The Anonymous Widower

A Two Hundred Million Pound Railway Project Of Which You’ve Probably Not Heard

The West Coast Main Line doesn’t have the capacity it needs to speed passengers between London and Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster and Glasgow.

A few miles north of Stafford is Norton Bridge Junction, which has been likened in the July issue of Modern Railways as a set of traffic lights on the M6.

So a £200 million pound project has been commenced to remodel the junction. This map from Network Rail shows the lines through the area.

Norton Bridge Junction

Note the proposed new lines shown in orange. This Google Map shows the junction in detail.

Norton Bridge Junction

It would appear that construction has started, which the images in Modern Railways confirm. There is also a Youtube video, which shows a simulation of the junction.

One of the most interesting things about this project is that it is being implemented by the Staffordshire Alliance, which is an alliance of four major consultancies and construction companies. The structure has been borrowed from Australia, where it is called the Pure Alliance Model. This page on the Laing O’Rourke web site gives more details on how it works.

A detailed explanation is given in this article in Rail Engineer.

Let’s hope it works, as Network Rail needs all the good news it can get.

The outcome, when the project is finished in 2017 are stated in Modern Railways as being.

• Two additional fast services per hour between London and the North West; one to Liverpool and one to Lancaster and Glasgow.
• An additional Birmingham to Manchester service.
• An additional freight service.

These unpublicised projects are opening up new paths on Britain’s railways.

For me, it will mean that there will be more train services from London to Liverpool, Preston and Glasgow.

June 27, 2015 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Trains