News

The West Midlands Metro network will be extended in Walsall, Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton under a wide-ranging plan to revolutionise transport across the region. Further investment would see rail stations opened, new rapid bus services launched, lower fares, more zero-emission vehicles, a very light rail line in Coventry and miles of safe cycling routes created to support the region’s economic growth and its #wm2041 net-zero carbon targets.

Additional Transport for Wales services between Wrexham and Bidston are set to be introduced from spring 2022. Transport for Wales (TfW) has been working closely with Network Rail to deliver the necessary infrastructure improvements and enhancements to the Wrexham to Bidston line, to enable the delivery of two trains per hour along this route. TfW Class 230s are planned for the line in 2022, allowing the route to be serviced by the upgraded trains.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has signed off a £1 million investment to significantly improve disability access at Billingham railway station. The scheme will see the existing pedestrian footbridge, which is approaching the end of its life, replaced by a new one served by lifts, making it step-free and suitable for wheelchair users. On top of this, a series of car park and access route improvements will take place to make the station even better to use for all passengers.

One of the world’s oldest railway tunnels is being made more reliable for passengers this autumn. Network Rail is upgrading tracks through the 180-yearold Summit tunnel between Rochdale and Hebden Bridge. More than three kilometres of track across both railway lines will be replaced inside the 2.6-kilometre-long tunnel. It was built between 1838 and 1841 as part of the Manchester and Leeds railway. The £2 million Great North Rail Project investment by Network Rail will take place between 23 and 31 October.

Network Rail is also working in partnership with the Environment Agency which will be upgrading a culvert beneath the railway lines as part of a wider flood defence project in the area.

Transport for London (TfL) has opened the doors to its two new Tube stations making up the Northern Line Extension, at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The two step-free Zone 1 stations are set to dramatically improve the connectivity of these vibrant south London neighbourhoods and support the capital’s recovery from the pandemic at a vital time.

Major construction on the three kilometres twin-tunnel railway between Kennington and Battersea Power Station, via Nine Elms, began in 2015. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the construction project stayed on track for an autumn opening.

Tube services started running on the extension, which is on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line, at 05:28 on the morning of 20 September with passengers including the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan; Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP; London’s Transport Commissioner, Andy Byford; Battersea Power Station Development Company’s CEO, Simon Murphy; Deputy Mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander; Leader of Wandsworth Council, Cllr Ravi Govindia and Leader of Lambeth Council, Cllr Claire Holland. In addition, the Battersea Power Station Community Choir sang at the new station at Battersea this morning to mark its opening day.

A peak-time service of six trains per hour operates on the extension and this will increase to twelve trains per hour by mid-2022 as more people move into new housing in the area and the demand increases. There are five trains per hour during off-peak times, with this set to double to ten trains per hour next year.

The Northern Line Extension is the first major Tube extension this century and is supporting around 25,000 new jobs and more than 20,000 new homes. In addition, construction of the extension boosted the UK economy and supported around 1,000 jobs, including 79 apprenticeships. TfL has delivered the Northern Line Extension £160 million under budget, bringing its estimated final total cost to £1.1 billion, despite the cost pressures brought about by the pandemic. The spending authority budget was increased to £1.26 billion in January 2016, but TfL has worked hard through strong collaboration with suppliers to ensure the project provides value for money.

More rail passengers in Essex are able to travel on new trains as Greater Anglia’s state-of-the-art electric commuter trains entered passenger service on two new routes. The new trains went into service on the Harwich and Walton-on-the-Naze branch lines on Monday 13 September in time for early morning commuters. On the same day, Greater Anglia started running additional services in response to more people travelling by train as commuters are encouraged to return to the office. Greater Anglia’s new commuter trains have been made in the UK by Alstom, formerly Bombardier, who are supplying 133 five-carriage trains, which can be coupled to run as ten-carriage trains. Each carriage of the new Alstom Aventra Class 720 trains is longer with more seats than carriages of Greater Anglia’s old trains.

Network Rail has completed upgrades at Hayes & Harlington station today (Tuesday 14 September) ahead of the Elizabeth line opening in the first half of 2022. It is the sixth TfL Rail station to be upgraded to provide step-free access in the past seven months as part of the Crossrail project. New lifts, ticket machines and other station improvements including clearer customer information for planning onward journeys have been provided along the TfL Rail western route at Acton Main Line, West Ealing, Ealing Broadway, West Drayton and Southall since March this year.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘After years of hard work, I’m delighted that we’re able to open the Northern Line Extension today and it was great to have the chance to travel on one of the first trains between Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. This extension will hugely improve the links between these vibrant, growing south London neighbourhoods and the rest of the capital, and will also help to support thousands of new jobs and homes as we move forward with London’s recovery from the pandemic. The new stations are beautiful and I encourage Londoners and visitors to start using the Northern Line Extension to get around and help them enjoy everything the capital has to offer.’

Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said: ‘London’s world-famous Tube network has two new stations from today, the first stops to be added so far this century, with names that will soon become familiar to Londoners as they return to public transport after the pandemic.

‘Ahead of the opening of the Elizabeth line next year, these upgrades extend vital connectivity across the greatest city in the world and show the power of transport connections.’

Both new stations, which have been constructed primarily from stone, concrete, stainless steel and glass, use double-height ceilings to create large airy spaces. The new Tube station at Nine Elms has a very visible presence on Wandsworth Road, serving developments including the US Embassy and the re-developed New Covent Garden Market, as well as existing communities. The station has been designed so that 479 new much-needed rental homes, 40 per cent of which will be affordable, can be delivered above and around it.

HS2 has revealed the colossal logistics operation that is taking place at HS2’s logistics hub near Willesden Junction. The 30-acre site will be the beating heart of the logistics operation for HS2 in London, and will be where earth from the 26 miles of tunnel will be processed and critical construction materials, such as pre-cast tunnel segment rings, will be delivered. The hub has been constructed and will be operated by HS2’s Main Works Civils Contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV).

The construction of HS2’s London tunnels will require 5.6million tonnes of earth to be excavated. After being processed at the site near Willesden Junction, it will be taken by train to three locations across the UK – Barrington in Cambridgeshire, Cliffe in Kent, and Rugby in Warwickshire – where it will put to beneficial reuse, filling voids which will then be used as a basis for redevelopment, such as house building.

The site will also receive over 100,000 pre-cast tunnel segment rings which will be used to form the walls of the London tunnels, delivered by rail from UK manufacturing sites. HS2’s contractor SCS JV has already confirmed that the first contract for pre-cast tunnel segment rings has been awarded to Pacadar UK, and will be delivered to the site from their factory in the Isle of Grain in Kent.

At peak operation, eight trains per day will depart and arrive at the logistics hub, maximising the use of rail freight in the construction of HS2 in London and resulting in one million lorry movements not going on UK roads.

The operation is being coordinated from a refurbished building on the site. Sheffield based SME, 3Squared, has developed a bespoke rail logistics software solution to manage and track the railway materials movements in and out.

The creation of a new railway connection directly linking Oxford and Cambridge has moved a step closer with the appointment of Arcadis as Commercial Partner to the East West Rail Company (EWR Co. Ltd), the body established by UK Government to plan and oversee delivery.

As Commercial Partner, Arcadis will be responsible for driving long-term value. The role will focus on developing the business case and submitting the application for a Development Consent Order to build the next stage of the rail link. This will include commercial management and cost planning, as well as procuring and administering contracts, with an emphasis on working with local suppliers where possible. Arcadis’ supply chain partners are RLB and KPMG.

In its response to the Welsh Affairs

Committee’s report, Railway Infrastructure in Wales, the UK Government has partially accepted a recommendation to create a dedicated forum to deliver improvements for rail passengers in Wales.

During the inquiry the Committee was told that a joined-up and clearer approach is needed to unlock rail investment to drive improvements. Accordingly, the Committee’s report recommended the creation of a Wales Rail Board: ‘consisting of itself, the Welsh Government, Network Rail, the rail operators providing services in Wales, and Transport for Wales. The Board would be tasked with identifying and developing a prioritised set of proposals for rail infrastructure improvement and investment in Wales.’

Govia Thameslink Railway has successfully run one of its Great Northern Moorgate Class 717 trains using the digital in-cab signalling system ETCS level 2 (European Train Control System). This provided important real-world proof of the track-to-train specification required to enable a confident migration to ETCS on the Northern City Line, the first tranche of the East Coast Digital Programme.

Unit 717002 ran faultlessly using an upgraded baseline of the current Class 700 Thameslink ETCS system (3.4.0 onboard over 2.3.0d trackside), through the Thameslink ‘core’, between St Pancras and Blackfriars in central London.

GTR’s Class 717 Moorgate trains are already fitted with ETCS but this is the first time it had been tested on Network Rail infrastructure across this specification. The Thameslink ‘core’ already has ETCS signalling infrastructure on which it can be tested.

By continually communicating with the train, ETCS will smooth and maximise the flow of trains, to create a more dynamic, more reliable, safer and more flexible railway.

Oliver Turner, who heads up GTR’s input to the industry-wide East Coast Digital Programme, said: ‘On the Northern City Line, the new signalling system being installed on our trains and tracks will save passengers thousands of hours of delay caused by the current ageing system.

‘A key milestone was to run one of our Moorgate trains in ETCS mode using the software that will be ultimately used across the East Coast Mainline. I’m pleased to report it did that with flying colours.’

The East Coast Main Line is a mixed-use railway, with trains of different sizes and speeds, passenger and freight, all using the same tracks. This radio-based signalling recognises these different trains and will allow train and track to talk to each other continuously in real-time providing a higher performing and more reliable railway.

Toufic Machnouk, Director Industry Partnership Digital, Network Rail said: ‘This is the first time a train of this specification has been tested dynamically, in the real world, against the infrastructure specification. It represents a small but significant step for the East Coast Digital Programme and is a crucial point of confidence for a smooth migration to ETCS operations, delivering progressive benefits to passengers.’