Grand Union Seeks ’91s’ To Cardiff
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the May 2019 Edition Of Modern Railways.
These are points fro the article.
- Grand Union Railway is a new open access operator.
- Trains will be formed of a Class 91 locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a driving van trailer.
- Trains will go between London and Cardiff, stopping at Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction and Newport
- Trains will leave Paddington hourly from 07:35 to 21:35
- Trains will leave Cardiff hourly from 06:35 to 19:35
- The journey time will be one hour and forty-five minutes.
- To run this timetable would appear to need four trains. Grand Union will probably have a fifth train, to allow for one in maintenance.
The service is subject to regulatory approval.
Note that the company has been formed by Ian Yeowart, who was previously Managing Director of Grand Central.
Currently, Great Western Railway (GWR) runs the following trains to South Wales
- Paddington and Cardiff via Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bristol Parkway and Newport
- Paddington and Swansea via Reading, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway and Neath
Services will soon be run exclusively by Class 800 or Class 802 trains.
Note.
- Some of the Swansea services are extended to Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.
- Paddington to Cardiff takes two hours and eight minutes.
- Paddington to Swansea takes just under three hours.
- These times will be improved when the the electrification is completed between Paddington and Cardiff
Paddington and Cardiff will be getting three trains per hour (tph) and two operators
Great Western Railway And Grand Union Services Compared
It is interesting to compare the two services.
Journey Times
Consider.
- The Grand Union service at one hour forty-five minutes appears to be quicker than the GWR service at two hours eight minutes.
- But are we comparing times after full electrification of the route to Cardiff, which the Class 91 locomotives will need to operate?
- There is also the possibility of digital signalling being fitted to both sets of trains.
- Both trains can run at 140 mph with in-cab signalling
- The Grand Union service has less stops than the GWR service.
Will the trains settle for a draw and have the same journey times?
Capacity
The seating capacity of the two trains are as follows.
- GWR Class 800/802 train – 655 seats
- Grand Union – InterCity 225 – 535 seats
My only thought, is that is there enough space in the GWR train or all luggage.
Bicycles And Bulky Luggage
Tourists with cycles are increasing in number and Wales will become a destination.
Hitachi Class 800 trains do not have much space for bicycles and bulky luggage.
On the other hand, the driving van trailer of an InterCity225 can swallow a lot.
Will There Be Sufficient Demand For An Extra Service between London and Cardiff?
A friend asked.
Is there actually a market/capacity for an extra hourly service?
I made these points in reply.
- The South Wales Metro will be one of the best City metros in the world and will improve feeder services to Cardiff Central dramatically.
- The M4 is getting busier between Bristol and Cardiff, partly due to the abolition of tolls on the Severn Bridge.
- The Principality Stadium
- Tourism to South Wales is growing.
- Business and finance in Wales is finally looking up.
- All trains will be at 140 mph for long stretches, so journey times will be one hour forty-five minutes.
- Paddngton is not an attractive place to arrive at in London, but after Crossrail opens, all should be different.
- City of London to City of Cardiff in two hours.
- Cardiff will be closer to the City of London, than Brussels, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester or Paris!
- Heathrow’s Third Runway.
- Four wheels bad, rails good
- Kids are getting to like trains, just as we did.
- The next generation of on-train Internet will be much faster for working and keeping kids of all ages amused.
- GWR, Grand Union and the Welsh Government could market the route as High Speed Wales!
Will three tph be enough?
My Prediction In October 2013
In October 2013, I wrote Will We Get HSW Before HS2?
This was the conclusion of that post.
So I believe that even if it still goes slower on opening, trains to Bristol and Wales will be doing 225 kph before the end of this decade.
If that isn’t a high speed railway like HS1, I don’t know what is?
But whatever we call it, it’ll be here several years before HS2!
I think we need to call for three cheers for Brunel, who got the route right in the first place.
I felt the biggest problem would be the Severn Tunnel! I got that wrong, as that difficult job is now done.
Conclusion
I like this proposal.
- The important Paddington and Cardiff route gets a fifty percent increase in train frequency.
- There could be genuine competition on the route.
- Grand Union would be using five of the thirty InterCity225 sets, which are in good condition, judging by my recent journeys.
- Could we see a customer service and catering war between the two operators?
If Grand Union Railway runs to Cardiff, I’ll give it a go.
Lessons From Extinction Rebellion
I only came across Extinction Rebellion once and I took these pictures.
Oxford Circus was totally blocked.
So what have we learned?
A Relatively Small Largely Peaceful Group Can Bring A British City To A Halt
By not using any violence or threats of violence, the good nature of the Metropolitan Police meant that the protest was able to continue, despite the large number of arrests.
It also seemed that many after arrest, went back to the protest.
The Great British Public Didn’t Seem To Be Too Annoyed
Although, one or two celebrities, white van and black cab black drivers seemed to be annoyed, when they were interviewed, the Great British Public seemed to take it on the chin.
Crime Didn’t Seem To Rise In Areas Unaffected By The Protests
I’m not sure of this, but do-called newspapers like the Express, Mail and Sun didn’t seem to have any screaming headlines on the subject.
At The Right Time These Protests Can Be Cleared Without Heavy Police Force
In the end, the Oxford Street and Waterloo Bridge protests, were cleared by strength of numbers and no use of pepper spray, baton rounds or water cannon.
The Future Of Protest
I think we will see more protests of this type against or for such issues as Brexit, Remain and onald Trump.
Would the Met be able to cope with simultaneous protests for the first two groups?
Thinking About Climate Change
Will the Extinction Rebellion protests make us think more about climate change?
Investing In Renewable Energy
One trend I have noted over the past few years, is companies like Aviva, are investing large amounts of our pension funds in large renewable energy projects.
I wrote about one project in World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant.
The Extinction Rebellion protests, must make it easier for Aviva and their like, to justify their investment decisions.
I feel that if the Government sets the right guidelines and tax rules, that companies like Ariva with their billions of pounds of funds, have more power than the Government to change the future.
Politicians
politicians in the UK are like a load of peasants on bicycles trying to put on a synchronised cycling display in a heavy thunderstorm.
They are morons led by mules!
I regularly use this phrase.
Engineering is the science of the possible, whereas politics is dreams of the impossible.
You can substitute lots of other professions for engineering.
But what we need is politician, who think in scientifically-correct pathways.
After all, you can’t disobey the laws of maths, physics, chemistry, biology and human nature.
But politicians believe you can otherwise racism, Marxism and Fascism wouldn’t exist.
Mondeo Man And Woman Living In A Comfortable House
Are these the real problem, as they drive around in their diesel car, live in very eco-unfriendly houses and fly to their holidays in America and the Far East?
How many of the vast majority of the UK population, even accept that climate change exists?
If they do, they always point to places like China and the United States, who carry on as normal!
Conclusion
There will be more and bigger protests, until politicians manage the art of synchronised bicycle riding!
A Neat Cup-Holder On Chiltern Railways
The picture shows a cup-holder on a Chiltern Railways’ train.
It is neat and well-designed.
It probably didn’t cost a fortune too!
World’s First Solar-Powered Train
This video was pointed out by an eFriend.
The discussion is interesting in the video and gives quite a few technical details.
Byron Bay Railroad would be a place I’d like to visit, but Australia is too far to go to see a technological development. Hamburg was another thing!
What Would Be The Best Result In The Manchester Derby?
Despite supporting Ipswich since our next door neighbour in Felixstowe took me at the end of the Ramsey era, I have affections for two other clubs.
As a child and teenager living in London, I did what my father had done in his youth and regularly went to see Spurs at White Hart Lane.
My father would tell stories about how he was at the Cup Final in 1921 and how before the Great War, his father would take them to the game in a pony and trap. My grandfather would give a kid a shilling to hold the horse’s head during the match.
Then in the 1960s at Liverpool University, I regular went to see both of the Liverpool clubs, although I identified more with Liverpool.
Perhaps because inh those years they played the better football and were more successful!
So who do I want to win the Manchester Derby?
Certainly not United, as in the 1950s, I lived next door to the most obnoxious United supporter, who rammed them down mine and my father’s throats at every opportunity.
I actually think, that both Spurs and Liverpool, would be happy with an extremely hard-fought goal-less draw at Old Trafford tonight!
Will The Class 230 Trains Be Coming Home?
Long term readers of this blog, will notice, that I keep returning to the short Greenford Branch Line in West London.
- It is four kilometres long
- It runs between West Ealing and Greenford stations.
- Greenford station is step-free and West Ealing station should be by December 2019.
- There are three intermediate stations.
- It is mainly double track, with a short length of single track at both ends.
- Two trains per hour (tph) is provided by a single Great Western Railway (GWR) Class 165 diesel train.
It will be a valuable feeder route for passengers to and from Crossrail, which is rumoured to be opening to Reading in December 2019.
An opening of the Western branches of Crossrail between Paddington and Reading would bring the following services to West Ealing station.
- Two tph between Paddington and Reading
- Two tph between Paddington and Maidenhead
- Four tph between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4
- Two tph between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5
Two tph shuttling between West Ealing and Greenford is a bad match to the future ten tph on Crossrail.
Four tph Run Between West Ealing And Greenford Stations
This would obviously be ideal, but is it possible?
This Google Map shows West Ealing Junction, where the Greenford Branch joins the Crossrail tracks alongside the Great Western Main Line.
Note how the two tracks of the Greenford Branch Line start in the North-west corner of the map.
- They join into a single-track, which passes under the footbridge.
- The tracks then split a few metres to the East of the bridge.
- The Northern track goes into the bay Platform 5 at West Ealing station, which must be over eighty metres long.
- The Southern track joins the Crossrail line towards Paddington.
The track layout allows the ocassional refuse trains to pass along the Greenford Branch Line, but would also allow four tph to be run into the bay Platform 5.
This picture shows the current state of the under-construction step-free bridge at West Ealing station.
Once this bridge is complete, probably later this year, West Ealing station will be ready for four tph to Greenford.
The simplest safe operation would be for an incoming train to West Ealing station, to wait at Drayton Green station, until it was passed by the outgoing train. Once the points and the signals were set, the incoming train, would move into West Ealing station.
This Google Map shows the lines at the Greenford end of the Greenford Branch Line.
Note how the two tracks of the Greenford Branch Line start in the South-East corner of the map.
- They join into a single track.
- After a few metres, the tracks split into two.
- The Western track dives under the Westbound Central Line and goes into the bay Platform at Greenford station.
- The Northern track goes under both Central Line tracks and joins the Acton-Northolt Line.
It would appear that the track layout is designed so that four tph can work into Greenford station.
The Problem Of The Trains
The current Class 165 train works the line well.
- A two-car train has enough capacity
- At 45 metres long the train fits the short platform at Greenford station.
- I estimate that in a month, the train does about 5,400 miles.
But as the only GWR diesel train, surrounded by large numbers of electric trains, the Class 156 train probably has to trundle some miles to be serviced.
In an ideal world, the train would have the following properties.
- Less than fifty metres long.
- Self-powered.
- Ability to be serviced locally.
- To run a four tph service, two trains and a spare would probably be needed
To look after the trains and hold the spare train, a convenient facility will be needed.
This Google Map shows the wider area around West Ealing station and West Ealing Junction.
Note the sidings between the Great Western Main Line, the Greenford Branch and the Plasser UK factory.
These sidings are where GWR stable some of their Class 387 trains.
But if the rumours are correct, that Crossrail is going to take over London to Reading services in December 2019, GWR will probably have less use for this facility.
It would surely, be an ideal mini-depot for the Greenford Branch Line fleet.
- It is a secure site.
- A refuelling facility could be provided, if necessary.
- If a passenger service were to be started on the Brentford Branch Line, that is only a few miles away.
There may be a small amount of trackwork needed for efficient operation.
Did A Small Revolution Start In Bedford Yesterday?
In A First Ride In A Revenue-Earning Class 230 Train, I wrote about my ride in the first Class 230 train to enter public service.
This was the conclusion to my post.
It is a well-designed train, that impressed me.
It should find a niche in the train market.
The fact that the train is in service, will in itself provoke interest from train operating companies and Councils and other groups promoting new or reopened train services.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more orders this year.
So will a small fleet of Class 230 trains be coming back to London, where they spent the first nearly forty years of their working lives?
- The Class 230 train is the right size.
- The Class 230 train is a quality train, with an interior, that can be tailored to the route.
- Servicing can be organised locally.
- Diesel or battery power is available.
A fleet of four trains would provide the following services.
- Four tph on the Greenford Branch Line.
- One or two tph on the Brentford Branch Line.
One train would be spare.
What Is The Likelihood Of A Passenger Service On The Brentford Branch Line?
Like the Greenford Branch Line, the Brentford Branch Line could be a valuable feeder line for Crossrail.
- Hounslow Council have been pushing for a passenger service between Southall and a station at the Golden Mile (The Great West Road)
- South of the Golden Mile, the original route can be seen on Google Map and there might be possibilities to extend it to the original terminus.
- It would be in walking distance of a lot of development at Brentford Lock West.
- Unfortunately, a new viaductwould need to be built over the Great West Road.
If the branch gets passenger trains, I estimate that one train could run a two tph service between Southall and Brentford Golden Mile.
New developments around Brentford could be what eventually makes adding passenger trains to this freight line worthwhile.
What About The Costs?
Transport for London is probably very happy with the current service on the Greenford Branch Line, as it is not their responsibility.
If Crossrail opens to Reading in December 2019, I suspect GWR will look at this leftover from privatisation as a increasing nuisance.
The Wikipedia entry for the Class 230 train has a section on Cost Comparison.
- Using the figures for a Class 150 train, GWR are spending about 14,300 pounds a month, plus staff and fuel to provide the current service.
- Three Class 230 trains providing a four tph service would cost an operator about 25,300 pounds a month, plus staff and fuel.
How much extra revenue for Transport for London, would a four tph service on the Greenford Branch Line generate, if Crossrail were to open to Reading?
An extra train for the Brentford Branch ine would probably add another 9,000 a month, plus staff and fuel.
I have no evidence, but after my ride yesterday, I feel that Class 230 trains could transform the economics of rail services in West Ealing and Brentford.
Conclusion
Bring a small fleet of Class 230 trains home!
And while you’re about it, reopen the Brentford Branch Line to passenger trains with an hourly service.
A First Ride In A Revenue-Earning Class 230 Train
When I heard that London North Western Railway were running a new Class 230 train between Bedford and Bletchley, I just had to go.
These are my thoughts.
Comparison With D78 Stock
I regularly used the D78 Stock from their introduction in 1980 until their retirement in 2017. In Raw Material For A New Train, I showed a few pictures of one of the last D78 Stock trains to be in service.
The picture with the orange doors shows a Class 378 train, at the same platform as the D78 train for comparison.
The trains have certainly undergone changes with new wndows and a new interior, but some components like the longitudinal seats, appear to have just been refurbished.
But the Class 230 train has retained the well-lit feel of the D78 Stock.
An Interior For All Passengers
Passengers come in many different types and the interior has been well-designed to cope all types of passengers who might use the train.
As it also takes clues from other trains, that work on high-capacity routes, I feel it would cope well if on perhaps a weekend, there was some form of event or festival.
Longitudinal Seating
Vivarail have retained some of the old London Underground longitudinal seating, which must be unique in the UK outside the London Underground/Overground and the Glasgow Subway.
But it does seem to fit in more seats.
Seat Comfort
To me, seat comfort is all important, as I have a posterior that objects to certain seats, like those on Thameslink’s Class 700 trains.
But these seats were fine, despite the fact they looked like the dreaded Thameslink seats. But then perhaps the padding is different!
Tables
LNWR have chosen to fit several tables in these trains, which were big enough to lay out a tabloid-sized newspaper.
Wi-Fi, Power And USB Points
Wi-fi is fitted to this train and there were numerous power and USB points. The latter were in the armrests of the longitudinal seats, which in my view, is the obvious, if not essential place. Other train manufacturers please note!
An Unfussy, Surprisingly Quiet And Workmanlike Ride
Passengers don’t generally rave about the quality of the ride in Underground trains and I would generally describe the ride of the average Underground train as workmanlike.
But then I’ve been riding Underground trains for at least sixty-five years and a modern S7 Stock train, is so much better than the 1938 Stock trains I can remember.
The ride of the Class 230 train is unfussy, surprisingly quiet and it still has that workmanlike quality of forty-year-old Underground trains.
Without doubt though, the ride and especially the noise is much better than the Alstom Coradia iLint, that I wrote about in My First Ride In An Alstom Coradia iLint.
Engine Noise
The two diesel engines beneath our feet, were not any more noticeable, than the engine on one of London’s Routemaster buses.
I would expect that High quality noise suppression techniques have been used.
An Air Of Quality
The finish of the train appeared to have a good quality
Operating Speed
Using the |SpeedView app on my phone, the train seemed to trundle on happily at around 45-50 mph.
Passenger Reaction
The passengers seemed to be fairly pleased with their new train, and several said it was better than the single car Class 153 train.
A Senior Manager from LNWR, also seemed pleased with his new train.
Conclusion
It is a well-designed train, that impressed me.
It should find a niche in the train market.
The fact that the train is in service, will in itself provoke interest from train operating companies and Councils and other groups promoting new or reopened train services.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more orders this year.
Does Outlook 256 Have A Mind Of Its Own? It’s Just Appeared From My Computer
Outlook 256 must be one of the biggest piles of doo-dah I’ve ever found.
Firstly, it locked up, so that it wouldn’t respond to any of my commands.
So then I rebooted my computer, as one does.
It is now no longer on the task bar and I can’t find out where it is in the computer’s menu.
Allthe other programs in Office 256 seem to be working.
The Norwich-In-Ninety Timetable
The Norwich-In-Ninety trains are now visible on the National Rail timetable.
London To Norwich
Norwich-In-Ninety trains leave London at 11:00 and 19:00!
The current times of the 11:00 train are as follows.
- Liverpool Street – 11:00
- Colchester – 11:46
- Manningtree – 11:55
- Ipswich – 12:07
- Diss – 12:36
- Norwich – 12:50
Those of the faster train are.
- Liverpool Street – 11:00
- Ipswich – 11:55
- Norwich – 12:30
I can remember in the 1960s, the diesel service was advertised as two-hour two-stop between London amd Norwich.
Norwich To London
Norwich-In-Ninety trains leave Norwich at 09:00 and 17:00!
The current times of the 09:00 train are as follows.
- Norwich – 09:00
- Diss – 09:17
- Stowmarket – 09:29
- Ipswich – 09:41
- Manningtree – 09:52
- Colchester – 10:02
- Chelmsford – 10:21
- Stratford – 10:45
- Liverpool Street – 10:55
Those of the faster train are.
- Norwich – 09:00
- Ipswich – 09:33
- Liverpool Street- 10:30
Note that the current Southbound services are slower than those going North.
The Current Linespeed
For part of my trip back from Ipswich today, I was following the linespeed using the Speedview App on my phone.
- Between Kelvedon and Hstfield Peverel the train averaged around 100 mph.
- It then slowed to 60 mph through Chelmsford.
- By Ingatestone, it was up to 90 mph, before slowing for 60 mph through Shenfield.
- There seemed to be some checking from a slower train, but at places into Liverpool Street it was up to 80-90 mph.
The Norwich-In-Ninety improvements certainly seemed to have helped.
It certainly left me with the feeling that the elderly Class 90 locomotive and Mark 3 carriages could achieve Ipswich to Liverpool Street in around an hour.
The Future
These four services are probably just the start. These four services can probably be achieved with one train.
- Leave Norwich at 09:00 and arrive in Liverpool Street at 10:30
- Leave Liverpool Street at 11:00 and arrive in Norwich at 12:30
- Leave Norwich at 17:00 and arrive in Liverpool Street at 18:30
- Leave Liverpool Street at 19:00 and arrive in Norwich at 20:30
Although, Greater Anglia will be running the initial service with Class 755 trains, the company has ten Class 745 trains on order.
The only thing so far disclosed, is that the Liverpool Street and Norwich service will go to three trains per hour (tph).
It should also be said, that the design of the new trains and their power, should make station stops much faster.
But what pattern of stops will be performed by the three trains?
Are Greater Anglia’s Flirts Faster Than 100 mph?
Over the last fifty years or so, a lot of fast trains have been introduced onto the UK’s railways.
- InterCity 125 trains were designed to provide 125 mph services and held the world record for diesel trains at 143 mph
- InterCity 225 trains were designed to provide 140 mph services, but have been timed at 161 mph
- Class 442 trains were designed to provide 100 mph services, but have been timed at 108 mph
- Most Electrostars are 100 mph trains, but the Class 387 train can cruise at 110 mph.
It does seem that often the design speed and what is possible differ by up to twenty miles per hour.
It is probably in part good design, as it means that an accidental overspeed can be safely handled.
Greater Anglia has ordered two fleets of Stadler FLIRTs.
- Class 745 electric trains, which have twelve cars.
- Class 755 bi-mode trains, which have three or four cars.
Note
- Both trains share a lot of features and are capable of 100 mph.
- Some Norwegian electric FlLIRTs have a top speed of 120 mph. They have an extra powered axle, but do they have ostensibly the same running gear and electrifical systems?
So would it be reasonable to assume that Stadler have designed FLIRTs, so that faster versions can be created?
If the answer is in the affirmative, there is two interesting possibilities.
London To Norwich Services
The section of line between Norwich and Haughley Junction has the following characteristics.
- Double-track
- 31 miles long.
- 100 mph operating speed
- Electrified
- A few level-crossings
- It is fairly straight
- There is the Trowse swing bridge over the River Wensum
- Passenger services on the route will be run only using Stadler FLIRTs.
Network Rail have been very successful in upgrading routes like this for faster running and as the Trowse swing bridge will be replaced, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this section of line upgraded to perhaps 110 mph. This would save a couple of minutes, if the trains could take advantage.
Other services in East Anglia would also benefit from works to improve line speed.
Midland Main Line Services
The Midland Main Line will receive brand-new 125 mph bi-mode trains in 2022.
If Class 755 bi-mode trains could be configured to run at 125 mph, like their electric cousins, they must be a possibility.
Conclusion
Only Stadler know if their Class 745 and 755 trains can be upgraded to higher speeds.
But if they can be upgraded, they could be a very useful train for UK railways.
The Anonymous Widower 