Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 28th February 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 28th February 2023
Rail services will be disrupted in part of Staffordshire next month while a £2 million track upgrade project is carried out.
An article on the BBC website says almost a mile of track will be replaced through 175-year-old Meir railway tunnel to improve journeys and reliability, Network Rail said.
The track between Longton and Blythe Bridge has not had any major work since 1968 and an “essential upgrade” was required, they added.
The tunnel will close 5 to 12 March and replacement bus services will operate.
Network Rail is aiming to change the way work is delivered on its £1.3 billion Midland Main Line (MML) electrification programme to make cost savings amid continued budget constraints.
An article on New Civil Engineer says minutes from Network Rail’s December board meeting, published on Friday, explain that the programme aims “to change the way electrification was delivered to achieve savings when compared with the CP5 (Control Period 5, 2014-2019) single track kilometre rate”.
The procurement process for the next phase of the MML electrification programme north of Leicester, beyond Corby, to Nottingham and Sheffield was given the green light at the meeting and the search for a contractor began in January of this year.
The chairman of Midlands Connect is today calling for HS2 to be delivered without delay.
An article on the Express and Star website says Sir John Peace will tell Midlands Connect’s annual conference in Birmingham: “Don’t dither, don’t delay, deliver HS2 all the way.”
He says there could be a ‘golden decade of growth and economic prosperity’ if the project is delivered.
The Tyne and Wear Metro took delivery of its first new train this morning. The brand spanking yellow train was a little late in arriving – it was due in December 2022 – but nevertheless it is still a landmark moment for the company.
An article on the Chronicle Live website says it is the first of 46 new Swiss-built, Class 555 trains expected to be delivered. They are reputed to be 15 times more reliable than the current models.
Passengers, though, won’t get to ride on them until later in the year, possibly in the summer, and they will gradually replace the existing fleet one by one after driver training and testing is completed.
Photo credit: Network Rail
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