Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 22nd August 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 22nd August 2023
The Department for Transport (DFT) has announced a pipeline of contracts for East West Rail (EWR) and High Speed 2 (HS2), with procurement set to begin in the next few months.
An article from the New Civil Engineer stated that DfT’s spending pipeline (which was released yesterday) includes four contracts for EWR. The first (worth £5m for a year) is for ground investigation works for Connection Stage 1 of the project, between Oxford and Bletchley. A further two contracts, worth £4m each, are for engagement and customer strategy, while the final contract is for the procurement of long-term management consultancy contracts.
Several contracts are also set to be awarded on HS2, which is currently Europe’s largest infrastructure programme. One such contract, worth £10m, calls for parliamentary agents for Phase 2b of the HS2; another, valued at £86m and split into two lots, seeks contractors to provide travel booking services for the DfT group.
Work is now complete on a forty-metre span that will form part of HS2’s Colne Valley Viaduct in West London.
RailAdvent reported that Harefield’s Moorhall Road has reopened after a three-week closure, during which cranes lifted 11 segments into place. Internal steel cabling was used to strengthen the segments, which weigh between 115 and 130 tonnes each.
Construction of the span was brought forward so that it could be carried out during the summer holidays, when traffic would be lighter.
Once complete, Colne Valley Viaduct will run for over two miles, spanning the Grand Union Canal, the River Colne, local roads, a string of lakes, and the beginning of the Chiltern tunnels. Comprising 1000 segments, it will be the UK’s longest railway bridge.
A multidisciplinary team has been appointed to help deliver Dublin’s landmark MetroLink programme.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland appointed the client partner team, which is led by Turner & Townsend and WSP. They will work alongside Mace, O’Conner Sutton Cronin, and PwC.
An article in Specification Online reported that the partners have been appointed to a 13-year framework, with 12 years allocated for development and construction, and a year to making the MetroLink operational.
Once complete, the high-capacity, high-frequency metro railway will run for 18.8km. With 16 new stations between Swords and Charlemont, it is expected to carry up to 50 million passengers every year.
And finally, an old Northern pacer carriage has been given a new lease of life by Airedale Hospital & Community charity.
The charity – which won the retired carriage in DfT’s 2019 ‘Transform a Pacer’ competition – has turned it into a non-clinical space for visitors and patients on the children’s ward.
This transformation was sponsored by Northern, via its customer and community innovation fund. Dubbed the Flying Dalesman, the train now features creative spaces, sensory zones, reading and learning areas, an indoor tree, and a garden courtyard. Children and parents alike can also enjoy sitting in its restored driver’s cab.
Fully accessible and equipped with Wi-Fi, it is expected to support the wellbeing of families for years to come.
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