The Anonymous Widower

Beeching Reversal – Reinstatement Of The Beverley And York Rail Line

This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.

The York And Beverley Line does what it says in the name.

A section in the Wikipedia entry is entitled Re-Opening Proposals and the treatment of the trackbed after closure would appear to be a case study in how not to mothball a railway.

• The original route has been built on in several places at Huntingdon, New Earswick, Pocklington and Stamford Bridge.
• A new route will have to be built to connect to the York and Scarborough Line at Haxby.
• There may also be problems at Beverley.

The only positive thing I can see, is that York City Council, want to re-open Haxby station. If this station were to be re-opened with a future-proofed design that might help in the wider scheme of reopening the Beverley and York Line.

This Google Map shows the original location of Haxby station.

Note.

1. There is a dreaded level crossing in the middle of the village, that typically has around two trains per hour (tph)
2. The road going to the West at the top of the map, is called Station Road, which is a bit of a giveaway.
3. The building on the triangular site is called Station garage.
4. Some reports on the Internet say that allotments will be turned into car parks.
5. According to Wikipedia 22,000 people live within three miles of the station site.

The station site appears to be hemmed in by housing and comments from readers on one report are complaining about car parking being a problem an definitely don’t want the station.

Wikipedia says this about the proposed service on the Beverley and York Line.

The report recommended reinstating a service from Hull via Beverley, Market Weighton, Stamford Bridge and Pocklington connecting to the York to Scarborough Line at Haxby, on a double track line with a frequency of 2 trains per hour, with intermediate stations only at Market Weighton, Pocklington and Stamford Bridge. The estimate journey time was under 1 hour.

As the Beverley and York Line can’t join the York and Scarborough Line in the middle of Haxby, would it join North or South of the town?

Joining to the North would allow the Beverley trains to call at Haxby, but that would mean the level crossing was busy with six tph.

This Google Map shows the countryside between Haxby in the North and Earswick in the South.

Note.

1. The York and Scarborough Line going through the centre of Haxby and then passing down the West side of the light brown fields.
2. York is to the South and Scarborough is to the North.

I wonder, if the Beverley and York Line could branch to the East here and skirt to the North of Earswick before continuing to Pocklington for Beverley.

Perhaps, a Park-and-Ride station could be situated, where the railway and the road called Landing Lane cross?

At Beverley, this Google Map shows how the Beverley and York Line connects to the station.

Note.

1. Beverley station at the bottom of the map.
2. The Hull and Scarborough running North-South through the station.

The line divides by Beverley Rugby Football Club, with the trackbed of the Beverley and York Line going off in the North-Westerly direction.

This seems a lot easier than at the York end of the route.

I have flown my virtial helicopter over much of the route between Beverley and York, and the trackbed is visible but missing in places, where construction has taken place.

Would The Route Be Single Or Double-Track?

The plans call for double track, but would it be necessary?

• There will only be two tph, that will take under an hour.
• No freight trains will use the line.
• The route is 32 miles long.

I suspect a single track would suffice, with a passing loop at Market Weighton station.

Should The Line Be Electrified?

I wouldn’t electrify the whole line, but I would electrify the following.

• Hull and Beverley, so that battery trains to and from London could top up their batteries.
• Haxby and York, so that battery trains to and from Scarborough could top up their batteries.

These two short stretches of electrification would allow battery electric operation between Hull and York, trains could charge their batteries at either end of the route.

Electrification Between Hull And Beverley

Consider.

• Hull Trains extend their London and Hull services to Beverley.
• Hull and Beverley are just over eight miles apart.
• Trains to and from London Kings Cross use the electrification on the East Coast Main Line to the South of Temple Hirst Junction.
• Hull and Temple Hirst Junction are thirty-six miles apart.
• Hull Trains and LNER use Hitachi Class 800 or Class 802 electro-diesel trains on services between London Kings Cross and Hull.

Hitachi’s proposed battery-electric conversion of these trains, would have a range of 56 miles, according to this infographic.

I have flown my helicopter along the route and counted the following.

• Level crossings – 5
• Modern road bridges – 5
• Footbridges – 5
• Other bridges – 5
• Stations – 1

Nothing looked too challenging.

In my view electrification between Hull and Beverley and at convenient platforms at both stations, would be a simple way of decarbonising rail travel between London and Hull.

If this electrification were to be installed, distances from the electrification between Hull and Beverley, these would be the distances to be covered on battery power to various places.

• Bridlington – 23 miles
• Doncaster via Goole – 41 miles
• Leeds – 52 miles
• Neville Hill Depot – 49 miles
• Scarborough – 45 miles
• York – 52 miles

Note.

1. All of these places would be in range of a fully-charged Hitachi battery electric train running to and from Hull.
2. Of the destinations, only Bridlington and Scarborough, is not a fully-electrified station.
3. One of the prerational problems in the area, is that due to a lack of electrification to the East of Neville Hall Depot, electric trains from York and Hull have difficulty reaching the depot. Trains with a battery capability won’t have this problem.
4. Hull and Beverley and a lot of stations in the area, would only be served by electric trains, with a battery capability.

There would be a large decrease in pollution and emissions caused by passenger trains in the area.

Electrification Between Haxby And York

Consider.

• York and Haxby are 4 miles apart.
• York and Scarborough are 42 miles apart.
• York and Beverley are 32 miles apart.

Note that unlike at Beverley, there is no need to electrify the end of the route, as trains can be charged in the turnround at York.

With a charging facility at Scarborough, the Class 802 trains of TransPennine Express could work this route if fitted with batteries.

Could Lightweight Electrification Be Used?

Electrification gantries like these have been proposed for routes, where the heavy main-line gantries would be too intrusive.

They could have a place in the rebuilding of lines like Beverley and York.

Trains Between York And Beverley

The UK’s railways need to be decarbonised before 2040.

As a train delivered today, would probably last forty years, I think it would be prudent to only introduce zero-carbon trains to the network, where they are able to run the proposed services.

There is no doubt in my mind, that all these local services in East Yorkshire could be run using battery-electric trains with a 56 mile range.

• Hull and Doncaster
• Hull and Leeds
• Hull and Neville Hill Depot
• Hull and Scarborough
• Hull and York via Beverley and Market Weighton
• Hull and York via Selby
• York and Scarborough

The only electrification needed would be as follows.

Electrification between Hull and Beverley.

Electrification of some platforms at Beverley and Hull stations.

Some form of charging at Scarborough.

Charging may also be needed at Bridlington station.

The trains needed for the route seem to fit Hitachi’s specification well and a Class 385 train to the following specification, would do a highly capable job.

• Three or four-cars.
• Batteries for a 56 mile range.
• 90-100 mph operating speed.

I’m also sure that Bombardier, CAF and Stadler could also provide a suitable train.

Could Tram-Trains Be Used?

I feel that they could be used successfully and might enable cost savings on the substantial rebuilding of the route needed.

• Lighter weight structures.
• Single track with passing places.
• Tramway electrification or battery.
• Less vidual intrusion.
• The service could also have more stops.

Perhaps too, it could go walkabout in Hull City Centre to take passengers to and from Hull station.

Conclusion

It is rebuilding the tracks between Beverley and York, that will be difficult in the reopening of this line, which with hindsight should have not been vandalised by British Rail.

But even, if the Beverley and York Line is not re-opened, it does look that if Beverley and Hull were to be electrified, it would enable a network of battery electric zero-carbon trains in East Yorkshire and allow battery electric trains to run between Kings Cross and Hull.

July 10, 2020 Posted by AnonW | Energy Storage, Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Beeching Reversal, Beverley Station, Bridlington Station, Charging Battery Trains, Class 385 Train, Class 802 Train, Discontinuous Electrification, Hitachi Regional Battery Train, Hull Station, York Station, York-Beverley Line | 3 Comments