October 18, 2018 7:16 am
Everybody is looking for a scapegoat for the problems at Paddington station, that is reported in this article on the BBC, which is entitled Paddington Station: Passengers Face Major Disruption.
Tony Miles of Modern Railways was on BBC Breakfast this morning and he explained what happened.
The Class 802 train was accumulating the 2,000 miles it needs before it can be accepted by Great Western Railway.
The trains are designed to be able to change from diesel to electric power and vice-versa at line speed.
This train was raising the pantograph to access the pverhead wires on a section of British Rail-era overhead wires at Ealing.
The pantograph is thought to have bounced and the overhead wires have broken and become entangled in the pantograph.
Modern electrification with its heavyweight gantries has each line wired separately, but according to Tony Miles, the British Rail lightweight system, means if one comes down, they all fail.
I should add, that several times in the last ten years on the East Coast Main and Great Eastern Main Lines, I have been on trains that have been stranded by failed overhead wires.
In addition, over the last few years, it has been a nightmare travelling to Ipswich, as Network Rail have been renewing the overhead wires to a modern standard.
There are still many miles of this sub-standard British Rail-era overhead wiring all over the country.
It should all be replaced with new modern systems.
There is a problem though with the new modern electrification systems. They are ugly and many believe they are totally out-of-place in the countryside.
There is also the problem caused by the disruption, when the old systems are removed.
Conclusion
This sub-standard overhead electrification should have been removed years ago.
Posted by AnonW
Categories: Transport/Travel
Tags: Class 800 Train, Electrification, Great Western Railway, Paddington Station
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