The Anonymous Widower

Penistone Line – 15th December 2023

I took these pictures on the Penistone Line today.

Note.

1. I started at Sheffield station and travelled to Huddersfield station, before returning to Sheffield on the next train.
2. The trains run hourly.
3. There are 15 stops.
4. The route had good views but it didn’t seem the train worked that hard.
5. The route is 36.4 miles and trains are timed to take 75 minutes.
6. That is an average speed of 29.1 mph.
7. Most services were run by two car Class 150 trains, but some were run by three-car trains.
8. The two trains I used were well patronised.

I have some thoughts and observations.

Could The Service Be Run Faster?

Consider.

• 29.1 mph doesn’t seem very fast.
• The maximum speed is 50 mph or less in places.
• The line North of Barnsley is single-track with passing loops at Penistone and Stocksmoor.
• Some of this single-track is on top of high viaducts, so could be difficult to double.
• Between Barnsley and Sheffield is double-track.
• To do the journey in an hour would need an average of 36.4 mph.
• Typically, Greater Anglia run their Class 755 trains at 34-36 mph.

As the Penistone Line has 15 stops, an electric train with faster acceleration and deceleration might be ideal for the route.

But I suspect it would be tight, but possible to do the journey in an hour.

Help And Money Is On Its Way!

This article on Kirkless Together is entitled £48million Funding Boost To Get Penistone Rail Line On The Right Track.

This is the first paragraph.

The government have just announced that we’ve been successful in a bid to their Levelling Up Fund for £48million, to support major improvements to the Penistone rail line.

That certainly sounds like a good start.

The article sums up what the funding means like this.

This funding means we’ll be able to improve the infrastructure along this rail line, and improve access as well. This will make the Penistone line a really important link between Huddersfield, Barnsley and Sheffield!

Improvements are outlined in this paragraph.

It will include station improvements creating better access and waiting facilities, increasing the speed of travel along the line and upgrading the rail infrastructure – including doubling sections of track, which will allow for two trains to travel on the northern section of the line every hour, in both directions.

Note.

1. I feel that the current track layout could allow a theoretical two trains per hour (tph) service North of Barnsley, if both passing loops at Penistone and Stocksmoor were to be used.
2. But it might not be very resilient to late trains and other problems, so extra double-track might be desirable, if it made the route more reliable.

I would expect that if possible, the improvements would allow trains to go between Sheffield and Huddersfield in an hour, as that would definitely attract more passengers to the service.

Could Battery-Electric Trains Run The Service On The Penistone Line?

Consider.

• Both Sheffield and Huddersfield stations will be electrified in the next few years, so the power supplies will be able to support charging of battery-electric trains.
• Sheffield and Huddersfield is only 36.4 miles.
• Hopefully, the track improvements would make the route less severe.
• The Penistone Line is self-contained with no other services on much of the route.
• There is time to charge the train at each end of the route.

In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch, which is not very challenging.

A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.

I don’t think the terrain of the Penistone line is much different from the Uckfield branch, so what are the figures for a three-car-battery electric train?

The answer would appear to be somewhere between 328 and 546 kWh.

According to the data sheet is now on the Stadler web site, the battery size of a Class 777 train is 320 KWh.

I feel that an off the shelf battery electric train could work the Penistone Line.

Could Tram-Train Operation Be Used?

Consider.

• A Sheffield tram driver told me that Sheffield’s Class 399 Tram-Trains are excellent on hills.
• The cousins of the Class 399 Tram-Trains run a similar service between Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden in Germany on bigger hills.
• Battery-electric Class 399 Tram-Trains are available and are being tested in Wales.
• Sheffield station handles Huddersfield services straight into one of two single bay platforms.
• Huddersfield station handles Sheffield services straight into a single bay platform.
• Major improvements to the Penistone Line will allow two trains per hour on the line.

I suspect if two trains per hour can be run using using diesel multiple units operating as a shuttle, then battery-electric Class 399 tram-trains could do the same.

A Tourist Tramway Across The Pennines

I feel there are possibilities to run tram-trains between Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly via Meadowhall and Sheffield stations.

This would create a unique tourist tramway across the Pennines.

Huddersfield’s magnificient Grade 1 Listed station is being upgraded and electrified.

The Hope Valley Line has been upgraded in the last couple of years.

Through Sheffield will be upgraded and electrified for the Midland Main Line.

Stadler have built vehicles for lines like these in many places.

This could be the spectacular attraction that the North-Centre of England needs.

December 16, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 150 Train, Class 399 Tram-Train, Huddersfield Station, Penistone Line, Sheffield Station, Tram-Train | Leave a comment