Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Well, the north west got 'dumped on' yesterday and my colleagues who live in the Greater Manchester area didn't make in to work. I, on the other hand, who travel up the west coast main line from Stafford to Manchester each day, did. And that says a lot for how the railway coped with the snow.

Generaly speaking, yesterday we ran a damned good service considering that the northern half of the M6 ground to a halt and many local roads were impassable. Even the Settle to Carlisle line, which runs through some pretty (in all senses of the word) inhospitable country in bad weather, held up well. So much so, that the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line were moved to issue a news release saying everything is running fine.

Our chief executive sent an email to our Members, sumarising the situation, and it is worth copying the text here as it gives a useful overview of how the railways cope. It also starts with the Christmas work at Liverpool Street station which was slightly late in being completed and which the media reported in their usual style as 'mass chaos':-

Improvement Works

Over the Christmas and New Year period, we had a programme of improvement works which, although reduced to enable us to provide a greater number of trains throughout the period, included some complex and high risk engineering challenges. 

We had 74 high and medium risk sites, including remodelling of Severn Tunnel junction, signalling commissions at Newport and South Erewash, works on the North London line, bridge slides at Blackfriars and works associated with the replacement of the overhead wires in East Anglia.

All works were successfully completed, but we did experience problems at Liverpool Street Station that has - understandably - been picked up by the press.

The work in this location is extraordinarily complex, having to fit modern overhead power equipment to gantries that have been there for many decades across a worksite that was 1.5 miles long. We monitored the work very carefully and we had to deploy all of the four pre-planned contingency items, including deferring work to the coming weekend. On Sunday, an overrun looked likely and Simon Kirby went to site and spent all day (and night) tracking progress. We already had a “gold command” structure in place, so the customer (NX East Anglia) was fully informed. At 00:48 Monday morning, we were predicting a 04:00 start-up (which would have meant one or two cancelled trains); however, during final commissioning, a couple of problems were uncovered, meaning that we couldn’t open Liverpool Street Station until 06:18 (for the “suburban” lines) and 07:30 (for the “electric” lines). So, inevitably, there was some delay for some passengers. By 09:30, most trains were running with less than 10 minutes delay and a normal service was established by later morning.

The overrun was hugely disappointing, at it puts a shadow over the rest of the 100s of jobs we successfully delivered. However, I think it is important to contrast this with 2007. When we experienced similar problems, no intercity services ran until late on the Monday afternoon and the electric lines remained closed until Wednesday. There were also many other differences – all as a result of changes we made to processes, following the overruns in 2007:

• we had pre-planned contingencies that we would exercise, if we experienced problems;
• we had Network Rail site managers on-site, at all times, giving accurate information about progress and issues;  
• we had corporate visibility with Robin Gisby, Simon Kirby, Victoria Pender and myself in regular dialogue about options; 
• we were able to give real-time, accurate information to our customer, who helped put in place operational service recovery plans; and 
• at all times, despite the problems, we always knew what the problems were and what was required to restore the railway.

 It does, however, raise questions about the way in which these jobs are planned, contracted for and executed. These will be considered over the coming weeks. It is important that we do this, especially with a wider programme of electrification coming. To put your mind at rest, this wider programme is all “green-field” – the electrification of a diesel railway, and not the replacement of a system installed in the 1930s that is required for daily use by hundreds of thousands of people!

Finally, although the programme of electrification in East Anglia continues for a number of years, we have finished at Liverpool Street Station, itself! The next big job is the piece up towards Shenfield. It will, of course, still be complex, challenging and require a degree of service disruption. We will reflect on the lessons learned from this year – both in this location and elsewhere – and make appropriate changes. 
Current Train Operations 
Despite the extremely cold weather, coupled with significant snowfall, we continue to work with our customers to keep trains running. In many instances, we have pre-agreed contingency plans, including revised train timetables and “key route strategies”, designed to provide an operational service going. In some instances, we do make reductions in the numbers of trains, but we will do so in a way that enables passengers to know this in advance of travelling. 

The cold spell has been across the country for about three weeks now and through this period, we have managed to deliver 83% punctuality. So, over eight out of ten trains arriving on time is, given the circumstances, pretty good. We have adopted a policy that it is better to get people to their destination – albeit a few minutes late, than to simply cancel trains. As a result, punctuality will be affected, but I believe that this is the right decision for the passenger and freight user. It will, however, have a huge impact on the delay minutes attributed to Network Rail, for 2009/10. So far, we have incurred 250,000 extra delay minutes – which, bearing in mind, the improvement target for this year was around 600,000 minutes, makes delivery a little challenging! Also, the impact of this cold period on the “moving annual average” for PPM will be around 0.5 percentage points. 

Whilst we are reasonably good at dealing with icy conditions, snow presents us with additional challenges. It does affect trains and we do see an increase in train failures; from our perspective, the biggest challenge comes from keeping points free from snow. As points move from one side to another, snow becomes trapped and then compressed between the blades of the points, making it impossible for them to “close” (and thereby safe to use). Many of our points do have point heaters, but – when it is snowing heavily – points simply become overwhelmed… the solution? Our own “snow-men”. We situate teams of people at key locations to keep the points free from snow, between trains. This is very labour intensive and physically challenging for the teams out on site. In addition, we have revised timetables that reduce the number of point movements, thereby, minimising the impact. 

The other big challenge is a function of the way in which railways were built in this country. Unlike no other European country, the railway in the south east – covering Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire – is electrified using “third rail”. Most electrified railways use overhead wires and pantographs; third rail provides electricity at ground level and trains connect using a “shoe mechanism”. However, this system is severely affected when the conductor rail is covered with snow, as the interface between the rail and the shoe is compromised. Furthermore, even if this is cleared of snow, the extremely low temperatures often means that it becomes iced over, quite quickly. 

However, years of experience and continued investment means that we can – albeit with some changes to the timetables and some impact on punctuality – get a reasonably good service. 

Finally, there are our people to consider. They are affected by road conditions, like everybody else. Maintenance teams, signallers and operational staff (and, of course, train crews) need to get to depots, signal boxes and to the railway to respond to operational issues. If the roads aren’t clear, it presents some extra challenges – particularly in remote locations. That said, the response of our people has been extraordinary – heroes, the length and breadth of the country! 

We are expecting the cold weather to continue for a few more weeks – but we are well prepared!
Ends

Today the weather fronts have moved further south and, given the intensity of the L&SE commuter services, are holding up well. In the morning peak today, 61% of services ran on time, in spite of fallen trees blocking some lines.

We have around 5,000 people out on the tracks working in difficult conditions, and we will continue to run snow ploughs, de-icing trains and ghost trains as necessary. (We have 60 special snow ploughs and de-icing trains, and we run about 20 ghost trains each night.)

Anyone wanting to check on their services can call a new snowline set up by the National Rail Enquiries Service - 08453 017641.

Happy traveling!

So, what did we do in 2009?

Well, quite a lot, actually - which is why I have gone for a smaller font and pictures in an effort not to make this post too long. Here are some of the things we got up to.

In Jan, the then Sec of State for Transport Geoff Hoon MP (have we had three or four this year - I have lost count) opened the new £15m third platform at Manchester Airport station. The work was vital to the success of the new west coast timetable and was delivered nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. Since then, performance of First TPE and Northern services has gone up in leaps and bounds.

In Feb, the buffet bar extension at Stalybridge station was demolished and replaced with a brand new structure. Lord Pendry of Stalybridge officiated as it is his 'local' and he dipped into his own pocket for some of the funds. The bar regularly features in the Good Beer Guide and has sold the best part of 7,000 guest ales since the current landlord took over 12 years ago. The old (left) had stood for around 123 years and was quite literally rotted through in places. The new extension is on the right.

We also started work on a new multi storey car park (MSCP) in Wigan. This was one of 17 new or extended car parks at stations on the west coast main line in a £90m project. Most are MSCPs, a few are at ground level. All the MSCPs have 'egg whisk' wind turnbines to contribute towards their electricity consumption. The Preston MSCP (below) was opened in June.

March saw the start of a £350,000 rail-over-road bridge strengthening project in Manchester city centre. Nothing spectacular in the work but difficult from a Community Relations point of view. The bridge straddles an extremely busy four lane road and is situated between the Palace Hotel and the BBC TV and radio studios. To cause as little disruption as possible, the city council agreed to let us have a series of half road closures over six consecutive weekends. Not sure the hotel guests appreciated it, but the work had to be done and we did keep the hotel advised

Good Friday brought the start of the latest phase of track renewal in the undergound system beneath Liverpool city centre. The track sits on a solid concrete slab rather than conventional ballast and sleepers. For a more detailed explanation go to my news release, where you will find a series of photos showing the various phases of work - but here are just a couple to whet your appetite.

April also saw the completion of a £250,000 project to refurbish Garsdale station on the Settle - Carlisle line, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the decision by the government not to close the entire line as BR had wanted. The event brought some 300 people to the station in glorious sunshine on Easter Saturday to see the unveiling of a statue of a dog called Ruswarp (pronounced Russup). The dog was one of 22,000 official objectors to the line closure and was accepted because he had his own dog season ticket. The Ruswarp tale is rather tragic, so take a look at my news release or look at the Settle Carlisle Partnership website.

The summer brought a host of projects, too many to mention here but one of the more interesting included some stunning new passenger lounges in Liverpool's Lime Street station. I particularly like the look of the accessible loo and the first class lounge is rather tasty, too.

Another small project but with huge national potential is the Harrington Hump, so called because it was trialled in Harrington, Cumbria. It is simply a ramp that can be fitted to any station platform to reduce the height from the platform up into the train. It comes in sections, is height adjustable and can be fitted with little or no disruption to train services. It is primarily for use at stations where the footfall is too low to justify the cost of reconstructing the platform. A Hump can cost as little as £25,000 per platform whereas rebuilding can cost upwards of 10 times that much. Here are photos of the steps that passengers had to use at Harrington to get into the train and the new Hump in position.

What might be described as the biggest piece of 'engineering work' took place in Kirkby Thore on the Settle - Carlisle line and I covered this when I first started blogging in July. It also gave us the chance to allow walkers and ramblers official access to Ribblehead Viaduct - see blog post also in July.

Other work has been covered in earlier blog posts but there are a couple of things that didn't make it for one reason or another.

One was to renew the roof of the Birkenhead train maintenance depot (TMD) at a cost of £2.5m. A complicated scheme because it had to be done without disrupting the work of the TMD and thereby risking the extremely good performance achievements of train operator Merseyrail. The answer was an intricate scaffolding system supporting a crash deck underneath the TMD roof that used 14 miles of scaffold poles.

Finally, we held trials on the west coast main line north of Wigan of some new titling wagons used to deliver to site pre-constructed track panels for the renewal of a set of points. Normally the panels are too wide to be taken to site by rail. However, the new tilting wagons can carry them almost vertically on their sides to the worksite and then lower them horizontally to be lifted into place. The time taken to complete the job was just 21 hours rather than a complete weekend as would normally be the case. We have subsequently ordered 26 of the wagons.

Well, that's it for 2009. Have a happy and safe New Year, and I look forward to blogging in 2010.

Win an annual rail season ticket

The New Year is traditionally the time to renew annual season tickets and anyone could be in with a chance of winning one simply for taking part in an on-line Network Rail survey - but you will have to hurry.

Network Rail has a pot of money (£3.25bn) to spend on improving passenger facilities at over 2,000 stations throughout the country. It's not all Network Rail money but it is there for the taking.

Rather than guess what passengers want, Network Rail wants to hear from people who use the stations just what is important to them, so in November it launched its on-line survey 'Action Stations'.

Already there has been a good response - but Network Rail wants more.

Anyone who takes part will be entered into a prize draw for an annual season ticket - but surveys have to be received by 31 December 2009.

Full details of the conditions are on the website, as is the link to the survey.

Going out with a bigger bang!

What better Christmas present could the commuters of the North West be given than to be told that their line is to be electrified?

Chancellor Alistair Darling had already spoilt the DfT's thunder by announcing some of it in his pre-budget speech last week. We already knew that the Manchester to Liverpool line via Chat Moss was to be electrified. (That's the route that goes through Eccles and Newton-le-Willows.) Mr Darling announced that the Manchester - Liverpool - Preston lines would also be electrified. Interpretation of the language/geography/routes meant in reality that Manchester to Preston and Liverpool to Wigan were to be electrified as well as the Manchester - Liverpool line. (For the purists among you, it is actually Manchester to Euxton Junction and Huyton junction to Springs Branch Junction.)

That left Lord Adonis the Transport Secretary to announce yesterday, while on a whistle-stop tour of the North West, that the line from Preston to Blackpool North was also included.

Much jubilation from numerous quarters because it should mean an end to the serious overcrowding that there is on the main commuter routes from Preston, through Chorley and Bolton into Manchester. There will, of course, always be an element of overcrowding simply by virtue of the fact that most commuters want to go to work between 8 and 9am and come home again between 5 and 6pm - it's a fact of life.

Mind you, I have never understood what people complain about 'up north.' I spent several years commuting from Rainham in Kent into London on 12-carriage trains and often stood for the hour long journey. Now that was overcrowding!

Back to electrification. In spite of the good news, some are already starting to complain. Two reasons, it would seem.

The rolling stock for the new services could well be existing 20 year old trains currently running on Thameslink, although they will get a thorough overhall and refurbishment before they too, journey 'up north.'

The other complaint is about the disruption electrification work will cause. Inevitably, all the bridges and tunnels along the lines of route will have to be examined to see if there is sufficient headroom to take the 25,000 volt overhead power lines. If any are found to be wanting, then Network Rail has two choices - rebuild the structure or lower the track - both of which may well cause disruption.

It's a typical 'can't make an omlette without breaking eggs' syndrome.

And then there is the issue of putting up the gantries that support the overhead line equipment - the power lines.

I am no engineer but if my memory serves me correctly, each gantry is spaced approx 1 chain (22 yds) apart - yes, the rail industry still measures everything in feet/inches/yards/chains etc.

The Huyton-Wigan route is 15 miles, Manchester-Euxton is 25, Preston-Blackpool 17 and Manchester-Liverpool 32. That's 89 miles in total. Allowing two gantries per chain (one for the up line, one for the down) you are talking about 14,240 gantries. There are going to be an awful lot of people who live next to the railway line, who are going to get a big lump of metal 'at the bottom of their garden.' Not only that, but in a lot of cases vegetation that currently screens their houses from the railway is going to have to be cleared to put the gantries up, so not only do they lose their screening, they get a gantry in its place.

Deep joy!

Going out with a bang

It's been a while since I last posted - my apologies. No particular reason, I simply don't seem to have had the time.

Well, 2009 is certainly going out with a bang.

The end of November saw torrential rail in the north west of England with devastating floods in the county of Cumbria. In Workington, roads were flooded, houses and businesses were flooded and bridges were washed away. Tragically, a police officer lost his life while standing on one of the bridges which collapsed under him while he was preventing others from crossing it. The only structure in the town that remained firm was the raiway bridge. That was all fine and dandy for people living on the south side of the River Derwent, where the town's station is located but it meant a major diversion for anyone living north of the river, along roads already suffering the effects of flooding and additional traffic.

Network Rail to the rescue!

Our route director Jo Kaye came up with the idea of building a temporary station and set things in motion to see if it was feasible. The Network Rail helicopter was in the area so it was sent up to scout for likely locations.

The chosen site is opposite a cinema and retail centre, making it the ideal location.

To cut a long-ish story short, we had great cooperation from Allerdale Borough Council and train operator Northern, and in less than a week, a temporary station was built and opened.

 

Work started on the evening of 24 November and the station opened for its first passengers the following Monday (30th). Jo Kaye our route director can be seen on the left of this photo (blonde hair), with the great and the good of Workington at the official opening event. Yours truly is out of shot,  holding one end of the ribbon with my good friend Carolyn Watson from Northern Rail on the other end, desparatley trying to keep it under control in what seemed like 100mph winds.

The final chapter (at least for the time being) in this story is that the station, called Workington North, has been such a success that we have had to lengthen the two platforms so they can accommodate the longer trains that have had to be introduced to cope with the crowds, and we have also increased the size of the car park so it will take approx 200 cars - if people park sensibly.

A cheap ticket - but not at this price!

Many people I talk to seem to be under the impression rail staff travel free all the time. If only that were so!

One of the biggest costs to Network Rail must be the travel budget for staff going off to various meetings, so we are rightly encouraged to buy advance purchase, train specific tickets.

I had to go to London for a meeting yesterday, and living near Stafford,  I have the luxury of being able to choose to travel with Virgin or London Midland.

I have to say that I normally travel with Virgin on one of their nine-carriage, tilting Pendolino services, many of which are non-stop to London. They take about 90 mins, are air conditioned, have a buffet, have sockets to plug in your mobile or laptop, have a quiet coach if that's what you prefer, and even though most of the seats don't have tables they do at least have a drop down flap on the seat back in front of you to put your coffee on.

And, in spite of what the media might have you believe, rarely have I been delayed (except last night strangely enough - problem with the train in front of us).

The ticket for the train I normally catch works out at £56 for the single journey.

However, the ticket for the London Midland service costs £40 so I thought I would save the company £16 and give it a go. For me, it's a case of once bitten, twice shy.

The train is a four carriage, Class 350 electric 'Desiro' service, originally built with 2x2 seating at tables.

Now most of them, including mine yesterday, have been refurbished. They have 3x2 seats, the tables have been removed and there are no power sockets. There wasn't even a trolloy service of refreshments - presumably because there are no longer any tables to put your purchases on - and this is on a service that is scheduled to take two and a half hours to London, even longer if you start out from Crewe, its origin station. I had had the presence of mind to purchase a cuppa from the station buffet before boarding the train but had to contend with putting it on the floor.

The one benefit? I could admire the scenery much more as we meandered our way to London rather than bombing along at 125mph.

The ticket may have been £16 cheaper but as far as I am concerned, the disbenefits are not worth the saving so it's back to Virgin for me.

Don't you just hate it ....

.... when people insist on showing you their holiday snaps? If you do, then click away now because here come mine!

My wife Nicola and I have just come back from another week in the beautiful hamlet of Thwaite in the Yorkshire Dales. It nestles at the foot of Kisdon Hill in Swaledale and the sunrises that cast shadows from the field barns and dry stone walls on the hill are magical. 

We stay in a self catering cottage on a working sheep farm owned by Ken and Gillian Whitehead. They have two cottages converted from barns next to the farmhouse.

In Thwaite, just about 20 yds from the cottage, is a small hotel and tea room. Ideal for waking up on a Sunday morning and stolling to for a lazy coffee and toasted teacake for breakfast. And, of course, being that close you can have a drink without having to worry about driving the 20 yds back to the cottage. 




As anyone who knows us well will realise, I do like my tea and cake - well, food in general really - so it wil be no surprise that nearly every excursion involves visiting a tea or coffee shop somewhere.

There are two 'must do' establishments if you are ever in the Dales.

Head for Reeth and make sure you visit The White House tea room. It's tucked away in a corner near the museum/info office and next to the ice cream parlour. Run by John (in the kitchen) and Richard (front of house) it is a step back in time to an age where service was King. All the food is home made and once you get to know the 'boys' it is served with a liberal sprinkling of verbal abuse. Try it and you wil see what I mean.

The other 'must' is at Aysgarth Falls.

There are two car parks serving the falls. One is at a pub, the other run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Both cost £2.20 for a couple of hours so my personal preference is to park in the YDNP car park. That way I know my money is going to a good cause rather than a pub landlord.

The only problem with parking there is that you may be tempted into the YDNP coffee shop attached to the visitor centre. Nothing wrong with that except that it does mean you will miss out on the other gem of the Dales, the Mill Race Teashop.

I have mentioned it before and have no hesitation in doing so again. It is superb. It is run by a young couple (everyone is young to me) Sue and Martin who have been there for the last four years. Take a look at their menu boards for a sample of what is in store:-

As this is primarily - but not exclusively - a railway blog, here is a picture of a train to nowhere.

Why is it a train to nowhere? There is no track other than the bit underneath the engine and three carriages. The carriages form an exhibition centre at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes, which I believe is housed in/on the site of the former Hawes station. I am no train buff but as far as I know, the line used to go to what is now called Garsdale station on the Settle - Carlisle line. Garsdale used to be called Hawes Junction until the Wensleydale branch was closed.

The engine itself (according to a Museum news release) was built on Tyneside in 1954 as an industrial shunt engine. It was bought by the Central Electricity Generating Board and used at Hams Hall Power Station until around 1970. It is now painted black with a BR crest and the number 67345, the last engine to run on the Wensleydale line.

And finally, as they say in all the best circles, how about this for a piece of nostalgia?

Wonderful! You don't see many of these on your travels nowadays.