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![]() Railhub Archive | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Strategic Rail AuthoritySubstantial passenger benefits delivered by 2004 and maintenance backlog eliminated by West Coast plan
project, unveiled for consultation by the Strategic Rail Authority today. It shows how the SRA, working with the industry, plans to get a grip on this project, which had suffered from serious difficulties and lack of leadership. The benefits of the new strategy include : 125 mile/h route capability for tilting trains delivering much faster journey times Capacity for 80% more long distance passenger trains than today Capacity for 60 - 70% more freight traffic than at present Capacity for other users of the route, in some cases with enhanced capacity and in others with faster journey times Better and more resilient performance Improved safety measures The first improvements will come on stream in Autumn 2004 : Doubling, to four trains an hour, the existing London - Birmingham service to boost frequency and provide125 mile/h service 125 mile/h running - taking half an hour off the Manchester -London journey time By 2006, when both the upgrade and the renewal programmes will be substantially complete and Glasgow - London journey times will be cut by 45 minutes. The final elements should be in place by 2008, allowing for a further expansion of rail freight services and all round performance improvements. The key commuter flows on the route will be protected and gain more seats and Northampton will gain some new fast Pendolino services. Working together, in partnership with the rest of the rail industry, the SRA and Network Rail, together with the co-operation of the passenger & freight operating companies, can now set about delivering this much needed project with a new purpose. The emergence of the SRA as specifier and project sponsor, and Network Rail as the delivery agent, marks a vitally important shift from Railtrack as both client and deliverer. Commenting on the Strategy, SRA Chairman, Richard Bowker said: " Today's announcement is about the renewal of 780 miles of railway and the elimination of a 20 year maintenance and renewal backlog in the shortest practical time. We are proposing a strategy that gets a grip for passengers, taxpayers and freight companies. It delivers reliable, high quality, Inter City services alongside the expanding commuter and freight sectors. Once work is completed, the West Midlands, North West, Scotland and the Northampton lines to London will see material benefits." The work is in two parts: The bulk (over 75%) of the expenditure required to return the West Coast Main Line to acceptable modern standards is to be spent on making good a backlog of renewals and replacement to address the legacy of under-investment and maintenance since the route was last upgraded. While it will be for the Rail Regulator, in his recently announced interim review, to settle on the price, current estimates for the renewal work (of which over £2 billion has already been spent) are around £7.5 billion. The upgrade and transformation of a line with limited capacity and a maximum line speed of 110 mph into a modern high speed railway with substantially increased capacity for passenger and freight trains, plus 125 mph tilting trains, will be achieved for around £2.3 billion. Welcoming the document, Network Rail's Chief Executive, John Armitt added: "We welcome this consultation process which offers a framework for reaching final decisions on the future of WCML. "The SRA is taking a strong and welcome leadership role on the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line. Network Rail will work with the SRA to deliver the revised scope of this massive engineering task." Click here to view the full West Coast Strategy Consultation Document. Notes to Editors: 1. 140-mile hour tilt running on WCML is the subject of further analysis and examination. 2. Throughout the route modernisation process, the principal long distance network will be kept in place - every day - for the main routes London - Birmingham; London - Manchester; London - Glasgow. A new service has been designed for Manchester - London (operating to St Pancras) for 2003 /4 which will help sustain and develop this key rail market in advance of the major uplift to follow in Autumn 2004 on the West Coast itself. 3. As announced on 29 August, there will be temporary closures on some specific sections of line, starting Summer 2003, to enable the necessary work to be completed much more quickly. Coupled with improvements to diversionary routes and services, such as the electrification of Crewe - Kidsgrove, this will enable the majority of the improved outputs to be delivered by late 2004. 4. The strategy consultation ends on 16 December 2002. Work on implementing the final strategy is expected to start in January 2003. 5. Instead of weekend closures, the work programme is based around a series of projects, including two 17 total week line possessions, the first from Colwich in Staffordshire via Stoke-On-Trent to Cheadle Hulme, just south of Stockport, from 17 May 2003. The second is currently scheduled for early 2004, running from Crewe to Cheadle Hulme. 6. It will deliver more than 780 miles of upgraded railway while 585 miles of overhead line equipment will have been renewed along with over 1000 switches and crossings.
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