Wallingford Station: Historic Railway Canopy Finds New Home
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first three paragraphs.
A historic canopy over a railway station platform that was in danger of being junked has found a new home.
The structure at Maidenhead in Berkshire had to be taken down because of electrification works needed for the Crossrail scheme.
It was painstakingly relocated to Wallingford Station in Oxfordshire and restored over seven years.
Judging by the comments in the article, it sounds like a job well done!
These paragraphs give the comments of TV historian; Tim Dunn.
TV historian Tim Dunn, who was present at the unveiling, called the canopy “one of a kind”.
“The fact that it’s been brought up bit by bit and rebuilt finally gives this railway a portal to the rest of the town,” he added.
“This is a brand new entrance to Wallingford.”
Does Tim Dunn imply anything more by the final statement?
Is There A Possibility Of The Restoration Of A Passenger Service Between Cholsey And Wallingford?
Consider these factors.
Great Western Railway Seem To Have a Policy Of Developing Their Branch Lines
In GWR To Test Battery Train On Branch Line, I said this.
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Business UK.
This is the first paragraph.
Great Western Railway has invited expressions of interest in trialling a battery powered train on the 4 km non-electrified branch line from West Ealing to Greenford in west London.
The article says that Vivarail have made a previous proposal, but other companies are also likely to declare their interest.
Later in the related article, Mark Hopwood, who is Managing Director of Great Western Railway, indicated that they were looking for a modern zero-carbon solution for all of the branch lines, which they doubt would ever be electrified.
If GWR had a fleet of battery trains, then they could probably handle the two-and-a-half miles of the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway, provided the traffic was there, to make the service worthwhile.
Wallingford
Wallingford is a town of nearly twelve thousand inhabitants and many smaller towns and villages in England, have a regular rail service.
Cholsey Station
Cholsey station has two trains per hour (tph) between Paddington and Didcot Parkway stations, with extra services between Oxford and Reading stations in the Peaks.
This Google Map shows Cholsey station.
Note.
- Four through platforms for Great Western Railway services.
- Platforms 1 and 2 for the fast services are on the Western side.
- Platforms 3 and 4 for the slow services are on the Eastern side.
- Bay Platform 5 is tucked in the North-East corner of the station and is the terminus for services on the Cholsey And Wallingford Railway.
- There are only 55 parking spaces.
Is the number of parking spaces sufficient for the station, if a lot of passengers drive from Wallingford?
Could Battery-Electric Trains Handle The Service Between Cholsey And Wallingford?
As GWR has decided to look for battery-electric trains for their branch lines and this is only a five mile round trip, I think we can assume, that the battery-electric trains of the type, that Great Western Railway chooses, will be able to work this branch.
Intriguingly, the Greenford Branch Line is also 2.5 miles long and a round trip takes under thirty minutes, although the service is only hourly.
I feel that a well-driven single battery-electric train can provide two tph on the branch.
Charging would probably be needed at only one end of the branch line.
As all the through lines at Cholsey station are electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires, I suspect that charging would be provided at that station.
Conclusion
I think it would be possible to provide a two tph service on the Cholsey and Wallingford branch line, using a battery-electric train.
The Anonymous Widower 