Forth Bridge to bid for world heritage status

A. Samuel
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The Forth Bridge has been chosen to put forward a nomination to Unesco to be considered as a world heritage site.

The Forth Bridges Forum will prepare a bid for consideration for the rail bridge in 2014. A decision will be made in 2015.

The Forum includes representatives from Network Rail, Transport Scotland and Historic Scotland.

Once the bid has been submitted, it will undergo a ‘demanding 18 month process of scrutiny and evaluation’ by Unesco and the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“The Forth Bridge is a Scottish icon that is recognised the world over.

“We are extremely excited that we have the opportunity to make the case for the bridge being inscribed as Scotland’s sixth World Heritage Site.”

David Simpson, route managing director for Network Rail Scotland, said:

“The Forth Bridge is one of the most recognisable bridges anywhere in the world and certainly the most cherished Scottish structure of the Victorian era.

“The bridge has become a source of pride and a symbol of Scotland’s resilience and ingenuity, but we must never lose sight of the fact that it is first and foremost a working structure which still carries over 200 trains a day.

“This nomination should be regarded as a further tribute to the thousands of men who have contributed to building, maintaining and restoring the structure over the last 130 years.”

The Forth Bridge, opened in 1890, was the world’s first large-scale steel cantilever bridge and is one and a half miles long.

New £11m Dalmarnock station

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Contractors are now hard at work building the new £11m station at Dalmarnock in Glasgow’s East End.

The new station will replace the existing facility on Swanston Street. Dalmarnock is being redeveloped in time for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The station will also help boost long-term regeneration of the East End.

The Scottish government, local authorities and EU funding are paying for the scheme.

Transport Scotland assumed responsibility for project oversight, on behalf of the partners, in summer 2010 and has awarded an £8.6m contract to Network Rail to deliver the facility.

Network Rail is also contributing up to £2.4m to the project.

 

Rail regulator demands better long distance rail performance

A. Samuel
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The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has told Network Rail to deliver better levels of punctuality for passengers on long distance train services, or face a substantial penalty.

Following an ‘extensive investigation’, the rail regulator has instructed Network Rail to deliver plans agreed with train operators for better levels of punctuality on long distance services in 2012-13, and speed-up further improvements towards meeting its committed punctuality target of 92% in 2013-14.

If the company fails to deliver the 2013-14 target it will face a ‘substantial financial penalty’. The size of any financial penalty will reflect the extent of Network Rail’s ‘failure to meet the commitment’, increasing by £1.5 million per 0.1 percentage point it drops below the 92% punctuality target.

ORR’s investigation showed that the company struggled to cope with the challenges of reaching its long distance punctuality target.

The rail regulator, while recognising the impact of issues such as cable theft, concluded that many of the difficulties Network Rail has encountered, including problems with timetable planning and predicting and spotting equipment failures, are of the company’s ‘own making’.

ORR Chief Executive, Richard Price, said:

“Levels of punctuality on long distance rail services across Britain are good by historical standards but passengers should be experiencing even better levels of train performance, benefitting from the punctuality commitments which they and taxpayers have funded Network Rail to deliver.

“Let me be clear, we expect Network Rail to hit their targets, and to achieve this by implementing sustainable improvements that really benefit passengers.

“In the last year, approximately 13.7 million passengers’ journeys on long distance trains were affected by late or cancelled trains – and this is unacceptable.

“That is why we are proposing a penalty which puts pressure on Network Rail to achieve its funded target – an incentive for the company to do everything it can to deliver improvements for passengers including reducing the number of long delays that impact so badly on rail users.

“We will not allow Network Rail to rest at ‘good’ performance when the public have paid the company to achieve excellence. It is our duty as the regulator to push for improvements for passengers – and that is what we will do.”

Union begins ballot for Tube strike

A. Samuel
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The RMT has confirmed today that it has begun balloting service control centre, ticket staff and gate line maintenance engineers for ‘strike action and action short of a strike in two separate disputes over jobs, pay and conditions of service’.

Proposals by London Underground regarding the move of Piccadilly Line Service Control to Hammersmith Service Control Centre have raised a ‘range of union concerns that the management refuse to address’.

In a separate dispute, ticketing and barrier engineering company Cubic Transportation Services have ‘point blank refused’ to discuss RMT’s pay claim and an Olympic bonus, the union said.

The company have ‘instead said that they are not prepared to give an Olympic bonus, have offered a paltry 2.5 % pay rise and have total rejected totally RMT claims for a shorter working week’. Rates of pay also vary, with ‘many people on individual contracts who will receive no pay rise’.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“Both of these disputes are about protecting our member’s jobs, working conditions and standards of living in the face of aggressive and bullying management tactics that leave us no choice but to ballot for action.

“RMT remains available for talks but no one should underestimate the level of anger amongst both of these groups of workers.”

Soho coup for Crossrail

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Plans for a £1 billion pound redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road by Crossrail will help regenerate Soho creating a new cultural and retail focus for London.

The plans have been given the go ahead by Westminster City Council. This means the area around Soho Square will be improved. Rental from shops, office and residential accommodation above the stations will contribute to Crossrail’s funding.

In addition to the new upgrade of the existing station Crossrail is building a new ticket hall at Dean Street which will provide access to the western end of the Crossrail platforms, almost 25 metres below Soho.

A new theatre to replace the former Astoria Theatre has also been approved. London Underground and Crossrail have gained approval for plans to renew and upgrade the public spaces around the eastern ticket hall and St Giles area.

A new open pedestrian space linking Soho Square and Charing Cross Road will create new views of the Square and of St. Patrick’s Church.

Says Ian Lindsay, Crossrail Land and Property Director, ‘The £1bn redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road station provides a once in a generation opportunity to revitalise the eastern end of Oxford Street. The plans including high-quality offices and shops will enhance the Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road area as a thriving cultural and retail destination.’

A new public piazza around Centrepoint will also be created providing a distinctive new landmark for the West End. The arrival of Crossrail will make Tottenham Court Road a major West End transport hub. 150,000 passengers use Tottenham Court Road station every day. That number is expected to rise to more than 200,000 when Crossrail services commence in 2018.

Crossrail will link the West End to Canary Wharf in 12 minutes, Stratford in 13 minutes and Heathrow in less than 30 minutes. In total, £1bn is being spent to build the new Crossrail station and upgrade the capacity of the Tube station.

Siemens land $73 million Portland light rail contract

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Siemens has received a $73 million order from Portland’s mass transit provider for 18 new light rail cars in Oregon.

The latest batch, which will be manufactured entirely at Siemens’ rolling stock production plant in Sacramento, California, will take the total number of light rail cars manufactured for TriMet by Siemens to 119.

The new order has been awarded as part of a development project by TriMet to expand the city’s transport network to cope with a predicted  population boom.

Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO Siemens Rail Systems Division, said: “We’ve been supplying light rail cars to TriMet since 1995. It all began with 79 SD 660 cars and since 2009 it has been our S70, which, besides Portland, is providing reliable service in North America in San Diego, Houston, Charlotte and Salt Lake City.”

Experts are forecasting that there will be an additional one million people living along the new route by 2030.

To tackle the looming traffic congestion, Portland authorities are investing in a new 7.3-mile stretch of track and 10 new stations. The new route will connect Portland State University in downtown Portland with the southern neighborhoods and the suburb of Milwaukie.

The project aims to reduce traffic by more than 9,100 vehicles per day.

The new S70 light rail cars will be shipped out in August 2014 and are scheduled to begin service in the fall of 2015.

The S70 has a maximum operating speed of 66 mph and includes low-floor design, so passengers can enter the light rail cars at street level.

Auckland award depot construction contract

A. Samuel
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Auckland Transport has awarded the $40 million contract for the construction of the Wiri Maintenance and Stabling Depot for Auckland’s new electric train fleet to Downer New Zealand Limited (Downer).

Located next to the South-Western Expressway on Wiri Station Road on the old Winstone’s Quarry Site, the Wiri Maintenance and Stabling Depot will be the facility for maintaining and stabling the new electric trains that will be progressively introduced to the Auckland suburban rail network from early 2014 onwards.

The 7650 square metre building will have seven maintenance berths and will include systems that lift trains to enable maintenance, high level platforms to access the roof of trains along with a wheel lathe.

Downer, with their building construction partner Dominion Constructors, will also be responsible for development of the rest of the site including a train wash, cleaning platforms and stabling for 28 trains.

Approximately six kilometres of new rail track makes up the sidings and connections to the Auckland suburban rail network. The facility has been futureproofed to maintain a fleet of up to 109 electric trains.

Significant earthworks to prepare the site for the Depot’s construction commenced in January 2011.

The Depot build will commence ‘shortly’ and take approximately 13 months.

Once completed, the Wiri Maintenance Depot will be jointly managed by train operator Veolia and the manufacturers of the electric trains, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).

Siemens land $73 million Portland light rail contract

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Siemens has received a $73 million order from Portland’s mass transit provider for 18 new light rail cars.

The latest batch, which will be manufactured entirely at Siemens’ rolling stock production plant in Sacramento, California, will take the total number of light rail cars manufactured for TriMet by Siemens to 119.

The new order has been awarded as part of a development project by TriMet to expand the city’s transport network to cope with a predicted  population boom.

Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO Siemens Rail Systems Division, said: “We’ve been supplying light rail cars to TriMet since 1995. It all began with 79 SD 660 cars and since 2009 it has been our S70, which, besides Portland, is providing reliable service in North America in San Diego, Houston, Charlotte and Salt Lake City.”

Experts are forecasting that there will be an additional one million people living along the new route by 2030.

To tackle the looming traffic congestion, Portland authorities are investing in a new 7.3-mile stretch of track and 10 new stations. The new route will connect Portland State University in downtown Portland with the southern neighborhoods and the suburb of Milwaukie.

The project aims to reduce traffic by more than 9,100 vehicles per day.

The new S70 light rail cars will be shipped out in August 2014 and are scheduled to begin service in the fall of 2015.

The S70 has a maximum operating speed of 66 mph and includes low-floor design, so passengers can enter the light rail cars at street level.

MP calls for direct rail link from the west to Heathrow

Collin Carr
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A Slough MP is calling for a direct rail link between the west of England and Heathrow.

Fiona Mactaggart believes a new route could cut journey times dramatically, reducing a trip from  Reading to Terminal 5 by 18 minutes and creating a nine-minute train from Slough to Heathrow.

Currently there is no direct rail link from Reading or Slough to Heathrow. Passengers to Heathrow from Reading, the west and Wales need to either change at Reading onto a RailAir coach link or continue past Heathrow into London.

MP Mactaggart suggested that two platforms at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, which already exist, could be used for a connection to the Great Western Mainline.

Fiona Mactaggart said: “Rail access from the west to Heathrow is crucial to the prosperity of Slough, and will expand the places in easy reach of Heathrow by public transport, bringing the prosperity that Heathrow generates to a wider circle of beneficiaries.  It will reduce traffic on the M4 and cut business costs – a study a few years ago calculated that businesses in the Thames Valley spend £10 million a year on taxis to Heathrow.

“Our country needs growth and this practical improvement to our infrastructure, which expands the reach of Britain’s only hub airport, will boost growth.”

Mark Hopwood, First Great Western managing director, said: “It will only take around four to five miles of new railway across land which is currently not really used for anything. We think getting a link into Heathrow would not be as difficult as other railway projects being thought about.

“This is not going to happen overnight, but when I speak to the business communities of Slough, Reading, Swindon, Bristol and South Wales, they all seem very enthusiastic.

Thales wins ETCS Level 2 project in Hungary

A. Samuel
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Thales Austria recently signed a contract with the Hungarian infrastructure company NIF to provide modern electronic train control technology for the Boba-Bajánsenye line.

The contract includes the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a complete European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 solution and adaptations to the existing ETCS Level 1 system.

The project is worth €18 million and is 85% funded by the European Union. It is the first complete ETCS Level 2 project for the Hungarian State Railway MÁV.

ETCS technology enables speeds of 160-200 km/h on the MÁV network. Travel speeds will be increased by 20 km/h on the Boba- Bajánsenye line and journey times will be ‘noticeably reduced’.

“I am especially pleased that through strong Austrian-Hungarian cooperation we have managed to establish the latest train control technology in Hungary. In terms of infrastructure and operations management, the new contract creates the conditions for rail transport to become more efficient and more attractive for both passengers and freight,” said Dr Alfred Veider, CEO of Thales Austria.

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