East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line

[Nearholmer]

This is what NRE says.

 

 

 

Is there really a restaurant car service on WCML at a dead time on a Sunday afternoon?

Edited July 31, 2022 by Nearholmer

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, RJS1977 said:

 

However IIRC there is a Coventry-Kenilworth-Leamington stopper between the hourly Coventry-Leamington XCs, which in turn connects with the XC services via Solihull which should knock some time off.

 

Can only find two services per day via Solihull and they terminate at Banbury.

 

(Current XC timetable & RTT)

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:SOL/2022-08-01/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt&toc=XC

Edited July 31, 2022 by melmerby

[Mike Storey]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but it is a fascinating cab ride all around Bletchley, including the old flyover, in order to make a stock move during engineering works.

 

 

[RJS1977]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Can only find two services per day via Solihull and they terminate at Banbury.

 

(Current XC timetable & RTT)

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:SOL/2022-08-01/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt&toc=XC

 

Thanks for the update. As I haven't travelled north much since the pandemic, I'd forgotten how much the XC service has been cut back :-(

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Mike Storey said:

Not sure if this has been posted before, but it is a fascinating cab ride all around Bletchley, including the old flyover, in order to make a stock move during engineering works.

 

 

Anyone spot the black rabbit(?) darting right to left at the final signal stop?

[porkie]

Went for a little walk this afternoon, around selbourn cemetery after spotting a orange 66 roof  Infront of my house.

 

[jamie92208]

Point carriers and sleepers. Where will thecpoints be for.  Good to see.

 

Jamie

[corneliuslundie]

But empty so presumably already delivered.

Jonathan

[Rugd1022]

On 01/08/2022 at 06:22, jamie92208 said:

Point carriers and sleepers. Where will thecpoints be for.  Good to see.

 

Jamie

 

I was on that last Thursday and Friday, 6X60....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rugd1022]

[KingEdwardII]

Thats a sharp looking curve to the left beyond the crane in that photo, which surprises me since I thought that much of the line between Bicester and Bletchley was pretty straight.

 

Yours, Mike.

[PeterStiles]

10 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

sharp looking curve

They probably used a bit of Settrack as a placeholder until they measured up properly for the flexi...

[Pete the Elaner]

14 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

Thats a sharp looking curve to the left beyond the crane in that photo, which surprises me since I thought that much of the line between Bicester and Bletchley was pretty straight.

 

Yours, Mike.

 

Looks like we are viewing through quite a long lens, so that foreshortens the view a lot.

 

On another point, they seem to be making good progress with this now. Lots of track is being laid & the station in Bletchley is also starting to look like a station. When will I be able to travel on it?

[Pannier Tank]

15 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

I was on that last Thursday and Friday, 6X60....

 

At a rough guess, that looks like the train was between Selbourne Avenue Bridge and the beginning of the flyover where the old Fletton Sidings Signalbox used to be??  

[Nearholmer]

3 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

Looks like we are viewing through quite a long lens, so that foreshortens the view a lot.

 

Yes, I think we are looking east, with the Brickhills in the background, and the curve being at the Bletchley end of the line, very foreshortened.

[Pannier Tank]

I'm wondering if the Facing Points being installed are for Oxford to Bedford trains to run 'wrong line' into Bletchley elevated Platform and then a simplified junction onto the Bedford Branch. 

[Rugd1022]

2 hours ago, Pannier Tank said:

I'm wondering if the Facing Points being installed are for Oxford to Bedford trains to run 'wrong line' into Bletchley elevated Platform and then a simplified junction onto the Bedford Branch. 

 

Could be, but the chord from the new station on the flyover down towards Fenny Stratford is now double track again. I've been meaning to ask some of the bods on the job about the signalling that's going in, it might be done for b-di running, I'll make a point of asking next time I'm down there.

 

And yes, I took the photo looking back towards Bletchley, hence the apparent sharpness of the curve going up to the flyover 😉

[Pannier Tank]

3 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

And yes, I took the photo looking back towards Bletchley, hence the apparent sharpness of the curve going up to the flyover 😉

 

I was born and bred just a couple hundred yards from that bridge. I spent many an hour there watching the trains go by; Black Fives, 8F's and BR Std 4's, 5's and 9F's etc happy days.

 

p.s  forgot to add D2510 coming home for the weekend having worked all week at Aylesbury.

 

3 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

the chord from the new station on the flyover down towards Fenny Stratford is now double track again.

 

Have they installed a double junction just north of the Bletchley Platforms? 

 

The bridge over the dual carriageway is still single though?

Edited August 3, 2022 by Pannier Tank
additional input

[Mike_Walker]

The Oxford to Bicester section is signalled bi-directionally throughout so it would be natural to presume Bicester to Bletchley will be too.

[melmerby]

10 minutes ago, Mike_Walker said:

The Oxford to Bicester section is signalled bi-directionally throughout so it would be natural to presume Bicester to Bletchley will be too.

Much of the Chiltern Line is as well

[Tony Teague]

14 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

On another point, they seem to be making good progress with this now. Lots of track is being laid & the station in Bletchley is also starting to look like a station. When will I be able to travel on it?

Quite a while yet!

Whilst tracklaying is advanced at the Bletchley end, there remains a gap in the middle where the line crosses HS2, and EWR are not in control of building the bridge crossing - so much depends upon HS2 progress.

Tony

[Davexoc]

39 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

Quite a while yet!

Whilst tracklaying is advanced at the Bletchley end, there remains a gap in the middle where the line crosses HS2, and EWR are not in control of building the bridge crossing - so much depends upon HS2 progress.

 

It must be in their interest to get it done fairly quickly as that is the HS2 infrastructure depot site, sitting alongside and with access to/from the EWR line IIRC....

[Nearholmer]

In cynical mode, it seems that the opening date moves forward a year each year, but now seems to be 2025. EWR are now saying “end of 2024” for completion of construction Bicester to Bletchley (Aylesbury never seems to get mentioned these days), and although I can’t find it now I’m sure I’ve read NR saying “early 2025” for public service. I interpret this to mean handover from test  to trial operations at Christmas 2024, with public service for, say, May 2025.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Pannier Tank]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Aylesbury never seems to get mentioned these days

 

Didn't BoJo once say in PMQ's that "he would look at it" which in layman's terms means  "it ain't gonna happen".

[Mike Storey]

39 minutes ago, Pannier Tank said:

 

Didn't BoJo once say in PMQ's that "he would look at it" which in layman's terms means  "it ain't gonna happen".

 

It is odd. The line is still shown on EWR maps both on EWR's site and NR's site, but is nowhere mentioned in the text. The "Review" promised last Autumn does not appear to have reported yet.