if
it's about Cardiff..
Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business,
Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking,
Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
Surely as a Network Rail project this is funded through central government? If it's to be funded by WG will it ever actually come to fruition?
if it is funded by WG I doubt it will. My memory may be playing tricks but I think Osborne did announce that Westminster would foot the bill to Swansea and then WG could do the rest. Bear in mind though we in Wales share the benefit of GWML electrification with the west of England so Westminster aren't as being as munificent as they are making out.
It was definitely announced by the Westminster Government. If it isn't one of their projects, what on earth are they doing announcing it, with huge fanfare and publicity?
It was definitely announced by the Westminster Government. If it isn't one of their projects, what on earth are they doing announcing it, with huge fanfare and publicity?
the westminster announcement was around the GWML of that I am positive. look at the early posts in this thread
Fairly minor but 2 Cardiff stations will be getting some improvements this year...
Llandaf & Radyr stations (along with 3 others) will receive a share of £12m as part of the 'Access for All programme' to create step and obstacle-free routes to platforms and station entrances, through new foot bridges, lifts and ramps.
Work will start in May/June and all projects will be completed by end of this year or early 2015.
all a bit of a mess
as I understand it nothing was signed and the uk gov at the original costs were pretty much going to fund the lot to Swansea.
however as with anything costs spiralled - I always thought they were low - and so when it comes to the fine print they are staying with the main line - bar Cardiff to bridgend which somewhow is classed as valley lines, and its up to welsh gov to fund the rest.
doable, but kills the metro aspects as its going to be a billion to fund electrification by the time it all comes round.
sad and messy. knowing some of the officials involved, no surprise mind.
all a bit of a mess
as I understand it nothing was signed and the uk gov at the original costs were pretty much going to fund the lot to Swansea.
however as with anything costs spiralled - I always thought they were low - and so when it comes to the fine print they are staying with the main line - bar Cardiff to bridgend which somewhow is classed as valley lines, and its up to welsh gov to fund the rest.
doable, but kills the metro aspects as its going to be a billion to fund electrification by the time it all comes round.
sad and messy. knowing some of the officials involved, no surprise mind.
I thought that when they were talking about not funding the Cardiff to Bridgend section they meant the line that goes via Barry and the Vale and not the mainline. Seems strange for the UK government not to fund that bit of the mainline.
That news item is just announcing Network Rail's for CP5 that runs to 2019 and includes electrification of the Great Western main line to Swansea and the Valleys lines if they ever sort out the funding arrangements. It's true there doesn't appear to be much capital investment - a lot of the budget is just maintenance and upgrading signalling etc.
Is the electrification of the entire Great Western mainline costing 1bn? Must be remembered that that isn't just benefitting Wales but Oxford, Swindon, Bristol etc. If we're 5% of UK population a per capita share would be a couple of billion. However if rail is partialy devolved would we expect a smaller share, with WAG paying for some stuff out of their own budget.
If any power could be devolved to Cardiff Bay nothing would benefit Wales more than infrustructure.
Wales is being short changed is an understatement.
One M Road.
No Trams.
No electrified rail lines.
Incedible - criminal lack of investment by successive Westminster regimes.
Standing on Queen St platform I must admit that the new platform opposite looks like it's been done on the cheap.Not impressed with tarmac platform surface to say the least.
Standing on Queen St platform I must admit that the new platform opposite looks like it's been done on the cheap.Not impressed with tarmac platform surface to say the least.
A little part of me hopes (naively) that the current 'improvements' are being done on the cheap because they are only supposed to last 5-10 years until the completion of the Valley Lines electrification and signing of the Metro deal.
After that, the increase in passenger numbers due to the opening of new lines and new stations will force Network Rail's hand and Central, Queen Street and Cardiff Bay will be extensively developed with more platforms and bigger concourses to cope with demand.
Standing on Queen St platform I must admit that the new platform opposite looks like it's been done on the cheap.Not impressed with tarmac platform surface to say the least.
I saw from the picture on here the other day that they had not even removed the graffiti from the wall of the platform, says it all really.
Queen Street Station is the most significant hub in the Valley Lines...
It deserves so much more....
If we dont believe in our own worth - why will others?
There is no ambition in the development..
A dire shame...
Aside from all the stuff about it being cheap, what is the access going to be to this new platform? How will you be able to get there? Is the front of the station being re-designed? Will it be something similar to what they did with the new platform at Central?
Aside from all the stuff about it being cheap, what is the access going to be to this new platform? How will you be able to get there? Is the front of the station being re-designed? Will it be something similar to what they did with the new platform at Central?
The station building will extend out to be parallel with the road, so there's more space for the ticket hall. The ticket gates will be further out than now, so once you're through, you can go forward under the subway as now, or turn right to go up the stairs for the new platform 5 - there will be a lift there as well.
Just found a report from Network Rail concerning bridge works required in the Cardiff area to accommodate the electrification. Two quite busy road bridges are going to be demolished and rebuilt along with various other works. It may predate the decision to confirm the electrification as far as Swansea as nothing west of Canton is mentioned. Also Pellet street is still mentioned despite the bridge already being replaced as part of Capital Quarter.
Windsor Road is definitely being replaced as it is structurally deficient
I thought it was strange that it was the only old bridge not requiring any work to accommodate the electrification project. By its absence from the electrification project list I assume it is being dealt with as a separate project but will be done before the electrification of the line?
Looks like Ely Bridge is also going to be replaced as part of the electrification. Saw a bit on WalesOnline about the Ely Papermill development no longer having to contribute something to its maintenance as Network Rail are replacing it in 2017. Tried to post before but the spam filter wouldn't let me and I gave up after multiple tries!
Looks like Ely Bridge is also going to be replaced as part of the electrification. Saw a bit on WalesOnline about the Ely Papermill development no longer having to contribute something to its maintenance as Network Rail are replacing it in 2017. Tried to post before but the spam filter wouldn't let me and I gave up after multiple tries!
it does appear rather random on what gets through....
Windsor Road is definitely being replaced as it is structurally deficient
Network Rail have put in a planning application (19/6/14) to demolish and replace Windsor Road bridge, so at least its scheduled. Looks like the replacement will be 2 bridges, 1 over the main line and the other over the spur to the steelworks with embankments replacing some of the spans including between the 2 sets of railway.
The whole process of putting in the infrastructure seems to be very slow. I travel to and from London by train every week and I keep an eye on what is being constructed. There does not seem to be any structure or plan to when they put the steel frames in place. On occasions a large group of them pop up from nowhere and then nothing for quite some time. Plus they seem to have given up just past Reading. If they had somebody putting in 1 frame and then another as soon as the last was put in then the whole project would be complete a lot sooner.
As i have brought up Reading, does anybody know what or why they are building that flyover type thing as you approach Reading station? It is a big construction job and as far as i can see it is just extra line built on stilts.
The whole process of putting in the infrastructure seems to be very slow. I travel to and from London by train every week and I keep an eye on what is being constructed. There does not seem to be any structure or plan to when they put the steel frames in place. On occasions a large group of them pop up from nowhere and then nothing for quite some time. Plus they seem to have given up just past Reading. If they had somebody putting in 1 frame and then another as soon as the last was put in then the whole project would be complete a lot sooner.
As i have brought up Reading, does anybody know what or why they are building that flyover type thing as you approach Reading station? It is a big construction job and as far as i can see it is just extra line built on stilts.
The electrification around the Reading station area is under a separate contract to the rest of the GWML electrification hense it appearing to be pretty piecemeal. The general idea is to electrify Reading station at the same time as it is upgraded, in order to minimise the disruption to users of Reading station. Also electrification from Airport junction to Maidenhead is under Crossrails control.
I believe the flyover is in order to grade separate the junction. As freight trains use the junction frequently and block the through lines when they are crossing onto the branch line which causing reduced capacity. Where as if you have the flyover this is minimised.
I read somewhere that the max line speed in the Welsh section of the GWR main line in 90MPH where as its 125MHP on the English side (there are some exceptions)
Could they spend the money getting the speed up (signalling/quad'ing etc) as this would have a far better time performance per buck thyan the electrification, when it comes.
Some trains I get back from London at 23:00 travel at a walking pace from the tunnel to Cardiff.
I read somewhere that the max line speed in the Welsh section of the GWR main line in 90MPH where as its 125MHP on the English side (there are some exceptions)
Could they spend the money getting the speed up (signalling/quad'ing etc) as this would have a far better time performance per buck thyan the electrification, when it comes.
Some trains I get back from London at 23:00 travel at a walking pace from the tunnel to Cardiff.
Due to the stops being pretty close and the fact that the line is pretty curved I doubt the GWML will get much faster tbf, unless it is rebuilt in a new alignment. The late night trains run slower as they have contingency time built in for example if they have to go via another route last minute or being put on the slow lines out of Paddington which means it generally takes an extra 10/15 minutes to get to Reading. Annoying but that's what happens when the companies get fined if the train is late to its destination.
The whole process of putting in the infrastructure seems to be very slow. I travel to and from London by train every week and I keep an eye on what is being constructed. There does not seem to be any structure or plan to when they put the steel frames in place. On occasions a large group of them pop up from nowhere and then nothing for quite some time. Plus they seem to have given up just past Reading. If they had somebody putting in 1 frame and then another as soon as the last was put in then the whole project would be complete a lot sooner.
As i have brought up Reading, does anybody know what or why they are building that flyover type thing as you approach Reading station? It is a big construction job and as far as i can see it is just extra line built on stilts.
The electrification around the Reading station area is under a separate contract to the rest of the GWML electrification hense it appearing to be pretty piecemeal. The general idea is to electrify Reading station at the same time as it is upgraded, in order to minimise the disruption to users of Reading station. Also electrification from Airport junction to Maidenhead is under Crossrails control.
I believe the flyover is in order to grade separate the junction. As freight trains use the junction frequently and block the through lines when they are crossing onto the branch line which causing reduced capacity. Where as if you have the flyover this is minimised.
Any other questions?
Perfect, cheers. Any idea when the parts of the line which i assume will be constructed by Network Rail will be put in place? I didn\'t realise there was multiple contracts for the whole project. I naively thought the GWML would have been done by one company and constructed from one end to the other.
Perfect, cheers. Any idea when the parts of the line which i assume will be constructed by Network Rail will be put in place? I didn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t realise there was multiple contracts for the whole project. I naively thought the GWML would have been done by one company and constructed from one end to the other.
The reasons for the separate contracts is because Crossrail was announced before the rest of the GWML electrification and so are technically separate for bidding purposes etc + the money for both schemes comes from different pots. Same with reading station.
In regards to the reading flyover contruction timescales this article is useful
http://www.therailengineer.com/2014/03/28/last-piece-jigsaw
He is very knowledgeable about trains, that is a given!
Also, a keen interest in all things Cardiff
He might just be a train-spotter?
So, could this be Mr James Brown?
This is a mans world
This is a mans world
But it would be nothing,nothing
Without a Class 60 diesel
You see, man made the car
To take us over the road
Man made the train
To carry the heavy load
Man made the electric light
To take us out of the dark
Man made the boat full of water
Like noah made the Ark.
This is a mans,mans,mans world
But it would be nothing, nothing
Without the 3:25 to Bristol.
Two seperate developments up north that will help the connectivity of rail from Cardiff:
1) Work has started on line between Wrexham and Chester reinstating a double track for larger part of its length. This will allow a greater frequency of trains to North Wales &
2) Halton curve in Runcorn being reconfigured to allow access from the west. This will allow trains from North Wales and Cardiff to run direct into Liverpool Lime Street (once again).
I'd assumed the Lime St train had been cancelled due to lack of passenger numbers. I'd never thought it was difficult to get there. Assumed it just went through Crewe. Did they not used to have the same train going to Manchester as Liverpool and it would split in two at Crewe? You had to make sure you were in the right half of the train I guess!