West Coast Main Line W e s t C o a s t M a in L ineprogressreportmay2006 Progress Report May 2006

Transcription

1 West Coast Main Line Progress Report May 2006

2 The Department for Transport has actively considered the needs of blind and partially sighted people in accessing this document. The text will be made available in full on the Department s web site in accordance with the W3C s Web Accessibility Initiative s criteria. The text may be freely downloaded and translated by individuals or organisations for conversion into other accessible formats. If you have other needs in this regard, please contact the Department. Department for Transport Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DR Telephone Web site Crown copyright, Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown. This publication, excluding logos, may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium for non-commercial research, private study or for internal circulation within an organisation. This is subject to it being reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the publication specified. To reproduce Ordnance Survey maps contact Ordnance Survey via their web site or write to the Customer Service Centre, Ordnance Survey, Romsey Road, Southampton SO16 4GU. For any other use of this material please apply for a Core Click-Use Licence at or by writing to the Licensing Division, Office of Public Sector Information, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ, Fax , or licensing@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk. To order further copies of this publication contact: DfT Publications PO Box 236 Wetherby LS23 7NB Tel: Fax: Textphone: dft@twoten.press.net or online via Printed in Great Britain on paper containing at least 75% recycled pulp. Product code 67 RAIL 02632

3 Contents Chapter 1 Foreword 4 Chapter 2 Executive Summary 6 Chapter 3 Background and Summary of the 2003 West Coast Strategy 9 Chapter 4 Project Governance 11 Chapter 5 Project and Scheme Delivery to Date 12 Chapter 6 Customer Service during the Engineering Works 15 Chapter 7 Introduction of New Trains on the Route 16 Chapter 8 Delivery of September 2004 and December 2005 Route Outputs 18 Chapter 9 Economic Effects to Date 21 Chapter 10 Project Delivery 2006 to Line Speed Bletchley Milton Keynes Northampton, including the new Depot Rugby Coventry Nuneaton Trent Valley Four Tracking Colwich Crewe Weaver Wigan Crewe Cheadle Hulme Stockport Manchester Airport Power Supplies and Auto Transformers Effects of the Works on Customers Scheme Delivery Risks Funding 38 1

4 Chapter 11 Stations and Car Parks 39 Chapter 12 Franchising Process 40 Chapter 13 Sustaining the Route post Chapter 14 Project Outputs Strategy Outputs Planning for Principles Summary of Main Outputs London West Midlands London Manchester London Liverpool London Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland London Chester and North Wales Birmingham Scotland Birmingham Manchester and Liverpool Manchester Barrow/Windermere/Scotland London Northampton London Northampton Rugby Trent Valley Stafford Crewe Liverpool Northampton Birmingham Weekend Services Locations served via Connections onto the Route Freight Capacity 55 Chapter 15 Economic and Market Changes 56 Chapter 16 Next Steps Beyond Route Capacity Train Capacity Freight Loading Gauge Stafford North Wales Line Speed Improvements Further Line Speed Improvements 62 Chapter 17 Comments on this Progress Report 63 2

5 West Coast Route Diagram Glasgow Motherwell Edinburgh Carstairs Lockerbie Penrith Carlisle Oxenholme Holyhead Lancaster Preston Warrington Runcorn Wigan Wilmslow Llandudno Liverpool Manchester Junction Stockport Bangor Chester Crewe Macclesfield Stoke Stafford Lichfield Tamworth Wolverhampton Birmingham Nuneaton Birmingham International Rugby Coventry Northampton Milton Keynes Watford Junction London Euston 3

6 1. Foreword The 2003 Strategy resulted from the rail industry and stakeholders working together to understand the solutions to the many issues facing the West Coast project. It brought clarity of strategic direction and purpose and balanced the work scope and input requirements with the industry s assessment of best overall value. It explained how the project outputs could be accelerated through new delivery mechanisms to enable the first stage of the improvements to be delivered by September It also set out the requirements through to the final stages of the project in late After this clarity of direction was achieved, Government decided to take the strategic lead on the Project through to completion, with Network Rail leading the project delivery. It is funding these major improvements to the West Coast route in order to deliver growth in capacity for passengers and freight, realising the economic potential of the line. Since then, the industry has continued to work closely together to deliver these outputs. While, inevitably with a project of this magnitude, there have been many difficulties and issues to resolve, the September 2004 and subsequent outputs have been delivered on time, cost control has been achieved, performance and service reliability are on target and the value of and demand for the improved train services has been at or better than the anticipated level. I would like to give particular thanks to Network Rail for turning round the project delivery and cost control. Much complex work remains to be done for the end of 2008 before the full value of the project can be realised. It is vital that this strong track record of the industry s delivery is sustained so that the valuable outputs from the project s completion are achieved. This progress report outlines the successes to date, the next stages of the project and confirms the expected outputs for customers and users of the route. The results of this commitment by Government to the West Coast route investment are very wide ranging in terms of the communities and markets served by the route and it is encouraging to see the industry now systematically delivering the promises made to the people in the 2003 Strategy as well as starting to realise financial and economic returns. 4

7 I would like to express my thanks to all those people across the rail industry involved in the planning and execution of this huge project. It is great to see the results of their work starting to bring tangible benefits and I look forward to the further stages of improvements for customers when the project is completed by the end of Douglas Alexander MP Secretary of State for Transport May

8 2. Executive Summary Purpose of this Progress Report This publication provides a comprehensive report on progress with the implementation of the West Coast Route Modernisation Project and the future commitments, through to completion by the end of It records the work done on the project and the benefits realised thus far, explains the work to be done before the end of 2008 and describes the latest plans for how the route will be used from January It compares progress on the project with the commitments made within the 2003 Strategy for the route. Project Governance Sponsorship responsibilities, along with the definition of required outputs, previously held by the SRA, have transferred to the Department for Transport. Network Rail is tasked with the efficient delivery of the agreed project specification and network operations, whilst the train and freight operators are responsible for train service delivery, revenue and customer service. Delivery to Date This project has been achieved to the timescales within the 2003 Strategy programme, with each of the key output improvements in 2004 and 2005 delivered on time. Cost control has been achieved and the project has been kept well within the 9.9bn funding requirement set out in the June 2003 Strategy. Reliability has been transformed and performance now consistently exceeds the interim target of 88% of Virgin West Coast trains arriving at destination within 10 minutes of their scheduled time. A huge amount of infrastructure work has been completed to schedule, with many substantial individual schemes delivered. These elements of work include line speed improvements along the whole route (to 125mile/h in tilt mode), resignalling, track and overhead line renewals and improvements, electrification of the Crewe Kidsgrove line, plus power supply upgrades, new and extended platforms, Nuneaton flyover and new junctions at several locations. 6

9 Train service improvements, involving additional services, with reduced journey times were introduced in September 2004, June & December 2005, taking advantage of the upgraded infrastructure. A full Pendolino service now operates and the full fleet of new Desiro trains is in service. For example, journeys from Manchester to London are now 30 minutes faster than previously and the frequency has been doubled. Similarly, the fastest Glasgow to London train is now 42 minutes quicker. Many more passengers are now using the West Coast Main Line, with monthly passenger numbers up 30% and high growth rates continuing. Freight gauge enhancements have been commissioned and freight traffic is also rising. Project Delivery 2006 to 2008 Additional line speed improvements are planned, including 100mile/h on the London Northampton slow lines, further work on Stoke and Crewe lines, sections of the Liverpool and Glasgow lines. Enlargement of Milton Keynes and Rugby stations, widening of the Trent Valley route along with changes at Nuneaton and on the Crewe Weaver Junction route are programmed for delivery by the end of A new train maintenance depot will shortly open at Northampton. In addition, around 5,000 additional car parking spaces are planned at major stations on the route, broadly doubling the car parking capacity. Main Outputs 2009 Services A fully revised timetable will be implemented after the completion of the project at the end of The key features of this include the following: London to West Midlands will be served by a train every 20 minutes to Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New St, with a standard journey time of 1hr 23min. London to Manchester frequency increased from every half hour to every 20 minutes and accelerated to an end to end time of only 2hr 6min. The fastest train will take less than 2 hours. The regular timetable will make journeys between London and Liverpool around 20 minutes quicker than today. Extra peak trains will operate. Frequencies will be increased between London, Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland. Journey times will be considerably reduced, with Glasgow trains being half an hour quicker than today s norm. A new regular hourly service will link London and Chester and extra trains will run to North Wales. Chester passengers will benefit from a reduced journey time of just over 2 hours to and from London. New regular hourly services will operate between London and Wilmslow and between Northampton and the north. 7

10 Regular hourly services will link the important intermediate locations on the route, providing new journey opportunities for passengers There will be a major improvement in weekend services throughout the route, with journey times and frequencies close to weekday levels. These bring considerable benefits in comparison with today s services, which are, in turn, a major improvement on the pre 2004 services. They will be provided by the more intensive use of rolling stock and the increased track and train capacity. Additional Voyager units will be transferred to the West Coast route to give more seating capacity overall and journey time improvements. As expected, the project, with its major investments in route capacity will bring the opportunity for freight to continue to grow. This additional capacity will allow for 60-70% growth in freight traffic. Sustainable Services A maintenance regime is being planned to ensure that the route does not degrade again. This is planned to enable engineering possessions to be less intrusive on the provision of train services, especially at nights and weekends. This is an important part of the product offer to customers as well as increasing the value to and the financial yield from customers. After 2009 Work is taking place to develop the most cost effective and deliverable solution to remove the remaining serious bottleneck on the route that at Stafford. Consideration is also being given to other track enhancements and adding capacity to the Pendolino trains. 8

11 3. Background and Summary of the 2003 West Coast Strategy The original Strategy for the West Coast Route Modernisation Project was published in June 2003, by the Strategic Rail Authority. This set out a series of clear objectives for the route summarised as: addressing a major backlog in maintenance and renewals, achieving value for money. establishing sustainable maintenance regimes. providing capacity for anticipated growth in passenger (80% more long distance trains) and freight business (60-70% more capacity) over the next years. securing an improved level of performance (90% of long distance trains within 10 minutes of advertised time), safety and reliability, helping the railway to regain lost market share and increase the role it plays in the national and regional economies achieve these on a working railway. The Strategy set out fixed timescales for completion of the project. Whilst completion of the infrastructure was fixed for the end of 2008, a major timetable revision was planned for September 2004, to secure the first substantial benefit from the project. A further substantive deadline was set for December 2006, enabling further timetable improvements to be implemented. The West Coast Main Line is the most important trunk rail route in Great Britain, linking London with the other major population centres, conveying, for example over 40% of the nation s rail freight. The line was first modernised in the 1960s and 1970s, with conversion to electric operation. Although British Rail recognised that further renewal work was necessary and contemplated options during the 1980s, no action was possible. The West Coast Strategy emerged out of an urgent need to complete work which had started four years earlier, under a joint plan between the Virgin Rail Group and Railtrack, developed during the period immediately after the railway industry was privatised. This Strategy recognised the need to address the backlog in maintenance and renewals, but also aimed at increasing capacity and capability for long distance trains. It was reliant on new technology, such as moving block signalling, which was found to be undeliverable. Whilst a review of the plan was taking place, Railtrack 9

12 entered into Railway Administration and shortly afterwards the SRA was asked to review the whole activity and secure a clear way forward. This task is now led by the Department for Transport. By 2002, although some project work had already been carried out, including the major remodelling schemes at Euston and at Proof House Junction, Birmingham, much remained to be done to upgrade the route before the introduction of high speed tilting trains could be successfully achieved. A clear specification, matching inputs against the required outputs needed to be defined. Similarly, robust and affordable delivery mechanisms and a resilient programme urgently needed to be finalised. The West Coast Strategy, as published in June 2003, provided these missing elements to deliver the improved railway. These addressed the need not only to repair and renew the railway to ensure its continued operation, but to provide the capacity and capability for high speed long distance trains and also to allow the continued provision of local and regional passenger services, and to serve the important freight market. Proven technology was to be used wherever possible: the project was on a huge scale and could not continue to be burdened with the uncertainties in timescales and costs associated with the development of new technology. There was extensive consultation with stakeholders, both within the railway industry and with other interested bodies, such as local authorities and user groups. Indeed there has been overall consensus throughout over the specification and delivery of the West Coast Project. These close links have been maintained and have assisted the continued development of the route and its outputs. Costs to achieve a completed project were put under firm control. Earlier estimates indicated that a renewed and modernised line might well cost in the region of some 13bn. By careful joint assessment of cost reduction opportunities and value maximisation, this was reduced to 9.9bn by June A further 2bn reduction in the cost base was achieved by the end of March 2004 through similar scope and value challenges, and the ORR s Interim Access Charges Review took into account these reductions. The cost base included the 4.7bn spent to that March 2004 date. Some excellent cost reductions and improved outputs were achieved by the blockades in 2003 and There were also some adverse effects of the need to accelerate work before the September 2004 service improvements in order to deliver the improved yield and value from the route earlier. These latter adverse costs were more than offset by the yield from the improved outputs. The efficiency of delivery of work on the route outside blockades is constrained by the very busy traffic levels on the route and the consequent short engineering work periods available. There are also some inherited physical features on this route which inhibit efficiency, such as the minimal track spacing between each of the four lines which requires three of these to be closed to renew either of the central two lines. 10

13 4. Project Governance Since the publication of the West Coast Strategy in 2003, there has been a change in the industry structure, with the merger of certain functions of the former Rail Division of DfT and some of the functions of the former SRA into a new organisation, DfT Rail. Other aspects of industry responsibility have been transferred to Network Rail, ORR, ATOC and other bodies. In relation to this Project, the governance arrangements have transferred the sponsorship in full as a major project under DfT Rail s leadership. Thus, Network Rail continues to be responsible for the timely and efficient delivery of the agreed Functional Specification (network shape, headways, line speeds etc) and ORR remains responsible for monitoring that efficient delivery. DfT Rail is responsible for the project output risk, namely the risk that the project deliverables can achieve the required outputs. Train operators continue to be responsible for train service delivery. One change is that, as with Route Utilisation Strategies, the lead role in the crossindustry Timetable Working Group, which successfully sponsored the 2004 and 2005 timetables and the possession strategy to deliver the project, has been transferred to Network Rail. This group is currently engaged in the important task of optimising the 2009 timetable and the final outputs of the route. 11

14 5. Project and Scheme Delivery to Date The 2003 Strategy explained the overall proposals for delivering the September 2004 timetable requirements, the December 2005 step change in outputs to Scotland and the way forward for the 2008 projects. It is very important to thank the industry and the route s users for ensuring that the first parts of the 2003 Strategy have come to fruition, on time and within the budget set in the Strategy. The poor delivery and cost control before 2002 has been completely turned round, with the industry partners working well together to achieve the common objectives of a high performing and revenue earning railway. The task of bringing such control into the project cannot be underestimated: contract structures have been overhauled, new engineering competence has been secured, industry cooperation has been achieved and site management and delivery improved. It should be remembered that the 2003 Strategy called upon the industry to deliver the first stage of the improved outputs by September 2004, instead of the May 2006 date envisaged when the project review was commenced. To achieve this acceleration, in the context of the major works required, was remarkable. As examples of the progress, Network Rail energised the new electrification between Crewe and Kidsgrove less than twelve months after the project was specified and it delivered the flyover, new platforms and signalling at Nuneaton only two years after the concept was drawn on a flip-chart! The successful management of this huge project was a massive task. The impact of such a rapid rate of project delivery on the route s customers has not been small. The industry has worked to minimise these effects, with provision of successful alternative services, good consultation and clear advance communication of the changes. Most stakeholders welcomed the solution to getting the project under control and to achieving the earlier delivery date, and supported the shorter but more intrusive possession regime to realise the improvements earlier. Schemes completed since 2003 include: Line Speed Improvements throughout the route, including signalling and overhead line modifications and the installation of the balises to interface with the trainborne tilt and speed supervision system The extensive programme of blockades for thorough route wide modernisation 12

15 Track renewals to correct the inherited backlog and to prepare for the new speeds Overhead line overhaul and renewals Power supply upgrades, with new feeder stations and the successful and smooth changeover of the first section of route to the more resilient auto-transformer supply configuration Resignalling schemes, with the first southern stages of the new signalling centre at Rugby being commissioned, and Cheadle Hulme, Colwich and Euxton areas being completed New platforms at Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton and Stockport and improved turn-back facilities at Tring, Birmingham International and Wigan Nuneaton flyover, new signalling and a new island platform Stockport renewals New junctions at Bourne End, Ledburn and Euxton Freight loading gauge enhancements, including the Crewe and Stoke routes through to Manchester Trafford Park Platform extensions where needed to enable Pendolino operation along the route and to allow 12 car trains to operate at stations along the route between London and Northampton The programme and delivery management of this 3.4bn workload over a period from June 2003 to March 2006 has been a huge task in itself. The thousands of people involved in the execution of the work are to be thanked for ensuring that none of the service delivery dates has been missed and the promises to customers have been met. The project remains principally a renewal led one, with around 75% of the costs caused by renewals, often with enhancement work taking place to improve the output of the renewals. Heavier section rail has been used throughout the route, for the first time on the main network. The crossover illustrated left has just been renewed. 13

16 The renewal of the route has included the movement of huge quantities of ballast, rail and sleepers to site. This has been a major logistical challenge, especially when the major blockades were taking place as materials still had to be delivered and removed by rail. A rail carrying train is shown here, delivering new rail for the route modernisation programme. New platforms were constructed at Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Tring and improved turnback facilities were provided at Tring and Birmingham International. The new 10-car platform and footbridge at Wolverhampton are shown here under construction. In addition to upgrading the track speed for the 125 mile/h running there has also been the need to review the signal sighting and braking distances throughout the route to ensure that they are compliant with the current safety standards. Modifications were therefore necessary. Signals have been moved, signal overlap arrangements changed and overhead line masts have had to be redesigned or moved to ensure that drivers have a clear view of signals. This picture illustrates such a situation where the single masts, which were to the left of the line, have been replaced by a gantry structure to ensure that the drivers can sight the signal at high speed. This signal sighting issue is very important on the West Coast route where 125 mile/h running is, through the deployment of tilt, being achieved on quite curved sections of route. 14

17 6. Customer Service during the Engineering Works The infrastructure requirements and timetable outputs for the West Coast Main Line Strategy were developed and agreed through industry consensus. Delivery of the project required the same level of team work, especially where substantial disruption to services occurred, resulting from complete blockades, weekend or overnight possessions. To focus and sustain this co-operative spirit, All Industry Passenger Handling Groups were formed and the freight operators actively participated and suggested flexibility in their traffic requirements to achieve the required works. These provided the means to share information, determine where passengers could use alternative rail routes, where road services were necessary, avoided duplication and determine which train operator was best placed to manage the replacement services. The Groups also ensured comprehensive information was available. In summary, the objective was to minimise the loss of business by demonstrating that the railway was still open for business, while containing the cost of replacement road services to match actual demand. The experience gained over successive blockades has been shared amongst the partners in the West Coast Route. This has included a greater understanding of the numbers likely to travel at times of disruption, increased skill at procuring and tendering replacement services with the ability to adjust resources if demand changes. The opportunity to make use of alternative rail routes was exploited, ranging from the specially provided St Pancras Manchester service ( Operation Rio ), through to the use of the Chiltern line as an alternative London route for West Midlands traffic and the availability of the London Underground Metropolitan Line for some London commuter business. 15

18 7. Introduction of New Trains on the Route Over the same period, as integral parts of the project to upgrade services and outputs for customers, two new train fleets have been successfully introduced. Virgin and Alstom have introduced the full fleet of 53 nine-car Pendolinos, delivering the critical number required to implement the September 2004 timetable and the full fleet by June This task was not simply an engineering one: largely the success of the implementation has been due to the careful management of change among the people involved, with a step change in the technical demands on both on-train and depot staff the hammer to laptop culture change within old depots has been a credit to the organisations involved. This is a remarkable achievement, especially when the trains are among the most complex in the world, with tilt mechanisms and the safety critical tilt and speed supervision system. Longsight depot in Manchester is one of the older depots on the route and was modified to give it the capability of handling the new trains. Alstom has achieved a major change in the skills and culture at the depot. The central direction and control of the full fleet is undertaken from this depot. The substantial improvement in train performance has been achieved by a close partnership between Alstom Trains, Virgin West Coast and Network Rail. This partnership has been critical in ensuring that issues have been promptly and adequately resolved. They have successfully tackled several new areas, especially in relation to the implementation of the track/train tilt and speed supervision system. The performance improvement generated by the new trains has been remarkable, as has the consistent delivery of trains each day at or above the contract s exacting requirement of 46 trains out of the fleet of 53. Reliability is improving steadily as a result of the systematic approach to resolving some initial teething problems. 16

19 The reliability of the tilt systems has been consistently very high, contributing to the overall good performance of the trains. These trains are now delivering high service performance. On the rare occasions that a service fault is encountered with a Pendolino, the average delay is now around 12 minutes, which compares most favourably with the older trains which, using comparable information, had an average delay of 39 minutes. The preparation for the 2004 change was not only in terms of train maintenance. For example, Virgin West Coast had to train all their crews on the new trains, including familiarisation training with the new line speeds and tilt controls. This was successfully completed with very short timescales. Close links between the train crews and Alstom train maintenance have been essential for the achievement of high reliability levels. The passenger experience in terms of smoothness of ride is exceptional: this has been achieved through careful management of the interface between the train suspension systems and the track geometry. Similarly, Silverlink, Central and Siemens have delivered into traffic the new fleet of 30 four-car Desiro trains on the route, bringing much needed additional capacity and comfort. These new high performance trains have brought both better on board standards and high acceleration, minimising the all-important difference in train timings by comparison with the very fast trains on the route, which would otherwise lead to poor capacity utilisation and route performance. The transfer of the maintenance of these trains to the new Northampton depot will take place in June 2006; the maintenance of the older Silverlink trains will be transferred to the same depot before December 2006, enabling the closure of Bletchley depot for regular train maintenance and a simplification of the network at Bletchley. The reliability of the new trains has been very promising from the start, although there is still some work to do to achieve the high standards set by the earlier and lower specification Class 321 fleet. 17

20 8. Delivery of September 2004 and December 2005 Route Outputs A great deal of industry preparation was done ahead of the major timetable changes in September Within a period of two months, the new line speeds were commissioned, tilt train operation on the new high speed route was brought into use, the trains began to be scheduled at 125 mile/h and frequencies and service patterns were revised for many of the route s operators. This preparation was wide ranging: in a similar way to the work done by the Timetable Working Group, a West Coast Operators Group was formed by train and freight operators and Network Rail. It worked for many months on the operational and contingency plans for the route so that their teams were ready for the new intensity of route use. New maintenance arrangements and suitable training had to be implemented for the people responsible for maintaining the new infrastructure as well as for the train maintenance described in the section above. This included the arrangements for the retention of the fixed track geometry which is a key component of sustaining the 125 mile/h tilt operation. The first stage of the service improvements along the West Coast route took place on the date envisaged in the 2003 Strategy, namely 27th September This brought in 125 mile/h tilting trains on all of the Virgin West Coast routes, with the fastest trains from Manchester to London accelerated to 2hr 6min and Glasgow to London from 5hr 6min to 4hr 39min. New locations were linked into the network, with Pendolino trains serving Northampton and improvements to the quality and frequency of the services to Chester and North Wales. As envisaged in the Strategy, weekdays have seen the main improvements, as many weekend journeys have continued to be affected by the ongoing works to complete the upgrade. In June 2005, a full Pendolino timetable was implemented, including extra trains and a fully revised morning peak service, with a group of 10 long distance Pendolino services running very fast in a flight to Euston, usually non-stop from the point where they join the main route, all arriving between 0900 and This intensive peak service has proved to be very successful, in both revenue generation and performance terms. In December 2005, line speed improvements and 125 mile/h running through to Scotland have delivered the further improvements in speed envisaged in the Strategy, with the current schedules achieving Glasgow to London in a fastest journey time of 4hr 24min. 18

21 In the initial months of the new services, until early 2005, many systems and items of new equipment on the infrastructure and trains were bedding in and reliability was subject to day to day fluctuations. Indeed, both the trains and the infrastructure suffered from the supply of defective components for vital equipment, such as lineside power units, axle-counters, train toilets and train air-conditioning. These issues needed thorough technical investigation to pinpoint the core reason for the problems and after this diligent work, solutions have been found and implemented to each of these issues. As a result, from early 2005, systematic improvements by Network Rail and Alstom have caused a marked improvement in service delivery. For the first four months of 2006, Virgin West Coast trains have achieved an average of 89.5% of all trains arriving within 10 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. This is an excellent result, given that it includes the adverse effects of many external events on the railway such as heavy snow, suicides and lineside fires, as well as the impact of the ongoing modernisation work and weekend route congestion as trains are diverted via the West Midlands. The earlier detailed preparation work by the train and freight operators and Network Rail has undoubtedly contributed to the achievement of this output. The performance is therefore ahead of the 88% target for 2006 set out in the 2003 Strategy. On-board service has improved over the period, with the introduction of consistent Pendolino services. Furthermore, Virgin has improved the on train catering, with better restaurant menus on many of the key business trains. Customers have generally expressed satisfaction with the new product, with a marked step up in the results of the external customer satisfaction surveys. Improved catering has been introduced on the key business trains. Similarly, the new Silverlink County services, including the replacement peak trains and capacity for the transfer of Milton Keynes commuting from Virgin back to Silverlink, have delivered excellent performance. Over the same four months, Silverlink County has operated its services at over 95% of peak trains arriving within 5 minutes of scheduled arrival time and with over half of the peaks delivering full punctuality for all trains. Customer confidence has improved markedly in that the accelerated schedules are being dependably delivered. In the first 18 months since the September 2004 improvements, the monthly number of passengers using the West Coast services has increased by over a third and is continuing to increase at a high rate of growth. 19

22 Revenue has increased substantially, with a larger proportion of business travellers using the route and a greater share of these passengers choosing to travel First Class. Growth has been strongest on the London Manchester and London West Midlands routes. Growth has been very strong on the Manchester to London route. On the first day of the new timetable, 27th September 2004, the headline fast 0705 Manchester to Euston is seen here awaiting departure. This train calls only at Stockport and takes only 2hr 5min for the journey. After 2008, when the project works are completed, its journey time should be reduced to just under two hours. The capture of the London Manchester market has been one of the driving forces behind the increased ridership. The chart below shows that the services have been successful in growing the overall market for high-speed travel on this route, with rail s overall share of the market increasing relative to air. There are also clear indications that there has been a modal shift from road on several of the route s corridors. The Changing Mode Choice of London Manchester High Speed Passengers October 2005 Rail, 221,783 Air, 157,961 September 2004 Rail, 113,190 Air, 168, , , , , , , , ,000 No. Passengers Per Month Source: Virgin Trains In all, the route s traffic and revenue generation is ahead of the projections in the 2002 and 2003 project appraisals and the rate of increase in revenue continues to be strong. By 2008, the appraisal value is expected to be comfortably exceeded, 20

23 9. Economic Effects to Date The route upgrade has already brought significant benefits to the economy, with improved frequencies, journey times and dependability of services. The project has increased the mobility of people in a way that has reduced business time and costs, increased network resilience and encouraged economic development. In particular the area around Manchester Piccadilly, catalysed by the station redevelopment and the West Coast project, has been a focus for major recent investment, with partners working together to deliver the development of major hotels, offices and mixed-use schemes around the station, Canal Basin and Piccadilly Triangle. Today, many cranes can be seen on the skyline in this area of the city. In late 2004, Liverpool Vision unveiled its proposed new look for Liverpool Lime Street station, featuring new public space, cafes and restaurants in front of the rail station and a new 28-storey office building to replace the Concourse Tower. There are also plans for the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station, incorporating a much improved passenger waiting area, better platform lighting and ambience, better passenger circulation, changes to the Pallasades shopping centre and landmark office buildings on the adjacent railway land. There are encouraging signs of redevelopment around other stations in several town and city centres served by the route and the improvements in demand and services are helping to underpin further schemes, such as the emerging regeneration proposals for Euston station in London. The West Coast 250 all-party local authority and parliamentary group lobbying for the West Coast route improvements has assessed the success of the improved services since September 2004: West Coast 250 welcomes the huge investment in the UK s most important rail artery, which is crucial to the economic prosperity of the regions. Whilst we continue to seek further step changes to the West Coast Main Line, the work achieved to date has had a considerable beneficial impact on a wide area of the country. In terms of the Liverpool links, Merseytravel states: The much improved rail link between Liverpool and London, in both speed and reliability, is a further vital step towards attracting and sustaining the economic growth of Merseyside The North West Development Agency has stated: The West Coast Main Line provides an economic lifeline to the North West of England. Following the first stages 21

24 of the West Coast Main Line upgrade, much of the region, including Cumbria and the three North West city regions, is now benefiting from faster, more reliable and better quality rail services, which have brought opportunities for growing inbound tourism, improved business competitiveness and regional economic growth and regeneration. 22

25 10. Project Delivery 2006 to 2008 The West Coast project is far from complete: while weekday outputs and many line speeds are improved, some substantial and high value schemes are in the course of delivery. The project organisation is therefore concentrating on these specific schemes so that the route s outputs from the 2009 timetable can be as specified in the 2003 Strategy Line Speed There are still some significant line speed improvements to be delivered. Sections of the London Northampton slow lines will be upgraded to 100 mile/h running in 2006, further improvements on the London to Manchester via Stoke and via Crewe lines are being progressed and sections of the Liverpool and Glasgow lines are to be completed. The site specific schemes also bring some notable speed improvements, particularly the Rugby, Nuneaton and Trent Valley schemes Bletchley This scheme was originally specified in the Strategy for completion by December However, as much of the scheme relates to the resignalling and simplification of areas clear of the main lines, it is not critical for the route s 2009 timetable that the scheme be completed by the end of Resource priorities are therefore being focussed elsewhere and it is likely that the Bletchley area renewals and network simplification will be undertaken during 2009/10. The final network design has been agreed. Some simplification results from the transfer of the train maintenance facility to the new depot at Northampton and by the expansion of the station and network at Milton Keynes. The network will be suitable for the later addition of any East-West link to and from Oxford and for the operation of through links from either Oxford or Bedford to and from Milton Keynes. A new platform will be constructed at a high level, replacing the existing lower level platform used for the Bedford trains and consistent with these possible future requirements Milton Keynes Since the publication of the 2003 Strategy, the proposals for the further development of Milton Keynes have been clarified. Indeed, the population of this town is expected 23

26 to grow by some 80% by An additional 32m grant has been secured from the Community Infrastructure Fund, through Milton Keynes Partnership and from local sources. The scheme will ensure that, during the proposed renewals at Milton Keynes, adequate provision is made for the handling of both the expanded 2009 timetable and for the future. The diagrams below show the extent of the improvements now planned. Figure 1: Milton Keynes Central Station Existing Layout Existing Denbigh Hall North Junction Fast Lines TO LONDON TO NORTHAMPTON & RUGBY Slow Lines Figure 2: Milton Keynes Central Station Final Layout Existing Denbigh Hall North Junction New High speed South Junction Reversible fast line platform New northbound fast line Fast Lines New High speed North Junction Slow line turnback/ reversible Slow Lines TO LONDON Platform for future use by Bedford trains or possible new services to Oxford or Aylesbury New southbound slow line TO NORTHAMPTON & RUGBY The most significant of the improvements will be the creation of a third fast line by the addition of a new northbound fast line and platform face. This will enable consecutive trains to call at Milton Keynes at peak times, without loss of line capacity, a better turnback facility to be used at certain times of day and improved resilience for London Northampton trains to be achieved. Similar changes will also take place on the slow lines, including local sponsorship of a platform capable of handling future services to and from Bedford or possibly later, in conjunction with the possible line restoration, from Oxford or Aylesbury. 24

27 The Pendolino train in this picture is travelling from London to the north and is just entering the northbound fast line platform at Milton Keynes. A new northbound fast line will be constructed to the west (left) side of the platform and the existing northbound track will become a reversible centre track. The changes at Milton Keynes are expected to be delivered for the 2009 timetable, with the final commissioning programmed over Christmas The improved functionality of the network will enable links to the growing town to be sustained and improved Northampton, including the new Train Maintenance Depot The new Siemens maintenance depot on the site of disused sidings to the north of Northampton station will be commissioned in June 2006 with the transfer of the Class 350 Desiro fleet to the depot. The Silverlink Class 321s will follow by December One of the new Desiro electric trains approaches Northampton on a commuter service from London Euston Later improvements will be made to the signalling capability in the Northampton area and along the route towards Daventry and Rugby to enable improvements to be made to the depot connection arrangements and the transfer of the signalling to the new control centre at Rugby. In the light of the improvements being made to the turnback facilities at Milton Keynes, the proposed improved turnback arrangements at Wolverton and Northampton, described in the 2003 Strategy, will not now be built. 25

28 The photographs above show the new Northampton train maintenance depot nearing completion Rugby The existing network at Rugby has been a limitation on train services for many years and post September 2004 some services have had to be restricted as a result. The scheme to renew the entire layout and improve the capacity and speeds at Rugby is proceeding as planned in the Strategy, for delivery in late Figure 3: Rugby current layout CURRENT LAYOUT To Coventry and Birmingham To Milton Keynes and London Brinklow Fast To Northampton Engineers Freight Yard Slow To Nuneaton & North West Key Constraints Only one northbound line Rugby Brinklow Northampton Birmingham trains clash with London North West trains Birmingham Northampton trains clash twice with North West London trains 75 mile/h maximum speeds to and from Nuneaton 60 mile/h maximum speeds to and from Birmingham Unidirectional tracks Current layout at Rugby note that although there are two flyovers, trains linking Birmingham and Northampton have several points of conflict with the London to Trent Valley lines. 26

29 Figure 4: Rugby final layout FINAL LAYOUT To New Bilton To Coventry and Birmingham 125 New Northbound Platform 125 To Milton Keynes and London Hillmorton Junction 125 Fast Brinklow 125 Slow To Northampton Key Features 125 Engineers New Southbound Platforms Freight Yard Extra track from Rugby to Brinklow Three new platforms and reconfigured layout permit more parallel moves to take place Conflict between Birmingham Northampton and North West London trains removed 125 mile/h maximum speeds for through trains to and from Nuneaton and to Birmingham 75 mile/h maximum speed for trains from Birmingham New Bilton branch reconnected for new freight business Reversible signalling Hillmorton High Oaks for long term maintenance and renewals Slow Fast Newbold High Oaks To Nuneaton and North West Final layout at Rugby note that the tracks and platforms have been reconfigured to achieve enhanced capability from the existing flyovers. The network is designed to be capable of maintenance and renewal with half the network functional, for example at nights and weekends. The overall widening achieved by the scheme will assist construction: the new tracks and platform to the south will be built first and then work will be phased across the rest of the layout To the maximum extent practicable, there will be two tracks available in each direction during weekday daytimes throughout construction, with one track each way available at nights and weekends. The current timetable is broadly compatible with these restrictions. For some periods, during the essential renewals, the signal commissioning periods and the refurbishment of the two flyovers, there will be greater effect on train services and some changes to the train plan will be inevitable. Work continues to try to minimise these effects and to match the programmes for Rugby and Milton Keynes works so that the number of days when the through route to London is unavailable is reduced to the absolute minimum. 27

30 Earlier advice had been that this northern flyover at Rugby was in need of full reconstruction. Later clarification has confirmed the need for works, but these can now be confined to a thorough overhaul and waterproofing. A life of at least 40 years is then expected from the structure. While these works are taking place on the flyover, train services to and from Birmingham will operate over the rebuilt network on the southern side of the station, using the reversible working facility installed with the new signalling. Line capacity will be limited and some Birmingham line train services may not be able to operate as normal during this period. The current estimate is for this flyover refurbishment to last four weeks during summer When the new network at Rugby is complete, Pendolino tilting trains will be able to operate at 125 mile/h to and from the Trent Valley lines and towards Birmingham. After refurbishment, the flyover from Birmingham will be capable of 75 mile/h running for passenger trains from Birmingham. Speeds of all trains will be increased as junction speeds are to be enhanced and the significant additional route capacity will be used to enable the improved train frequencies from the 2009 timetable. A new station entrance and travel centre will be constructed and the new platforms will be accessed by lifts and steps. The current platform will be provided with new lift access so that full provision for disabled people will be available at Rugby station. The left hand picture above shows the very poor current appearance of the station entrance at Rugby. The right hand one illustrates the new station building, which will incorporate a new travel centre and access to one of the new platforms. 28

31 10.6 Coventry While not formally part of the West Coast project, the resignalling of the Coventry area is complementary to the project and taking place in parallel with the other schemes. This 2007 resignalling scheme will be used to deliver the remaining speed improvements on the Rugby to Birmingham line and will enable some acceleration of services calling at Coventry. Line capacity on the single line between Coventry and Leamington Spa will be improved by the extension of the current short double track section southwards towards Leamington Spa Nuneaton The first stage of the network upgrade at Nuneaton took place in May 2004, when the new flyover, two new platform faces and some new signalling were commissioned. This project was an excellent example of cost and schedule control: from the concept approval in May 2002, the scheme was delivered within two years, on time and within the budget, being commissioned in May The grade separation of the two busy lines has been invaluable in enabling the September 2004 timetable to be reliably implemented. This picture shows the new railway which was built at Nuneaton and commissioned in The Leicester to Birmingham lines climb to the north of the station on this new section of route and then cross the four West Coast Main Line tracks on a refurbished bridge instead of crossing on the level, as previously. A new island platform was built at Nuneaton, connected via a footbridge extension. A Leicester to Birmingham train is standing at the platform and, on departure, will climb and cross over the main West Coast route, thus avoiding the previous junction conflicts. 29

32 Nuneaton Stafford and North West Nuneaton Station Birmingham Current Layout (After Phase 1) Leicester Coventry Rugby Stafford and North West Birmingham Nuneaton Station Phase 2 (By 2008) Leicester Rugby Coventry Stafford and North West Possible new chord from the Leicester to Birmingham line to WCML Birmingham Nuneaton Station Later additional option with grade separation for further freight capacity for traffic Peterborough Leicester North West Leicester Coventry Rugby The second stage of the Nuneaton scheme includes the resignalling of the area, improved line speeds and the reconnection of the Leicester lines to the West Coast route to the south of the station. The scheme is in the implementation stage, with delivery due by the end of

33 The possible provision of the freight chord connection between the Leicester line flyover and the West Coast route is not being progressed as part of the current project, but the design has taken account of this later option Trent Valley Four Tracking The 2003 Strategy explained why, during the project review phase, it was established that this scheme had a firm business case. The work which led to this conclusion demonstrated that the scheme was critical to the value and delivery of the route s long term outputs and therefore completion of the scheme was an integral part of that Strategy. Indeed, without the additional capacity, the extra freight and passenger trains planned for 2009 could not have been accommodated. Since the Strategy, full Transport and Works Powers were granted and work has commenced in earnest. The scheme comprises extensive renewals of the two track railway and structures and line speed enhancements as well as 14 miles of new double track railway. Cost control has been an important feature of this scheme: when the 2003 decision was taken to proceed with this four-tracking, the costs were anticipated to be around 500m. Careful and detailed design ahead of contract tendering and other efficiencies have brought the scheme total cost down to an expected final total of some 340m. This picture shows the new formation being constructed alongside the working railway. Note the haul road which has been built for improved site access. The decision to construct this road has delivered cost efficiency by enabling all weather earth movement for the construction of the new embankments. The challenge with this project is to maintain the outputs of the two track 125 mile/h railway on Mondays to Fridays, while achieving safe and efficient construction of the new tracks. 31

34 These two photographs illustrate the progress being made with the four-tracking scheme. The first was taken in September 2005 and shows the route immediately north of Tamworth station after the existing four tracks have converged into two. The second shows the same site in May No additional land has been taken for the widening but the cutting sides are in the process of being steepened and secured by soil nailing. The wider track formation will then allow four tracks to be laid. Unlike the widening in the late 19th century northwards from London, adequate track spacing is being provided to facilitate future maintenance and renewals. Much care has been taken to manage the interfaces with both the working railway and the neighbouring communities. Care has also needed to be taken with the signal sighting arrangements as the route will have three tracks signalled for running in each direction: the centre pair will be reversible. Line speeds are being maintained at 125 mile/h during all the works and track repositioning, so signal sighting is critical. A 4D design tool has been used which links the computerised designs to the programme. This enables the project team to simulate, for example, a train driver s eye view driving along the line at any stage during the construction, or they can simulate the construction of the railway at a fixed point during the programme implementation. This facility has enabled problems to be eliminated at the planning stage and has also enabled the team to present the construction of the route to neighbours and other stakeholders the sequence of build can be clearly demonstrated. This picture shows the 4D modelling of the area at Tamworth North, immediately south of the two pictures of the cutting widening shown above. This area is among the most complex to construct, with a busy road bridge to be replaced, including the rerouting of utilities. It is situated in an urban area, immediately adjacent to Tamworth and Lichfield College. The ability to simulate the work and show this to the local community has been of benefit during the consultation phase as well as enabling the programme or design to be modified to eliminate potential difficulties. 32

35 The work on the Trent Valley line includes a substantial quantity of renewals which are being carried out in conjunction with the four-tracking scheme. This includes replacement of the life-expired signalling on the whole route section. The existing River Tame bridge was in need of reconstruction, so the widened railway is being completed at an early stage at this location. The new double track bridge is here shown under construction in the left hand picture. The right hand picture shows the bridge complete and the final works taking place in advance of diverting the two existing tracks will be diverted over the new bridge. The old bridge will then be demolished and replaced by a second two-track bridge. Disruption is therefore minimised and costs reduced as the majority of the works do not interfere with traffic. Figure 6: Trent Valley Four Tracking CURRENT LAYOUT Polesworth Tamworth Lichfield TV To Nuneaton and Rugby Armitage To Stafford and Stoke AFTER 4 TRACKING Polesworth Amington Tamworth Lichfield TV Lichfield North Armitage To Nuneaton and Rugby To Stafford and Stoke Junctions moved to straight sections of route for higher speed and easier maintenance. Bi-directional centre tracks and wide track spacing facilitate easier maintenance and renewal. When the scheme is completed in late 2008, the centre tracks will be reversibly signalled and at nights and on Sunday mornings it will be possible to use this facility to enable Network Rail to work on one pair of tracks while using the other for traffic. The 33

36 time consuming diversion of weekend and overnight services over the congested West Midlands network, which has been a feature of the West Coast travel experience for many years will then be largely eliminated Colwich The Trent Valley four tracking scheme changes the configuration of northbound tracks approaching Rugeley and Colwich from the London direction, with the fast line occupying the centre rather than being on the outside of the four tracks. After careful consideration, and to avoid the need to change the existing signalling at Colwich, a solution is being assessed which is based on the existing layout being retained at Colwich Junction, but with a new high-speed junction at Armitage and then two equal speed (125 mile/h) northbound lines being provided from there through to Colwich Junction, where the two lines would feed the existing routes to Stafford and Manchester Crewe Weaver The Strategy envisaged resignalling and the implementation of bidirectional signalling between Crewe, Weaver Junction (where the Preston and Liverpool lines diverge) and Ditton (on the Liverpool line). However, more detailed condition assessment by Network Rail showed that the existing signalling did not require renewal during the project timescales. Furthermore, the all-industry work in connection with the planning of future renewals and maintenance strategy (see Section 13) demonstrated that on this specific section the benefit of bidirectional signalling was outweighed by the additional equipment which would require future maintenance and renewal. Accordingly, the network is to be simplified, with extension of four track sections and the modernisation of junctions to bring higher speed diverging routes and improved capacity. The existing low speed northbound loop at Weaver Junction itself is to be superseded by the new Hartford loop. Figure 7: Crewe Weaver Junction Modifications TO CREWE New 75 mile/h Winsford S. Junction Winsford Hartford New Fast Line Acton Bridge TO LIVERPOOL New 100 mile/h Liverpool line junction TO NORTHWICH Weaver Junction Liverpool Freight Loop TO PRESTON Diagram illustrating the key features of the simplified and higher capacity network between Crewe and Weaver Junction which is to be implemented by the end of

37 10.11 Wigan The new layout at Wigan shown below has recently been completed. Figure 8: Wigan NW Segregation of Liverpool Line Services TO LIVERPOOL Wigan North Western Station TO CREWE New reversible line enables segregation of Main Line from Liverpool trains Platform now used for Liverpool Wigan services TO PRESTON Platform previously used for Liverpool Wigan services The new reversible line is designed to enable trains from Liverpool to Wigan and Preston and the services starting at Wigan for Liverpool to run independently of the busy main lines, improving timetable flexibility, capacity and performance Crewe Cheadle Hulme Stockport One of the clear conclusions of the 2003 Strategy was that the earlier stages of the West Coast upgrade had been too dependent on the development of new technology. Major changes were agreed to limit such technology in the implementation phases of the project. Some aspects of new technology were fully committed, such as the use of axle counters and have, after initial problems with defective components and software, proved to be reliable. The pioneering of new systems such as ERTMS was transferred to national development work. The section of route at Cheadle Hulme and the line towards Macclesfield was resignalled in 2003 using computer based interlocking (CBI) to a design which was new to the UK. This simple installation has proved to be thoroughly reliable in service. The major change necessary in the signalling design and validation of this CBI technology to implement the planned August 2004 resignalling of the more complex network at Stockport was considered to be introducing a very high risk of the Stockport scheme impacting on the September 2004 timetable. Accordingly, while the network, track foundations, drainage and overhead line were replaced in the planned Stockport blockade, the original signalling was thoroughly refurbished instead of being renewed with CBI. The Crewe Sandbach Wilmslow Cheadle Hulme line was the subject of an extensive blockade for five months during 2004, but, again for technical reasons, the CBI technology was not yet ready to enable the modernisation of the junctions and the renewal of the signalling, which was becoming life expired. The blockade 35

38 therefore concentrated on very extensive foundation and track renewals, including the stabilisation of the section near Sandbach which had been affected by salt extraction, and on overhead line work. A further blockade commenced in December The life-expired signalling was removed and the new junction track layouts and the CBI-compatible signalling equipment have been installed on the route. Issues with the validation of the signalling programmes have delayed the commissioning of the signalling and the restoration of train services on the route. It is currently planned to restore train services on the route by June 2006, with restricted functionality, and then to commission further functionality in stages. Later work will bring the installed bidirectional signalling into use and deliver 110 mile/h line speed Manchester Airport A scheme is in the course of development for removing the significant capacity constraint at Manchester Airport station where a high frequency service operates with only two platforms. These are of 8-car length, enabling two short trains to share the same platform. Nevertheless, the limited station capacity remains a major constraint on any train lengthening between Manchester and Leeds and adversely affects train timetabling and reliability across the whole of the Manchester area. The station has some 6.5% market share of travel to and from the airport, totalling over 2 million rail trips per year, and there is a good opportunity to increase this share as well as cater for the growth in the airport s planned expansion. Additional platform capacity is essential if these objectives are to be met. Manchester Airport, Greater Manchester PTE, the Northern Way, Network Rail, the North West Development Agency and DfT have been working in partnership to develop and implement a third full length third platform at the airport station. While this is not part of the West Coast project, it is hoped that the platform will be available ahead of the 2009 timetable changes Power Supplies and Auto-Transformers The first stage of the power reinforcement works on the route has been completed ensuring that the first stage of the upgraded services is supported by adequate power in the overhead line. The delivery of further new feeder points is well under way and the auto-transformer system to support the more intensive future use of the route is also in course of being implemented. The first auto-transformer section was successfully piloted in the area south of Northampton and is currently being fully commissioned. Further sections of auto-transformer working will be progressed along the route as part of the project. The exact phasing of the full auto-transformer system throughout between London and Scotland will depend on traffic growth requirements. 36

39 10.15 Effects of the Works on Customers The 2003 Strategy explained that the date of commencement of the improved weekday services would be brought forward from 2006 to 2004 but that there would still be a substantial volume of core renewals work and major schemes to be delivered before the end of It was anticipated that the main effects would be confined to weekends and this has been the case, with minimal effects on weekday services. The project has been able to work within these parameters, so while weekend journeys have been extended in duration and in some cases curtailed for periods, the weekday trains have been unaffected. In the main, the weekend work has been encompassed within a fully revised published timetable which has been reliably delivered. Occasional weekends around Bank Holidays have been used as opportunities to commission new signalling, such as at Wigan, Euxton and Birmingham International. It is expected that this overall pattern will continue through from 2006 to the end of 2008, in order to deliver the very major schemes such as those at Rugby, Milton Keynes and in the Trent Valley which all expand capacity in principle, new widened sections are completed before the old network is taken out of use for renewal and upgrading. There will continue to be some weekend and longer possessions at or around Bank Holidays for major works, but only those at Rugby and Milton Keynes will enforce closure of the full route as diversionary routes can be used for such work north of Rugby. Consultation has taken place with organisations planning major events in the period to the end of 2008, such as those for the Liverpool City of Culture in 2008, to try to ensure that the periods of major works on the route do not clash with such events. The same principles will be used as hitherto, with good advance communication and careful planning of alternatives for customers, both passenger and freight. Parallel routes will be used for strengthened capacity or services where practicable Scheme Delivery Risks Since the early years of the West Coast Project, there has been a step change improvement in the competence of delivery and the required outputs have been delivered to time. Between now and the end of 2008, the challenge to sustain this delivery record will be very strong. As can be observed from the schemes described above, a large volume of resignalling is required along much of the route: at Bletchley/ Milton Keynes/ Wolverton, Northampton, Rugby, Coventry and Nuneaton and in the Trent Valley project. The challenge is to integrate the commissioning of these schemes within the overall limitations on signalling design and implementation resources. 37

40 10.17 Funding The 2003 Strategy noted that the project reviews which had been undertaken by that date had achieved a position where the forecast project expenditure had been reduced from 13.3bn to just under 10bn and that further work was under way to reduce costs and to optimise value. The Rail Regulator s Access Charges Review (ACR) of December 2003, for Control Period 3, April 2004 to March 2009, determined that the project budget within Control Period 3 would be 2.9bn (at 2002/03 prices), giving a total cost of 7.6bn, substantially less than the 2003 Strategy estimate of 9.9bn. The Network Rail 2004 Business Plan identified the general work scope to deliver the remaining outputs of the June 2003 Strategy in this Control Period, within this overall budget. During development of the detailed scope for both renewals and enhancements: additional renewals workscope has been advanced from later control periods and some renewals needs have been reassessed and deferred. Additional enhancement scope has been introduced, for example the Milton Keynes station capacity scheme will cater for the town s expansion which was not considered in the 2003 Strategy. These have been jointly agreed between Network Rail, DfT and stakeholders and some external grants have been secured to contribute towards these Milton Keynes works. 38

41 11. Stations and Car Parks The need for improvements to railway stations at many locations on the West Coast Main Line was previously acknowledged in the 2003 Strategy document. A number of stations will require alterations to manage the increased levels of patronage in the longer term, in particular additional car parking along with bus feeder and cycling facilities. Other features such as waiting areas and ticket offices need to be enlarged, commensurate with the improved rail services. Some have been improved already, such as Manchester Piccadilly, and Network Rail has plans for significant investment in station modernisation, harnessing private sector resources. Such activity will be of benefit to the West Coast Route. These potentially include proposals to improve Euston station, allowing, in particular, for an increase in the passenger circulating area and better access to the London Underground. There are other plans, sponsored by local authorities, which are complementary to West Coast Route Modernisation. Plans are being appraised for significant improvements to Birmingham New Street station, to provide improved passenger circulation to accommodate demand growth and to enable the station to integrate with city centre improvements. The overall external appearance of the station would also be transformed, along with an improved concourse. Crewe Gateway is another such scheme which could provide improved road and bus access to the location along with a new station building and commercial development opportunities. For the immediate future and in particular to match the increased capacity offered with the 2009 timetables, additional car parking is planned at key West Coast stations. Some 5,000 extra spaces are planned to be provided at a range of stations in a joint Network Rail/train operator scheme. Such plans are being co-ordinated with the longer term aspirations referred to above. The arrangements provide for the train operator to carry out the research into likely numbers of extra places required, the location of these within the station boundary or adjacent to the entrance, plus the initial business case supporting the investment. This work will then be verified by DfT and Network Rail as financially sound and deliverable. Funding is likely to be provided by Network Rail who may also project manage and deliver the agreed schemes. Planning is already well advanced, with the initial pilot stations being Coventry, Rugby and Stoke on Trent. Other locations where more parking is urgently sought include Milton Keynes, Crewe, Stockport, Preston, Warrington BQ and Wigan NW. 39

42 12. Franchising Process The June 2003 West Coast Strategy and the April 2004 Progress Report explained how the franchising process would facilitate the delivery of the Strategy. The new franchises which will replace the existing Silverlink, Cross Country and Central ones will have a specification which will be consistent with the Strategy. The opportunity will also be taken to merge the Silverlink outer suburban services between London and Northampton and the Northampton Birmingham and Central Trains West Midlands services based on New St into one franchise, which will reduce the total number of franchises operating on the route and enable common management and control of much of the route s urban and inter-regional electric train resources. As the project delivery position and final outputs are now much clearer, it has recently been possible to commence discussions with Virgin Rail Group to renegotiate the West Coast franchise on a more conventional franchise arrangement. Similarly, it will now be possible to define the terms of a revised Track Access Agreement between Virgin West Coast and Network Rail. 40

43 13. Sustaining the Route post 2008 The Strategy explained the need for the project scope to include providing for the future maintenance and renewal of the route. This has four elements: Installing equipment which has a lower requirement for maintenance, such as heavier rails. Lower maintenance means less requirement for staff on the route infrastructure, particularly during peak time services; this in turn will reduce risk to track and signalling staff and should contribute to further improvements in safety Providing systems to improve the ease of maintenance and renewals, such as access points, higher output machines, and track inspection by trains rather than patrols on foot Providing network functionality so that future maintenance and renewal is made easier, such as bi-directional signalling, simplified layouts with adequate spacing between tracks and suitable diversionary routes Reducing the impact on the operation of train services, especially at weekends, such as by using different equipment and more closely integrated planning. The WC project target is to eliminate the backlog of renewals and achieve a steady state position, not a fully renewed route. It will not lead to a maintenance holiday on completion of the period of substantially higher levels of engineering works to deliver those renewals and the linked enhancement projects. Once the project is complete, the work of sustaining the route and its enhanced outputs will be carried out without the extra effect of the backlog and the enhancements, but it will still be a very demanding activity. It will be required not to allow deterioration in the restored asset quality or enhanced outputs, and to balance the higher value of those outputs against the maintenance and renewals costs of sustaining them. NR has led the task of evaluating the engineering scope requirements and the potential improvements in methodology for maintenance and renewals, with input from passenger and freight operating companies and DfT on the possible changes in patterns of train service which could give revenue and train resource gains. Combining these to approach the industry optimum has made it clear that maintaining the earning power of infrastructure and train assets is at least as important as achieving maintenance and renewal efficiencies. 41

44 The train service objectives which have been pursued are: The frequency and journey time of Saturday and Sunday West Coast inter-city services between London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Preston should be as close as possible to Monday to Friday levels, with no substantial extensions to journey times or frequencies except late on Saturday and early on Sunday. North of Preston, the issues anticipated in the 2003 Strategy relating to heavy 24 hour traffics, the long double track sections and the lack of signalling flexibility remain. Anglo-Scottish services will therefore continue to be diverted to give longer maintenance and renewal opportunities on some Sundays on the long two-track Preston to Carlisle and Gretna to Carstairs route sections. Through tilting diesel trains and some diesel hauled Pendolino trains will be retained. The use of through fast diesel trains will minimise the journey time effect of the necessary diversions. It should be noted, that should similar engineering blockages of the East Coast route also be required, the pattern of possessions should be co-ordinated to permit fast weekend London Central Scotland journey times by one or other route throughout the year, in conjunction with greater flexibility by TOCs to complement each others services. Long-distance cross-country services should also operate as close as possible to Monday to Friday journey times and frequencies, and should similarly be planned to ensure that long-distance journey opportunities are maintained by one or other route. Inter-regional and suburban services which use parts of the West Coast route should be able to operate at close to Monday to Friday journey times. Consistency is a fundamental element of this strategy. Weekend revenue depends on a similar service operating for 52 weekends of the year. From the customer viewpoint, in an increasingly seven-day economy and society, an erratic service is equivalent to poor performance. Journey times similar to Monday-Friday are necessary to avoid this loss, and to allow Monday-Friday frequencies to operate. Looking ahead, it is planned to minimise the interaction between the works at Stafford (see section 16.4) and the route s services. There will continue to be some renewals, primarily large scale resignalling, at key nodes and along the route which may affect train services going forward. In the ten years after 2008, full resignalling is anticipated at Bletchley, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and at Crewe and some work may also be necessary at Watford Junction. Network Rail is currently assessing the engineering and the logistical challenges of implementing this strategy for the 2009 timetable, with some elements possibly achievable a year earlier. 42

45 The section of route north of Preston is particularly difficult to maintain and renew. It is heavily used almost on a 24/7 basis; the only period without traffic demands is each Saturday night. Compromises therefore have to be made to ensure that the route is sustained in good condition. It is likely that the route will be closed during some Sundays to give maintenance and renewal opportunities. Generally, tilting 125 mile/h diesel trains will be used to operate through services via the diversionary routes. 43

46 14. Project Outputs 14.1 Strategy Outputs The 2003 Strategy explained the overall capacity of the route after the completion of the scheme. This was expressed in terms of the outputs possible for each of the markets and train operators. Available freight capacity was tabulated as an Appendix to the Strategy Planning for 2009 In the light of experience of the 2004 timetable and the generation of demand along the routes, more detailed work on and appraisal of timetable options has identified the target specification for the train services along the route after the completion of the project. This specification is now being taken forward for detailed timetabling work and until this process is undertaken, the final outputs cannot be fully validated. This section of the progress report describes the expected outputs and these will be confirmed in late Principles The principles of the 2003 Strategy have been followed in the development of the timetable specification. The additional capacity following the completion of the infrastructure works provides the opportunity to expand the number of trains on the route. The line speed improvements will be completed and the specific timetable allowances for the construction works can be eliminated from the schedules. The more detailed work has demonstrated that the services to the longer distance destinations can operate on a more limited-stop basis as well as receiving the benefit of the line speed improvements. These two factors have, in turn, improved the productivity of the Pendolino trains which have been able to resource many of the additional trains. Business case work has demonstrated that, following the strong demand growth after 2004, there was a strong case for supplementing the route s train fleet not simply by the 30 new Desiro trains but also by the operation of a greater number of the 125 mile/h tilting Voyager trains than had originally been envisaged. The Desiro trains will be used to provide regular links between the major intermediate stations on the line and the tilting Voyagers will be used to augment the frequency and capacity of trains 44

47 between London and Chester and North Wales. At weekends, the additional diesel trains will be deployed flexibly, dependent on which section of route is affected by regular or exceptional engineering work (see Section 13). The 2004 timetable currently operating after the first stage of the project includes an off peak pattern of six Pendolino trains per hour, with a high number of intermediate calls in some services, hampering end to end competitiveness. At peak times a completely different pattern is delivered, with customised and irregular distribution of stops and some headline faster trains. This timetable was limited by the restricted interim route capacity, fleet size and the limitation on journey times while the second phase of the project is being delivered. For the 2009 timetable, the regular pattern will be based on very fast services and will therefore be able to operate throughout the peaks, with some supplementary services to handle demand. This fully regular pattern, including through peak periods, is a significant change: the use of line capacity by the long distance trains and the interaction with other, regular services, in the busy urban centres of the West Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow should be improved as a result of the more consistent service planned. This should therefore enable a more regular pattern of local services to be operated. The restructuring and improvements to train services in the 2009 timetable will be on at least as great a scale as those implemented in the September 2004 changes. It will be very important to repeat the joint preparation work which was done for that earlier timetable implementation if the current high performance levels are to be sustained. At the intensity of train operation planned from 2009, communications, response and contingency arrangements will need to be very strong if delays following any incident are to be contained. Train, station and network operations will need to be effectively coordinated Summary of Main Outputs The London West Midlands, Manchester, Chester and Scotland services will increase in frequency to meet expanding market needs and become more regular in pattern. There will be additional peak capacity on the Lancashire, Cumbria, Scotland, Liverpool and North Wales routes. The project is being delivered with the journey times broadly as expected in the Strategy, except that the sharing of intermediate calls between more services has, in several cases, enabled the regular pattern services to be accelerated still further as illustrated below. The most significant changes in the 2009 timetable will be noted on the Liverpool and Glasgow routes where the current timing of the fastest trains will become the norm for the regular pattern. The tables below illustrate the major improvements in journey times and frequencies which are expected after the completion of the project. Table A shows the regular frequencies for Mondays to Fridays and the journey times for this regular pattern. It is 45

48 these journey times which apply to the vast majority of customers on the route. Table B shows the fastest journey times of the peak headline trains which supplement the regular pattern at key business traffic peaks. Similar gains will be experienced by customers using the West Coast services for most other journeys. The regularity of the service pattern will facilitate the planning of connections to the many locations which are served by connections from these long distance services. Experience elsewhere has demonstrated that growth will not simply be confined to the core route but that feeder services are stimulated by the main route being improved. The 2009 timetable is being planned to include faster and more frequent services on the route. A Pendolino train is seen arriving at London Euston. The station approach here was fully remodelled in the early years of the project. It has contributed to good performance, with minimal technical failure and few delays as the new layout is very flexible in design. The intensive and fast services proposed include a walk-on service at 20 minute intervals between London and Birmingham and between London and Manchester, much faster and more frequent journeys to Liverpool and the North West and Scotland. New regular hourly through links will be provided between London and Chester and London and Wilmslow. A new regular link is proposed between the intermediate stations on the route between London and Crewe, delivering hourly services from Northampton to the north and regular hourly links between the Trent Valley stations of Lichfield, Tamworth and Nuneaton to Rugby, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Watford and London. This is likely to be part of the new West Midlands franchise specification. Weekend services will, after completion of the project and using the additional more flexible facilities which the project is providing, be transformed. The following sections describe the proposed services for each of the market segments. 46

49 Table A : Regular all day Train Services, Speeds and Frequencies (Trains per hour tph) pre-project, post-project as defined in the 2003 SRA Strategy and the latest specification for the timetable after the project is completed London Euston 2003 SRA Strategy Latest Indicative to/from Pre-Project Current (2006) for Post-project Timetable for Post-project Time Freq. Time Freq. Time Freq. Time Freq. (hr min) Stops (tph) (hr min) Stops (tph) (hr min) Stops (tph) (hr min) Stops (tph) Birmingham New St. 1h 43m 3 2 1h 30m 3 2 1h 23m 3 2 1h 23m 3 3 Coventry 1h 11m 1 2 1h 04m 1 2 0h 59m 1 2 1h 00m 1 3 Manchester via Stoke 2h 41m 4 1 2h 15m 3 2 2h 10m 4 2 2h 06m 3 2 Manchester via Crewe 2h 56m n/a 2/day n/a n/a 4/day n/a n/a n/a 2h 08m 3 1 Stoke 1h 51m 1 1 1h 31m 0 2 1h 28m 0 2 1h 28m 0 2 Liverpool 2h 53m 5 1 2h 30m 5 1 2h 21m 5 1 2h 09m 2 1** Crewe 2h 08m 3 2 1h 45m 2 2 1h 42m 2 2 1h 35m 0 2** Preston 3h 01m 5 1 2h 29m 5 1 2h 26m 5 1 2h 12m 2 1** Carlisle 4h 04m h 44m h 34m h 22m 5 1* Glasgow 5h 35m h 00m h 48m h 29m 6 1* Chester 2h 38m 3 3/day 2h 10m 2 5/day N/A 3 5/day 2h 02m 2 1 Holyhead 4h 28m 9 3/day 3h 52m 9 4/day 3h 48m 7 4/day 3h 45m 9 5/day * Final timetable being prepared it is expected that there will be two off peak occasions when the service will be 2-hourly and extra trains will run at peak times of day ** Additional trains will operate at peak times of day Table B : Fastest Journey Times To/From London Euston London Euston 2003 SRA Strategy Latest Indicative to/from Pre-Project Current (2006) for Post-project Timetable for Post-project Time Stops Time Stops Time Stops Time Stops Birmingham New St 1h 39m 1 1hr 21m 1 1h 18m 1 1h 18m 1 Manchester n/a n/a 2hr 05m 1 1h 57m 1 1h 59m 1 Liverpool n/a n/a 2hr 09m 1 2h 08m 2 2h 06m 1 Preston 2h 25m 0 2hr 10m 0 2h 06m 0 2h 07m 0 Glasgow 5h 06m 3 4hr 24m 1 4h 18m 2 4h 15m London West Midlands Demand has been rising quickly on the route and additional capacity is required above that implemented in June The 2009 timetable will therefore include a 20 minute interval service throughout the day between London and Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New St, with the regular pattern including calls at 47

50 Watford, Milton Keynes or Rugby. Journey times between London and Birmingham will be improved to a very competitive standard 1hr 23min schedule London Manchester The current half-hourly pattern via Stoke-on-Trent is supplemented by certain additional trains via Crewe, serving Wilmslow. The 2009 timetable is being planned to include regular Pendolino departures at 20 minute intervals from London and Manchester with journey times of around 2hr 6min throughout the day. Two trains will operate via Stoke and one via Crewe. Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Milton Keynes will receive hourly trains on this route. Additional calls are planned at Watford Junction and Milton Keynes to serve the morning northbound and evening southbound markets. The third hourly trains will enable Wilmslow to be given this regular frequency and carry the bulk of the Crewe to London business as well as providing capacity for and stimulating demand on the London to Manchester and Stockport flows. A peak fast train will connect Manchester and London in under 2 hours. London will have a service to Stockport and Manchester at 20-minute intervals, with journey times around 2hr 6min to Manchester and in less than 2hr to Stockport. A Pendolino is shown here arriving at Stockport to pick up passengers for London London Liverpool The 2009 timetable will bring a significant further acceleration, by comparison with the September 2004 timetable and will dedicate more capacity for the Liverpool and Runcorn markets as the number of intermediate calls on the Liverpool journey will be reduced from five to two, Runcorn and Stafford, with a regular journey time of approximately 2h 8min. Additional calls are planned at Watford Junction and Milton Keynes to serve the morning northbound and evening southbound markets. The other calls currently made will be transferred to the extra services on other routes. Additional trains will run at peak times, increasing the frequency to half-hourly at these peak times of day. These additional trains will serve Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield, giving these stations fast Pendolino trains to and from London Euston at the busiest times of day. 48

51 14.8 London Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland The current timetable is based on a regular pattern of trains between London and Lancaster, with six intermediate calls. There are extensions of these trains to Glasgow on approximately a two-hourly basis. The standard end to end time was reduced in 2004 and again in 2005, and is now 5h 0min, with ten intermediate stops. Additional faster trains run in the leisure and business peaks with journey times ranging from 4h 24min to 4h 50min. Growth has been good in the Lancashire market, and the Glasgow market, after the December 2005 improvements, is now showing signs of increased demand. For the 2009 timetable, the regular pattern services will typically be accelerated by a further 30 minutes, through further line speed improvements and by the reduction of intermediate calls from nine or ten to six. Lancashire and Cumbria will also benefit from significant journey time reductions, with most trains running non-stop between London and Warrington, and then typically calling at Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme or Penrith and Carlisle. A more frequent service will operate to and from Scotland, normally hourly, but with some off-peak gaps in the Preston Glasgow service which will be required to enable train resources to be maximised at Euston in the critical evening peak. Evening peak demand requires frequencies to be enhanced and additional trains to Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland will operate at this time. This total package of services to Scotland, with the journey time reductions and increased frequencies, will undoubtedly stimulate growth in the rail market on this route. Additional calls are planned at Watford Junction and Milton Keynes to serve the morning northbound and evening southbound markets. Crewe to Scotland will continue to be served by the Birmingham to Scotland services and other links to Scotland will be provided by interchange. The route into Scotland has been upgraded, with long sections of 125 mile/h running. Two Pendolino trains are about to cross at high speed in the Lockerbie area. From 2008, there will be a more regular service to Scotland and the upgraded route will be served by a London and a Birmingham to Scotland 125 mile/h tilting train in most hours. 49

52 Additional trains will run at peak times, increasing the frequency to half-hourly between London and Preston, with many of the additional trains operating as fast services to Carlisle and Glasgow, with an end to end London to Glasgow journey time of around 4hr 20min London Chester and North Wales In 2004, the frequency of trains between London and North Wales was increased to five per day and two of these are currently worked by Pendolino trains, using diesel locomotives to haul the trains west of Crewe. The other three are worked by five-car 125 mile/h tilting Voyager diesel trains. In the 2009 timetable, it is planned to operate the route with an enlarged Voyager fleet and to increase train frequencies. The basic pattern is planned to be an hourly through train between London and Chester, calling at Milton Keynes and Crewe only, giving a very competitive end to end time of just over 2 hours between London and Chester. North Wales will be served by extensions of these Chester trains, primarily in the morning southbound and evening northbound and at higher peak frequencies than today. Two daytime through workings will continue, serving principal stations to Bangor or Holyhead. From 2008, additional tilting 125 mile/h Voyager trains will be introduced on the London to Chester and North Wales route. Frequencies will be improved, with an hourly London to Chester service. Journey times will be reduced further. Capacity on the route will be increased by the frequency increases and, at peak times, by 10-car operation. Virgin West Coast is assessing what on board service and train and seating layout changes are appropriate for this new regular link, probably with additional first class seating being required in each train Birmingham Scotland This service is planned to continue at the current hourly frequency using 125 mile/h tilting trains and full advantage will be taken of these, the additional line speed improvements and the rescheduling of the 2009 timetable to deliver further 50

53 accelerations to improve end to end journey times. Birmingham to Glasgow and Edinburgh journeys are expected to take around 4hr Birmingham Manchester and Liverpool Consultation on the 2009 services on these routes is expected to commence shortly as part of the new franchise specification process for the Cross Country and West Midlands franchises. These will be consistent with the outputs described in the 2003 Strategy Manchester Barrow/Windermere/Scotland The current timetable is based on an hourly TransPennine Manchester Airport to Barrow or Windermere service, overlaid with two-hourly Virgin CrossCountry Manchester Scotland trains serving Glasgow or Edinburgh. These latter trains duplicate the TransPennine trains between Manchester and Oxenholme and often have slow paths on the congested Manchester Preston route. In the light of the enhancements to the London Scotland frequencies and the replacement of the older low power TransPennine trains by modern very high power diesel trains, the 2009 timetable will plan to integrate the TransPennine Barrow/Windermere timetable and the Scotland service. New through links will be created between Manchester Airport and Carlisle/ Scotland and service efficiency and route utilisation will be improved London Northampton A new timetable pattern was introduced in December 2005, with enhanced off peak fast services between London and Milton Keynes and Northampton. The peak services were revised in conjunction with the September 2004 timetable, providing increased capacity between London and Milton Keynes. In terms of capacity and train service performance, these changes have been successful and a similar pattern will continue to be the specification for the 2009 timetable, with the extension of one of the fast Northampton services to Long Buckby, Rugby and intermediate stations to Crewe, see below. The extension of the platforms on the London to Northampton section of route has enabled the commencement of 12-car working at peak times and provides for future traffic growth by the lengthening of other trains to 12-cars London Northampton Rugby Trent Valley Stafford Crewe Liverpool As envisaged in the 2003 Strategy, a regular service will operate linking London with many intermediate stations on the route, using the Desiro 100 mile/h express electric trains which were ordered as part of the Strategy requirement for the route. 51

54 The new Desiro electric trains have seating and a layout suitable for medium and longer distance journeys. An hourly fast train, using these new Desiro trains, was introduced in December 2005 between London and Northampton, calling only at Milton Keynes. It is intended to add an additional call at Watford in this service, subject to timetable confirmation, and to extend these trains on an hourly basis to Crewe. This will be confirmed in the forthcoming consultation on the new West Midlands franchise. Beyond Northampton calls will be made at Long Buckby, for the Daventry area, Rugby, Nuneaton, Atherstone, Tamworth, Lichfield, Rugeley Trent Valley, Stafford and Crewe. The high performance of the new trains will be used to good effect and the schedules will be attractive, generally averaging over 60 mile/h, inclusive of the station calls. These trains will form the regular off peak service between London and Nuneaton and will provide a new all day hourly service between the other Trent Valley stations and London. It is expected that traffic from Tamworth and Lichfield will grow substantially, since for many years these stations have only been served by very infrequent services. The links provided by this new service will be attractive, giving a new regular through train from Northampton to the stations on the West Coast route between Rugby, Stafford and Crewe, making several important connections. An examination is being carried out, as part of the work on the West Midland Franchise timetable specification, whether certain workings could be extended to and from Liverpool. Pendolino trains will continue to serve Lichfield, Tamworth and Nuneaton at peak times, giving fast direct services to and from London at the busiest times of day Northampton Birmingham As described earlier and as explained in the 2003 Strategy, the current network at Rugby is very restricted in capacity, with only one through passenger platform in each direction and limited platform access. Following the completion of the renewals and remodelling of the network at Rugby, the 2009 timetable will be sufficiently flexible to enable a twice hourly service to be operated throughout the day between Northampton, where significant population growth is planned, and Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New St. 52

55 14.16 Weekend Services After the completion of both the infrastructure upgrade and the work to remedy the backlog of renewals plus the delivery of the new schemes which facilitate maintenance and renewals of the network, it is planned to deliver substantial improvements to weekend services on the route. The train service objective for weekends in the 2009 timetable is to replicate the weekday off peak service patterns, frequencies and journey times throughout the majority of Saturdays and on Sundays from hrs onwards. This is a very important part of achieving the return on the project investment both to the customers who have suffered the prolonged weekend disruptions on the West Coast route and to government as the sponsor of the project. It is expected that the yield from the route will be substantially improved by the attractiveness of the weekend services. The route is, nevertheless, a very heavily used railway and it is important that the route is sustained in good condition so some compromises will have to be made. To provide the important opportunities for maintenance and renewal, the expectation is that Saturday evening services will be curtailed earlier than on Mondays to Fridays and the Sunday morning service start later. On Sundays up to hrs, frequencies will be less than the new weekday ones and there are expected to be some extensions of journey times of around minutes between Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and London and around 8-10 minutes between Birmingham and London. These relatively small increases in journey times, by comparison with today, are required because of capacity restrictions on which tracks are available on the four track sections of the route. Similarly, some diversions over alternative fast routes may take place during Sunday mornings: for example Manchester trains may be diverted via Crewe or Stoke dependent on the engineering requirements. Typical end to end journey times would still be very attractive, with Birmingham to London times being some 95 minutes and Manchester to London around 2hr 30min. As explained in the section on sustaining the route (Section 13), it will be vital to have sufficient opportunities to undertake engineering works on Sundays for part of the year on the long double track sections of the route between Preston and Carlisle and between Gretna Junction (north of Carlisle) and Carstairs. The effects of these cyclical closures is planned to be reduced by the operation of through long-distance trains over the diversionary routes. In some cases, this would be by the use of diesel locomotives to haul the electric Pendolino trains, but the majority of customers would be able to use through 125 mile/h tilting diesel trains. Such trains can operate over the diversionary routes with the minimum practicable additional time. With the use of such trains, an end to end Sunday journey over a diversionary route between London and Glasgow of around 6hr should still be possible. On occasions, some exceptional needs, such as major signalling schemes, bridge and structures work etc, will necessitate more intrusive works and longer closures. It is expected that these would be concentrated around Public Holidays and the 53

56 effects of such works would also be mitigated by the increased number of 125 mile/h tilting diesel trains on the route which would be deployed flexibly at such weekends to sustain fast through journeys. As an example, major works at Runcorn, on the direct electrified line to Liverpool would not prevent fast through services between London and Liverpool being sustained, as diesel trains could operate via Warrington with minimal additional journey time Locations Served by Connections onto the Route The West Coast Main Line serves many communities through connecting services. Many of these are quite sizeable locations and generate good traffic volumes. The upgrading of the core services in terms of reliability, speed and regularity will also bring benefits to these locations. The major improvements already achieved have contributed to such traffic growth. In the 2009 timetable, there will be further gains as frequencies improve and the timetable becomes more regular throughout the day. Some locations which are currently provided with limited through services, such as Chester, Wilmslow and Northampton will gain regular through links, as has been described in the sections above. Others will gain from the improvements on the main route, especially as it is planned to retain the basic weekday service pattern for much of the weekend, thus enabling connections to be planned more easily. Two towns in particular, Shrewsbury and Blackpool have lobbied for the implementation of direct trains to London Euston in the 2009 timetable. These locations are not served by the electrified network so through trains would require either to deploy the 125 mile/h tilting diesel trains or to use Pendolinos with diesel locomotive haulage off the electrified system. The SRA s West Midlands Route Utilisation Study indicated that the possibility of through trains between London and Shrewsbury would be examined. The 2009 timetable work has shown that both the diesel tilting Voyager and the electric Pendolino fleets will be fully committed in delivering the service specification described in the above sections. In particular, the diesel fleet cannot be made available to cover any of the Wolverhampton or Preston to Euston trains which might have been extended to start from Shrewsbury or Blackpool respectively. However, when overall traffic growth requires the augmentation of the total train fleet, then it may prove practicable to adjust the deployment of additional vehicles and/or trains to facilitate the operation of such through services. Diesel locomotive operation of Pendolino trains beyond the electrified network has proved practicable as a stopgap operation until an adequate number of tilting diesel trains were available on some London to Chester and North Wales services. This method could, in theory, be deployed for Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. The high costs of such an operation and the requirement for more Pendolino trains if operation of such extensions was to take place regularly during the day have not made it feasible to implement this in the 2009 timetable. 54

57 Both Shrewsbury and Blackpool will continue to be served by a range of frequent connections and will gain from the improved speeds and regularity of the West Midlands and Preston to Euston services, both during the week and at weekends. The possibility of the implementation of through trains to these locations will be kept under review for the future Freight Capacity There will be a significant improvement in route capacity for freight following the completion of the numerous network capacity schemes in It is expected that the route capacity for freight will achieve the 60-70% growth as described in the 2003 Strategy, bringing the important ability for further freight volumes to be carried along this important freight artery. The route has benefited from the implementation of enhanced clearances to enable the operation of high-gauge traffic and this market is expected to grow further, particularly if the West Coast route is, in due course, connected to further high-gauge routes. The 2003 Strategy explained that, after the project is completed, there are expected to be fast line paths available for 125 mile/h mail or logistics services and this remains the position, possibly with constraints until the congestion at Stafford is resolved. From 2009, operation of mail and logistics trains with a slower maximum speed might be subject to extended journey times because of the intensity of use of the route by fast 125 mile/h passenger services. On the steeply graded and double track section of route between Preston and Glasgow, it is intended to optimise overall capacity for freight by pathing the fast passenger trains closely together. This is included within the timetable specification for 2009 and this measure, coupled with the delivery of the new infrastructure, is expected to enable the improved freight capacity outlined in the Strategy. 55

58 15. Economic and Market Changes Prior to the introduction of the September 2004 timetable, around one third of the total number of passengers along the West Coast route was travelling during work time on their employer s business. Because the Modernisation programme has allowed many client- and supplier-related return journeys to be made comfortably within a working day, the number of these passengers, and the number who are choosing to travel First Class, has increased substantially. Since the West Coast was last upgraded in 1974, there have been a number of societal changes, particularly in weekend and leisure travel. Shopping is now firmly established as a leisure activity, football matches now take place on Sundays and during the week, people stay on in city centres later into the night to make use of cinemas and restaurants. Overall leisure time and leisure spend has increased with Friday and Sunday evening now the busiest times in the week on the long distance trains on the West Coast route. This trend is set to continue as earnings continue to rise and our city centres continue to improve their attractiveness. As a result of the Modernisation project, by 2009 West Coast trains will be offering a transformed weekend service. For the first time, near-weekday journey times and frequencies will be available all day on Saturday, and from Sunday onwards. This will vastly increase rail s market share at these times, easing Sunday evening motorway congestion and helping passengers onto a more environmentally friendly form of transport. It will allow many more people to remain in close contact with families and friends and facilitate increased, sustainable domestic tourism. On a future West Coast Main Line we can expect these trends to continue alongside growth in the overall appetite for travel. Journey times and comfort levels will become more competitive with car and air journeys and trains and stations will become busier at off-peak times as spare rail capacity is used up by new leisure travellers. 56

59 16. Next steps Beyond Route Capacity The 2003 Strategy explained the importance of the timetable for the route, prioritising the reliance of service delivery and the 2004 and 2005 timetables have produced increasingly high performance for all of the operators on the route. One of the clear principles explained was the need for the route s fast lines to be primarily used as a 125 mile/h pipeline for the tilting trains which can run at 125 mile/h, rather than attempts being made to compromise resilience by mixing different trains along the route. It is important that these principles continue to be deployed in the future as the route s growing customer base requires the historic poor reputation for performance being eliminated and the services to be dependable. The carrying capacity of the route will, after the completion of all of the works for 2008 and the resolution of the Stafford capacity problem, be as described in the 2003 Strategy. It should be noted that the Strategy capacity table assumed that part of the future freight growth could only be accommodated if some existing diesel freight trains were converted to electric traction on the congested sections of route, so that additional electrically hauled freight trains could be operated. This is very important on the northern section of the route where the enhanced traction power, combined with the implementation of the auto-transformer overhead line upgrade, gives improved ability to climb gradients and to accelerate, thus enabling a better fit between the faster passenger trains on the route. Some commercial factors work against the operation of electrically hauled freight trains yet overall network capacity and performance is improved by their use on such congested mixed-traffic lines. 57

60 A southbound electrically hauled freight train is shown waiting in the loop track just south of Penrith. The running time of a freight train from this location up the gradient to Shap Summit with such powerful electric traction is materially shorter than that of a diesel hauled freight train. Growth beyond this post-project level could only be accommodated by further lengthening of passenger services or the operation of heavier freight trains with improved traction characteristics. On the northern section of the route, between Preston and Scotland, a major upgrading scheme for the overtaking loops on this predominantly double track section of line would be required to accommodate longer freight trains Train Capacity Consideration is being given by Virgin West Coast to the extension of the Pendolino train formations from 9-car to 10-car. Provision for these longer trains (230m for 10 x 23m vehicles) is part of the Strategy s specification for the route and minimal infrastructure changes should be required for this change, other than in certain maintenance depots. Further Pendolino train extensions would require re-assessment of the network s capability and solutions to some locations with difficult constraints. The project has also provided 12-car platforms (240m for 12 x 20m vehicles) at stations between London and Northampton and this facility will enable commuter growth to be accommodated by the extension of more services from 8 to 12 cars. The project has provided 12-car platforms at all the stations between London and Northampton so that longer trains and traffic growth can be accommodated. 58

61 The route specification has been for new works to be designed to accommodate 775m freight trains, but existing limitations will persist between Preston and Scotland until loop extensions are provided. As the 2003 Strategy explained, the future resignalling of this section of route would be the opportunity to provide such extensions Freight Loading Gauge Freight customers have benefited from the enhanced loading gauge provided by the project and volumes of high-box containers have increased as a result. However the current network has only a very restricted number of routes cleared for such traffics and therefore the value of diversions and alternative routes for perturbation or for route engineering requirements is very restricted. Engineering efficiency can therefore sometimes be less than optimal because of freight traffic requirements and the lack of suitable alternative routes. The West Coast project includes the provision of improved loading gauge for higher gauge freight. Since the routes to Manchester Trafford Park have been cleared, large containers can now be carried on normal container wagons, the total container traffic has grown by some 40% on one busy route and the high gauge containers have grown by some 300%. This photograph shows a tunnel near Macclesfield being renovated and cleared for high gauge containers. The Nuneaton scheme, as described earlier in section 10.7, includes within the design the capacity to add an additional line from the Leicester to Birmingham track over the flyover to the northbound slow line. Should the Felixstowe Peterborough Leicester Nuneaton line be developed for high gauge traffic, this additional line would enable a conflict-free link with the West Coast route to be provided Stafford The 2003 Strategy highlighted that capacity and performance improvements are essential at Stafford to realise the overall potential of the route s capacity and to deliver the high performance targets in the Strategy. Furthermore, the infrastructure in the Stafford area is generally of older design and much of the equipment will shortly fall due for renewal. 59

62 Stafford Area Current Network TO WOLVERHAMPTON & BIRMINGHAM Slow Lines TO CREWE Milford Junction TO RUGBY & LONDON Slow Lines Colwich Junction Fast Lines Whitehouse Junction TO STOKE & MANCHESTER Stafford Station Fast Lines Norton Bridge TO STOKE & MANCHESTER This diagram shows a simplified version of the current network in the Colwich, Stafford and Norton Bridge area. There are numerous conflicts between trains in this area. The most congested sections are shown in red. This diagram illustrates the scale of the problem and the conflicts between the flows in the area between Colwich Junction, Stafford and Norton Bridge. The most frequent conflicts occur between the growing freight traffic travelling from the Rugby and Colwich directions towards the slow lines to Crewe and the Birmingham to Manchester and to Crewe flows on the fast lines. These flows conflict in both directions and as each route is typically traversed five times each hour each way, there is a total of 20 potential conflicts between these flows alone. Other significant conflicts occur at each of the junctions shown in the diagram. While it might be possible to mitigate partially the conflicts by timing trains to pass over the various junctions as parallel moves, there are other complex and congested nodes affecting the timing of services, such as the Manchester Piccadilly area and the Coventry Birmingham Wolverhampton corridors. The signalbox diagram on the left above shows the locations of many of the congested points on the network at Stafford. The right hand picture shows the junction between the slow lines towards London which diverge to the left and the route to Birmingham which curves to the right. This is a busy junction at current traffic levels and the network will become more congested with the 2009 traffic demand on the route. All freight trains to and from the London route clash with the Birmingham to Manchester and Crewe direction passenger trains in both directions at the current junctions in the Stafford area. 60