A Professional View Of The Problems Of Electrification
Anybody interested in the future of the railways should read this article from Global Rail News.
It is mainly about the electrification of the Great Western Main Line and is full of interesting and sometimes surprising information.
Take the important subject of getting electricity to the wires.
As an electrical engineer by training, I was surprised by the fact that the overhead wire all the way from London to Cardiff is fed from the main 400 kV grid at just four points; Kensal Green, Didcot, Melksham and Cardiff, with Kensal Green to be shared with Crossrail. My intuition and 1960s training said there would have been a lot more.
I think that this gives further credence to the thought behind the interesting snippet from Modern Railways I commented on here.
A project manager’s nightmare is also detailed. If you are connecting your new electric railway to the National Grid, then you have to program your work for one of their shutdowns, as you can’t for example, let London go dead. So as with all projects, good project management is essential.
The article also talks about a variety of issues like creating enough height under bridges, the problems of the Severn Tunnel and heritage problems.
The Anonymous Widower 
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