Not exactly brand new news, but very recently Redruth Station has received new station nameboards. I think that they are quite attractive - almost like SW Trains boards. Taken on one of the few lovely days this summer!  Derek Buttivan adds the following observation : - Like everything else these days, there's (big) money involved.  FGW will do a sort of sponsorship deal with businesses wanting to have their name displayed on station signs.  The bigger (more important) the station, the higher the fee that has to be paid.  Curiously, it seems to be insurance companies, solicitors and accountants who lead the league tables for a place on station signs.  They have plenty of money, I suppose.  There are also examples of colleges and universities with their names on local stations.




I don't know any more details but imagine that the agreements are for a fixed term, probably at least a year.  What happens if the franchise ownership changes, I wonder!


 

Hayle Viaduct subsidence.

 The original viaduct at this location, designed by Brunel, was opened as part of the extended railway from Angarrack to Penzance on 11 March 1852.  The Hayle Railway’s Hayle station opened in 1837 was located at road level just to the south of current viaduct.

The GWR replaced the original viaduct with the current structure in 1885, though unlike the rest of the Cornish Viaducts it has never had much in the way of grace or beauty. It has 36 arches and a total length of 831’ with a maximum height of 34’.

John Binding, in his excellent book ‘Brunel’s Cornish Viaducts’ published 1993 reported that ‘One of the piers, on the up side has settled by as much a 12”, the wrought iron span being packed to adjust, has continued in service without further deterioration.’

However, further checks have found subsidence evident on four piers the footings of which lie in the original creek bed. BAM Nuttall is carrying out the essential repairs for Network Rail. These commenced on July 30th and due for completion on October 22nd. The repairs comprise the stabilisation of the piers.  Further work is planned in 2014 or 2015 to strengthen the decks of the viaduct – this will involve all the spans.

We are most grateful to John Roberts for drawing our attention to the following press release which is selectively copied with reference to the GW areas. It would seem that here in the SW away from the electrified sections will have to exist for some time on a diet of HST's, Class 180's (Adlantes), and 465 (Turbos).




£4.5 billion investment in new trains creates new jobs

More than 900 jobs will be created and thousands more secured after Transport Secretary Justine Greening approved a £4.5bn contract to supply Britain with the next generation of intercity trains.

In a major boost to the UK’s manufacturing industry, 596 railway carriages will be built at a brand new train factory in the north east of England.

Agility Trains, a consortium made up of Hitachi and John Laing, has been awarded the contract to build and maintain the trains under the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), the project to replace Britain’s Intercity 125 trains with new higher capacity modern trains.

Hitachi will assemble an intercity fleet of 92 complete trains at a new purpose-built factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in the process creating 730 skilled jobs with a further 200 jobs during construction of the factory itself and securing thousands more in the UK supply chain. The company will also locate its European rail research and development capabilities on the site which will further enhance the factory’s ability to win rail contracts across Europe.

As well as building the new state-of-the-art assembly facility, Hitachi will construct maintenance depots in Bristol, Swansea, west London and Doncaster, and will upgrade existing maintenance depots throughout Britain.

The IEP train fleet will be comprised of electric and bi-mode trains, some five vehicles long and others nine vehicles. These will be faster accelerating than existing stock, and will offer the potential for more frequent services. The higher train capacity will mean more seats and less crowding between Britain’s major cities. The modern vehicles will offer a step-change in passenger comfort through increased carry-on luggage space, electronic seat reservations, and no compromise on leg-room. A performance regime will encourage the trains to run reliably throughout the life of the fleet.

EP is the programme to replace Britain’s fleet of Intercity 125 High Speed Trains (HSTs) that were originally deployed by British Rail in the 1970s and 1980s.

The eventual service pattern will be the responsibility of the future franchisees, although the first phase of the new trains could operate on the following routes:

Great Western: London – Cardiff – Swansea, London – Oxford – Worcester – Hereford, London – Gloucester – Cheltenham, London – Bath – Bristol.

There are also options for ordering further trains, which could operate on the following route

Great Western: London – Exeter – Penzance (These would presumably be Bi-modal HST replacements.

The contract structure passes the responsibility for constructing depots and maintaining trains to Agility Trains. The Train Operating Company will pay Agility Trains “Set Availability Payments” for each train that reports for duty each day and remains reliable during the operational period. The Department is providing a “Usage Guarantee” to Agility that a Train Operating Company will be in place to make use of the new trains.

This is the first time in recent history that a bi-mode train has been earmarked for the UK rail network. Bi-mode trains are common on some mainland European national rail systems. Both the electric and bi-mode versions of these trains will include regenerative braking, a system whereby electricity is re-cycled back through the overhead wires when the driver applies the brakes.

Introducing the bi-mode option for the Intercity Express Programme is estimated to save around £200 million (net present value) as compared to introducing a fleet of all-electric trains to be coupled to a diesel locomotive beyond the electrified sections of the railway.

The 125 mph (200kph) trains will reduce overcrowding as they will be longer; the new carriages will be 26m in length as opposed to the 23m in Intercity vehicles currently in UK use. 26m vehicles are standard in mainland Europe. The faster journey times will also allow operators to run more frequent services.