The Railway Magazine – August 2019

August2019 •TheRailway Magazine•89

ScotRailremedial plan

deliveringonits promises

APROGRAMME of

improvements demanded

by TransportScotland earlier

this year is delivering more

reliable and morepunctual

train services,according to the

ScotRail Alliance.

More trains arerunningto

time,with fewe rcancellations,

less‘skip-stopping’, andmore

seats onScotRail trains as new

trainscome into service.

Training of additional drivers

and conductors has been

completed in easternScotla nd,

leadingto areduction in

cancellations aroundEdinburgh

and inFife.

Of the 19commitments

madeby Abellio,11have been

delivered,including the lease

of three additionalInterCity

125‘classic’sets; anextraannual

£500,000 investmentfor a

performanceimprovement

fund; and therecruitmentof

eightmoreHitachitechnicians

forthe Class 385 fleet.

ScotRail is alsorecruitingextra

front-line staff,and looks set

to exceed thecommitmentof

hiring an additional 55 drivers

and 30conductors during 2019.

Theimprovements have

been boostedby thesuccessful

implementation of theMay

tim etable change and the

best period of performance for

punctualitysince September

2018.

Thelatest NationalRail

Passenger Surveyfound 85% of

ScotRail customers aresatisfied

–upfrom79% in January–and

the highest of the fivelargest

oper ators in the UK.

ScotRailroutes to and fromFife areamong those benefiting most

from the improvementplan demandedby TransportScotland

earlierthis year,with fewercancellationscausedby staff shortages

as newcrewsare recruited and trained.OnJune 18, No.68007

Valiantslows forits Ha ymarket stop with the 07.35Cardenden-

Edinbu rghWaverley.BEN JONES

THE ConwyValley Line in

NorthWales wasdue to

reopen throughout on July 24

followingextensiverepairsto

six miles of trackwashed out

by astorm in March.

Llandudno Junctionto

LlanrwstNorth reopened

to passengers on July 18, in

connection with theWelsh

National Eisteddfod,while the

southern sectionto Blaenau

Ffestiniogwasrestoredto the

network six days later.

Sinc eMarch,engineering

teams have re moved

washed-out materials,

repla cedballast,refurbished

10 level crossings,designed

and installed orrepaired nine

flood culverts,constructed

embankments,and started

repairs to Dolgarrog station.

Thelatterremains closed

while the flood-damaged

platform is repaired.

As well as majorrestor ation

work,NRhas increased the

line speed throughMaenan,

on the section of the line

between Dolgarrog and

LlanrwstNorth, from 30mph

to 45mph.

Thespeedrestri ction had

beenin placesince aprevious

washout in the 1980s.

Localquarries supplied

9,500tonnes ofrock armour

and 3,000tonnes of ballast

to helprepair the formation,

with 91% of thewashout

material removedfromsite

being recycled, andabout

5,000tonnes oftopsoilreused

on si te.

Oneofseveral ne wculverts designedto preventfurtherwashouts on theConwyValleyLine in

NorthWales. Theextentoft he damageto theformation is clear.NETWORK RAIL

ConwyValleyreopens afterwashoutrepairs

SouthWales tram-train depotunderway

CLEARANCE work has started

on thesiteofTransportfor

Wales’new tram-train depot

at TaffsWell, nearCardiff.

The£100million facility

will house TfW’s integrated

cont rolCentr efor theSouth

Wales Metroaswell providing

the operationa lbasefor the

fleet of 36Stadle r‘CityLink’

hybrid tram-trains.

Thedepot isexpected

to be ready in timeforthe

arrival of the first tram-trains

in 2021 and should be fully

oper ationalby 2022.

TfW is investing £738mto

modernise theValley Lines

network,including the

replacementoft he entire

trainfleet, andelectrification

of more than100 miles of

railwaybetween Cardiff,

Treherbert, MerthyrTydfil,

Aberdare,Rhymney and

Coryton.

Thetram-trains will

also serve anew light-rail

extension beyond the current

CardiffBay terminus.

NR seekstraffic management

partnerfor East CoastMain Line

NETWORK Rail is seeking

atraffic management(TM)

partner to helpdeliver the

‘DigitalRailway’upgrade

plannedfor th esouth endof

the EastCoast Main Line and

theTransPennineroute.

NR isworkingto develop

and deploy thefirst full

Euro peanTrain ControlSystem

(ECTS)in-cab signalling

upgrade in theUKfor amixed

userailway, with TM playing

an essentialroleini mproving

performancebyhelpingto

predictand preventconfl icts

and re-planningtimetablesto

reduce dela ys in theevent of

disruption.

Thesystemwill be

designed and developed in

conjunctionwithindustry

partners,reflectinganew way

of working forNR, and will

complementtwo prev ious

ECMLtenderslaunched

in 2018, whic hwillresult

in th reeexternalpartners

being appointed to assist the

transformation programme.

Thetwo othercontracts

covertrain cont roland railway

systemsintegration.

Thetraffic management

partner(TMP) will be

appointed viaaframework

contract over an initial

four-year term that may

be extended upto eight

years andisworth up to

£180million.

Partsoft he ECML and the

HertfordLoop will be the first

to be equippedwithETCS

duri ng ControlPeriod6(CP6,

2019-24), taking advantage of

the simultaneous introduction

of new train fleetsand the

needto replacelife-expired

conventional si gnalling from

the1970s.

■NR has also announced

the awardof17route-based

frameworkcontractsto

deliver minor signallingworks

across thecountr y, worthan

estimated£215mover the

next five years.The contracts

coverthe deliveryofminor

signalling andrefurbishment

works, supporting Network

Rail’sworks deliveryteams.

Haveyougotastoryforus?Email: [email protected]

Cardiffelectrics pushed back to January

RESCHEDULEDengineering
and testingwork in South Wales
means electric operation to
Cardiff will not nowstartuntil
January2020.
TheDecember 2019 timetable
will seeatypical journey time

saving of 14 minutes between

Cardiff andLondonPaddington,

but the final 10-mile section

of 25kV equipmentbetween

Newportand theWelsh capital

will not beready in time,and

GWR Class 80x trains will

continue to run in diesel mode.

Electrificationto Cardiff –

already heavily delayed–will be

completedby November,with

testing andcommissioning due

to takeplaceoverthe Christmas

and NewYear holidays.

Theoverhead line portals arestill awaiting their wires as GreatWesternRailway nine-car IET
No.800319 arrivesat Card iffCentral withawestboundworkin gfromLondonPaddington on July 4.
IETswill continue to run in diesel mode between Newportand Card iffuntil January.JOHN STRETTON