East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line

[chris p bacon]

Definitely interested.  

[rodent279]

By 2017 trains will be running Oxford to MK and Aylesbury to MK by 2019 it will be electrified and linking up with the Midland MM there will be new services offering a wide range of destinations from the south to the north.Frieght and cross country will provide regular services plus commuter services all adding up to a useful link taking pressure off other lines.Pity they did not do this twenty years ago but local government and the DFT are not known for speed are they!

Ha ha!

[jjb1970]

Can we use delay repay to claim compo for the late arrival of the line?

[Nearholmer]

Very interesting IMechE meeting in MK yesterday evening, where the engineering director of the new EW rail company talked about the entire project, including the more ‘pipe-dreamy’ parts beyond Bedford.

 

I suspect that our roving photographer was present.

[caradoc]

At least the first 10 miles of the Varsity Line, from Oxford to Bicester, are up and running as a modern, level-crossing-less (and thriving) railway, although the junction at the Oxford end is not complete, and only one line seems to be in regular use between Canal Junction and Oxford Parkway. I am concerned that just the two bay platforms at Oxford will not be sufficient when, along with the Marylebone service, the Varsity link is operational; Any chance of a third bay has been scuppered by the buildings constructed behind Platform 1. Maybe it will all be sorted when Oxford gets its new, grand, fit for purpose (for the first time ever) station.

[chris p bacon]

 including the more ‘pipe-dreamy’ parts beyond Bedford.

 

 

I would have been interested to hear that. 

 

Anything interesting ?

[rodent279]

Having lived in Bedford for 6 yrs, and been a Thameslink penguin to Borehamwood,& then Hatfield via St Albans & the Albany Way cycle path, I always thought reinstating Bedford - Hitchin would be more useful than reinstating to Sandy & then Cambridge.

[chris p bacon]

Having lived in Bedford for 6 yrs, and been a Thameslink penguin to Borehamwood,& then Hatfield via St Albans & the Albany Way cycle path, I always thought reinstating Bedford - Hitchin would be more useful than reinstating to Sandy & then Cambridge.

 

 

The report that came out identifying the preferred route as sandy gave the reasons for not going via Hitchin. Can't remember off the top of my head but apart from the many challenges with obstruction the speed of journey was going to be double for that section.

[2750Papyrus]

Very interesting IMechE meeting in MK yesterday evening, where the engineering director of the new EW rail company talked about the entire project, including the more ‘pipe-dreamy’ parts beyond Bedford.

 

I suspect that our roving photographer was present.

 

Damn!  Knew I should have joined 50 years ago - but couldn't afford it.....

[lmsforever]

There has been to much talk on the project perhaps now we  are about to see action its not good enough having to wait until 2021 for our service from Aylesbury to MK . If the work on Aylesbury Calvert is progressed at the same time as  Bicester Bletchley we might see a 2019/20 start, already the link north of Aylesbury has been downgraded to a single track with perhaps a passing place but we must consider ourselves lucky to be included in the overall project.Will Bedford Cambridge really be viable  are there enough prospective passengers wanting to travel or is this to be a new cross country link ?

[Nearholmer]

And the bad news?

 

The chap yesterday was talking 2022 oxford to MK, and 2024 to Aylesbury, because of the ‘complex interfaces’ with HS2 between quainton road and Calvert, but also said that there was pressure from ministerial level downwards to better those dates.

[locoholic]

And the bad news?

The chap yesterday was talking 2022 oxford to MK, and 2024 to Aylesbury, because of the ‘complex interfaces’ with HS2 between quainton road and Calvert, but also said that there was pressure from ministerial level downwards to better those dates.

I do get the impression that if there's a chance to complicate something, today's rail industry will take it. How complicated should it be for the E-W link to cross HS2? It 's not like there needs to be any kind of junction!

[Nearholmer]

They need to move the Calvert bin liner terminal, and realign the Aylesbury line, to make room for HS2, but I have to agree, the necessary work ought to be something that could be done well in advance - the ‘duration on site’ looks about two years worth to me, but I’m not a civil engineer.

[big jim]

Terrible really, the country is how wide, and HS2 happens to need the same 20m wide strip of land as a track that’s already there and being used daily!

[Davexoc]

I was going to stop off at Steeple Claydon bridge to take some pics, but with so much in the way of temporary barriers and fencing, there wasn't really anywhere to pull over, so continued onto the level crossing at the other end of the village.

 

 

Telephoto shot from the LC looking towards the bridge, beyond which is the start of the IMD. The board with it's back to us is/was the current limit of the line.

 

 

Fencing has been sort of removed at the LC, looking west towards Calvert.

 

 

Looking east from the LC towards Verney Junction. Claydon platform to the left, little vegetation clearance here, but there are the railway cottages hidden from view which are still occupied. The signal post seems to be listing a bit these days.....

 

Dave

[lmsforever]

Did they not carry out a vegetation clearance along the line some time ago think Winslow was sorted out?

[ess1uk]

It soon grows back

[Davexoc]

Did they not carry out a vegetation clearance along the line some time ago think Winslow was sorted out?

I think for clearance, read heavy pruning....

 

So further east at Verney Junction. Looking west towards Claydon from the farm crossing where the station used to be. Platforms still sort of extanct, beyond which the line to Buckingham used to diverge to the right. Signs around the village displaying 'EWR No Parking' and speed limits.

 

 

Now looking east towards Winslow. The line to Quaintion Road used to diverge to the right in the distance. Note the evidence of road vehicles using the track bed for surveying etc.

 

 

Dave

[rodent279]

I do get the impression that if there's a chance to complicate something, today's rail industry will take it. How complicated should it be for the E-W link to cross HS2? It 's not like there needs to be any kind of junction!

I think that's symptomatic of the country as a whole, not just the rail industry.

[Supaned]

Not sure if this info has been mentioned before , but from the upcoming Oxford re-signalling scheme (July 18) , the Bicester lines are officially re-named as the Bletchley lines.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Supaned

[jjb1970]

Terrible really, the country is how wide, and HS2 happens to need the same 20m wide strip of land as a track that’s already there and being used daily!

 

Somebody's sitting there mate....

[Davexoc]

Going to back up a bit, a detour on the way home back to Steeple Claydon. Looks like the line under the bridge may have been flooded recently.

 

 

Looking towards Calvert and LNE Junction, one end of what was the run round loop.

 

 

 

Looking the other way towards the LC and old station. Currently end of the line if coming from the west.

 

 

Dave

[Davexoc]

Having had some time to study the photos alongside the HS2 route maps, it becomes apparent what is currently happening.

 

 

This is the old substation which will have to be demolished as it is where the new Bicester - Bletchley line will be. The bridge that the last photos were taken from will also go and the road slewed eastwards.

 

 

This is the site of the new substation which is on the edge of the IMD. The substation is nothing to do with HS2, the feed for that will sit on the old Bicester - Bletchley line on the western side of HS2.

 

 

Both substations from the bridge, the entrance into the new one is the barriers next to where the oncoming car is.

 

 

Alongside the new substation there is an 18km scar in the landscape where a 132kV cable is/has been buried running from East Claydon through to Skimmingdish Lane in Bicester (ring road running past RAF Bicester). Looking east with Steeple Claydon on the hill to the left. Most of the land to the right of the fencing will become sidings for the IMD. Below is the other side of the road looking west, further sidings for the IMD will be on the left.

 

 

So I guess once the Steeple Claydon area is running off the new substation, the site will start to take shape. The old LNE junction becomes the HS2 to IMD line, the farm next to LNE junction goes to realign the Aylesbury connection with the new Waste Transfer run round loop being where the current Bicester - Bletchley sits. This gets moved northwards to cross over the HS2 - IMD line and HS2 itself.

 

Dave

[locoholic]

Having had some time to study the photos alongside the HS2 route maps, it becomes apparent what is currently happening.

 

Steeple Claydon old substation.JPG

 

This is the old substation which will have to be demolished as it is where the new Bicester - Bletchley line will be. The bridge that the last photos were taken from will also go and the road slewed eastwards.

 

Steeple Claydon new substation.JPG

 

This is the site of the new substation which is on the edge of the IMD. The substation is nothing to do with HS2, the feed for that will sit on the old Bicester - Bletchley line on the western side of HS2.

 

Steeple Claydon substations.JPG

 

Both substations from the bridge, the entrance into the new one is the barriers next to where the oncoming car is.

 

Cable earthworks Steeple Claydon east.JPG

 

Alongside the new substation there is an 18km scar in the landscape where a 132kV cable is/has been buried running from East Claydon through to Skimmingdish Lane in Bicester (ring road running past RAF Bicester). Looking east with Steeple Claydon on the hill to the left. Most of the land to the right of the fencing will become sidings for the IMD. Below is the other side of the road looking west, further sidings for the IMD will be on the left.

 

Cable earthworks Steeple Claydon west.JPG

 

So I guess once the Steeple Claydon area is running off the new substation, the site will start to take shape. The old LNE junction becomes the HS2 to IMD line, the farm next to LNE junction goes to realign the Aylesbury connection with the new Waste Transfer run round loop being where the current Bicester - Bletchley sits. This gets moved northwards to cross over the HS2 - IMD line and HS2 itself.

 

Dave

I have looked at the detailed plans for the Calvert area. Why on Earth is it so complicated?! No wonder HS2 will cost so much! The Bicester-Bletchley line is realigned, the curve to the old GCR is realigned, the site chosen for the HS2 maintainence depot means the southern access needs a bridge under the the Bletchley line. I can't see where the waste terminal is moved to, either. Crazy!

[Nearholmer]

So, what would you do instead?

 

That circle that any answer needs to square is that the width of the formation needs to be kept 'in bounds' on the western side, to avoid taking a chunk out of the village, and that there needs to be clear operational separation between a high-speed route and the Aylesbury Branch. The bin-liner terminal is slap bang on the HS2 route, so that clearly has to move, and intent seems to be to put it on the eastern side, opposite the generating station.

 

I don't speak for HS2, or EWR, but to me it looks as if they've done a pretty fair job of designing the layout/alignment, and that the question for this thread is: could the terraforming and track shifting be done quicker than is currently planned, so as to get the route through to Aylesbury?

 

The only way to answer that properly would be to understand the project schedule and critical path in detail. The constraints may be ones that are hard to spot, like the detail of the consents or compulsory purchase process, or the balance of cut and fill spoil.