Supporting passenger growth on the west coast main line - (PPT)

摘要

The West Coast Main Line is one of the UK's major transport arteries. In the 10 years since Virgin Trains took on the franchise the route has been transformed, There have been major investments in the railway infrastructure and new trains and together these have produced significant reductions in journey times with increased service frequencies, The i26mph tilt timetable introduced in September 2004 has resulted in a 40% increase in overall passenger numbers, with the London - Manchester route growing by 120%. Whilst it was always anticipated that the introduction of the new Pendolinc trains would create a surge in demand, the ongoing year on year passenger growth has exceeded expectations. As a consequence many services are now running close to, or even in excess of, capacity, Major enhancements to network capacity in the Rugby area and on the Trent Valley line will be completed during 2008 and this will create opportunities for further service improvements. The Virgin High Frequency timetable, to be introduced from January 2009, will bring further reductions in journey times and more trains on all the West Coast routes. The new timetable will address many of the capacity issues in the short term but if growth continues at recent rates further action will be necessary within a few years, particularly on the peak morning and evening services. Plans for extending the existing trains by adding two vehicles to each set are included in the recent government White Paper and proposals for additional train sets are also under consideration, The increased train mileages, service frequencies and performance requirements of the new timetable present a major challenge to Alstom, who are responsible for the maintenance and performance of the Pendolino fleet. This paper reports on the actions being taken by Alstom in order to meet the demands of supporting the growing railway.