Line
reopens
++

The
railway
between
Hurst
Green
and
East
Grinstead
in
Surrey
is
set
to
reopen
this
morning,
after
it
had
been
blocked
by
a
landslip
last
Thursday.
Network
Rail
engineers
and
BAM
Nuttall
have
been
working
continuously
to
repair
the
line
after
a
10
metre
stretch
of
a
seven
metre
high
embankment
slipped
away
from
the
railway,
around
800m
from
Lingfield
in
the
up
direction.
Cracks
also
spread
six
metres
on
either
side
of
the
slip,
leading
to
fears
it
could
get
worse
if
action
wasn’t
taken
immediately.
Engineers
have
installed
a
steel
wall,
made
of
44
10
metre
steel
piles,
which
will
stabilise
and
support
the
embankment.
The
engineers
have
also
used
50,000
tonnes
of
ballast.
Meanwhile,
work
is
continuing
at
the
site
of
another
landslip,
near
Basingstoke
on
the
South
Western
Main
Line,
which
occurred
about
ten
days
ago.
South
Western
Railway
was
able
to
restore
a
limited
service
yesterday,
although
down
trains
are
still
unable
to
call
at
Hook.

Station
++

Work
has
started
on
building
one
of
the
stations
on
the
Levenmouth
line,
which
is
being
restored
by
the
Scottish
Government
in
a
£116
million
project.
Cameron
Bridge,
just
off
the
A915,
will
have
two
196m
platforms
and
serve Methilhill
as
well
as
Cameron
Bridge.
Network
Rail
will
equip
the
new
station
with
125
parking
spaces,
a
bus
stop
and
footpaths.
A
new
bridge
will
also
be
built
over
the
river
to
provide
a
direct
connection
with
Methilhill.
Network
Rail
said
the work
will
take
about
10
months,
and
that
the
Levenmouth
Rail
Link
should
open
in
the
spring
of
2024.

New
trains
++

Liverpool
City
Region
Mayor
Steve
Rotheram
has
been
celebrating
the
introduction
of
new
Stadler-built
trains
on
the
region’s
local
network.
The
first
Class
777
unit
carried
guests
on
an
inaugural
trip
from
Liverpool
Central
to
Kirkby
yesterday
morning.
The
Mayor
said:
‘This
is
a
massive
day,
not
just
for
our
area,
but
for
the
entire
country,
as
we
launch
the
UK’s
first
publicly-owned
trains
in
a
generation
into
service
for
the
first
time.
Alongside
the
work
we’re
doing
on
buses,
active
travel
and
integrated
ticketing,
we’re
bringing
our
transport
network
into
the
21st
century.’

Viaduct
++
The
first
V-shaped
pier
for
300m
viaduct
that
will
carry
high
speed
trains
to
the
new
Curzon
Street
HS2
station
in
Birmingham
has
been
completed.
The
pier,
five
metres
tall,
is
the
first
to
be
installed
for
the
‘Curzon
No.
3
Viaduct’, which
will
be
the
final
approach
to
the
seven
platform
station
in
the
city
centre,
near
the
present
station
at
Moor
Street.
A
total
30
piers
will
be
needed,
and
their
heights
will
vary
between
five
and
six
metres
above
ground
level.
They
will
include
four steel
tripod
piers
to
span
the
Digbeth
Branch
Canal.

Transpennine
leader
++

A
new
managing
director
has
been
appointed
to
lead
the
Transpennine
Route
Upgrade
between
Manchester
and
York.
Neil
Holm
said:
‘There
is
an
exciting
future
for
rail
in
the
North
of
England,
and
I
am
proud
to
lead
a programme
of
thousands
of
brilliant
people
that
will
transform
rail
travel
across
the
North
in
the
coming
years.
Work
is
well
underway.’
Before
joining
Network
Rail,
Neil
was
programme
director
for
the
construction
of
aircraft
carrier
HMS
Prince
of Wales.