Scotland To Get New Intercity Fleet
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Transport Scotland.
These eight paragraphs make up the body of the press release.
The Scottish Government announced today that procurement will begin to replace the trains in its Intercity fleet.
The procurement will seek a replacement for the High Speed Train (HST) fleet of 25 trains which operates on its InterCity routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop said:
“Resilient, reliable ScotRail services are key to encouraging more people to choose to travel by train for work, leisure and learning.
“Over 4 million passengers travelled on InterCity trains between our key cities in the last year – we want to encourage even more people to do so. This procurement will enable us to replace the current Intercity fleet with trains which provide improved facilities and accessibility.
“Any replacement fleet is expected to be more energy efficient and therefore will significantly reduce emissions, reduce operating costs and be more in line with current passenger expectations, including for accessibility. The procurement process ensures Scottish suppliers will be able to offer to provide their services to potential bidders.
“This latest milestone in our rolling programme of decarbonisation will ensure the reliability of our Intercity routes for the long-term, making Scotland’s railway a more attractive and greener travel choice.”
Further details on this announcement will be shared when the contract is awarded in 2025. It is also expected that the refreshed Decarbonisation Action Plan will be published in Spring 2025, and this will detail updated targets for replacing ScotRail’s existing diesel fleets.
It is a press release full of good intentions, but very few facts.
Is this what Scots get from their political party?
I have a few questions.
Will The Trains Be Built In The UK?
This must surely give some advantages, but will it get the best trains at the best price?
What Will Be The Number And Capacity Of The Trains?
Transport Scotland could go for a like for like number and capacity replacement.
- But there have been capacity problems in Scotland, which have meant using diesel Class 153 trains as baggage cars.
- They might also want to add extra services.
- Will they replace the train lost at Stonehaven?
They could add a few options.
Other Companies May Need Similar Trains
Consider.
- GWR will need to replace their similar Castles.
- CrossCountry will need new trains.
- Grand Central will need new trains.
- South Western Railway may need new trains for services between Cardiff and Devon.
- Transport for Wales may need new trains.
Hull Trains and Lumo have recently ordered a selection of new Hitachi Class 802 and 803 trains, which I wrote about in Fourteen New Trains To Drive First Rail Open Access Growth.
I can see an argument for buying more Hitachi Class 80x trains, as it will surely save Great British Railways costs in the long time.
Should The New Trains Be A Forever Solution?
When British Rail electrified to Brighton, Crewe, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Portsmouth, Southampton, Weymouth and many other places from London, they saw it as a mode of traction, that would be used forever.
As the trains wore out or got outdated, they would be replaced with trains, which at least could run using the same mode of traction.
Generally, on electrified routes, when British Rail’s electric trains have been replaced, they have been replaced by more modern new electric trains.
The one major exception was on the East Coast Main Line where some InterCity 225 trains were replaced with Hitachi Class 800 and Class 802 diesel bi-mode trains.
But as the Class 800 and Class 802 diesel bi-mode trains were also replacing InterCity125 trains, they were a pragmatic replacement.
The Hitachi trains can be considered a Forever Solution, as bi-mode trains will always be able to work some routes that will never get electrified.
But Hitachi are developing the successor to their diesel bi-mode train, which is the tri-mode train, capable of running on electrification, diesel or battery power.
- Diesel power-packs can be swapped for battery packs.
- The battery packs have the same weight and power as a diesel power-pack.
- Existing diesel bi-mode trains can be converted to tri-mode or battery-electric bi-mode trains.
- A range of over forty miles on a single battery pack has been demonstrated.
Could Hitachi tri-mode trains be The replacements for the Inter7City trains?
Will Some Trains Have A Battery Electric Capability?
I very much believe so, as some routes in Scotland could be decarbonised by battery-electric trains.
What Top Speed Would The Trains Have?
Most of the routes in Scotland, where new modern quality rolling stock is needed, has a top speed of less than 100 mph, but in places the top speed is 125 mph.
I suspect, if trains can run at 125 mph in the places, where it is allowed, could probably save a few minutes on journey times.
Take the Borders Railway.
- The electrification runs out at Brunstane. Batteries would be charged between Edinburgh and Brunstane using the existing electrification.
- To go from Brunstane to Tweedbank and return to Brunstane is 63 miles.
- To work the Borders Railway would need a battery range of 63 miles.
I suspect every route in Scotland could have an electrification strategy for use with battery-electric trains. Some of which would have short lengths of extra electrification.
What Lengths Would The Trains Be?
In my example I used the Borders Railway.
A typical service is run by a three-car Class 170 train or two such trains running as a pair.
Perhaps, a single four- or five-car train could work the service all day and still provide enough capacity?
Conclusion
I believe, that Scotrail services could be electrified line-by-line.
Some lines would need more or longer trains and an update to the electrification.
The Anonymous Widower 
The Scots had a sensible decarbonisation plan, but that was thrown into disarray by the cancellation of much of HS2. Because of the way the Barnett formula works, Scotland’s funding changes in tandem with spending in England. If the Labour gov is going to revive some of this spending, Scotland’s allocation should go up again, but atm this is all up in the air. The Scots are finishing off E Kilbride, but have stopped work on the 1st bit of electrification into Fife, which would have been used by the 125 replacements. Extending beyond Dunblane is also on hold. I would imagine they’re holding off making any firm decisions until the funding situation is resolved.
Comment by Peter Robins | December 26, 2024 |
I’ve read somewhere, that Hitachi are expecting great things from two and three battery five-car Class 802s.
I suspect that they’ll get a 100 miles with three batteries, which with some short lengths of extra wires will electrify Scotland, Great Western, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.
There has been reports in Modern Railways, that have hinted that Lumo’s Class 803s will be able to use the diversion via Lincoln.
The train that is arriving everywhere will be a battery-electric high speed train with batteries from Sunderland.
There have also been hints, that they’d like the trains to be unveiled at the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington.
Comment by AnonW | December 26, 2024 |
They were going to electrify from Tweedbank about 10miles North and are paying Scottish Power already to upgrade Galshiels grid supply point so it can provide a 25kV supply. As Peter says above its not clear now if they have any sort of coherent plan. Also they were going to source BEMUs but that procurement plan has gone cold as well.
I suspect that the SNP have finally worked out electoral survival depends on sorting out basic needs of the populous first not independence and decarbonisation.
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | December 26, 2024 |
Ive also seen another suggestion that ScotRail are going to take the Meridian units from EMR to retire the HSTs some of which will be 50yrs old next year. Maybe that’s a short solution although given they are diesel electrics they lend themselves to having batteries replace some of the engines.
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | December 26, 2024 |
I don’t know that anybody’s tested BEMUs at high speed, have they? (Depends on what you mean by ‘high speed’, of course.) They’re excellent replacements for diesel on stopping/local/regional services, as the electric motors have better acceleration, and can also handle gradients better (down as well as up, as they can store braking power). Stadler have said their Akkus can reach 160kph, which is ample for such services, and would be the equivalent of the Siemens units LNR use on WCML, which I use quite often. In most continental countries, the ‘main’ lines are already electrified, so there’s no need for batteries on them.
Comment by Peter Robins | December 26, 2024 |
I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the emergency battery in the Class 803 is a Turntide Technology product. What better way would there be to test the resilience of a battery than to run it up and down the East Coast Main Line at 125 mph?
But one fact is given in a Hitachi press release. The battery-pack is the same size and weight as the diesel generator.
So a train with a battery will handle the same as one with a diesel generator.
Comment by AnonW | December 26, 2024 |
Apparently Hitachi tested up to 75mph in battery mode on the recent trial.
Comment by Peter Robins | December 29, 2024
This won’t be a new built fleet. The tender clearly states that this will be a fleet of existing, refurbished trains which will need no heavy overhaul or further refurbishment during their time with Scotrail. This inevitably means the Class 222 Meridean fleet which in undergoing comprehensive refurbishment despite leaving EMT with nowhere else to go from next year. Unfortunately, they don’t meet Scotrails’ environmental requirements. The Cummins QSK19 is a notoriously dirty, and thirsty engine which makes the Voyager Family (220, 221,222) the most inefficient, and carbon intensive fleet in the UK. The only trains to produce more carbon per seat than travelling by car. Scotrail would be better taking on further HST quite frankly, or the top notch solution would be to but a fleet of electrification ready bimodes now. Forget all this ultra expensive battery and hydrogen nonsense, order normal electro-diesel bimodes. They come with Stage V/VI clean as a whistle diesels now. A uniform fleet of 5 car Bi-Modes to cover all Edinburgh to Inverness, Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Aberdeen to Inverness, Glasgow to Aberdeen, and Glasgow to Inverness services would be ideal, displacing all HST’s, 170’s, and 158’s.
Class 805 based. Engines set at 986bhp, extended range fuel tanks, and large regenerative/rheostatic brake to handle the gradients on an everyday basis, and provide an excellent rate of acceleration. Catering moved to the outer end of Coach D to separate standard and first class as on the HST’s. Type G socket, and high-power Type C and A USB charger sockets at every seat along with wireless chargers in the table tops. Luggage racks placed where windowless seats currently are on other Class 80X trains.
Additional units could be ordered for a new hourly Edinburgh to Newcastle service, replacing the current Edinburgh to Dunbar Scotrail service, Edinburgh to Newcastle Transpennine Service, and the Chathill and Morpeth Northern services. Ordering identical units makes interoperability a breeze, and allows the potential for through running from Newcastle to Inverness or Aberdeen via Manors, Cramlington, Morpeth, Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth, Chathill, Berwick, Reston, Dunbar, East Linton, and Musselburgh.
Comment by Duncan Wilson | December 29, 2024 |
RIA’s modelling earlier in the year https://www.riagb.org.uk/ALCHPNZRW24 showed that “current
DMUs are between 2.5 and 3 times more expensive over their lifecycle than a BEMU”. Batteries have no fuel costs and can recover braking energy (i.e. essentially free power). Plus they are likely to decrease further in costs in coming years, making them even more cost-effective. There seems to be widespread acceptance of this in the industry now, both here and elsewhere in Europe. (Hydrogen, though, seems to be increasingly rejected due to its high costs.)
Comment by Peter Robins | December 29, 2024 |
I have ridden in three battery-electric trains and all share the characteristic of being mouse-quiet.
I also like Hitachi’s battery-electric model.
They are starting with a control system for the train, that accepts regenerative braking, batteries and diesel generators. The control system for the 800s, 801s and 802s is on the Internet.
I also suspect Turntide have done a superb job and created a battery-pack, that looks like a diesel generator to the control system. Hitachi have said the batteries have the same power and weight as the diesels. So handling should be the same. I also think, that the batteries in the Lumo 803s are the same design, as we’re now seeing in the 800s, 801s and 802s. Lumo have then dragged the batteries up and down to Scotland for a few years to make sure they don’t fall apart at 125 mph. No wonder the battery 802s had a smooth introduction with no dramas.
Meanwhile in Japan, chemists are working on the next generation of battery cells, that can fit into Turntide’s battery packs.
What’s the betting it all comes together in 2029, which is the 200th anniversary of Stephenson’s Rocket.
Comment by AnonW | December 29, 2024
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