East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line

[rogerzilla]

House prices and traffic congestion are both epic in Oxford, so anything allowing people to commute more easily by train from cheaper places has to be welcomed. Unfortunately the station of choice is probably the new Oxford Parkway. Good bus service into town, but far from central.

[D1059]

House prices and traffic congestion are both epic in Oxford, so anything allowing people to commute more easily by train from cheaper places has to be welcomed. Unfortunately the station of choice is probably the new Oxford Parkway. Good bus service into town, but far from central.

 

The whole point of Oxford Parkway is that it IS so far out of town, so is easily accessible by car for London bound commuters without having to suffer Oxfords daily gridlock. Chiltern services will, eventually, serve Oxford (GWR) as well

Edited November 17, 2015 by D1059

[jamie92208]

Just found this article on the Network Rail website.   It looks as if things are moving on.

 

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/2015/dec/contracts-alliance-second-phase-EWR/

 

2 new platforms at Bletchley sounds like some real investment.

 

Jamie

[Bulleidnutter]

I doubt the two new platforms at Bletchley will be the old bays that were once on the down side of the fast lines.

I imagine the two new platforms will be perched above the old station at the end of the flyover with a walkway down to the mainline station or right on the junction point at the northern end of the flyover with an extended footbridge from the station.

[eastwestdivide]

From the East West Rail site at: http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/east-west-rail-route/

 

New high-level platforms will be provided Bletchley, which connects with West Coast Main Line, allowing East West Rail trains to run to Milton Keynes.

[sic]

 

and from the NR scoping report (10MB PDF) at https://consultations.networkrail.co.uk/communications/ewr-phase-2/supporting_documents/Scheme%20Scoping%20Report%20Final%20inc.%20Appendices.%20Version%201.3.pdf

 

New high level platforms at Bletchley (serving both Milton Keynes and Bedford routes) to integrate with the existing main line station.

Edited December 6, 2015 by eastwestdivide

[lmsforever]

In our local paper a resident in the north of the county wrote that the line didn't work in the past and wont work now suggesting that a quality bus link is needed as I have pointed out in a reply the buses in that area are empty and that the rail link will be used .Most commuters in Nth Bucks drive to Bletchley or Aylesbury so Winslow will become a hub and will take many cars off of local roads Aylesbury Vale Parkway is now a well used station and was said many years ago come the trains so will passengers come.I looked at the viaduct at Bletchley the other weekend and its going to be quite a job to hang platforms on it so its going to be an teresting project to watch any ideas as to just how they will do it?

[Rugd1022]

In our local paper a resident in the north of the county wrote that the line didn't work in the past and wont work now suggesting that a quality bus link is needed as I have pointed out in a reply the buses in that area are empty and that the rail link will be used .Most commuters in Nth Bucks drive to Bletchley or Aylesbury so Winslow will become a hub and will take many cars off of local roads Aylesbury Vale Parkway is now a well used station and was said many years ago come the trains so will passengers come.I looked at the viaduct at Bletchley the other weekend and its going to be quite a job to hang platforms on it so its going to be an teresting project to watch any ideas as to just how they will do it?

 

They can easily be supported from underneath if needs be, sort of on stilts if that makes any sense. It's a couple of years since I last drove anything over the flyover but it is certainly very well built!

[Bernard Lamb]

In our local paper a resident in the north of the county wrote that the line didn't work in the past and wont work now suggesting that a quality bus link is needed as I have pointed out in a reply the buses in that area are empty and that the rail link will be used .Most commuters in Nth Bucks drive to Bletchley or Aylesbury so Winslow will become a hub and will take many cars off of local roads Aylesbury Vale Parkway is now a well used station and was said many years ago come the trains so will passengers come.I looked at the viaduct at Bletchley the other weekend and its going to be quite a job to hang platforms on it so its going to be an teresting project to watch any ideas as to just how they will do it?

Something like this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge

Bernard

[Fat Controller]

Something like this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge

Bernard

The most difficult bit wouln't be the cantilevering of the platforms, but the height reductions on the parapets to accomodate them; it might be easier to raise the track. Edited December 6, 2015 by Fat Controller

[TheSignalEngineer]

I was involved in a proposal about 25 years ago to put platforms on the flyover line to allow the Bedford service to reverse and run to Denbigh Hall and MK. The idea at the time was to put the platforms on the embankment to the east of the main line with a walkway to the existing platforms

[Fat Controller]

I was involved in a proposal about 25 years ago to put platforms on the flyover line to allow the Bedford service to reverse and run to Denbigh Hall and MK. The idea at the time was to put the platforms on the embankment to the east of the main line with a walkway to the existing platforms

That would be more logical- it would end up like the arrangement at Massy in Paris, where one of the RER parts of the station is a (very) long walk from the rest, across the yard. The GWR would have called it 'Massy Road'

[mike morley]

More activity, taken half an hour ago from Watling Street bridge.

 

 

This is the Bedford end of the descent from Bletchley Flyover.

 

One thing that occur to me is that set of points is obviously fairly new, and I think it unlikely they would have been replaced if they were intending to rebuild the junction in order to restore double track across the flyover at any time in the foreseeable future.  If the track across the flyover remains single, would there not be sufficient width for a platform on the flyover without it needing major alterations?

[Fat Controller]

Looks like a one-man 'Vegetation Management Team', doing a job on someone's garden.

[mike morley]

Considering there was only two of them, they weren't half achieving a lot.

I first noticed them walking back from Tesco's, when the felling of a quite sizeable evergreen caught my attention.  In the twenty-odd minutes it took me to walk home, put my shopping away, grab my camera and return the entire tree had been stripped, cut up and stacked neatly on the other side of the track.

[porkie]

Not been much activity down the end of the flyover near me either.

 

Seems to just be network rail stuff

[Trog]

The track over the flyover is all double there is just a stretch of single on both lines between Bletchley and the junction shown above, and from there to the east of Fenny Stratford to allow three road under bridges built in the 1970's to be single track width.

[jamie92208]

I've had a good look at it on Google Earth and there doesn't seem to be a suitable stretch of embankment to build platforms anywhere near the rest of the station.   If they did build them out towards Fenny Stratford it would be a long walk and also some expensive footbridges.

 

Jamie

[Oldddudders]

I've had a good look at it on Google Earth and there doesn't seem to be a suitable stretch of embankment to build platforms anywhere near the rest of the station.   If they did build them out towards Fenny Stratford it would be a long walk and also some expensive footbridges.

 

Jamie

I'd always understood the idea was to spring or cantilever the platforms off the viaduct structure, so they'd be close to but above the WCML platforms. Lifts etc would be needed anyway to meet DDA requirements. And the platforms might not need to be very long, at least at this stage, when traffic levels and hence train lengths would be modest.

[TheSignalEngineer]

One proposal back in 1988/9 was to move the junction down towards the old S&T Depot car park so that the platform could be put on the part of the bank where it is 4 tracks wide and a train could turn back withouit going onto the flyover.

[roythebus]

So more short-sightedness by building short platforms for the moment. NR should learn a lesson from DLR and their own experience elsewhere.

[Oldddudders]

So more short-sightedness by building short platforms for the moment. NR should learn a lesson from DLR and their own experience elsewhere.

Hardly comparable. While Greater MK is a big place, many of the communities that would be served on re-opening are smaller, and if few wanted a throughout trip between the Oxbidge termini 60 years ago it seems unlikely demand will now be exponentially greater.

 

I do understand the need to invest while you can - which is why City Thameslink has rather long platforms, as we knew the opportunity was a one-off, in an era when the Channel Tunnel was still a dream, and London would clearly be destination - but not gold-plating the scheme is a good way to give it a chance.

 

And, of course, I certainly do not speak for NR or any other stakeholder.

[Pannier Tank]

I've had a good look at it on Google Earth and there doesn't seem to be a suitable stretch of embankment to build platforms anywhere near the rest of the station.  

 

There was talk of moving the entrance to Bletchley Station from the west side to the east side of the lines and incorporating this with the redevelopment of Bletchley Town Shopping Centre.

[Trog]

The lines to Fenny Stratford and Denbigh Hall South Junctions diverge in level quite quickly, moving the junction north towards the old S&T offices would involve steepening the gradients on one or both lines considerably.

I would have thought platforms cantilevered out from the flyover south of Flyover Junction and opposite the existing station, connected by an extension of the existing footbridge would be a better bet.

[Christopher125]

More activity, taken half an hour ago from Watling Street bridge.

 

P1000904.JPG

 

This is the Bedford end of the descent from Bletchley Flyover.

 

One thing that occur to me is that set of points is obviously fairly new, and I think it unlikely they would have been replaced if they were intending to rebuild the junction in order to restore double track across the flyover at any time in the foreseeable future.  If the track across the flyover remains single, would there not be sufficient width for a platform on the flyover without it needing major alterations?

 

Take a look at the following briefing for local councillors from last year, in particular the 'core' and 'enhanced' specifications and some of the proposed track layouts - this is a major scheme designed to carry a lot of traffic, as should be expected for a route connecting three mainlines and the burgeoning economies of Milton Keynes, Bicester, Oxford and Reading; single track through Bletchley really wouldn't cut it.

 

https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/documents/s47291/EastWestRailCouncillorsBriefingAylesbury030214BH.pdf

Edited December 10, 2015 by Christopher125

[The Stationmaster]

Take a look at the following briefing for local councillors from last year, in particular the 'core' and 'enhanced' specifications and some of the proposed track layouts - this is a major scheme designed to carry a lot of traffic, as should be expected for a route connecting three mainlines and the burgeoning economies of Milton Keynes, Bicester, Oxford and Reading; single track through Bletchley really wouldn't cut it.

 

https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/documents/s47291/EastWestRailCouncillorsBriefingAylesbury030214BH.pdf

If someone wants it to carry 'major traffic flows' between Bletchley and Bedford that bit is going to cost a large amount of money in relation to the distance.  There were enough problems with it at the last resignalling - when the line speed had to be lowered from the original spec to avoid the scheme being priced out of existence due to the complexities caused by the number and frequency of level crossings so I expect any major 'upgrading' of speeds and/or line capacity will inevitably means bridges to replace the level crossings plus full renewal of the not very old signalling  (mind you it was a nice paying little job for those of us doing Railtrack's work for them ).