Media centre

Tuesday 26 Jul 2005

ARTICLE – NETWORK RAIL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE NORTH WEST

Region & Route:

Network Rail is spending billions of pounds rebuilding and improving the rail network in Britain.  Many of the most exciting and worthwhile projects are in the North West of England.  The most widely-known renewals scheme is the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, one of the busiest rail routes in Europe. In September last year, the line between London and Manchester ‘went live’ at 125 mph. This was the first milestone of the £7.8 billion modernisation of the London to Glasgow route and has brought instant benefits for passengers, who are now able to travel from Manchester to London in just over two hours. Since May 2003, a 9,000-strong West Coast workforce has worked a total of 24 million hours to rebuild the railway between London, Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester. Work is now well underway on phase two of the project, which will see the line north of Manchester and Crewe up to Glasgow being upgraded to allow Virgin Pendolins trains to travel at high speed tilt mode by the end of the year to deliver further journey time improvements. A major programme of works to improve the key section of route through Stockport began in June and will be completed later this year. Network Rail’s engineering teams will be renewing switches and crossings throughout the Stockport area, as well as commissioning a new platform at Stockport station, which will be put into operation during the new Christmas timetable. Work is also due to take place in the Sandbach and Wilmslow area. The new computer-based interlocking system, developed by Italian company Ansaldo, is already working successfully in the Cheadle Hulme area. The work is due to start in December and will see Network Rail and its engineers carrying out track renewals and installing new signalling equipment. The two operating signal boxes at Wilmslow and Sandbach will be removed and the new signalling system will be controlled from the Edgeley Control Centre. Merseyrail network However, the smaller, regional railways are not forgotten; money is also being invested here. So far this year, almost £1.5 million has been invested on the Merseyrail network in Liverpool and there will be further investment later this year. During January and February 2005 the old jointed track between Waterloo and Seaforth & Litherland stations on the northern line was replaced with continuously welded rails. A total of 4,216 yds of new rail and 2,950 sleepers were used, which were embedded in 5,100 tonnes of new ballast. Later this year there will be even more investment on the network, but this time on the Wirral line. Over £2 million is being spent on track renewals between Birkenhead North and Birkenhead Hamilton Square on the West Kirby line, and work is due to take place in August. The West Kirby line is the main route from Liverpool to Hoylake, where the Open Golf Championship is being held next year.  This work will ensure the transport network is in top condition for the influx of visitors the area is expecting during the tournament. Signal boxes In December, Helsby signal box, which is situated on the Manchester to Llandudno line, won the Westinghouse signalling award at the prestigious National Railway Heritage Awards. Network Rail carried out a substantial refurbishment of the Cheshire signal box in 2002, aided by a £17,000 grant from the National Railway Heritage Trust. The entire project took six months to complete and cost £146,000. All work was carried out in accordance with listed building consent, although the structure itself is not listed, because the signal box falls within a conservation area and the adjacent station is Grade II listed. Embankments & cuttings Heavy rainfall and harsher weather conditions can have an adverse affect on railway cuttings and make them more susceptible to embankment slips, which can cause disruption. Two of the major projects to be completed in the last two years are Preston Brook and the Settle to Carlisle line, where work was carried out after a monitoring programme was completed. Network Rail invested almost £2 million on the Crewe to Warrington line to stabilise the railway cutting at Preston Brook this year. Work was concentrated on both sides of a 350-metre section, and in total approximately 2,000 soil nails were installed along the railway cutting during the project. All work was carried out during daytime hours to minimise disruption to local people and ensure no disruption to the operational railway. The work on the Settle to Carlisle line was a more complex and lengthy project. An investigation into a 72-mile stretch of the line took place in 2000, which identified a number of sites that needed work. A programme of work was due to start in 2001 but had to be delayed because of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Work was carried out at 18 sites on the line to re-align the embankment at an angle that is less steep to minimise erosion and provide better drainage. Bridges and viaducts The North West has some of the most spectacular bridges and viaducts in the country, and over the past 12 months time and money has been invested in maintaining these structures. One of the structures where work was carried out last summer is Harrington viaduct on the Cumbrian Coast railway line. A £3.5 million project to remove and replace the viaduct, which had come to the end of its life span, was completed last August. The work also included the construction of a new, simpler road layout and installing modernised piers to open up the view towards the marina. The scheme has enhanced rail travel for passengers in the area as trains can now cross at a faster speed, making journeys quicker and more reliable. Great Moor Street Bridge Network Rail is currently project managing a scheme in Bolton to reconstruct the 100-year-old railway bridge at Great Moor Street, which has been funded by Bolton Metro Council. A detailed inspection in 2000 revealed the structure was in need of replacement and since then its use has been limited. The new bridge will replace the old Victorian structure and will be able to carry more weight. The bridge is due to re-open in August. Leven viaduct Next year, one of the largest rail civil engineering bridge scheme to be conducted in the UK will take place in Cumbria. Leven viaduct will be closed for 16 weeks as a £13m project to replace the viaduct is carried out. The work is being done because the viaduct is coming to the end of its natural life and there are speed restrictions on the bridge. Leven viaduct is a 49-span structure carrying the Carnforth to Barrow line across the Leven Estuary in South Cumbria. The Cumbrian Coast line is seen as a vital link to the local economies of Cumbria with passenger services to the south, Manchester and Manchester airport.  This work will ensure the line stays open. Stations Network Rail believes that stations should be secure and welcoming and, wherever possible, offer passengers instant information on train services. Sometimes a relatively small investment at a local station can make a great deal of difference to passengers. A good example of this type of investment was the Modern Facilities at Stations scheme (MFAS), which made improvements at stations across the country but was largely concentrated on the Merseyrail network. A total of £10 million was spent on facilities in the North West, which was funded by the SRA, and £6.5 million has been invested on Merseyside. Passengers are benefiting from improved waiting areas, new toilet facilities (including toilets for disabled people), CCTV and customer information systems. All facilities were fully functional by spring 2005. Liverpool South Parkway Sometimes an entirely new station has to be built, and this was the case with the £17 million Liverpool South Parkway interchange, which links buses, trains, taxis, bicycles and cars, and provides a direct bus link to John Lennon International Airport. The interchange combines the existing Allerton Interchange station with a relocated Garston station and is being constructed in the ‘V’ where the West Coast Main Line crosses over the Merseyrail Northern Line at Allerton. The Parkway construction is in two distinctly separate but inextricably linked projects: the railway element, which is being managed by Network Rail and costing approximately £10 million, and the Parkway buildings, which will house facilities such as the ticket office, waiting rooms and retail outlets. Merseytravel has funded this scheme. Levenshulme A £1 million project to improve two platforms at Levenshulme introduced a UK construction first, when work was carried out in October last year – an adjustable platform. The platform has been designed so that if the railway track needs to be re-laid at a different height in the future, the platform can simply be screwed up or down. Levenshulme station, which is three miles south of Manchester Piccadilly, had been closed since late June 2004 while engineers worked on upgrading the West Coast Main Line in the Stockport area. Network Rail used the opportunity to rebuild the decaying concrete platforms. Lime Street station Network Rail celebrated its first year managing Liverpool Lime Street station in November last year, and during that time the safety of the station increased dramatically. Almost 60 CCTV cameras were installed at a cost of £350,000, which was funded by Network Rail with a contribution from Merseytravel. This led to Lime Street station receiving a ‘Secure Station’ status by Crime Concern and the British Transport Police. Minor refurbishment work has also been carried out inside the station and work is due to start next year on a £1.5 million refurbishment of the site, which is being funded by Merseytravel. The aim of the project is to utilise the exterior space and make it easier for passengers to travel between the bus, Merseyrail and taxi network, as well as opening up the view by demolishing the existing Concourse House tower and retail units. A new tower will be built in its place to house retail and office space and the front of the station will then be landscaped. Safety & security features introduced Network Rail is constantly striving to reduce the number of railway crime incidents and our External Liaison Officers manage a comprehensive educational programme. In March the company launched the brand new No Messin’! campaign, which aims to reduce the number of railway crime incidents by offering young people an alternative to playing on or near the railway. The campaign was launched nationally by DJ Spoony from Radio One, and in the North West by Blackburn Rovers star Lucas Neil and Ireland international, Richard Dunne. The campaign compliments the other educational work already being carried out in schools and youth groups, as well as the Football in the Community scheme. This scheme was launched in September 2004 at Manchester City FC, with David James showing his support for the campaign. Network Rail works closely with local football clubs in railway crime hotspots, with top coaches spelling out the serious – and potentially fatal – consequences of playing on the railway. The company supports football schools, which help entertain children in the school holidays when they can become bored and tempted to play on the railway. Performance All these projects and programmes are carried out to maintain the railway and improve performance. The company substantially beat its punctuality target in 2004/05, reducing delays by 2.2 million minutes, from 13.7 million to 11.5 million minutes – a target busting fall of 16%. The London North Western Route beat its target by 10%, recording 3,145,359 minutes delay against a target of 3,485,054. Out of the five General Manager areas in the Route, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston were the best performing. Liverpool beat its 499,941 minutes delay target by 11%, recording 478,310 minutes delay. Manchester also beat its target by 11%, recording 632,678 minutes delay against a target of 703,386. However, Preston was the best performing area with only 368,595 delay minutes against a target of 455,698 – a 19% decrease during 2004/05. The targets for next year will be even tougher but our teams are confident they can achieve them.