Cambrian line to get more continuous welded rail (CWR)

[Unixman]

A £7.25m project has begun to improve the Cambrian railway line in mid Wales.

Network Rail is upgrading 3.7 miles (6km) of track between Newtown and Aberystwyth.

The company said a continuous welded rail will result in a better quality ride for passengers and reduced noise for those living nearby.

Work will take place during the evenings and overnight from Monday, and will affect some later services.

The line will also be closed on 17-18 February and 10-11 March, with a replacement bus service in operation.

Passengers are advised to check routes before travelling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-42951691

 

[Gareth Marston]

Off to a storming start this morning as an overnight engineering possession was handed back nearly 7 hours late. No trains between Machynlleth and Newtown till midday.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Overnight Possession overrun again this morning, early Cambrian trains about 20 late as a result.

 

[PHILIPE]

Overran again this morning. Disruption expected until 1100

 

[Gareth Marston]

Overran again this morning. Disruption expected until 1100

Getting very tiresome and were only 3 days into it - suppose to be overnights Mon-Thu until end of March.....

1st & 2nd UP trans cancelled with bus replacements.
1st DOWN cancelled - no replacement bus
2nd DOWN terminated here Bus replacement ,
3rd UP started from here with unit off 2nd DOWN.
Bus replacement came through from Machynlleth for 3rd UP as well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good for operations that CWR is being installed - though I must admit it's a bit of a shame (nostalgically) to lose the "clickety clack" on one of the few relatively high speed routes to retain it. Even the southbound S&C, and to my great surprise the Clitheroe-Hellifield line, is all CWR now.

 

[Llanigraham]

Getting very tiresome and were only 3 days into it - suppose to be overnights Mon-Thu until end of March.....

1st & 2nd UP trans cancelled with bus replacements.
1st DOWN cancelled - no replacement bus
2nd DOWN terminated here Bus replacement ,
3rd UP started from here with unit off 2nd DOWN.
Bus replacement came through from Machynlleth for 3rd UP as well.

Reported that no-one at Caersws knew about the buses, or where they could catch them since the buses don't go to the station.

 

[Gareth Marston]

They find turning around very hard by the station. They stop by the Village Workshops on the A470 /Trefeglwys Road Junction. The PIS Screens @ Newtown were displaying replacement road transport provided by Lloyds Coaches. I think the thing non regulars struggle most is the fact that the buses don't run to the same timetable as the train it really throws them.

We nearly had an passenger injured at Newtown this morning. The 0624 ex BHM New St terminated at Newtown @ 0806 and then took the path of the 0730 ex Aberystwyth due to depart 0839. At around 0827 an older man approaches the station and hits the panic button upon seeing the unit in the platform and nearly trips himself up coming up the station steps.

 

[Llanigraham]

They find turning around very hard by the station. They stop by the Village Workshops on the A470 /Trefeglwys Road Junction. The PIS Screens @ Newtown were displaying replacement road transport provided by Lloyds Coaches. I think the thing non regulars struggle most is the fact that the buses don't run to the same timetable as the train it really throws them.

I'm sure the person who mentioned it, Gareth, said that eventually they found they had to walk up to nearly opposite The Unicorn.

 

[squizzler]

I caught a train from Caersws to Machynlleth a month or two before Christmas and the state of the track seen from the platform was shocking. Many of the sleepers were completely rotten and would be unfit even to build a garden compost heap. There were plenty of stacks of concrete sleepers on the other side of the line ready to go.

As the train headed down the line steep grade from Talerdigg to Machynlleth, it was riding very badly. It takes quite a lot make a class 158 lose its composure and I was genuinely concerned how unsettled it felt. I am assuming this is the section to be relaid and it cannot come soon enough.

 

[Raul_Duke]

Is it just track relaying? That seems an eye watering amount of money at just under £2,000,000 per mile?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Reported that no-one at Caersws knew about the buses, or where they could catch them since the buses don't go to the station.

Caersws has PIS now, doesn't it? (Crikey, even Dovey Junction does). Did they not put a note on it, or did those at Caersws not bother looking at it?

 

[Gareth Marston]

Caersws has PIS now, doesn't it? (Crikey, even Dovey Junction does). Did they not put a note on it, or did those at Caersws not bother looking at it?

I'm fairly sure the PiS were showing it the issue is the coaches won't come to the station and stay on the A470. I can remember as child a weekend possession when it was terminate at Caersws and the buses did come to the station. The BR drivers gave us village kids unofficial rides back and forth on 120's up and down the loop.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

BR of course - relaid some of the main line Cambrian . in the late 1970's with serviceable CWR displaced from the ECML with the advent of the IC 125's , - maybe this has now worn out. ?

The Coast had basically spot resleeping in those days - with careful re-use of ex GWR rail chairs , carefully assessed by some old boy - at a frugal rate of about £25 a sleeper , so I was told by the ex Per Way Engineer - working his budget very carefully.

 

[Ships]

Good for operations that CWR is being installed - though I must admit it's a bit of a shame (nostalgically) to lose the "clickety clack" on one of the few relatively high speed routes to retain it. Even the southbound S&C, and to my great surprise the Clitheroe-Hellifield line, is all CWR now.

No it isn't.

 

[Ships]

Is it just track relaying? That seems an eye watering amount of money at just under £2,000,000 per mile?

Depends on how's its being relayed, single line renewals have quite a big cost uplift compared to working on double track, so assuming it's a concrete renewal doing a full depth dig and not skimming the cost seems about right

 

[Llanigraham]

Caersws has PIS now, doesn't it? (Crikey, even Dovey Junction does). Did they not put a note on it, or did those at Caersws not bother looking at it?

Normally I think the Information display just says something like Rail Replacement Buses in operation Can't remember if it says where the stop is, but it is a fair walk from the station.

 

[Llanigraham]

BR of course - relaid some of the main line Cambrian . in the late 1970's with serviceable CWR displaced from the ECML with the advent of the IC 125's , - maybe this has now worn out. ?

The Coast had basically spot resleeping in those days - with careful re-use of ex GWR rail chairs , carefully assessed by some old boy - at a frugal rate of about £25 a sleeper , so I was told by the ex Per Way Engineer - working his budget very carefully.

Main bit of relaying seems to be from just after Newtown, around Moat Lane, westwards.
There have been lengths of rail and piles of ballast and sleepers between there and Wyg Lane for over a year.

 

[Gareth Marston]

BR of course - relaid some of the main line Cambrian . in the late 1970's with serviceable CWR displaced from the ECML with the advent of the IC 125's , - maybe this has now worn out. ?

The Coast had basically spot resleeping in those days - with careful re-use of ex GWR rail chairs , carefully assessed by some old boy - at a frugal rate of about £25 a sleeper , so I was told by the ex Per Way Engineer - working his budget very carefully.

Was east of Welshpool intially.

 

[Bald Rick]

Is it just track relaying? That seems an eye watering amount of money at just under £2,000,000 per mile?

No, that's about right.

 

[Raul_Duke]

No, that's about right.

I’m sure it is, but roughly £360 per foot? Someone’s onto a good job there.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There was an old adage by a similarly retired old lag like me - where South Wales branches (some of them freight only) - were fitted with ex main line "serviceable" CWR - called "fit and forget" , i.e putting down CWR basically reduced longer term mtc costs , and protected the line longer term , where there was deemed to be a future.

This is how the defunct Pantyffynon to Gwaun Cae Gurwen line was re-opened without too much trouble 10 years ago - as much of the track was OK - thanks to careful planning way back ....

 

[swissrailpassion]

This is where our higher fares are going - into the bottomless pit where everyone is on the make - to NR.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’m sure it is, but roughly £360 per foot? Someone’s onto a good job there.

Sleepers are about £50 / £60 each. A pair of (nearly) 200 metre Rails is about £15k. Ballast is about a tenner a tone, and you need about 5 tonnes a metre. Put that together, and the material cost is about £200 per metre.

Then you have got to get it there, dig up and cart away the old stuff, put in the new stuff, and pay for the cost of the blokes (on night shift) and (expensive) machines to help. The team doing it will no doubt be in hotels between shifts. The bus bill won't be small either.

As said above, single line is more difficult due to logistics; hence I think this job is using the high output kit.

 

[Llanigraham]

This is where our higher fares are going - into the bottomless pit where everyone is on the make - to NR.

That is a very inflamatory statement..
Perhaps you would like to back it up with some actual facts and figures?

 

[Ships]

Sleepers are about £50 / £60 each. A pair of (nearly) 200 metre Rails is about £15k. Ballast is about a tenner a tone, and you need about 5 tonnes a metre. Put that together, and the material cost is about £200 per metre.

Then you have got to get it there, dig up and cart away the old stuff, put in the new stuff, and pay for the cost of the blokes (on night shift) and (expensive) machines to help. The team doing it will no doubt be in hotels between shifts. The bus bill won't be small either.

As said above, single line is more difficult due to logistics; hence I think this job is using the high output kit.

If it was using the TRS machine you'd be looking at £650/m perhaps. However the TRS can't work on bullhead rail because there's no support for the rail when it's unclipped (well unkeyed). Could be something like the NTC machine.

I'm surprised by the overruns, usually there's a fairly rigorous contingency plan in place, unless something's different on the wales route the thinking is as far I am aware is "thou shalt not overrun" under any circumstance.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No it isn't.

Most of it is! Did Carlisle-Preston via the S&C and Ribble Valley last weekend, and it was remarkable how little clickety-clacking there was (I didn't actually notice any, but maybe there's a bit and I missed it).

 

[Bletchleyite]

There was an old adage by a similarly retired old lag like me - where South Wales branches (some of them freight only) - were fitted with ex main line "serviceable" CWR - called "fit and forget" , i.e putting down CWR basically reduced longer term mtc costs , and protected the line longer term , where there was deemed to be a future.

This is how the defunct Pantyffynon to Gwaun Cae Gurwen line was re-opened without too much trouble 10 years ago - as much of the track was OK - thanks to careful planning way back ....

I'm sure I recall reading (may be wrong) that the section of CWR on the Conwy Valley was second hand.

 

[Ships]

Most of it is! Did Carlisle-Preston via the S&C and Ribble Valley last weekend, and it was remarkable how little clickety-clacking there was (I didn't actually notice any, but maybe there's a bit and I missed it).

You said all not most

 

[swissrailpassion]

That is a very inflamatory statement..
Perhaps you would like to back it up with some actual facts and figures?

I read Modern Railways each month and I'm quite well informed. Just read their month's edition and discover how the fare payer is paying more for the incompetence of NR.

A technician friend of mine tells me they recently paid £5000 for a simple 12v battery.