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Post by revupminster on Feb 11, 2014 13:44:40 GMT
South West News reporting: Network Rail preferred route via Okehampton. Plymouth City Council prefer inland route behind Teignmouth and Dawlish. Prime Minister: All options will be explored.
The coastbound platform at Dawlish is still there. Where the wall has washed away there are concrete blocks with men and machines working behind. The missing roadway between the track and houses has plastic covering over it.
They are not concrete blocks but containers with a holes banged in the roofs they are filling with sand from the old foundations of the trackbed.
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Post by railtechnician on Feb 11, 2014 20:17:21 GMT
Better still, ditch HS2 altogether, think of the future and build underground rail routes. My understanding is that the geography is and always has been a big problem. A couple of double track tunnels between the existing routes would be a better use of £taxpayers billions. Right now if I were Network Rail I wouldn't be worrying about the coastal route because sooner or later it will probably all be washed away. We have had a permanent change of climate in recent decades and I doubt that it will be any better in future years than it is now, better to start again. I heard on the news that NR are bringing resources from all over the UK to the affected area. One has to wonder at what cost and what knock-on effect it will have elsewhere as the system is squeezed to achieve it. HS2 is a waste of money, if I were going to spend what it is estimated to cost to build at present I'd be hiring tunnellers and TBMs and making it an Underground line serving the whole island! i thought this last post was meant to be posted on april first! eye,put it all in tunnels,and we can all drwn as the tunnels flood!! wonder if the likes of france,spain,germany,japan,and even the usa,had all these wingers when heir high speed route were put foward. just to think,if we had these people when railways were first laid in the uk,we would never have had the west coast,east coast,western and other main lines in the uk.in france,the tgv lines have all but decimated the air france internal routes. I guess you've never heard of the channel tunnel, or the high speed undersea route between islands of Japan, funnily enough even though underwater 365/24/7 they don't flood. Parts of the London Underground have flooded and will continue to be at risk of flooding but it is predominantly 100 years or more old. Modern civil engineering is far superior in many ways including keeping water out. There is much to be said for putting all railways underground leaving the surface for road transport. Admittedly the initial outlay is much higher on a purely engineering build basis but fortunes would be saved by not having to buy up vast amounts of land, waste £billions on endless public enquiries and NIMBYism etc. There would be no 'leaves on the line' or other 'weather' excuses for poor performance and lines could be built with few curves allowing much faster routes. Four tracking everywhere could guarantee 24/7 service without affecting services during mandatory line maintenance. One could leave the existing railways to preservationists, there is much heritage still worth preserving. Why waste money destroying heritage in the name of progress when there is a much better alternative worth proper investment for future generations travel. I'm sure most rail users would like to travel in comfort on every journey and pay a reasonable price for the privilege but that will never be possible on the existing network, it simply isn't fit for purpose. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 7:51:57 GMT
2. Class 159s have lower acceleration than HSTs Are you sure about that? Most units can out-accelerate any "loco"-hauled train. Yep. All the 158 derivatives are cart horses. They have reasonable acceleration at lower speeds but run out of puff around 50 - 60 mph. |
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Post by phillw48 on Feb 12, 2014 9:05:20 GMT
Just seen the weather forecast, Friday is going to be a bit fraught with strong winds from the south east.
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Post by melikepie on Feb 13, 2014 1:10:21 GMT
www.yourlocalweb.co.uk/devon/riverside/pictures/popup-4130367-tamar-road-bridge-and-gunnislake-branch-line/This is the LSWR line at the point it passes under the Saltash bridges - photo probably taken from Brunel's bridge - showing that it is set back a little way from the shoreline, and some way above it. Although a cliff fall could do for it, it is probably far enough up the estuary to avoid a pounding from the waves anything like as serious as what happened at Dawlish. (Note that the sections of the GW route on the Exe and Teign estuaries have suffered relatively little damage). although re-opening through to Exeter would be "nice to have" I can't see it happening until the GW route is beyond repair: - apart from the cost of restoring the route to main line standards, Torbay could only be served via Okehampton, Plymouth and Newton Abbott (reverse)! Around the munitions depot it looks right on the river. |
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Post by revupminster on Feb 13, 2014 11:53:20 GMT
Plymouth want regular 3 hour journey times which they will not get via Okehampton. They want the inland route planned 80 years ago behind Dawlish and Teignmouth. I would leave the coastal route for local trains and Paignton starters to London and the North.
80 years is not long for the west country to wait, they have waited 50 years for the Kingerswell bypass to begin building.
To give this thread some relevance to TFL, I was hoping the 2 car diesels on the Barking Gospel Oak route would be cascaded down to Devon although two units would have to be stuck together for the school run from Torre which is packed.
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Post by melikepie on Feb 13, 2014 12:10:33 GMT
Well it also has some relevance as lots of people from the west country use the London Underground this is also an example of problems the UK network (all forms included) is facing with the weather
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Post by revupminster on Feb 17, 2014 13:52:29 GMT
South West news today: Storms on Friday may delay rebuild by another two weeks.
Tonight: Cost of repair £5 million which does not seem much compared with a new route.
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Post by melikepie on Feb 19, 2014 19:42:39 GMT
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Post by motorman on Feb 19, 2014 21:47:05 GMT
BBC News tonight suggests the line now re-opening mid April - just in time for Easter. Will it happen by then?
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Post by bassmike on Feb 20, 2014 15:07:44 GMT
What's Easter got to do with it?
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Post by revupminster on Feb 20, 2014 15:13:37 GMT
What's Easter got to do with it? Easter is the start of the holiday season. Even though most people arrive by car in place like Dawlish and Torbay they use the towns as a base and go out on train trips. The repair work is now up to ten weeks due to the damage caused by last Friday's storm |
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rincew1nd
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Post by rincew1nd on Feb 20, 2014 21:34:32 GMT
For those with Children, Easter is a big holiday, only surpassed by summer.
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Post by bassmike on Feb 21, 2014 11:25:03 GMT
Probably better to do the job thoroughly instead of aiming for popular deadlines
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Post by revupminster on Feb 26, 2014 14:14:28 GMT
Update: Network rail: Opening mid-April so maybe just in time for Easter.
Five inland routes to be explored: The two existing inland rail routes via Oakhampton and Heathfield.
Three new routes behind Dawlish they are calling The Exminster route, The Powderham route, The Dawlish Warren route. The Exminster route would be the furthest inland and all three require tunnelling.
The south West MP's are also threating to withdraw their support for HS2
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 15:16:13 GMT
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Post by melikepie on Feb 26, 2014 19:38:18 GMT
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Post by revupminster on Mar 5, 2014 20:59:14 GMT
Update: Planned to reopen 4 April 2014
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Post by revupminster on Mar 19, 2014 18:54:40 GMT
Update: New platforms at Dawlish. First ballast train into area....BUT... a controlled landslide of the cliff face further along the line, by using water, may need the army to use explosives to clear the unstable cliff face and could delay the 4 April opening.
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Post by Chris M on Mar 19, 2014 23:19:20 GMT
I hope it doesn't as I've got to travel through the area on the 4th!
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Post by phillw48 on Mar 20, 2014 9:01:16 GMT
It should not effect the opening date, best to follow the thread on RMweb, posts on there from two or three people working on the project including one quite senior person.
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Post by revupminster on Mar 20, 2014 10:46:15 GMT
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Post by trt on Apr 2, 2014 17:59:34 GMT
Check out The One Show in a few minutes tonight...
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Post by stuartroy on Apr 4, 2014 8:15:43 GMT
What the team of engineers has achieved in such a short time is truly amazing. Just shows what can be done when the political will is there.
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Post by revupminster on Apr 4, 2014 13:59:16 GMT
Dawlish cost 15 million to repair and 35 million in total for the rest of the line that they claim will last generations. A new inland route 200/300 million. Will there be the political will to build that? I do not think so.
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Post by Chris W on Apr 4, 2014 20:58:19 GMT
What the team of engineers has achieved in such a short time is truly amazing. Just shows what can be done when the political will is there. Indeed.... and the engineers, surveyors and gangs should be congratulated upon their achievements... Sadly they and the residents of Dawlish we're infected by a senior politician today, who it appears to me, is trying to associate himself with the work... whilst the current administration prior to the recent floods, proposed cut backs on flood defence investment. I state this knowing that all parties would behave in the same (IMO despicable) manner !!! |
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Post by grahamhewett on Apr 4, 2014 21:28:16 GMT
@chris W - Ah yes, "Money Is No Object" - you just try getting cash for less spectacular but equally damaging flood protection work, eg here in Surrey.
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Post by Chris M on Apr 5, 2014 7:41:22 GMT
I went through Dawlish on a Cross Country HST yesterday early afternoon, and it was clear what a good job has been done. There were lots of people, not just spotters, out watching the trains around Dawlish which was great to see.
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Post by bassmike on Apr 5, 2014 16:02:46 GMT
Re D Cameron strutting around Dawlish saying"Well done chaps"or words to that effect,what else would you expect? I found it cringeworthy watching this. It would be different if he had actually done something there previously. Even prince Harry(or was it William?)lifted up a few sandbags during the flooding although I can't help thinking this was just a publicity stunt. Just the usual appalling muscleing in on the kudos.
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Post by revupminster on Apr 5, 2014 16:08:59 GMT
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