Bicester North Remodelling - Evergreen 3

[Chafford1]

Here's a picture of the latest work at Bicester North as part of the Chiltern Mainline project:

The 'up' track is being moved so that line speeds through the station can be raised to 100mph, with the 'up' platform being widened to meet the new alignment. Expected completion end of December.

 

[route:oxford]

Is that an "artists impression" rather than a photo?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

So where th ecurrent up is will be built over with platform, and the wooden stucture in the middle becomes the new platform edge? The new Quail shows nothing for Bicester being remodelled, just the proposed connection from Town station

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Hmmm... wouldn't it be operationally more flexible to leave the platform where it is and use the new alignment as a loop to allow these 100mph through services to pass other services at that location?

 

[Greenback]

Of course, but this is Britain, and such common sense is not permitted!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

But then the platform loop would have to join again, and I dunno if you could get 100mph over the junction. Got to give them credit though, 20 years ago most of this was single track, an irrevelivant Bhm-London service, with no hope and possible closure, and now, wow, rivalling VT for London passengers (well, with Loco-hauled stock and Clubmans, they put Pendos to shame )

 

[Railway]

More pictures:

http://www.upmain.fotopic.net/p67228703.html

http://www.upmain.fotopic.net/p67228422.html

http://www.upmain.fotopic.net/p67228702.html

Original article:

http://rail-news.com/2010/09/07/evergreen-3-makes-good-progress/

 

[PhilipW]

How many services actually pass through Bicester North non-stop ?
I thought nearly all of them stopped.

 

[The Planner]

There will be a few under EG3 that wont, nothing substantial though. Theres a loop going in at Princes Risborough anyway.

 

[swt_passenger]

So where th ecurrent up is will be built over with platform, and the wooden stucture in the middle becomes the new platform edge? The new Quail shows nothing for Bicester being remodelled, just the proposed connection from Town station

The 'wooden structure' is prefabricated concrete - you can see the cream coloured tactile paving parallel to the edge...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The 'wooden structure' is prefabricated concrete - you can see the cream coloured tactile paving parallel to the edge...

TBPH I didn't look at the structure in detail... back to the question, will the current Up be absorbed by the new, wider platform?

 

[The Planner]

Yes, there is no plan for a loop there yet.

 

[Chafford1]

Of course, but this is Britain, and such common sense is not permitted!

With limited numbers of though trains, probably not worth the extra signalling costs of reinstating one of the through roads.


Makes sense at Princes Risborough though although I haven't seen any plans or photos of this yet.

However, the plans for the extra 100mph 'down' through line at Northolt, now approved by Hillingdon Council, have been clearly documented:

 

[The Planner]

All sorts of wrong road fun ensues once that fast line is put in....

 

[tripleseis]

I guess that shifting of the down main line creates room for HS2 in the future.

 

[swt_passenger]

I guess that shifting of the down main line creates room for HS2 in the future.

Not initially, because the existing down line is staying in use as a down loop for stoppers calling at South Ruislip. Then there's also the up loop at West Ruislip to deal with if Chiltern was reduced to a two track railway along there.

HS2's documentation is pretty sketchy on how they'll get past the Ruislips, but the present work doesn't seem part of the solution as such...

 

[Railway]

New platform is now open:

http://rail-news.com/2010/10/09/new-platform-opens-at-bicester-north/

 

[gwr2006]

Hmmm... wouldn't it be operationally more flexible to leave the platform where it is and use the new alignment as a loop to allow these 100mph through services to pass other services at that location?

That was exactly the orignal proposal, but Chiltern Railways had to find ways of saving money to make Evergreen 3 stack-up so decided that builidng out the up platform gave them the straight line they needed for non-stop trains without the cost of new signalling and crossovers .
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

There will be a few under EG3 that wont, nothing substantial though. Theres a loop going in at Princes Risborough anyway.

Actually, the timetable submitted for Evergreen 3 by Chiltern Railways shows a big reduction in the number of trains at Bicester North from stations north (up to 38%). This is because one of the two fast trains every hour will not stop in future so they can get the end-to-end journey time down between Birmingham and London.

I seem to recall one of these will call at Banbury then go non stop to Haddenham & Thame, Princes Risborough and High Wycombe with the other calling at Bicester North then calling at the same stations. The service between Banbury and Bicester will become hourly except for the hours when there is a Stratford-upon-Avon train. There are also going to be many more trains starting/terminating at Bicester North than there are now.

I think we may see the Bicester-London market shift to Town station when the Oxford service starts in 2013 as that will be two trains every hour and will allow them to speed up the Birmignham trains even more.

 

[gingerheid]

Wonderful what can be achieved by a good company with a decent franchise agreement.

To think that this is the sort of thing everyone else is missing out on!

 

[Chafford1]

Interesting pictures of the changes on the First Great Western Coffee Shop website here:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=7250.msg78161#new


The work on the reinstatement of a through line at Princes Risborough is taking place on November 5th:

http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/news/major-work-planned-friday-5-november

 

[SignalEngineer]

But then the platform loop would have to join again, and I dunno if you could get 100mph over the junction. Got to give them credit though, 20 years ago most of this was single track, an irrevelivant Bhm-London service, with no hope and possible closure, and now, wow, rivalling VT for London passengers (well, with Loco-hauled stock and Clubmans, they put Pendos to shame )

For the through route you would definitely get 100mph over it (it's just like any other set of cross overs on 100 or 125mpg track (the restriction is on the turn out speed, not the straight through route). But then again, what's the point of having 100mph on a turn out when the train is going to stop at the station.

But as others have pointed out it's extra signalling works and maintenance and most trains stop anyway. I also suspect that if you wanted a platform for it then there's extra costs for overhead walkway and space would be limited for stairs/lifts etc.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

For the through route you would definitely get 100mph over it (it's just like any other set of cross overs on 100 or 125mpg track (the restriction is on the turn out speed, not the straight through route).

I was saying that I didn't know if you could get 100mph over the stretch of track where the through and the platform loop would rejoin .

 

[Chafford1]

The Chiltern Mainline upgrade has continued this weekend at Princes Risborough with the reinstatment of the up through line:


http://geoff-plumb.fotopic.net/p67997269.html

http://geoff-plumb.fotopic.net/p67997270.html