pass beneath. Alongside Park Village East the original brick retaining wall is being reinforced to prevent movement by the insertion of ground anchors. Fixed in double or single rows, these are between 12-20 metres in depth. This work will continue until March 2022. The site is squeezed in the middle by the Western abutment of Mornington St Bridge, a delicate site as one of the HS2 tunnels will exit at this point. To make exit from the cramped Northern part of the site easier a wagon turntable for road vehicles is to be installed.
A view of the North end of the old Euston Downside carriage shed site. Looking back towards Euston station from atop the HS2 offices on Stanhope St.Granby Terrace bridge has been severed (for now) but it will be extended over the HS2 tracks. A general view of the old Downside site wit North London beyond.
Currently piling’s taking place to build the walls which will support the roof over this part of the site, as plans for the future include building homes above the tracks – some of the 1,700 that the scheme will provide at Euston.
The piling work with temporary sheet-metal piles in place as protection.
The site will also include the three-storey Euston Cavern Headhouse which will provide emergency access to the HS2 tunnels with access from Park Village East. When built the roof will also shield local residents from noise whilst the tunnel entrances are constructed. These piles have been constructed using the innovative “zero trim pile technique” which involves sucking out excess concrete while still wet using a new vacuum excavator. Traditional piling sees concrete overpoured before workers have to break out the excess. The old method can cause many health problems, including hand-arm vibration syndrome, hearing loss and silicosis, not to mention the noise, dust and disturbance caused to those living nearby. One of our guides for the tour was Lee Piper of the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) who worked with colleague Deon Louw from Cementation Skanska to develop the pioneering approach. SCS will be installing around 2,000 piles over the next three years in the Euston area with all but 15 using the new technique. The new method will bring benefits in terms of reduced carbon, noise reduction and safer ways of working. Chatting to Lee it was clear to see his pride in the new technique which he told me had cut 38 weeks from the piling programme, a major saving. He also told me that the zero trim pile technique was to be trialled on the Old Oak Common box where it had the potential to make huge savings in time, money and carbon on the construction of the 1.8 km long diaphragm walls. The piles finished using the method stand out because they look pristine. The rebar remains upright and undamaged whilst the base of the pile is a neat circle. Anyone who’s seen the mangled remains of piles that have been broken in the traditional method out can’t fail to notice the difference! Accompanying the concrete piles are a row of sheet piles driven into the ground to give support. These will be removed once the concrete piling is complete.
Here’s how piles produced by the zero trim pile technique look. Pristine!
Seeing the work at Euston move on from utility diversion and demolition to the start of construction makes one appreciate the length of the task ahead. The station isn’t currently scheduled to open until sometime between 2031-36 which gives an idea why the Partnership is anxious to prove itself to be a good neighbour that leaves a positive legacy. Rebuilding Euston’s going to a long process, but – if it’s done right – the long overdue redevelopment has a real opportunity to be a showcase for city redevelopment and transport integration. Time will tell…
You can view many more pictures of HS2 construction work at several sites along the route on my Zenfolio website. Link here.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today the weather’s finally turned good and stopped raining and I have a few hours to spare so I’m popping over to Merseyside in the hope of getting some shots of Merseyrail’s new Stadler-built Class 777 trains on mileage accumulation runs between Liverpool and Southport. There are now many Special Train Plan (SPT) paths in the timetable and I have a window that allows me to be around for a couple of them. Right now I’m on my way from Sowerby Bridge to Liverpool via Manchester, hoping to find the sweet spot of location and weather – and hope the runs aren’t cancelled at the last minute!
14:41.
I’m now on my way from Liverpool Central towards Southport on one of the old Merseyrail trains. What’s the fuss you nay ask? Well, for me it’s a bit of personal nostalgia. You see, I grew up in Southport and remember when these old trains were brand new and just being introduced. I was still a teenager then and I worked in a factory making underground telephone cable for the National Coal Board (NCB) that was right next to the railway. If you ever get the train between Birkdale and Southport and gaze to your right you’ll pass a place with a clocktower. That’s where I worked. In those days it was called ‘Adlec Ltd’. As well as making cables we also made plastic mirrors by their 1000. They were used as vanity mirrors in British cars of the day. You know the ones you’d find in the back of the sunshields above the windscreens? Them. Making the armoured underground telephone cable was fun. It came in various lengths and each length had to be capable of stretching by 15%. The only way we could do that way by hand. A few of us would tie one end to a post, stretch it with a rope until the wires and brass connector head fitted, then clamp it with a metal ring. There was only one problem. The factory aas too short to do this with the longest length the NCB ordered. The solution was to do it outside in the street! We’d tie one end to a nearby lamp post, then it would take half a dozen of us to stretch it. One time I remember us doing it was during a blizzard. That was fun. So, if in 1978 and you went past on the train and thought you saw half a dozen blokes looking like they were trying to pull down a lamp post – you weren’t mad – that was us!
This memory has come back to me because the Class 507s were just being introduced, so I got to watch them from work. They sounded very different to the old LMS built trains from 1938 so it was easy to know they were coming – and now they’re going, after 44 years to be replaced by the third fleet I’ve known in my lifetime. Barring a genetic fluke or miracle advances in medicine I doubt I’ll be around to see the fourth generation!
My affection for old trains is really reserved for the old 1938 stock which was from a completley different era. Whilst the 597s were all yellow Formica the 502s were panelled with exotic hardwoods which used to have little labels telling you what they were. They had deep bouncy horsehair seats too! In contrast the 507s were more utilitarian and a product of their age. The new teains are for yet another age – one where the population’s ageing. They have a rare thing in the UK, step-free level boarding.
16:36.
As usual, the law of Sod came out to play today. There *should* have been two of the new units out, but one was cancelled at short notice, leaving me with only one chance to get pictures. Here’s 777010 heading back to Sandhills from Southport, captured at the lovely little station of Birkdale in Southport’s suburbs.
Still, it was a nice opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine whilst remembering old times and a different age. Now I’m en-route to Liverpool to pick up some shopping before heading home. Time’s precious at the moment so I doubt I’ll have time to stop off on the way to get more pictures.
I did spot this earlier when I was walking through Renshaw St. Roadworks have uncovered the old tram tracks that have been buried since the last Liverpool tram ran in 1959..
18:30.
I’m on my way home using a TPE train from Liverpool Lime St to Manchester Victoria and I’ve just heard the most surreal conversation. As we pulled out of Lime St a young lad and his hard-faced girlfriend occupied the table opposite and began to talk. Well, he talked – and boasted of his jail time and the fact he has 392 criminal convictions and he’s not even 30. Oh, and how his solitictor ‘loves him’ as he’s made so much money from him. It was totally bizarre. He was actually boasting about being such a shit criminal he can’t even get away with shoplifting! Some criminal mastermind! They got off the train at Lea Green, leaving me wondering ‘what on earth’? If I hadn’t been sitting here on the laptop with the ability to transcribe his transgressions as he uttered them I might have thought I’d imagined it.
18:45.
I swapped from TPE to Northern at Victoria for the last leg home. It’s certainly been a varied day and the next week will be very much the same. I’m getting home early as tomorrow Dee and I (along with her parents) are relocating to Surrey for a week, so the pair of us need to sort out our stuff and pack. The logistics are fun as we’re taking Jet (our elderly moggie) with us, which will be the first time in his 20 years of life he’s ever set paw outside of Yorkshire! We didn’t feel comfortable leaving him at home with strangers for that length of time so we thought the old boy should have an adventure in his ‘golden years’. At least he’ll be with people he knows.
This means the next few blogs will be coming from a very different corner of England. I’ve a couple of jobs on whilst I’m there, so it’s not going to be all cricket on the green – although I’m hoping we will have time to indulge in that – as well as the football…
22:55.
I’m bringing today’s blog to an end with a couple of final pictures from today that show the difference the new trains will make to passenger accessability. Here’s one of the older trains at Liverpool Central earlier today. Notice the step down from the train.
This is known as the PTI (Platform Train Interface) and is the biggest cause of accidents on the railways nowadays. Here’s one of the new trains on test at Birkdale station this afternoon. Spot the difference.
Yep, no step, no gap and level floors throughout. This is how things should be. Sadly, this is how a minority of new trains are. I’ll look forward to trying these new Stadler trains out in public service soon.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today, in an on-line press conference Siemens showed off the final design of the new trains they’ll be building for the Piccadilly line of London’s deep level tube network. Back in November 2018, Transport for London (TfL) commissioned Siemens Mobility to supply 94 nine-car, articulated Inspiro type trains.
In what is billed as a world first for any deep-level ‘tube’ system the trains will be fully air-conditioned, which will come as a great relief to anyone who’s ever had to use the Piccadilly line in the summer! The technical specification of the trains is impressive.
These new trains coupled with an increase in frequency of trains in peak hours from 24 to 27 trains per hour from mid-2027 (a train every 135 seconds) will provide a 23 per cent leap in peak service capacity.
The new trains feature regenerative braking capability and cutting-edge traction systems using low-loss permanent magnet motors and auxiliary electric systems that feature silicon carbide technology, as well as Lithium Ion batteries. These system will help to reduce the heat in the tunnels generated by the existing trains braking systems, despite the addition of air-conditioning. Passengers will also benefit from the wider doors and abolition of the single doors at the car ends, plus the ability to walk right through the train in the same fashion as the S-stock used on the Sub-surface lines like the Metropolitan. Siemens have released these impressions of the train interiors.
Construction of the vehicles will be split between the existing Siemens factory in Vienna, Austria and the company’s new UK factory which is under construction at Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Initial testing of the fleet will be done at the Wildenrath test track in Germany.
I’ve been trying to get around to writing this update for weeks as the last was as long ago as November 25th last year and a huge amount has happened since. I’ve finally found the time but it’s been so long since the last one there’s going to be a lot in this blog. I’ll try and get onto a monthly basis to go forward from here on as the project is really ramping up at the moment. There’s a massive amount of positive news – and one potentially bad one – but more of that later. So, let’s catch-up with news from last year. I’m not going to be able to cover everything so I’ll be cherry-picking and focusing mostly on ‘concrete’ developments rather than some of the more socially orientated announcements.
First off was an announcement on the 16th December when HS2 began the quest for suppliers to provide switches and crossings for the 280km of new track between London, Birmingham and the connection with the existing mainline at Crewe. The contract – worth up to £156m includes the design, manufacture and delivery of around 180 switches and crossings for Phase 1 and 2a of the project, with options to extend for further equipment to cover Crewe to Manchester in phase 2b as well as the maintenance depots. More here.
Two days later HS2 released details of the first dedicated freight train to run. The train – operated by DB Cargo UK and Hanson – delivered 1,650 tonnes of aggregate that will be used in the construction of the temporary Calvert Railhead. Across the whole HS2 project, 15,000 freight trains are planned to be used to haul 10 million tonnes of aggregate to construction sites – taking the equivalent of 1.5 million HGVs off the UK’s roads.
EKFB’s Calvert site’s first freight train delivery at night, with aggregate, and then unloaded by articulated cranes. Copyright HS2 Ltd.
Moving freight for HS2 is providing a welcome boost for the rail industry over the next few years, leading to companies having to source extra traction such as the rebuilding of former Class 56 locomotives with EMD engines, the first of which is currently on test.
On the 22nd December the shortlist of bidders for Track Systems and for Tunnel and Lineside Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) systems. Both sets of contract opportunities cover design and construction between London, Birmingham and Crewe where HS2 trains will join the existing West Coast Mainline. The winners of the Track systems contracts will also take a lead role in managing and coordinating the complex interfaces between the track and other elements of the rail systems. The following were shortlisted for track systems.
Lot 1 – Phase One (Urban – London and Birmingham) – £434m
Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, ETF SAS, TSO SAS (BBVT Joint Venture)
Ferrovial Construction (UK) Ltd and BAM Nuttall Ltd (Ferrovial-BAM Joint Venture)
Colas Rail Ltd
STRABAG AG UK and Rhomberg Sersa UK (STRABAG Rhomberg Sersa Joint Venture
Lot 2 – Phase One (Open Route – Central) – £526m
Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, ETF SAS, TSO SAS (BBVT Joint Venture)
Ferrovial Construction (UK) Ltd and BAM Nuttall Ltd (Ferrovial-BAM Joint Venture)
Colas Rail Ltd
STRABAG AG UK and Rhomberg Sersa UK (STRABAG Rhomberg Sersa Joint Venture)
Lot 3 – Phase One (Open Route – North) – £566m
Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, ETF SAS, TSO SAS (BBVT Joint Venture)
Ferrovial Construction (UK) Ltd and BAM Nuttall Ltd (Ferrovial-BAM Joint Venture)
Colas Rail Ltd
Lot 4 – Phase 2a (Track) – £431m
Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, ETF SAS, TSO SAS (BBVT Joint Venture)
Ferrovial Construction (UK) Ltd and BAM Nuttall Ltd (Ferrovial-BAM Joint Venture)
Colas Rail Ltd
STRABAG AG UK and Rhomberg Sersa UK (STRABAG Rhomberg Sersa Joint Venture)
Rail, switches and crossings and pre-cast slab track will be delivered by separate suppliers – with the Track Systems contractor coordinating the design, logistics and installation. The winning bidders are set to commence work on site once the tunnels, bridges, viaducts and earthworks are complete.
The winner of the estimated £498m Tunnel and Lineside M&E package will be a Principal Contractor, delivering the design, supply, manufacture, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance (until handover) of the Phase One and Phase 2a Tunnel and Lineside M&E systems.
This includes the tunnel services within the shafts, tunnels and cross-passages, low voltage power services and distribution in the open route. The contractor will also design, supply, install, test and commission the tunnel ventilation systems.
The following organisations are invited to tender for Tunnel and Lineside M&E:
Alstom Transport UK Ltd
Balfour Beatty Bailey Joint Venture (BBB JV) – a joint venture between Balfour Beatty Group Ltd and NG Bailey Ltd
Costain Group PLC
Contracts for Track Systems and Tunnels and Lineside M&E are expected to be awarded in 2022.
HS2 celebrated the end of a momentous year by releasing this update on the project which includes pictures such as one of the tunnel entrance at Long Itchington. Soon this will be occupied by Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs)
FIlm and photo shoot of the Long Itchington wood North Portal, with apprentice/undergraduate Shehan
2021 started with the announcement that HS2 had received the go-ahead from Birmingham City Council to begin the transformative refurbishment of the Old (Grade 1 listed) Curzon Street Station, built by the London and Birmingham railway. The old building can be seen in the foreground of this illustration which also shows how the grade 2 listed ‘Woodman’ pub will also be incorporated into the area around the station. HS2 have declared that the old station goods yard alignment (and historic roundhouse) be incorporated into the plan.
Birmingham Curzon Street visual, January 2020
On January 25th HS2 announced that preparatory work on the Victoria Road Crossover Box (West of Old Oak Common) was complete and building work would commence.
The huge underground box will house crossovers allowing trains to switch tracks up to a design speed of 62 mph. The box will be 130m in length and 24m deep complete with 1.5m thick walls constructed by diaphragm piling method, with top and intermediate levels of reinforced concrete props. The base slab of the crossover box will be supported by 77 piles installed 20m into the ground below the slab level.
The site at Victoria Road is also currently being prepared to launch the Northolt Tunnel Boring Machines which will bore 3.4 miles North West as part of the construction of HS2’s 8.4 mile Northolt Tunnel. You can learn more here.
Here’s a cross-section of what the construction of the box will look like.
On the same day HS2 released details of new designs for two viaducts near the village of Water Orton in Warwickshire, including new landscaped areas that will provide green public spaces and wildlife habitats. Here’s an artists impression of the landscaped are in between the viaducts which will contain tree planting and new wildlife habitats with an opportunity (subject to local interest) for a community orchard or area of allotments. More here.
The next day it was announced that the first of five headhouses providing ventilation and emergency access to HS2’s ten-mile long Chiltern tunnel had gained planning approval from Buckinghamshire Council. The Chalfont St Peter headhouse takes its inspiration from the style of nearby barns and other agricultural buildings.
Progress continued apace this month with the announcement on the 11th that the bill for Phase 2a to Crewe had received Royal Assent. The 58km (36miles) route will open at the same time as Phase 1 much to the chagrin of those opposed to HS2 as it destroys their claims that HS2 will only ever run to Birmingham and also their mad claim that HS2’s only an ‘airport shuttle’! Royal Assent was no surprise as the bill had sailed through both houses in Parliament, which demonstrated how weak the opposition to HS2 really is. There wasn’t even a vote on the final reading of the Bill in the Lords as it was painfully obvious the bill would pass.
On the 16th February the final design of the Euston tunnel headhouse was announced. Developed in consultation with local residents the 2-stoey building will be clad in engineering brick to enable it to blend into the existing structures. Standing next to the original 10m high retaining wall, the new headhouse structure will extend above the top of the wall, with a green roof, stone-paved courtyard and entrance facing Park Village East. More here.
Cavern Headhouse – Park Village East elevation. The images were created by the Design House team as part of the Schedule 17 application. Copyright HS2 Ltd.
There’s other progress across the route that hasn’t really hit the headlines and a great place to get a flavour of what’s happening right across the route of HS2 is to follow the ‘HS2 in your area’ website which (as the name suggests) goes into detail what’s happening are by area.
One example is the announcement of the start of work on what will be one of the most iconic and visible construction projects on the route – building the Colne Valley Viaduct. Work on piling foundations the piers starts next month. Here’s some details from the HS2 website link.
Another item that’s happening next month is the delivery of the transformers to power the Tunnel Boring Machines that will be digging the tunnels under the Chilterns. These transformers will step the incoming voltage down from 33kV down to 11kV to power the Tunnel Boring Machines at their required levels. Shipped from abroad, the transformers will arrive over the weekends of 13/13 and 27/28 March. The 33kV power supply cable is coming in along the streets of Hillingdon and won’t be ready before June, so don’t expect the TBMs to begin work before then.
To end the round up here’s one of the many people and environmental good news stories. On the 17th February HS2 announced it had taken on its 500th apprentice.
So, as you can see, there’s a huge amount going on and there’s plenty more to come over the next few months. Now that the Government have announced a plan for us leaving Covid lockdown I’m looking forward to being able to get out and about along the route of HS2 as construction ramps up, so expect more blogs over the next few months documenting the chances as HS2’s built.
Oh, I mentioned one bit of (potentially) bad news, which came through Hs2’s Mark Thurston’s comments at yesterdays National Rail Recovery Conference. RAIL’s Richard Clinnick broke the news on Twitter.
This sparked a discussion at the conference which included Jim Steer, William Barter and Prof McNaughton. I questioned Jim about the potential impact of this change. His opinion was that it wasn’t a major issue and that rebuilding Euston station in one phase rather than two was a great improvement as doing it over 20 years as had been planned was a ‘big ask’ of the residents and communities around Euston. The conference continues tomorrow and you can still register (which will allow you to catch-up on what was said).
You’ll notice that i’ve not mentioned the increasingly desperate and failing protests against HS2 in this update. I’ll be covering those next in a separate blog which you can now find here.
Well, it’s a long time since I’ve done a rolling blog! Today, despite the fact it’s cold and raining here in the Calder Valley I’m trusting in the reliability of the weather forecast and venturing out to document more modernisation of the rail network.
Over the next few weeks Network Rail is working on the section of the Harrogate loop East of Knaresborough which contains several manually operated level crossings and single track sections that are controlled by semaphore signalling and tokens. It’s a system that dates back to the early days of the railways. My mission is to record it before it disappears. So, shortly I’ll be heading off to get the train from Halifax to Leeds. Stay with me to see what happens…
08:40.
Well, that was predictable! The large lineside fire in Bradford that occurred a couple of days ago is still causing chaos with many trains either cancelled or ‘bustituted’. My 08:30 to Leeds is now a bus so I’ve opted for plan B, which will save me a couple of bob anway.
I’m now waiting for the 08:50 Bradford Interchange to Huddersfield which is starting from Halifax. A Class 150 is sat here now, burbling away merrily, although the two of us who’re waiting to catch it are out on the cold platform as the Conductor’s not here to open the doors!
This diversion will lose me an hour but it can’t be helped. I suspected I wouldn’t get all the pictures I wanted today so another trip was on the cards anyway.
08:57.
By the time we departed there was a grand total of seven passengers on the train which is now bumbling its way to Brighouse. The Conductor has already been round to check tickets, which was good to see.
09:05.
Brighouse station had just three passengers waiting. Only one boarded my train, swapping places with a chap from Halifax. Now we’re trundling along to join the Trans-Pennine main line. On (literally) the bright side, my trust in the weather forecast seems to be paying off as the earlier rain’s disappeared and blue sky’s in the ascendency!
09:55.
Funny how things work isn’t it? In one of those serendipitous moments my arrival in Huddersfield coincided with an email request for an article about a group based there! This gave me time todo a quick recce and get some useful pictures, so the delay to my day worked to my advantage. It also made up for the fact my 09:46 TPE train to Leeds was running late as the Redcar service it forms wasn’t due until 10:07. Never mind, I thought, I’ll catch the 09:49 Huddersfield – Leeds ‘stopper’. I’m sat on it now. It’s still here – as the Driver who’s due to take it forward is on a late-running Manchester – Huddersfield stopper ans won’t be here before 10:00. Fair play to our Conductor for telling us this on the PA in a world-weary but entertaining fashion! So, which goes first? Us or the Redcar Express? Watch this space…
10:05.
In the end our driver arrived in time to take us out a 09:59, ahead of the Express. As we left, our Conductor made an apologetic announcement and updated the safety message by saying “and if you see anything suspicious – like a train running on time – please contact the relevent authorities”!
11:10.
Finally, I’m on the right track – as it were – as I’m currently on the 10.59 from Leeds to Knaresborough having left Yorkshire’s premier city 90 minutes later than I’d planned. My train from Huddersfield was a lot busier than I’d expected, but still only 30-35% full. In contrast Leeds station was deserted as it’s the cities that are hardest hit by business closures and travel restrictions, as this photo shows.
Even so, work on the railway continues and the new platform 0 is really beginning to take shape. The temporary structure I used on my RAIL rover has been swept away and the line closed once more as the passenger platform is integrated as one side of a pier serving 0-1. The new steelwork for the canopy’s in place and most of the resurfacing is complete. The main focus of work now is around the bufferstop.
Right now I’m going to kick-back and enjoy the scenery from my seat on a comfortable but quiet Class 170…
12:10.
I’m enjoying a brief interlude at Knaresborough in-between trains to soak up some sunshine whilst I can. There’s a much more intensive service as far as the pretty little town, but Eastwards too York it becomes hourly. The station is still controlled by this tiny North Eastern Railway signalbox, which is starting to show its age as it’s developed a distinct lean compared to the row of houses it was built up against!
15:10.
That was an interesting few hours! I managed to get as far as my target, Hammerton and spent a very interesting hour looking at the historic railway kit and chatting to the young signaller who was on duty. A friendly chap who’d only been in post for 6 weeks, he filled me in on some of the work that’s happening between now and the new year. In Hammerton’s case little is changing other than the replacement of the life-expired crossing gates with new ones and the replacement of the electic token system and physical tokens with electronic ones. This old 10 lever Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company frame in its own little shed on the platform will remain controlling the station.
When I called in on Cattal, it was obvious there’s a much bigger job in hand. The loop at the station’s being extended to the West and the present set of points which have a 20 mph speed restriction on them are being replaced with a higher speed version the will raise linespeed to 40 mph. Here’s the sight that will disappear from this weekend as the new electronic system replaces the physical tokens that the signaller handed to the driver.
Here’s the view from Cattal level crossing showing where the loop will be extended.
16:55.
I’ve resisted the temptation to hang around and be a laggard on the way home so Leeds was my last stop. Seeing the station so deserted during the evening rush is quite something, but I’ve got the pictures I wanted and services on my line are still disrupted so I’ve caught the 16:42 from Leeds to Manchester Victoria which is being diverted via Brighouse, so it reverses at My home station of Halifax before resuming its route through the Calder Valley. It’s actually quite busy but I’m assuming that’s because some of my fellow passengers didn’t want to be stuck on a bus!
21:10.
Time to draw this rolling blog to a close now I’m safely tucked up at home and adding some of the pictures I took earlier. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip out as much as I have!
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Paul Bigland 