Week Review ~ 1.Aug.2016

Welcome To The 1st Week Review For August. Some Of This News Also Regards The End Of June/July, Just As We Haven't Reported All Of The Significant Stories Out There Yet! 

GE Focus:

Following on from older posts, I now bring a quick update on Gatwick Express. 387s are the talk of the town, entering service on the corridor. And they have gone elsewhere too, as 387202 has been on loan to TLink whilst one of their 387/1s undergo maintenance.

And what happened to the class 442s and 460s? Well 442s have been going into storage, eventually leaving just of these at GE by Summer. The 460s have been gone a while, dismantled and the internal carriages used to add a coach to SWT 458/5s. The driving cars are at Doncaster still. 

News:

There has been a lot of excellent work by BTP the previous month, including  assistance towards vulnerable individuals. The Head of Suicide Prevention has even been awarded an MBE by her Majesty for his impact.

BTP:

Mark, who lives in Colchester, joined the force in 1981 before retiring in the rank of Chief Superintendent in 2013. His role as a senior investigator saw in him assuming responsibility for the investigation into the Ladbroke Grove train crash (1999) where 31 people died and more than 400 people were injured. He also led the investigation following the Potters Bar train crash (2002) where seven people died and many people were left injured. 

Following his retirement as a police officer, he sought new challenges and took up his current role as Head of Suicide Prevention and Mental Health for BTP.

I'm sure we can all say bravo to the work of Mark; it's good to know public security, safety and welfare is in good hands! A huge credit to BTP and the UK! The full article is here. 

ONGOING. Vital Engineering Works are being undertaken in the Chorley area between Saturday 18 June to 2 October. This allows the track to be lowered, to allow overhead line equipment to be installed and so trains can still operate under bridges.

Before these works can happen an 450m retaining wall has to be installed to support the railway. The track then has to be realigned so that faster trains can pass each other which requires a rebuild of both station platforms

Upcoming Developments:

As reported, GWR were to receive 387/1s (101-129) and a handful of 365s from GTR.

This transfer of the 29 387 + 365 units will now not occur, as 37 4-car extra 387 units are to be built from new at Derby for GWR. 8 of these 37 units are currently being built at Derby, these will still go to GWR with sister units going to C2C.

The first of these units enter service on September 5th, between Hayes + Harlington and London Paddington. Full UK Stock Plans Here. Interior focus of 387130 is here, whilst on the Brighton-Bletchley corridor (apparently for Testing). We reported last week of the unit being built (see here)

Many improvement works in the Glasgow and Edinburgh area have been undertaken by Network Rail. See the following links for individual details:    --- Bridge At Edinburgh Gateway, Connecting The Tram To The Train Network.    --- This New Station Will Open In December 2016.     --- Gourlay St.    --- New Platform 7 At Glasgow Queen Street.    ---Most platforms at the station have been extended to cater for longer trains. Greenhill Electric Substation, to host power to the OHLE. 

The Glasgow Queen Street works conclude this month! More about these renewal works in previous posts, or available here. These upgrades include new signalling (switches/points/proceed-aspects/etc), and generally overhauled tunneling (ballast/base/etc.). This also includes ensuring it can be efficient and safe to meet traffic demand, such as the weight of the trains on the base and a signalling gantry the width of the station.

That's all from me (Harry) for a week and then until 6th September.