R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

Route characteristics
DESCRIPTION The route is double track with linespeeds in the range
75–90mph. Capacity of the infrastructure is constrained by three long block
sections: Abergavenny–Pontrilas, Marsh Brook–Dorrington and Prees–Wrenbury.
Route vision
Our vision for this important strategic link between North Wales, Mid Wales and
South Wales is to improve its flexibility and capacity to meet the growing
passenger and freight markets. We also propose to maintain the route’s
competitive edge over road through journey-time reductions, meeting customer
and the Franchising Director expectations.
All main users of the route have aspirations to increase numbers of trains.
EWS and Freightliner forecast that their trains will more than double in number
over the next ten years. Wales & West might increase more of its timetable from
hourly to half-hourly. We plan to shorten block sections and improve the
provision of passing loops to allow additional capacity to accommodate our
customers’ requirements for growth.
These are the route improvements we plan to deliver
To deliver our vision, we propose to improve the flexibility of the infrastructure
to minimise delay as a result of disruption, whether planned for engineering work
or as a result of failure by trains or infrastructure, we will also target maintenance
and renewals to improve the reliability of equipment. In addition, we plan to
increase capacity to handle Wales & West’s, EWS’s and Freightliner’s aspirations
for growth including running longer freight trains, possibly with heavier axle
weights, to take all viable opportunities to raise linespeed to help Wales & West
meet its aspiration for a journey time under three hours between Cardiff and
Manchester, and to work in partnership with local authorities, including Transport
Integration in Gwent Economic Region (TIGER).
CAPACITY CHANGES TO MEET FRANCHISING DIRECTOR, PTE AND CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVER ROUTE VISION
LOCATION PROPOSED SOLUTION YEAR REF
Abergavenny–Pontrilas Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by dividing the existing long block section 2000–2004
with an additional signal, subject to funding
Marsh Brook–Dorrington Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by shortening block section by reopening an 1999–2004
existing signal box
Prees–Wrenbury Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by shortening block section by reopening 1999–2004
an existing signal box
Craven Arms Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by building a new passing loop 1999–2004
and improving an existing passing loop
Abergavenny Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by improving an existing passing loop 1999–2001
Shrewsbury Increase capacity to accommodate additional freight traffic by improving an existing passing loop 1999–2004
A
B
C
D
E
F
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