HomeNewsFirst track installed for Hope Valley railway in the UK

First track installed for Hope Valley railway in the UK

As part of the ongoing upgrade of Hope Valley railway in the UK, the first sections of track that are meant to add more fast trains between Manchester and Sheffield have been laid. According to Network Rail, the Hope Valley railway line’s long-standing bottleneck has been relieved with the installation of 340 meters of track.

Engineers at Bamford on the Hope Valley line laid the way for a new “passing loop”. It will enable slower trains to transfer to the new track while other trains pass by faster. Network Rail announced in January that the project would not be finished by December 2023 as initially planned. It would extend until spring 2024. No explanation for the delay has yet been provided.

Search for construction leads
  • Region/Country

  • Sector

The project will improve stations and remove several bottlenecks from the route between Manchester and Sheffield. During the track installation, the line through the Hope Valley was shut down. Engineers worked around the clock using equipment like heavy lift excavators, a dozer, and a tamper.

Read Also: Plans Approved for Construction of New Railway Station at Cheadle, UK

Hope Valley line upgrade plan

A Transport & Works Act Order for the plan, considered to be a key enabler for the Northern Powerhouse Rail route upgrade, was awarded by the Department for Transport in February 2018. At the time, Transport for the North declared that it was pressing for the release of funds for the detailed design work during 2018/19, so as to start on site in April 2019.

Since that time, the plan’s development has stalled. However, the Volker Rail and Story Contracting joint venture was awarded an £80 million contract for the upgrade in March of last year. The government pledged to invest £137 million in the project. The actual start of work was in May 2022.

More than 700m of new track have been installed in Dore & Totley as part of the upgrade. This is since the beginning of the year. Work to extend a bridge so that the second line of track could pass through Dore & Totley station has also been finished.

This is along with a new platform and an accessible footbridge. Platform extensions to accommodate more carriages are one of the main enhancements also included in the Hope Valley line upgrade. This is together with a new overbridge at Hathersage West and more reliable signaling along the line.

Must Read

Framed Allure at Billionaires’ Row in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, handed over

Framed Allure at Billionaires’ Row in Palm Jumeirah, has successfully been delivered by CK Architecture. This is one of the two signature villas CK...

Brightline West, Los Angeles to Vegas High-Speed Rail

After reaching an agreement with a group of significant labor unions, Brightline, the corporation behind the project, expects construction on the bullet trains to...

Construction of Mount Hermon Apartments in Florida begins

Mount Hermon Apartments, an affordable senior housing project is now underway in the Fort Lauderdale municipality of Broward county, Florida. Housing Trust Group (HTG)...

The Netherlands to build the world’s largest offshore hydrogen production plant

For the construction of the world’s largest offshore hydrogen production plant in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has selected an area. The area is...

Installation of 47 groundwater pumping stations in South Sudan in the pipeline

Plans are being laid for the establishment of 47 groundwater pumping stations in South Sudan. The venture was formally announced on March 3, 2023,...

US$ 131M loan secured for 23-10 42nd Road development in New York

A US$ 131M loan has been secured for the implementation of the 23-10 42nd Road development in New York. This was revealed by the...
Kenneth Mwenda
Kenneth Mwenda
Kenneth Mwenda is a business and sports writer. He joined ConstructionReview in February 2019, where he contributes to writing construction news and projects. Kenneth graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Finance) from The Cooperative University of Kenya. He has over three years of experience in content writing.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here