"New" Timetable

It's that time of the year again, and Network Rail's Christmas present arrived this morning with the delivery of the new timetable (15 May to 10 December 2016) into my database.

I must say I am somewhat disappointed to find another "no change" timetable for Huyton, with exactly the same service, and all trains still specified as Class 142 Diesel.  There have been a number of detail changes, with tweaks of half a minute in the working times of some trains, but the public timetable remains unchanged.

The small print:  As I always say in posts about new timetables, the data is well outside the twelve week limit and so must be considered provisional.

Rainhill Footbridge Update

A regular user has kindly updated me on the "Rainhill Bridge Fiasco":

As you can see, the western bridge has gained an extra attachment so that it now meets the regulations.

The eastern bridge has been closed to the public, and the ugly mess of scaffolding has been removed.  Presumably it will soon receive similar modifications.

Update:  On Monday 21 December, the work was apparently nearly complete on the eastern bridge.

The Hendy Review

Replanning Network Rail’s investment programme: a report from Sir Peter Hendy to the Transport Secretary 

This report was published in November.  I waited patiently for Network Rail to reflect the report in their CP5 Enhancements Delivery Plan (The September update has not been published yet.) but nothing came.  Here's a quick list of the changed target completion dates in our area as I understand them:

Preston-Blackpool North Electrification "Phase 3"
Was March 2017, now 2019.

Manchester-Preston Electrification "Phase 4"
Was December 2016, now December 2017.

Victoria-Stalybridge Electrification "Phase 5"
Was 2017, now 2019.

Victoria-Ashburys Electrification "Phase 5"
Was 2017, now CP6 (2019 to 2024).

Guide Bridge-Stalybridge Electrification "Phase 5"
Was 2019,  now CP6 (2019 to 2024).

Bolton-Wigan Electrification "Phase 6"
Was December 2017, now CP6 (2019 to 2024).

Oxenholme-Windermere Electrification
Was December 2017, now CP6 (2019 to 2024).

Huyton-Roby Fourth Track
Was December 2017 (Originally February 2016), now 2019.

Ordsall Chord
Was originally December 2016 but had already slipped to December 2017.  No further postponement.

Liverpool Lime Street Realignment
Was December 2017, now 2019.
(I've not previously reported on this project which will move tracks around at Lime Street to allow for longer trains.)

UPDATE:  A number of these dates have changed again since this was posted.  See the Schedule page of the web site for more up to date and (hopefully) more accurate information.