August2019 •TheRailway Magazine•
PrimeMinisterBoris JohnsonbacksHS3 route
JUSTafew days aftertaking
offi ce,new PrimeMinisterBoris
Johnson has promisedto fund a
fasterrail routebetween Leeds
and Manchester,which he
claimedwould“turbo-charge”
regional growth.
Speaking in frontof
Stephenson’sRocketat
Manchester’s Museum ofScience
and Industry, Mr Johnson said:
“I wantto be thePrimeMinister
who does with Northern
Powerhouserail whatwedid
with Crossrail inLondon.
"And todayIamgoing to
deliver onmy commitmentto
thatvision withapledgetof und
the Leeds to Manchesterroute.”
Thecurrentroutesuffers from
chronicovercr owdingat peak
time s, with trains on the 43-mile
Leeds to Manchester via Diggle
line taking nearly an hour.
Mr Johnsonwantsthis cutto
under 30 minutes with the new
route, dubbed HS3.
Detailed plansforthe
proposedroutewill be published
in the autumn afterareview
into the costs of HS2, which
is rumouredto have risen
by between £25-30billion,
according to aleaked letter.
If thatisc orrect, it puts HS
costs to at least £80bn,well
beforeany of the tunnelling has
began, and throwsaspotlightof
uncertainty on thecontrove rsial
projectonceagain.
Andy Burnham, the mayor
of GreaterManchester,who
has been outspoken about
the ConservativeParty's lackof in vestmentint he north,
welcomed the funding pledge.
He said:“NorthernPowerhouse
Rail is morethan Manchesterto
Leeds.Itisaboutconnecting the
whole north, and it needsto be a
new linerather than an upgrade.”
Henri Murison, directorof
the NorthernPowerhouse
Partnership,called the
announcement“aseminal
momentfor the north”.
However, shadowTransport
SecretaryAndy McDonald was
moresceptical,pointingto
Mr Johnson's failuretobuild a
bridge across theThames and an
estuaryairport.
"I'm notconfidenthe'll be able
to deliver better train services
between Leeds andManchester,"
Mr McDonald said.BorisJohnson outlines hiscommitmentfor HS3 in frontof
Stephenson’sRocketon July 28.PA IMAGESRail network in meltdown
as temperatureshit new
British record of38.7°C
BRUTALtemperatures over
atwo-day period brought
chaosto large parts of therail
network,affecting millions ofrail
passengers.
Theeffects on oneroutewere
still beingfelt several days later.
As temperatures beganto rise
into the upper 30s on July 24, the
temperatureoft he railhead in
manylocationswasfar higherat
55-60°C.Because the heatmakes
the rail expand,iti ncreased the
risk of bending and flexing,and
in some cases buckling.
Theincreased risks led Network
Rail to imposeablanket speed
restriction of 60mph on a
number ofroutes to reducethe
possibilityofaderailment.
Many serviceswerecancelled
to reducethe number of trains
and subsequentstres son
overheatedtracks.OnJuly 26,
Network Rail said between
12.00-17.00,anumber of
exceptionally heavy freight
serviceswould not run so asto
protectthe track.
In additionto trackexpansion,
overhead wires(OLE) also
expanded and EastCoast Main
Line serviceswerehalted after
aHull Trains Class 180 becametangled in the low-hanging wires
in PeascliffeTunnel.Itb rought
evening peak-time chaosto the
ECML, with passengers stuck
on trainsforseveral hours;a
number had no airconditioning
because of the lack of power.
Knowing the next day, July 25,
would be equally as hot,and
with trains already in the wrong
places or needingrepairs,the
rail industryissued widespread
adviceasking passengersto
avoid all but essential travel.Record
As it turned out the
temperaturereachedanew
record fo rJuly,with theMet
Officeconfirming 38.7°Cwas
reache datCambridge.
In the UK,track is stressedfor
atemperatureof27°C, so the
38.7 in additionto the rail head
temperaturegavethe industrya
major problem.
In some places the OLE has
adjustableautomatic spring
tensioners or balanceweights
as thetemperaturerises or falls,
but inanumber of locations the
OLE is fixedtension, and this
crea tesmoreofaproblem.
NetworkRail said it isreplacing older OLE with more
automaticallytensioned power
lines.
Asecond dayofexceptional
temperatures broughtOLE issues
north ofPeterborough, between
Euston-Watfor d, Birmingham
andWolverhampton, and also
just north ofSt Pancras,where
the OLE saggedat Belsiz eTunnel
andbecame tangled in an HST.
Therewas also alineside fireand
passengerswerestuckforseveral
hoursawaitingrescue.
Five ambulancesatte nded
Peterborough station when
passengers onaKing’s Crossto
Glasgowservic ebecame ill.
On manytrains, air
conditioning units failed leaving
passengers in unbearableconditions.The incidentseverely
impactedEastMidlandsTrains
andThameslink services,and
on otherroutes ,ato ne point
therewerenotrainsgoing north
fromEuston,St Pancras orKing’s
Cross.The situationwassobad,
entrancesat Euston station
wereclosedto preventfurther
overcr owding.Escaped dog
Eurotunnel shuttle operations
werealso affec tedbythe heat
andtrack issues.Int he midst of
allthe heatand Friday’sevening
peak,Waterloowasshutdown
afteradog escaped andwas
chased down the tracksby its
owner.
Rail Delivery Group directorRobertNisbet said the heat
problems had affected20out
of 26 train operators,with one
reportedly handing out 57,
bottles ofwateronone day
alon e.
However, it wasthe damaged
OLE at Belsiz ethathad alasting
impact, forc ing EMTtor un an
emergencytimetable oftwo
trains per hour (rather thanfour),
andcancellations onThameslink,
as well as no trainsovernight
between St Pancras and Elstree
&Borehamwood as Network Rail
engineers battledto co mplete
repairsby the morning of July 30.
EMT'ssituationwasnot helped
by an RMTstrikeoverpay and
conditions on July 27, aswell as a
fatalityatLeicester.Passengers fill theEuston
concourse on July 25,waiting
fornewsofdepartures.
JAKE NEIL/TWITTER
Inset:Thedelays areconveyed
to passengers.
DR SARAH POWELL/TWITTERStadler Clas s755sintoservice as
GreaterAnglia‘745s’gainapproval
THE first of 38 new Class 755 bi-mode
multiple units orderedby Grea terAnglia
enteredservic eonJuly 29.
No.755410workedthe diagram
previously operatedbythe top-and-
tailed Class 37 'shortset',beginning
with the 07.47Lowestof t-Norwich.The
loco-hauled set willremain on standby
until moreunits areavailable.
GA says the Stadler-built trains will
be phased in on the Norwich-Great
Yarmouth/Lowestoftand Norwich-
Cambridgeroutes over thecoming
weeks.Aformal launch is plannedfor
laterin thesummer andTheRMwill
be reviewing the Class 755s inafuture
issue.
TheOfficeofRail and Road(ORR) hasnowalso authorised the use ofStadler
Clas s745 EMUsbyGreaterAnglia,
subjecttos pecific conditions being met.
The12-car 'FLIRT'EMUswill replace
Clas s90and Mk3 sets on the Liverpool
Street to Norwichroute, as well as on
Stansted Express services,wherethey
will replac eClass 379 EMUs.
TenClass 745/0s willform the
inter-cityfleet withFirst Class and buffet
facilities,while the '745/1s' have greater
luggage spacefor Stansted duties.
Theapproval allows driver training
to begin in earnest,withaview to
introductionto servicelaterint he year.
Each sub-fleet has 10 sets,and by the
endofJuly seven of the 20 sets had
beendeliveredto theUK.On its first dayofpublic operation (July 29), Stadler Class 755/4 No.755410 passes
Brundall with the 12.36 Norwich-GreatYarmouth GreaterAnglia train.TOBYRADZISZEWSKIHaveyougotastoryforus?Email: [email protected]