Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 7th April 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 7th April 2022
A proposed £3 billion branch of HS2 linking Crewe and Manchester with the west coast may be scrapped, the transport secretary reportedly told a senior Tory MP.
That’s according to an article in City A.M although the paper says the government insists no decisions have been made about the Golborne Link element of the project, despite claims Grant Shapps privately promised the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, it would be shelved.
The link, which would run through Brady’s constituency of Altrincham and Sale West, wrote to a constituent giving “categorical verbal assurances” it would be removed from a bill going through parliament, the Guardian reported.
The department for Transport told City A.M. no decision has been made, and said it is still included in the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has made several recommendations from its review of how the rail industry responded to the potential safety issues leading to the withdrawal of Hitachi Rail’s Class 800 series trains in May last year.
When cracks were found on the bodyshell of some trains, rigorous safety checks by Hitachi Rail and the train operators impacted were carried out, with oversight from ORR.
Among the recommendations includes the industry conducting further work to identify the reasons for the higher level of fatigue loading experienced by rolling stock, and Hitachi Rail carrying out a formal review of the effectiveness of their processes for welding when the component geometry is more challenging.
Plans have been approved for a new railway station in east Cardiff.
The article in the BBC says Cardiff Parkway railway station will be built on farmland in St Mellons, between Cypress Drive and Heol Las.
It is unclear when construction will start but the station is due to open in 2024.
HS2 has revealed the design of the Thame Valley Viaduct, and said the structure’s pre-fabricated, modular design will cut its carbon footprint by about 66 per cent.
The 880-metre viaduct will cross the flood plain of the River Thame, just outside Aylesbury, and carry HS2 trains travelling at up to 360km/h between London, Birmingham and the North.
Set low into the landscape with a simple and consistent profile, the underside of the viaduct will be just 3m above the ground, with thirty-six 25m spans crossing the river and surrounding wetlands.
Photo credit: HS2 Ltd
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