CONTENTS 19.07.12
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NewCivilEngineer
nec:
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New Civil Engineer
lst Floor,GreaterLondonHouse HampsteadRoad,LondonNW17EJ EDITORIALENQUIRIES Email: [email protected] EDITOR1Antony Oliver (020)77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1MarkHansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford
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19.07.12 NEWCIVILENGINEER3
05
NEWS Boston Manor
Replacementstructure under considerationasviaductreopens
10
ANALYSIS Transport
As the UK's bridges age, should tunnels replace them?
14
COVERSTORY Vidoria station upgrade
Keller is at the heart of complex jet grouting project in London
Aisointhis issuè
06 News
Olympics force key London jobs to shut down
07 News
Applications to study civils at university plunge
12 Letters
Ti~ffic management, Chemobyl, water
35 Plant
JCB's innovative new engines have hire appeal 38 .CE
Controlling groundwater on Crossrail contracts
Spotlight
Water flows dictate when a pump switches itself on
41
Comment
AntonyOliver
10 CELEBRATENCE'S40THANNIVERSARY OFINFORMING,INSPIRINGAND CHAlLENGINGCMLENGINEERS,WE ARELOOKINGATTHEKEYMNTS THAT
HAVESHAPEDTHELAST40 YEARS.
SEEWWW.NCE.CO.UK
IIWhile public investment in the railways is vital for government, an efficient network neecls support from the private sedor"
Rail's future lies with bath private and public sectars
To me it is clear.A modem, safe,reliable and affordable national railway network should be at the heart of everyforward thinking govem- ment's plan for economic growth.
Thus the announcement by transport secretary Justine Greening this week to invest f9.4bn in "growth-boosting railway upgrades"
is avery welcome commitrnent by the coalition The headline figure, of course, includes over fsbn in already announced investrnents. But in setting out her vision for the UK's railway, not least the creation of the so-called "electric spine", Greening appears to understand that public investment is key to meeting an increase in passenger demand of up to 46% by 2030.
That said, it is also clear that, in line with the govemment's overarching need to cut public spending, Greening remains equally committed to driving efficiency and boosting value for every public pound spent on the railway. And that is of course right and proper.
As the statement puts it, "[the Secretary
- ...
of State] wishes the railway to continue to develop its capacity and capability to support economic growth ...However,she also wants the railway to become more financially and environmentally sustainable".
The message coming through loud and clear in the High Level Output Specification and Statement ofFunds Availablefor the five amount public cash require~.
As set out in March's Command paper, Greening believes the whole industry should be capable of achieving Sir Roy McNulty's upper target of saving f3.sbn by 2019rather than his f2.sbn mininmm level.And these savings are weIl and truly built into this week's fl6.8bn funding plan.
l have no doubt that the industry remains committed to meeting this challenge. And l have no doubt that, thanks to some excellent work with its private sector partners, Network Rail will add to the efficienciesmade in the fiveyears to 2009with another fl.2bn a year of
promised savings to 2014 and f600M by 2019.
But there are still a huge number of contrac- tual barriers sitting in the way.
It is a situation that must be changed ifwe are to ever really create an efficient railway network. But rather than tearing up the existing structure we need change to allow the public and private sectors the freedom to work
etwork Rail's alliance mode! as currently being trialled with South West Trains is surely part of the solution and something that we must see spread more widely and rapidly across the network. A more flexible approach to engineering hours, to service provision and to
riskallocationon projects
-alignedobjectives
reaping mutual benefits.Because,while public investrnent in the railways is vital for govemment, an efficient network needs support from the private sector.
Helping to make this happen more effectively is Greenings real challenge.
