Around 250 people from West Midlands Fire Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service, British Transport Police, West Midlands Police, West Midlands Railway and Network Rail participated in emergency rescue training within the tunnel at Sutton Coldfield station on March 16. A train provided by Rail Operations Group, was ‘dressed’ as if it had struck a fallen tree that had brought down the overhead wires.
Writing on X on March 21, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said the working group he and his Greater Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham set up at the end of last year to evaluate rail capacity enhancement options in the Birmingham – Manchester corridor had reached a ‘preliminary conclusion’. Street suggested this was focused on construction of a new line between the HS2-West Coast Main Line junction at Handsacre near Lichfield and Manchester, which would be funded through a ‘French-style’ PPP model and built ‘to lower speeds’ than those assumed for Phase 2a of HS2 cancelled last October. More details would be released ‘in the summer’, he added.
Capel CS Ltd has been contracted by Greater Anglia to lead refurbishment works for the main canopy at Lowestoft station. The project aims to enhance both the structural integrity and aesthetic appeal of the canopy.
Porterbrook has appointed Andy Bagguley as Fleet Services Director with effect from June 3. He joins from East West Rail Co. Neil Foster has taken up the position of Engineering Director within Porterbrook.
Network Rail has officially opened a footbridge with lifts built by contractor Bam Nuttall to make Dawlish station fully accessible. The bridge is made up of 42 precast concrete units, protected from the elements on the seaward side by a 1 m thick shield wall. Network Rail has also improved the stepping distance to trains by reconstructing the seaward platform, and contractor Sisk is to bring a waiting room on the seaward platform back into use by Easter.