Posted 25th November 2010 | 7 Comments
BREAKING NEWS: £8bn rail investment goes ahead
Class 319s can now be cascaded from Thameslink, where they have been in service since 1988
THE government has confirmed this morning that it's going ahead with new rolling stock orders and electrification worth £8 billion, including 2,100 new vehicles for Thameslink, Crossrail and other operators.
The transport secretary Philip Hammond is authorising 1,200 vehicles for Thameslink and the infrastructure upgrade of their route across central London, at a cost of £6 billion.
He has also confirmed the already-announced electrification of the 'north west triangle', and electrification of the Great Western Main Line between London and Oxford and Newbury. This route had already been set to be electrified as far as Maidenhead as part of the Crossrail programme.
However, the Intercity Express Programme remains undecided, although the Department said it had evaluated possible alternatives to the original IEP proposal and is now concentrating on two options.
These are a revised bid from Agility Trains, the consortium led by Hitachi, and an alternative for a fleet of all-electric trains which could be hauled by new diesel locomotives where there are no overhead wires.
The 1,200 new Thameslink vehicles which have been confirmed today will allow the existing Thameslink Class 319 fleet to be cascaded to Great Western as well as newly-electrified lines in the north west, which had already been included in the Chancellor's Comprehensive Spending Review, but the new Thameslink fleet will not be delivered in full until 2019.
The DfT said it was currently considering bids to build the Thameslink fleet from two consortia led by Siemens and Bombardier. An announcement about the choice of preferred bidder will be made in the spring.
Of the remaining vehicles, 300 will be allocated to train operators. But it's not yet clear which franchises will have their fleets enlarged.
The announcement will cause disappointment in the East Midlands, where there had been hopes that the Midland Main Line would be electrified between Bedford and Sheffield.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Scott, Sheffield
Why is it that every time there is money to spend on public transport, 50% of is seems to end up on projects in or for London the other 50% had to be split around the rest of the country?
Patrick, London, England
Some progress. Disappointed that more electrification was not announced. I hope that the "2,100 new vehicles" will actually be NEW vehicles and that number does not include existing vehicles which will be cascaded to other operators.
"However, the Intercity Express Programme remains undecided" Come on guys at the DfT, you've been "deciding" for years. Make your minds up!
John Gilbert, Cradley
1. Fares up now; modernisation in nine years!!!! Typical of British politicians/civil servants!!
2. Get the Voyagers/Meridians converted to bi-mode trains with an inserted pantograph/transformer car NOW; this running of diesel trains under electric wires is utterly ridiculous....and, I'm afraid, so British...or should I say so English - because it isn't happening in Scotland! Why are we so endlessly stupid; is it the weather, or the calibre of our policicians?
rav, West Mids
well its been a long time coming, perhaps Bombardier Derby will be granted a new lease of life, no TMSL would have been the final nail in its coffin, then again Siemens are quite agressive on the EMU front, Alstom is out, so its a 2 horse race, lets see.
IEP still remains a good old fashioned British cock up though, i hear that the Japs have sent the entire bid tea back to home and are looking for reimbursement from the UK Govt to the tune of £100mill.
Lets see what happens, but we have heard all this before.
PS - Both IEP and TMSL link were to be funded by the private sector, so I still dont understand the reason for the delay !!
Doug Smith, Glasgow, Scotland
I would say go for the electric trains with the diesel locomotives. There are far too many diesel trains running under the wires at the moment. This would also rid us of the dreadful (for a train) experience of putting up with underfloor diesel engines for long journeys with their constant revving up and down. Also the USA are importing TRAXX locomotives that are both electric and diesel in a modern package.
Rob, Derby, UK
"The DfT said it was currently considering bids to build the Thameslink fleet from two consortia led by Siemens and Bombardier. An announcement about the choice of preferred bidder will be made in the spring."
SPRING? They have had these bids for about a year. They still cannot make a decision!
They do not seem to realise that announcements are not enough, they actually have to place an order, or no-one will build anything!
william mckinlay, stirling, scotland
I thought , 'this investment must be a missprint ' That great financial 'guru of the 1980's Maggie Thatcher decreed-- 'nationalisation---Bad ' 'privatisation--Good ' ! Since then , our hands have never been out of our pocket ! Could it be that the 'great one' got it wrong ,. just like most other things that she and her greedy cronies meddled in! When are we going to get it right as a nation ?
If it looks like ----- ! and smells like ----- , it probably is !!