MML Electrification: progress updates

[richieb1971]

Yeah, I realise now I took the figure from Leicester not Market Harborough, the fact that it was highlighted on RTT took my attention away from Market Harborough.

Its 1-1. You stated it wasn't 36 miles from post to post, but it is.

 

[Domh245]

You stated it wasn't 36 miles from post to post, but it is.

I don't think @Bald Rick was disputing the point to point measurement, merely pointing out that the existing route is ~41 miles (Ampthill Tunnels South Portal at 42mi18ch, Market Harborough at 82mi74ch), so you only 'save' 5 miles over the existing route if you go for the straight-line through everything approach (and get the 5 minute time saving by saying that the train covers the 36 mile route in 17.5 minutes at 125mph, which is a 5 minute time saving on the 22 minutes it will be after upgrades)

 

[richieb1971]

Yes, my whole argument fell apart when I realised my calculations were based around a mistaken timing.

Another concern I have is the line speed for the Wymington loop. I've seen first hand what they are doing and there isn't much going on which tells me they can increase the line speed around there. Corners are not banked, i'm not seeing the Oakley station alignment being tinkered with either. I thought these were in the package!

 

[InTheEastMids]

On the general topic of straightening the MML, I do think it's a shame that they missed the chance to bypass Wellingborough.
Although to be fair it might still have had a lousy business case.

But if we start from the position today (post 20/05/2018) and ask "How might we reduce journey times between London & Leicester?" there's a decent amount of work just to get back to the situation that existed on 19/05/2018

 

[richieb1971]

The railway people could put a theoretical road map in place to see where improvements on the MML could be made (on alignments).

HS2 is going to relieve the WCML more so than it will the MML. Anyone in the midlands should not expect any improvements after this electrification has completed because without straightening the track you can't really go any faster. The question will be if 125mph is enough speed to keep you going forever, or if the MML will need to remain competitive. As soon as you make the track straighter, the cap on line speed can be lifted. So its not like you cannot make time savings. I will admit that NR seem reluctant to make line speeds higher than 125mph at the moment, but will that be forever?

 

[Kettledrum]

The railway people could put a theoretical road map in place to see where improvements on the MML could be made (on alignments).

The question will be if 125mph is enough speed to keep you going forever, or if the MML will need to remain competitive.

I take issue with the phrase "remain competitive". The journey times for north of Leicester are not at all competitive at the moment - with many journeys having an average speed of around 70 mph. This is much lower than the WCML and ECML. Frequent stops mean that relatively few services are able to keep at 125 mph for very long.

 

[59CosG95]

Bit of a "Slow News" Update this week; as always, changes are highlighted in red.

MML Wiring Progressometer 5.0 (18th June 2018)
Mileages are from St. Pancras.

Bedford (49m 65ch) - Wellingborough (65m 09ch)

• Work underway (since 19/2) on Ford End Road Bridge (https://goo.gl/maps/gBj4QfKex5K2); should finish Aug '18.
• About 4 piles now in on the Down side south of Bromham Rd Bridge, Bedford. These piles stretch northwards from Bromham Rd as far as the eye can see, towards the Great Ouse Bridge.
• Two masts are up on the Up side, immediately south of the Great Ouse Box Girder Bridge (nr Bedford North Jct); one of them has a boom, the other doesn't.
• At Bromham, between the A6 (Great Ouse Way) & Lower Farm Rd (https://goo.gl/maps/rSPFrDAZQ362), 13 Twin Track Cantilevers/TTCs (with booms) are up over the Slow Lines, and about 6/7 over the Fast Lines. This includes the Box Girder bridge over the river Great Ouse.
• A single TTC mast has now gone up north of Lower Farm Rd, adjacent to the Down Fast.
• At Oakley, on the site of the old station (just south of Highfield Rd Bridge), two piles are in adjacent to the Down Fast and Up Slow; one of the Down Fast piles now has a boomed TTC. Over the Slows, a boomed TTC has gone up near the bridge. Plenty of TTC uprights (no booms) are up to the south of Oakley station; their extent is not yet known. Another upright has gone up to the north of Highfield Rd bridge, adjacent to the Down Fast.
• 2 piles are in just south of Oakley Viaduct (https://goo.gl/maps/r5oXUSSPSAo); one next to the DF, another next to the US. These seem to have been in for a while.
• Lots of TTCs also up over both pairs of lines around Milton Ernest (between Radwell Rd & East End; https://goo.gl/maps/V5afGGQEZiE2).
• Between Radwell Rd & New Rd, a TTC mast has been placed between the Up Fast & Down Slow, as the embankment adjacent to the Up Slow had to be replaced with a gabion retaining wall.
• About 6 TTCs are up immediately to the north of Radwell Viaduct, over the Slow lines (https://goo.gl/maps/r5oXUSSPSAo); 3 more TTCs are up accompanying them over the Fast lines (positioned between the pairs of lines). Another 2 are now up over the Slows south of the viaduct. Masts for a possible "2 Capital Pi's" portal boom (i.e. |T|) are up at the southern end of the viaduct.
• Roughly 3 or 4 piles (now with boomless TTC masts) are in next to the Down Fast, and another 4 (3 of which have boomed TTC masts) next to the Up Slow just north of Moor End Lane, Radwell (https://goo.gl/maps/cmgWsgyYAo62). South of Moor End Lane (but north of the next bridge to the south), about 5 TTC masts are up (2 of which have booms) adjacent to the Up Slow, with a similar number in adjacent to the Down Fast. South of that bridge, another 2 piles have masts (possibly w/ booms).
• 2 parallel piles are in place (no masts) adjacent to the Fast lines at Radwell; possibly for a portal frame?
• Between Wymington (https://goo.gl/maps/apZ6wwj9StR2) and Wellingboro', intensive 4-tracking is underway, with the SLow Lines still closed. Near the Google Maps link posted for Wymington, the car park used for the 4-tracking works is due to house a National Grid substation for the electrification. Link to application to Beds Council: http://www.publicaccess.bedford.gov...ils.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=ONBIS8CUMMJ00
• Nothing up regarding piles/masts in the Wymington area on the Slows at this stage; piles are however going in around the Fasts.
• Mast-wise, not much up around Kangaroo Spinney (https://goo.gl/maps/K8C8gkgvNaD2), Irchester (https://goo.gl/maps/SxEfjQV71Ly), Souldrop (https://goo.gl/maps/DYdb2rWw8BL2) or Sharnbrook Jct (https://goo.gl/maps/umEb3T9ftD62) at this point, but about 4 or so masts are now up beside the Up Slow, just north of Park Ln, Sharnbrook (https://goo.gl/maps/df2As431FDr).
• Station Rd Bridge, Irchester (see above link) is closed from 9/4 to 22/11 to allow reconstruction for OLE; the replacement deck over the Relief Lines is now complete.

Wellingborough (65m 09ch) - Kettering (72m 01ch)

• Extensive 4-tracking laid (except at points where existing infrastructure has to be moved).
• A couple of piles (with orange caps) have gone in around Finedon.
• 1 or 2 piles have gone in around Isham; not much progress elsewhere.

Kettering (72m 01ch) - Glendon Jct (74m 00ch) - Corby (79m 40ch)

• Piling going on to the north of Kettering station. A few signal gantries from the BR days have been (or are due to be) removed. Unclear of progress with piling/masts towards Corby, or on the Main line north of Glendon Junction; I assume some wires will go this way to be used as overruns.
• 2nd track now in operation, and linespeed raised to 90mph where it was previously 60mph.

North of Glendon Jct (74m 00ch)

• Braybrooke Substation approved. To be located here: (https://goo.gl/maps/fuy1uZeDjdQ2).
• The extent of wiring towards Market Harboro' has not yet been decided; it might be Braybrooke, it might not be as far as Braybrooke, it may even go to Market Harboro' itself (which is unlikely).
  It may run in a trench like the situation planned for Thingley-Chippenham on the GWEP, from Braybrooke to Glendon.

Any updates would be greatly appreciated.

 

[snowball]

• Near the Google Maps link posted for Wymington, the car park used for the 4-tracking works is due to house a National Grid substation for the electrification. Link to application to Beds Council: http://www.publicaccess.bedford.gov...ils.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=ONBIS8CUMMJ00

I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that this (unlike say Braybrooke) is not a feeder station, and therefore has nothing to do with National Grid. It's just a track sectioning station or something similar and is purely for Network Rail purposes.

(I assume the MML is not getting autotransformers, so what sort of substations does it have? Booster transformers? Didn't somebody say recently, perhaps in the Bromsgrove thread, that these are not allowed now??)

 

[londonmidland]

I don’t understand why at Leicester, the up line was upgraded to 40mph on platform 3 and 25mph on platform 4, but the down line on platforms 1 and 2 still remain at 15mph?

Is there another possession to take place to upgrade the down lines or is that final?

 

[Senex]

I don’t understand why at Leicester, the up line was upgraded to 40mph on platform 3 and 25mph on platform 4, but the down line on platforms 1 and 2 still remain at 15mph?

Is there another possession to take place to upgrade the down lines or is that final?

Same question from me at #1965 on 9th June. No answers, so I assume no-one here knows yet.

 

[richieb1971]

Perhaps its because of the speed of the track that exits the station. Can passenger trains going north hit 50-60mph between Leicester and Syston? If there is a restriction going north, upping the station speed wouldn't be worth it.

 

[IanXC]

I have split discussion of Nottingham's connectivity to HS2 into a new thread here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/east-midlands-connectivity-to-hs2.166084/

Can I request that we please stay on topic! Discussion of tram links between Nottingham and HS2 is off topic for a thread for discussion of Electrification construction progress on Bedford to Corby and Market Harborough!!!!

Thanks.

 

[Senex]

Perhaps its because of the speed of the track that exits the station. Can passenger trains going north hit 50-60mph between Leicester and Syston? If there is a restriction going north, upping the station speed wouldn't be worth it.

Upping the speed saves a significant amount of time — there was a very brief period in the 1980s when the speed went up to 25 into 2 (somewhere I've got a photo of the 25 sign, but I don't know where now), and that was worth a good half minute to all trains. To have the 40 that has been said to be the aspiration would effectively by an unchecked entry into the station. As for speeds between Leicester and Syston, well, both HSTs and Meridians manage very much more than 50-60 by the time they pass Syston.

 

[londonmidland]

Perhaps its because of the speed of the track that exits the station. Can passenger trains going north hit 50-60mph between Leicester and Syston? If there is a restriction going north, upping the station speed wouldn't be worth it.

Meridians, with their fast acceleration, can reach around 100mph by the time they get to Syston. Immediately north of the station the linespeed increases to 120mph.

Going north out of Leicester from platform 2 is 100mph(?)

The actual max permitted speed through platform 2 is 40mph but this only applies until the last part of the train has gone past the 15mph section. So you often get freight trains crawling through at 15mph going north.

 

[snowball]

NR press release

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...stone-in-railway-upgrade-in-northamptonshire/

Network Rail has successfully completed 12 weeks of major improvement work to the railway in Northamptonshire as part of the Midland Main Line Upgrade.


The work saw two of four rail lines closed to allow Network Rail engineers to carry out major work to track, drainage, bridges and viaducts in the county.

During the work, 57 engineering trains were used to install four kilometres of new track, over half a kilometre of track was renewed and over 300 tonnes of ballast, the stones which support the track, was laid.

Irchester and Wellingborough viaducts and Sharnbrook Tunnel were strengthened and repaired and Halsey Road bridge in Bedford was demolished and reconstructed to support increased rail traffic which will use the additional and existing lines in the future.

Whilst a major milestone has been reached, work continues on the Midland Main Line Upgrade in Northamptonshire as Bush bridge, Finedon Road bridge and Station Road bridge in Wellingborough continue to be reconstructed.

Network Rail and East Midlands Trains worked together to keep passengers moving throughout the work.

Ed Akers, Principal Programme Sponsor at Network Rail, said: “We’d like to thank passengers for their patience whilst this vital upgrade was carried out and apologise for any disruption this caused. We’ve worked closely with East Midlands Trains to keep this to a minimum.

“Whilst this major milestone has been reached, we are still continuing with work in the county as part of the Midland Main Line Upgrade. This work will see three bridges reconstructed to allow electrified wires to be positioned safely beneath them and we look forward to passengers seeing the benefit once this work is completed.”

I've been told off by the mods for linking and quoting press releases without commenting on them, so please consider this sentence to be a comment.

 

[Senex]

Meridians, with their fast acceleration, can reach around 100mph by the time they get to Syston. Immediately north of the station the linespeed increases to 120mph.

Going north out of Leicester from platform 2 is 100mph(?)

The actual max permitted speed through platform 2 is 40mph but this only applies until the last part of the train has gone past the 15mph section. So you often get freight trains crawling through at 15mph going north.

Not quite. See the two pages of PON I attached in #1965. The 15 rises to 40 just under London Road bridge, then to 35/65 at 99m22ch (where the old Leicester North box was), and then to 110 at 99m50ch. It used to be 110 straight off the platform, but that was reduced a while back.

 

[londonmidland]

Not quite. See the two pages of PON I attached in #1965. The 15 rises to 40 just under London Road bridge, then to 35/65 at 99m22ch (where the old Leicester North box was), and then to 110 at 99m50ch. It used to be 110 straight off the platform, but that was reduced a while back.

Any idea why it was reduced? Seems a bit strange that. I think I remember seeing a 110 speed board looking north off platform 2 for a short while before it disappeared.

 

[59CosG95]

Does anyone know if any resignalling works are due to take place around Sharnbrook in the near future?
Looking on Flickr, most of the 4-track is in around Sharnbrook Jct, but just NW of Park Ln Bridge, one of the signals for the Slow (soon to be Down Slow) is sitting in the way of the Up Slow's alignment. (Signal WH378 is the culprit)
Or are they going to get as much of the 4-track between Bedford & Wellingboro' in first before they resignal?

 

[richieb1971]

The third track north of sharnbrook is closed. So it's just a matter of time.

As for Leicester P2 perhaps it's a health and safety thing. Passengers on the platform can't see incoming trains from the south very well. If they shot in at 40 mph it would be shocking to people on the southern end.

 

[Senex]

Any idea why it was reduced? Seems a bit strange that. I think I remember seeing a 110 speed board looking north off platform 2 for a short while before it disappeared.

No, and I'd be very interested to hear why. Just one of quite a large number of lowerings of PSRs that have happened under NR.

 

[Senex]

The third track north of sharnbrook is closed. So it's just a matter of time.

As for Leicester P2 perhaps it's a health and safety thing. Passengers on the platform can't see incoming trains from the south very well. If they shot in at 40 mph it would be shocking to people on the southern end.

I wondered about H&S, but 40 is supposed to have been the aspiration for many years past—even way back to the 1980s re-signalling before that was de-scoped.

 

[westcoaster]

The third track north of sharnbrook is closed. So it's just a matter of time.

It's now been reopened, believe there is a signal on the up line protecting sharnbrook junction that needs moving. They have put the new line in either side of it.

 

[38Cto15E]

With the new timetable I noticed that the 2031 hrs from St Pancras to Derby is an HST, non stop to Leicester, last night it did the journey to Leicester in 60 minutes 15 seconds according to realtimetrains, I must have a ride on it soon.

 

[59CosG95]

It's now been reopened, believe there is a signal on the up line protecting sharnbrook junction that needs moving. They have put the new line in either side of it.

Indeed - WH378 is the signal in question (as I mentioned in post no. 1998).

 

[Flying Phil]

With the new timetable I noticed that the 2031 hrs from St Pancras to Derby is an HST, non stop to Leicester, last night it did the journey to Leicester in 60 minutes 15 seconds according to realtimetrains, I must have a ride on it soon.

That is impressive! The APT still holds the record though....
Presumably there have been several sections which have been altered since the 1970's to allow the HST run - and when Harborough is straightened, then the HST's will be easily under the hour.....

 

[HowardGWR]

The third track north of sharnbrook is closed. So it's just a matter of time.

As for Leicester P2 perhaps it's a health and safety thing. Passengers on the platform can't see incoming trains from the south very well. If they shot in at 40 mph it would be shocking to people on the southern end.

I don't see why it's any different to Clapham Junction with Gatexs going through without having been seen up that point. Phil Sayers tells you to watch out. I believe it's a 40 limit there.

 

[Hairy Bear]

Do wanna bet...Hst in 2+4 formation during project Rio.......56 mins !.

 

[londonmidland]

The third track north of sharnbrook is closed. So it's just a matter of time.

As for Leicester P2 perhaps it's a health and safety thing. Passengers on the platform can't see incoming trains from the south very well. If they shot in at 40 mph it would be shocking to people on the southern end.

I do not believe it’s a health and safety issue, as there are a number of stations with a much higher linespeed through platforms, with limited visibility.

Look at University (Birmingham). The station is located on a tight bend and you have Voyagers speeding through there at 30/40mph(?)

As long as you have announcements, CIS and a yellow line stating about passing/fast trains, I don’t see a problem.

 

[59CosG95]

Look at University (Birmingham). The station is located on a tight bend and you have Voyagers speeding through there at 30/40mph(?)

As long as you have announcements, CIS and a yellow line stating about passing/fast trains, I don’t see a problem.

Believe me, after 4 years of higher education at that station's namesake, I can confirm how severe the bends (and the cant) is at University. The "top whack" there is actually 50mph, as a quick check of the Sectional Appendix revealed.

Re Leicester, it might be more of a case of people "not being used" to non-stop trains at the station; it might be that a greater proportion of the travelling public there won't get further back from an approaching passenger train as they're fairly confident it *will* stop there.
I'm sure updating the CIS/PIS/dot-matrixes would help, but whether EMT have the time/money/will to do so is quite another matter.

 

[londonmidland]

Re Leicester, it might be more of a case of people "not being used" to non-stop trains at the station; it might be that a greater proportion of the travelling public there won't get further back from an approaching passenger train as they're fairly confident it *will* stop there.
I'm sure updating the CIS/PIS/dot-matrixes would help, but whether EMT have the time/money/will to do so is quite another matter.

Possibly, and I can see people not being used to trains passing at speed as 99% of passenger services do stop there.

However, you do get freight and ECS movements pass through albeit not quite at quite a high speed.

Regarding the CIS/PIS and P.A, this was updated a few years ago when EMT installed automated announcements at their stations as well as displaying a ‘non-stop’ train message on the CIS.

The way the PA and CIS is currently setup at Leicester allows approximately 30 seconds notice before the train actually reaches the platform.