Volker/Story JV wins £80M Hope Valley rail contract
09 MAR, 2021 BY
CATHERINE KENNEDY
A Volker Rail and Story Contracting joint venture has secured an £80M contract for work on the delayed Hope Valley railway upgrade between Manchester and Sheffield.
The design-and-build contract will include GRIP stages four to eight of the new scheme. Construction is now expected to start in 2022 and complete by 2023.
A Transport & Works Act Order (TWAO) for the scheme, which is seen as a key enabler for the Northern Powerhouse Rail route upgrade,
was granted by the Department for Transport (DfT) in February 2018.
At the time, Transport for the North said it was pressing for the release of funds for the detailed design work during 2018/9, with a view to starting on site in April 2019. However since then progress on the scheme has stalled.
The upgrade will facilitate three fast trains per hour between Manchester and Sheffield, rather than one every two hours.
Plans for the line include building a new section of track alongside the existing railway to the east of Bamford station to create a passing loop, which will allow faster passenger services to overtake slow moving freight trains.
At Dore, Network Rail plans to extend the existing Dore South Curve section of track, between West View Lane and Dore South Junction, to allow enough standing room for freight trains. This will then allow passenger services to pass without a waiting freight train blocking either the Hope Valley or Midland Main Lines.
A second track serving Dore and Totley station will be created and a new platform constructed. This will be accessed by a new footbridge and lifts.
In September last year transport secretary Grant Shapps said that he was a “great fan” of the line and that an answer on funding a capacity upgrade would be provided shortly.
He said: “I cannot make an announcement about it today, but I can say that ministers are investigating the possibilities to increase the capacity there and I don’t think you will have to wait too long for an answer on that.”