French engineering and consulting group Systra has secured two major work packages on the UK’s Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRUe).
Systra has been involved with the TRUe strategic railway project for almost ten years.
The project was assigned to Systra by Network Rail, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of the UK’s rail infrastructure.
Along with the TRUe project, the company said that it will continue to work on the detailed design of Project 1.
Subsequently, Systra will start working on the outline design phase for Projects 2, 3 and 4.
The aim of the TRUe project is to increase train frequencies and enhance journey times between the major cities in northern England.
The project includes the design from York Station to Leeds Station, a section of which runs on the East Coast Main Line, before branching off to Leeds.
Systra has also been working for several years on the East Coast Main Line.
The company stated that it will take on the majority of the design works consisting of track alignment correction, line clearance and ballast renewal, electrification, geotechnical, structural, environmental, civil, level crossing, assurance and BIM engineering.
However, Systra will not work on the design of signalling and telecoms engineering, as it will be completed by the other associates involved in the project.
Systra UK major projects director Keith Moverley said: “The project is a strategic priority of the government and we are proud to be making a major contribution. We have been working on it since its inception, as design partner for Network Rail and more recently for the VolkerRail, Siemens, Murphy Alliance, the Tier 1 supplier to Network Rail.”
In July 2020, Network Rail started implementing the TRUe project, along with five other rail projects under Project Speed.
Project Speed is a government-funded project created to achieve a net-zero target, reaching a balance between the production of greenhouse gas emissions and the amount discarded from the atmosphere.
In the coming years, the railway network in the region will be fully electrified for long-term environmental benefits.
