News: Pinch Point bid for tram train project
The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) is hoping to secure further funding from the government to deliver the innovative Sheffield to Rotherham tram train pilot project.
The pilot scheme will see flexible vehicles run on both rail and tram networks, using the freight route from Rotherham and then joining the Sheffield Supertram network at Meadowhall South. Three trams an hour would run all day from Sheffield city centre through the redeveloped Rotherham Central station to Parkgate retail park.
Last year, the government committed £58m for the scheme, the first project of its kind in the country, with the aim of proving the viability of the system that will improve connectivity within the labour market and support economic growth by making better use of the existing tram network and free up capacity at Sheffield's rail station.
The SYPTE has now submitted a bid hoping to secure £5m from the Department for Transport's (DfT's) "Pinch Point" fund, a £170m fund to remove bottlenecks on the local highway network and support growth-enhancing development. The money would be used as part of a £18.9m project to replace embedded sections of the Supertram tracks that are coming to the end of their working life and to modify Supertram tracks so that they can carry the new tram train vehicles that have a different wheel base.
Last year, the rate of wear on the tracks showed that replacement needed to be carried out earlier than planned but that costs could not be met by existing budgets. The bid submission warns that "if no works are carried out a substantial part of the system will close in the summer of 2013 when the wear reaches a point where derailments are possible."
With the new tram trains operating on both light rail and heavy rail networks, and given the residual life of the light rail system, the Supertram track is set to be modified. All new replacement rails would be able to carry the tram train vehicles, "futureproofing" the network ahead of further tram train routes in the region.
The rest of the costs would be met by the local authority and third parties including Stagecoach, operators of the Supertram.
This is the second time that the SYPTE has been able to combine the Supertram operation with the tram train project. With agreement from the DfT, partners developed a business case combining the tram train trial with the project to increase capacity on the existing Supertram network with four new trams.
SYPTE, Northern Rail and Network Rail have been working together on the pilot project, first announced in 2009, that received the backing of the government with a £150,000 grant in 2011.
The project would also include major works such as the electrification of a stretch of track between Sheffield and Rotherham and the construction of 400 metre line linking the tramway to the train tracks. Network Rail has committed £13m to the project.
The first ten successful schemes, awarded £25m from the Local Pinch Point Fund were announced last month with the government stating that "decisions on successful bids will be made as soon as possible."
Rotherham Council is hoping to secure funding for a £5m project to reconfigure Pool Green Roundabout on the edge of the town centre and for £3m of replacement works at Old Flatts Bridge on the Parkway.
SYPTE website
Images: Stagecoach
The pilot scheme will see flexible vehicles run on both rail and tram networks, using the freight route from Rotherham and then joining the Sheffield Supertram network at Meadowhall South. Three trams an hour would run all day from Sheffield city centre through the redeveloped Rotherham Central station to Parkgate retail park.
Last year, the government committed £58m for the scheme, the first project of its kind in the country, with the aim of proving the viability of the system that will improve connectivity within the labour market and support economic growth by making better use of the existing tram network and free up capacity at Sheffield's rail station.
The SYPTE has now submitted a bid hoping to secure £5m from the Department for Transport's (DfT's) "Pinch Point" fund, a £170m fund to remove bottlenecks on the local highway network and support growth-enhancing development. The money would be used as part of a £18.9m project to replace embedded sections of the Supertram tracks that are coming to the end of their working life and to modify Supertram tracks so that they can carry the new tram train vehicles that have a different wheel base.
Last year, the rate of wear on the tracks showed that replacement needed to be carried out earlier than planned but that costs could not be met by existing budgets. The bid submission warns that "if no works are carried out a substantial part of the system will close in the summer of 2013 when the wear reaches a point where derailments are possible."
With the new tram trains operating on both light rail and heavy rail networks, and given the residual life of the light rail system, the Supertram track is set to be modified. All new replacement rails would be able to carry the tram train vehicles, "futureproofing" the network ahead of further tram train routes in the region.
The rest of the costs would be met by the local authority and third parties including Stagecoach, operators of the Supertram.
This is the second time that the SYPTE has been able to combine the Supertram operation with the tram train project. With agreement from the DfT, partners developed a business case combining the tram train trial with the project to increase capacity on the existing Supertram network with four new trams.
SYPTE, Northern Rail and Network Rail have been working together on the pilot project, first announced in 2009, that received the backing of the government with a £150,000 grant in 2011.
The project would also include major works such as the electrification of a stretch of track between Sheffield and Rotherham and the construction of 400 metre line linking the tramway to the train tracks. Network Rail has committed £13m to the project.
The first ten successful schemes, awarded £25m from the Local Pinch Point Fund were announced last month with the government stating that "decisions on successful bids will be made as soon as possible."
Rotherham Council is hoping to secure funding for a £5m project to reconfigure Pool Green Roundabout on the edge of the town centre and for £3m of replacement works at Old Flatts Bridge on the Parkway.
SYPTE website
Images: Stagecoach
0 comments:
Post a Comment