The Railway Chronicle is pleased to announce that MENA Rail News is a new media partner.
With rail news at is core, MENA Rail News is a business site reporting on rail infrastructure, stations, freight depots, high speed, metro systems, specialist rail plant and much, much more. We believe that there is need for a source of reference information across technical, supply chain, tender opportunities and health and safety, supporting a new and rapidly growing market.
The website will cover a wide and diverse range of information centres providing business tools for rail professionals to help them manage large and complex projects.
The Railway Chronicle looks forward to working with Colin Best and the MENA Rail News team.
MENA Rail News website.
Connecting Gwadar Seaport with Pakistan’s Main Network
(By Sam Applegate)
Plans to connect Gwadar Seaport to the main rail network could be included in the Pakistan Federal Government’s development budget for next year. Feasibility studies have estimated costs at Rs180.163 bn for the 901 km link.
Operations at Gwadar Seaport were officially handed over to China in 2013, with the intention to build a $750 million full-featured commercial port. The port has strategic importance for China, because 60 per cent of its oil must currently come from the Gulf 16,000 km by sea to the only commercial port at Shanghai. Gwadar would be available year-round and reduce the distance travelled to only 2,500 km.
Iran has announced its intention to set up an oil refinery in Gwadar with a capacity of around 400,000 barrels daily, fed by a pipeline. China has planned $12bn investment in multiple projects in Gwadar and other parts of Pakistan.
Discussions were held at the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, in April 2013, between representatives from China and Pakistan, where it was agreed development of the deep Seaport could be a winning strategy for all concerned.
The post Connecting Gwadar Seaport with Pakistan’s Main Network appeared first on MENA Rail News.
International Railway Journal
BRAZILIAN rail freight operator MRS Logistics signed an agreement with Rio de Janeiro state governor Mr Sergio Cabral on April 25 authorising the construction of an intermodal terminal in Queimados, 25km northwest of the city...
RIO Tinto has awarded Wabtec, United States, a $US 15m contract to provide electronically-controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes as well as associated equipment and software for its freight cars and locomotives operated in the Pilbara region...
POLISH infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a €9.2m contract to design and install GSM-R equipment on the 148km Legnica – Wroclaw – Opole section of Line E30.
FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has reached an agreement to buy a 25% stake in Spanish open-access freight operator Comsa Rail Transport (CRT)...
UKRAINIAN Railways (UZ) is to step up the operation of 160km/h long-distance services by extending the use of new train fleets .....
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Seattle on April 29 to mark the start of construction on Sound Transit's South 200th Link light rail extension.
www.progressiverailroading.com US News
www.railway-technology.com Updates
Knorr-Bremse to install driver advisory system on Go-Ahead diesel trains Germany-based braking system manufacturer Knorr-Bremse has secured two contracts from UK transport operator Go-Ahead Group to equip driver advisory systems on the diesel train fleets operated by London Midland and Southern.
Transdev and RATP Dev consortium to operate Shenyang tramway network in China
The Chinese city of Shenyang has awarded a three-year CNY330m ($53m) contract to a consortium of RATP Dev and Transdev to operate the city's new 60km light rail network, which is scheduled to open on 1 July 2013.
Sound Transit breaks ground on South Light Rail extension in US
Washington state transit authority Sound Transit has broken ground on a $383.2m project to extend light rail from Sea-Tac Airport to South 200th Street in the city of SeaTac, Washington, US.
Dust in underground railways may damage health
Microscopic dust particles in the air in underground railways are likely to have health implications, according to new research from the University of Southampton.
More News at....
Shedmaster Railway News
Birmingham New Street, Siemens and Invensys Rail, Mallard75 news.....
World Heritage & Railway News
GWSR event, NYMR shop news, and an Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by John A Ives this Bank Holiday weekend.....
Railway Engineering News
News on the SNCF acquisition of a 25% stake in Comsa Rail Transport..
European Commission and railways strengthen cooperation to increase rail’s climate resilience
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Today, the European Commission and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) exchanged views on how to concretely implement the EU’s climate change adaptation strategy in the rail sector. All stakeholders present welcomed the adoption of the strategy and recognised the importance of having an economically sound and sustainable transport sector with a strong rail element. As a main outcome of the workshop, participants agreed on a number of key elements for a possible ‘masterplan’ to implement climate change adaptation in the rail sector.
The rail sector is regularly affected by extreme weather events, which will occur with even higher frequencies and intensities in the next decades. Railway activities towards a more resilient railway system have already started. Representatives of the rail sector including the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) presented their dedicated activities and strategies in the area. Participants recognised that further investment support both from the EU and Member States is needed to allow a gradual replacement of the components of the rail system.
The European Commission presented the content of the strategy. In particular, the Commission will mandate standardisation bodies in 2013 to start mapping industry-relevant standards in the area of transport. These bodies will identify standards to be revised for better inclusion of adaptation factors. Rail representatives welcomed this action as a positive step towards a more resilient rail system.
The fruitful discussion led to the conclusion that the Commission and the rail sector will further support each other’s initiatives in enhancing the rail sector’s resilience. The involved parties will look in particular at the following areas: continuous research towards more accurate climate forecasts, standardization and funding opportunities. Furthermore, the final roundtable discussion provided a number of key elements for a possible future ‘masterplan’ to implement climate change adaptation in the rail sector. CER, together with all relevant stakeholders, will continue to elaborate this ‘masterplan’ in the coming months to make a more climate-resilient railway system reality.
CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said:“CER is glad to further strengthen its cooperation with the European Commission in adapting entire rail system to climate change challenges. Today’s workshop showed that, apart from the railway’s ongoing activities, it is important to work together with other stakeholders to better support each other’s activities in the implementation of the climate change adaptation strategy.”
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UK Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)
National Rail Trends Portal newsletter - April 2013
Welcome to the April edition of the National Rail Trends (NRT) portal newsletter.
We would like to thank all those that attended the NRT Portal user group on 5 March 2013 and for their valuable feedback on the NRT Portal re-design. A copy of the minutes of the meeting is saved on our website at the following address: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/
We have incorporated the feedback from the NRT Portal user group into the latest design and are now arranging for public focus groups to examine this latest design.
What’s new?
- Average age of rolling stock 2012-2013 Q3: The average age of all rolling stock in 2012-13 Q3 was 18.39 years, an increase of 0.84 years on 2011-12 Q3. The average age for all rolling stock is at its highest since 2003-04 Q2 when it was 18.40 years. Long Distance trains' average age increased by 0.09 years, average age of regional trains by 1 year and the average age of London and South East trains increased by 0.95 years in 2012-13 Q3, when compared to the same time last year.
- Complaints data 2012-2013 Q3: There were 35 complaints per 100,000 train journeys in 2012-13 Q3, a reduction of 6.8% on the same quarter last year but an increase of 11.5% on Q2. Virgin received the highest number of complaints per 100,000 journeys in 2012-13 Q3 with 227. However, this does represent a 10.9% improvement on the same time last year. London Overground had the lowest number with 2 complaints per 100,000 journeys. 42% of all complaints were on train service performance in 2012-13 Q3. This was the highest proportion since the end of 2010-11 and coincided with train punctuality falling to its lowest level since 2010-11 Q3.
- Freight lifted 2012-2013 Q3: Total quarterly freight lifted in 2012-13 Q3 was 29.1 million tonne an increase of 13.4% compared to 2011-12 Q3. Coal lifted has increased by 17.7% since 2011-12 Q3 to 13.5 million tonnes in the latest quarter. The volume of other freight lifted in 2012-13 Q3 was 15.6 million tonnes, a 9.9% increase on 2011-12 Q3.
- Freight moved 2012-2013 Q3: In 2012-13 Q3 the total amount of freight moved was 5.29 billion net tonne kilometres, a 0.9% increase compared to the same quarter in the previous year. So far in 2012-13, 16.04 net tonne kilometres have been moved; the highest total between April and December since 2006-07.
- National rail enquiries service 2012-2013 Q3: There were 1.1 million calls made to NRES during 2012-13 Q3, this is 17.4% fewer calls than Q3 last year. During 2012-13 Q3, 95.0% of calls were answered and 5.0% of calls were abandoned, no calls were engaged. The percentage of calls answered is 0.6 percentage points lower than the previous quarter and 1.5 percentage points lower than 2011-12 Q3. The percentage of calls abandoned has increased by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and by 1.5 percentage points compared to 2011-12 Q3.
- Public performance measure 2012-2013 Q3: 88.1% of trains were recorded as meeting PPM requirements (“on time”) during 2012-13 Q3 this is 1.13 percentage points lower than Q3 last year. The Long Distance sector had 83.7% of trains on time within 2012-13 Q3, 3.04 percentage points lower than 2011-12 Q3 and 6.34 percentage points lower than 2012-13 Q2. 88.6% of trains in the London and South East sector were on time during 2012-13 Q3. This is the lowest quarterly value since 2010-11 Q3. The Regional sector had 88.4% of trains on time, 0.58 percentage points lower than Q3 last year and 4.21 percentage points lower than last quarter. London Midland Trains recorded the lowest proportion of trains on time with a PPM of 80.3% during 2012-13 Q3 whilst c2c had the highest PPM during 2012-13 Q3 at 97.5%.
- Private investment in the rail industry 2012-2013 Q3: £249 million was invested into the railways by private companies during 2012-13 Q3. This is the highest figure since 2007-08 Q1, largely driven by the rolling stock investment.During 2012-13 Q3, £209 million was invested in rolling stock, £1 million was invested in track and signalling, £8 million in stations and £31 million within other types of investment.
- Timetables train kilometres 2012-2013 Q3: The total number of timetabled train kilometres has decreased by 0.4% compared to 2011-12 Q4. Fourteen franchised train operators saw a decrease in their timetabled train kilometres compared to 2011-12 Q4. The largest decrease was for Merseyrail (2.4%). The largest increase was for London Overground (12.7%) whose timetabled train kilometres have steadily increased since introducing a new timetable in May 2011, which improved train frequencies on many routes. The opening of the new Surrey Quays-Clapham line has also led to the highest ever timetabled train kilometres for London Overground. Chiltern's timetabled train kilometres have decreased by 1.7% compared to 2011-12 Q4.
Current and future reports
- NRT Quarterly Summary (Q3): The latest quarterly report is now available at:http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/
upload/pdf/quarterly-nrt- report-2012-13-q3.pdf. This report provides a summary of rail industry performance in Great Britain for 2012-13 Q3, drawing on all of the National Rail Trends (NRT) data that was released on the ORR data portal (http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/ ) in the last quarter. Please note that this document is unchanged once published and you should always check the NRT data portal as data may have been updated.
- For a list of reports and datasets recently added, please see:https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/
release-history. To view a list of all forthcoming reports and when they are published, refer to our publication schedule at:http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/ server/show/nav.1862.
Feedback
- Use of NRT data –We are committed to continually improve the information we provide and welcome your views on what you use National Rail Trends data for. By gathering feedback from users on their experiences of the statistics they receive, data quality and the timing of outputs, ORR is better able to improve the quality of our statistical outputs. Please click on the following link to complete a short survey. It’ll only take a few minutes:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/
useofNRT - Your feedback is useful to us.Please feel free to drop us a line at: dataportal@orr.gsi.gov.uk.
Network Rail
Birmingham welcomes its new New Street station.
More than three years in the making, the first half of the new concourse at Birmingham New Street station has opened to passengers, marking the completion of the first phase of the project to transform the station.
A team of over a thousand staff have been on site working around the clock to create the new station, which is already one-and-a-half times larger than the old concourse, offering passengers a better environment and experience for their journey.
The first week of opening will see an army of volunteers from Network Rail and train operators located around the station, helping passengers find their way to, from and around the new concourse as they adjust to their new surroundings.
Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route managing director, said: “Birmingham New Street is the busiest interchange station on Britain’s rail network and with this new concourse it’s finally getting the facilities that it needs and deserves.
"We are delighted to welcome passengers into their new station. It’s bigger and brighter with much better access to all platforms, making getting around the station easier for everyone.”
This is the first major change to New Street in over 40 years, with the station being named as one of the most hated buildings in the country in more recent years. The opening marks a significant milestone in the overall redevelopment, with people using the station now having somewhere to be proud of as the gateway to the city and the West Midlands.
The first week of opening will see an army of volunteers from Network Rail and train operators located around the station, helping passengers find their way to, from and around the new concourse as they adjust to their new surroundings.
Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route managing director, said: “Birmingham New Street is the busiest interchange station on Britain’s rail network and with this new concourse it’s finally getting the facilities that it needs and deserves.
"We are delighted to welcome passengers into their new station. It’s bigger and brighter with much better access to all platforms, making getting around the station easier for everyone.”
This is the first major change to New Street in over 40 years, with the station being named as one of the most hated buildings in the country in more recent years. The opening marks a significant milestone in the overall redevelopment, with people using the station now having somewhere to be proud of as the gateway to the city and the West Midlands.
Photos (C) Network Rail
Notes:
The redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station and the Pallasades Shopping Centre is backed by Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, Department for Transport, Centro and Advantage West Midlands.Network Rail is delivering the project alongside its delivery partner Mace.
Upon completion in 2015, the project will deliver:
- Space to accommodate passenger growth: the new concourse will be three and a half times bigger than at present and will be enclosed by a giant atrium which will flood the station concourse and shopping centre with natural light.
- Better access for all: over 30 new escalators and 15 new public lifts will make it much easier to travel between the platforms and the concourse above.
- Cutting edge design: a stunning new station façade will create a new landmark building in the heart of Birmingham.
- A revitalized city centre: the new Grand Central Birmingham anchored by the John Lewis department store will offer new retail brands alongside quality places to eat and drink, cementing Birmingham’s reputation as one of the UK’s top retail destinations.
- Regeneration and economic growth: new pedestrian links will open up the city centre, stimulating regeneration and creating new jobs. We’re also working to open up job opportunities to the local workforce during construction.
- The station will remain open throughout the redevelopment.
Now the new concourse has opened, the Network Rail & Mace delivery team will turn their attention to redeveloping the old station concourse and the remainder of the Pallasades shopping centre. The centre will be transformed into a new premium fashion and lifestyle shopping destination, Grand Central Birmingham, incorporating a four storey John Lewis, over 40 more shops and more than 15 cafes and restaurants.
Major changes from 28th April include:
- The existing vehicle and pedestrian entrance outside the front of the station on Smallbrook Queensway have closed, with vehicle access moving across to a new drop off area and short stay car park located off Hill Street
- Passengers travelling from Moor Street station and pedestrians on Smallbrook Queensway will be able to access the new concourse via the new Moor Street link pedestrian walkway which links the east side of the station to the new entrance on Stephenson Street.
- Passengers can still access the station from Pallasades and Bullring through a new set of escalators which link the shopping centre above down to the new concourse.
- The Victoria Square entrance on Navigation Street will close to passengers as new entrances now open onto Stephenson Street and Hill Street
- The station taxi rank has temporarily moved to Navigation Street
Over the last thirty years there has been a substantial shift in the structure of the UK economy, with many businesses providing services located in city centres, ensuring better access to skilled labour, key markets and suppliers as well as strong connectivity with other parts of the country. As a consequence, larger cities such as Birmingham, the UK’s second city, have experienced significant increases in city centre employment. Further rail growth is forecast to continue to increase substantially, and accommodating additional demand will be essential if sustainable, city-led economic development is to continue. Nationally, one million more trains run every year than 10 years ago with the railway carrying 50% more passengers. Station redevelopments like Birmingham New Street are vital to cope with this demand and allow the economy to develop further, as well as putting Birmingham on the map as part of UK growth.
NetworkRailmedia on YouTube
28 April 2013 marks the halfway point of the transformation of Birmingham New Street station when the first half of the new concourse opens
http://www.newstreetnewstart.co.uk
Selby swing-bridge improvements deferred following colliery landslip.
Network Rail has today announced that engineering renewal works on the Selby swing-bridge will be deferred in order to provide the best possible rail services during the repair work associated with a landslip at Hatfield colliery.
Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail explained: “We seriously considered doing renewals work on the Selby swing-bridge while also repairing the Hatfield landslip. This was only going to be feasible if we could still provide a reasonable train service to our communities on the east coast. I am today announcing that the scheduled work on Selby swing-bridge will not go ahead until we have first restored rail services along the Hatfield route.
"We have carefully considered what timetable can be run should the works at Selby and Hatfield be done at the same time, and, while many services can run, it will put too much strain on the network without fully satisfying the needs of our train and freight operators. We are in the business of running trains and we listen to our customers. It remains true that the Selby swing-bridge is showing its age. We will now focus on completing intensive maintenance work to keep the swing-bridge safe and reliable until the renewals work can be rescheduled.”
In addition to the work at Selby swing-bridge, similar renewals improvements to two other bridges on the route to Hull will also be deferred. These works were scheduled for the August bank holiday weekend.
Mr Verster added: “At this stage we cannot provide a date when the Selby and Hull bridge works will be rescheduled. Once we have greater clarity on the programme at Hatfield, we will put the bridges back in the plan. I assure passengers that they will be given at least 12 weeks notice of this re-scheduled work so that they can plan their journeys.”
Work on site at Hatfield colliery and the neighbouring railway are progressing well but the nature of the material involved continues to challenge engineers.
On the continuing disruption, Mr Verster said: “I fully appreciate the importance of restoring a direct rail service to communities and businesses in Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe, Goole and other places affected by the Hatfield landslip. My team and I are committed to do so as quickly as is possible. We continue to aim for restoration of services in July but the risk remains that the railway may not be repaired until September this year.
“We are doing everything to safely accelerate the repair of the landslip and to reinstate train services. We are also working closely with the operators of passenger and freight traffic to make best use of the railway network during this difficult time. I remain grateful for the patience of our communities, our passengers and our freight customers."
Several engineering projects that were planned for completion during the months from May through to November are being re-planned by Network Rail in order to keep as many train services running as is possible. In particular, the GNGE line project is being adjusted in order to allow up to 140 freight trains each day to be accommodated on the Brigg and Lincoln lines. These trains are essential to the UK economy and carry, amongst other goods, oil for aviation fuel, steel critical for production processes and coal for electricity generation.
The Selby swing bridge works will see life-expired steel members being replaced and strengthened, full reconstruction of the road bridge, track and rail bearer replacement along with a full grit blast and painting of the structure. This work will be rescheduled. In the meantime intensive maintenance will be carried out to keep the structure fit for purpose.
Castle Cary rail bridge repairs to give 50-year lease of life to Ansford Bridge.
Network Rail will begin work in the summer on a long-awaited project to strengthen and repair a bridge near Castle Cary railway station, meaning the bridge won’t need any further major work for another 50 years.
ATOC
Young people, the over-60s and passengers with disabilities are helping to increase rail’s share of the domestic travel market due to train companies’ use of airline style pricing and Railcard discounts.
On the 10 most popular domestic air routes in Britain, rail’s market share grew to 46% last year up from 29% in 2006, according to research by the Association of Train Operating Companies released today.
The findings also show that on these routes, between the financial years 2006/7 and 2012/13:
• Use of Railcards, providing a third off most fares, has risen by 93%, far outstripping the 49% growth in overall train journeys. Over this period, the number of journeys made with Senior Railcards has risen on average by 145%, Disabled Persons Railcards by 140% and 16-25 Railcards by 88%.
• Sales of cheap Advance fares, available up to 12 weeks ahead of travel, have grown even faster, rising by 103%. Advance fares are now used by around four out of every seven rail passengers on these routes, and sales of First Class Advance tickets have more than doubled on many of them. Use of Off-Peak fares has also seen 32% growth.
• Purchases of full price Anytime fares have reduced by over a third – on average, nine out of 10 journeys in 2012/13 were made with Advance and Off-Peak tickets.
Operators also attribute the rise in market share to significant investment in and improvements to services. Since privatisation, the number of services across the rail network per day has risen by 4,000, or 20%, and passenger satisfaction as measured by independent watchdog Passenger Focus has risen from 76% in 1999 to 85% today.
Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of ATOC, said: “Train companies have been winning market share from airlines by competing head to head and adopting airline-style discounting.
“Significant investment and an industry focused on attracting passengers are creating a virtuous circle where growing revenue is sustaining funding for faster and better services, in turn encouraging more rail travel.”
"We have carefully considered what timetable can be run should the works at Selby and Hatfield be done at the same time, and, while many services can run, it will put too much strain on the network without fully satisfying the needs of our train and freight operators. We are in the business of running trains and we listen to our customers. It remains true that the Selby swing-bridge is showing its age. We will now focus on completing intensive maintenance work to keep the swing-bridge safe and reliable until the renewals work can be rescheduled.”
In addition to the work at Selby swing-bridge, similar renewals improvements to two other bridges on the route to Hull will also be deferred. These works were scheduled for the August bank holiday weekend.
Mr Verster added: “At this stage we cannot provide a date when the Selby and Hull bridge works will be rescheduled. Once we have greater clarity on the programme at Hatfield, we will put the bridges back in the plan. I assure passengers that they will be given at least 12 weeks notice of this re-scheduled work so that they can plan their journeys.”
Work on site at Hatfield colliery and the neighbouring railway are progressing well but the nature of the material involved continues to challenge engineers.
On the continuing disruption, Mr Verster said: “I fully appreciate the importance of restoring a direct rail service to communities and businesses in Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe, Goole and other places affected by the Hatfield landslip. My team and I are committed to do so as quickly as is possible. We continue to aim for restoration of services in July but the risk remains that the railway may not be repaired until September this year.
“We are doing everything to safely accelerate the repair of the landslip and to reinstate train services. We are also working closely with the operators of passenger and freight traffic to make best use of the railway network during this difficult time. I remain grateful for the patience of our communities, our passengers and our freight customers."
Several engineering projects that were planned for completion during the months from May through to November are being re-planned by Network Rail in order to keep as many train services running as is possible. In particular, the GNGE line project is being adjusted in order to allow up to 140 freight trains each day to be accommodated on the Brigg and Lincoln lines. These trains are essential to the UK economy and carry, amongst other goods, oil for aviation fuel, steel critical for production processes and coal for electricity generation.
Notes:
Rail services were to be suspended through Selby between 28 July and 9 September.The Selby swing bridge works will see life-expired steel members being replaced and strengthened, full reconstruction of the road bridge, track and rail bearer replacement along with a full grit blast and painting of the structure. This work will be rescheduled. In the meantime intensive maintenance will be carried out to keep the structure fit for purpose.
Castle Cary rail bridge repairs to give 50-year lease of life to Ansford Bridge.
Network Rail will begin work in the summer on a long-awaited project to strengthen and repair a bridge near Castle Cary railway station, meaning the bridge won’t need any further major work for another 50 years.
Work is scheduled to start on the Ansford A overbridge on the A371 near Castle Cary railway station on Monday, 8 July.
The programme runs through to the end of November 2013. A full road closure lasting 19 weeks to Friday, 15 November will be needed to undertake the work. This will be followed by two weeks of follow-up works under temporary traffic lights. The bridge will be closed to all vehicles and pedestrian traffic.
There is no weight restriction on the bridge at present, but if the works are not carried out this year Network Rail will need to assess the structure again as the condition deteriorates further over time. This may lead to a weight restriction being applied.
Once the works are complete it will be able to continue to pass all traffic without major works for another 50 years.
Network Rail community relations manager for Western Region, Robin Basu, said: “We are closing the bridge because we need to strengthen and repair the bridge as part of our responsibility to maintain and upgrade the nation’s railway infrastructure, and also ensure this structure can carry the increasing road traffic loading.
“We need to remove and replace the existing bridge deck. Due to its original construction, this cannot be done in two halves. In addition, in order to keep the railway line open, the scaffolding required to access the outside of the bridge girders will be mounted on the bridge deck.
“Our contractors Murphy Group are planning to work seven days a week wherever possible in order to complete the programme as quickly as possible. Following negotiations with Somerset County Council, we have already reduced the original road closure from 24 weeks to 19 weeks by investing in a ‘crash deck’, which will allow us to work during the week while trains are running.
“The only method of reducing the programme significantly would be to replace the structure entirely. This would require a significant additional level of funding and, following enquiries within Network Rail, and by the wider community, this funding has not been made available.”
Network Rail is to write to nearly 500 households in the Castle Cary area within five kilometres of the bridge to communicate details of the road closure. Around 5,000 leaflets will be distributed to passengers using Castle Cary railway station and to local parish and town councils for further distribution.
In addition, Network Rail will also be holding a drop in meeting on Saturday, 11 May, at Caryford Hall, Ansford, from 10am to 2pm. This will give the community an opportunity to speak directly to project representatives and to have any queries or concerns answered.
Network Rail will also communicate project information via Castle Cary Town Council’s website and through local newspapers. This will include advertisements to support local businesses affected by the road closure.
Robin Basu added: “We are planning to take out advertising in the local newspaper to explain that local businesses are still open. Any business wishing to participate should contact us on 08457 11 41 41 or visit www.networkrail.co.uk.”
The programme runs through to the end of November 2013. A full road closure lasting 19 weeks to Friday, 15 November will be needed to undertake the work. This will be followed by two weeks of follow-up works under temporary traffic lights. The bridge will be closed to all vehicles and pedestrian traffic.
There is no weight restriction on the bridge at present, but if the works are not carried out this year Network Rail will need to assess the structure again as the condition deteriorates further over time. This may lead to a weight restriction being applied.
Once the works are complete it will be able to continue to pass all traffic without major works for another 50 years.
Network Rail community relations manager for Western Region, Robin Basu, said: “We are closing the bridge because we need to strengthen and repair the bridge as part of our responsibility to maintain and upgrade the nation’s railway infrastructure, and also ensure this structure can carry the increasing road traffic loading.
“We need to remove and replace the existing bridge deck. Due to its original construction, this cannot be done in two halves. In addition, in order to keep the railway line open, the scaffolding required to access the outside of the bridge girders will be mounted on the bridge deck.
“Our contractors Murphy Group are planning to work seven days a week wherever possible in order to complete the programme as quickly as possible. Following negotiations with Somerset County Council, we have already reduced the original road closure from 24 weeks to 19 weeks by investing in a ‘crash deck’, which will allow us to work during the week while trains are running.
“The only method of reducing the programme significantly would be to replace the structure entirely. This would require a significant additional level of funding and, following enquiries within Network Rail, and by the wider community, this funding has not been made available.”
Network Rail is to write to nearly 500 households in the Castle Cary area within five kilometres of the bridge to communicate details of the road closure. Around 5,000 leaflets will be distributed to passengers using Castle Cary railway station and to local parish and town councils for further distribution.
In addition, Network Rail will also be holding a drop in meeting on Saturday, 11 May, at Caryford Hall, Ansford, from 10am to 2pm. This will give the community an opportunity to speak directly to project representatives and to have any queries or concerns answered.
Network Rail will also communicate project information via Castle Cary Town Council’s website and through local newspapers. This will include advertisements to support local businesses affected by the road closure.
Robin Basu added: “We are planning to take out advertising in the local newspaper to explain that local businesses are still open. Any business wishing to participate should contact us on 08457 11 41 41 or visit www.networkrail.co.uk.”
ATOC
Airline style discounting by rail cuts aviation's market share
29/04/2013Young people, the over-60s and passengers with disabilities are helping to increase rail’s share of the domestic travel market due to train companies’ use of airline style pricing and Railcard discounts.
On the 10 most popular domestic air routes in Britain, rail’s market share grew to 46% last year up from 29% in 2006, according to research by the Association of Train Operating Companies released today.
The findings also show that on these routes, between the financial years 2006/7 and 2012/13:
• Use of Railcards, providing a third off most fares, has risen by 93%, far outstripping the 49% growth in overall train journeys. Over this period, the number of journeys made with Senior Railcards has risen on average by 145%, Disabled Persons Railcards by 140% and 16-25 Railcards by 88%.
• Sales of cheap Advance fares, available up to 12 weeks ahead of travel, have grown even faster, rising by 103%. Advance fares are now used by around four out of every seven rail passengers on these routes, and sales of First Class Advance tickets have more than doubled on many of them. Use of Off-Peak fares has also seen 32% growth.
• Purchases of full price Anytime fares have reduced by over a third – on average, nine out of 10 journeys in 2012/13 were made with Advance and Off-Peak tickets.
Operators also attribute the rise in market share to significant investment in and improvements to services. Since privatisation, the number of services across the rail network per day has risen by 4,000, or 20%, and passenger satisfaction as measured by independent watchdog Passenger Focus has risen from 76% in 1999 to 85% today.
Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of ATOC, said: “Train companies have been winning market share from airlines by competing head to head and adopting airline-style discounting.
“Significant investment and an industry focused on attracting passengers are creating a virtuous circle where growing revenue is sustaining funding for faster and better services, in turn encouraging more rail travel.”
