The financial rewards of railway engineering might not be what the new apprentices starting on the Thameslink Programme are thinking about, but maybe the announcement that senior HS2 people will be paid handsomely (even more that the UK's Prime Minister!) might change their thinking!
Today's news also includes the announcement that Keolis have been awarded the Docklands Light Railway franchise. According to the BBC report.."The group - a joint venture between the SNCF subsidiary and Amey, the UK services group owned by Spain's Ferrovial - has an option to extend the franchise until 2023." Serco is the displaced former franchise holder.
And in an effort to encourage safe use of railway level crossings, the International Union of Railways' video - part of the ILCAD 2014 event - is well worth watching.
Click on the links for the full stories..
Headlines
UK
French firm wins 7-year Docklands Light Railway franchise.(BBC news)..
.
Campaign to reopen Weymouth seafront train line.(BBC News).
Crossrail reveals more of London's hidden history..-video.(BBC News).
Tunnel linking Reading to be opened.(BBC News).
HS2 boss plans to pay 30 people more than PM.(BBC News).
Labour would let public and private sectors to compete for rail franchises.(The Independent).
Direct rail between Wrexham and Liverpool to return.(BBC News).
Trafford Centre Metrolink plans to be discussed.(BBC News).
RMT warns of ‘looming’ dispute affecting Doncaster East Coast routes.(Doncaster Free Press).
First apprentices start work on the Thameslink Programme(ThameslinkProgramme)
02 July 2014
A team of young apprentices began work on the £6.5billion Thameslink Programme this week as part of the programme’s aim to develop the UK’s next generation of engineers.
The Thameslink-HMS Sultan Apprenticeship scheme sees apprentices spending a year at the joint Network Rail / Royal Navy training facility at HMS Sultan in Gosport before spending the remaining two years of their training working alongside Network Rail and its partners on the Thameslink Programme which aims to transform north-south travel through London.
The first 12 recruits from across the UK finished their stint at Gosport this month and have begun working across a range of disciplines ranging from track, electrical engineering and telecoms and signalling. Recruitment for a further 12 apprentices is underway and another 12 will be recruited in 2015.
Thameslink Programme head of engineering Chris Binns said: “Rail investment is at record levels but we cannot keep improving the network without also investing in people. The Thameslink Programme is designed to transform rail travel through London and we need a diverse and skilled workforce to deliver that”.
The youngest apprentice on the Programme Erin Henderson, from Uxbridge, said: “When I was in the sixth form there was a bit of prejudice around the idea of apprenticeships. But I’ve been able to move out like my friends that have gone to uni, but I’m getting paid! They’re all a bit jealous now.
“Doing this apprenticeship has given me the time, space and the right amount of pushing to figure out what I want to be and what I want to do.”
The Thameslink-HMS Sultan scheme complements the existing Network Rail Advanced Apprenticeship programme and the Skills Academy, which is based with the project to rebuild London Bridge. There are also a series of work placements planned for the remaining four-year life of the project.
Anyone interested in becoming a Network Rail Apprentice should go to www.facebook.com/ontrack
The Thameslink-HMS Sultan Apprenticeship scheme sees apprentices spending a year at the joint Network Rail / Royal Navy training facility at HMS Sultan in Gosport before spending the remaining two years of their training working alongside Network Rail and its partners on the Thameslink Programme which aims to transform north-south travel through London.
The first 12 recruits from across the UK finished their stint at Gosport this month and have begun working across a range of disciplines ranging from track, electrical engineering and telecoms and signalling. Recruitment for a further 12 apprentices is underway and another 12 will be recruited in 2015.
Thameslink Programme head of engineering Chris Binns said: “Rail investment is at record levels but we cannot keep improving the network without also investing in people. The Thameslink Programme is designed to transform rail travel through London and we need a diverse and skilled workforce to deliver that”.
The youngest apprentice on the Programme Erin Henderson, from Uxbridge, said: “When I was in the sixth form there was a bit of prejudice around the idea of apprenticeships. But I’ve been able to move out like my friends that have gone to uni, but I’m getting paid! They’re all a bit jealous now.
“Doing this apprenticeship has given me the time, space and the right amount of pushing to figure out what I want to be and what I want to do.”
The Thameslink-HMS Sultan scheme complements the existing Network Rail Advanced Apprenticeship programme and the Skills Academy, which is based with the project to rebuild London Bridge. There are also a series of work placements planned for the remaining four-year life of the project.
Anyone interested in becoming a Network Rail Apprentice should go to www.facebook.com/ontrack
GOV.UK.
£15 million cycle rail boost
Train stations will benefit from £15 million of new government funding to improve cycling facilities.
Train stations across the country will benefit from improved cycling facilities thanks to £15 million of new government funding, Transport Minister Baroness Kramer announced today (4 July 2014) on the eve of the Tour de France coming to the UK.
The improvements will make it easier for people to ride bicycles and use trains by providing more and better cycle parking and other cycle-friendly facilities at railway stations, helping cut pollution and ease congestion on our roads.
The minister announced the funding as she officially opened the new £850,000 Sheffield Cycle Hub - a flagship facility that provides 415 bike spaces alongside changing rooms and repair facilities at the city’s train station.
Baroness Kramer said:
When people take rail journeys they need to know how they will get to and from the station.The extra £15 million for cycling facilities at stations will be allocated through the Cycle Rail Working Group – the body which brings together representatives of the rail industry and the cycling sector – to improve integration between cycle and rail at stations. Train operating companies will be asked to bid for the funding. The new Sheffield Cycle Hub will provide 415 spaces for cycles as well as hire bikes, lockers and changing facilities. It was made possible through £350,000 of DfT funding.
We are transforming cycling facilities at stations up and down the country to make it easier to choose the bike for the journey to the station. That is why we are providing £15 million of new funding to help deliver this vision.
Used together, bike and rail can help cut carbon and congestion, delivering environmental and economic benefits. Sheffield’s cycle hub is a great example of this principle in action, and I hope it provides an example for others to follow.
Chair of the Cycle Rail Working Group Philip Darnton said:
The funding announced today comes on top of the government’s existing £374 million in cycling, which includes direct funding of £224 million for cycling projects, comprising: the £94 million Cycling Cities and National Parks fund, £28.5 million for Links to Schools / Linking Communities, the £35 million Cycle Safety Fund, £14.5 million for Cycle Rail, £4.8 million to the Highways Agency and £46.8 million for Bikeability. In addition, the DfT’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund is providing £151 million to cycling projects.It is great to receive such welcome news from the government at the opening of such a great facility. This further investment will allow the Cycle Rail Working Group, to do much more. We will have already created nearly 70,000 cycle parking spaces by the end of 2015 and see more than 30 cycle hubs opened. This new investment of £15 million will allow the Cycle Rail Working Group to extend its programme beyond the existing 350 stations already seeing cycle improvements.
The news comes as the Department for Transport publishes an update to its Door to door strategy. The paper, which was launched in March 2013, supports an increase in cycling facilities at train stations.
Crossrail.
Places & Spaces Exhibition: urban realm and development on the Crossrail route.
Crossrail will change London’s landscape. It is the first transport project in the UK, on this scale, to propose public spaces and above ground property developments that are integrated with station designs to improve the user experience for the travelling public when it fully opens in 2019.
The Places & Spaces exhibition incorporates current design proposals for the urban realm and developments outside stations along the Crossrail route.
The route will run across 40 stations with 10 new stations and upgrades to several existing ones. These designs will be subject to review and revision as they are refined in the coming months.
16 June – 17 July: RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
- Open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
- Open Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 6pm, Saturday, 10am to 5pm
Crossrail set to transform retail landscape.(London Evening Standard)....
UK Heritage News
Timetable | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors
JULY 5th and 6th ON THE WEST SOMERSET RAILWAY « West Somerset Railway.
Riversway Festival cancelled for 2014.
International
UIC - International Union of Railways
ILCAD2014
Saving Lives at Level Crossings -- A price too high to pay
Africa
Alstom to start building new PRASA train fleet.(Global Rail News).
Uganda and Rwanda award standard gauge study contract - Railway Gazette.
India
Indian PM Narendra Modi on maiden Kashmir visit.(BBC News).
This BBC report also says that Mr Modi inaugurated a railway line in the Jammu region before travelling to Kashmir Valley to launch a hydro-power station and chair a security meeting.
RUSSIA
Yakutia Railways commissions genset development(Railway Gazette)
Molinari Rail and Sinara Transport Machines are to develop a genset locomotive for harsh environments.
Spain
Siemens.
Siemens to install automatic train protection system for high-speed line in Southern Spain
Munich, 2014-Jul-02
Siemens is to install signaling and control equipment on the approximately 126-kilometer high-speed line between Antequera and Granada in a consortium with Thales. The contract recently sealed with Spanish operating company Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF), which is worth around € 210 million to the consortium, encompasses the installation of automatic train protection systems and the telecommunication and traffic control systems plus system maintenance for a period of 20 years.
The Antequera - Granada high-speed line will enable direct connections between Granada and Málaga, Córdoba, Seville and Madrid, extending and improving transport links in Andalusia and beyond. Siemens will supply the automatic train protection systems ECTS Level 2 and ASFA, jointless track circuits and LED signals. Siemens will also carry out the work necessary to upgrade the Córdoba- Málaga link to ETCS Level 2 as part of the modernization project.
Siemens has already provided signaling and control equipment for a number of high-speed lines in Spain. Examples include, Córdoba - Málaga high-speed line, for which Siemens planned and installed interlockings, automatic train protection systems, communication technology, the GSM-R mobile communication system and the associated components in 2007. Siemens provided the same services for Spain's very first high-speed line, the Madrid Seville route, which launched in 1992, and has also supplied Trainguard 100 OBU and Trainguard 200 OBU lineside and trainborne equipment for the Lérida - Barcelona, La Sagra - Toledo and Segovia - Valladolid high-speed lines, which extend to more than 300 kilometers in total.ETR610 arrives in Switzerland.(Railway Gazette).
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