Tag Archives: Rail Investment

High Speed 2 (HS2), the project’s picking up the pace…

05 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by in Hs2, Rail Investment, Railways

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I thought it was about time that I wrote another blog about HS2 as, finally, after years of arguments. delays and uncertainty, the project is very much underway.  After 11 years of planning and preparation, HS2 finally received ‘Notice to Proceed’ in April. Now, even seasoned observers like myself find it hard to keep track of progress as the speed and scale of events means it feels like there’s a new announcement on progress every week – despite the Covid hiccup. It’s easy to miss things, after all, this is a massive project that’s around 124 miles long and that contains dozens and dozens of worksites (large and small) covering a whole range of activities. There’s archeological surveys, utilities to divert, vegetation clearance, mitigation works, the establishment of site compounds as well as some major civil engineering ready for the launch of tunnel boring machines of the construction of viaducts and bridges.

What I’m going to do in this blog is give an overview of what’s happening where, as well as some of the major announcements that have taken place in the past few months. If you want to find details of work being carried on in specific areas, HS2 Ltd have an excellent website called ‘HS2 – in your area’ which keeps people along the route up to date. You can find it here. This blog is not an exhaustive list. I’m sure there will be some things I’ve missed because of the sheer size of the project.

Firstly, let’s look at some of the major announcements.

2nd July. The contract for the overhead power lines on phase 1 and 2 a to Crewe is announced.

Worth around £300 million the system will cover 589 single track kilometres, including 62 viaducts, 293 bridges and 15 tunnels

24th June. Birmingham Curzon St station construction shortlist announced. 

The following companies were shortlisted for the contract to build the £570m contract to build the station.

BAM Ferrovial (a joint venture consisting of BAM Nuttall Ltd and Ferrovial Construction (UK) Limited)

Laing O’Rourke Construction Limited

Mace Dragados (a joint venture consisting of Mace Limited and Dragados S.A. UK Branch)

The station recently became the first HS2 station to gain planning approval. It’ll be net zero carbon in operation and adopt the latest eco-friendly design and sustainable technologies, including capturing rainwater and utilising sustainable power generation, with over 2,800m2 of solar panels located on platform canopies.

22nd June. Telecoms supply contract announced. 

The winner of the contract – worth around £300m – will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, safety authorisation, testing, commissioning and initial maintenance of the operational telecommunication systems and the route wide security systems on Phase One and 2a, between London and Crewe.
The scope of the work includes 2,760 km of fibre optic cabling, 140 trackside cabinets, dozens of equipment cabins and radio coverage across 230km.

11th June. Pictures of the massive site where the Chiltern Tunnel boring machines will be launched from were released. 

Anyone thinking that work so far has been small beer about grubbing up a few hedgerows or diverting a few water mains were in for a shock when these pictures were released. The site at South Heath in Buckinghamshire is massive (136 acres) – but it’s escaped attention because protesters have ignored it so haven’t drawn attention to it. Hardly surprising at it shows just how ineffective they’ve been.

South Portal

The two TBM’s that will be launched from the site in 2021 are currently under construction in Germany.

28th May. Cleveland Bridge Co supply girders for the first major HS2 bridges at the M42.

Another solid good news story as a British company supply pre-assembled steel bridge sections.

26th May. Details of the Chiltern Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) under construction in Germany are released. 

Two of these state of the art machines are being built by Herrenknecht in Germany. 170m in length and weighing around 2000 tonnes apiece, the machines will run virtually non-stop for three and a half years.

20200506_074237

19th May. Old Oak Common station gains planning approval. 

Set to be the largest new railways station ever built in the UK, The station will have 14 platforms with a mix of six high speed and eight conventional service platforms. Expected to be used by around 250,000 passengers each day it’s set to become one of the busiest railway stations in the country when it opens.

d50a001c-aaa5-4352-ba18-0931ddd8cb08

15th May. The signalling contract is announced. 

The contract covers the design and build of the signalling systems between London, Birmingham and Crewe and up to 25 years of technical support.

4th May. Track systems contract is announced. 

The search is on for specialist contractors to deliver around 280km of state-of-the-art high speed track between London, Birmingham and Crewe – although Contracts covering rail, switches and crossings and pre-cast slab track systems will be awarded separately – with the track systems suppliers coordinating the design and installation.

1st May. Curzon St is the first HS2 station to gain planning approval.

Three planning applications for the new station and the surrounding landscaping were approved by the Council’s planning committee on 23 April, with the Council’s report concluding the station design “is truly world class”.

On the same day, it’s announced that…

Birmingham Interchange becomes the first railway station globally to achieve the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification – a measure of sustainability for new and refurbished buildings – putting it in the top 1% of buildings in the UK for eco-friendly credentials.

Of course, work continues at both the Curzon St station site in Birmingham and at London Euston and the surrounding streets where demolition of many old properties that have to be removed to make way for the new station has already been completed. Here’s a excellent time-lapse video from Network Rail showing the demolition of the old Western ramp up to the parcels deck atop the station.

Whilst the big announcements catch the eye there’s continual progress on the ground as the project gathers pace towards its biggest and busiest period which will be between  2024-25. That said, there’s plenty to look forward to in the next couple of years. The first tunnel boring machine is set to be launched later this year.

Contractor BBV plans to start creating the tunnel under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire at the end of 2020.  This includes the creation of a compound and upgrading Ridgeway Lane to support the future transportation of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). In autumn, the TBM will be delivered to the Welsh Road main compound via the upgraded Ridgeway Lane. It will be transported in parts and assembled on site.
Following assembly of the TBM, tunnelling will start in December 2020. BBV will bore two tunnels under the wood, emerging near the A452 and Dallas Burston Polo Club. Once completed the TBM will be removed from site.

So, as you can see, there’s a huge amount going on, despite the temporary hiatus caused by Covid. It’s not all about Phase 1 and 2a either. On the 23rd June the DfT issued new safeguarding instructions for Phase 2b whilst on the 26th outline details were revealed of the HS2 route wide ground investigation’s programme for phase two – a contract estimated to be worth up £250 million and delivered in up to 8 years.

And what of the protests and opposition to the project? It’s generated a lot of hot air and some media attention but achieved nothing. Not a single HS2 worksite has suffered serious disruption or been closed down for more than a day – despite the claims to the contrary. The half dozen protest camps are tiny with many under the constant threat of eviction. One has to wonder how the handful of protesters think they can stop the largest construction project in Europe when they can’t even stop themselves being evicted! Extinction Rebellion did organise a walk along the route from Birmingham to London but this only attracted a few dozen people. The irony was that whilst they were wasting show-leather on this futile exercise they weren’t able to disrupt any work on the HS2 sites! Such disruption have reached farcical levels, such as their last stunt where a solitary protester glued his hands together through an unused gate on the Denham work site. The level of disruption he caused for the couple of hours before he was removed was zero! Some like to paint the protesters as ‘heros’. Anyone who’s watched their antics on social media knows the truth about their (often) abusive behavior, assaults on HS2 staff and destructive antics. You can read about the whole sorry saga around Harvil Rd in this statement which was attached as evidence to back up the latest High Court Injunction.

It’s the same with the Crackley ‘protection’ camp. Whilst they did cause disruption, they didn’t stop any work from being completed and the camp is now pretty much redundant as the last few trees that need to be removed to make way for HS2 will be cleared at the end of the nesting season.

Attempts to disrupt HS2 in the courts have also failed. Hero Grainger Taylor’s attempt at a judicial review about the Camden cutting was rejected by judges on the 5th June, with no realistic chance of an appeal. (link).

‘Environmentalist’ Chris Packham is in court again this next week when judges will hear his crowdfunded appeal on the 8th July. Expect this to end in another humiliation as nothing substantive has changed. Here’s what the judges said last time.

HC Packham

No doubt I’ll be blogging about this after the event!

Apart from Extinction Rebellion’s ineffective efforts there’s nothing going on. Campaign  group (and I use that term very loosely indeed) StopHs2 are moribund and irrelevant with nothing going on apart from ‘rent a quote’ Rukin giving the occasional pointless, blustering interview. With the Government desperate to get the economy back on track and inject some life into it HS2 is needed more than ever – a point those opposed to the project refuse to grasp.

As soon as restrictions on visits are relaxed I’m expecting to be able to bring you some updates from worksites along the route so watch this space as this exciting project  continues to gather momentum in scope and scale.

 

 

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StopHs2. The fat lady sings…

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Hs2, Rail Investment, Railways

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This morning the Government announced that it has Given the HS2 rail project ‘Notice to Proceed’ which is the final hurdle the project had to clear before the main civil engineering work begins. It’s been clear this was going to happen since February when the Government announced it was going ahead with HS2 after studying the Oakervee Review but the announcement removes the last vestiges of doubt and allows the joint ventures tasked with building HS2 to get spades in the ground.

It’s also the final nail in the coffin for the anti Hs2 ‘campaign’ (a term I use loosely). They’d run out of steam and ideas years ago but recent events like Brexit and now the economic damage from the Coronavirus only made HS2 more likely. Why? It’s a shovel-ready project that has massive cross party support. The boost it can give the UKs crippled economy is obvious to anyone who puts economics before dogma. Why on earth would the Government not go ahead? To say the debate about HS2 is dead and buried would be an understatement but there’s still a few who want to try and pretend otherwise.  Of course, none of them can answer one simple question. It’s one they’ve ducked for years. How are you going to stop HS2? 

Cue tumbleweeds…

The anti HS2 ‘campaign’ has been on life support for years. It’s been hanging on, wheezing away through press releases and the occasional rent-a-quote interview from Joe Rukin but most of the Nimbys who were their backbone have sold out, moved on and given up. This has been evident in the gradual decline in the number of people agitating on social media, or signing petitions (more of which later). Let’s remember, they’ve not had a national public gathering since 2013 or demonstration since 2014. All their ‘national’ groups have collapsed of faded away, as has their action group network, which has had nothing to do since the Phase 1 bill got such a stonking majority in Parliament in 2014 – 6 years ago. It’s been a downhill trajectory for them ever since, including in every general election – and there’s been a few of them!

So what’s left? 

Well, Rukin’s still hanging around like a bad smell, mainly because he’s failed to find a proper job, despite years of looking. That said, StopHs2 haven’t been heard from since March 25th until today, when Rukin issued the sort of moan that’s been his trademark for several years now. Apparently, according to Uncle Joe, the Government is “shamelessly opportunistic” in deciding to give HS2 notice to proceed as “there is next to no scrutiny taking place” due to the covid-19 lockdown.

No ‘scrutiny’? He’s having a laugh! Apart from the fact every MP on the route is having their ears bent by their local Nimby population, Rukin seems to have forgotten his friends at Extinction Rebellion! These ‘eco-warriors’ have bombarded social media and anyone they can think of with hundreds of hours of tedious videos recorded on their smartphones as they ignore the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Hs2 staff can’t even fart without some useless protestor catching it on video and screaming that it’s ‘ecocide’ or a ‘wildlife crime’ or that the workers are breaking the social distancing guidelines!  

Extinction Rebellion are now the frontrunners in the opposition to HS2 – which isn’t really saying much as they’ve been as spectacularly useless on the ground as StopHs2 have been on the political front and the likes of Chris Packham and his Solicitors, ‘Pay Day’ have been in the courts (Don’t you mean Leigh Day? Ed). XR arrived on the scene a while ago and have an impressive 100% failure rate, despite all their exaggerated claims. Having failed to stop any work at Harvil Rd near London or anywhere in the Chilterns they set up camp at Crackley Wood in Warwickshire just before the lockdown. 

Long on bluster and vapid rhetoric but short on numbers (there’s only a couple of dozen of them) they promised their social media voyeurs that they were going to ‘save’ the woods and stop HS2 in its tracks. Needless to say, they’ve done no such thing. Outnumbered and outwitted by the National Eviction Team and HS2 security staff time and time again they’ve become increasingly shrill as their bluster has been exposed (often by their own videos!). They managed to get less than a dozen people into trees in both Crackley and Broadwell woods. They lasted but a few days before NET officers had them down. What was funny was seeing one of the tree protesters boasting on social media about how the woods were ‘theirs’ the day before he was unceremoniously hauled down and arrested! He was arrogant enough to assume that the fact NET were biding their time before evicting them meant they’d won. So, NET:11 – Extinction Rebellion: 0! To add to their woes, those arrested are now having bail conditions set that mean they have to leave Warwickshire and go home. For some of them this is tears at bedtime stuff. It’s like a kid being grounded and screaming ‘it’s not fair!’. Welcome to the adult world, where your imaginary ‘people’s courts’ don’t set the rules, the real authorities do. 

Because of all this the ‘eco-warriors’ have become deflated very quickly. They’ve believed their own bluster and completely underestimated the sheer size of the HS2 project. This isn’t some little local bypass they’re trying to stop. This is the largest infrastructure project in Europe and the logistics behind it are gargantuan. You could see that realisation starting to sink in when contractors moved in to begin clearing a path through the edge of Crackley woods that HS2 will pass through. This wasn’t a few blokes with chainsaws, this was massive modern machinery that could clear a mature tree in a matter of minutes.

Of course, the other problem for the ‘eco-warriors’ is their inflated rhetoric. Many of them are hopelessly  out of touch with the real world. Their heads are full of conspiracy theories and mouths with diatribes about capitalism. Their lack of knowledge of how the real world (rather than the one they’ve invented for themselves) works is bizarre. They bandy the words ‘illegal’ and ‘crime’ around like they’re going out of fashion, without an iota of self-awareness or realisation that, actually – they don’t make the laws and saying that something is ‘illegal’ doesn’t actually make it true. The old expression about ‘barrack-room lawyers’ springs to mind.

At worst, these people can be a nuisance to the early stages of HS2 as clearance work continues. But my prediction is that they’ll soon get bored and wander off to whatever’s the next bee in their bonnet. After all, there’s enough new roads being built, but they seem to ignore them for some mysterious reason. Oh, there’s another thing. XR grossly exaggerate their support. The latest doomed stophs2 petition on the Government website has produced some very interesting results so far. To give you an idea, here’s a map of signatures of their 2017 petition which closed after 6 months with less than 30,000 signatures. Look how you can trace the route of HS2 – both phase 1 and 2 – and look how nothing registers in quantity anywhere else. 2017 petition

Here’s how the latest petition stands at 18:00 on the 16th April. Notice a difference? 

2020 petition for blog

On the first petition it was very evident where HS2 went due to the number of people living on the route signing the petition. Not just on phase 1 either. There was one noticeable spot in Yorkshire on phase 2 (Hemsworth). Now look at the difference. Phase 2 of HS2 doesn’t even feature and only a handful of constituencies on phase 1 turn darker than yellow. Instead (bizarrely) you have constituencies like Stroud, Ceredigion (Mid Wales) and St Ives featuring – all those well known ‘hotbeds’ of anti HS2 activism? So why on earth…?

Because of Extinction Rebellion, that’s why. This is a map that shows where they  obviously have active local groups. Well when I say ‘active’, let’s crunch some numbers. Here’s how many people in these areas have actually signed as of 16th April. 

hippies

Mmm – so, a bunch of old (and young) hippies living miles away from the route are going to stop HS2? I think not… These areas will ring bells with anyone who remembers the ‘glory’ days of the counterculture. Whilst there’s no doubt many of these people have a genuine concern for the environment, they’re also a ragbag of conflicting beliefs, not all of which are savoury, or ‘enlightened’. There’s the usual anti capitalists, more than a few conspiracy theorists (chemtrails being a favourite) and – sad to say – an undercurrent of racism.

Here’s a Facebook post from Terry Sandison who is at the Crackley Wood camp. He regularly bombards social media with videos, but this is the other stuff he doesn’t generally share on the anti HS2 groups – for obvious reasons…

Terry Sandison 

Sadly, this is not an isolated thing. Lizzie Williams, the founder of StopHs2 has gained herself a reputation for xenophobia and anti-Semitism following Tweets like this one from January 2018.

mad lizzy. Jan 2018

“My” country?  Or there’s this one from earlier this year…

lizzy racism

One thing the ‘greens’ have never noticed is just who they’re in bed with when it comes to opposing HS2. They’ve never asked themselves how on earth they can be on the same side as UKIP, the BNP, Britain First, the National Front and For Britain who all oppose HS2. Not to mention the likes of right-wing lobbyists the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Taxpayers Alliance. You’d think alarm bells would be going off all over the place, but no. The sad truth is there’s quite a few eco-fascists out there (Sorry Robin W, I know you hate me pointing that out). 

Oh, there’s another weapons-grade hypocrisy about the Extinction Rebellion people. They keep banging on and on about HS2 site workers, bailiffs and the Police not ‘social distancing’ – without the slightest understanding of what the rules actually are. How in God’s name is any member of the police expected to arrest someone at a distance of 2 metres? Or a security guard prevent someone intent on causing disruption trespassing? To any sane person it’s obvious nonsense but it doesn’t stop them banging on and on whilst claiming they’re goody two-shoes and practising ‘self isolation’. Really? Allow me to introduce you to Ross Monaghan. Ross was at the Crackley Wood camp where he utterly failed to stop HS2 but he did a very good job of posting hours and hours of rambling video to Facebook and elsewhere. As if by magic, he’s now appeared in Jones Hill wood near Gt Missenden, where he’s recorded his latest video.

Monahagn 2 This is 68 miles away from Crackley Woods! Essential travel? Socially isolating? What a bunch of hypocrites! There’s more. This was posted on one of their facebook pages the other week by someone who wanted to break the Covid lockdown to travel from East Anglia to join the Crackley camp. 

pallinder 2

Notice no-one, including Lizzy Williams, tries to discourage him? Exactly the opposite in fact. It’s just another example of the utter hypocrisy from these people when they talk about HS2 workers and Covid-19. These people try to claim the moral high ground but their actions betray that. They only call on the law when it suits them. 

Whichever way you cut it, the ‘campaign’ to stop HS2 has reached the end of the road. The grumbles may rumble on for a while and the ‘eco-warriors’ may make a nuisance of themselves for a bit, but that’s all. Now the main Civil Engineering contractors are mobilising and the project is entering the real construction phase. Now I’m looking forward to being able to focus more on the actual construction of HS2 rather than documenting the long history of failure of the campaign to Stop HS2! I’m sure the ‘eco-warriors’ will still feature occasionally whilst their daft antics continue, but the rest is history. We’ve taken a long time to get to this stage, but it’s finally here. The shovels are ready…

 

Confusion reigns over Northern’s trains!

02 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways

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On the day when commuters returned to work after the New Year holiday and rail fares increased by an average 2.7% and Northern were still cancelling services, confusion reigned over the future of the Northern franchise. This morning Transport Minister Grant Shapps gave an interview to the BBC which was widely interpreted by the media as him announcing he was stripping operator Arriva of the franchise. The BBC later backtracked on this and ITV secured a quote from the Dept of Transport saying that no decision had been made.

A new CAF Class 195 stands at Sowerby Bridge earlier today whilst working 1E62, the 1224 Chester to Leeds. In the adjacent platform is a refurbished Class 158. Displaced from top link jobs by the 195s, it’s working 2L96, the 13.17 Leeds to Wigan Wallgate. Previously this would have been a Class 142 or 150 working.

So what is happening? Will Arriva lose the franchise?

Shapps has made it fairly clear this is his intention and an operator of last resort is being put into place. But it’s not going to happen overnight. Politically, it would be a popular move as Northern have come in for a huge amount of criticism over the past year. Some of it justified, some not. Elected Mayors, User groups and the passengers themselves have all given the company a good kicking. The fact the franchise’s MD has a very low profile compared to previous bosses like Heidi Mottram and Alex Hynes hasn’t helped either. They’re seen by many (including their staff) as a faceless company. But no franchise has ever been terminated purely on the grounds of poor performance…

What isn’t clear to seasoned observers is how running Northern from a desk at the DfT in Westminster is meant to improve anything. After all, the franchise was specified by the DfT in the first place! Let’s look at some of the problems Northern are facing and where responsibility lies.

Infrastructure.

The company’s suffered from the late completion (or shelving entirely) of infrastructure enhancements like electrification that were meant to help it deliver new timetables and new services. These are the results of failings by Network Rail which is already in public control and funded by Government, plus political delays in decision-making on future enhancements like the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (which was ‘paused’ by then Transport Minister Chris Grayling) and the Manchester Oxford Rd corridor.

Trains.

Problems with the late delivery of new and refurbished trains such as the CAF built Class 331s and 195s, as well as the rebuilt Class 769 bi-mode trains have had a big impact, as have the inevitable teething problems with new fleets. None of these are Northern’s fault, but they’ve meant that the company has suffered more cancellations and-short-formed trains. It’s also going to be keeping over 45 old Pacer trains running until May (possibly August) 2020 when they should all have gone by the end of last year. This is manna from heaven for the critics, but what else can they do? Leave themselves short of trains and cancel more services? They’re caught between a rock and a hard place until all the new trains are in service (over a year late).

Staffing.

The new trains being late has had an impact on staff training and availability, which hasn’t helped service levels or delivery of the new timetables. There’s also the small matter of finding paths to run these trains in to allow mileage accumulation and time for staff to familiarise themselves with their workings. The difficulty finding paths has been exacerbated by both LNER and Trans-Pennine also introducing new fleets, leaving capacity at a premium. Sweating the Northern fleet by running complex diagrams and relying on staff working rest days hasn’t helped either. Nor have the problems at Trans-Pennine Express. Their timetabling problems have an impact on Northern services at pinch points like Leeds and Manchester.

Here’s an illustration of today’s performance for Northern and TPE, taken from the Trains.im website. Timed at 19.50.

Green is on time. Orange is between 5-30m late and Red is over 30m late or cancelled.

How will stripping Arriva of the franchise resolve these issues? It won’t.

What will happen to the franchise in the long term? There’s a lot of rumours flying around that the franchise will be split into East and West, as it was before two areas were merged to form the first Northern franchise in 2004.

If the Conservatives wanted to play clever, they might even decide to hand these franchises over to local control. Either directly to transport for the North, or (if they’re feeling really devious) they could give Manchester’s elected Mayor, Andy Burnham, a level of control. He’s a long-standing critic of Northern and as a Labour Party member he’s pushed for rail renationalisation. The expression ‘be careful what you wish for’ springs to mind here as the buck would (potentially) then stop with him. Only he’s no control over the root causes of Northern’s problems either!

Whatever is decided in the corridors of power, the franchises problems will continue until the infrastructure and capacity is sorted out. The situation with staff and new trains will ease when the new fleets are fully introduced and trains and staff are bedded in which will mean punctuality will improve but it won’t cure bottlenecks around Manchester or Leeds. If the Government is serious about investing in the North (and keeping the Labour constituencies that turned Tory at the last election) it’s going to have to address these issues by investing in HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. But what does it do in the short-term as neither of these projects will be delivered for two general elections? A quick fix could be to devolve power and money to the North and say, ‘right, get on with it’…

Meanwhile, there’s looking like there’s going to be rail congestion at the DfT as a number of franchises are looking rocky. TPE seemed Teflon-coated as Northern got all the flack, but now they’re starting to feel the heat too and there’s no sign of a recovery plan. SouthWestern Railway is under pressure too, both financially and through strike action. There’s also the unresolved SouthEastern franchise. And what of the William’s review?

It’s not as if there’s a queue of people waiting to bid for franchises. Let’s face it, despite what some on the left claim, they’re hardly a licence to print money more like a licence to lose it – as this informative tweet from my RAIL colleague Phil Haigh demonstrates! Abellio aren’t having a happy time with a few of their franchises, including Scotrail.

So, not only can you lose your shirt, there’s also the reputational damage. Is it any wonder both Virgin and Stagecoach have now left the field? As a source at Stagecoach told me, the cost of recent unsuccessful bids wiped out the profits from their bus operations. When bidding is that expensive (£5m plus a pop) and the chances of winning so uncertain, why bother?

Rolling blog: Heading South for Xmas…

20 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, London, New trains, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:10.

I’ve begun my migration South as Dawn and I, plus her parents, are going to be staying in Surrey over Christmas in order to be near her brother and his young family. But first I have a few things to do in London, including catching up with old friends.

Right now I’m en-route to Manchester aboard the 09:06 from Sowerby Bridge to Wigan Wallgate. Once upon a time you could have expected this service to have been worked by a Pacer. Today it’s been allocated a refurbished 2-car Class 158, number 901 – one of the batch bought by the West Yorkshire PTE back in the 1990s. There’s an odd mix internally as it’s fitted with the new seats that are in the Class 195s but it retains the old (battered) tables and there’s no USB sockets or wifi.

As we traverse the Pennines I’m noticing that a lot more of the 2-car Class 195s are in passenger service now. Before the timetable change they were quite rare. It’s a positive change for passengers and I’m looking forward to seeing the full fleet in service next year.

09:30.

We’ve now crossed over the border ino Lancashire where the weather’s just as dull, wet and miserable as it was in the Calder Valley – but at least it’s mild!

09:42.

This train’s an ‘all shacks’ stopper which is full and standing now it’s left Rochdale. There’s a mix of Christmas shoppers heading into the city and others like me who’re heading South for the holiday.

11:44.

My train was late into Victoria as we played the usual game of sitting outside waiting for a through platform to become free. Oh, for the days before British Rail flogged off half the station to build an arena and demolished so many platforms!

I’m now taking my first trip on Avanti West Coast. There’s not a huge amount of difference at this stage in the game. The Pendolino’s look almost exactly the same internally apart from a few notices. The staff are their usual friendly and efficient selves, they just make slightly different announcements. The wifi screen’s changed, but beyond that…

I’m currently speeding through Warwickshire at a rate of knots past a very damp and flooded landscape. Everywhere I look I can see fields under water, whilst rivulets of rain cascade down the window, holding their own little races as they go. Inside the train it’s warm and cosy, leaving me feeling sorry for the sodden sheep I’ve just seen by the lineside. Right now we’re flying through Rugby, a town and station I know well having spent a lot of time here in the past – including a Xmas and Boxing Day trackside many years ago, working on the infamous Rugby blockade which was part of the West Coast upgrade!

12:01.

We’ve just paralleled the M1 motorway, which is easy to see because it resembles a linear raincloud due to all the spray that’s being thrown up by the vehicles on it. I’m glad I’m on a train instead!

12:16.

The rain’s finally abated as we speed past flooded fields around Ledburn and the location of the great train robbery, an event sanitised in popular culture but never forgotten by those members of the railway family because of what happened to the train’s driver, Jack Mills, which was always glossed over in the myths around the event and subsequent films.

12:30.

We’ve just passed Wembley yard, where the presence of a Grand Central class 180 has completely thrown me!

All change (in more ways than one)…

16 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways

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Today was the first day of the new winter timetable for the railways and a visit to my local station and a perusal of social media tells me it’s not gone well in a lot of places. Certainly not across Lancashire and Yorkshire where both Northern and Trans-Pennine express seem to have had a difficult day judging by the lists of cancellations, delays and pictures of overcrowded stations posted to Twitter. The industry’s not exactly covering itself in glory right now, despite there being so many good news stories.

The truth is, our rail network is trying to cope with massive increase in trains and passengers without the same growth in infrastructure to take them. Sure, there’s also other (human) problems like train-crew issues and training plus the technical problems of introducing new trains – and let’s not even talk about the mad 27 day strike on South-Western Railway!

However, the real problem is resilience. We’re trying to fit too many trains on a network with very little spare capacity and tight timetabling of both trains and crews which can easily lead to a ripple effect, especially at choke-points like Leeds and Manchester.

Understandably, passengers are getting pissed-off. They’re not interested in the causes, they just want a reliable service that’ll get them to work/home on time every day. It’s hardly too much to ask, but it is the biggest challenge facing the railways right now and I’m not sure the new timetables are going to help. At least the red-herring of rail renationalisation and fears of a complete political and managerial reorganisation of the rail industry has disappeared as a consequence of the election result.

On the plus side, more and more new trains are entering service across the network. LNER retired the last of the venerable diesel High-Speed Trains (HSTs) yesterday and Northern continue to make inroads into the BR built Pacer fleet, which is why I popped down to Sowerby Bridge station this morning. Three more Class 142 Pacers were working under their own power from Newton Heath Depot in Manchester to be stored at the old colliery sidings at Gascoigne Wood near Selby. Here they are on their way.

142057 leads 142048 and 142053 through Sowerby Bridge on their last journey through the Calder Valley after 33 years in service.

On Wednesday Scotrail finally dispense with yet another of the old BR built fleets, this time it’s the Class 314 EMUs which have worked around Strathclyde since 1979. I’ve looked back at their lives and times in this blog. As this graphic from the Rail Delivery Group shows, our trains are getting younger. Now all we’ve got to do is make them run on time…

Calder Valley rail travails

22 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways, Sowerby Bridge, Transport, West Yorkshire

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After yesterday’s excitement about the arrival into service of the new trains, today’s been back to business very much as usual with lots of late running, trains terminating short and cancellations. I popped down to Sowerby Bridge for an hour to see what was happening. It wasn’t great. Several Leeds – Southport and Chester services were cancelled with some Southport trains terminated at Wigan Wallgate. Here’s a look at some of the days services.

195119 worked 1E60, the 1124 Chester to
Leeds which was one of the few trains I saw that actually ran to time. The 195s superior braking and acceleration should help when there’s only a few minutes delay involved, as there was on this service earlier in the run.
This service wasn’t so lucky. 195107 passes at speed whilst working 2M14, the 12:18 Leeds to Manchester Victoria. It got as far as Hebden Bridge before being cancelled with a door fault. Door problems appear to be a recurring theme with the new units. This seems to be a mixture of mechanical and human problems. Hopefully, the bugs will be ironed out quickly.
The next 195 to appear was 2-car 195002 which had been allocated to 1D77, the 12:38 Leeds to Chester. It also suffered from late running, arriving at Sowerby Bridge 3 mins down. It dropped another 5 mins before arriving in Manchester.
Another service with problems was 1J10, operated by a pair of 2-car Class 158s, 158859 and 158851. This should have been the 11:24 from Southport to Leeds but it was terminated at Wigan Wallgate on its Westward run, so formed an 11:57 Wigan Wallgate to
Leeds.
Close on the heels of 1J10 was 195007 working non-stop through Sowerby on 2E15, the 12:58 Manchester Victoria to Leeds which was running 10 minutes late. On its return it formed a Chester service.
The last observation of my short stint was 195111 non-stop on 2M16, the 13:18 Leeds to
Manchester Victoria which was only a minute late!

As this is early days and there’s always teething problems with new fleets I’m hoping these issues will be sorted out quickly. What’s harder to sort out is the cancellations and delays that have nothing to do with the new trains. After the heartache and hassle passengers and businesses have suffered over the past few years due to the rail strikes, punctuality needs addressing as a matter of urgency. It’s easy to see how the Northern TOC can become a political football when the service is so unreliable. It could be very tempting to politicians desperate to curry favour and secure a ‘cheap win’ and political plaudits by taking back the franchise. Add in the fact that Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd are due to lose many of their services from the December timetable (I understand they’re due to be cut by a third during the week and by half on Sundays) and you can understand local displeasure.

It’s disappointing on another level too. Network Rail have invested in the route, having spent over £100m on new signalling track upgrades and line-speed improvements in the past few years, but this isn’t reflected in punctuality improvements. Why? What’s the route cause of the problems? I’d love to know…

Rolling blog: another day, another dollar (another train)…

16 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by in Hs2, I love my job, Manchester, New trains, Northern Powerhouse, Northern Rail, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs

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10:47.

I’m out and about slightly later today as I was up and in the office at 06:30 this morning, sipping coffee whilst I edited yesterdays pictures and got them to the client before start of play so that they could make their selection today.

Whilst doing so I caught up on the days news. Apart from the usual Brexitshambles, HS2’s in the public eye as the Oakervee review is allegedly going to be published ln the 19th. What’s interesting is to see how much public support there is for the project. The North’s politicians and business leaders like the CBI and BCC are queuing up to say that any downgrading of the project would be very damaging. In contrast, the dwindling opposition to HS2 is very muted. The remaining campaign group, StopHs2, have neither the money or the recourses to do much. Their ‘Campaign Director’, Joe Rukin spends most of his time playing “Swampy” with the tiny bunch of protestors in woodland camps on the phase 1 route. The penny slowly serms to be dropping that Phase 1 isn’t going to be cancelled and the carrying over of the phase 2a Hybrid Bill onto this Parliaments agenda is sending signals that no-one expects that to be shelved either. The only questions are over phase 2b – hence all the lobbying from the North’s powerful lobby.

There are a few dissenting voices in the North. What’s mildly depressing is the way some here still play regional and party-political politics with a chip on their shoulder about London. They simply won’t accept that HS2 isn’t all about the capital. The positive thing is they’re very much in a minority and have no credible alternatives to offer, just obfuscation and yet more delays.

As a Lancastrian who lived in London for 25 years before moving to Yorkshire I find this envy and resentment of the South both frustrating and (ultimately) self-destructive. It’s daft, not least because many of us “Southerners” were former Northerners who made the most of the opportunities London and the South-East had to offer, rather than sticking with Northern parochialism and the feeling that the North’s “hard done by”.

A case in point was a discussion I had with someone complaining about the fact HS2 tracks wouldn’t reach Newcastle or Teeside. I asked him to make a positive case why they should. All I got back was resentments and political conspiracy theories. Now there’s no doubt the North has been ignored sometimes, but when all it does is moan and say “it’s not fair” it’s easy to dismiss. Concrete evidence of WHY investment in the North should be made and the benefits it’ll bring are harder to ignore, which is why it’s great to see the North’s political leaders embracing the opportunities “Northern Powerhouse” can bring rather than dismissing it as a political stunt. If only others did…

The frustrating thing is there are many inspirational people in the North and some fantastic things happening. If only we could ditch this Southern envy!

11.17.

I scribbled the above whilst changing trains at Hebden Bridge. I’m now aboard a 2-car Class 150 heading to Victoria to see some of the Northern Rail investment all too often ignored by some Northern politicians because the ‘wrong’ political party wrote the cheques for it! I’ll also be popping back to Piccadilly for a couple of hours to (hooefully) add a few more assistence pictures to the collection. Watch this space…

12:05.

Passing through Manchester Victoria I couldn’t help noticing how railway enthusiasts have returned to it’s platforms nowadays. A small group of them huddled at the East end of platform 5. For many years few bothered due to the steady diet of DMUs with an occaisional freight. Now, with a resurgence of freight and loco-hauled passenger services, plus new Nova 2 units snd Class 195s, it’s become a place to visit again!

14:30.

As the weather changes, so do plans. The miserabke weather we’ve been having over the past few days has given way to sunshine and the opportunity to catch some outdoor shots, so Piccadilly’s been postponed. Instead I’ve been getting shots around Manchesters rapidly changing city skyline (pix will be added later). Right now i’m bouncing my way to Wigan aboard an ostensibly ‘stored’ Northern Pacer (142046 for the number crunchers) which has presumably been resurrected to make uo a stock shortage. No doubt the picture will soon change again. Next week the new Class 195s are due to take over Leeds-Chester services, which (in theory) allows more Pacers to bite the dust before the December deadline.

14:37.

As we approached Bolton I noticed that the huge red brick “Beehive Mill” that’s adjacent to the line and been wmpty for years is in the process of being flattened. Cotton mills were an important part of Lancashire’s past, but they’ve no part in its future. Hopefully in 2019 the site can be put to better use.

15:34.

I’m taking a short break in Wigan to get some sonshine shots before heading back across the Pennines. Here’s my chariot, which is looking well for a ‘stored’ train!

17:50.

What a difference a few hours can nake to the weather! As I headed home through Manchester the sun was beating through cloudless skies and turning rail tracks into golden ribbons. I couldn’t resist stopping off at Victoria for an hour to capture some scenes and the opportunity presented by a flag-waving lookout stationed at just the right place on a platform end. I’ll ad some pictures later. Right now i’m on a busy Class 156 heading to Leeds via Brighouse as the 17:37 off Victoria.

Time in the sun.

05 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by in Pubs, Rail Investment, Railways, West Yorkshire

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(Updated 23:00)

I managed to escape from the office again today as I’d arranged to meet a fellow photographer who works in the rail industry to give him a guided tour of locations around Marsden on the Trans-pennine rail route through the Colne valley. I’d been meaning to update my library shots and get some pictures for a client from the area, so this was the perfect opportunity – especially as the sun Gods were smiling upon us.

Trevor and I met on the train at Huddersfield for a trip on a line that (as a man of Kent) he’d not travelled on for donkey’s years. Our first port of call was Marsden, the nearest station to the famous Standedge tunnels, where canal and rail occupy almost the same ground under the Pennines. It’s a fantastic photo location but one that will change dramatically over the next few years when the rail route is electrified.

The only downside nowadays is the monotony of the type of trains. Very little freight uses the route as it has such an intensive passenger service. This is Trans-Pennine Express’s core route. Northern Rail used to operate an hourly all-stations Huddersfield-Manchester service but it’s now operated by TPE. This means the line’s almost completely Class 185 operated which is why the introduction of the TPE’s loco-hauled sets is a welcome break from the monotony.

Having trudged up the incline to a spot above the tunnel entrance the sun smiled, and so did we, as we managed to get a range of pictures in decent weather. Here’s an example.

A TPE Class 185 heads East towards Marsden station which is around a quarter of a mile to the right of the picture. The bridge in the foreground’s an aqueduct which has been rebuilt and renewed by Network Rail. It’s been raised to give sufficient clearance to the overhead wires which are due in the next few years when the line between Leeds and Manchester’s electrified.
A zoomed-in shot from the same location, showing the aqueduct in greater detail. The formation to the right carried tracks through the original single track Standedge tunnels which were built in 1848 and 1871. The present double track rail tunnel was built in 1894. Just behind the train is the Huddersfield narrow canal, its tunnel was opened in 1811. You can learn more about these feats of engineering here. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend the tunnel café and the museum. Both are in the canal basin and a short walk from Marsden station.

Having exhausted the photographic possibilities we changed locations a couple of times to catch one of the new CAF built trains for Northern which was working empty stock from Preston to Huddersfield.

In doing so we missed one TPE’s new Nova 3 sets as we didn’t know the damned thing was running! Here’s the classic view we’d been heading for.

A Manchester bound TPE service approaches the Standedge tunnel. The canal museum and visitor centre I mentioned earlier is in the old transhipment shed to the right of the picture.

By that time the Pennine weather had changed from favourable to fearsome, with cold air and showers sweeping in from the West, so we adjourned to the Riverhead Brewery Tap pub in Marsden, which is a cracking place to stop for a pint before heading back East

Back in Huddersfield we connected with the loco-hauled TPE set we’d missed earlier. Well it would have been rude not to!

Trevor used it to get to Leeds before heading off to Keighley whilst I stayed on as far as York as I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get shots of the set under the magnificent station roof. Luckily, a late-running Siemens set allowed me some nice juxtaposition and a study in front ends.

All in all it’s not been a bad day and a lot less frustrating than yesterday. There’s some useful shots in the bank and for a client. I’ve had chance to explore locations I’ve not visited for a while and I’ve also been able to act as a tour guide for a friend. What more can you ask for?

Rolling blog: London return…

29 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by in London, New trains, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:45.

Today’s start is a little earlier than yesterday. There’s been no trees down on the road either! Instead I’ve strolled the mile and a half into Halifax and caught Northern’s 08:42 to Leeds. I’m being spoiled today as it’s worked by a pair of 2 car 158s with my unit being one of the fully refurbished ones that has the new style seats and USB sockets – luxury!

The train’s surprisingly quiet but I’m not sure if this is due to the fact it’s still the holiday season or the fact we’ve a 25-50% increase in capacity compared to what we would have had 2-3 years ago. Thos who like to snipe at railways in the North (yes, you Andy Burnham) would do well to remember just how many new or cascaded vehicles Northern’s been able to add to its fleet over the past few years.

I’m en-route to Leeds as I’m returning to London for part of the day to finish a commission, meet up with a colleague and also bag a few more library shots before heading North again to hopefully catch up with another friend and colleague in York, so I’ve a busy schedule. Let’s see how the day goes…

10:25.

The 08:45 Leeds to Kings Cross Azuma is currently streaking across the Cambridgeshire fens at 123mph with me aboard. We’re 10 minutes late due to congestion at Doncaster earlier. Despite that, it’s been an excellent trip so far and the weather’s looking better than yesterday as there’s far less cloud around. I have to say, I really do like the performance of these Azuma’s. Not only to they go like stink but the ride is really good – especially when you’re sitting swiping at a laptop keyboard. My ‘spull chucker’ doesn’t get half the exercise it would if I was on a Mk3-4 set!

11:02.

After a really spirited run where our driver managed to claw a few minutes back we’re in the tunnels approaching Kings Cross. It’s time for me to leg it across London again..

13:15.

Having bitten the Buckinghan Palace cherry twice I made my circituitous way over to Liverpool St via walking to Charing Cross, train to London Bridge then a stroll across the river and through the city. The view across the Thames was worth it!

18:27.

I’m now North of Peterborough after a day which didn’t plan out quite as expected, but was fun nonetheless! After wandering over to Liverpool St I met up with an old friend who’d just flown back into the UK from Croatia via ‘London Saarfend’ airport. So, naturally I welcomed him back to the tin-pot dictatorship formerly known as the UK and we promptly drowned our sorrows in a local pub named after Lord Aberconway, the last Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway.

After a few beers we parted company and I retraced my way North much in the way that I did yesterday. So much so that I’m now on LNER’s 17:55 from Stevenage to Harrogate HST, and frankly, it’s a nightmare compared to the Azuma I came down on. It’s taken me twice as long to type this as the bloody thing’s performing like a yacht in a force 10. Trying to type is like playing darts, you hope to hit the relevant key but the chances are minimal.

22:59.

That’s the end of this rolling blog folks, I’m now back at home after a long but fun packed day. There’ll be no rolling blog tomorrow as I’m based at home, but expect a few pictures and commentary to appear. If I have time I’ll add some historical stuff too. G’night!

Network Rail begin consultations on expanding & electrifying Trans-Pennine rail

23 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in Rail Investment, Railways, Trans-Pennine electrification, West Yorkshire

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Earlier this week Network Rail launched a consultation on its plans to expand and electrify the rail corridor between Huddersfield and Dewsbury in West Yorkshire as part of the £2.9bn Trans-Pennine electrification programme . You can find a link to the consultation here.

In the plans are proposals to increase tracks East from Huddersfield from two to four. Replace the flat junctions at Mirfield East and Thornhill LNW Jns with a grade seperated junction using either a flyover or dive under by Ravensthorpe station. As well as increasing track capacity, the line would be electrified all the way from Huddersfield to Leeds. Improvements would also be made to Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe stations. The work would be carried out under a Transport and Works Act Order. Network Rail expect the application to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport in autumn 2020 with work beginning in 2021.

Here’s a look at some of the route in pictures, travelling from Huddersfield and heading East.

Looking East along the station throat at Huddersfield where the railway enters the town over a long viaduct which can accommodate four tracks as that’s what it’s carried on the past. There are proposals to increase the number of platforms at the station by building a new island platform on the site of the DMU stabling sidings. This shot was taken from the top of the old water tower (now ACoRP’s office) back in 2012.
The Preston Docks to Lindsay empty bitumen tank train approaching Mirfield in 2012. Just behind the end of the train is Heaton Lodge Junction where the line to Huddersfield swings to the left and the route to Brighouse diverges to the right. This junction is already grade-separated. As you can see, the formation used to be four-tracked. The fourth line was removed in 1986 when the junction was rationalised.
A shot taken in 2009, looking the other way from the previous image. A TPE service speeds past the site of the old Mirfield steam loco shed and rounds the curve to pass Mirfield station whilst a Westbound Northern service slows for signals as it will be overtaken by a Westbound TPE service at this point before crossing over to take the route to Brighouse. Four-tracking this section of line should remove these conflicts and speed up services as well as removing potentials for delays.
In 2014 a Leeds – Huddersfield service calls at the small wooden platform built on the Up Slow at Mirfield station. The width of the formation at this point is obvious. The tracks beyond at the Up and Down fast lines. Any train coming from the Up Healy Mills route has to use this line.
In 2012, a TPE service speeds West with Ravensthorpe station visible beyond the bridge. This is the site of the much-simplified Thornhill LNW junction which (nowadays) consists of one switch! The track the 185 occupies is bi-directional as it forms the Up Main from Dewsbury and also the Down L&Y which goes off to the right towards the former Healy Mills Marshalling yard. It’s this junction that Network Rail are proposing to replace with either a flyover or dive-under. The Calder Rd overbridge that can be seen in the background could present a challenge to building a flyover. It will be interesting to see what plans Network Rail come up with…
A 2009 view taken from the Calder Rd overbridge showing Ravensthorpe station with the former L&Y route via Healy Mills diverging to the right. The LNW route to Dewsbury and Leeds on the left was always two tracks. The L&Y used to be four. The area to the left of the railway station was the site of the hugevcoal powered Thornhill power power station that had extensive railway sidings. Now there’s a small combined cycle gas turbine power plant and industrial units.

I’ll be heading out to get some more pictures of the area shortly to detail other parts of the route and the challenges Network rail face. Deighton station is one of them. The present station was opened on the 26th April 1982 and consists of two wooden platforms built in a cutting on the site of the old four track formation. These will need to be demolished if the extra two tracks are to be reinstated.