Modern Railways – April 2019

20 Modern Railways April 2019 http://www.modern-railways.com

Infrastructure News

FUNDING FOR FENLAND PLATFORM EXTENSIONS

THE DEPARTMENT for Transport

has approved a funding package

of around £27 million to allow

Network Rail to extend station

platforms at Waterbeach and

Littleport, on the line between

Cambridge and King’s Lynn. The

work will allow eight-car trains to

be introduced on peak services,

increasing capacity on the line. Both

platforms at Waterbeach will be

extended to 167 metres in length,

while at Littleport platform 2 will

be similarly extended and step-free

access provided to platform 1. New

stabling will also be created at King’s

Lynn to support the longer trains.

Work is expected to start in October

and be completed in summer 2020,

with eight-car services operated by

Govia Thameslink Railway expected

to begin in December 2020.

Network Rail says the project is one

of the first to progress through the

new Rail Network Enhancements

Pipeline process, which DfT and

NR now use to manage delivery

of new rail infrastructure.

BARKING APPLICATION SUBMITTED

C2C HAS submitted a planning

application to the London Borough

of Barking & Dagenham for

improvements at Barking station.

Applications for planning

approval and listing building

consent have been submitted,

which seek to provide increased

capacity at the station. If approval

is received, construction could

begin as early as October.

The aim of the work is to improve

access and reinstate much of the

original architectural language

at the station, which is the only

Grade II-listed 1950s railway

station in London. A proposed first

phase, with designs developed by

architect Weston Williamson and

Partners, involves refurbishment

of the station ticket hall, including

a redesign of the concourse and

construction of a second gateline

to double the number of ticket

gates, as well as increasing the size

of the station’s entrances, creating

new retail space and new toilets.

The ticket hall proposal has

been established as Phase One in

the ambitions of the Barking Town

Centre Regeneration Scheme.

Phase Two would introduce an

interchange bridge at the station

to provide step-free access and

interchange between the platforms

and ticket hall, for which c2c

has submitted an application to

the Department for Transport’s

Access for All fund. The third

phase incorporates an oversite

development above the station.

Improved access proposed: rendition of Barking station after work.

Sub-surface

signalling set

to go live

TRANSPORT FOR London was

aiming to go live with the first

section of automatic signalling

on the London Underground’s

sub-surface lines over the

weekend of 16-17 March, after

this issue went to press.

Thales is supplying

Communications Based Train

Control (CBTC) equipment under

the Four Lines Modernisation

(4LM), with the aim of delivering a

series of timetable enhancements

by 2023. Introduction is planned

across 15 Signalling Migration

Areas (SMAs), beginning with

the Hammersmith branch.

TfL’s Major Projects Director Stuart

Harvey told TfL’s Programmes and

Investment Committee on 6 March

that a new version of software

had been introduced the previous

weekend along with successful

trial runs using the CBTC system.

He confirmed the aim was to go

live with the system between

Hammersmith and Latimer Road

on 16-17 March. He also told the

committee the CBTC equipment

had been installed across the next

five migration areas, covering

the entirety of the Circle Line, in

preparation for these to follow.

The go-live of the first migration

area had initially been targeted

for June 2018 but was postponed

while software issues were

resolved. Mr Harvey told the

Programmes and Investment

Committee the aim was to

commission CBTC signalling across

the Circle Line by the end of this

year, potentially supporting an early

timetable uplift in March 2020.

SIEMENS FOR SOUTH LONDON SIGNALLING

NETWORK RAIL has awarded

Siemens a contract for signalling

renewals in the Catford loop and

Brixton area of south London.

Valued at around £2 million, the

deal will see Siemens lead through

the first three stages of the GRIP

process (output definition, feasibility

and option selection). A contract

notice explains the objectives of

the project are to renew life-expired

assets and improve reliability and

performance. The work incorporates

targeted renewal of the Herne

Hill interlocking with re-control

to Three Bridges Rail Operating

Centre (ROC), full resignalling of

the Stewart’s Lane interlocking

with a similar recontrol, along

with the parallel renewal of

Voltaire Road switches and

crossings, provision of Automatic

Route Setting (ARS) and passive

provision for Traffic Management.

020-021_MR_Apr 2019_infrastructure.indd 20 12/03/2019 15: