The Anonymous Widower

Is This Why Purists Say The Midland Main Line Must Be Electrified?

In How Far Will A Class 897 Train Travel Without Using The Electrification?, I showed that the Class 897 train, can go for 120 miles on its internal power sources.

I also showed that the Hitachi Class 80X trains with batteries can do the same.

But if you look at distance on the Midland Main Line, some are greater than 120 miles.

• St. Pancras and Chesterfield – 146.1 miles
• St. Pancras and Derby – 128.3 miles
• St. Pancras and Doncaster – 157.3 miles
• St. Pancras and Leeds – 187.2 miles
• St. Pancras and Nottingham – 126.4 miles
• St. Pancras and Sheffield – 160.0 miles

So to get all the way to Chesterfield, Derby, Doncaster, Leeds, Nottingham or Sheffield from St. Pancras, a train with a longer range is needed.

Conservative thinking means electrification, as we know it works.

You might also say, that the electrification on the Midland Main Line, just sort of peters out South of Leicester.

But thinking about it!

• The electrification on the East Coast Main Line doesn’t cross the Forth Bridge.
• The electrification on the West Coast Main Line finishes at Dunblane.
• The electrification on the South Wales Main Line finishes at Cardiff.
• Few branch lines in East Anglia are electrified.
• The East-West Line is not to be electrified.

Did the accountants prune too hard?

They may have done!

• But we do need a a zero-carbon train for routes longer than 120 miles.
• And so do many other routes across the world.
• The more you turn it round in your mind, the more you need a zero-carbon fuel with all the flexibility, range and ease of refuelling of diesel.

In my mind the only fuel that can do this is hydrogen.

Conclusion

If we want to run zero-carbon services over very long distances, we will need to use hydrogen power.

I also think, that my logic here, will apply to buses and coaches, so any needing a range over a certain size will need hydrogen.

As the purists won’t have hydrogen at any price, this means they won’t accept anything other than full electrification or battery-electric.

But bigger batteries are heavier and self-defeating, so electrification is the only way.

April 18, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | Electrification, Midland Main Line, Sheffield Station, St. Pancras Station