Ørsted Divests Remaining Stake In London Array For EUR 829 Million
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted has signed an agreement with funds managed by Schroders Greencoat to divest its remaining 25 per cent minority interest in the London Array offshore wind farm in the UK.
These first three paragraphs outline the deal and give Ørsted reasons.
The total value of the transaction is GBP 717 million (approximately EUR 829 million).
Ørsted originally owned 50 per cent of the project and divested an initial 25 per cent of London Array to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in 2014.
The company does not have operations and maintenance (O&M) responsibility at the 630 MW London Array, and as the firm only holds a minority interest, Ørsted said it considers the asset non-strategic.
Note.
- Ørsted is the world’s largest developer of offshore wind power by number of built offshore wind farms.
- Schroders Greencoat LLP is a specialist manager dedicated to the renewable energy infrastructure sector.
This is a typical transaction, which is enabled between companies in the world’s financial centres all the time.
- Company A has an asset, which generates a predictable cash flow and needs money to invest in similar assets.
- Fund B has lots of money, but needs a predictable cash flow to pay interest to its investors.
So it is not surprising, that Fund B buys the asset from Company A.
I should say that the project management computer system, that I designed; Artemis was leased to the end users.
This eased the process of funding the sales.
In later years, I seem to remember, that we took bundles of leases with companies like BAe, BP, Shell, Texaco and sold them to banks, who needed a safe investment.
Carlton Power Secures Planning Consent For World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage Scheme
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news story from Carlton Power.
This is the sub-heading.
£750m 1GW Battery Project To Be Built At Carlton Power’s Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park In Greater Manchester
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Carlton Power, the UK independent energy infrastructure development company, has secured planning permission for the world’s largest battery energy storage scheme (BESS), a 1GW (1040MW / 2080MWh) project located at the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park in Greater Manchester. The £750m BESS scheme will strengthen the security and resilience of the energy system in the North West of England, and support the energy transition and the growth of renewable power generation in the region.
Planning permission for the BESS was granted by Trafford Council, the local planning authority.
Subject to a final investment decision, construction of the battery storage scheme is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year (2024) with it entering commercial operation in the final quarter of 2025. Carlton Power is in advanced talks with companies to finance, build and operate the Trafford BESS.
I have a few thoughts.
It’s A Monster
This Wikipedia entry, lists the World’s Largest Grid Batteries.
- The current largest is Vistra Moss Landing battery in the United States, which has a capacity of 1600 MWh and an output of 400 MW.
- The Trafford BESS will have a capacity of 2080 MWh and an output of 1040 MW.
By both measures the Trafford BESS is larger.
Where Will It Get The Energy?
Consider.
- In Liverpool and Morecambe Bays there is over 5 GW of offshore wind farms either operational, under construction or planned.
- Carrington gas-fired power station has a capacity of 884 MW.
- The Western HVDC Link is a 2250 MW link between Scotland and Connah’s Quay in North Wales.
- I wrote about the proposed Mersey Barrage in Mersey Tidal Project And Where It Is Up To Now.
I can see enough renewable energy being generated to replace Carrington gas-fired power station.
Who Will Finance, Build And Operate The Trafford BESS?
There are two major Energy Storage Funds in the UK.
- Gore Street with 27 projects totalling 1.17 GW.
- Gresham House with 17 projects totalling 425 MW.
Note.
- There are other smaller funds.
- The figures given are cumulative outputs for the portfolios.
- Sourcing the large number of batteries might be a problem.
- As the maths of these batteries are now well-known, I would expect that finance shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
- Local companies like Liverpool Victoria or Peel Holdings could even take a position.
A large American contractor backed by US money could swallow the whole project.
That happened with North Sea oil and gas in the last century.
Is Highview Power’s CRYOBattery Still Planned?
Carlton Power’s news story says this about Highview Power’s plans.
In addition to Carlton Power’s two projects, Highview Power Storage Inc. is planning to build and operate the world’s first commercial liquid air storage system – a £250m 250MWh long duration, cryogenic energy storage system – on the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, which was until 1991 the site of the Carrington coal-fired power station. The Low Carbon Energy Park is located close to Manchester Ship Canal and the £750m Carrington flexible gas-fired power station which entered operation in 2016.
It seems that the CRYOBattery is still planned.
Conclusion
Manchester is getting a powerful zero-carbon hub.
Asbestos In M&S Killed My Wife — Gove’s Ruling Is A Disgrace
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Sunday Times.
It is in a section of the paper, which is entitled Act Now In Asbestos, where the paper has a campaign.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Janice Allen met and fell in love with her husband, Stuart, when they worked together at Marks & Spencer’s flagship store in London’s Marble Arch.
The shop would end up killing her.
Janice died of mesothelioma, a cancer she got from exposure to asbestos. The M&S store was constructed using the toxic building material and it was found in several locations where she worked. The department store would award her substantial damages before she died at a hospice in Kent in June 2018.
I have only worked with asbestos once.
This picture shows my father’s printing works in Station Road, Wood Green.
They were not the most salubrious of premises and my father was always making improvements.
My father was a very good practical carpenter and an accomplished painter and decorator.
The back wall of the building was covered on the inside with damp and mould, which even in the 1950s, he thought could be a health hazard, so he decided to do something about it.
- Above a certain height he cleaned the wall and painted it with a standard magnolia paint.
- About two metres above the ground, he fixed a two-by-two batten piece of wood to the wall.
- He also fixed another one to the wall, perhaps halfway up.
- To cover all the damp and mould, he then fixed corrugated asbestos cement sheeting to the two battens with galvanised roofing nails.
- To finish it off he screwed a piece of slatting to the top batten, which he painted a fetching blue colour.
The damp and mould was now out of sight and out of mind.
I remember how this construction was done, as I was my father’s ten-year-old assistant.
Although we’d used asbestos cement sheeting, I don’t think either my father or myself inhaled any asbestos dust, although we weren’t wearing masks, as no-one did in those days.
ICI And Asbestos
My next encounter with asbestos was at ICI in the late 1960s.
- A lot of chemical plants, built before the Second World War were riddled with it.
- But ICI, knew of the problems, and I was given strong warnings about asbestos.
- As I was only putting instruments on plants, with experienced plant fitters, I didn’t have an real encounters with it.
But why if ICI were so anti, were builders still using it and otherwise sensible companies not removing it from their buildings?
This is the large paragraph in The Times article.
An M&S spokesman said: “Like many older buildings, Marble Arch dates back to the interwar era when asbestos was commonly used in construction, and sadly our former colleague Janice Allen worked in the store over 40 years ago, before the consequences of asbestos use were known. Today we rigorously manage asbestos where it is present and ensure the store is safe for every colleague and customer.”
If ICI were worried about asbestos in the late 1960s, why weren’t Marks & Spencer worried about asbestos in the late 1970s.
A Barn In Suffolk
In the 1980s, I put up a new barn, where we lived.
Often, in those days, asbestos was still used for roofing, but I was recommended to use a new British Steel product, where steel was covered in a coloured weatherproof coating.
I Sneeze A Lot
These days, I sneeze a lot, but I didn’t sneeze this much before I was diagnosed as coeliac and went gluten-free.
Could it be that my immune system is so much stronger and when there is something in the air, it is only giving it a good kicking?
I’ve been sneezing a lot for the past few days, as the Council removed a dead tree from outside my house.
But we do know, that Nottingham University have shown, coeliacs on a gluten-free diet have a 25 % lower cancer rate than the general population.
Could this be due to a stronger immune system?
My Coeliac Son Died From Cancer
I believe my youngest son was an undiagnosed coeliac and he lived the rock-n-roll lifestyle on a diet of ciggies, cannabis and Subways, as he was a sound engineer in the music business. He died virtually out of the blue of pancreatic cancer at just thirty-seven.
So on the one hand being a diagnosed coeliac on a gluten-free diet gives you a certain immunity to cancer and other diseases and on the other hand undiagnosed coeliacs are prey to all the nasties we have to live with.
To return to the tragic story in The Times, which gives Stuart’s age as 62, so that places him as being born around 1960 and his late wife; Janice looks about the same age.
I think it is true to say, that in the 1960s, medicine started to change dramatically.
- Serious heart operations and kidney transplants became commonplace.
- The first heart transplant was performed in 1967.
- Drugs were improving.
- Vaccination was stopping polio and other diseases.
- The first test for coeliac disease in children was developed. Sadly, it wasn’t used on me.
But we had little inkling of the role of genes in diseases.
Incidentally, I didn’t come across my first coeliac, until 1972, when a neighbour had a coeliac baby son called Nicholas.
So was the poor lady in The Times story, in some ways a victim of her time?
- Asbestos was wrongly ignored by Marks & Spencer.
- Medicine hadn’t advanced enough to be able to identify, those susceptible to cancer.
- I have heard so many stories of bad use of asbestos.
Sadly, the dangers of asbestos are still ignored by many companies and organisations today and that includes the NHS.
One of my colleagues at ICI in 1968 will be livid at how we are ignoring asbestos.
Is This A Possible Scenario?
Consider.
- Someone is born coeliac and they are not diagnosed.
- If they were born before 1960, there was no test for coeliac disease in children.
- The simple genetic blood test came in around the turn of the century.
- They work with asbestos in their twenties.
- Their immune system is not good enough to protect them.
Just like my son, will they get a serious cancer?
Coeliac Disease And Covid-19
In Risk Of COVID-19 In Celiac Disease Patients, I look at a pier-reviewed paper from the University of Padua.
This sentence, sums up the study.
In this analysis we report a real life “snapshot” of a cohort of CeD patients during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy, all followed in one tertiary centre in a red area of Northern Italy. Our data show, in accordance with Emmi et al., the absolute absence of COVID-19 diagnosis in our population, although 18 subjects experienced flu-like symptoms with only one having undergone naso-pharyngeal swab.
There were 138 coeliac disease subjects in the study and they had been gluten-free for an average of 6.6 years.
The downside of this, is how many undiagnosed coeliacs, suffered a severe dose of Covid-19.
Conclusion
Given the pain coeliac disease has inflicted on my family over the years, I believe that all children should be tested for coeliac disease.
I would also recommend, that anybody thinking of working with asbestos or taking a job with a high cancer risk, should get themselves tested for coeliac disease.
Being found to suffer from coeliac disease will not in itself kill you, and with the right diet, it might even prolong your life.
Are The Elizabeth Line Trains Ready To Be Lengthened?
When Transport for London updated the North and East London Lines of the London Overground in the early years of this century, they felt that four-car Class 378 trains would have enough capacity for the lines. But the lines proved more popular than, they had expected and the trains were very overcrowded. So it was decided to lengthen the trains to the five cars they are today.
This wasn’t as easy as it seems, as platforms at several stations had to be lengthened, which was disruptive and expensive.
One day last week, I was in Farringdon station and took these pictures of the platform edge doors at the back end of a Class 345 train.
Note how, that when a train is in the station, it doesn’t reach to the end.
But this is not always the case, as this picture from Paddington station shows.
Does this mean that some underground Elizabeth Line platforms are longer than others?
In Bombardier’s Plug-and-Play Train, I discuss the plug-and-play design of Aventras.
- This plug-and-play design allows trains to be lengthened or shortened by adding or removing carriages.
- Class 345 trains are actually two half-trains, with a trailer car in between them.
So is this why Class 345 trains have run services as both seven-car and nine-car trains?
The former have three-car half-trains and the latter have four-car half-trains, with an extra MS car.
Talk Of Eleven-Car Trains
If you search the Internet, you’ll find forums and web pages speculating about. whether the trains will be lengthened to ten-cars or even eleven-cars.
Consider.
- The current trains are 204.73 metres long.
- Extra intermediate cars are all 22.5 metres long.
- The trains also are probably fitted with selective door opening or can be as most modern trains have it.
This would mean, that a ten-car train would be 227.23 metres long and an eleven-car train will be 249.73 metres.
The eleven-car figure is just 27 centimetres short of 250 metres.
I wouldn’t me surprised if the maximum train length was given to Bombardier as 250 metres.
I certainly feel, that if it should be decided to lengthen the trains by adding another carriage or two, that this will not be a problem.
The Elizabeth Line’s Two Problems
These posts talk about the two problems.
In TfL Needs More Elizabeth Line Trains Because Of HS2 Delays At Euston, I talked about what happens, if High Speed Two doesn’t link initially to Euston.
In Elizabeth Line: Commuters Say Service ‘Not What Was Promised’, I talked about problems of overcrowding at the Western end of the line.
The solutions to both problems are either more trains or adding more carriages to existing trains.
In this article on Ian Visits, which has the same title as the first post, Ian says this about ordering more trains.
Although HS2 isn’t expected to open until some point between 2029-33, TfL is warning that it will need to place the orders for the new trains soon, as the cost of doing so later will be significantly more expensive. That’s because the factory lines to build Elizabeth line trains at Alstom’s factory in Derbyshire are still in place, but will be demobilised soon. If the trains aren’t ordered before that happens, then the cost of reactivating the factory lines has to be included in the bill.
I suspect, it probably applies to an order for extra carriages as well.
Problems For Alstom
But will a substantial order for more Class 345 trains or carriages cause problems for Alstom at Derby?
This extract from the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two rolling stock, describes how the Hitachi-Alstom joint venture will build the Classic-Compatible trains for High Speed Two.
Vehicle body assembly and initial fitting out of the trains will take place at the Hitachi Newton Aycliffe factory, the bogies will be manufactured at the Alstom factory in Crewe, and final assembly and fit-out, including the interiors, electronics and bogies, will take place at Alstom’s factory in Derby.
If more Class 345 trains are to be built at Derby, does it mean a rethink by the joint venture?
In Battery EMUs Envisaged In Southeastern Fleet Procurement, I talked about how Southeastern were looking for new trains. Given that Aventras from Alstom could be in the frame for these new trrains for Southeastern, does that give Alstom more complications?
A Walk Around High Speed Two Works In Birmingham – 19th July 2023
The plan was simple.
I intended to go to Birmingham Moor Street station and see what I could see of the High Speed Two works in a circular walk from the station.
I took these pictures.
Note.
- At the beginning and end of this gallery, there are some pictures taken from the train, that was entering or leaving Birmingham Moor Street station.
- The boxy building is the Grade I Listed Birmingham Curzon Street station, that will be incorporated into the High Speed Two station.
- I didn’t expect to see a memorial to the Katyn massacre.
I can see a very large amount of development happening in this area.
High Speed Two Works From A Chiltern Train – 19th July 2023
I took these pictures returning from Birmingham on a Chiltern train.
O don’t think I’ve seen so many tunnel segments on a site.
London Underground: Platform Phone Boxes Given Listed Status
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Four classic phone boxes on London Underground platforms have been Grade II-listed, Historic England has announced.
This is the first paragraph.
The K8 model, which came after the traditional red-panelled box, was designed to have a “modern and minimalist” appearance.
These are the four boxes.
Chalfont & Latimer Station
This box is at Chalfont & Latimer station.
Why is it maroon?
Chorleywood Station
This box is at Chorleywood station
It is maroon like the nearby one at Chalfont & Latimer station. Is it maroon for Metropolitan?
This box is next to a defibrillator. Could the K8 phone boxes be used to protect the defibrillators from the elements?
High Street Kensington Station
The box is on the platform at High Street Kensington station.
Why is it in dark blue? Dark blue is not Circle or District.
Northwick Park Station
The box is on the island platform at Northwick Park station.
I think it needs a bit of tender loving care, rather than listing.
More Government Details Emerge On How Fleetwood’s Rail Link Will Be Restored – Using Tram-Train Technology
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Blackpool Gazette.
This is the sub-heading.
New details have emerged about how the Government plans to restore the rail link between Fleetwood and Poulton using state-of-the-art tram-train technology.
These are points from the article, which mainly come from a letter to the local MP; Paul Maynard.
- In a letter to Mr Maynard, Rail Minister Huw Merriman has set out for the first time how the Government intends to restore the rail link.
- The Government is now looking at the finer details of a tram-train scheme and how the project can be funded.
- Tram-trains will be used for the link.
- The re-opened railway can be linked into the existing Blackpool to Fleetwood tramway, allowing services to run into the heart of Fleetwood.
- Services would operate twice hourly from Preston station to Poulton-le-Fylde over the existing heavy rail network, before joining a new light rail link between Poulton-le-Fylde and the Denham Way roundabout on Amounderness Way, calling at up to three new intermediate stops.
- From the roundabout, the services would continue on the existing Blackpool tram network towards Fleetwood town centre and Fleetwood ferry terminal.
- The Government is committed to the project.
These are my detailed thoughts.
The Route
The Blackpool Gazette article describes the route like this.
Services would operate twice hourly from Preston station to Poulton-le-Fylde over the existing heavy rail network, before joining a new light rail link between Poulton-le-Fylde and the Denham Way roundabout on Amounderness Way, calling at up to three new intermediate stops.
From the roundabout, the services would continue on the existing Blackpool tram network towards Fleetwood town centre and Fleetwood ferry terminal.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the route.
Note.
- Poulton-le-Fylde station is marked by the blue arrow in the South-East corner of the map.
- The pink line running up the coast is the Blackpool tramway.
- The Blackpool tramway terminates at Fleetwood Ferry at the top of the map.
This second OpenRailwayMap shows Fleetwood Ferry tram terminus.
Note.
- As before, the Blackpool tramway tracks are shown in pink.
- There is a lifeboat station and a ferry to the other side.
- The tracks allow a tram to come from the South, go round the loop and return to the South.
- I believe that both the Blackpool tramway and the Fleetwood tram-train will both reverse direction in the same way.
- No new infrastructure would be needed at the Fleetwood Ferry terminal, except for perhaps a few signs.
This third OpenRailwayMap shows the track from Fleetwood Ferry to the Lindel Road tram stop.
Note.
- As before, the Blackpool tramway tracks are shown in pink.
- Fleetwood Ferry is in the North-East corner if the map.
- Lindel Road tram stop is marked by the blue arrow in the South-West corner if the map.
This fourth OpenRailwayMap shows the Lindel Road tram stop area at a larger scale.
Note.
- As before, the Blackpool tramway tracks are shown in pink.
- Lindel Road tram stop is marked by the blue arrow.
- Running parallel to and to the East of the Blackpool tramway is Amounderness Way, which appears to have been built on the line of the railway to Fleetwood.
- Along the West side of Amounderness Way, a disused railway is indicated, which must be the closed railway to Fleetwood.
I believe that Network Rail or their engineers have found a route to connect the old branch line to the Blackpool tramway.
- The railway connecting the Blackpool tramway and the closed railway to Fleetwood, would only need to be single-track.
- There might be a convenient route, where all the land is owned by the Council.
- If the tram-trains were to be was fitted batteries, then there would be no need to electrify the line.
I suspect, that the connection would be to the South of Lindel Road tram stop.
- This would mean that the tram-train would serve a number of stops in the town centre.
- The tram-train could use the catenary of the Blackpool tramway.
- Connection and disconnection to the catenary could be done in the Lindel Road tram stop.
This Google Map shows the area of the Lindel Road tram stop and Denham Road.
Note.
- The Lindel Road tram stop in the North-West corner of the map, with the Blackpool tramway running NE-SW across the corner of the map.
- The roundabout and Amounderness Way on the East side of the map.
- Denham Way connecting the roundabout to Copse Road and the tram stop.
- On the fourth OpenRailwayMap it showed the original line of the railway was to the West of Amounderness Way.
So could the spur between the Lindel Road tram stop and the railway to Poulton-le-Fylde station take the following route?
- Just South of the tram stop the two tracks connect to a new single-track that goes East on the South side of Denham Way.
- The turn would be quite sharp, but trams and tram-trains have the articulation of a snake and can use tight turns and narrow formations.
- The crossing of Copse Road would be protected by traffic lights.
When the tram-train gets to the roundabout other end of Denham way, I think there are two choices.
- Turn sharp right and go South alongside the West side of Amounderness Way.
- Somehow cross Amounderness Way and go down the West side.
This Google Map Amounderness Way going South.
Note.
- Amounderness Way runs North-South down the map between two roundabouts.
- The large industrial area to the East of the road is labelled as SUEZ Recycling and Recovery.
- North-East of SUEZ is Fleetwood Marsh Nature Reserve.
- South-East of SUEZ is SUEZ Environmental Jameson Road Landfill and Lancashire County Council’s Fleetwood Household Waste Recycling Centre.
- There also seem to be a lot of large holiday caravans.
- There is a road running along the South-East of the large SUEZ site called Jameson Road.
The Wikipedia entry for the Fleetwood branch line, says this about the state of the branch.
Some of the line is now cleared of overgrowth because the northern track was not lifted from past Burn Naze Halt to just beyond Jameson Road Fleetwood. However, the road bridge was filled in below it. The junction, last used when goods trains took coal to Fleetwood Power Station, still exists. Looking over the road bridge on Jameson Road, the track to both north & south can still be seen through the undergrowth. In the 1990s, the new A585 The Amounderness Way bypass has been built on the former trackbed, although sufficient space still exists for a reinstated railway should it be required.
Note.
- It appears that enough space has been left at the Northern end to connect to the Blackpool tramway.
- It doesn’t seem to be in too bad a state.
- I suspect that rebuilding the branch has a similar degree of difficulty to rebuilding the Dartmoor Line to Okehampton, which is now operating successfully.
This gave me hope, that a single-track tramway could be built between Poulton-le-Fylde junction and the Lindel Road tram stop.
This Google Map shows the track meeting the filled in road bridge on Jameson Road.
Note.
- If that’s not a single-track railway and the filled-in bridge on Jameson Road, I’m a Dutchman.
- The railway can be followed on Google Maps for most of the way to Poulton-le-Fylde station.
- Google Maps also shows traces of railway to the North of the bridge on Jameson Road.
This Google Map shows the section of Amounderness Way from the North of the SUEZ Recycling and Recovery site to the Denham Way roundabout.
I suspect that the tram would go straight up the East side of ‘Amounderness Way.
But how would the tramway cross the road.
This Google Map shows Denham Way, the roundabout and Lindel Road tram stop.
I am fairly sure that a single-track bridge of some sort could connect Lindel Road tram stop with a single-track railway along the East side of Amounderness Way, to link up with the orphaned track South of Jameson Road.
This OpenRailwayMap shows Poulton-le-Fylde junction, where the former railway to Fleetwood, joins the Blackpool branch.
Note.
- Poulton-le-Fylde station is indicated by the blue arrow.
- The orange track is the Blackpool branch to Blackpool North station.
- Poulton-le-Fylde junction is to the West of the station.
- The track going North from the junction, is the disused track to Fleetwood.
- The map also shows a couple of level crossings.
I am fairly certain, that a single-track tramway could be built between Poulton-le-Fylde junction and the Lindel Road tram stop.
This OpenRailwayMap shows Poulton-le-Fylde junction and Poulton-le-Fylde station.
These pictures taken in 2018, show Poulton-le-Fylde station.
Note.
- It is a small station, that oozes quality.
- The tracks and electrification were all installed or renewed in the last few years.
- There is even a cafe and a lift to the street.
- The flower-beds in the middle of the platform, are at the Preston end of the station.
- As the tram-trains will stop in the station, they can raise and lower the pantograph in the station.
- Tram-trains and trains will share the appropriate platform.
The possibility can probably be arranged that an incoming train to Blackpool North will be able to drop passengers at a waiting tram-train for Fleetwood Ferry.
Will The New Fleetwood Branch Be Electrified?
There are various arguments for and against electrification between Poulton-le-Fylde station and the Lindel Road tram stop.
In favour, is that a continuous catenary can be run from end-to end, with 750 VDC electrification.
- An insulated section would be used at Poulton-le-Fylde station to separate the 750 VDC of the tramway and the 25 KVAC of the Blackpool branch.
- Standard tram-trains, like Sheffield’s Class 399 tram-trains could be used.
- Battery-electric tram-trains are probably more expensive.
Against electrification are.
- There would be no electrification between Poulton-le-Fylde station and the Lindel Road tram stop to install.
- There would be no need for any modifications to the catenary at Poulton-le-Fylde station and the Lindel Road tram stop.
- The filled in bridge mentioned in Wikipedia, might only need a tram-sized hole and not complete rebuilding to get the trams through.
- Occasional freight trains could probably be run, if required.
- Battery-electric tram-trains are proven technology.
It will definitely one for the accountants to decide.
The Tram-Trains
These are pictures of Stadler Citylink tram-trains in Sheffield.
Note.
- These Class 399 tram-trains were the first tram-trains to run in the UK, when they entered service in 2017.
- They were built by Stadler in Spain.
- They share the tracks in Sheffield happily with Sheffield’s other trams of a different type.
- At the time, Paul Maynard, who is the local MP, was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, so I suspect that explains, why the MP appears pleased with the choice of tram-trains and talks knowledgeably about them.
- There is also a battery electric version of these tram-trains, which has been ordered by the South Wales Metro.
- Blackpool’s tramway uses Bombardier Flexity 2 trams. However, it doesn’t seem, that there is a tram-train version of the Flexity 2.
- Merseyrail in the Liverpool area, are introducing a large fleet of Stadler trains, which will be running to Preston in a couple of years.
I suspect that these tram-trains will be built by Stadler and they could be fitted with batteries.
Tram-Train Frequency Between Fleetwood Ferry And Poulton-le-Fylde Station
The Blackpool Gazette article is definite, that the frequency of the tram-train will be two trains per hour (tph).
Consider.
- The Blackpool tramway operates a service of trams every 10-15 minutes between Starr Gate and Fleetwood Ferry, so the frequency will be increased by two tph North of Lindel Road tram stop.
- As heritage trams also share the route to Fleetwood, I suspect that at some busy times, the Fleetwood Ferry and Preston service could be reduced to hourly.
- But it does look to me, that the all-important terminal at Fleetwood Ferry has been well-designed and can handle the extra traffic.
- Looking at the timetable for the Blackpool tramway, trams take forty-one minutes between Fleetwood Ferry and the North Pier.
- As Poulton-le-Fylde station and North Pier tram stop, are probably similar distances from Fleetwood Ferry, I suspect that Poulton-le-Fylde station and Fleetwood Ferry would take thirty minutes or more.
- Real Time Trains indicates that electric trains to Blackpool North station take around 16-17 minutes between Poulton-le-Fylde and Preston stations, with diesel trains taking a couple of minutes more.
- Add in time for stops at Kirkham & Wesham, possibly another at Salwick and cleaning and crew changeover at Preston station, I suspect that a roundtrip from Preston to Fleetwood Ferry and back will take a very convenient two hours.
A two hour round trip and two tph, will mean four trains will be needed to work the timetable.
I can’t prove it, but I my gut feeling is that there there will be a passing loop somewhere between Poulton-le-Fylde station and the Lindel Road tram stop.
The passing loop would also give scope for operational flexibility.
Train Services Through Poulton-le-Fylde Station
Train services through Poulton-le-Fylde station are currently as follows.
- Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North – 1 train per day (tpd)
- Northern – Liverpool Lime Street and Blackpool North – 1 tph
- Northern – Manchester Airport and Blackpool North – 2 tph
- Northern – York and Blackpool North – 1 tph
Note that all trains stop at Preston.
The Avanti West Coast service only calls Southbound, but I wouldn’t be surprised, if the Fleetwood tram-train is built, that Avanti West Coast started a Northbound service.
Could The Blackpool South Branch Be Served By Similar Tram-Trains?
In Beeching Reversal – South Fylde Line Passing Loop, I talked about improving the Blackpool South branch.
Objectives included.
- Two tph.
- Better trains.
- A passing loop that would enable the 2 tph.
Note.
- Pacers have been replaced with Class 150 trains.
- The route is electrified between Preston and Kirkham & Wesham station.
- 12.2 miles are without electrification.
It certainly would seem possible that if a battery-electric tram-train had sufficient range, it could handle the current route to Blackpool South station.
The trams would have a ninety-minute round trip between Preston an Blackpool South stations and two tph, will mean three trains will be needed to work the timetable.
The MP is quoted in the Blackpool Gazette article, as liking the concept of a tram loop to Blackpool from Preston.
Trams might go to Fleetwood, down the promenade and then take the Blackpool South branch beck to Preston.
It could obviously go the other way around the loop.
This Google Map shows the location of Blackpool South station.
Note.
At the West side of the map is the promenade, with tramway running North and South.
At the East side of the map is Blackpool South station.
The walking route between the tramway and the station is not arduous, but it is not a seamless transfer.
It might be better to make the connection at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which is shown in this Google Map.
Note.
- The Pleasure Beach lies between the tramway and the promenade by the beach and the Blackpool South branch on the East side.
- There are two stops on the tramway and a station just to the South.
Perhaps, if the Pleasure Beach were redeveloping an area, they might leave provision for tram-trains to to sneak through to join the tramway going North.
But it’s a difficult problem, as there is not much space, that is undeveloped and the roads aren’t very wide.
This Google Map shows the North Pier and Blackpool North station.
Note.
- The North Pier is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Blackpool North station, which is Blackpool’s main station is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The tramway runs along the sea-front.
The North Pier and the station are linked by Talbot Road.
This Google Map shows Talbot Road and the development of a tram stop by Blackpool North station.
Note.
- To create the space a large Wilkinson’s store was demolished.
- Blaxkpool North station is just off the North-East corner of the map.
- The tram stop will have two platforms.
- There is a large diamond crossing on the approach to the tram stop, so operation is smooth and reliable.
- It looks like there will be substantial development around and possibly over the tram stop.
This Google Map shows Talbot Square, where the tram branch to Blackpool North station joins the main North-South tramway.
It is all very crowded and I believe this illustrates, why despite their close proximity, there is no rail connection between the Blackpool South branch and the Blackpool tramway.
There just isn’t the space to put in junctions like this and the tramway doesn’t go past Blackpool Airport, so the connection would have to be amongst the crowded houses on the sea front.
The Development Of Blackpool Airport
Aviation is changing and I believe a new breed of airliners and the airports to serve them, will be developed in the next few years.
- Zero-carbon aircraft are being developed and I believe some will have entered service by 2026.
- They will be powered directly by batteries or from green hydrogen.
- Some like the Eviation Alice are already entering a flight-test program, that will lead to certification.
- These airliners are likely to be smaller and quieter than current airliners, with typically a passenger capacity of around 19 passengers.
- They will often fly routes between smaller regional airports.
Blackpool Airport could be an ideal airport for these airliners.
- Offshore electricity and even hydrogen generated offshore will be easy to deliver to Blackpool Airport.
- It could have excellent transport connections with trams and trains.
- Blackpool Airport has good runways.
- Many take-offs will be over the sea.
- We will see airports converting to zero-carbon airports.
So why not Blackpool Airport?
These are distances between Blackpool Airport and other airports.
- Aberdeen – 238 miles
- Amsterdam Schipol – 340 miles
- Belfast City – 128 miles
- Cardiff – 165 miles
- Dublin – 134 miles
- Edinburgh – 150 miles
- Exeter – 211 miles
- Geneva – 661 miles
- Glasgow – 155 miles
- Haverfordwest – 157 miles
- Jersey – 318 miles
- Kirkwall – 358 miles
- London Gatwick – 220 miles
- London Heathrow – 192 miles
- London Southend – 219 miles
- Newcastle – 89 miles
- Paris Orly – 422 miles
- Isle of Man Ronaldsway – 68 miles
- Shannon – 254 miles
- Southampton – 208 miles
- Sumburgh – 427 miles
These distances fit nicely with the range of the nine-seater Eviation Alice electric aircraft, which is predicted to be 620 miles.
This Google Map shows Blackpool Airport.
Note.
- The East-West main runway, which is over 1,800 metres long, which will probably mean an easier takeoff into the wind, for much of the time.
- The acres of space.
- The Blackpool South branch running down the side of the airport, with Squires Gate station on the road past the Airport.
- But zoom in on the airport and some improvement and refurbishment needs to be done. Years of neglect and uncertainty has taken its toll.
This Google Map shows the North-West corner of the map at a greater scale.
Note.
- In the North-West corner of the map is Blackpool tramway’s depot and Starr Gate tram stop with its loop.
- The rail station is Squires Gate for Blackpool Airport.
- The smart green space to the East of the railway is Blackpool FC’s training ground.
- Below the training ground on the East side is Blackpool Airport.
- On the other side of the track from the Airport, it appears to be the local rubbish dump.
I wonder, if this is where the Blackpool tramway and the Blackpool South branch could be joined up.
- A joint two-platform station partly on Airport land would replace the current Squires Gate station.
- It could be connected to the Airport terminal by some form of shuttle or travellator.
- The trams would be connected to the Starr Gate loop by a line going along the front, as the tramway does in much of Blackpool, before cutting through the waste ground.
- Trains to Blackpool South station would use their current route.
This plan and probably lots of others could allow a Blackpool loop tram-train from Preston.
What would a zero-carbon airport do for Blackpool?
Thoughts On Rail Capacity Between London And The North
This is just a rough calculation to see how many trains can be run between London and the North.
I shall do the calculation by station.
Euston
Trains are.
- Avanti – Birmingham – 1 tph (trains per hour)
- Avanti – Blackpool North – 1 tpd (trains per day)
- Avanti – Blackpool North via Birmingham – 2 tpd
- Avanti – Edinburgh via Birmingham – 1 tp2h – (trains per two hours)
- Avanti – Glasgow – 1 tph
- Avanti – Glasgow via Birmingham – 5 tpd
- Avanti – Holyhead – 8 tpd
- Avanti – Liverpool – 1 tph
- Avanti – Manchester – 3 tph
- WMT – Birmingham – 2 tph
- WMT – Crewe – 1 tph
This gives totals of 9 tph, 1 tp2h and 16 tpd
King’s Cross
Trains are.
- Grand Central – Bradford – 4 tpd
- Grand Central – Sunderland – 6 tpd
- Hull Trains – Beverley – 2 tpd
- Hull Trains – Hull – 5 tpd
- LNER – Bradford- 2 tpd
- LNER – Edinburgh – 3 tp2h
- LNER – Harrogate – 1 tp2h
- LNER – Hull – 1 tpd
- LNER – Leeds – 3 tp2h
- LNER – Lincoln – 1 tp2h
- LNER – Middlesbrough – 1 tpd
- LNER – Skipton – 1 tpd
- LNER – Sunderland – 1 tpd
- LNER – York- 1 tp2h
- Lumo – Edinburgh – 5 tpd
This gives totals of 9 tp2h and 28 tpd
Marylebone
Trains are.
- Chiltern – Birmingham – 2 tph
This gives totals of 2 tph
St. Pancras
Trains are.
- EMR – Corby – two tph
- EMR – Nottingham – two tph
- EMR – Sheffield- two tph
This gives totals of 6 tph
Grand Totals
Grand totals are 17 tph, 10 tp2h and 44 tpd
I will assume.
- 10 tp2h is equivalent to 5 tph.
- 44 tpd is equivalent to 3 tph if trains start journeys between 0600 and 2100.
This means that currently, there is the equivalent of 25 tph between London and the North.
The Effect Of High Speed Two
The capacity of High Speed Two is 17 tph, so, that appears to be a 68 % increase in paths to the North.
Consider.
- Assume we need 25 tph between London and the North.
- 17 tph will be on High Speed Two.
- 8 tph will be on classic routes like the East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line.
- High Speed Two trains are 400 metres long.
- Current trains are about 240 metres long.
I have done a weighted calculation, which shows that passenger capacity between London and the North, will increase by around 45 %.
High Speed Two will surely release paths between London and the North on the classic routes, that could accommodate somewhere around 17 tph.
These could be used for.
- Services not suitable for High Speed Two
- New services
- Freight services
- Open access services
There is a lot of capacity that can be reused.
What Will Happen To Classic Routes Between London And The North?
Consider.
- The East Coast Main Line between London and Doncaster, is being upgraded with full digital signalling to allow running at up to 140 mph and increased train frequencies.
- Similar upgrades will be surely be applied to the other classic routes between London and the North.
- Important destinations, that will not be served by High Speed Two, like Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Luton, Milton Keynes and Peterborough could be given high speed connections, to Birmingham, London and Manchester.
- The East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line will all be electrified with some sections of quadruple track in a few years.
- Currently, the East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line are mainly 125 mph lines and these could be upgraded to 140 mph with digital signalling.
I could envisage the East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line being developed into a secondary 140 mph network based on the existing stations lines and services.
Conclusion
High Speed Two is going to have a lot of collateral benefits in Middle England.
My First Takeaway Since Before The Covids
The pictures show my first takeaway since well before the Covids hit!
Note.
- Leon are now following UK railways and doing takeaways in a paper bag with handles.
- We all used to laugh at British Rail catering, but their invention of the paper bag with handles is still the only practical way of gong up and down a train carrying a hot drink.
- I do like Leon’s chilli sauce, so I bought a bottle.
- It was only a snack, which I followed with a plastic of strawberries.
As there is a Leon, where I change from train to bus to come home, I should do it more often.
The Anonymous Widower 