Today sees the end of Railtrack, and the start of Network Rail, see this story from the BBC. NR will today assume control of all the UK's rail infrastructure. Here's hoping that Network Rail gets to grips with some of the big issues that Railtrack has failed on, and that they keep away from the headlines that killed Railtrack...
If Network Rail does fail, the government cannot blame it on "fat cats" taking the profits, as it is a non-profit making company! Hopefully we will now see a new era in Britains railways, and the recovery can begin to get our railway back into shape. One of the problems is that since privatisation the railway is too fragmented, which I hope will be addressed down the line a bit (pun intended) We have high hopes for Network Rail, let us hope we are not dissapointed!
Probably not in the short term, all Railtracks projects are getting taken over by NR, so they should just continue, in the longer term there is a backlog of infrastructure work which they need to address. Is he with a contractor, or was it Railtrack proper?
I think Gary is working for an agency who supplies workers to work on the signalling. Whether this is direct to network Rail, or to a contractor, I am not sure. No doubt Gary will let us know if he sees this, or I will ask next time we speak on the phone, or face-to face, as he is threatening to come up and see us again There is certainly no shortage of work for him, he has not even got to work in the area he was hired for yet (CTRL), as he was needed in Wales, now the west country.
Hi guys! As far as I know, there will be no immediate impact on any of the existing projects. The current TPWS project is due for completion end of year but this will go over due to various delays encountered over the last 2 years plus the addition of over-speed protection on PSR's (permanent speed restrictions) should take it out to mid-2003. Commencement of the West Coast Mainline Resignalling is a go (soon to have a 4-month shutdown south of Manchester) after a delay as is the CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link). The long-awaited 5-year signal modernisation project is still slated for start in the new year. East Anglia and Midlands are the two parts of the 5-year job that could possibly involve me (if I don't get onto CTRL). Martyn, I'm employed by Hawthorns Project Management who is closely tied to Amey Rail, whom I am currently working with. Been down your end of the world (Truro, St Blazey, Eggesford, etc.) but busier than a one-armed pokie player! For those who don't know, Amey Rail is a primary maintenance and installation/construction contractor to Railtrack (NR) and has a shed-load of work contracted for over the next 5 years, so I can't see there being a shortage of opportunities. Cheers for now, Gary.
