The Anonymous Widower

An Automated Shuttle Train On The Greenford Branch Line

The Greenford Branch Line has the following features.

• It is 2.5 miles long.
• It is double-track.
• It is not electrified.
• There is a single platform station at both ends with three intermediate stations.
• The service frequency is two tph.
• Trains take 11-12 minutes to go between the two terminals.
• Freight trains also use the line.

To run the ideal four tph, trains would need to do a round trip between West Ealing and Greenford in fifteen minutes.

If we assume that the two end stops take two minutes and the six intermediate ones take thirty seconds, then that leaves just eight minutes to cover the five miles of the round trip.

This is an average speed of 37.5 mph.

I don’t have the calculation experience or knowledge of train performance to prove it, but I think that an appropriate train would  be able to run an automated shuttle, with a frequency of four tph.

The train (or tram-train) would have the following features.

• It would be battery-powered.
• It would be highly automated.
• It would have an operating speed of perhaps sixty mph.
• It would have fast acceleration and deceleration.

The following infrastructure works would also be needed.

• The track would be improved to allow higher speeds.
• The points would be automated.
• Level access between platform and train would be provided.
• A fast charging system would be added to the bay platforms at Greenford and West Ealing stations.

If four tph could be achieved on the Greenford Branch with just one automated shuttle and no electrification, this would be exactly what the operator, the passengers and the Government ordered.

February 19, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Transport | Automated Shuttle Train, Greenford Branch, Greenford Station, West Ealing Station