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Thank you for a fascinating and informative video. Amazing to see the new Winslow station, arisen from what I remember as a muddy field more than five years ago; appreciate your hard work - and the EXCELLENT graphics which support your presentation. "generic, modern, off-the-shelf rail structure" (2:23) should be exactly what is needed - design, test, prove, knock out in the dozens... "Build to the cost" (get it opened) and the future can always invest further... Roll on 2025!
Glad you found it informative 🙂. "Off the shelf" is good for standardisation and should mean cheaper stations, but it still surprises me how a basic new 2 platform station costs £20m as a minimum.
The HS2 fiasco should have been a fast electrified express railway with passing loop stations to ease the burden on the Euston Line with fares at affordable prices. All we will have is a truncated massively costly rich persons toy train as a political showpiece now gone very wrong.
@@sirjohng1 Hmm - that is whatt PUG1 and PUG2, two decades ago, achieved for a cost (sunk) of about £16million. But now, the bottom half of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) is stuffed again. It is time for ag reat leap forward. On the positive side, at least HSR will get into Staffordshire, after Sunak's myopic decision. We need a big capacity increase - tinkering is done and gone.
Glad to see it going well, even if non-electrification is still a disappointment. Hopefully this progress will extend to the Bedford - Cambridge section in the future.
Network Rail have an order for electrification schemes. They still haven't run wires into Bath/Bristol yet (despite the promise 15 years ago!) and GWML-Oxford is on hold until some work is done around the station.😊
Have you seen the route EWR have come up with they want to put two extra lines through Bedford mainline station head north for a mile or so then head east total madness, Bedford to Cambridge will more dogs leg's than Battersea dogs home,@@Rail_Focus
Glad this is being done but I find it infuriating and that brand new track is being laid without wires. Utter madness, especially when we're already so far behind on electrification compared to our neighbours.
@Jack_WarnerEven if you discount the climate change factor (which is a very real problem), electrified rail is more efficient, faster accelerating, more reliable and cheaper long term. There is a reason most of the world is electrifying their rails (even countries like India and china that don’t really care about climate change).
And if they ever do that, there might be fewer empty stock 387 moves from Didcot to Swindon, if they could be stabled at Oxford overnight; who knows? @@andrewlong6438
@@IndigoEagle78 There are also distinct reasons why the North American network is not electrifying. It doesn't really seem worth it for a relatively lightly used line such as EWR at this stage
My flabber is gasted that this isn’t being electrified from the outset - nevertheless, it’s good to see that things are moving on - hopefully I can travel on it one day!
Cheap and as nasty as possible is the treasury point of view on everything, they know they will be retired either by the time the bill comes in to replace and upgrade it decades earlier than if they done it properly in the first place or it collapse on someone head, which is a bloody miracle that hasn't to one of our schools or hospitals yet. @@Rail_Focus
@@DavidKnowles0 Or, perhaps, electrification would sink the project's cost-benefit rating, and the treasury aren't the villains people crying on the internet make them out to be
@@andrewreynolds4949 They certainly are, even other ministers have called them out for thinking solely about the cost of everything and never thinking about improvement in people lives.
How exciting. New stations look more and more like they're from a Hornby catalog but I can't argue with new stations being built and reopening of old lines. Also, did you call that station Wilmslow instead of Winslow? 2:01
Have you considered giving us an update of progress at the Oxford station upgrade. I recall this being necessary to handle the additional trains from Milton Keynes.
The status of the Bedford Cambridge section is concerning. With all this talk of Government cost cutting I can see it being cancelled or scaled back. Even the Bletchley Bedford upgrade isn't certain at this stage.
Universal studios purchase of stewartby former brick works for its first European theme park with the potential million plus visitors each year may be an incentive?
@Rail_Focus Respectively disagree. Can't be another HS2. Lots of housing going on for example as well, plus the Cambridge South science park. Just hope this section is not delayed and they move quicker overall. Thanks for the informative videos!
Not yet, fairly certain the only tracks are the EWR tracks. The contract hasn't yet been signed for the slab track, so no HS2 rails will be laid until next year at the earliest.
And still no connection to Aylesbury, even though most of the infrastructure is already there and would only require some re-widening in places What a waste of the potential of some much needed traffic relief on both the A41 Bicester Road and the A413 Buckingham Road. To be able to travel by train direct to and from Aylesbury to both Oxford and Milton Keynes would be a Godsend.
Speaking as a resident of Aylesbury the fact that they are not doing this is deeply disapointing. There seems to have been a failure to understand the benifits such a connection would have for both passenger and maybe even freight. That being said HS2 is going to be on a part of the old GC alignment which maybe part of the reason we are not seeing this connection.
The lack of Aylesbury connection is frustrating. Trying to get from the North to Aylesbury by rail is impossible without travelling to London, which makes it more expensive. HS2 will have done most of the hard work and left space for the link so it'd be relatively cheap to lay the track.
have you considered providing an update on work at Oxford station. I understand this forms part of the project to have trains running from Milton Keynes.
Shame it takes so long to deliver rail in the UK. Its not on schedule if you change the schedule multiple times, was the scope reduced too? No aylesbury link? I think the consultation phase took longer than the build?
Still no confirmation of the Aylesbury link unfortunately. HS2 will have done most of the hard work and left space for the link, but the DfT hasn't provided funding yet.
It really is bonkers how against electrification the British government is. The overall cost of East West Rail (after the electrification is retrofitted) is now going to be higher. And it's going to take more time to get the electrification in. So that is going to slow down the electrification of other railways around Britain. A railway line that is not actually open, is an open goal for additional engineering, as you don't have to appease public opposition to closures on something that is not yet open. And ultimately, if we are going to have electrified rail freight, we need to have an entire network of overhead electrification. So it's really important that we do not have gaps that force freight trains to use diesel traction for the entire journey. I saw a TV show on Marlybone Station and local people were complaining about the diesel pollution it causes. A couple of MPs were interviewed and they were both talking about "How to get rid of diesel trains, without putting in overhead electrification" instead of saying that "Overhead electrification should be installed on all the railway lines that feed into Marylebone. And the lines into Marylebone all cross the East West Rail route. Clearly the entire area is blighted and needs work.
I don't think it was a case of being opposed to electrification, but ensuring the line was deliverable. Unfortunately that does seem potentially more cost down the line, but for the time being it's more important that the line reopens and services commence ASAP
All in all it's great to see projects like this going on as they seem to be a lot better then corporatist, big government vanity projects like HS2 (In my view, anyway). However, as an almost life-long Bicester resident I just wish that my local station's name wasn't changed from Bicester Town. (Although I still refer to it as such) Chiltern Railways claimed that they conducted a survey on what to call the rebuilt station but neither I no anyone I know knew anything about any survey, and we reckon that they did it just to please the nearby hoyty toyty designer outlet that bares that name and get more tourists on their trains instead of commuters!
EWR is 'a bit' like HS2 going East to West rather than North to South just with more stops. Hopefully it won't be too much over budget and will not negatively impact on the surrounding areas too much.
A Blind Eye to Soaring Costs The NAO’s conclusions about EWR are negative, even without recognising the full effect of inflation on project costs. The estimated cost to completion of the EWR CS1 section (Bicester to Bletchley) is now £1.24 billion. This is 63% higher than the original 2020 cost. The NAO makes no comment on this overspend. The estimated cost for the EWR CS2/3 sections (Bletchley to Bedford and Bedford to Cambridge) have been updated from 2010 to Q2 2021 and exclude a 20% rise in infrastructure inflation that has since occurred[vi]. The NAO and DfT have not included this recent inflation increase. EWR will have to be electrified and the NAO points out that an additional £1 billion needs to be added to the quoted construction cost for this.Local Representatives including MPs, parliamentary candidates , district, borough and county councillors parish councils and environmental and other campaign groups, have signed the declaration of opposition to the proposals for the East West Rail between Bedford and Cambridge. The final route together with some implications of its business case were announced by East West Rail Company in May this year.
Yet in Wales it is still not possible to travel from North to South without travelling outside of the country and also in Northern England the fabled East West upgrade has yet to enter the planning stage. In addition the Waverley Line has yet to reach Carlisle from Edinburgh. Great how the English southern shires get the cash
You can't really compare reopening a relatively straight and flat line with trying to create a N-S route through mountainous rural Wales. I had to travel through Wales to get to Birmingham. Did it bother me? No. But then again I don't really see a boundary separating me from my Welsh neighbours.
@@grangetowncardiff6935 i never said he was any better lmao. caerdydd is quite a ways from where i am but what ive seen of it its seemingly going to be a huge step forward for the south. will definitely be travelling down once the tram-trains are in operation. us in the north are still hoping for the capacity increase that we've been promised for too long
Chiltern subleasing 196s is meant to be a temporary move, pending (supposedly) EWR getting its own stock and taking over operations once the line is complete
@@peteregan3862 this is a way to reduce transport cost. Big upfront investment but you get reduced running costs from cheaper energy, less maintainance and longer vehicle lifespan.
It’s a fantastic waste of public money seeing as the line already existed. The new bit is getting rid of the flyover at Bletchley but then again, it is in the South of England and having multiple lines renewed annually is a divine right isn’t it?
Annually? Must be talking about a different railway. The section between Bicester and Bletchley was only single track up until being mothballed in 1993 and was certainly nowhere near the standard required to run multiple trains per hour at 100mph.
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Thank you for a fascinating and informative video. Amazing to see the new Winslow station, arisen from what I remember as a muddy field more than five years ago; appreciate your hard work - and the EXCELLENT graphics which support your presentation. "generic, modern, off-the-shelf rail structure" (2:23) should be exactly what is needed - design, test, prove, knock out in the dozens... "Build to the cost" (get it opened) and the future can always invest further... Roll on 2025!
Glad you found it informative 🙂. "Off the shelf" is good for standardisation and should mean cheaper stations, but it still surprises me how a basic new 2 platform station costs £20m as a minimum.
The HS2 fiasco should have been a fast electrified express railway with passing loop stations to ease the burden on the Euston Line with fares at affordable prices.
All we will have is a truncated massively costly rich persons toy train as a political showpiece now gone very wrong.
@@sirjohng1 Hmm - that is whatt PUG1 and PUG2, two decades ago, achieved for a cost (sunk) of about £16million. But now, the bottom half of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) is stuffed again. It is time for ag reat leap forward. On the positive side, at least HSR will get into Staffordshire, after Sunak's myopic decision. We need a big capacity increase - tinkering is done and gone.
Glad to see it going well, even if non-electrification is still a disappointment. Hopefully this progress will extend to the Bedford - Cambridge section in the future.
Things seem quiet on the Bedford - Cambridge section at the moment, hopefully there will be some sort of annoying soon.
@@Rail_Focus im not as locked in to this as others. any reason as to why no electrification?
Just comes down to cost.
Network Rail have an order for electrification schemes. They still haven't run wires into Bath/Bristol yet (despite the promise 15 years ago!) and GWML-Oxford is on hold until some work is done around the station.😊
Have you seen the route EWR have come up with they want to put two extra lines through Bedford mainline station head north for a mile or so then head east total madness, Bedford to Cambridge will more dogs leg's than Battersea dogs home,@@Rail_Focus
Glad this is being done but I find it infuriating and that brand new track is being laid without wires. Utter madness, especially when we're already so far behind on electrification compared to our neighbours.
The lack of electrification is frustrating
Agreed but the priority ought to be Didcot to Oxford first so GWR can run 387s from Paddington to Oxford.
@Jack_WarnerEven if you discount the climate change factor (which is a very real problem), electrified rail is more efficient, faster accelerating, more reliable and cheaper long term. There is a reason most of the world is electrifying their rails (even countries like India and china that don’t really care about climate change).
And if they ever do that, there might be fewer empty stock 387 moves from Didcot to Swindon, if they could be stabled at Oxford overnight; who knows? @@andrewlong6438
@@IndigoEagle78 There are also distinct reasons why the North American network is not electrifying. It doesn't really seem worth it for a relatively lightly used line such as EWR at this stage
The East West Rail line from Bedford to Cambridge should still be given the go ahead and to pass north of Sandy.
My flabber is gasted that this isn’t being electrified from the outset - nevertheless, it’s good to see that things are moving on - hopefully I can travel on it one day!
DfT / Treasury don't like making things easy. Just want everything value engineered down to the basics
Cheap and as nasty as possible is the treasury point of view on everything, they know they will be retired either by the time the bill comes in to replace and upgrade it decades earlier than if they done it properly in the first place or it collapse on someone head, which is a bloody miracle that hasn't to one of our schools or hospitals yet. @@Rail_Focus
@@DavidKnowles0 Or, perhaps, electrification would sink the project's cost-benefit rating, and the treasury aren't the villains people crying on the internet make them out to be
@@andrewreynolds4949 They certainly are, even other ministers have called them out for thinking solely about the cost of everything and never thinking about improvement in people lives.
HS2 took all the money. We're not getting the link from Aylesbury either.
How exciting. New stations look more and more like they're from a Hornby catalog but I can't argue with new stations being built and reopening of old lines. Also, did you call that station Wilmslow instead of Winslow? 2:01
I did try to say Winslow, but my nose was a bit congested 😅
For a second I thought this was the project in Massachusetts (US). We have a proposed project of the same name
Have you considered giving us an update of progress at the Oxford station upgrade. I recall this being necessary to handle the additional trains from Milton Keynes.
Good to see it opening again, at the time also sad as I often walked this line many years ago.
Nice update, should be a nice route once it opens
Only in the UK. The Bedford to Cambridge section is still not started and will be years away.
The status of the Bedford Cambridge section is concerning. With all this talk of Government cost cutting I can see it being cancelled or scaled back. Even the Bletchley Bedford upgrade isn't certain at this stage.
Universal studios purchase of stewartby former brick works for its first European theme park with the potential million plus visitors each year may be an incentive?
@@worriedlocal That doesn't necessarily help the case for the Cambridge section, though it could get the MV upgrades done if it does draw traffic
@Rail_Focus Respectively disagree. Can't be another HS2. Lots of housing going on for example as well, plus the Cambridge South science park. Just hope this section is not delayed and they move quicker overall. Thanks for the informative videos!
this is very good news - thank you for sharing
Wonderful. That's another route MK can cancel all trains on every other day.
Hopefully not 🤞
They've also laid rails on the HS2 bit of Calvert too, haven't they?
Not yet, fairly certain the only tracks are the EWR tracks. The contract hasn't yet been signed for the slab track, so no HS2 rails will be laid until next year at the earliest.
And still no connection to Aylesbury, even though most of the infrastructure is already there and would only require some re-widening in places
What a waste of the potential of some much needed traffic relief on both the A41 Bicester Road and the A413 Buckingham Road.
To be able to travel by train direct to and from Aylesbury to both Oxford and Milton Keynes would be a Godsend.
Speaking as a resident of Aylesbury the fact that they are not doing this is deeply disapointing. There seems to have been a failure to understand the benifits such a connection would have for both passenger and maybe even freight.
That being said HS2 is going to be on a part of the old GC alignment which maybe part of the reason we are not seeing this connection.
The lack of Aylesbury connection is frustrating. Trying to get from the North to Aylesbury by rail is impossible without travelling to London, which makes it more expensive. HS2 will have done most of the hard work and left space for the link so it'd be relatively cheap to lay the track.
In fact HS2 will be leaving passive provision for a link, rather than making it more difficult, the work HS2 are doing will make it easier.
have you considered providing an update on work at Oxford station. I understand this forms part of the project to have trains running from Milton Keynes.
I have, but haven't been able to get over that unfortunately
Shame it takes so long to deliver rail in the UK. Its not on schedule if you change the schedule multiple times, was the scope reduced too? No aylesbury link? I think the consultation phase took longer than the build?
Still no confirmation of the Aylesbury link unfortunately. HS2 will have done most of the hard work and left space for the link, but the DfT hasn't provided funding yet.
Aylesbury has essentially been put off for the future
@@andrewreynolds4949much to the annoyance of all in Aylesbury. The link was promised at the planning stage.
Will they be added more platforms at Milton Keynes for east west rail?
Don't think there are any plans to. Still looks like there's a south facing bay platform which they could use.
Please go back to Curzon St if you get a chance it's really kicking off.
Tomorrow 😉
4 car you're optomistic, likely be 2 car sets running
To begin with possibly. But the standard for EWR is supposed to be 4 car sets.
It really is bonkers how against electrification the British government is. The overall cost of East West Rail (after the electrification is retrofitted) is now going to be higher. And it's going to take more time to get the electrification in. So that is going to slow down the electrification of other railways around Britain. A railway line that is not actually open, is an open goal for additional engineering, as you don't have to appease public opposition to closures on something that is not yet open.
And ultimately, if we are going to have electrified rail freight, we need to have an entire network of overhead electrification. So it's really important that we do not have gaps that force freight trains to use diesel traction for the entire journey.
I saw a TV show on Marlybone Station and local people were complaining about the diesel pollution it causes. A couple of MPs were interviewed and they were both talking about "How to get rid of diesel trains, without putting in overhead electrification" instead of saying that "Overhead electrification should be installed on all the railway lines that feed into Marylebone. And the lines into Marylebone all cross the East West Rail route. Clearly the entire area is blighted and needs work.
I don't think it was a case of being opposed to electrification, but ensuring the line was deliverable. Unfortunately that does seem potentially more cost down the line, but for the time being it's more important that the line reopens and services commence ASAP
Not sure of the relevance of a train arriving at Shrewsbury from Birmingham has to do with EW rail?
More about the Class 196, than station. Unfortunately I don't have footage of cl196s operating on EWR yet
Why shots from Shrewsbury?😊
Only footage of a Class 196 I had 😁😀
East -West Rail Link. I don’t see much “East”.
It's being built in stages ua-cam.com/video/8KLm_TT3dTw/v-deo.html
Note that the car park at Winslow station is going to be multi level.
Saw that recently, I hadn't realised
Looks good, only missing is the OLE.
Cheapskates.
Still surprise this is a diesel line rather than a electrical line.
All in all it's great to see projects like this going on as they seem to be a lot better then corporatist, big government vanity projects like HS2 (In my view, anyway).
However, as an almost life-long Bicester resident I just wish that my local station's name wasn't changed from Bicester Town. (Although I still refer to it as such) Chiltern Railways claimed that they conducted a survey on what to call the rebuilt station but neither I no anyone I know knew anything about any survey, and we reckon that they did it just to please the nearby hoyty toyty designer outlet that bares that name and get more tourists on their trains instead of commuters!
EWR is 'a bit' like HS2 going East to West rather than North to South just with more stops. Hopefully it won't be too much over budget and will not negatively impact on the surrounding areas too much.
@@pc-w8844 EWR isn't like HS2 as it will have station stops along the route whereas HS2 will be London to Birmingham non-stop.
A Blind Eye to Soaring Costs
The NAO’s conclusions about EWR are negative, even without recognising the full effect of inflation on project costs. The estimated cost to completion of the EWR CS1 section (Bicester to Bletchley) is now £1.24 billion. This is 63% higher than the original 2020 cost. The NAO makes no comment on this overspend.
The estimated cost for the EWR CS2/3 sections (Bletchley to Bedford and Bedford to Cambridge) have been updated from 2010 to Q2 2021 and exclude a 20% rise in infrastructure inflation that has since occurred[vi]. The NAO and DfT have not included this recent inflation increase.
EWR will have to be electrified and the NAO points out that an additional £1 billion needs to be added to the quoted construction cost for this.Local Representatives including MPs, parliamentary candidates , district, borough and county councillors parish councils and environmental and other campaign groups, have signed the declaration of opposition to the proposals for the East West Rail between Bedford and Cambridge. The final route together with some implications of its business case were announced by East West Rail Company in May this year.
🙄
Provisional cost without electrification is now £7 billion. Don't be surprised if the rest of EWR is cancelled.
Yet in Wales it is still not possible to travel from North to South without travelling outside of the country and also in Northern England the fabled East West upgrade has yet to enter the planning stage.
In addition the Waverley Line has yet to reach Carlisle from Edinburgh.
Great how the English southern shires get the cash
You can't really compare reopening a relatively straight and flat line with trying to create a N-S route through mountainous rural Wales.
I had to travel through Wales to get to Birmingham. Did it bother me? No. But then again I don't really see a boundary separating me from my Welsh neighbours.
@@Rail_Focus seems the Senedd want it and of course it will link all the main Welsh Universities
very informative diolch! though i dont live anywhere nearby its nice to see atleast some rail work getting work done by our questionable goverment
Come on Boyo, lots of work on Cardiff Metro. But I live miles away now , is it any good? And questionable Govt? How's Drakeford doing!!
@@grangetowncardiff6935 i never said he was any better lmao. caerdydd is quite a ways from where i am but what ive seen of it its seemingly going to be a huge step forward for the south. will definitely be travelling down once the tram-trains are in operation. us in the north are still hoping for the capacity increase that we've been promised for too long
Wait so Chiltern give WMR 171/2s (can’t remember which) and then WMR give Chiltern 196s *visible confusion*
WMR has 172s from Chiltern? It all seems very confusing. I had assumed LNR would operate the route seeing as they operate from Bletchley to Bedford.
@@Rail_Focus Yeah 4 Chiltern 172/1s went to WMR in 2021. I'd thought that too, very odd
Chiltern subleasing 196s is meant to be a temporary move, pending (supposedly) EWR getting its own stock and taking over operations once the line is complete
Closing school hill has produced a lot of problems for me now long way round
🙁
The line should have been electrified before it opens. Whenever someone talks about saving money it always costs more in the long term
Public transport (ie buses) hardly exist in rural areas. No chance of people catching a bus from a village to Winslow.
True, the roads aren't really up to taking buses, even mini buses.
In the future, trains will be bimode on the not so busy lines - battery charged by pantagraph at stations, and overhead lines where available.
Ridicolus. Carring several tons of expensive battery to skimp on a one time investment which severely reduces running costs.
Battery tech will have its place, but electrification is always preferable.
Could try clockwork 😂
@@Rail_Focus UK GDP is stagnant. The population is aging. Transport costs need to fall
@@peteregan3862 this is a way to reduce transport cost. Big upfront investment but you get reduced running costs from cheaper energy, less maintainance and longer vehicle lifespan.
This section originally due to open 2017.
Pity nobody can afford to use trains.
Well, that's clearly untrue 🙄. Yes rail travel should be cheaper, but not investing in rail won't help achieve that.
Winslow, not Wilmslow
I definitely didn't say Wilmslow, although I have a deviated septum, so maybe the enunciation wasn't good enough for you 🙃
IT will never be built to BEDFORD,NOR TO CAMBRIDGE.
OKAY, you've shouted that twice now, that's quite enough.
What a disparaging comment of Winslow station. Just criticize, why don't ya?
🤷
It’s a fantastic waste of public money seeing as the line already existed. The new bit is getting rid of the flyover at Bletchley but then again, it is in the South of England and having multiple lines renewed annually is a divine right isn’t it?
Not totally true, lots of the track had been stolen over the years....guessing by the caravan lot 🙄
Annually? Must be talking about a different railway. The section between Bicester and Bletchley was only single track up until being mothballed in 1993 and was certainly nowhere near the standard required to run multiple trains per hour at 100mph.