Rail Announcement November 2014

ii9ghJJJJooooooooooooooooooooooooRail AnnouncementAnnouncing all the news from the rail industry

November 2014

Eurostar unveils Velaro

East Coast win for Virgin

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There is a real ‘feel good’ factor on the railways at the mo-ment. November has seen the unveiling of the first Eurostar Ve-laro, a Chiltern special along the Cowley branch, with a view to passenger services commencing by 2020, and the settling of the Welsh electrification row.

The long awaited announcement regarding the East Coast fran-chise has also been made and received a mixed reaction.

Rail privatisation has seen vast improvements made across the network, but has also led to incidents of rail workers going up against each other, especially when things go wrong, and the shadow of penalty payments loom on the horizon. In recent months I’ve seen TOCs try to blame signallers for delays and a TOC say that another TOC’s station staff are awful ! In the for-mer incident a driver arrived at his train at departure time and the station staff rang it out to the signal box , which then set up the route, locking up the station approaches. The driver then says that he’s having trouble releasing the brakes and is unable to de-part. This causes huge delays to arriving and departing services, with the TOC, once it realised the scale of delay, claiming that the signal box never set the route, so it isn’t liable for delay pay-ments.

December will see a DBS locomotive named after Crewe driver Jack Mills who was attacked during the 1963 Royal Mail train robbery. Such a naming has been proposed numerous times over the last 50 years, so it’s good to see it finally become reality

Jonathan [email protected]

News Rail Announcement 2

Eurostar unveils Velaro in London

To mark its 20th anniversary Eurostar un-veiled the first five of the 10 new e320 trains that are scheduled to enter passenger service from December next year. Coinciding with the launch at St Pancras station was an an-nouncement that it has placed an order for an additional seven trains with Siemens , taking the total cost of the 17 strong fleet and refur-bishment of the current class 373s up to £1 billion.

The decision by Eurostar to award the 2010 train building contract to Siemens sparked a bitter legal challenge from rival train builder Alstom.

Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic told Rail Announcement that : “ 20 years ago there was a lot of scepticism , with people asking with ferries and planes do we really need the train? “ He continued by saying : “ In the last two decades we have doubled the size of the market between the 3 cities of London, Paris and Brussels. We always had the ambition to make travelling a pleasure and for our staff to make an impression on passengers so that they always remember the smile of the staff or that lovely cup of coffee.”

Nine of the initial 10 trains have already been constructed and are currently being tested across England, France and Belgium, with all 10 scheduled to enter passenger service by May 2016. Andrew Slater, Eurostar’s Interna-tional Rolling Stock Director, predicted that the seven additional trains would be deliv-ered in the latter half of 2016.

Eurostar currently has approximately 80% market share for travel between London and Paris and London and Brussels, but is keen to lure more passengers from air travel and will introduce services from London to Am-sterdam, with stops at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport, from 2016 an direct trains to Provence from next May. CE Nico-las Petrovic stated that an announcement regarding whether London bound passengers on the Amsterdam services will have to de-train at Lille for British passport and security checks would be made in January. This will be the case for the inbound services between London, Lyon and Marseille that Eurostar plans to launch on May 1 next year.

The new trains have three vehicles with seat-ing for business premier or standard premier classes at each end and 10 vehicles with stan-dard class seating. Vehicles 3 and 14 each have two VIP coupés on each side of a central gangway.

Refurbishment of the current class 373 fleet has commenced at SNCF’s Hellemmes ‘tech-nicentre, but according to Andrew Slater there has been “some issues” and the first of the refurbished trains are not now expected to be delivered until the third or fourth quar-ter of 2015.

The current fleet does not comply with Euro-pean interoperability standards and is re-stricted to running a service between the UK, France and Belgium.

Rail Announcement 3 News

Eurostar CE Nicolas Petrovic


Virgin wins East CoastInter City Railways, a joint Stagecoach/Vir-gin venture, has been awarded the East Coast franchise.

The TOC, which sees Stagecoach with a 90% share and Virgin 10%, beat off competition from First Group and Keolis/Eurostar to run the franchise which commences next March and runs to 2023. As part of the deal £2.3 bil-lion in real term premium payments will be made to the government over the eight year franchise. This figure is based on 2014/15 prices and discounted using the government’s real discount rate of 3.5% a year.

Currently operated by the state owned Di-rectly Operated Railways ,following the fail-ure of the two previous commercial operators GNER and National Express, is set to return to the private sector for the first time since 2009.

During the franchise ICR will introduce the Hitachi built Intercity Express Programme Super Express Trains that the government committed to prior to the franchise. The first of these will enter service in 2018 and by 2020 all 65 of the trains will be in passen-ger service, replacing the current fleet of 39 trains. It has not yet been decided what will happen to the displaced class 91s, but cascad-ing them to Greater Anglia was mooted as a possibility a while back.

Inter City Railways has pledged to invest £140 million in the franchise including in-creasing capacity by 50% with 23 new direct services a day to London from towns and cities including Middlesbrough, Bradford, Harrogate, Lincoln, Dewsbury, Thornaby and

and Huddersfield and reductions in journey times from Leeds and Edinburgh.

From December next year a new direct ser-vice will commence from Sunderland and Stirling , with additional weekday services promised between Edinburgh and London from May 2016. Looking further ahead ICR has said that a vastly improved timetable will be introduced from May 2019 featuring faster and new direct services along with improved services at the weekend.

The new TOC will shortly commence talks with Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation over securing paths for these new services, although it is uncertain what finan-cial impact the introduction of direct trains to Sunderland, Middlesborough and Hud-dersfield will have on open access operator Grand Central’s direct services to Sunderland and Bradford.

In addition over £25 million will be invested in enhancing stations and creating at least 500 more spaces at car parks. There will also be a 50% increase in cycle storage facilities at stations.

Passengers will also benefit from cheaper fares, with ICR saying that it will reduce all of its long distance anytime fares by 10%. This could see the price of an Edinburgh to Lon-don ticket reduced by around £15.

News of the franchise was not welcomed by everyone and shadow secretary of state for transport Michael Dugher said: “ Given the clear political nature of how this process has been handled, and with the General Elec-tion just months away, I have written to the


Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport to ask him to postpone the process and to get a formal, Written Direction from the Secretary of State for Transport if he in-sists on proceeding.”

Stagecoach already runs the West Coast fran-chise (45% share with Virgin), East Midlands and South West Trains. This latest award will be a bitter blow for First Group which recent-ly lost its ScotRail and Thameslink franchises and failed to win Essex Thameside.

However it is thought that by awarding the East Coast franchise to a Stagecoach/Virgin joint bid it will be easier for First to compete for the new West Coast franchise, that will commence in 2017, a franchise that slipped through their hands in 2012 following a legal challenge by Virgin that saw the competition cancelled and awarded to Virgin.

Sources at the DfT say that the winning bid had been identified some time ago but, fol-lowing the huge fallout from the West Coast franchise legal challenge, the department went through the bid word for word to ensure it was achievable.

The DfT was also impressed by ICR’s plans for the IEP. Virgin would probably not have chosen the IEP for the East Coast franchise but bidders had no choice but to accept the rolling stock that had been determined by the DfT. The department saying that the proposals put forward bi ICR are much more ingenious compared to the other two bidders. This also sends out the signal to future fran-chise bidders that more emphasis is being placed on future plans and not just on the bottom line.


Chiltern showcases Cowley proposal

On November 5 Chiltern Railways ran a special train along the Cowley branch to demonstrate to invited guests the potential for a service to the town, that lost its station in 1963.

Stopping at a temporary station at Oxford Science Park, which was constructed in a matter of days, the passengers gathered to hear Chiltern MD Rob Brighouse say that the proposed service would tap “into client demand” and building two stations , one at Oxford Science Park and the other at Oxford Business Park, would see the number of jobs in the area, currently standing at around 7,500, “ rise expediently” with the coming of the railway, which could happen as soon as 2020.

The freight only branch, which sees around 5 trains a day to or from the Mini car plant, diverges from the Didcot to Oxford line at Kennington Junction. It is part of the former Wycombe Railway route which linked up with the Chiltern main line at Princes Risbor-ough.


Route study looks at double deck trains

Network Rail’s newly published draft ver-sion Wessex Route Study , which was created with contributions from train operators, the Department for Transport and Transport for London, has put forward a proposal that the introduction, during Control Period 6, of double deck trains in peak hours between Waterloo, Woking and Basingstoke could ease overcrowding on the busiest of services. An enhanced version of the plans could see double deck trains running through to Southampton.

The lines around London Waterloo are some of the most congested on the network with peak periods seeing over 55 trains arriving every hour.

Although Network Rail has been unable to identify a suitable double deck design that is currently in use , the study has produced a design concept that would see three 26 metre vehicles which could operate either in multi-ples of three, or become a fixed nine car train. Such a design would increase the amount of usable floor area by around 50% , compared to class 44s and 450s currently in use in the route.

In addition to looking at the possibility of double deck trains Network Rail has set out the business case for electrifying the Salis-bury route, raising line speeds to 125 mph on some sections, constructing flyovers at Bas-ingstoke and Woking along with extra plat-forms at Guildford and Southampton Cen-tral. Control Period 6, which runs between 2019-2024, describes these new platforms and grade separated junctions as priorities.

The report also states that the introduction of ERTMS Level 3, moving block, cab based sig-nalling with automatic train operation would be another option for increasing capacity with, in the longer term, adding an additional track between Clapham Junction and Surbi-ton and constructing Crossrail 2.

The implementation of these plans would result in the rail,network being able to cope with a forecast growth of 40% on main line services over the next 30 years.

The 90 day consultation will run until next February and a final document, including an assessment of the business case for purchas-ing double deck trains, will be published in the summer.


Passengers to benefit from devolution

Chancellor George Osborne has announced that Manchester is to benefit from devolved powers giving the region a much greater say over transport issues. He also confirmed that a grant of £350 million will support the scheme to create a Metrolink route to Traf-ford.

During a visit to the city to see the new Metrolink extension to Manchester airport Mr Osborne said that it was: “ great news that, thanks to the devolution deal I have agreed with Manchester today, there will be a further £350 million extension to Trafford which will provide significant additional benefits to the city. The Metrolink will come under the powers of the new Mayor, support-ing an Oyster-style travelcard system that will make traveling on the network and all of Greater Manchester’s public transport sim-pler and easier “ . The chancellor went on to say: “ These are exactly the sort of transport improvements that will not only allow Man-chester to prosper and thrive but also help turn our vision of a Northern Powerhouse economy into reality.”

According to Transport for Greater Manches-ter , devolution will create a new era of seam-less travel between trains, trams and buses. It will also allow discussions to take place regarding the future management of the city’s heavy rail network, with a particular empha-sis on the stations that are not fully accessible.

Chairman of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee Councillor Andrew Fender said: “Today’s historic announcement marks nothing less than a new era for com-muters in Greater Manchester, one in which they can look forward to the sort of seamless travel they may have experienced in London moving from the tube to bus.”


ORR report is bad news for Network RailAccording to the Office of Rail Regulation’s twice yearly monitor , Network Rail’s delivery of enhancements has got worse.

Following a period of relatively successful delivery in Control Period 4 (which ended in April) the report concludes that in the first two quarters of CP5 11 out of 44 regulated milestones were not achieved , although the ORR does point out that the majority of these had very little or no impact on passengers.

Of the 11 milestones four relate to missing design deadlines, but the remaining seven are late project completions:

- Strategic Freight Network - Ipswich Yard- Motherwell Area Stabling - Phase 1- Barry-Cardiff Queen Street Corridor - Phase 2 Valley Lines- Barry-Cardiff Queen Street Corridor - Phase 3 Barry Lines- Chiltern Main Line Train Lengthening- Rolling Programme of Electrification - Rutherglen and Coatbridge Electrification- South West suburban platform lengthening - Raynes Park to Dorking

The majority of these missed milestones will not affect passengers because the new infrastructure was not to be used by train operators immediately after completion. The exception is the Barry to Cardiff scheme , as delays to this could result in problems com-missioning the subsequent phases of this large resignalling project and has the poten-tial to delay the introduction of additional rail services.

The next ORR monitor is not expected to be any more positive and it is thought that it will

report further missed milestones. Of partic-ular concern to the ORR is the delay to the north west electrification phase two project, which will miss its December 2014 commis-sioning date, and is not now likely to be com-pleted until early next year. The ORR states that this delay, combined with “significant schedule stress” relating to the Cumbernauld and north west electrification phase one proj-ects towards the latter part of CP4, has put a question mark over Network Rail’s ability to deliver future electrification projects on time.

Health and safety has also become an issue, with the ORR monitor noticing that a num-ber of serious incidents have taken place on the north west electrification phase two proj-ect. This is now a priority and ORR inspec-tors are working with the Health and Safety Executive to create a safe system of work when installing overhead line equipment wires under tension.

On the same day that the ORR monitor was published, Network Rail issued its first progress review of Control Period 5, which highlights an overspend of £40 million, on the company’s overall budget of £7 billion, and failure to achieve passenger train perfor-mance targets. It is expected that this figure will rise to £112 million by next March, with additional investment in train performance and safety initiatives being blamed for a large portion of the unbudgeted spending.

Passenger rain performance is currently 1% behind its year end target of 91.1% and although Network Rail has implemented a number of strategies to tackle the issue, the infrastructure company says that it will take time for the improvements to be felt.


Row over Welsh electrification settled

Prime Minister David Cameron announced on November 21 that not only will the UK government cover the full cost of electrifying the Great Western route to Swansea, but also devolve the Wales and Border rail franchise which will enable the Welsh government to specify the new franchise due to commence in 2018.

The news follows a long running dispute over who would fund the Welsh electrification scheme that was featured in the government’s High Level Output Specification for Control Period 5, with the Welsh and UK govern-ments each wanting the other to provide the necessary finance.

This new deal will see the UK government take over sponsorship and fund delivery of the Cardiff to Bridgend section of the Swan-sea electrification scheme, at a cost of £105 million, and contribute £125 million towards the Valley lines electrification project. In return the Welsh government has agreed to become responsible for the sponsorship and delivery of the Valley line project, including the procuring of a new fleet of electric trains.

David Cameron said: “I am delighted to an-nounce that we are going to press ahead with the electrification of the Valley lines. After years of neglect, this part of Wales will final-ly get the infrastructure it needs with faster, more modern, more efficient trains and the impact will be huge.”


Report boost for Crossrail 2

A study by consultants into the viability of Crossrail 2 has concluded that half of the £27.5 billion cost of the scheme could be raised by fares , business rates and a tax on new developments.

This would mean the proposed rail link would meet a key requirement that at least 50% of the funding comes from sources other than central government.

The study rejects private financing or invest-ments from sovereign wealth, pension and other major funds as unrealistic.

The main generators of funding are seen as the fare box and the business rate supplement that was introduced for Crossrail 1, along with the London Mayor’s community infra-structure levy which has the potential to be doubled. To top up the funding it is proposed that the council tax precept , that Londoners paid for the 2012 Olympic Games, is contin-ued and selling off land and property that are surplus to requirements once construction is finished.

The £27.5 billion covers not only construc-tion costs but new rolling stock and connect-ing the route to the existing rail network.

Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, said: “Cross-rail 2 is an essential infrastructure project and this report shows the range of financing initiatives we could employ to get it moving. We will now be discussing those financing options closely with London’s boroughs, busi-

ness groups and other key players who have a stake in getting behind Crossrail 2.”

It is envisaged that chancellor George Os-borne will signal his commitment to the project , by allocating up to £20 million, in his autumn statement on December 3. This funding would allow for more detailed stud-ies and designs and enable preparations to apply for the powers


Pye station to open next month

UK transport minister Baroness Kramer has announced that the new £3.5 million Pye Corner station near Rogerstone will open on December 14.

Work started on the station in April this year and the minister said it was the fastest station construction she had ever seen: “ This station has basically been 34 weeks in the making. For a station to be built in this short time is incredible, it just shows what you can do when people work in partnership together”

The new station has been jointly funded by the Welsh Government and the Department of Transport’s New Station Fund.

Comprising of a single platform , the station will be equipped with CCTV and a 60 space car park, including charging points for elec-tric vehicles.

The station will be served by the existing hourly Ebbw Vale to Cardiff service.

___________________________________________Alliance formed to deliver Scottish upgrade

Network Rail has selected Costain and Mor-gan Sindall to carry out the main physical works on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Im-provement Programme (EGIP)

This contract, worth £250 million, will see Network Rail and its contractors electrify the route, complete route clearance works at Winchburgh Tunnel, carry out infrastruc-ture works at Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley and extend platforms at Croy, Falkirk High, Polmont and Linlithgow.

The £742 million EGIP project is being fund-ed by the Scottish Government and is deliver-ing an ongoing programme of electrification across the central belt. This will result in re-duced journey times and increased capacity.

The main Glasgow to Edinburgh electrifica-

tion works will be completed in 2016, with this phase of the scheme coinciding with the construction of an Edinburgh Gateway inter-change station at Gogar.

Piling work for the overhead line equipment foundations began earlier this month and should be completed by next summer.

Rodger Querns, Network Rail programme director for EGIP, said: “EGIP is transforma-tional in its scope and scale and will herald a step-change in the nature of our railway in-frastructure, its resilience and reliability. The alliancing structure being used to deliver the electrification works will allow us to increase efficiency within the programme and deliver best value for money for the government and taxpayer.”


Electrification for Windermere branch

Although the West Coast Main Line through Oxenholme was electrified as far back as the 1970s, the 16km branch to Windermere has remained the preserve of diesel multiple units.

This is set to change following the confirma-tion by transport minister Baroness Kramer that funding worth £16 million is to be pro-vided to electrify the scenic route.

A detailed plan for the work will now be developed by Network Rail and this could be ready by 2017.

Strategic planner at Network Rail David Golding, said: “Confirmation of this funding is great news and will support the retention of direct services between Manchester to Windermere, as the rest of the route is elec-trified. Once complete, electrification will enable a faster, more reliable rail service. This is part of a wider investment by Network Rail in the electrification of key routes between towns and cities across the north of England.”

The branch is currently operated by Tran-sPennine Express.

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GCR puts in new bid for lottery funding

Following its failure to secure funding earlier this year, the Great Central Railway has re-submitted its £10 million bid for lottery fund-ing in order that an out station of the Nation-al Railway Museum can be created near the heritage line’s Leicester station.

If successful a number of NRM locomotives, including V2 Green Arrow and Butler Hen-derson will be displayed there along with numerous other smaller exhibits.

The total cost of the project is approximately £16 million , with the balance being sourced from match funding via grant applications and fundraising activities.


Options set out in Anglia route study

An Anglia route study, which is currently in draft form, has been published by Network Rail setting out the enhancements that could receive funding during Control Period 6 (2019-2024)

Demand for rail travel along the Great East-ern Main Line from Essex to Liverpool Street is expected to increase by 52% over the next decade, with demand from stations in Nor-folk and Suffolk forecasted to grow by 32% in the same period. The next decade is also expected to see demand from stations on the West Anglia Main Line, connecting Cam-bridge with Liverpool Street, increase by at least 18%, with the actual figure being depen-dent on housing development.

Options being considered for the Great East-ern Main Line identified in the study are:- To support the Great Eastern Main Line Taskforce’s aspiration to reduce journey times between London and Norwich to 90 minutes, work is proposed to increase the line speed between Shenfield to Norwich to 110mph by upgrading track, signalling and overhead line equipment. Network Rail will also continue its work to close level crossings where it can to make the railway safer and increase line speeds.- Additional platforms at Liverpool Street to increase capacity- Doubling of Trowse swing bridge - this would help towards increasing capacity from Norwich to London as well as from Norwich to Cambridge

- Installing a loop (new track) at Haughley Junction and Witham to separate passenger and freight services to help achieve faster journey times between London and Norwich- Further doubling of the Felixstowe branch line to accommodate the forecast increase in freight services

Options for the West Anglia main line are:- Longer trains on the West Anglia Main Line. This would require platform extensions across this part of the network- Journey time improvements on the West Anglia Main Line- Adding two extra tracks to the West Anglia Main Line south of Broxbourne- Doubling the single line tunnel to Stansted Airport

The study, a consultation on which will run until 3 February next year, also exam-ines the possibility of upgrading Fenchurch Street station, in addition to the upgrades already planned, and increasing capacity on the North London Line from Gospel Oak to Barking. This could be achieved by increasing the number of platforms and running longer trains.

Final publication of the study is expected next summer, the results of which will be used to inform the Department for Trans-port’s funding strategy for CP6.


LO commences five car roll out

London Overground has commenced the roll out of five car class 378s as part of a £320 million investment programme.

The additional vehicle provides room for an extra 170 passengers, increasing capacity by 25%.

Construction of the Bombardier built car-riages is part of the London Overground Capacity Improvement Programme, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.

In order that the longer trains can be accom-modated the maintenance depots at New Cross Gate and Willesden have undergone reconfiguration in addition to 13 platform ex-tensions at LO stations along with associated signalling works.

In September a new stabling facility at Sil-wood Sidings, with capacity for five car trains, was commissioned. This was complet-ed in a record breaking 18 months of gaining project authority.


More Thai airport rail links proposed

Thailand’s transport minister Prajin Juntong has announced that two additional airport rail links are being evaluated by the govern-ment.

The proposals would see a 22 km dedicated rail route constructed from Phaya to Don Muang airport and a rail route created con-necting Bangkok with a naval base at Utapao.

Approval for the Don Muang scheme, for which outline environmental assessments have already been completed, is expected in the near future.

Initially, with the opening of Suvarnabhu-mi airport , it was thought that Don Muang would close but instead passenger numbers have risen and the airport is to be expanded in order to cater for the 30 million passengers a year that pass through. The airport is al-ready served by a station on the metre gauge Bangkok to Rangsit line, which will be up-graded as part of the Red Line Commuter rail project.

The line to Utapao cannot be built until plans have been finalised for adapting the naval air base for civilian use.

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Rail link relics may be left in place

The Hong Kong government is proposing that most of the ancient relics, described by the government as one of the most important archaeological finds in recent history, discov-ered during the construction of the Shatin to Central rail link be preserved in place.

Construction of the rail route is already run-ning 11 months behind schedule and if this latest proposal is implemented it could add another 15 months to the timescale and coast an additional HK$5.4bn ( £444 million) .

Preservation options being considered for the relics, which include two stone wells near the site of To Kwa Wan station and a large build-

ing dating back to Song and Yuan dynasties, include preserving in situ or removing and reconstruction.

Each month’s delay will cost around HK$250m.

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Rail Announcement November 2014