If You Think Network Rail Have Got Problems
I found this article on Global Rail News entitled Sweden’s longest rail tunnel finally opens.
The article is about the nine kilometre long, Hallandsås Tunnel. This is said.
The €1.2 billion Hallandsås Tunnel was finally opened by Sweden’s Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg, and Trafikverket director general Lena Erixon on December 8.
Construction had started in 1992.
So I looked up the Wikipedia entry for Hallandsås Tunnel. It is certainly an epic saga of biblical proportions.
This is a section entitled 1990s: Problems, scandal, and stoppage.
Construction began in 1992, and the traffic opening was originally planned for 1995. However, construction was plagued by major difficulties concerning large amounts of water seeping in from surrounding rock, only a small fraction of which had been foreseen. Additionally, the original drill, which was said to drill 100 meters per week, broke down after drilling only 18 m (59 ft). The rock was too soft, so the machine could not use it to pull itself forward. The contractor tried to drill traditionally, but had to spend a lot of effort on sealing the water leaks. The contractor went bankrupt and a new contractor, Skanska, was contracted. The new contractor had similar trouble but a better contract that gave compensation for troublesome rock conditions.
A scandal broke out when it was learned that a poisonous sealing compound Rhoca-Gil was used during construction. This substance was linked to the death of nearby livestock. Rhoca-Gil contains acrylamide, a toxic chemical that is mutagenic and possibly carcinogenic. The main contractor, Skanska, took no special precautions for the sealant, nor did it tell its own workers or the local population of the risks. By October 1997, local cattle and fish started dying and workers were becoming ill. The local press started an investigation. After tests were done showing high levels of acrylamide contamination, the site was declared a high risk zone and the sale of agricultural products from the region was banned. Skanska, along with Rhone-Poulenc and Swedish Railways all had criminal charges brought against them; some senior executives resigned as a result.
Construction was halted in late 1997. By this time, nearly 3 km (1.9 mi) had been bored in each tunnel: 1,200 m (3,937 ft) at the north end, 1,700 m (5,577 ft) at the south end, and 40 m (131 ft) at the central adit).
Wikipedia also says this about the cost of the tunnel.
Cost overrun has been large. The cost was expected in 1992 to be 1 billion Swedish krona (SEK). The cost from 1992 to 1997 was in reality more than SEK 2 billion, for less than half the tunnel length. Since the remaining cost at the beginning of 2005 was calculated to be more than SEK 4 billion, there was initially much debate and hesitation as to whether to halt or resume work. The total cost is likely to reach over SEK 10.5 billion (approximately 1.25 billion USD as calculated in 2015), before the project is finished.
Network Rail’s problems at Farnworth tunnel were tiny by comparison.
Theresa May Is On The Right Track
This article on the Maidenhead Advertiser entitled Theresa May discusses need for more parking at Maidenhead and Twyford stations with Crossrail chief, caught my eye! It says this.
Home Secretary Theresa May has met with the chief executive of Crossrail to discuss concerns about the need for sufficient car parking spaces at Maidenhead and Twyford stations.
She is right to bring this up.
Obviously, the Central London stations have very little car parking or even a need for it, but get into the outer reaches of the line as in Theresa May’s constituency and car parking is thin on the ground.
In my view each of the branches of the line need a decent Park-and-Ride site.
If nothing more, than to take the pressure off the M25.
Has The Government Parked Its Trains On Nicola Sturgeon’s Lawn?
The government has just published a document entitled Government intends to award Northern franchise to Arriva Rail North Ltd, and TransPennine Express franchise to First Trans Pennine Express Ltd.
The document starts like this.
The government promised passengers in the north and Scotland a world class rail service that would make the Northern Powerhouse a reality – today that is being delivered as new contracts for Northern and TransPennine Express franchises are awarded.
In some ways the proposals for Scotland are the most interesting.
Introducing new and additional services for Scotland, including a new, direct Liverpool to Glasgow service from December 2018 with new electric trains and extending existing services beyond Newcastle to Edinburgh from December 2019, and bringing in additional services from Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh from December 2017.
These will mean new electric trains and First TransPennine will be ordering forty-four new five-car trains.
I think the announcement will go down well in Scotland, although some politicians and others might be a bit miffed.
Is TransPennine Going For A One-Class Fleet?
This report on Rail News announces the awards of the two rail franchises in the North.
It says that First TransPennine will be committed to acquiring forty-four new trains comprising 220 vehicles. The article also says this about increasing services.
The frequency on many routes will be increased, so that there will be six trains an hour between Manchester and Leeds, and 35 a day between Manchester and Scotland — twice as many as now. A new route between Liverpool and Scotland will be introduced in 2019.
The numbers say they are five-car trains, which will certainly sort out some of their capacity problems.
At present First Transpennine has the following fleet.
- Class 156 DMU – 6 of two cars
- Class 170 DMU – 4 of two cars
- Class 185 DMU – 51 x 3 cars
- Class 350 EMU – 10 x 4 cars
All except the Class 350 are diesel-powered.
Add up the current carriages and you get two hundred and three.
So if some of diesel multiple units were retained, there would be a useful increase in fleet size.
But surely from the train maintenance and staff points of view, it would be better if there was one fleet of all the same type of train.
There may also be a slight problem with Scottish services, especially as the number of them is more than doubled.
This will mean that between Preston and Glasgow, they will need extra paths on the overcrowded West Coast Main Line.
I think we’ll see trains between Manchester Airport and Liverpool, and Glasgow, joining and splitting at Preston, as this will mean that Liverpool to Scotland services will not need any extra paths on the West Coast Main Line. Some could also split at Carstairs, with one train going to Glasgow and the other to Edinburgh.
I’ve used the Class 350 trains from Glasgow to Preston and despite being too small, they are also only 110 mph trains, whereas the Class 390 Pendelinos used by Virgin, usually run at 125 mph.
Simple common sense says, that if all trains cruised up the West Coast Main Line at the same speed, this maximises capacity. Also as parts of the TransPennine network in the East are also 125 mph lines, this might be desireable design speed. The government press release about the franchise award also talks about 125 mph trains.
But the biggest problem as is pointed out in the press release is that full electrification is not expected to be complete until 2022.
So trains will need some form of independent power source to bridge the gaps in the electrification.
- Five carriages
- The ability to run in pairs.
- 125 mph cruising speed.
- Some form of independent power.
Logic says that this means they will be Hitachi Class 800 trains, which would use their on-board diesel engines as required.
Currently, the factory at Newton Aycliffe is busy with Class 800/801 trains for Great Western Railway and Virgin Trains East Coast and EMUs for Scotland, so like the extra Class 800s for the South Western routes, they would probably have to be built in Japan.
Would this mean that early introduction into service would be very difficult?
The only alternative would be to stretch the current four car Class 387 trains to five cars and make them IPEMU variants, which would then use their on-board energy storage to bridge gaps in the electrification. If the technology can be proven for a route like Leeds to Manchester, then they could probably start to be delivered next year.
These are some points and questions about Class 387 trains and Bombardier’s IPEMU technology.
- Class 387 trains are built in Derby by Bombardier.
- There are currently a total of fifty seven four-car Class 387 trains either built or on order.
- There must be some standard Class 387 trains sitting in sidings, as they are destined for routes on the Great Western Railway, where there are no overhead wires.
- I doubt it would be difficult to lengthen the trains to five cars, as the closely-related Class 378 trains have received an extra car twice.
- This report in the Derby Telgraph, says that Bombardier have recently received an award for their IPEMU technology.
- This article in Rail Technology Magazine, states that Bombardier are doing extensive testing of the batteries at Mannheim
- IPEMU trains could be more efficient, as regenerative braking is used to recover energy instead of always recharging from external sources.
- As IPEMU technology improves, the range will get longer making it possible for electric trains to serve more destinations in the TransPennine network.
- Bombardier’s next generation train, called the Aventra, will all be wired for the fitting of on-board energy storage,
- The new franchise for First TransPennine has effectively started, as it just a continuation of more of the same. So early train delivery would show they meant business and it wasn’t just jam tomorrow.
- The standard Class 387 trains could be introduced on Scottish services as soon as trains were delivered.
If the IPEMU technology can be proven to be viable on First TransPennine, a lot of companies and groups will benefit.
- Network Rail will be able to avoid a lot of difficult, sensitive or expensive electrification.
- Bombardier could sell a few more trains.
- Passengers will get new electric trains in many places, as fast as they can be built.
- Some politicians and others could get a lot of credit.
It’ll be interesting to see what First TransPennine have decided to do!
By Rail From Bedford To Northampton
One of my Google Alerts picked up this article from the Northampton Chronicle, which is entitled Rail campaigners reject calls by St James residents to re-open Northampton link road.
There used to be a Bedford to Northampton Line, but it has been gradually abandoned, despite interest in using it for the following.
- As an extension to Thameslink to Northampton.
- As a freight route to the West Midlands.
I also feel that with Bedford likely to be an important station on the East-West Rail Link, surely the rail link to Northampton shouldn’t be compromised, so that it can’t be reinstated.
- It would make journeys between Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich and Northampton and the West Midlands a lot easier.
- Freight from between Felixstowe and the West Midlands would have an alternative route.
I don’t think anything will happen soon, but the expansion of Thameslink and the East West Rail Link to Bedford will make everybody think.
The Anonymous Widower 