New Rail Terminal Opening Doubles Rail Capacity
Commenting on the new terminal, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, owner of the Port of Felixstowe, said:
“Rail is becoming the mode of choice for an increasing number of shipping lines, forwarders and shippers to move their goods to and from ports. It provides cost, environmental and reliability benefits for many customers and the Port of Felixstowe offers more rail services, to more destinations, more often than any other UK port.
“I am also pleased to announce today that the 60th daily rail service at Felixstowe will be operated by Freightliner Limited. The new service will increase further the choice available to Felixstowe customers. The new North Rail Terminal will increase still further our rail capability. By allowing us to run longer trains, as well as more of them, it will allow users of the port to improve the efficiency of their supply chains and at the same time reducing cost for them.”
Dr John Meredith, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Port Holdings, commented:
“The Port of Felixstowe was Hutchison Ports Holdings’ first investment outside Hong Kong and the new North Rail Terminal is evidence of our continuing commitment to Felixstowe and the UK market. This new facility complements the recent investment we have made in Berths 8&9 and ensures that Felixstowe has a range of facilities unequalled anywhere else in the UK.”
Speaking at the ceremony, the Duke of York said:
“Coming here today and seeing how Felixstowe is taking the challenge of delivering goods and services for British exporters and British importers to the next level is really encouraging, and I would wish not just to congratulate you on so far, but also encourage you to continue the good work and investment you have committed to the United Kingdom.”
Stephen Hammond, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said:
"Felixstowe has long been at the forefront of efforts to promote the use of rail for container freight and thus to reduce congestion and environmental impact from HGVs.
"The investment in this terminal will also complement Network Rail's own investment in the Strategic Freight Network, which the Department for Transport is supporting."
The £40 million investment in the new rail terminal is part of a scheme to increase capacity at the Port of Felixstowe that includes the new Berths 8&9, opened in November 2011.
The new rail terminal, co-financed by the European Union Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme, allows the port to accommodate trains of up to 35-wagons length. 10 kilometres of new track has been laid for the terminal which provides nine additional tracks, making a total of 20 tracks on the port – more than King’s Cross station - and it has the only traverser at a UK intermodal terminal.
The investment by Hutchison Ports will further enhance the Port of Felixstowe’s position as the UK’s major hub port, and the Port of Britain.
10 point plan
Recently there have been some pretty spectacular failures of OLE in a number of high profile locations giving rise to some pretty dreadful ‘bad wire’ days.Sparking the Midlands
The Midlands Centre of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Railway Division arranges a business related colloquium in Derby every two years.A tale of two metals
On the face of it, copper wins hands down on electrical conductivity and it would seem that aluminium’s only advantage is its low density at just 30% of copper.National Track Plant Exhibition
The first National Track Plant Exhibition, “The Track Innovation Showcase”, is to be held on 24 and 25 July 2013 at Long Marston Business Park near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire.Read the whole magazine online
THE BOARD of New Zealand's national railway KiwiRail announced on June 7 that CEO Mr Jim Quinn is to stand down when his current five-year contract expires next February.
CALIFORNIA High Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) board unanimously approved a $US 985.1m bid from a California-based joint venture of Tutor Perini, Zachary and Parsons on June 7 to carry out civil works on the inaugural 48.3km Madera - Fresno section of the state's high-speed railway network.
THE Dutch government announced on June 7 that it has decided to cancel its contract with AnsaldoBreda for 16 V250 high-speed trains, in accordance with the wishes of Netherlands Railways (NS).
Source: Federal Transit Administration
The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced that, for the first time, it is making $21.9 million available to help strengthen public transportation safety for millions of riders and transit workers nationwide. In addition to the funds, the agency also announced a flexible new policy, known as Safety Management Systems (SMS), which DOT has officially adopted to help guide states and transit agencies alike in managing safety risks in a proactive, cost-effective way. Together, these efforts reflect FTA's commitment to begin implementing long-sought federal authority for transit safety granted under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and help states and transit agencies begin meeting new safety-related responsibilities. This represents a fundamental shift in the way FTA and states will work together to ensure the safety of public transportation across the nation.
Notice: Public-Private Partnerships Request for Comment
Source: Regulations.gov
The USDOT/FHWA is tasked by MAP-21 to develop “standard public-private partnership transaction model contracts for the most popular types of public-private partnerships for the development, financing, construction and operation of transportation facilities.” We invite the public to provide ideas and comments on what should be included or excluded from such model public-private partnership (P3) contracts. The comments can be made to the docket or at a Listening Session in the District of Columbia. Comments must be received on or before May 31, 2013. Late comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
Source: Regulations.gov
The USDOT/FHWA is tasked by MAP-21 to develop “standard public-private partnership transaction model contracts for the most popular types of public-private partnerships for the development, financing, construction and operation of transportation facilities.” We invite the public to provide ideas and comments on what should be included or excluded from such model public-private partnership (P3) contracts. The comments can be made to the docket or at a Listening Session in the District of Columbia. Comments must be received on or before May 31, 2013. Late comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
Bombardier to deliver 96 Movia trains to Stockholm Metro
Bombardier Transportation had secured a SEK5.1bn ($771m) order from Stockholm public transport body Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) to supply 96 Movia trains to the Stockholm metro in Sweden.
Bombardier Transportation had secured a SEK5.1bn ($771m) order from Stockholm public transport body Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) to supply 96 Movia trains to the Stockholm metro in Sweden.
Engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald has been selected by UK-based construction and civil engineering firm BAM Nuttall to offer design services for the upgrade of railway stations at Bingley in West Yorkshire and MetroCentre in Tyne and Wear, UK.
Mitsubishi Heavy wins transit capacity expansion contract from Singapore LTA
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), has secured a JPY12bn ($122m) order from Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) to design, build, install and commission a light rapid transit capacity expansion of the Sengkang and Punggol lines in Singapore.
Qatar Rail awards Doha Metro contracts worth $8.2bn
Qatar Rail Company has awarded four contracts worth a total of $8.2bn to design and build railway lines as part of the first phase construction of the Doha Metro.
Rail Ale Tours 2013 | The East Lancashire Railway
Railway Engineering News
Canberra light rail funding included in budget - Railway Gazette
le Tramway - Grand Besançon - Flash Infos
New images show Liverpool Street Crossrail Station making good progress - Crossrail
Crossrail
New images show Liverpool Street Crossrail Station making good progress
The construction of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail station is making good progress with key works completed and the project moving into an important stage of delivery.
The new Crossrail station will be located between the existing Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations. Crossrail will build two new entrances and ticket halls, creating new interchanges with the Northern, Central, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, as well as connections to Stansted airport and National Rail services.
The construction of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail Station is divided up into 4 main sites with good progress being made on each:
Moorgate site – new western ticket hall construction well underway
When Crossrail opens in 2018, up to 24 Crossrail trains per hour will operate in each direction between Paddington and Liverpool Street during peak times, in addition to existing London Underground and National Rail services. The new Crossrail services will help ease overcrowding and will support economic growth in the surrounding area, as Liverpool Street becomes an important interchange on the Crossrail route. Journey times from Liverpool Street to Heathrow Airport will be only 33 minutes, whilst Liverpool Street to Canary Wharf will be reduced to just 7 minutes.
Railway Engineering News
Canberra light rail funding included in budget - Railway Gazette
le Tramway - Grand Besançon - Flash Infos
New images show Liverpool Street Crossrail Station making good progress - Crossrail
Crossrail
New images show Liverpool Street Crossrail Station making good progress
The construction of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail station is making good progress with key works completed and the project moving into an important stage of delivery.
The new Crossrail station will be located between the existing Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations. Crossrail will build two new entrances and ticket halls, creating new interchanges with the Northern, Central, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, as well as connections to Stansted airport and National Rail services.
The construction of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail Station is divided up into 4 main sites with good progress being made on each:
Moorgate site – new western ticket hall construction well underway
- The western ticket hall for the new Crossrail station is being constructed in Moorgate and will involve enlarging the existing Moorgate Underground Station
- A 55 metre deep shaft is being excavated next to the existing station with reinforced concrete panels installed 60 metres below the surface to form a box below ground
- Work is well underway on installing the concrete diaphragm wall panels and is due for completion later this summer
- The construction of the Moorgate shaft is taking place in one of Crossrail’s most constrained sites with the Hammersmith & City Line to the north, the Northern Line to the east and the existing Moorgate station ticket hall nearby.
- At the eastern end of the Crossrail station, a new ticket hall will be constructed beneath Liverpool Street close to the Broadgate development. The new ticket hall will provide step-free access from street level to the new Crossrail platforms
- A subsurface ticket hall will be constructed to link into the existing London Underground ticket hall at Liverpool Street
- Work is also underway to create a utilities corridor beneath Liverpool Street to allow all existing utilities to be diverted away from the future Broadgate Ticket Hall
- Construction of the eastern ticket hall will begin in early 2014
- A temporary 42 metre deep shaft has been built beneath Finsbury Circus park to act as the ‘nerve-centre’ for the construction of Crossrail platform tunnels, concourse and passages to link the new eastern and western ticket halls at Moorgate and Liverpool St
- The shaft provides underground access for the construction of more than 1.5km of tunnels and cross passages using Sprayed Concrete Lining techniques
- From the bottom of the shaft, tunnels branching off in 4 directions are now being constructed to form the central passageways and cross passages at platform level
- Branching off from the ends of the cross passages, the two 250m long Platform Tunnels will then be built – work has now started on the first platform tunnel which will become the eastbound platform tunnel for the new Crossrail services
- The platform tunnels are initially formed as 6 metre pilot tunnels which are then enlarged to the final diameter of 9.5 metres
- More than 600 metres of temporary and full size tunnels have been built so far – the station tunnels will be completed in 2015
- The tunnel boring machines creating the central tunnelled section of the Crossrail route will come through Liverpool Street site and are scheduled to arrive in late 2014
- Once work is completed the Finsbury Circus park area will be restored
- A 40m-deep box structure is being constructed on Blomfield Street to accommodate ventilation, electrical, mechanical and systems equipment for the new Crossrail station
- So far over 250 piles have been completed including all high-level foundation works and two thirds of the main shaft piles installed up to 50 metres deep, making the box Crossrail’s deepest piled shaft. The main shaft piling is due for a summer completion
- Adjacent to the box, a new Communications Equipment Room (CER), power substation and switch rooms for the Liverpool Street London Underground station are being constructed. This will allow the demolition of the existing substation to create space for the Broadgate ticket hall on Liverpool Street.
- The power substation and switchrooms are due to be completed later this year
- 5 metres below the ground a new 53 metre long cable tunnel to connect the new substation has now been completed – the first permanent sprayed concrete lining tunnel to be finished on the Crossrail project. The three main contractors on the Liverpool Street project (C501 BAM Nuttall Kier (BNK) Joint Venture, C502 Laing O’Rourke, and C503 Vinci Construction) have each been awarded Crossrail’s Green Line Scheme award - a project-wide initiative to drive and reward environmental performance throughout Crossrail sites.
When Crossrail opens in 2018, up to 24 Crossrail trains per hour will operate in each direction between Paddington and Liverpool Street during peak times, in addition to existing London Underground and National Rail services. The new Crossrail services will help ease overcrowding and will support economic growth in the surrounding area, as Liverpool Street becomes an important interchange on the Crossrail route. Journey times from Liverpool Street to Heathrow Airport will be only 33 minutes, whilst Liverpool Street to Canary Wharf will be reduced to just 7 minutes.
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