http://www.modern-railways.com April 2019 Modern Railways 53
Joint line, to relay the flat crossing at Newark,
an unusual track formation subject to heavy
wear from the intensive East Coast service.
This is all a prelude to the main event, a
blockade from Christmas 2020 to March 2021.
Drawing on experience at London Bridge and
elsewhere, a ‘50:50’ plan has been formulated:
one half of the station will be taken out of use and
modernised, prior to switching trains over and
allowing track teams onto the other side. In the
first section of the blockade, platforms 0 and 7-8 in
the main shed, along with 9-11 on the suburban
side, will be closed; services will use platforms 1-6.
In the second section of blockade, platforms 0-6
will be closed, with platforms 7-10 in use.
Platform 11, on the suburban side, will
be abolished to allow platform 10 to be
lengthened, with platforms 0-8 all able to
accommodate a 10-car Azuma at the end of
the work. Passive provision for 12-car Azumas
will be delivered in platforms 0, 2 and 3.
When the blockade ends in March 2021,
the extra bore of Gasworks Tunnel will be
made available for use. ‘We’ll be allowed up to
90km/h through the tunnel and speeds will
be higher on the approach to King’s Cross and
leaving the station’ comments Mr H orne.MOORGATE-FIRST ETCS STRATEGY
Panels 1-2 at King’s Cross will be recontrolled
to York ROC during the 2021 blockade and
eventually the ROC will control all the southern
end of the route. While a decision has been made
to use conventional colour light signals in the
remodelling of King’s Cross to derisk the project,
on the line north to Sandy the aim is still to
convert to European Train Control System (ETCS).‘We’ve got an industry steering group
developing a plan for the route and the aim
is to deliver an outline business case for ETCS
to the Department for Transport this summer’
reports Mr Horne. The outcome of this process
will decide the geographical scope of ETCS
(‘our hope is to get it to Stoke bank’). The aim is
for installation to take place in 2023, with ETCS
operation beginning in the following year.
A decision has been made to convert the
Moorgate suburban line as a first stage, where an
all-new fleet of Class 717s simplifies the process.
But plans are already advanced for rolling stock
conversion on the main line, with Grand Central
having done a first-in-class ETCS fitment on the
‘180s’ and LNER, Hull Trains and Govia Thameslink
Railway all having recently-built fleets where the
ETCS is already in or where provision has been
made for retrofitting. A stud of freight locomotives
will also be fitted with the necessary equipment.‘ETCS presents a great opportunity and
our goal is to get it installed on the East Coast
route over the next three Control Periods’
explains Mr Horne. The chosen technology is
ETCS Level 2, which features in-cab signalling –
meaning an end to lineside signals and the need
to maintain them next to busy railway tracks.
Conventional block principles are retained in
Level 2, but the absence of physical infrastructure
makes it easy to shorten sections. ‘This is important
at places like the congested two-track section
through Welwyn North, where the tunnels
and curvature create difficult conditions for
conventional signal sighting’ says Mr Horne.
‘With in-cab signalling we can add extra signal
sections and create more capacity. Another
benefit is that the driver can get a forward
view of the state of the line beyond the limits
of eyesight, along with information on the
optimal speed for the traffic conditions.’New fleet coming: No 800107 pauses at Grantham
while on a driver training run from Peterborough
to Retford on 26 February 2019. Paul ClarkOld dependable: HST power car at King’s Cross on 15 January 2019. Gasworks Tunnel, with the
soon-to-be-revived eastern bore on the right-hand side, is in the background. Rob FranceKING’S CROSS REMODELLING
052-057_MR_Apr 2019_LNER.indd 53 11/03/2019 17:22