£15m GCR reunification plan announced

The impression I have is that the subject of this thread is a plan that is not exactly official policy of either existing part of the GCR but an intiative from a group of people connected with one or other of the lines. Indeed, i think some of the group proposing this method of funding and operating the connection may have come off the Board of the GCR to concentrate on the project but I amy wrong.

Steven

 

The "Bridging The Gap" web site has a new notice on it, with a link to a yet to be published press release.

 

clicked it but press release not there yet.

 

I read on the Rail Express Magazine website that the GCR has submitted a bid of £2.5million of grants to start contruction work on the link?. They go on to say that should this award be made it could open up several million pounds more in private money to complete the project.

Does anyone know anything about this ? Its only at the submission stage but a step in the right direction none the less.

Great Western.

 

A piece about it here http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/whereyoulive/loughborough/Rail-firm-bid-fund-missing-link/article-3210362-detail/article.html

 

This was posted on youtube last year by the GCR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCSZl9D-mOY

Admittedly before the survey, but it does explain everything a bit more clearly.

 

Excellent promotional video - very professional.

 

Ive followed this project for a few years now....So how realistic are their chances of getting this grant? I would say pretty good considering the wider scope for economic growth this link would create. And how much of the actual link could £2.5m or there abouts build? Not alot one would assume? More ground prep and design work?

I assume the old Wokington Shed is off the plan now, due the former tip being unsuitable to build on without some major underpining of sorts?

WHEN the link is built where will the current MPD be relocated ? If not on the tip? Maybe a location on the current GCRN? I looked on Google Earth at the GCRN Nottingham end, but it appears to disappear into housing and then green fields? I thought the end of the line was some 1000m from the NET system station?

Either way Good Luck GCR Link hope the department see sense !

Great Western.

 

Yes, good video, hope it starts to happen sooner rather than later!

 

Just seen on East Midlands Today that they have failed (like most applicants) in the bid for the £2.5m.

Steve

 

Is that it then for the link, bar a lotto win ?

Great Western

 

Hopefully not the end at all, might be a short delay, but remember this was only a small part of the finance needed. According to my local news media the grants announced today are only round one and many of the unsuccessful applicants will be carried forward to the next round. Some of the applicants that have received help do seem to be a bit strange and the GCR met the criteria rather better.
Anyway plan B has been mentioned ( no idea what that is) and there are too many diverse and important supporters for this not to happen.

 

Don't tell me. The successful applicants were a commune for one legged guinea pig breeders.

 

I think they were weeded out at the beginning. But even so some of the claims about how many jobs some of the winners will create are a little OTT to say the least. The geographical spread of the winners suggest a certain amount of bias, yes a lot of this money should go to the worst hit areas but the East Midlands and East Anglia have been badly hit in the recession and have got very very very little help.

Lets hope the GCR can get some help in round 2 .

 

Hope ? The former Reading bridge replaced over the xmas holiday is now at Loughborough.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-13003379

Lets hope So.

Great Western.

 

Yes, I saw the bridge, which appears to be in 2 sections, in the building site/yard near Loughborough Central on Sunday. However, I fear that finances are such that they will remain there for some time. However, stranger things have happened.

 

My understanding was/is that the actual crossing (bridge) is the cheap bit, its the embankments etc.

Great Western.

 

is this the bridge(s) to be used over the mainline or is it for one of the other missing gaps?

 

The bridges are to replace the ones over the A60 north of the MML. Insitu repair costs have been estimated at over £500k. This will help to reduce the overall costs. It really does show the support this project has got, Network Rail has certainly got behind it, yes they could gain a lot in future in lower maintenance costs on crossovers and freeing up a few extra paths on the MML, if Network Rail can see it why cannnot the government.
For anybody interested in details of the Project there is a three page article in the latest GCR magazine.

 

many thanks, I hadnt read the article when I asked

does this confirm that the link is to be double track? apologise as Im sure its been asked before.