The Anonymous Widower

New Railway Station Between Hinckley And Nuneaton Receives Backing

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.

This is the first paragraph of the article.

Plans for a new railway station between Hinckley and Nuneaton looks set to go ahead following backing from councillors.

The station will be called Nuneaton Parkway.

This page on Coventry Live gives some more information.

There is also a proposed station, to be called Nuneaton Parkway, situated off the A5 between Hinckley and Nuneaton.

This Google Map shows the area where the A5 crosses the Birmingham-Peterborough Line, that runs between Hinckley and Nuneaton..

This must surely be one of the best sites to build a new Parkway station in the UK.

• The triangular site is a waste transfer station operated by Veolia Environmental Services UK.
• It has a direct connection to the A5, which could be easily improved, with perhaps a roundabout.
• Doing a crude estimate from the Google Map, I calculate that the site is about sixteen hactares, which is surely a good size for a Parkway station.
• There’s even quite a lot of new housing within walking and cycling distance.

It would also appear that the station could be built on this site without major disruption to either road or rail traffic.

Train Services

Currently the train service passing the proposed site of Nuneaton Parkway, which stops at both Hinckley and Nuneaton stations is as follows.

• An hourly CrossCountry service between Birmingham New Street and Leicester.
• In addition there are four trains per day between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport and/or Cambridge.
• All trains take seven minutes between Nuneaton and Hinckley.

But just under forty trains per day is not enough.

In my view, there should be a train at least every half-hour and preferably four trains per hour (tph) between Birmingham New Street and Leicester.

What About Coventry and Birmingham International?

Services between Nuneaton and Birmingham go via Coleshill Parkway and don’t call at Coventry and Birmingham International for the Airport, High Speed Two and the National Exhibition Centre.

So could there be a Birmingham New Street and Leicester service via Birmingham International, Coventry, Coventry Arena, Nuneaton, Nuneaton Parkway and Hinckley?

London, Liverpool and Manchester Via Nuneaton

Currently, the Nuneaton and London service is hourly and timed badly for connections at Nuneaton.

If it is intended that passengers will park at Nuneaton Parkway station and go to and from London, Liverpool or Manchester, the following must be arranged.

• At least four tph calling at Nuneaton, Nuneaton Parkway and Hinckley.
• At least two tph from West Midland Trains going between London Euston and Crewe calling at Nuneaton.
• Perhaps one tph from Virgin Trains calling at Nuneaton.
• A big improvement in cafes and waiting rooms at Nuneaton.

Note that times between Nuneaton and London Euston are as follows.

• West Midlands Trains – 78 minutes
• Virgin Trains – 69 minutes

Perhaps West Midlands Trains should be running trains with the same performance as Virgin?

Could Battery-Electric Trains Be Used Between Birmingham New Street And Leicester?

The route between Birmingham New Street and Leicester is not electrified, but two important stations; Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton are both wired, as is the route between Coventry and Birmingham New Street via Birmingham International.

Distances between Nuneaton and other stations, where independent power would be needed are.

• Birmingham New Street via Coleshill Parkway – 21 miles.
• Leicester – 19 miles or 38 miles return.
• Coventry – 10 miles

These distances are all feasible for battery operation.

In Porterbrook Makes Case For Battery/Electric Bi-Mode Conversion, I talked about Porterbrook’s plan to convert redundant Class 350 trains into battery-electric trains.

• They are four-car electric trains.
• They were built within the last ten years.
• They are currently used by West Midlands Trains.

In the related post, I estimated that these converted trains would have the following battery ranges for the power usages shown, if they were to be fitted with 400 kWh of batteries. I chose 400 kWh as this is the battery capacity of a Three-car Class 230 train.

• 5 kWh per vehicle mile – 20 miles
• 4 kWh per vehicle mile – 25 miles
• 3 kWh per vehicle mile – 33.3 miles
• 2 kWh per vehicle mile – 50 miles

In How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 mph?, I calculated that.

• A Class 801 train needs 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
• An IOnterCity125 train needs 2.83 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
• A Class 222 train needs 4.83 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
• A Class 170 train needs 3.15 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 100 mph.

Looking at the last figure for the Class 170 train, I feel that a modern electric train must surely be as or more efficient and I’m justified to assume that a well-designed battery-electric train based on a Class 350 train, should be capable of a power usage of 3 k|Wh per vehicle mile, which would give a 33.3 mile range.

If more range was needed to handle Nuneaton and Leicester, the following could be done.

• Install a bigger battery in the trains.
• Install a charging station at Leicester.
• Extend the electrificationfrom Nuneaton for a few miles.

I very much believe that within a few years, the technology exists to have 100 mph battery electric trains running between Birmingham and Leicester, getting a quick charge en route at Nuneaton.

Conclusion

My logical thinking leads me to the conclusion, that a high-frequency service between Birmingham New Street and Leicester could grow into a Crossrail-style service.

• Six tph between Birmingham New Street and :Leicester.
• Services split between Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton, with some trains going via Coleshill and others via Coventry and Birmingham International.
• There could be extensions from Coventry to Leamington and Birmingham to Wolverhampton and Bromsgrove.
• Centred on Nuneaton Parkway.
• Possibly run by battery-electric trains.

Although the Crossrail branding is possibly overused these days.

 

September 16, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Battery/FLEX Train, Birmingham Moor Street Station, Coventry Station, Leicester Station, Nuneaton Parkway Station