WIXAMS Railway Station Construction update |

[@joginns778]

It's good to see the midland main line back to four track's again, putting it back to the longest four tracks in the UK why it was reduced to three track was a stupid idea nice video,

[@JoshCarterWeb]

Good to see stuff moving along!

[@sarahhick97]

Excellent video was excited to see this!! 👍

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Creativetoursflorida]

We are watching thanks for updates

[@deancrouch5267]

I believe they are in talks with government over who is paying what amount to upgrade infrastructure needed so still sounds good. 😊

[@bernardwright2420]

If Starmer's monkeys get their way, it'll be backheeled...

[@danieledgerton1473]

They are piling in the ground for new OLE masts. I suspect this has nothing to do with the MML OLE upgrade, but to allow the build of the platforms at Wixhams. The existing OLE is a cross span type, held up by tight wire between two masts. The tracks on the slow side are being slewed over to allow space for platforms, so the mast for the cross span OLE will need to be removed. The new posts are for the fast line OLE and similar posts will be put in on the slow lines when the tracks are moved over.

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Great insight, thank you.

[@ozone063]

Any update on completion date for the new station?

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

No sorry, I don't know.

[@timothyrider1127]

Second half of 2026 is what Bedford Borough are saying. By that time we'll know if the Universal theme park / associated infrastructure (inc. 4-platform station) has become secondary legislation, and if so then whatever's built of the 2-platform station will probably be ripped up to make room for it!

[@mlgboy1]

Great update video, would love to know what the new drone is that you where refering to??

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

The Dji Air 3s is rumoured to be released very soon but more importantly the leaks for the Dji Mavic 4 have now started which would be my prefrence out of the 2.

[@MercenaryPen]

My understanding is that the end goal of the works taking place is to upgrade the electrification between Bedford and London- the current infrastructure can only support electric trains up to 100mph- after the upgrades this should increase to 125mph electric trains- rather than needing to use diesels to reach those speeds

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Part of that could be correct but these works are part of the Wixams Railway Station construction, albeit very early works.

[@Anonymoususer_8823]

Sounds like Thameslink is to have another new railway station and it should be completed in few years time.

[@seales18]

The machines on track are (cherry picker) was a manitou also known as a mewp the machine with it is a doosan 270rrv the middle machine is a doosan uhl rrv using a bsp hammer to hammer the round pile into the ground and the 3rd again is a doosan 270 is using a movax to start the piling process before the hammer pushes it right down. I work for Readypower who own the machines and I was involved in delivering the machines to site. On Friday

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Wow, great knowledge, Thanks for the comment.

[@TomTomicMic]

MEWP = Mobile Elevating Working Platform, RRV = Road/ Rail Vehicle, UHL = Ultra Heavy Lift, for those not in the trade, like me who had to look it up!?!

[@Ambo100]

Do we know when construction is expected to start on the park?

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

No, not yet.

[@AXforever7]

If everything goes well probably 2027

[@Max.Fenlock]

Machines are basically 360 degree wheeled excavators with rail bogies fitted. However these machines are purposely for rail and have are very complex electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems. Attachment looks like a pile driver working with overhead electrification gantry supports, which is possibly what the banging noise could be.

[@Sharron-Idol]

Just to add: such machines are collectively known as RRV's - which stands for Road Rail Vehicles - vehicles that have both tyres and train wheels, and therefore can travel along both road and rail.

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Excellent input Max.

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Thanks Sharron for the added info, very good to know.

[@Max.Fenlock]

@@Sharron-Idol thanks for the add on, that’s right, sometimes also known as Road-railers which is what I’ve always called them. I was heavily involved in building them in the mid to late 90s where we converted CASE wheeled excavators, into a an RRV, i also used to occasionally operate them at weekends. Later I got involved with Komatsu and Liebherr machines and some smaller rubber tracked excavators and dump trucks for rail. Interesting machines to drive and work on ! 😃

[@bus131]

The current works being carried out are part of the wider electrification upgrade of the MML, giving electric trains the opportunity to reach 125mph rather than the current 100mph. EMR Class 360;s have a top speed of 110mph, with the new 810 fleet able to hit 125mph when introduced in early 2025. Whilst only rated to 100mph, there is the potential for Thameslink Class 700's to be uprated to 110mph also to improve journey times along the MML. At this stage it doesn't look like they are carrying out any station work as that would mean track realignment otherwise platforms would only be on the Up Slow & Down Fast in the current track setup.

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Thank you for that insight, stick around because you'll be useful later on in this build. Thanks.

[@purgedirector7787]

Bedford doesn’t have a train service from hitchin…. Hasn’t done since the 1950/60s and this isn’t the ECML

[@ProjectUniversalUK]

Appreciate that but Network rail did provide a Bedford to Hitchin bus replacement service. In hindsight I should have picked up on that but I didn't. www.nationalrail.co.uk/engineering-works/bedford-and-london-st-pancras-international-20240928/

[@martinessam4629]

Looks like they are piling for new OLE so the electric trains can get to 125mph

[@RickD62]

For the fast tracks yes, but here they also need to widen the gantries for the slow tracks to skew the slow tracks for the Wixams platforms, hopefully both at the same time.