East Kilbride/Barrhead electrification updates

[gingertom]

Looks like good progress on foundations and masts in this area. What are the distances from the end of electrification at Muirhouse to Busby Junction and onwards to Barrhead?

from the sectional appendix it looks like 2m 18ch from Muirhouse central jn to Busby jn, 5m 77ch Muirhouse central jn to Barrhead jn. Near enough 6 miles.
East Kilbride 7m 60ch from Busby jn.

 

[route101]

from the sectional appendix it looks like 2m 18ch from Muirhouse central jn to Busby jn, 5m 77ch Muirhouse central jn to Barrhead jn. Near enough 6 miles.
East Kilbride 7m 60ch from Busby jn.

How far south are the masts and piles on Barrhead?

 

[Frankton Junct]

How far south are the masts and piles on Barrhead?

My understanding is that the current construction contract is for the section from Muirhead South Junction to just north of Kennishead station. The masts don't extend as far as Kennishead station.

They were busy on Sunday. I didn't realise that it is such a labour intensive procedure to pour concrete into a foundation

 

[GRALISTAIR]

They were busy on Sunday. I didn't realise that it is such a labour intensive procedure to pour concrete into a foundation

That is why they prefer piling whenever possible.

 

[Frankton Junct]

The contractors were busy again this past Sunday, constructing more reinforced concrete foundations. They had two augers drilling holes just north of the Titwood Road over bridge and they had a concrete pump in the Crossmyloof Morrison's supermarket car park, pumping concrete over the fence into a road rail trailer for delivery to the new foundations. Late on Sunday night / early Monday morning they were driving steel tube piles near to the Haggs Road under bridge.

I haven't seen any more masts - it seems that the contractor is concentrating on the foundations and piles. There are now two foundations behind the fence along platform 1 at Pollokshaws West station - these are for two track cantilevers, as were shown on the planning application.

The longest gap now in the foundations / masts is the section between the B762 Barrhead Road under bridge and just south of Busby Junction (they might need brackets in the retaining wall in the cutting). The other gap is the Pollokshaws viaduct over the White Cart river, which needs brackets mounted on the viaduct to support portals.

A foundation at Pollokshaws West station:

 

[sannox]

Really been some excellent progress on this. What about the Strathbungo station issue- has any progress been made on that. It should have been demolished some time ago.

 

[Frankton Junct]

Really been some excellent progress on this. What about the Strathbungo station issue- has any progress been made on that. It should have been demolished some time ago.

The Strathbungo Society Spring 2021 newsletter states:

The Society had applied to Historic Environment Scotland for a listing for the Station building, owned by Network Rail to provide some protection and maintain it for the area. This was rejected, on the basis that nothing remained of the historic interior. Yet while the building operated as a shop, residents from the Bungo had seen behind the shop facade to historic woodwork and other artefacts. Over a year from its closure, the building had been left to become dilapidated. It is little wonder therefore that the City Council have given permission for its demolition. This is due to take place in February 2022, a loss of a piece of Strathbungo’s past.

See: Spring 2021 Newsletter of the Strathbungo Society

[EDIT]

This Sunday, contractor SPL was on site, erecting more masts and booms.

Haggs Road under bridge:

 

[Southsider]

With masts going in either side I guess fears over clearances at Minard Road and the Cathcart Circle bridges have been allayed?

 

[Frankton Junct]

There is no sign of OHLE clearance work on these bridges, as yet. In my opinion, the Nithsdale Road over bridge is more likely to require an intervention (see postings earlier in this thread).

Masts seen from the footpath beside the Cathcart Circle bridge (note, in the distance just to the right of the nearest mast, you can see a steel tube pile that is proud of the target level):



Masts are appearing north of the Titwood Road overbridge (the one you called Minard Road).

 

[qpsnapper]

More drilling work going on this morning for mast foundations, north of Titwood Road bridge:

 

[Frankton Junct]

More drilling work going on this morning for mast foundations, north of Titwood Road bridge:

Yes, on Sunday, the contractors had a daytime possession. The augers were in use and the concrete pump was back in the Morrison's Supermarket carpark.

I observed an auger in use to excavate the bases of a couple of refused piles just north of the Haggs Road underbridge. As I expected, early on Monday morning, the impact piling rig was back in use to complete driving these piles.

Pigeons have re-colonised the Cathcart Circle over bridge - there was a flock of gallus young pigeons on the stairs. The stairs are a mess with their droppings. Over the past few years, Network Rail has repaired and repainted many bridges in Glasgow - including the adjacent Shawmoss Road under bridge. The Cathcart Circle bridge over the Glasgow - Barrhead - Kilmarnock railway looks to need similar attention. I hope that Network Rail is able to combine the electrification interventions on this bridge with a repair and repaint. I appreciate that the electrification project and the life extension works will have separate budgets and schedules, but there must be savings if these works can be combined here.

The letter sent to neighbours on the 7th April stated that the piling works would take place each night for 12 weeks from 17th April 2021 (which would end on 10th July 2021). It seems to me that completion of this work is now approximately six weeks behind schedule. I don't know the reason for this slippage. The weather has been good. Perhaps the ground conditions forced them to build more reinforced concrete foundations than were planned?

 

[59CosG95]

Yes, on Sunday, the contractors had a daytime possession. The augers were in use and the concrete pump was back in the Morrison's Supermarket carpark.

I observed an auger in use to excavate the bases of a couple of refused piles just north of the Haggs Road underbridge. As I expected, early on Monday morning, the impact piling rig was back in use to complete driving these piles.

Pigeons have re-colonised the Cathcart Circle over bridge - there was a flock of gallus young pigeons on the stairs. The stairs are a mess with their droppings. Over the past few years, Network Rail has repaired and repainted many bridges in Glasgow - including the adjacent Shawmoss Road under bridge. The Cathcart Circle bridge over the Glasgow - Barrhead - Kilmarnock railway looks to need similar attention. I hope that Network Rail is able to combine the electrification interventions on this bridge with a repair and repaint. I appreciate that the electrification project and the life extension works will have separate budgets and schedules, but there must be savings if these works can be combined here.

The letter sent to neighbours on the 7th April stated that the piling works would take place each night for 12 weeks from 17th April 2021 (which would end on 10th July 2021). It seems to me that completion of this work is now approximately six weeks behind schedule. I don't know the reason for this slippage. The weather has been good. Perhaps the ground conditions forced them to build more reinforced concrete foundations than were planned?

Either ground conditions, unplanned buried services, or a combination of the two.

 

[Class 170101]

Yes, on Sunday, the contractors had a daytime possession. The augers were in use and the concrete pump was back in the Morrison's Supermarket carpark.

I guess the current RMT strikes are allowing NR to catch up or fill their boots and get ahead?

 

[Frankton Junct]

I guess the current RMT strikes are allowing NR to catch up or fill their boots and get ahead?

Earlier in the project, the WCML was closed at the weekends for engineering and so Avanti ran their Voyager shuttle between Glasgow and Carlisle (in addition to rail replacement buses). These shuttles ran on the Glasgow and South Western (GSW) and the Glasgow Barrhead and Kilmarnock (GBK). The GBK remained open on Sundays. Then there was engineering on the GSW and the GBK remained open (I assume so that engineering trains could access the work site). It is only the past three Sundays when daytime possessions were taken for the Electrification project.

I don't know if these daytime possessions were scheduled prior to the strike or they have been taken exceptionally to take advantage of the opportunity when the route was idle anyway. The publicity mentions the strike but not the engineering work.

 

[Starmill]

Network Rail have definitely been known to take possessions exceptionally in cases where there's no traffic scheduled for many hours, such as because a strike means that all trains are planned cancelled. I don't know if that's what is happening in this case, though.

 

[waverley47]

It's likely to be a combination of both.

In normal times, sans strikes, they probably would have had a Sunday night possession, and the strikes simply allow you to take the full afternoon for a shorter number of weeks.

Remember that rescheduling the piling due six months from now at a months notice to consecutive Sundays probably would have been unworkable given other maintenance works, however moving from 50 eight hour possessions to 25 sixteen hour possessions is probably doable.

 

[Southsider]

This seems to have gone quiet. Any progress in the last week?

 

[qpsnapper]

I went by on Sunday and was all quiet as the line was open. Looked like some work had been completed during the week as masts were installed for about half the distance between Titwood Road bridge and the Strathbungo footbridge:

 

[Frankton Junct]

Yes, last week masts appeared overnight like mushrooms in the Autumn. This past weekend, the route was open - I assume that the contractors assigned their teams to other work over the bank holiday weekend. On Sunday, there was an Old Firm match in Glasgow too.

This week, their focus has been on erecting the booms of the two track cantilevers.

Crossmyloof station:

Re point 2, this is part of the rationale behind the Series 1 TTCs used between York & Church Fenton - as soon as the 'leg' is landed, the boom can be lowered into position in the hooks, with the pin then slid/knocked through the holes at the back. The more traditional TTCs have bolted connections between the mast & boom, the kneebrace & boom, and the kneebrace & mast - and if, for whatever reason, the wrong tool was brought, or a bolt assembly goes AWOL, that's time lost.

It seems that, for whatever reason, the designers of the electrification for this route prefer the more traditional type. They appear frequently along the route.

 

[59CosG95]

Yes, last week masts appeared overnight like mushrooms in the Autumn. This past weekend, the route was open - I assume that the contractors assigned their teams to other work over the bank holiday weekend. On Sunday, there was an Old Firm match in Glasgow too.

This week, their focus has been on erecting the booms of the two track cantilevers.

Crossmyloof station:
View attachment 102075



It seems that, for whatever reason, the designers of the electrification for this route prefer the more traditional type. They appear frequently along the route.

Makes sense from a familiarity perspective; I can't think of any instances where the new S1-style steelwork has gone up. NR's Scottish maintenance teams will undoubtedly have had a say in the design of the route, which is why they've used the Series 2 equipment used on the EGIP & post-2010 Glasgow area suburban schemes (except Paisley Canal).

 

[ainsworth74]

I did the line a couple of weeks ago and the progress then was seriously impressive! They are not hanging about with this one.

 

[nlogax]

This week, their focus has been on erecting the booms of the two track cantilevers.

Crossmyloof station:

Nice! Looking forward to checking on progress there next week but it looks like they're really getting a wriggle on.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I did the line a couple of weeks ago and the progress then was seriously impressive! They are not hanging about with this one.

Nice! Looking forward to checking on progress there next week but it looks like they're really getting a wriggle on.

Yes it really is very refreshing to see really good progress. I really appreciate being able to keep an eye on progress with photos from here in the USA. Our forum members doing a great job.

Now if only they could do that -------- I will refrain!

 

[Southsider]

I did the line a couple of weeks ago and the progress then was seriously impressive! They are not hanging about with this one.

Unfortunately there is a suggestion up thread that they are approximately six weeks behind with the piling work.

 

[waverley47]

Unfortunately there is a suggestion up thread that they are approximately six weeks behind with the piling work.

This has been floated, but it's not really the end of the world. It's not like there are fleet cascades or line closures to fit around, and the timetable will likely be changed after the switch to EMUs anyway.

Additionally, it's not like a six week delay will negatively impact on the optics of further electrification across Scotland which has already been committed to, and neither is six weeks beyond the realms of margin of error for a two year project. It's better that it's happening slower than intended but still happening regardless.

Saying that, it would be interesting to know where exactly that delay came from, and which section appears to be the problem for piling.

 

[snowball]

There seems to be a bit of confusion as to how the Scottish government has decided to fund things going forwards.

In England, most projects go through either the Network Rail enhancements program, part of a five year funding settlement, or are individually approved when costed. A junction renewal or signalling replacement will come under the former, whereas something like wiring or remodelling is a separate scheme, to be signed off by the SoS separately.

In Scotland, the scotgov have decided to grant two annual sums of money. The first, under the category "rail infrastructure" will comprise the day to day running, maintenance and renewals needed to keep things running.

The second category is "major public transport projects" which also receives an annual settlement. This is basically a pot of money (£207m in the 20/21 budget) with which to work down a list of projects. East Kilbride wiring, remodelling of Perth, wiring the Fife circle ect will all come from this pot, which will be agreed in the budget.

What this means is that Scottish projects take as long as they take, with a budget ready to be spent on whatever NR deems appropriate for the delivery of those projects. NR have a list of both necessities and nice to haves, and spend that budget to work down that list a few at a time. No signing off by ministers, no chopping and changing of scope, no getting Graylinged. As long as that pot of money keeps coming, the projects get worked on.

So, infrastructure projects aren't run by ministers. They're funded by the budget, and the list to work down is agreed upon with ministers, but it's all internal to NR as to how and when the projects get delivered. Ministers will take credit, and there may be pressure to shuffle around the list as priorities change, but it also means there is never a formal announcement of starting a project, instead the to Joe public it will appear as if it just happened one day. Consultations and planning documents come out, and work starts happening, but as it's not a government led project, we'll see very little in the way of announcement going forward.

Obviously, the exception to all this is new builds. Levenmouth was a separate project, not funded through NR, and instead directed from up on high by the government itself.


So, to answer Dave's question. There isn't reticence on the part of ministers, neither will we see a planning document. NR will continue to come out with consultations and planning documents, and ministers will excitedly take credit for the end results, but NR gets to spend the money without ministers looking over their shoulders. It has been funded, but because that money is NR's to spend, it doesn't need approval, and we won't see an official announcement or a vote in parliament ect .

I hope this is all as waverley47 said. It does not seem to have got through yet to Roger Ford of Modern Railways. In his piece in the September issue he praises the Scottish approach compared with the UK govt approach, but mentions a couple of times that nothing has been authorised.

 

[Starmill]

I hope this is all as waverley47 said. It does not seem to have got through yet to Roger Ford of Modern Railways. In his piece in the September issue he praises the Scottish approach compared with the UK govt approach, but mentions a couple of times that nothing has been authorised.

I understood his point to be more that the actual cost of the electrification work required for decarbonising countrywide is in the order of the tens of billions of pounds, to start in this Parliament. And that capital is as yet not forthcoming, although smaller pieces of electrification work have been funded through the existing settlement. I doubt myself now that you point this out though.

 

[snowball]

I understood his point to be more that the actual cost of the electrification work required for decarbonising countrywide is in the order of the tens of billions of pounds, to start in this Parliament. And that capital is as yet not forthcoming, although smaller pieces of electrification work have been funded through the existing settlement. I doubt myself now that you point this out though.

That was one of his main points (as discussed in the Transpennine thread in the last week or two) but I'm referring to one or two small asides which suggested he's unaware of the information in waverley's post about how electrification will proceed henceforth in Scotland.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I understood his point to be more that the actual cost of the electrification work required for decarbonising countrywide is in the order of the tens of billions of pounds, to start in this Parliament.

The TDNS - suggested 47 billion. I - being realistic - rounded that up to 60 billion. I then spread over 30 years in my mind 2021-2050 and thus I thought 2 billion per year = 60/30 , was reasonable and doable politically and otherwise - even the Treasury.

 

[adrock1976]

Will the terminal bay platform at Barrhead be long enough as is, or does it need to be extended?

On Sunday, there was an Old Firm match in Glasgow too.
Crossmyloof station:




It seems that, for whatever reason, the designers of the electrification for this route prefer the more traditional type. They appear frequently along the route.