18
the rail engineer • November 2014
Doncaster station area has had schemes aplenty over the years that have addressed problems existing at the time. The result does not fit with current or projected flows. But wholesale remodelling, whilst a nice idea, would not bring commensurate benefits. The current thinking is that modest works on the eastern side would give substantial benefits avoiding the many conflicting movements that occur. There are existing flows of traffic that originate on the east, cross over to recess on the west and then cross over again to continue on the east again. By providing bidirectional working on the east side, trains can ‘slide’ along the former Up East Slow line - so avoiding the need for them to go into the Down side yard and back. A new platform 0 will be constructed to give a home to turn-back traffic that would get in the way of trains on the Up side. And then there’s Newark flat crossing. Over the years there always seem to be difficulties resolving Newark flat crossing - which is probably why it’s still there! The (at grade) crossing of the Nottingham to Lincoln line restricts the ECML linespeed to 100mph. Provision of a grade separated junction would enable the linespeed to be raised to 125mph with associated journey time benefits. Jacobs is currently remitted to develop a GRIP 2 feasibility study with a view to further develop a plan in CP5 for possible implementation in CP6. The design limitations are daunting as the likely gradients will be right on the limit for freight trains. Maybe the loaded/unloaded flows will help, but time will tell. Newark crossing has remained flat for good reasons.
Back where we started South of Newark takes us to the issue of Werrington, the site of our original bear hunt reference, where Jacobs is developing flyover and dive under options. Werrington is all tied up with the traffic that goes north of Peterborough towards Doncaster. Over the past few months, there has been a considerable amount of work carried out on the GNGE lines which go through Spalding, Lincoln and Gainsborough. They form a near-parallel route to the ECML, allowing freight movements which would otherwise cause problems to ECML fast trains. The ongoing GNGE improvements are designed to give line speeds sufficiently high to enable freight trains to travel between Peterborough to Doncaster in the same time that it would have taken on the main line whilst being recessed in loops along the way. The problem is that, currently, freight trains have to cross the fast lines at slow speed at either the Spital Ladder or Werrington Junction to join the upgraded GNGE route. The Spital Ladder is just north of Peterborough station and is a slow-speed route across the main lines and into the Up yard. A grade-separated junction at Werrington will unlock these bottlenecks. Peterborough is where we start to encounter heavy commuter traffic, or at least the stock workings associated with turning back commuter services. These are no ordinary services either. They are Thameslink trains which have originated south of London and which, on their way back, have to slot into very-specific paths so as to merge in
amongst the rest of the trains in the south London area. On their journey just to the south of Peterborough they will travel over various two-track sections between Peterborough and Huntingdon - over Holme Fen, the main reason for the two-tracking. However, from Woodwalton Junction there is evidence of the former Up Slow line which was taken up in the 80s. Consideration is being given to the reinstatement of this line all the way to just north of Huntingdon. In the outskirts of London there will be further works to accommodate the Thameslink stock that needs to be parked up somewhere. Turnback platforms will be constructed at Gordon Hill on the Hertford branch and also at Stevenage - the latter will also require just under a mile of new track constructed next to the existing Down Slow from Langley Junction. These are being delivered using additional funding to the £247 million. That’s the shopping list to give the best benefit. There may be other schemes that appear to be obvious front-runners but, when the timetable is analysed, some of these front-runners don’t make the grade and it’s the task of the connectivity team to remain clear about its objectives. The idea, after all, is to deliver ‘bestvalue’ for the £247 million on the table. Many of the schemes are well past the outline development stage and there’s a strong prospect of most of them becoming reality. And it’s rather nice to think that some of those toddlers who, back in 1989, were delighted by Mr. Rosen’s bear hunt book will now be the very people who build them.