Okehampton Railway Return ‘Clear Reality’ After £40m Commitment In Budget
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Okehampton Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The return of a regular passenger rail service to Okehampton is now a clear reality after £40m of funding to reinstate services was included in the Budget.
I am not surprised about this planned reopening, as much of the infrastructure is ready.
Okehampton already has a station, which is shown in this Google Map.
It looks as if there are tourist facilities at the station, where you can stay the night and hire bicycles.
The Dartmoor Railway connects the station to the Tarka Line at Coleford Junction.
- The railway appears to be single track.
- There is a single-platform station at Sampford Courtenay.
- A Great Western Railway passenger service connects St. James Park and Okehampton stations on Summer Sundays.
- This service also calls at Exeter Central, Exeter St. Davids and Ctediton stations.
In a section called Future Options for the Wikipedia entry for Okehampton station, finishes with this sentence.
Work started by Network Rail in 2020 on relaying and refurbishing the track between Coleford Junction and Okehampton with a plan to reopen the line to passengers during 2021.
It looks like a rail service could be made permanent and seven days per week, for an affordable budget.
The trains and those on the Tarka Line to Barnstaple are actually turned in a reversing siding at Exmouth Junction, which is shown in this Google Map.
Note.
- St. James Park station is to the West.
- Honiton station is to the East.
- The Avocet Line to Exmouth station goes South East at the bottom of the map.
I suspect that if more trains were reversed at Exmouth Junction, some work on track and signalling might be needed to be done.
This paragraph is taken from this article on the Moorlander, which is entitled Okehampton To Exeter Railway Line Secures More Than £40m Funding.
As The Moorlander has previously reported, the news means that Okehampton will become a ‘railhead’ for the hinterland and benefit three main markets; those wishing to visit the heritage station and Dartmoor, local people from Okehampton travelling to Exeter for work, leisure and education plus potential passengers wanting to connect with the train from West Devon, parts of Torridge and North Cornwall.
That seems all very sensible to me.
Could It Be Trialled As A Pop-Up Metro?
Could it be, that once the line is approved for opening, a service is run for a few months to test out, whether it would be financially viable?
It would be the classic test of the Pop-Up Metro concept, that has been proposed by Adrian Shooter of Vivarail, that I wrote about in Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains.
To be zero-emission, there would need to be one of Vivarail’s Fast Charge systems at Exmouth Junction, which could also charge trains for Barnstaple.
What would zero-emission battery trains serving Barnstaple and Okehampton so for passenger numbers?
Train operators discount the positive effects, these trains have on passengers.
Did Greater Anglia for instance, ever do any market research after the successful trial of the Class 379 BEMU train at Manningtree five years ago? I suspect not!
I estimate that to run the following pair of hourly services would take three trains for each.
- St. James Park and Barnstaple via Exeter Central, Exeter St. Davids and Crediton.
- St. James Park and Okehampton via Exeter Central, Exeter St. Davids and Crediton.
Two extra trains for a hot spare and one in maintenance would typically be added, to give a requirement of eight trains. As Great Western Railway already run the hourly service to Barnstaple, they would probably need another three trains for the Okehampton service.
I think there are two very sensible and affordable philosophies.
Refurbished Class 150 Trains
These pictures show a refurbishment of one of Great Western Railway‘s Class 150 trains.
Note.
- It is one of the finest train refurbishments, I have ever seen.
- As I rode one that had been to Barnstable, they can certainly handle the route.
- Great Western Railway have twenty of these trains.
What’s wrong with a fleet of these trains?
Vivarail Class 230 Trains
Battery-electric or diesel-electric versions of these Class 230 trains would be a possibility.
Note.
- I am not sure, if they could manage the climb to Barnstaple, but as they have have so many different power options, I suspect something is possible.
- If they are battery-electric, there could be a Fast Charge system at Exmouth Junction, where the trains turn back.
- Charging may also be needed at Barnstaple and Okehampton to nudge the trains down the hill.
Suppose the various improvements to track, signals and stations and providing charging cost half of the £40 million, that would leave £20 million to pay for the trains. In a cost comparison from October 2015, it is stated that lease costs of Class 230 trains are £7000 per car per month.
So if we call that £10000 to allow for inflation and the pandemic, that means that 8 x three-car trains will cost £2.88 million per year. There will obviously be maintenance and fuel and electricity costs to add. Let’s make the total £4 million per year.
So that would mean, that after spending £20 million on getting the infrastructure ready, the route could be run for five years as a trial.
Conclusion
Consider.
- I feel that this line has been proposed for reopening, as it looks like there could be a good return on the investment.
- The biggest problem would be finding three trains to run the service.
- I suspect, it could also be implemented in a short period of time and perhaps open for Summer 2021.
This train service could be a prototype for many others in the UK.
Europe Blocks 250,000 AstraZeneca Vaccine Doses Bound For Australia
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Australian newspaper The Age.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Officials in Europe have blocked the shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia in a ploy set to trigger a major diplomatic dispute.
It is a surprisingly calm article.
Although it does say this.
More than 150 international deliveries were authorised without a hitch over recent weeks, but Italy has now opposed the delivery to Australia. Rome’s objection was endorsed by the European Commission.
It looks to me that Australia has been singled out. Could it be because to EU officials, it is seen as a British colony?
Or is it because the EU believes that the French-born CEO of AstraZeneca; Pascal Soriot, is a traitor for taking up Australian citizenship?
Aussie comedians will have a field day.
I also suspect, that when Australia starts delivering its own locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine towards the end of the month, some will be exported to the EU to solve their self-inflicted vaccine shortage.
Warrington Bank Quay Could Become Major Rail Interchange
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Warrington Guardian.
This is the first three paragraphs.
Warrington Bank Quay could become a major rail interchange as part of plans to create a new train line through the town.
Transport for the North revealed the final draft of its proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail earlier this week, with one of its key recommendations being the construction of a new link running from Liverpool to Manchester via the town centre.
And the Warrington Guardian understands that this will involve an underground line calling at Bank Quay Station.
I talked about this in Northern Powerhouse Rail – A New Line Between Liverpool And Manchester Via The Centre Of Warrington.
But it does appear to be more ambitious than the original indications.
Ryze Hydrogen’s Suffolk Freeport Hydrogen Vision Takes Shape
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on S & P Global.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Ryze Hydrogen plans to install a 6 MW electrolyzer at the Sizewell nuclear site in Suffolk as a launchpad for mass production of low carbon hydrogen in and around the future freeport of Felixstowe, company founder Jo Bamford told S&P Global Platts March 3.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
This would mean that Sizewell’s 6 MW electrolyser could be producing around a thousand tonnes of hydrogen per year or 2.6 tonnes per day.
Note that the port and the power station are only about thirty miles apart.
Suffolk is thinking big again!
The last part of the article is where Jo Bamford discusses the cost of hydrogen and hydrogen buses and how he intends to sell them to the UK and ultimately the world.
Suffolk and Jo Bamford appear to be made for each other, with complementary ambitions.
London Euston Cat-Astrophe Averted For Train-Surfing Puss
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
Except for the headline, the BBC resisted the urge to use more feline puns in the story.
Eight New Freeports Set To Open In The UK
Today, in his 2021 Budget, Rishi Sunak announced eight new freeports.
This article on the BBC, which is entitled Freeports: What Are They And Where Will They Be?, gives a brief guide to the freeports.
This links link to the nearest I can find to an official web site for each of the freeports.
The Government has said that the freeports will start their operations late this year.
Biggest Mobile Hydrogen Fuel Cell In The World To Power Sergey Brin’s Mysterious Airship
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
LTA Research and Exploration, the secretive and mysterious airship company owned by Google co-founder and former Alphabet President Sergey Brin, will use the biggest mobile hydrogen fuel cell in the world to power its disaster relief airship.
The size of the fuel cell appears to be 1.5 MW according to the Hydrogen Fuel News article.
The company has a web site with a title of The Future Off 21st Century Airships.
The web site talks about vision, focus and their response to Covid-19, so it is certainly not vapourware, although it seems to be more about building the team.
Conclusion
Sergey Brin has his heart in the right place
But he is ploughing a furrow, that has been attempted many times and sadly most attempts have ended in failure.
UK Cruise Ships Scrapped In India’s ‘Ship Graveyard’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Two UK cruise ships have been scrapped on an Indian beach despite assurances they would continue to be operated.
The ships are the Marco Polo and the Magellan, whose owner went bust due to the pandemic.
After a couple of transactions, they will be heading to the ship-breaker at Alang in North-West India.
This Google Map shows the yard. Or beach!
What a mess!
It looks to me, that someone has been doing a bit of sleight of ship to get round UK regulations, which class ships at the end of their lives as hazardous waste and make it illegal to send them to developing countries.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor Launches $50 million Fund For Carbon Capture Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ABC News.
This is the first three introductory paragraphs.
The federal government has launched a $50 million fund to support the growth of carbon capture projects, which will include projects that reuse carbon dioxide emissions to make new products.
The launch of the Carbon Capture, Use and Storage fund was in Newcastle at the pilot site for Mineral Carbonisation International (MCI).
The company is using carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from a nearby ammonia plant to make building products like plasterboard and cement.
This sounds like a good idea to me!
They have a web site, which contains this YouTube video.
This could be a novel solution to decarbonisation.
Fossil-Free Steel A Giant Step In Scania’s Decarbonisation
This title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Automotive World.
This is the introductory sub-title.
“Now we are gearing up in our journey towards completely emission-free products!” This is how Scania’s Head of Purchasing Anders Williamsson sees the company’s decision to invest in and enter into a partnership with the company H2 Green Steel (H2GS).
Other points from the article include.
- Each Scania truck contains five tonnes of steel.
- Scania will have a close partnership with H2GS.
- Scania will be able to get 90 % of their steel from H2GS.
H2GS will change steelmaking, when they start production in 2024.
The Anonymous Widower 