Footage Released Of East West Rail’s First Commercial Freight Train
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Network Rail.
These four paragraphs give detail to the story.
The inaugural journey was part of a dual first, as it also saw the entry into service of Maritime Transport’s Northampton Gateway Terminal.
This Easter Network Rail completed its work there to join the 35-acre freight facility directly to the West Coast Main Line via the Northampton Loop.
The modern junction design allows freight trains to enter and exit the site at speeds of up to 40mph, which is eight times faster than conventional freight connections.
Clearing the railway junction much faster will significantly improve both passenger and freight journeys – as it reduces the impact on other services running on the main line.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the location of Maritime Transport’s Northampton Gateway Terminal.
Note.
- The red track running diagonally across the bottom half of the map is the West Coast Main Line.
- The orange track running North-South is the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line.
- The blue arrow indicates Northampton station.
- The grey line running diagonally across the map, vaguely parallel to the West Coast Main Line is the M1 Motorway.
- The SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton Gateway is indicated between the Northampton Loop and the M1 Motorway.
This Google Map shows the layout of the logistics park to a larger scale.
Note.
- The Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line running North-South across the map.
- The M1 Motorway running between the North-West and South-East corners of the map.
- Junction 15 is the M1 junction in the South-East corner of the map which connects the logistics park and the A45 to the M1.
- Junction 15A is the M1 junction in the North-West corner of the map which connects the A43 and Northampton services to the M1.
- There is probably space to add more warehouses and other facilities.
The logistics park is well connected to both rail and road.
This second Google Map shows the rail connection to the logistics park in more detail.
From this map, it appears that Network Rail have met their objective outlined in this paragraph of the news item.
The modern junction design allows freight trains to enter and exit the site at speeds of up to 40mph, which is eight times faster than conventional freight connections.
As only freight trains and slower passenger trains use the Northampton Loop, I would expect that freight trains should be able to enter and leave the logistics park with the minimum of disruption to traffic on the Northampton Loop.
The Route Of Yesterday’s Train
These three paragraphs from the Network Rail news item describe the route.
The first commercial freight train has travelled along the East West Rail line as part of its journey into a new strategic rail freight interchange in Northampton.
Shortly after 13:00 yesterday (Monday 16 June) the service* from Didcot came onto the new infrastructure at Oxford, travelling the 35 miles to Milton Keynes to connect with the West Coast Main Line.
It marked the first time East West Rail infrastructure has been used for commercial freight, after many months of signaller training and train driver learning since the £1.2bn railway was completed in October 2024.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the route from Didcot to Milton Keynes.
Note.
Didcot Parkway station is in the South-West corner of the map.
Milton Keynes Central is in the North-East corner of the map and marked with a blue error.
The route is via Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow and Bletchley.
This video shows the train passing Winslow.
East-West Rail: Aylesbury Spur
This map from East West Rail shows the complete route of the East West Railway between Oxford and Cambridge.
Note the spur to Aylesbury, which is shown dotted, which the legend says means it is a Potential Future Section of the EWR.
The papers in the area have different views.
- This article on Bucks Herald is entitled Aylesbury Spur Excluded From Government’s Latest East West Rail Route Outline.
- This article on Buckinghamshire Live is entitled East West Rail Aylesbury ‘Spur’ Plans Remain On The Table As Route Announced For £5bn Project.
So what do I feel about the Aylesbury Spur?
Train Services
In the Wikipedia entry for the East West Railway, it is stated that there will be an hourly service between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes Central stations, that would call at Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Winslow and Bletchley.
Wikipedia also states that there will be no Marylebone and Milton Keynes or Aylesbury and Manchester Piccadilly services.
I am surprised that a Marylebone and Milton Keynes service is ruled out, for these reasons.
- A Marylebone and Milton Keynes service would give Winslow a direct service to London.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway has an hourly service from Marylebone, which could be extended to Milton Keynes Central to create the service.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Marylebone have as many as three trains per hour (tph) in the Peak. Does this make timetabling of an hourly Marylebone and Milton Keynes service difficult?
The Wikipedia entry for Aylesbury Vale Parkway, says this about a Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway service.
It was proposed that, if services are extended to the north, trains between Milton Keynes Central and Marylebone would run via High Wycombe and not Amersham.
This dates from 2012.
But.
- There may be troubles with the timings of a Marylebone and Milton Keynes service between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Milton Keynes.
- A separate Aylesbury and Milton Keynes service would give a half-hourly service between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Aylesbury, whereas an extended service only gives the current hourly service.
This Google Map shows Aylesbury Vale Parkway station.
Note.
- The station only has a single bay platform.
- It appears that there is a step-free walk between the car park and the platform.
- There is no bridge or need for one.
- There is a single through line at the station on the opposite side to the car park, which is mainly used by trains going to the landfill at Calvert.
It looks from this map, that if the single platform were widened to an island platform, that both terminating and through trains could call in the station.
Perhaps though the modifications at Aylesbury Vale Parkway are too complicated or expensive?
The ruling out of the Aylesbury and Manchester Piccadilly service is probably easier to understand.
Consider.
- Milton Keynes Central will have a two tph service to Oxford and was planned to have an hourly service from Aylesbury.
- Milton Keynes Central has an hourly Avanti West Coast service to Manchester Piccadilly via Rugby, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport.
- Milton Keynes Central has an hourly Avanti West Coast service to Liverpool Lime Street via Crewe and Runcorn.
- Milton Keynes Central has a two-hourly Avanti West Coast service to Edinburgh Waverley via Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Penrith, Carlisle, Haymarket
- Milton Keynes Central has a two-hourly Avanti West Coast service to Preston via Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western. Five trains per day (tpd) are extended to Glasgow and two tpd are extended to Blackpool North.
Note.
- A train running between Aylesbury and Manchester Piccadilly would probably need to be a 125 mph electric train, which would mean electrifying the East West Railway.
- A change at Milton Keynes Central would give access to trains for nearly all North-West England and Southern Scotland.
But because of all the connectivity at Milton Keynes Central, it surely puts pressure on providing an Aylesbury and Milton Keynes Central service.
The Track
It is possible to follow the track North from Aylesbury Vale Parkway until it joins the East West Railway to the West of Winsford station.
This Google Map shows the junction, just North of the hamlet of Calvert..
Note.
- The East West Railway going across the top of the map.
- The single track railway to Aylesbury Vale Parkway coming North and then turning East to join the East West Railway.
- The railway from Aylesbury Vale Parkway is still used by trains taking landfill.
The Wikipedia entry for Calvert, says this about the landfill site.
Another of the clay pits is now a landfill site. Waste is collected from Bristol, Bath and London each day and transported using rail via Aylesbury to Calvert. The site has a power station capable of producing 14 MWe of electricity from landfill gas, coming from the decomposition of organic matter to convert it into renewable electricity MW.
Looking at the map and the traffic on Real Time Trains, it would appear that there would be enough capacity for both the freight and an hourly passenger train between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
There is also the slight problem, that High Speed Two will be going through the area, as this map shows.
Note.
- High Speed Two is shown in yellow (cutting) and embankment (red).
- High Speed Two appears to run either on the same route or alongside the route to Aylesbury.
- The East West Railway goes across the top of thye map.
- The chord that connects the Aylesbury Spur to the East West Railway can clearly be seen.
- The Aylesbury Spur will run along the same route as High Speed Two.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway will be just off the South-East corner of the map.
This page on the High Speed Two web site is entitled Boost for Oxford-Cambridge Connections As HS2 Builds Key East West Rail Bridge, describes the installation of a bridge to take the East West Railway goes over High Speed Two.
This picture is from High Speed Two.
As the landfill at Calvert will still need to be filled, I suspect that High Speed Two will leave the route between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and the East West Railway as a fully-serviceable railway, when they tidy up and leave this section of their route.
It looks to me, that once these tasks are complete.
- High Speed Two relay all the tracks between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and the East West Railway.
- The junction between the Aylesbury Spur and the East West Railway is completed.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway station is updated.
The Aylesbury Spur as needed by the East West Railway to run passenger services between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes Central could be complete.
And all because of High Speed Two and a landfill site.
Conclusion
I am drawn to the conclusion, that the Aylesbury Spur would not be a difficult railway to build and because it links to the important interchange station at Milton Keynes Central, it could be delivered soon after High Speed Two are finished in the area.
It also appears that Avanti West Coast have already aligned their services with the East West Railway.
The New Winslow Station Site
This Google Map shows the site of the new Winslow station, on the East West Railway.
Note.
- The line from north of Wolvercote Tunnel (just north of Oxford) through Bicester to Bletchley would be enabled for 100 mph (160 km/h) double-track running.
- There will be two platforms at Winslow station.
- The station is planned to open in 2024.
Services at the station are likely to be.
- Two tph – Oxford and Milton Keynes via Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow and Bletchley
- One tph – Oxford and Bedford via Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow, Bletchley, Woburn Sands and Ridgmont
Note.
- tph is trains per hour.
- It appears the current Bedford and Bletchley service will continue.
It looks like the one tph service between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes via Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Winslow, Bletchley has been deferred indefinitely.
Consider.
- Building a single track railway between Aylesbury Vale Parkway station and Claydon Junction on the East West Railway can’t be that challenging or expensive.
- A single track railway should be able to handle the required train service of up to two tph at Aylesbury Vale Parkway station and occasional freight trains.
It doesn’t look too difficult or costly. So why? The only valid reason I can think of is that High Speed Two doesn’t want it for some reason.
Platform Construction Underway At Winslow On New East West Railway
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Rail Advent.
This picture from Network Rail shows the Winslow station construction site.
This paragraph from the Rail Advent article describes the operation.
A 250 tonne crawler crane is being used to lift over 500 pre-cast concrete platform units into position within new railway cutting. As there is limited space available on site, a smartphone app has been developed to allow the platform units to be called for delivery in the exact construction sequence. The crane’ ‘lattice boom’ is 62-metres long , which is taller than Nelson’s Column.
That all sounds like good project management to me.
Then And Now: Winslow’s Transformation Over The Years As New Train Station Construction Continues
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Buckinghamshire Live.
Very little has been heard about progress at Winslow station on East West Rail and the article fills in a lot of gaps.
- Interesting to see, that the board at the station still shows the link to Aylesbury.
- The article says that the station should be finished by 2023.
- Work has definitely started on the station.
It does seem that this important rail link is well and truly underway.
Sometimes You Win Slow
Announcements on the East West Rail Link, haven’t exactly come thick and fast, the last one being the route of the section between Bedford and Cambridge, that I talked about in Is Cambridge University Being Pragmatic About The East West Rail Link?, was published in March 2016.
This article on Mix96 is entitled Winslow’s Station Is One Step Closer.
This is said.
Now a station for the town is one step nearer as Bucks County Council has paid £900,000 for a site to build it.
That looks like nine hundred thousand small steps to me.
Winslow station is to be built to the North-West of the town and this Google Map shows the location.
Winslow Station Site
The lower black scar contains a rusty single-track and is all that remains of the original Varsity Line
When open the station will have two services.
- London Marylebone to Milton Keynes Central via Aylesbury, Winslow and Bletchley
- Reading-to Bedford via Oxford, Winslow, Bletchley and possibly Milton Keynes Central.
Wikipedia talks about opening one train per hour on both services in 2019.
The Anonymous Widower 