GWML Electification

[West Junction]

Looking over the B&H today, there appears to be only five wire runs remaining.

 

Kennet Viaduct/Hambridge Lane just under 3/4 mile on both lines.

Theale East, straight run on both lines through the point work. Wire through the crossover in to the loop is done.

Short run through the crossover country end of Reading West station.

 

Basingstoke lines both have a wire run from Southcote Junction. 

[Geoff Endacott]

The electrification work through Chippenham is rather like the title of this thread - there's something missing.

 

Geoff Endacott

[jamie92208]

According to Modern Railways the wires are live to Wootton Bassett.   Are the 800's running that far on the juice yet.

 

Jamie

[St. Simon]

According to Modern Railways the wires are live to Wootton Bassett.   Are the 800's running that far on the juice yet.

 

Jamie

Wires have been live to Wootton Bassett for at least a month, if not two. I think dynamic testing is due to start with IEPs in the next week or so.

 

Simon

[Northroader]

The 800 set I was on last week still changed over at Didcot.

[37114]

The 800 set I was on last week still changed over at Didcot.

 

Same for me, I am up in London tomorrow so will keep an ear out...

[DY444]

According to Modern Railways the wires are live to Wootton Bassett.   Are the 800's running that far on the juice yet.

 

Jamie

 

No.  Test running hasn't started yet.

[Banger Blue]

Electric Changeover point is still at Moreton Cutting for all* trains.

 

* Up trains can raise the pan during the station stop at Didcot.

 

Down trains running on generic head-codes (i.e those not on WTT headcodes 1Cxx / 1Gxx / 1Bxx) are to drop the pan at Reading, unless there is another 80x competent driver in the cab. (I think this is still in force).

[phil-b259]

 

Beyond Thingley there are three road bridges which have been rebuilt, a foot bridge and an aqueduct (although that was life expired, so due for replacement anyway). Then there was the lowering of the track in Box Tunnel, at Bathampton Junction and Sydney Gardens. There are piles in various locations across Newton Meadows (Twerton Tunnel to Saltford) and the furthest west I have spotted a pile is at Foxes Wood, one driven and two unused reinforced concrete cages. They also lowered the track and rebuilt the platforms at Keynsham, but then realised the surface was unsafe as it sloped towards the track so had to do it again. 

 

Every single penny spent on the above (with the exception of the aqueduct) is now wasted.

 

. 

 

Not necessarily.......

 

While for the foreseeable future the wires will not extend west of Chippenham, if the rumours in Modern railways turn out to be true and common sense is starting to return to the DfT as regards trans-Pennine electrification, its not impossible that the section through Bath to B Bristol could yet be wired at some stage. In fact having already done most of the hard work should make the cost easier for ministers to swallow - assuming NR can get a grip on project management.

[HillsideDepot]

Not necessarily.......

 

While for the foreseeable future the wires will not extend west of Chippenham, if the rumours in Modern railways turn out to be true and common sense is starting to return to the DfT as regards trans-Pennine electrification, its not impossible that the section through Bath to B Bristol could yet be wired at some stage. In fact having already done most of the hard work should make the cost easier for ministers to swallow - assuming NR can get a grip on project management.

I hope so.

 

It would be interesting to know what they've spent against what is needed to finish the job. Hopefully the pieces already in place will be able to make their contribution to the cause before too long.  

[Edwin_m]

They really need to sort out re-modelling of Temple Meads before they think about electrifying into Bristol. 

[St. Simon]

Electric Changeover point is still at Moreton Cutting for all* trains.

* Up trains can raise the pan during the station stop at Didcot.

Down trains running on generic head-codes (i.e those not on WTT headcodes 1Cxx / 1Gxx / 1Bxx) are to drop the pan at Reading, unless there is another 80x competent driver in the cab. (I think this is still in force).

The change-over at Moreton will remain in place for a long time yet (I know the whole plan, but I can't let on )

 

The sets dropping the pan at Reading are unit specific rather than service specific, again there more to it, but I can't say much!

 

 

They really need to sort out re-modelling of Temple Meads before they think about electrifying into Bristol.

 

The remodelling of BTN has happened, albeit just a Resignalling, it will be a long time before they actually remodel it.

 

Simon

[jamie92208]

Not necessarily.......

 

While for the foreseeable future the wires will not extend west of Chippenham, if the rumours in Modern railways turn out to be true and common sense is starting to return to the DfT as regards trans-Pennine electrification, its not impossible that the section through Bath to B Bristol could yet be wired at some stage. In fact having already done most of the hard work should make the cost easier for ministers to swallow - assuming NR can get a grip on project management.

 

The same article in Modern Railways about the Select Committee report says that they are urging the DaFt to unpause all the stalled schemes and Bath is mentioned along with Oxford and the Midland Main Line.   The main thread of this months Modern railways is about the GWML and there is discussion of electrification in several articles.  The most interesting one is about the Cardiff Valleys ewhere all sorts of interesting solutions are being planned to keep costs down.  The whole set of articles are worth a read and there is one about the Filton four tracking scheme that also gives a lot of info about the proposals for Temple Meads. Also now that it has been resignalled it will be much easier to remodel it as it is basically a software change at TVSC rather than re locking thousands of relays.

 

Jamie

Edited August 14, 2018 by jamie92208

[Edwin_m]

The remodelling of BTN has happened, albeit just a Resignalling, it will be a long time before they actually remodel it.

So, presumably, even longer before they electrify it. 

[The Stationmaster]

So, presumably, even longer before they electrify it. 

 

Basically boils down to 'any suitable excuse'. I think.    If they electrified to TM now the abortive element of the work, plus the additional work due to future (largely unknown if we're honest)u layout change, would be spread over a much longer period and therefore could perhaps be justified if 'somebody' really wanted to justify it.

[caradoc]

Hopefully once the current work is completed the team(s) can be kept together and move onto other areas; Coming from Oxford I am slightly (!) biased but the 10 miles from Didcot to Oxford is surely a no-brainer, given the relative simplicity of the project and the operational advantages it would provide. If they're still waiting for a new all-singing, all-dancing station at Oxford electric trains won't be running there in my grandchildren's lifetimes, never mind mine.

[royaloak]

Hopefully once the current work is completed the team(s) can be kept together and move onto other areas; Coming from Oxford I am slightly (!) biased but the 10 miles from Didcot to Oxford is surely a no-brainer, given the relative simplicity of the project and the operational advantages it would provide. If they're still waiting for a new all-singing, all-dancing station at Oxford electric trains won't be running there in my grandchildren's lifetimes, never mind mine.

The way they announced the 'pause' in the electrification made it sound like the whole station at Oxford was going to be ripped up and a completely new station built which is why it couldnt be electrified beforehand, in actual fact all they did was install a new platform and renew the existing track, surely they could have done that with the wires already in place?

 

With the whole gWR (nothing Great about it hence the small g) scheme it seems to be the case that all the electrification is finishing short of the logical places, finishing at Newbury when the train service continues to Bedwyn, finishing at Chippenham when the service finishes at Bristol TM, finishing at Cardiff when half the trains carry on to Swansea, no electrification from Didcot to Oxford etc, the road equivalent would be finishing the road a mile short of the new village being built so everyone has to buy 4 wheel drive vehicles to get 'home'!

[phil-b259]

Hopefully once the current work is completed the team(s) can be kept together and move onto other areas; Coming from Oxford I am slightly (!) biased but the 10 miles from Didcot to Oxford is surely a no-brainer, given the relative simplicity of the project and the operational advantages it would provide. If they're still waiting for a new all-singing, all-dancing station at Oxford electric trains won't be running there in my grandchildren's lifetimes, never mind mine.

 

But the longer it is put off the less money HM Treasury have to fork out  - which keeps our taxes nice and low apparently.....

[phil-b259]

...... so everyone has to buy 4 wheel drive vehicles to get 'home'!

 

What, like the 800s on diesel mode or the 319 flex units HM Government believe are all that is needed to fullfill that requirement....

[Zomboid]

The way they announced the 'pause' in the electrification made it sound like the whole station at Oxford was going to be ripped up and a completely new station built which is why it couldnt be electrified beforehand, in actual fact all they did was install a new platform and renew the existing track, surely they could have done that with the wires already in place?

I think there is still a "plan" (pipe dream?) to do Oxford properly, what they've done up to now is just to properly facilitate the Marylebone trains.

 

Though you're right, it's a pathetic excuse. Stopping now is sheer madness, with the substation at Radley having been built long before the "pause", and there being no clear timescales on the full station rebuild.

[Trog]

With Oxford and Bristol TM where they know remodelling is likely surely the amount of abortive/short life span work could be reduced by careful placing of the masts so if you think an extra track may go in at a certain point the portals there are made nice and wide, and where tracks are likely to be slued there are no uprights to get in the way.

[jamie92208]

From bits that I've seen in various magazines, one of the main problems at Oxford is that the City Council keep changing their minds about what they want in the area round the station. It appears that the railway side is fairly clear, a new island platform so that they have four through platform faces. Then obviously someone has to pay for it.

 

Again the BTM saga is mentioned at length in Modern Railways and the railway solution appears to be fairly clear, four approach tracks from the north, with the ability to get to all the platforms from all of them. The problem appears to be working out who pays for which bit of the functionality.  The other sticking point seems to be the reopening of the original train shed where they need to demolish the current signal box to do it but they can't demolish the box until the remodelling is done or something like that.

 

Jamie

Edited August 15, 2018 by jamie92208

[Edwin_m]

Again the BTM saga is mentioned at length in Modern Railways and the railway solution appears to be fairly clear, four approach tracks from the north, with the ability to get to all the platforms from all of them. The problem appears to be working out who pays for which bit of the functionality.  The other sticking point seems to be the reopening of the original train shed where they need to demolish the current signal box to do it but they can't demolish the box until the remodelling is done or something like that.

The re-signalling a few months ago took control of the TM area away from the powerbox but left the layout and some of the trackside equipment unchanged.  However I understand the powerbox still controls an area west of Temple Meads beyond the limits of the deferred electrification, so something would have to be done about that before it could be demolished to make way for new platforms. 

[Edwin_m]

With Oxford and Bristol TM where they know remodelling is likely surely the amount of abortive/short life span work could be reduced by careful placing of the masts so if you think an extra track may go in at a certain point the portals there are made nice and wide, and where tracks are likely to be slued there are no uprights to get in the way.

That would sometimes be possible but with a complex layout there will be many places where a support is needed at an exact position in relation to switches and crossings, so that trains on all routes have a wire above the pantograph.  If the turnouts are moved then these supports would also have to be replaced in a new position.  There is also extra time and cost involved in re-modelling the layout if it is electrified, and as a taxpayer I tend to think we've spent more than enough on this scheme already without wasting more on something that might only be used for a couple of years. 

 

Like many things to do with the GW electrification, the route cause is an over-hasty decision by politicians to add something to the workbank with a challenging deadline before it is properly planned, and an over-eager decision by someone in Network Rail to agree to it.  A proper co-ordinated programme would have had later completion dates but would have ensured that Bristol and Oxford were re-modelled and re-signalled before the wires were due to arrive there. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by Edwin_m

[royaloak]

At Bristol just electrify into platforms 13 and 15 from the Box route for now, sort the rest out later.

Edited August 15, 2018 by royaloak