Huyton Countdown

We hope that after the nine day blockade at Huyton which starts on the 5th of July we will have three track operation through Roby and Huyton stations.  (See track plans here - I'm not aware of any changes to these plans.)

A lot of work remains to be done at Huyton, and with only three weeks and one day to go before the blockade starts, things are beginning to hot up.  I even saw work under way in the evening, yesterday.

The next stage at Huyton comes next week, when the public subway is to be closed for a week.  This will require the station subway to be brought back into use.  Since the lifts are far from complete, pedestrians who are unable to use the subway steps will be shuttled to the other side of the station in a minibus - This service will be available 24 hours a day.

As you can see, the brick facings on the lift shaft and machine rooms are going up.

This "bridge" appeared last night.  It crosses the new trackbed linking the future platform 4 to the platform 2 and 3 island.  I'm guessing that this will be the northern access to the station next week, and therefore the only route between north and south while the public subway is closed.  You can see that the platform edging on platform 4 (On the right.) is almost complete, whereas there's still a lot of work to do on platform 3.  This did make me wonder if the three track layout is going be temporarily slewed to use platform 4 instead of 3, but the track already laid would seem to indicate otherwise.

This rather confusing shot is looking east from Huyton station along the line of the future track 4 (or Up Chat Moss Slow)  In the foreground is the bridge being constructed over the public subway.

More wires

Wiring proceeds apace, with substantial lengths of catenary and contact wire between Carr Mill and Bryn and beyond.  Return wires are also up between Eccleston Park and Prescot.

A length of return wire has been erected between Broad Green and Olive Mount, the first wires on that section.

First 319 Delayed

The transfer north of 319361, which was scheduled for 1 May, was cancelled and the set remained in service.  Modern Railways reports that the lease was transferred to Northern as intended, but the unit has been leased back to First Capital Connect for "around a month".

I look forward to receiving reports of a 319 at Allerton any day now...

Progress In Pictures

A number of correspondents regularly send me photographs of the project and it seems a bit of a waste if I just email my thanks and then file them away, so with thanks to David Hull and Paul Gaskell (and there's a couple of my own as well), here's some pictures of the current state of affairs:

Looking west from Roby we can see the third track is near-complete, and on the right in the mid-distance, the new retaining wall for the wider embankment.

At Roby itself, all the woodwork of the platform canopy has been removed, along with the props supporting it.  The brackets remain.

Meanwhile, down below, excavation of the lift shafts is progressing well.  Flooding has always been an issue at Roby, so I'm not surprised to see the sump full of water - I assume a drainage system will be provided.

Also at Roby, one or more new signals have been installed, bagged at this stage.

One stop further east, at Huyton, the lift buildings seem structurally complete.  I hope they've cured the knotweed problem!

Small buildings have appeared on platform 2/3 and on platform 4, these are to be lift motor rooms according to the plans.

An example of the new Liverpool - Newcastle service whizzes through Huyton.  A quick scan of the running data for the first day of this service showed many of the trains reaching their destination fifteen or more minutes late.

Further east, at Earlestown, the trackwork has been completed.  Under the new arrangements trains using the west curve (At the left on this picture.) must use the former goods loop, connecting with the main line at the far end, at what is now called Sankey Junction.

Here's a shot taken at Bryn station on the 9th of May of the very first wires to be put up.

Phase Two Wires Up!

Newsflash:  Correspondents inform me that half a mile of overhead wiring has been installed on the up line east of Bryn, the first on phase two.  So far it's just return wire, no catenary or contact wires yet.
Update 09 May:  Return wires extend through Bryn and Garwsood stations.
Update 19 May:  Catenary now also in position.