MML Electrification: progress updates

[59CosG95]

Update 26/2/23:
The copers on the parapets at bridge SPC3-42 (Pipewell Rd, Rushton) are finished. There does still seem to be a bit of finishing work to do in the surrounding areas though.


The UM Earth Wire has also been run from the previous overlap at the eastern end of Rushton (by underbridge SPC3-45, Station Rd), and the AT Feeders between footbridge SPC3-43 & bridge 42 have been run (although not yet fully clamped in).

 

[PJM]

Thanks for the update 59CosG95, the finished coping stones are very recent as they were not in place a week ago.

Passing Kibworth today some shots of the bridge at New Road, Kibworth where the most northerly masts and cantilevers are.





and by the Kibworth Business Park, between the A6 and the railway.

 

[Flying Phil]

Thanks PJM, they certainly are cracking on!

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Thanks PJM, they certainly are cracking on!

Correct. As they seem to have momentum I pray and hope that Wigston to Syston is announced very shortly.

 

[Mikey C]

Correct. As they seem to have momentum I pray and hope that Wigston to Syston is announced very shortly.

Will that section be next, or will they skip Leicester and continue north of Syston first?

 

[QSK19]

Correct. As they seem to have momentum I pray and hope that Wigston to Syston is announced very shortly.

Seem to have read somewhere else on RF (though not completely sure!) that RS3 (Syston to Trent Junction) is the next stage to be done, whereas RS2 (Wigston to Syston) is going to be left a little longer due to the particularities of Leicester station?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Feb 2023 ==

Will that section be next, or will they skip Leicester and continue north of Syston first?

Beat me to it by 5 seconds

 

[Mikey C]

Seem to have read somewhere else on RF (though not completely sure!) that RS3 (Syston to Trent Junction) is the next stage to be done, whereas RS2 (Wigston to Syston) is going to be left a little longer due to the particularities of Leicester station?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Feb 2023 ==


Beat me to it by 5 seconds

One of the advantages of Bimodes is that you can electrify a railway in any order!

 

[QSK19]

One of the advantages of Bimodes is that you can electrify a railway in any order!

Can’t wait to see the pan going up and down more times than a kangaroo though

 

[zwk500]

Can’t wait to see the pan going up and down more times than a kangaroo though

The engineers might get fed up of having to kick the APCO magnets a few miles north every couple of months

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Will that section be next, or will they skip Leicester and continue north of Syston first?

Seem to have read somewhere else on RF (though not completely sure!) that RS3 (Syston to Trent Junction) is the next stage to be done, whereas RS2 (Wigston to Syston) is going to be left a little longer due to the particularities of Leicester station?

You are correct. The Roger Ford (I think) article states that RS3 (Route Section 3) i.e. Syston Jct - Trent Jct could well be done first. The article stated it gave more diversionary capabilities.

Howver, that and makes sense to me for different reasons. The Grid Feeder at Kegworth is in that section and so could go live independently.

 

[Nottingham59]

The Grid Feeder at Kegworth is in that section and so could go live independently.

There is no sign of any activity on the Kegworth Feeder site, as far as I am aware. I'll have a closer look next time I'm passing

 

[baz962]

The engineers might get fed up of having to kick the APCO magnets a few miles north every couple of months

The drivers will get fed up long before.

 

[edwin_m]

There is no sign of any activity on the Kegworth Feeder site, as far as I am aware. I'll have a closer look next time I'm passing

These are very long lead time items, and I believe most of that lead time is waiting in a queue with National Grid before anything actually happens on the ground. It's possible that HS2 work has given them a head start on the design at Kegworth, though I don't think it has got as far as ordering anything.

The other advantage if you have bi-modes is that you don't need the usual diverse feeding arrangements. If the feed goes down everyone just carries on under diesel.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

There is no sign of any activity on the Kegworth Feeder site, as far as I am aware. I'll have a closer look next time I'm passing

But I have seen info that the grid connection has been applied for, so I suppose that is progress.

 

[DDB]

Are the upgrades to the existing overhead system south of Bedford to allow full speed electric running done yet or do we know when they are scheduled to be done?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Are the upgrades to the existing overhead system south of Bedford to allow full speed electric running done yet or do we know when they are scheduled to be done?

I am sure @59CosG95 will be along shortly to give the correct answer.
Normally our Graham would give you a quick reminder but am struggling at the moment.

 

[Nottingham59]

It's possible that HS2 work has given them a head start on the design at Kegworth, though I don't think it has got as far as ordering anything.

I understood it was on order ....

At the very least, they should now be able to start work to design and build the OHLE feeder at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which I understand is often the longest lead time item on all these projects. It will be needed to power both HS2 and the MML.

AIUI, it’s already underway.

 

[Bald Rick]

Are the upgrades to the existing overhead system south of Bedford to allow full speed electric running done yet or do we know when they are scheduled to be done?

Underway, but it’s a longish programme.

 

[Meerkat]

Underway, but it’s a longish programme.

Is it incremental, or will speed limit changes wait until it is all done?

 

[Nottingham59]

Network Rail to change electrification delivery on Midland Main Line to make cost savings | New Civil Engineer

Minutes from Network Rail's December board meeting, published on Friday, explain that the programme aims "to change the way electrification was delivered

www.newcivilengineer.com

The procurement process for the next phase of the MML electrification programme north of Leicester, beyond Corby, to Nottingham and Sheffield was given the green light at the meeting and the search for a contractor began in January of this year.

 

[Bald Rick]

Is it incremental, or will speed limit changes wait until it is all done?

I don’t know. If it was up to me, it would be north of Luton only, as the benefit south of Luton is minimal (and unlikely to be usable).

 

[Wyrleybart]

Does anyone know if Trent Jn - Chesterfield via Erewash valley is being wired, or is it only the route via Derby to the north ?

TIA

 

[Bald Rick]

Does anyone know ifTrent Jn - Chesterfield via Erewash valley is being wired, or is it only the route via Derby to the north ?

TIA

Not as part of the MML programme, no.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Not as part of the MML programme, no.

No, but that is where it gets complicated.
As HS2 (East) now seems to end at East Midlands parkway (from the Birmingham area) is the new station at Toton now scuppered, and would all HS2 trains for the north trundle round via Derby and Ambergate ?

 

[Roast Veg]

No, but that is where it gets complicated.
As HS2 (East) now seems to end at East Midlands parkway (from the Birmingham area) is the new station at Toton now scuppered, and would all HS2 trains for the north trundle round via Derby and Ambergate ?

The IRP proposed no trains north of Nottingham on the Eastern Leg.

 

[snowball]

The IRP proposed no trains north of Nottingham on the Eastern Leg.

But there's supposed to be a study on how to get to Leeds, isn't there?

 

[Bald Rick]

The IRP proposed no trains north of Nottingham on the Eastern Leg.

That’s not correct. It clearly states that trains from HS2 would go to Derby and Sheffield Via the MML. Map on page 75, description on page 76.

And yes, Toton Station is not part of the plan.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I don’t want to take thread into speculation but once Sheffield is wired and there is a grid feeder in the Chesterfield area and Nottingham is wired, I am confident there will be some infill work later on.

 

[Bald Rick]

I don’t want to take thread into speculation but once Sheffield is wired and there is a grid feeder in the Chesterfield area and Nottingham is wired, I am confident there will be some infill work later on.

I guess it’s possible, but given the traffic that goes over it, battery trains will be more than sufficient.

 

[59CosG95]

I am sure @59CosG95 will be along shortly to give the correct answer.
Normally our Graham would give you a quick reminder but am struggling at the moment.

I haven't seen any designs as of yet, but am fairly confident that works are underway behind the scenes.
There are also the plans at Wixams to take into consideration, which will (hopefully) remove a good number of headspans in that area.

Additionally, early works have commenced in the last week for a BWA & Overlap Upgrade on the southern (Mk3B) section of the MML, which consists of the following:

1. Relocating insulation in out-of-running wire runs to the "sleeper end", thereby reducing the live envelope over the cess;
2. Removal or replacement of redundant overlap insulation (e.g. at overlaps where booster transformers used to be; all boosters from Borehamwood to Bedford have now GONE); and
3. Replacement of the legacy Mk3-era Balance Weight assemblies with Siemens Anti-Fall Balance Weights (as used in the WCRM).

LinkedIn post for that here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/greg...5K?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop