LONDON | Network Rail: Overground, Thameslink, Crossrail

[PortoNuts]

Canary Wharf Crossrail Site

by mr_angers.

[PortoNuts]

New London Bridge Station

by cybertect.

[PortoNuts]

TfL hopes to push Overground onto key suburban rail routes

TRANSPORT for London (TfL) remains optimistic that it will get the go-ahead to take control of key suburban rail routes early next year.

Howard Smith, chief operating officer for TfL’s rail operations, told City A.M. that he is “hopeful of coming to some conclusions in the next few months” following discussions with the Department for Transport.

TfL wants to build on the success of its London Overground network by running parts of the current West Anglia service from Liverpool Street to Enfield and Chingford, as well as some inner suburban services out of London Bridge and Charing Cross operated by Southeastern.

“We would plan to bring – where we can – more trains, integrated ticketing, more security at stations, greater reliability and better staffing,” Smith said.

“Franchisees can only justify investment over seven years but we’re able to take a thirty-year view. Our job is to make the case to the secretary of state as to what we could do.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson backs the plan, although it is understood that current transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin is less supportive than his predecessor Justine Greening.

Smith was talking at a preview of the new London Overground route from Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays, which launches on 9 December. The new service promises to cut journey times for commuters heading from South London to Canary Wharf.

http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/tf...an-rail-routes

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail TBM starts work on eastern tunnels

Crossrail TBM Elizabeth has started work on the five-mile section of eastern tunnels between Docklands and Farringdon in central London. Elizabeth and sister tunnelling machine Victoria were lowered 40 metres underground into a shaft at Limmo Peninsula, next to Canning Town station, last month.

The first of 110,000 concrete segments has now been placed to line what will be Crossrail’s longest tunnel section.

The eastern section of Crossrail will see Elizabeth and Victoria tunnel beneath the River Lea towards the new station box at Canary Wharf where work is already underway to prepare for their arrival and to allow the machines to easily enter the station next year. Both tunnelling machines will then receive maintenance while in the large station box, before continuing their journeys towards Whitechapel, Liverpool Street and Farringdon.

Elizabeth and Victoria are due to arrive at Farringdon in late 2014.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail’s chief executive, said: “With the start of work on Crossrail’s eastern tunnels we are seeing the biggest construction project in Europe now tunnelling on both sides of the capital.

“This is a significant step towards the huge transport improvements Crossrail will deliver, creating much needed additional capacity and faster new links with London’s major employment areas. By using boats and barges to deliver and remove materials from these tunnels, this will keep thousands of lorries off the road in east London.”

http://www.rail.co/2012/11/29/crossr...stern-tunnels/

[Kolothos]

Looks great!

Can us Glaswegians borrow them once you lot down south are done with them?

[PortoNuts]

[PortoNuts]

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail’s Phyllis marks tunnelling milestone

Crossrail’s first tunnel boring machine, Phyllis, has reached a milestone after constructing her 1,000th tunnel ring. A total of 12,000 concrete segments, manufactured at Old Oak Common, have now been used to construct the western tunnels between Royal Oak and Farringdon.

The first of eight Crossrail tunnelling machines, Phyllis, is currently tunnelling under Hyde Park after completing her 1,000th tunnel ring and has now constructed 1,800 metres of tunnel – over one mile – from Royal Oak via the Paddington station box.

Crossrail’s second tunnel boring machine (TBM), Ada, has travelled 800 metres and has entered the station box at Paddington.

At Tottenham Court Road, the base concrete slab has been installed for Crossrail’s western ticket hall at Dean Street. The contractor – Bam, Ferrovial, Kier (BFK) – is now preparing the site to begin construction of the mined tunnels that will connect the ticket hall to the station platforms. The spray concrete lining tunnel works will begin in early 2013.

The new western ticket hall at Bond Street will be five-storeys deep and is one of two new Crossrail ticket halls that will be constructed at Bond Street ahead of Crossrail services commencing in 2018.

Excavations of two shafts for the eastern ticket hall at Hanover Square were completed last month and work will soon begin on the station platform tunnels. Diaphragm walls are continuing to be installed in Eastbourne Terrace to construct the outline of the Paddington station box before excavations start next spring.

Keith Sibley, Crossrail area director west, said: “Crossrail continues to make good progress in central London. Our first tunnel boring machine, Phyllis, is currently under Hyde Park and will arrive at Bond Street in early 2013.

“Construction of the new stations at Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road and Paddington is advancing with the progress becoming increasingly visible. From 2018, 24 trains an hour will pass through these stations during peak hours bringing an extra 1.5 million people within 45 minutes of Paddington and the West End.”

Excavations have also started at the Fisher Street shaft at Holborn. The shaft will eventually provide future maintenance access to the Crossrail tunnels.

http://www.rail.co/2012/12/03/crossr...ing-milestone/

[PortoNuts]

Former transport minister backs Crossrail for Stansted

FORMER Transport Minister Steve Norris has called for a Crossrail 1 spur linking London to Stansted – with a tunnel from Sawbridgeworth to the airport.

The ex-Conservative MP said the £5 billion train link would speed passengers to the capital in just 25 minutes, with Bond Street accessible in only 35 minutes and Heathrow just 65 minutes away on up to eight trains an hour.

He told the audience at Stansted’s transport forum this morning (Friday, November 23) the extension could be a “significant solution” to the rail and aviation capacity gaps putting the brakes on the country’s economic growth.

He said of the cost: “That’s a lot of money – but the reality is that £5 billion pales into insignificance in the value added to the nation’s economy over a decade.”

He said he had already pitched the plan to Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan who agreed it was a practical proposition to add the airport link to Europe’s biggest construction project.

The top Tory said including Stansted in the original Crossrail 1 project, linking Maidenhead to Shenfield, made most sense, rather than an addition to the second and later Chelsea to Hackney line.

Mr Norris told delegates: “The opportunity to put Stansted on the Crossrail agenda is there.”

He was speaking after Stansted’s managing director Nick Barton officially launched the airport’s rail vision, calling for faster and reliable rail to bring an extra 1.4 m passengers a year..

Breaking the 30 minute terminal to capital barrier was key to the connectivity challenge, he told 150 top transport leaders, local authorities, airport representatives and stakeholders attending the annual event at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

He said: “We have the spare capacity and infrastructure in place to support 35m passengers a year and with faster rail links we can attract the airlines whose passengers value quick and reliable links to London. That’s why we launched our new rail campaign – Stansted in 30 – to persuade Government and the rail industry to commit to reducing journey times from London to Stansted to around 30 minutes.

“Stansted is proud to be the leading major UK airport for public transport use, with now 50 per cent of passengers using train, bus and coach to travel to and from Stansted.

...

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/Business...d-23112012.htm

[sotonsi]

Where the fuck are paths going to come from for Stansted trains?

Seriously - we're looking at line that already provides too few trains between Central London and Canary Wharf and between Central London and Romford (hence the Liverpool Street High Level trains, but even they can't solve the massive crowding from zone 1 to about Ilford). Adding a third branch is possible how?

By all means the rail links to Stansted should be improved before Crossrail 2, but you can't plug it into Crossrail and serve Central London (unless you merge east of Canary Wharf and half Abbey Wood's service).

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail awards £50m central signalling contract

Crossrail has awarded the signalling system contract for the railway’s central section to a consortium comprising Siemens and Invensys Rail. The contract covers the design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a train control system for Crossrail’s central section.

Having prequalified for the C620 contract as separate entities last September, Invensys Rail and Siemens submitted a combined bid which was a permissible approach under the procurement rules. Rival Bombardier Transportation UK withdrew from the race in March, leaving it to Signalling Solutions and Thales Transportation and Solutions to take on the Siemens and Invensys Rail consortium.

The new signalling system will be installed along the Crossrail route between Portobello Junction on the Great Western Main Line, Pudding Mill Lane Junction on the Great Eastern Main Line in the east and Abbey Wood in the south east.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail’s Chief Executive said: “Crossrail will operate up to 24 trains per hour during the peak between Whitechapel and Paddington. “The new signalling system will incorporate Automatic Train Operation to support the delivery of a high-frequency metro service and will also be capable of enhancement to 30 trains per hour through the central section at a later date.”

The firms have signed up to provide apprenticeships and job opportunities for Londoners. Siemens aims to create around 20 apprenticeships and new job start roles for individuals who are long-term unemployed during the life of their contract.

It is a requirement that all of the new job starts be taken up by individuals living within Greater London or within one mile of the Crossrail route.

Siemens will also be required to provide 500 days of work experience and placement opportunities for young people.

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/...stem-contract/

[PortoNuts]

[PortoNuts]

London Rail’s Howard Smith on new orbital rail network

The official opening of a 1.3km section of line near Surrey Quays on December 10 now means that passengers can make use of London’s first orbital railway. Already dubbed the M25 on rails, the new route allows commuters to make short journeys around the capital without having to travel into central London and to avoid busy stations such as Victoria, Waterloo and London Bridge.

Chief operating officer of TfL London Rail Howard Smith said: “It’s a pretty symbolic moment because it actually completes the orbital network.

“Overground itself started about five years ago and gradually over the last few years we’ve been filling in parts of the dartboard.”

Managing director of London Underground and London Rail Mike Brown said: “This is the last piece of the jigsaw of the outer orbital route. If the Circle line is the equivalent of of the North and South Circular Roads, this is the M25 of rail.”

With four trains in each direction an hour, some 12.3 million passengers are expected to make use of the new link.

The new section of track, which cost £75m to install, commences just south west of Surrey Quays station and links the East London line section of London Overground with existing track just north east of Queens Road in Peckham. Funding has come from the DfT (£40m), TfL (£15m) and Network Rail the remaining £20m.

http://www.rail.co/2012/12/11/london...bital-network/

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail’s second east London tunnel gets going towards Canary Wharf



The second giant drilling machine digging out a deep-level tunnel for Crossrail under east London has started work. The 1,000-tonne boring machine named ‘Victoria’ is following a parallel tunnel started by its sister machine called ‘Elizabeth’ two weeks before.

Both were lowered in sections down a 150ft shaft near the Lea Estuary at Canning Town, by the Thames opposite the O2 Arena, ready to drill out five miles of twin tunnels towards Canary Wharf, Whitechapel, Liverpool Street and on to Farringdon by 2014.

They are Crossrail’s third and fourth tunnelling machines after two named ‘Phyllis’ and ‘Ada’ set off in west London towards Farringdon from Paddington earlier this year.



Eight tunnelling machines are set to drill a total of 13 miles of twin tunnels between Docklands and Paddington.

The £15 billion project opening in 2018 has 37 stations along 73 miles from Maidenhead and Heathrow through the West End and City to Whitechapel, then splitting with one branch to Stratford and Shenfield and the other to Canary Wharf and under the Thames to Abbey Wood in south-east London.

http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.u...harf_1_1742563

[PortoNuts]

[PortoNuts]

[micro]

"new orbital rail network"
-- Do the trains really go circular around London or do passengers have to change? Or in other words, can it be called a circle line?

[CairnsTony]

Originally Posted by micro

"new orbital rail network"
-- Do the trains really go circular around London or do passengers have to change? Or in other words, can it be called a circle line?

It's not a complete circle in so much that there isn't a single service covering the whole thing. However, it would be possible to create such a service, which you could say, start and finish at Clapham Junction. Instead, there are two services covering the full loop: one from Highbury and Islington goes east than south over the tracks of the old East London Line and along the newly opened section through South London to Clapham Junction. The other one starts at CJ and runs north west towards Willesden Junction, then east to close the loop at Highbury and Islington. It then continues east to Stratford.

I think the reasoning is that no-one would actually want to use the full loop and thus it runs as two services. However there must be journeys taken, where a continuous service would be useful, such as a journey across north London from say, Hoxton, Haggerston or Shoreditch. At the moment you would have to change at Canonbury or H&I whereas straight run through would be useful.

An actual loop service such as was represented by the old Circle Line is fraught with difficulties as there is no start or end point of the service so to speak. If trains get delayed, it is as I understand it, difficult for trains to get back to running on time than on a linear service. However this would not apply if the service started and finished at a fixed point, say CJ. I guess it's not seen as a priority and maybe not enough travellers would benefit.

[Tubeman]

Originally Posted by CairnsTony

It's not a complete circle in so much that there isn't a single service covering the whole thing. However, it would be possible to create such a service, which you could say, start and finish at Clapham Junction. Instead, there are two services covering the full loop: one from Highbury and Islington goes east than south over the tracks of the old East London Line and along the newly opened section through South London to Clapham Junction. The other one starts at CJ and runs north west towards Willesden Junction, then east to close the loop at Highbury and Islington. It then continues east to Stratford.

I think the reasoning is that no-one would actually want to use the full loop and thus it runs as two services. However there must be journeys taken, where a continuous service would be useful, such as a journey across north London from say, Hoxton, Haggerston or Shoreditch. At the moment you would have to change at Canonbury or H&I whereas straight run through would be useful.

An actual loop service such as was represented by the old Circle Line is fraught with difficulties as there is no start or end point of the service so to speak. If trains get delayed, it is as I understand it, difficult for trains to get back to running on time than on a linear service. However this would not apply if the service started and finished at a fixed point, say CJ. I guess it's not seen as a priority and maybe not enough travellers would benefit.

A continuous circle service couldn't serve CJ, the infrastructure exists for a direct South London Line - West London Line link, but trains would have to run direct from Wandsworth Road to Imperial Wharf omitting CJ

[PortoNuts]