Wednesday 11 Sep 2013
£220m scheme signals rail progress in the valleys
- Region & Route:
- | Wales & Western: Wales & Borders
- | Wales & Western
The largest-ever rail enhancement scheme in Wales has moved another step closer to completion as Network Rail switches on a brand new signalling system to control trains between Cardiff and the Rhymney valley.
This major upgrade transforms the way the valleys railway is operated - from using dated early 20th century signalling systems to powerful computers – and it marks an important milestone achieved in the £220m congestion-busting scheme in the Cardiff and valleys area.
Passengers will benefit from a more reliable rail service in the valleys as the new system could potentially help cut delays by replacing unreliable equipment. The new signalling system also has the capability to handle more trains, therefore supporting a growing railway and helps prepare the network for electrification.
Mark Langman, route managing director for Network Rail Wales/Cymru said: “The progress today heralds the start of a new beginning for the valleys railways which now has a modernised control system and is poised for growth. With the signalling upgrade, we have laid the vital building block to unlock the potential of the rail network in this area.
“We have invested nearly one million work hours in this scheme and we are now working towards completing the next stages of the project to completely transform the Cardiff and valleys railway by 2015. A reliable and robust railway forms a key pillar for a healthy economy and this scheme will help Wales continue to thrive.”
Since 2011, Network Rail has modernised the signalling system controlling the trains on the Vale of Glamorgan network and started work to install new tracks and build new platforms at Tirphil, Caerphilly, Barry stations, Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central.
Engineering works to be carried out by 2015 include:
Winter 2013
• The first train arrives at Energlyn Station
2014
• Re-signalling, track and station work complete at Barry Station
• Platform and track work begins at Pontypridd Station
• New station building work starts at Cardiff Queen Street
• Building work commences on the new station entrance at the south side of Cardiff Station
2015
• £220m project complete - end -
Notes to editors
About the £220m Cardiff and valleys scheme
Passenger demand in the Cardiff and Valley area has been increasing at 8% on average each year. It is forecast that the number of passengers travelling in the Cardiff and Valley areas will exceed 12m per year by the end of 2015. With 900 trains already travelling through the Cardiff area to support current demand every day, the railway needs more capacity by the end of this decade.
The congestion-busting scheme will remove the rail bottleneck on the city line, allowing extra four trains per hour to run through the Cardiff area. This will unlock the potential for more and longer trains to serve the Valley lines and to boost the railway’s capacity, bringing 600 more seats during rush hours.
The massive upgrade will allow more freight trains to operate through Cardiff, supporting business. Rail services will also become more reliable as the signalling equipment becomes more robust and efficient.
The existing track layout, built in the1930s, at Cardiff East Junction will also be untangled and extra tracks will also be built on parts of the railway in Cardiff and South Wales Valley.
New platforms will be created at Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street, Barry, Tir-phil, Caerphilly and Pontypridd to accommodate more and longer trains. Extra efforts will also be put in to improve the accessibility and station environment of Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street and Pontypridd.
Engineering works started in 2011 and they are due to be completed within three years and in time for new trains to be introduced to the Valley area by 2018.
The scheme includes £17m funding from the Welsh Government.
How railway signals work
Railway signals are integral to the safety of passengers and work to keep trains separated from each other at all times. A yellow signal tells a driver that the next signal is at red and they can begin braking in plenty of time.
A signalling system is controlled by the interlocking, which is full of logical information about what train movements are allowed given the position of trains and the route for which junctions are set.
The interlocking, the brains of the signalling system, is designed to prevent conflicting train movements from taking place. This is fed to the signals and points. This programme of work aims to upgrade the interlocking from the old-fashioned relay system to powerful computers.
With the new system, signallers will be managing the safe passage of trains from a state-of-the-art centralised hub, also known as the Wales Railway Operations Centre (WROC), using the latest digital technology.
The WROC is based in Cardiff Central opened in 2010 and the rail network in the Cardiff and valleys area will be controlled from this hub by 2015.
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