Midland Main Line Electrification

[96701]

Whole life costing is important, so time will tell, not counting the costs incurred through poor planning.

 

[ess1uk]

So the bridge on Station Road Burton Latimer has finally been demolished.

maybe now the missing bit of the 4th line can put in place ?

new bridge to be lifted in and the wires can be strung up

[Shed]

Getting there slowly 

[dibber25]

On 26/04/2019 at 23:18, ess1uk said:

So the bridge on Station Road Burton Latimer has finally been demolished.

maybe now the missing bit of the 4th line can put in place ?

new bridge to be lifted in and the wires can be strung up

 

(So, too, is the one on the A45 that dumped its parapet on the MML). My son lives in Station Road. Having seen the massive inconvenience this is causing, I'm not surprised that the residents of Steventon on the GWR main line are up in arms about the threat to their bridge. It will be interesting to see if the new Burton Latimer bridge is an improvement, as the old one was narrow (single file traffic) and on a considerable hump. Can't see how the hump could be eliminated, though, without making the bridge lower instead of higher. Maybe, a through-truss girder bridge? (CJL)

[ess1uk]

On 28/04/2019 at 15:18, dibber25 said:

 

(So, too, is the one on the A45 that dumped its parapet on the MML). My son lives in Station Road. Having seen the massive inconvenience this is causing, I'm not surprised that the residents of Steventon on the GWR main line are up in arms about the threat to their bridge. It will be interesting to see if the new Burton Latimer bridge is an improvement, as the old one was narrow (single file traffic) and on a considerable hump. Can't see how the hump could be eliminated, though, without making the bridge lower instead of higher. Maybe, a through-truss girder bridge? (CJL)

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds/major-milestones-reached-in-reconstruction-of-two-northamptonshire-road-bridges-and-upgrade-to-kettering-station-begins/

piece here about it on NR website

[dibber25]

13 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds/major-milestones-reached-in-reconstruction-of-two-northamptonshire-road-bridges-and-upgrade-to-kettering-station-begins/

piece here about it on NR website

Thanks for that. Looks really interesting. I'll have to make the effort to walk down there and see if you can actually see the work. I was told that the bridge isn't being widened which seems like a lost opportunity (obviously it wouldn't be up to Network Rail to pay for it). This was a single lane bridge controlled by traffic lights but it gets used as a bit of rat-run. (CJL)

[ess1uk]

4 minutes ago, dibber25 said:

Thanks for that. Looks really interesting. I'll have to make the effort to walk down there and see if you can actually see the work. I was told that the bridge isn't being widened which seems like a lost opportunity (obviously it wouldn't be up to Network Rail to pay for it). This was a single lane bridge controlled by traffic lights but it gets used as a bit of rat-run. (CJL)

when i was last there you could get to the entrance of Weetabix carpark and the bridge was still open to pedestrians whilst work was taking place.

not sure how soon it will reopen now the deck has been lifted in, it does say 

"The new bridge decks were successfully installed on both bridges last weekend (11/12 May) and were moved into position using 1200 tonne cranes. Both bridges remain closed to vehicles and Network Rail engineers will now begin work to the parapets and the roads before they reopen in Autumn."

but does that mean it has reopened to pedestrians?

 

[RANGERS]

17 hours ago, ess1uk said:

when i was last there you could get to the entrance of Weetabix carpark and the bridge was still open to pedestrians whilst work was taking place.

not sure how soon it will reopen now the deck has been lifted in, it does say 

"The new bridge decks were successfully installed on both bridges last weekend (11/12 May) and were moved into position using 1200 tonne cranes. Both bridges remain closed to vehicles and Network Rail engineers will now begin work to the parapets and the roads before they reopen in Autumn."

but does that mean it has reopened to pedestrians?

 

I’m guessing the pedestrian access is provided by a temporary scaffold bridge so presumably that won’t have been touched in the exercise.

[ess1uk]

3 hours ago, RANGERS said:

I’m guessing the pedestrian access is provided by a temporary scaffold bridge so presumably that won’t have been touched in the exercise.

At the time I was there, no.

but there was a scaffold type structure carrying utilities that had been diverted off the bridge.

i guess they will all return to the new bridge.

anyone local who could fill in the gaps?

[Shed]

are the wires progressing?

[RANGERS]

On 06/06/2019 at 09:16, Shed said:

are the wires progressing?

They are, most of the way from Corby South to Storefield. The masts are almost complete between Corby and Kettering and the remaining gaps are gradually  closing all the way South to Bedford now.

[ess1uk]

The station platforms at Kettering are being made longer and the canopies are being altered to allow the OLE to be fitted.

 

 

[ess1uk]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49136451

Don't travel  

[RANGERS]

7 hours ago, ess1uk said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49136451

Don't travel  

Been that way since Thursday, the emergency timetable is barely a clue to which trains might run and when, a bit like a scratch builders guide for travellers.

 

Thursday was chaotic, bad enough before services were totally suspended, delays of 1-2hrs against the usual timetable, but became impossible when the 11.00 from Nottingham got itself tangled up in the overhead on the up fast. Nothing moved after that.

 

Things were summed up when a Nottingham train which had been held twice on the way down arrived at Dock Jct an hour+ down and was held awaiting a platform to be vacated. Problem was the crew for the first train due to leave was on the train being held. The scramble to find a replacement crew must have been fun but the departing service eventually left 20mins down. All solved? Not quite, only one five car departed leaving a second still in the platform. HST remained held for another 20 mins while a path for the second set to get to Cricklewood was awaited.

 

Total journey time from Nottingham was over 4 hrs, almost 3 hrs of which was from Kettering.

[Mike Storey]

I came across this by accident, which seems to suggest that MML electrification costs have been as high as the costs of the inflated Great Western works, although the costs on the most recent GW works have fallen dramatically back to the average this report says is efficient.

 

https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/british-electrification-costs-could-be-cut-by-50-says-report/

 

[Edwin_m]

6 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

I came across this by accident, which seems to suggest that MML electrification costs have been as high as the costs of the inflated Great Western works, although the costs on the most recent GW works have fallen dramatically back to the average this report says is efficient.

 

https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/british-electrification-costs-could-be-cut-by-50-says-report/

 

That looks like a misquote by the IRJ.  They say:

Quote

The analysis shows five projects which experienced complications in delivery, including London’s Gospel Oak – Barking line and the Edinburgh – Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), were completed at a cost of £1.5-£2m/stk. Of the remaining British projects, the Bromsgrove, Walsall – Rugeley, GWEP and Midland Main Line schemes all fell within the £2-2.5m range.

Following the links through to the actual report it says:

Quote

A further 5 projects, including Gospel Oak to Barking and EGIP which experienced delivery difficulties, delivered in a range of £1m to £1.5m/stk. Of the remaining projects Walsall to Rugely and MML were c. £1.8m/stk and NWEP 4, Bromsgrove and GWEP were all in the £2m to £2.5m/stk range.

 

[ess1uk]

On 27/07/2019 at 16:48, RANGERS said:

Been that way since Thursday, the emergency timetable is barely a clue to which trains might run and when, a bit like a scratch builders guide for travellers.

 

 

still out yesterday but not heard if its fixed today

[ess1uk]

so 33 sets of 5 car 800 series trains ordered

lets hope the wires will cope with double pans up

[Nile]

News that surprised no one.

EMR bimodes

The only interesting thing is that they will be 24m long vehicles rather than 26m , presumably so they will fit into St.Pancras?

In the meantime what are going to do?

[Dava]

East Midlands under Abellio will presumably struggle on with filthy Meridians desperately in need of midlife overhauls and HSTs showing their age. At best. Then we get bimodes we don't need instead of proper electrification, no doubt with ironing board seats and austerity cost-engineering.

 

Thanks Grayling [you f*t b*****d].

[DavidB-AU]

9 hours ago, ess1uk said:

so 33 sets of 5 car 800 series trains ordered

 

"According to Hitachi, the EMR units will be an ‘evolution’ of the AT300 design supplied to other UK operators, with 24 m long vehicles rather than 26 m, and a slightly modified nose profile. Each five-car set will have four underfloor diesel generator modules rather than the three used in the Class 800 and 802s." (RGI)

 

This suggests it might be an entirely new class.

 

Cheers

David

[phil-b259]

9 hours ago, ess1uk said:

so 33 sets of 5 car 800 series trains ordered

lets hope the wires will cope with double pans up

 

The new bit north of Bedford will be fine.

 

Its the British rail installed stuff further south which you have to worry about - as with most things BR did, that nice HM Treasury ensured it was done to the cheapest spec possible (i.e. 100mph suburban EMUs - which admittedly did run in pairs with two pantographs in use)

[TravisM]

2 hours ago, Dava said:

East Midlands under Abellio will presumably struggle on with filthy Meridians desperately in need of midlife overhauls and HSTs showing their age. At best. Then we get bimodes we don't need instead of proper electrification, no doubt with ironing board seats and austerity cost-engineering.

 

Thanks Grayling [you f*t b*****d].

 

Hey, don’t rope us f*t b*****d’s in that f*t b*****d.  It’s not as if we’ve got a bad enough name as it is with eating all the pies.........

[Edwin_m]

7 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

The new bit north of Bedford will be fine.

 

Its the British rail installed stuff further south which you have to worry about - as with most things BR did, that nice HM Treasury ensured it was done to the cheapest spec possible (i.e. 100mph suburban EMUs - which admittedly did run in pairs with two pantographs in use)

More recently 12-car formations have run with three pans, although since the introduction of the 700s it's back to two. 

 

There seems to be a committed upgrade package for OLE south of Bedford, but I haven't seen any official statement of what this includes. 

[DY444]

17 minutes ago, Edwin_m said:

More recently 12-car formations have run with three pans, although since the introduction of the 700s it's back to two. 

 

There seems to be a committed upgrade package for OLE south of Bedford, but I haven't seen any official statement of what this includes. 

 

I have to say that my expectation at this point is a 100mph restriction on electric operation south of Bedford with either an easing of point to point times on that section or diesel operation between West Hampstead and Bedford or both.