The Anonymous Widower

Thoughts On Tram-Trains In Manchester

The State Of Public Transport In the North

Over the last few years plans have been put in place to improv the state of the public transport of the major cities of the North and progress has started to happen, with new trains, trams and light rail systems being planned and in some cases coming into service.

Birmingham, Coventry And The West Midlands

A lot of investment has been made and it is continuing.

• Birmingham New Street station has been rebuilt.
• Coventry and Wolverhampton stations have been remodelled.
• Two new stations were built in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.
• A large number of new Class 730 local  trains are being brought into service.
• Birmingham stations are being updated for High Speed Two.
• The West Midland Metro has been extended at both ends and a second line is under construction.

Transport in the wider West Midlands has been greatly improved.

Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield And The East Midlands

The major investment in this area is the electrification of the Midland Main Line and the provision of new Hitachi electric Class 810 trains.

In addition the following has been done.

• The Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield has been improved.
• Derby station has been improved.
• The local trains have been refurbished.
• The power supply has been improved.
• An application for an Open Access service to Sheffield has been made.

The improvements in the East Midlands, will not be on the same scale as in the West Midlands, but they will make a difference.

Leeds, Bradford And West Yorkshire

For decades, West Yorkshire and especially Bradford has lagged behind the rest of the North.

But at least things are stirring.

• Plans have been laid to create a through station in Bradford.
• Leeds station has been refurbished.
• An extra platform is being added at Bradford Forster Square station.
• The TransPennine Upgrade is underway to electrify between Huddersfield and York.
• Hitachi have developed a battery-electric high speed train for the TransPennine route.
• Bradford is installing a hydrogen electrolyser, so that the city can have hydrogen buses to cope with the hills.
• Plans are now being developed to create a metro for Leeds and Bradford.

West Yorkshire is closing the gap to the rest of the North.

Liverpool And Merseyside

Again, a lot of investment has been made.

• The approaches to Liverpool Lime Street station have finally been sorted, with more tracks and new signalling.
• Liverpool Lime Street station has been improved and is now one of the finest stations in Europe.
• Trains are now approaching High Speed Two times between Crewe and Liverpool.
• More services between London and Liverpool can now be planned, with the arrival of new Class 807 trains.
• Some new stations have been built and more are planned.
• A large number of new Class 777 local  trains are being brought into service.

Transport in the wider Merseyside has been greatly improved.

Newcastle, Tyneside And Northumberland

The area is getting investment, but not as much in proportion as others.

• The Metro trains are being replaced and the Metro itself, is getting a major update.
• The East Coast Main Line has received improvements to power supplies, signalling and some bottlenecks.
• The Northumberland Line to Ashington is being brought back into operation.

It’s a start, but if the Northumberland Line is a success, I can see a call for more line re openings.

Manchester And Greater Manchester

If you look at each of the areas, they generally have one or more large projects.

• Birmingham, Coventry And The West Midlands – Birmingham New Street station, Class 730 Trains, High Speed Two, West Midland Metro
• Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield And The East Midlands – Midland Main Line, Class 810 Trains, Hope Valley Line, Open Access To Sheffield
• Leeds, Bradford And West Yorkshire – Leeds station, Bradford improvements, TransPennine Upgrade, Battery-Ekectric Trains, Leeds Metro
• Liverpool And Merseyside – Liverpool Lime Street Improvements, Class 807 Trains, Class 777 Trains
• Newcastle, Tyneside And Northumberland – Metro upgrade with New Trains, Northumberland Line

So what improvements are in the pipeline for Greater Manchester?

This Wikipedia entry is entitled Proposed Developments Of Manchester Metrolink.

The proposed developments include in the Wikipedia order.

• New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development  proposed at Elton Reservoir on the Bury Line.
• New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development  proposed at Sandhills on the Bury Line.
• New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development  proposed at Cop Road on the Oldham and Rochdale Line.
• Airport Line extension to Terminal 2: A short extension of the Airport Line from the current Manchester Airport station to the site of the expanded Terminal 2.
• Airport Line extension to Davenport Green: An extension of the Airport Line from Roundthorn to the site of the proposed Manchester Airport High Speed station on the HS2 high speed network.
• Oldham–Heywood via Rochdale tram-train pathfinder: A tram-train service utilising the heavy rail Calder Valley line to connect Oldham to Heywood through Rochdale railway station.
• Manchester Airport–Wilmslow via Styal tram-train pathfinder: A tram-train service operating on the southern section of the heavy rail Styal Line between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow in Cheshire.
• South Manchester–Hale via Altrincham tram-train pathfinder: An extension of Metrolink’s Altrincham Line using tram-train to reach Hale on the heavy rail Mid-Cheshire line.
• Improved Metrolink frequency between Piccadilly and Victoria stations: Increasing capacity to provide a direct service from Rochdale and Oldham to Manchester Piccadilly.
• Interventions to improve Metrolink capacity and reliability: Includes improvements to turnback facilities and double-tracking currently single-track sections.
• Further interventions to improve Metrolink capacity and reliability: Includes longer vehicles, a third depot and double-tracking currently single-track sections.
• Manchester–Stalybridge extension: An extension of the East Manchester Line from Ashton-under-Lyne to Stalybridge.
• Manchester–Middleton extension: A proposed spur from the Bury Line connecting to the town of Middleton.
• Oldham–Middleton extension: A spur from Oldham to Middleton.
• MediaCityUK–Salford Crescent: A line connecting the MediaCityUK tram stop to the Salford Crescent railway station interchange. Further new Metrolink.
• Connections between Salford Crescent, Inner Salford and the City Centre: Extension of the MediaCityUK–Salford Crescent line into the regional centre.
• Completion of the Airport Line (Wythenshawe Loop): Completion of the Wythenshawe Loop by connecting the Metrolink lines between the Davenport Green and Manchester Airport Terminal 2 extensions.
• Port Salford/Salford Stadium extension: Extending the Trafford Park Line from the Trafford Centre to a proposed container terminal at Port Salford.
• Glossop tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Glossop line between Manchester and Glossop in Derbyshire.
• Marple tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Hope Valley line branches north of Marple towards Manchester.
• Manchester–Wigan via Atherton tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Atherton section of the Manchester–Southport line between Manchester and Wigan.
• Manchester–Warrington tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the southern route of the Liverpool–Manchester lines between Manchester and Warrington.
• Stockport–Hazel Grove tram-train: A tram-train service between Stockport and the suburb of Hazel Grove.
• Stockport–Manchester Airport tram-train: A tram-train service between Stockport and Manchester Airport.
• Rochdale–Bury via Heywood tram-train: Extension of the Oldham–Heywood tram-train pathfinder from Heywood to Bury.
• Manchester Airport–Mid Cheshire tram-train: A tram-train service from Manchester Airport using a proposed Western Link rail line to the Mid-Cheshire line.
• Stockport–Ashton via Denton and Reddish tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Stockport–Stalybridge line from Stockport to Ashton.
• Cornbrook–Manchester Airport via Timperley tram-train: A tram-train service from Cornbrook using the Altrincham line to Timperley, the Mid Cheshire line to Baguley, then the Wythenshawe Loop to Manchester Airport.
• Regional centre metro tunnel: Providing capacity for more services on the network.
• Oldham–Greenfield via Grotton extension: A Metrolink spur from Oldham town centre to Greenfield railway station on the Huddersfield line.
• Oldham–Royton extension: A Metrolink spur from the Oldham and Rochdale line to the town of Royton.

Note.

1. The number of times that tram-trains are mentioned.
2. But with its numerous rail and tram lines, Greater Manchester is ideally suited for conversion to tram-trains.
3. There are three pathfinder routes for tram-trains, which will be converted first to prove the technology.

These are my detailed thoughts on tram-trains in Greater Manchester,

All Routes Could Be Run By Identical Tram-Trains

If this can be arranged, it is surely preferable from the operator, staff and passengers point-of-view.

Tram-Trains Can Run On Secondary Routes Like The Calder And Hope Valley Lines

In Manchester, this would enable some routes to be swapped from the rail to the tram network.

It would also allow trams to run between networks, so you could have a direct tram service between say Stockport and Sheffield on the Hope Valley Line.

Tram-Trains Can Be Faster

Tram-trains can be faster, when running on rail lines, so they don’t hold up expresses.

What Do Tram-Trains Look Like?

This is one of Sheffield’s Class 399 tram-trains at Rotherham Parkgate.

Note.

1. This tram-train is a member of the Stadler Citylink family.
2. this version can be powered by either 750 VDC or 25 KVAC.
3. The Welsh version will also have battery-power.
4. It is a three-car tram train.
5. There is step-free access.

The Wikipedia entry for the Stadler Citylink has lots more details.

Stadler have just launched a new smaller one- or two-car tram-train.

This image from the press release shows the prototype hydrogen-powered one-car RS ZERO.

Note.

1. The Regio-Shuttles can run as up to seven car trains.
2. These RS ZERO are powered by overhead electrification, battery or hydrogen power.
3. They can carry 170 passengers at 75 mph.
4. They can run as train-trams using the Chemnitz model on compatible tram networks.
5. The interiors are very flexible.
6. An RS ZERO can be fitted with toilets for the posher parts of Manchester.
7. Typically, a one-car RS ZERO handles a similar passenger load to a one-car Metrolink vehicle.

The more I compare the RS ZERO with the Metrolink’s trams, the more it looks like Stadler’s design has a Metrolink order firmly in its sights.

A Simple Tram-Train Example

The Altrincham Line of the Metrolink, runs between Altrincham and Deansgate-Castlefield in Central Manchester.

• Tram-trains would be capable of sharing the tracks with the current trams.
• Initially, they would run an identical service to the same destinations in the North.
• At either Navigation Road or Altrincham stations, they would switch to the heavy rail track.
• They would then travel to Hale or whatever station is determined to be the terminus.

Tram-trains would be a simple way of extending a tram service along a heavy eail line.

The Range Of The RS ZERO

This article on the Railway Gazette is entitled Prototype RS Zero Hydrogen Or Battery Railcar For Secondary Lines Unveiled At InnoTrans, has this paragraph.

The hydrogen powered RS Zero has a range of more than 700 km in the single car version, and a two-car version would offer more than 1 000 km. Battery trains will offer ranges of 80 to 110 km or 90 to 180 km. The maximum speed is 120 km/h.

As Chester and Manchester is only 45 miles or 72.4 kilometres, ways and means of running the battery versions on the route should be possible.

In fact, as Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly is already electrified at 25 KVAC and a return trip to Manchester Piccadilly from Stockport probably takes about twenty-five minutes, I would envisage that an RS ZERO would leave Stockport for Chester with a full battery. As Stockport and Chester is only 39.2 miles or 63 kilometres, the RS ZERO  should do the trip if it started with a full battery and had a short length of electrification at Chester to top up the battery, if needed.

Other Possible Tram-Train Routes From Stockport

It is indicated the Metrolink would like to run other tram-train routes from Stockport.

• Ashton – Not sure of the route
• Buxton – 31.8 km
• Hazel Grove – 5 km – Electrified
• Manchester Piccadilly – 9 km – Electrified
• Manchester Airport – Not sure of the route
• Sheffield – 59 km – Will be electrified at Sheffield

Note.

1. This would speed up Sheffield services.
2. Buxton would be an interesting route and would probably use Newton’s friend to help on the return.

I suspect that nearly all local services from Manchester through Stockport could be run by battery-electric or hydrogen tram-trains.

The Glossop Line Could Be Converted To Tram-Train

It’s already electrified so why not?

Conclusion

It strikes me, that a lot of Manchester’s suburban rail network could be converted to RS ZERO tram-trains.

The RS ZERO  tram-trains could also be used on existing tram routes to convert them to tram-train operation and extend them.

As a bonus Manchester’s trains would be substantially decarbonised.

 

 

 

December 4, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Birmingham New Street Station, Bradford Electrolyser, Bradford Forster Square Station, Calder Valley Line, Class 730 Train, Class 777 Train, Class 807 Train, Decarbonisation, Derby Station, High Speed Two, Hope Valley Line, Leeds, Leeds Metro, Liverpool, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester, Manchester Metrolink, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Manchester Victoria Station, Merseyrail, Midland Main Line, Newcastle, Newcastle Metro, Newcastle Station, Northumberland Line (Newcastle And Ashington/Blyth), Open Access Operators, Sheffield Station, Stadler RS ZERO, TransPennine Route, TransPennine Upgrade, West Midlands Metro, West Yorkshire Metro