Market Harborough Station Upgrade

[Flying Phil]

The station car park is still not in use......and the diggers on the west side have gone without seeming to have done anything. However the parked cars have been leafleted about the car park changes!

 

[londonmidland]

The station car park is still not in use......and the diggers on the west side have gone without seeming to have done anything. However the parked cars have been leafleted about the car park changes!

The new car park opens this Monday, 18th June.

EMT Tweeted about the car park earlier today.

 

[edwin_m]

This morning there was a digger and a couple of vans up where the new alignment re-joins the old at the north end, and a few bits of plant just north of the current car park. But no sign of significant activity, and the track on the west side hasn't expanded beyond the 30 or so sleepers reported last week. There is a stack of track panels in the area but they have been flame-cut into short lengths and I'm guessing this was the best place to offload the old track from the relaying just to the south.

 

[WymoWanderer]

Press release about the car park opening on Network Rail website.

https://www.networkrailmediacentre....ent-in-railway-in-market-harborough-continues

 

[Flying Phil]

The car park is now open!
This means that the West side of the line (the old car park) is now clear to allow the next stage of the straightening. I would expect that the ground would be levelled, ballasted and new track laid. Then the new West platform and the North end of the new East platform built. After that, the slewing of each end of the MML to the new straighter track and the finishing off of the new platforms together with the new overbridge with lifts between the platforms.
Finally they will lift the old curve and extend the new car park to the new East side platform.....????
It will be interesting to see what actually happens over the next couple of years.

 

[Flying Phil]

There is now a new access road nearly finished into the old car park and there has been some ground clearance work to the North of the station. There also seems to be a couple of piles of new ballast dumped in the area.

 

[Flying Phil]

A lot more activity today. A large crane has been putting in "portakabin" offices at the South end of the old car park. On the Number 1 (Northbound) platform the outline for the re aligned platforms has been spray painted in position and to the North of the station a further track panel has been put in place to the South of the Great Bowden road overbridge.
The plan is to build the new track and platforms over the winter and then, in a week long possession - hopefully in May, the ends will be joined to the existing mainline.

 

[HowardGWR]

Hope those Ash trees aren't growing out of the stonework!

 

[Flying Phil]

Hope those Ash trees aren't growing out of the stonework!

I suspect they are!
Re this bridge, at present, both tracks run through the East arch but, with the re-alignment, there will be one track through the East arch and one track through the West arch. There will be some piling work done to the North of the bridge to allow for the straightening of the Great Bowden curve.
The portakabin office block is now 5 long x two high 40' wide units and expected to be finished today. There has been more marking out for the new platforms and where the lift/overbridge will be situated.
To the South of the station, the old siding will be removed and the curved mainline "eased" to allow for higher speed and align with the new platforms.

 

[edwin_m]

I suspect they are!
Re this bridge, at present, both tracks run through the East arch but, with the re-alignment, there will be one track through the East arch and one track through the West arch. There will be some piling work done to the North of the bridge to allow for the straightening of the Great Bowden curve.
The portakabin office block is now 5 long x two high 40' wide units and expected to be finished today. There has been more marking out for the new platforms and where the lift/overbridge will be situated.
To the South of the station, the old siding will be removed and the curved mainline "eased" to allow for higher speed and align with the new platforms.

Thanks for confirmation on the bridge. Looking at the position of the new sleepers from a passing train I was nearly sure this would be the case. This should also give electrification clerarance without re-building it.

I think the re-alignment south of the station is quite limited as the track is constrained by the road bridge and buildings either side of the formation. The tightest part of the curve appears to be roughly at the south end of the platforms.

 

[Senex]

Thanks for confirmation on the bridge. Looking at the position of the new sleepers from a passing train I was nearly sure this would be the case. This should also give electrification clerarance without re-building it.

I'm sure that must be the case. In the earlier schemes for reverting to the old alignment both tracks of the line heading north from the station would have been over on the LNW side at this point, but if you can save rebuilding a bridge by judicious sluing in the four-track space with no impact on speed, that must be good. Remember when much the same thing was done 30-odd years ago just north of Dore in order to get better drainage and deeper ballasting for both tracks of the Sheffield main line, by then reduced from four tracks to two.

I think the re-alignment south of the station is quite limited as the track is constrained by the road bridge and buildings either side of the formation. The tightest part of the curve appears to be roughly at the south end of the platforms.

That's my impression too. The long 59-chain curve sharpens to 29 chains radius from that bridge, it always seemed to me. Presumably that was a sharpening of the curve in the 1880s rebuilding in order to accommodate the new platform in that area.

 

[Senex]

This extract (coutesy of the National Library of Scotland) from the OS 25" map of 1886, surveyed in the two previous years, may be of interest. It shews the new station in use, with details of some of the permanent platforms and what look like some temporary platform sections, but the old junction still in place. The start of the quadrupling works can be seen further to the north. Even at this scale, it is clear how the modification of the layout to create the two independent routes built in the severe reverse curve for the Midland.

 

[38Cto15E]

Thanks for the update Senex.
It reminded me of when I used to set back into the cattle market siding to leave cattle trucks when working the Leicester-Wellingborough trip, sometimes the train could be delayed as the cattle trucks usually came from North Wales (maybe Ireland?) via Crewe and Stoke on Trent and a connection was imperative for livestock.

 

[Flying Phil]

Thanks for that interesting map Senex.
There has been some more large diameter drainage pipes left on the old car park and more material to the North of the station so a bit more progress.

 

[Flying Phil]

Work is continuing North of the station, where new track is being laid on the West side of the cutting.

 

[InTheEastMids]

It was mentioned upthread that the contractors have started marking up the new layout, here's a picture I took today that illustrates the amount of straightening that will happen, might also help those that haven't really been following the details.

The train in the foreground is a Nottingham bound stopper at platform 1. The blue lines painted on the platform tell me that I'm standing in the middle of where the new southbound platform 2 will be in 12-18 months.

 

[jyte]

Wow...that's a big difference. Then again, they are raising the line speed from 60 to 110!

 

[Flying Phil]

Here is a view in the other direction showing the blue line of the platform edge.

 

[deltic08]

I'm sure that must be the case. In the earlier schemes for reverting to the old alignment both tracks of the line heading north from the station would have been over on the LNW side at this point, but if you can save rebuilding a bridge by judicious sluing in the four-track space with no impact on speed, that must be good. Remember when much the same thing was done 30-odd years ago just north of Dore in order to get better drainage and deeper ballasting for both tracks of the Sheffield main line, by then reduced from four tracks to two.

I think the tracks were reduced to two and the short sighted single lead junction at Dore was installed with the changeover from semaphore to colour light signalling done around 1970/71. I was a regular weekend traveller on the NE/SW route at the time. That's nearly 50-odd years ago. Perhaps it only feels like 30-odd years.

 

[Senex]

I think the tracks were reduced to two and the short sighted single lead junction at Dore was installed with the changeover from semaphore to colour light signalling done around 1970/71. I was a regular weekend traveller on the NE/SW route at the time. That's nearly 50-odd years ago. Perhaps it only feels like 30-odd years.

1971 indeed for the reduction to two tracks and the new junction arrangements, and then 1985 for the sluing. You like me will remember when it was the Manchester lines that were the fasts and the newer London lines the slows .... (and when proper full-length trains from the south went from the down slow into platform 1 at Sheffield via the underpass — another feature rather foolishly given up).

 

[Flying Phil]

Re the track North of Harborough Station - it looks like there will be a completely new Northbound track going under the previously unused West arch of the road overbridge. The existing Northbound track under the other arch may then become part of the new, realigned, Southbound track.

 

[InTheEastMids]

Re the track North of Harborough Station - it looks like there will be a completely new Northbound track going under the previously unused West arch of the road overbridge. The existing Northbound track under the other arch may then become part of the new, realigned, Southbound track.

The pre-project drawings that made it into the slides for Leics County Council showed 2 completely new lines being constructed to the West of the current alignment. However, I could easily see how it would make sense to do what you suggest - it sounds like it would be cheaper, and potentially slewing the lines through the middle of bridge arches might improve clearance for... (not going to say it. Don't want to tempt fate)

 

[Flying Phil]

There has been more material brought to the site and a bit more rail bed clearance up by the Great Bowden bridge......Oh, and a little shelter for the smokers outside the new site office block!

 

[Senex]

There has been more material brought to the site and a bit more rail bed clearance up by the Great Bowden bridge......Oh, and a little shelter for the smokers outside the new site office block!

Got to get the important things done!

 

[edwin_m]

Looking at where the Down Main is being laid, it converges with the existing Down Main north of the Great Bowden Road overbridge. I've always understood that the ideal alignment would diverge again further north to follow the original course of the MML rather than the speed-restricted curves and redundant girder bridge put in to separate it from the Joint line. But there is no sign of work here apart from a few bits and pieces of equipment lying around where the two routes converge at the northern end (just south of the farm track overbridge which in turn is just south of the A6).

Is this part happening, was it de-scoped or was it never part of the scheme?

 

[snowball]

Is this part happening, was it de-scoped or was it never part of the scheme?

The diagram at the bottom of this page includes it:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...0handout.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0LgZ5niE0RMi2cuG1tA6Bf

I think a similar diagram was posted either upthread, or in the MML electrification thread before this thread was split off.

 

[edwin_m]

The diagram at the bottom of this page includes it:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=2ahUKEwin9NPB-czcAhViJMAKHQHNDSUQFjADegQIBxAC&url=http://politics.leics.gov.uk/documents/s117427/Network%20Rail%20handout.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0LgZ5niE0RMi2cuG1tA6Bf

I think a similar diagram was posted either upthread, or in the MML electrification thread before this thread was split off.

Thanks for that. Glad to know they aren't just doing half the job, though I would have expected the tracks to stay on the west side instead of apparently re-joining the existing for a short distance. Not sure why they haven't started the northern part - hope they've purchased the land!

 

[38Cto15E]

They probably still own the land north of Harborough as it was the old trackbed for Seaton jct and beyond.

 

[Flying Phil]

Talking to one of the workers "on - site", I was told that there was to be significant piling work to alter the embankment North of the station on that curve re-alignment.

 

[Senex]

They probably still own the land north of Harborough as it was the old trackbed for Seaton jct and beyond.

They never sold it — either what was Great Bowden sidings (the old Midland alignment) or the alignment of the Luffenham Jn line. The riding school that used to be on it was simply renting the land and had been given notice to quit at least once before, when the job was going to be done in the 1980s (and was then dropped to cut the cost of the Leicester MAS scheme). Given how much railway land that could usefully be used for alignment improvements today has been sold off, Market Harborough is very lucky indeed!