Frankfurt Starts Building Fuel Station For World’s Biggest Zero-Emissions Train Fleet
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Reuters.
These are the two opening paragraphs.
German regional transport group RMV began construction on Monday of a filling station near Frankfurt that will use hydrogen generated as a by-product of chemicals manufacturing to fuel the world’s largest fleet of zero-emissions passenger trains.
France’s Alstom will deliver 27 hydrogen-powered fuel cell trains to the Infraserv Hoechst industrial park in the Rhine-Main region in mid-2022. Starting regular local services by that winter, the fleet will replace diesel engines.
All the investment will be partly funded by fares.
Chlorine Manufacture
I find it interesting, that the article also states that the hydrogen comes as a by-product of chlorine manufacture. When I worked in a ICI’s electrolysis plant around 1970, their plant used the Castner-Kellner process to produce both gases.
The process uses a lot of mercury and Wikipedia says this about the future of the process.
The mercury cell process continues in use to this day. Current-day mercury cell plant operations are criticized for environmental release of mercury leading in some cases to severe mercury poisoning as occurred in Japan Minamata_disease. Due to these concerns, mercury cell plants are being phased out, and a sustained effort is being made to reduce mercury emissions from existing plants.
Are INEOS, who now own the Runcorn plant, and the Germans still using the Castner-Kellner process?
I remember two stories about the theft of mercury from the Runcorn plant.
Mercury was and probably still is very valuable, and it was always being stolen. So ICI put a radioactive trace in the mercury, which didn’t affect the process. The result was that all legitimate metal dealers on Merseyside bough Geiger counters to check any mercury before they bought it.
One guy thought he had found the ideal way to steal mercury, so he filled his bike frame with the metal and wheeled it to the gate. Whilst he clocked out, he propped the bike against the gate-house. Unfortunately, it fell over and because of the weight of the mercury, he was unable to pick it up.
My work in the plant, involved devising a portable instrument that would detect mercury in air and a colleague’s project was to develop a way of detecting mercury in urine samples from the plant operatives.
Those projects say a lot, about why we should be careful around any process involving mercury.
A Trip To Stansted Airport In A Class 745/1 Train
This lunchtime a friend was passing through Stansted Airport on the way to Glasgow. As we hadn’t seen each other for a couple of years, we had decided to have a coffee at the Airport.
I took these pictures on the trip.
Property Development At Tottenham Hale
There is a lot of development going on around Tottenham Hale station.
There will be a lot more to come.
The New Class 745/1 Train
I travelled in a new Class 745/1 train, which are replacing the Class 379 trains.
Note.
- The trains have twelve articulated sections.
- The trains are 236.5 metres long.
- Only 11-car Class 390 trains or a pair of five-car Class 80x trains are longer.
- The train has767 seats at a density of 3.24 seats/metre
This picture through the train emphasises the train’s length.
Note.
- There are some light slops, but no steps.
- A coffee and snack trolley would be possible.
- The overhead racks are generously-sized.
- Some seats are higher and you step up into them, as they are over the wheels.
The ride was also excellent.
Class 745/1 Train Performance
I made these observations.
- My train stopped at Tottenham Hale, Harlow Town, Bishops Stortford and Stansted Mountfitchet.
- The train was at 80 mph most of the time on the West Anglia Main Line.
- The maximum speed if a Class 745 train is 100 mph.
- The operating speed of the West Anglia Main Line is given on Wikipedia as 100 mph maximum.
- The train was didn’t exceed 70 mph on the Stansted Branch.
- Between Stansted Airport and Stansted Mountfitchet, the train accelerated to 70 mph and then braked at the right time to stop precisely in the following station.
At all times, I felt the train was running very easily. But then there are 125 mph members of the Flirt family running in Norway.
I can see these trains cutting the current 49 minutes between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.
Other times to London’s airports are as follows.
- London Bridge – Gatwick – Thameslink – 48 minutes.
- Victoria – Gatwick – Gatwick Express – 30 minutes.
- Victoria – Gatwick – Southern – 32 minutes.
- Paddington – Heathrow Central – Heathrow Express – 15 minutes
- Paddington – Heathrow Central – Crossrail – 28 minutes
With the exception of Heathrow Express, the new Stansted Express doesn’t stand up too badly.
Rye House Gas-Fired Power Station
One of the landmarks you pass on the West Anglia Main Line is Rye House power station.
The weather wasn’t good, but the pictures give an impression of the 715 MW gas-fired power station.
This Google Map shows the power station.
Note.
- The West Anglia Main Line running SW-NE across the map.
- Sainsbury’s distribution centre to the North of the railway.
- The power station to the South of the railway.
- The grid-like structure is an air-cooled condenser.
But where is the station’s carbon capture equipment?
The Lea Valley is London’s greenhouse, as this second Google Map shows.
Note all the nurseries and salad producers on the map, which is a mile or so to the South East of the power station.
Drax Group used to pipe carbon dioxide to salad producers from Drax power station, so why aren’t they doing it here?
Changing At Tottenham Hale Station
This set of pictures show my change at Tottenham Hale station, when I returned to London.
Note.
- The step-free entry to the Class 745 train.
- The Stansted Express used Platform 3.
- It was then followed in Platform 3, by a train to Liverpool Street via Hackney Downs station.
- At the same time, a train arrived in Platform 4, which went to Stratford via Lea Bridge station.
- I took the Stratford train to Lea Bridge station.
- The train was a Class 379 train, which has been replaced by the Class 745 train.
It looks like all Stansted Expresses have an interchange to trains to Hackney Downs and Stratford after a few minutes.
This sums up, what travellers can do at Tottenham Hale station, after arriving on a Stansted Express.
- Stay on the Stansted Express for Liverpool Street.
- Wait for the next train to Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street, on the same platform.
- Wait for the train to Stratford, on the other side of the same platform.
- Catch the Victoria Line, as passengers have done for decades.
- There are also lots of buses and taxis.
When Crossrail opens, there will be connections at Stratford and Liverpool Street.
Lea Bridge Station
I took these pictures at Lea Bridge station.
Note, that not all trains on this route are Class 379 trains.
Property Development At Lea Bridge Station
There is a lot of development going on around Lea Bridge station.
As at Tottenham Hale and Stratford, there will probably be more to come.
Lea Bridge Road In Mid Afternoon
As I just mixed a 56 bus home, I walk about half-a-mile to the next bus stop.
It was not a pleasant walk!
£100m Station Revamp Could Double Local Train Services
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Northern Echo.
This is the opening paragraph.
Officials behind plans for a £100m-plus transformation of Darlington’s Bank Top Station have confirmed it will remain the only one on the East Coast Mainline without a platform specifically for the London to Scotland service.
Darlington station has made various appearances in my life, all of which have been pleasurable ones.
I went several times to ICI’s Wilton site on Teesside in the 1970s, when the route to London was worked by the iconic Class 55 locomotives or Deltics.
I wrote about one memorable trip home from Darlington in The Thunder of Three-Thousand Three-Hundred Horses.
Over the years, I also seem to have had several clients for my computing skills in the area, including the use of my data analysis software; Daisy at Cummins Engines in the town.
And lately, it’s been for football at Middlesbrough to see Ipswich play, where I’ve changed trains. Sometimes, Town even won.
The improvements planned for the station are two-fold.
Improvement Of Local Services
This paragraph from Wikipedia, sums up the local train services on the Tees Valley Line between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland via Darlington, Middlesbrough and Redcar.
Northern run their Tees Valley line trains twice hourly to Middlesbrough, Redcar and Saltburn (hourly on Sundays), whilst the Bishop Auckland branch has a service every hour (including Sundays). The company also operates two Sundays-only direct trains to/from Stockton and Hartlepool.
If ever a route needed improvement it is this one.
This paragraph from the Northern Echo article, outlines the plans for Darlington station.
The meeting was also told the overhaul, which will see new platforms, a new station building, parking and an interchange for passengers, alongside other improvements, would also double capacity on Tees Valley and Bishop Auckland lines, meaning four trains an hour on the former and two trains an hour on the latter.
I also believe that the route is a shoe-in for zero-carbon services; hydrogen or battery electric.
Hydrogen Trains On Teesside
In Fuelling The Change On Teesside Rails, I discuss using hydrogen powered trains for the lines in the area and they could certainly provide services on more than just the Tees Valley Line.
- Teesside certainly has big plans for hydrogen to fuel its chemical industry.
- Hydrogen powered transport in the area has been backed by the Government, as I wrote about in Tees Valley Wins £1.3million Project To Bring Hydrogen Vehicles To The Region.
- Plans are advancing for a depot for hydrogen-powered trains at Lackenby.
The hydrogen powered trains would probably be this Alstom Breeze.
They would appear to be in pole position to change the image of Teesside’s trains.
Battery Electric Trains On Teesside
But I suspect. that an Anglo-Japanese partnership, based in the North-East could have other ideas.
- Hitachi have a train factory at Newton Aycliffe on the Tees Valley Line.
- Hyperdrive Innovation design and produce battery packs for transport and mobile applications in Sunderland.
The two companies have launched the Regional Battery Train, which is described in this Hitachi infographic.
Note than 90 kilometres is 56 miles, so the train has a very useful range.
Hitachi have talked about fitting batteries to their express trains to serve places like Middlesbrough, Redcar and Sunderland with zero-carbon electric services.
But their technology can also be fitted to their Class 385 trains and I’m sure that Scotland will order some battery-equipped Class 385 trains to expand their vigorous electric train network.
Both Scotland and Teesside will need to charge their battery trains.
Example distances on Teesside include.
- Darlington and Saltburn – 28 miles
- Darlington and Whitby – 47 miles
- Darlington and Bishop Auckland – 12 miles
The last route would be possible on a full battery, but the first two would need a quick battery top-up before return.
So there will need to be strategically-placed battery chargers around the North-East of England. These could include.
- Hexham
- Nunthorpe
- Redcar or Saltburn – This would also be used by TransPennine Express’s Class 802 trains, if they were to be fitted with batteries.
- Whitby
If Grand Central did the right thing and ran battery electric between London and Sunderland, there would probably be a need for a battery charger at Sunderland.
It appears that Adrian Shooter of Vivarail has just announced a One-Size-Fits-All Fast Charge system, that has been given interim approval by Network Rail.
I discuss this charger in Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains, which is based on a video on the Modern Railways web site.
There is more about Vivarail’s plans in the November 2020 Print Edition of the magazine, where this is said on page 69.
‘Network Rail has granted interim approval for the fast charge system and wants it to be the UK’s standard battery charging system’ says Mr. Shooter. ‘We believe it could have worldwide implications.’
I believe that Hitachi and Hyperdrive Innovation, with a little bit of help from friends in Seaham, can build a battery-electric train network in the North-East.
The Choice Between Hydrogen And Battery Electric
Consider.
- The hydrogen trains would need a refuelling system.
- The battery electric trains would need a charging structure, which could also be used by other battery electric services to and from the North-East.
- No new electrification or other infrastructure would be needed.
- If a depot is needed for the battery electric trains, they could probably use the site at Lackenby, that has been identified as a base for the hydrogen trains.
Which train would I choose?
I think the decision will come down to politics, money and to a certain extent design, capacity and fuel.
- The Japanese have just signed a post-Brexit trade deal and France or rather the EU hasn’t.
- The best leasing deal might count for a lot.
- Vivarail have stated that batteries for a battery electric train, could be leased on a per mile basis.
- The Hitachi train will be a new one and the Alstom train will be a conversion of a thirty year old British Rail train.
- The Hitachi train may well have a higher passenger capacity, as there is no need for the large hydrogen tank.
- Some people will worry about sharing the train with a large hydrogen tank.
- The green credentials of both trains is not a deal-breaker, but will provoke discussion.
I feel that as this is a passenger train, that I’m leaning towards a battery electric train built on the route.
An Avoiding Line Through Darlington
The Northern Echo also says this about track changes at the station.
A meeting of Darlington Borough Council’s communities and local services scrutiny committee was told a bus lane-style route off the mainline at the station would enable operators to run more high-speed services.
Councillors heard that the proposed track changes would enable very fast approaches to Darlington and allow other trains to pass as East Coast Mainline passengers boarded.
Some councillors seem to be unhappy about some trains passing through the station without stopping.
Are their fears justified?
This Google Map shows Darlington station.
Note.
- The station has two long platforms and two South-facing bay platforms.
- There is plenty of space.
- There already appear to be a pair of electrified avoiding lines on the Eastern side of the station.
Wikipedia also says this about how Darlington station will be changed by High Speed Two.
The new high speed rail project in the UK, High Speed 2, is planned to run through Darlington once Phase 2b is complete and will run on the existing East Coast Main Line from York and Newcastle. Darlington Station will have two new platforms built for the HS2 trains on the Main Line, as the station is built just off the ECML to allow for freight services to pass through.
This would appear to suggest that the two current avoiding lines will be turned into high speed platforms.
Current High Speed Services At Darlington
The current high speed services at Darlington are as follows.
- LNER – two trains per hour (tph) – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh
- Cross Country – one tph – Plymouth and Edinburgh or Glasgow
- Cross Country – one tph – Southampton and Newcastle
- TransPennine Express – one tph – Liverpool and Edinburgh
- TransPennine Express – one tph – Manchester Airport and Newcastle
Northbound, this gives eight tph to Newcastle and four tph to Edinburgh
East Coast Trains
East Coast Trains‘s services are not planned to stop at Darlington.
High Speed Two Trains
Darlington is planned to be served by these High Speed Two trains.
- 1 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub, York and Durham
- 1 tph – London Euston and Newcastle via Old Oak Common and York.
Both will be 200 metre High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains
Northbound, this gives ten tph to Newcastle and four tph to Edinburgh.
As the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two has some spare capacity, I suspect there could be other services through Darlington.
Improvements To The East Coast Main Line
If you look at the East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and Newcastle, the route is a mixture of two and four-track railway.
- Between Doncaster and York, there are two tracks
- Between York and Northallerton, there are four tracks
- Between Northallerton and Darlington, there are two tracks
- North of Darlington, the route is mainly two tracks.
I have flown my virtual helicopter along much of the route and I can say this about it.
- Much of the route is through agricultural land, and where absolutely necessary extra tracks could possibly be added.
- The track is more-or-less straight for large sections of the route.
- Routes through some towns and cities, are tightly hemmed in by houses.
I also believe that the following developments will happen to the whole of the East Coast Main Line before High Speed Two opens.
- Full ERTMS in-cab digital signalling will be used on all trains on the route.
- The trains will be driven automatically, with the driver watching everything. Just like a pilot in an airliner!
- All the Hitachi Class 80x trains used by operators on the route, will be able to operate at up to 140 mph, once this signalling and some other improvements have been completed.
- All level crossings will have been removed.
- High Speed Two is being built using slab track, as I stated in HS2 Slab Track Contract Awarded. I suspect some sections of the East Coast Main Line, that are used by High Speed Two services, will be upgraded with slab track to increase performance and reduce lifetime costs.
Much of the East Coast Main Line could become a 140 mph high speed line, as against High Speed Two, which will be a 225 mph high speed line.
This will mean that all high speed trains will approach Darlington and most other stations on the route, at 140 mph.
Trains will take around a minute to decelerate from or accelerate to 140 mph and if the station stop took a minute, the trains will be up to speed again in just three minutes. In this time, the train would have travelled two-and-a-half miles.
Conclusion
I think that this will happen.
- The Tees Valley Line trains will be greatly improved by this project.
- Trains will generally run at up to 140 mph on the East Coast Main Line, under full digital control, like a slower High Speed Two.
- There will be two high speed platforms to the East of the current station, where most if not all of the High Speed Two, LNER and other fast services will stop.
- There could be up to 15 tph on the high speed lines.
With full step-free access between the high speed and the local platforms in the current station, this will be a great improvement.
How Many Trains Are Needed To Run A Full Service On High Speed Two?
The latest High Speed Two schedule was published in the June 2020 Edition of Modern Railways.
The Two Train Classes
Two separate train classes have been proposed for High Speed Two.
Full-Size – Wider and taller trains built to a European loading gauge, which would be confined to the high-speed network (including HS1 and HS2) and other lines cleared to their loading gauge.
Classic-Compatible – Conventional trains, capable of high speed but built to a British loading gauge, permitting them to leave the high speed track to join conventional routes such as the West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line.
The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two has a section entitled Rolling Stock, where this is said about the design.
Both types of train would have a maximum speed of at least 360 km/h (225 mph) and a length of 200 metres (660 ft); two units could be joined together for a 400-metre (1,300 ft) train. It has been reported that these longer trains would have approximately 1,100 seats.
These are some of my thoughts.
Seating Density
I would assume that this means that a single 200 metre train, will have a capacity of approximately 550 seats or a density of 2.75 seats per metre. How does that compare with other trains?
- 9-car Class 801 train – 234 metres – 611 seats – 2.61 seats/metre
- 7-car Class 807 train – 182 metres – 453 seats – 2.49 seats/metre
- 9-car Class 390 train – 217.5 metres – 469 seats – 2.16 seats/metre
- 11-car Class 390 train – 265.3 metres – 589 seats – 2.22 seats/metre
- 12-car Class 745/1 train – 236.6 metres – 767 seats – 3.24 seats/metre
- 16-car Class 374 train – 390 metres – 902 seats – 2.31 seats/metre
Note.
- What I find strange with these figures, is that I feel most crowded and cramped in a Class 390 train. Could this be because the Pendelino trains are eighteen years old and train interior design has moved on?
- But I always prefer to travel in a Hitachi Class 80x train or a Stadler Class 745 train.
I very much feel that a seating density of 2.75 seats per metre, designed using some of the best modern practice, could create a train, where travelling is a very pleasant experience.
Step-Free Access
I have travelled in high speed trains all over Europe and have yet to travel in one with step-free access.
Surely, if Stadler can give their trains step-free access everybody can.
The pictures shows step-free access on Stadler Class 745 and Class 755 trains.
If I turned up pushing a friend in a wheelchair, would I be able to push them in easily? Or better still will they be able to wheel themselves in?
A Greater Anglia driver tp;d me recently, that now they never have to wait anymore for wheelchairs to be loaded.
So surely, it is in the train operator’s interest to have step-free access, if it means less train delays.
Double-Deck Trains
In my view double-deck trains only have one only good feature and that is the ability to see everything, if you have a well-designed window seat.
I may be seventy-three, but I am reasonably fit and only ever travel on trains with airline-sized hand baggage. So I don’t find any problem travelling upstairs on a double-deck bus or train!
But it could have been, so very different, if my stroke had been a bit worse and left me blind or in a wheelchair for life.
I have seen incidents on the Continent, which have been caused by double-deck trains.
- A lady of about eighteen in trying to get down with a heavy case dropped it. Luckily it only caused the guy she was travelling with, to roll unhurt down the stairs.
- Luggage is often a problem on Continental trains because of the step-up into the train and access is worse on double deck trains.
- I also remember on a train at Leipzig, when several passengers helped me lift a guy and his wheelchair out of the lower deck of a double-deck train, which was lower than the platform, as they often are with double-deck trains.
I am not totally against double-deck trains, but they must be designed properly.
Consider.
- High Speed Two’s Full-Size trains will only use London Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange, Birmingham Curzon Street, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly, East Midlands Hub and Leeds stations.
- All stations used by Full-Size trains will be brand-new or substantially rebuilt stations.
- Someone sitting in a wheelchair surely has the same right to a view from the top-deck of a double-deck train as anybody else.
- Jumbo jets seemed to do very well without a full-length top-deck.
- The A 380 Superjumbo has been designed so that entry and exit on both decks is possible.
I feel if High Speed Two want to run double-deck trains, an elegant solution can surely be found.
A Crude Estimate On The Number Of Trains
This is my crude estimate to find out how many trains, High Speed Two will need.
Western Leg
These are the services for the Western Leg between London , Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
- Train 1 – London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre Full-Size – 45 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 2 – London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre Full-Size – 45 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 3 – London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 400 metre Full-Size – 45 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 4 – London Euston and Lancaster – Classic Compatible – 2 hours 3 minutes – 5 hour Round Trip – 5 trains
- Train 4 – London Euston and Liverpool – Classic Compatible – 1 hours 34 minutes – 4 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 5 – London Euston and Liverpool – Classic Compatible – 1 hours 34 minutes – 4 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 6 – London Euston and Macclesfield – Classic Compatible – 1 hours 30 minutes – 4 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 7 – London Euston and Manchester – 400 metre Full-Size – 1 hour and 11 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 6 trains
- Train 8 – London Euston and Manchester – 400 metre Full-Size – 1 hour and 11 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 6 trains
- Train 9 – London Euston and Manchester – 400 metre Full-Size – 1 hour and 11 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 6 trains
- Train 10 – London Euston and Edinburgh – Classic Compatible – 3 hours 48 minutes – 8 hour Round Trip – 8 trains
- Train 10 – London Euston and Glasgow – Classic Compatible – 3 hours 40 minutes – 8 hour Round Trip – 8 trains
- Train 11 – London Euston and Edinburgh – Classic Compatible – 3 hours 48 minutes – 8 hour Round Trip – 8 trains
- Train 11 – London Euston and Glasgow – Classic Compatible – 3 hours 40 minutes – 8 hour Round Trip – 8 trains
- Train 12 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Edinburgh or Glasgow – Classic Compatible – 3 hours 20 minutes – 7 hour Round Trip – 7 trains
- Train 13 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester – 200 metre Full-Size – 41 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 2 trains
- Train 14 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester – 200 metre Full-Size – 41 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 2 trains
Note.
- I have assumed 400 metre Full-Size trains will be a pair of 200 metre trains.
- Trains 4, 10 and 11 are pairs of 200 metre long Classic-Compatible trains, that split and join at Crewe. Carlisle and Carlisle respectively.
- Trains 5 and 6 are single 200 metre long Classic-Compatible trains.
- The full schedule will need 34 Full-Size trains and 56 Classic-Compatible trains
According to Wikipedia, the first order will be for 54 Classic-Compatible trains, so I would assume, that more trains will be ordered.
Eastern Leg
These are the services for the Eastern Leg between London , Birmingham, East Midlands Hub, Leeds, Sheffield, York and Newcastle.
- Train 15 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds – 200 metre Full-Size – 49 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 2 trains
- Train 16 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds – 200 metre Full-Size – 49 minutes – 2 hour Round Trip – 2 trains
- Train 17 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle – Classic Compatible – 1 hour 57 minutes – 5 hour Round Trip – 5 trains
- Train 18 – London Euston and Sheffield – Classic Compatible – 1 hour 27 minutes – 4 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 18 – London Euston and Leeds – Classic Compatible – 1 hour 21 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 3 trains
- Train 19 – London Euston and Leeds – 400 metre Full-Size – 1 hour and 21 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 6 trains
- Train 20 – London Euston and Leeds – 400 metre Full-Size – 1 hour and 21 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 6 trains
- Train 21 – London Euston and Sheffield – Classic Compatible – 1 hour 27 minutes – 4 hour Round Trip – 4 trains
- Train 21 – London Euston and York – Classic Compatible – 1 hour 24 minutes – 3 hour Round Trip – 3 trains
- Train 22 – London Euston and Newcastle – Classic Compatible – 2 hour 17 minutes – 5 hour Round Trip – 5 trains
- Train 23 – London Euston and Newcastle – Classic Compatible – 2 hour 17 minutes – 5 hour Round Trip – 5 trains
Note.
- I have assumed 400 metre Full-Size trains will be a pair of 200 metre trains.
- Trains 15 and 16 work as a pair,
- Trains 18 and 21 are pairs of 200 metre long Classic-Compatible trains, that split and join at East Midlands Hub.
- Trains 22 and 23 are single 200 metre long Classic-Compatible trains
- The full schedule will need 16 Full-Size trains and 29 Classic-Compatible trains.
Adding the two legs together and I estimate that 50 Full-Size trains and 85 Classic-Compatible trains, will be needed to run a full schedule.
Trains Per Hour On Each Section
It is possible to make a table of how many trains run on each section of the High Speed Two network in trains per hour (tph)
- London Euston (stops) – 1-11, 18-23 – 17 tph
- London Euston and Old Oak Common – 1-11, 18-23 – 17 tph
- Old Oak Common (stops) – 1-11, 18-23 – 17 tph
- Old Oak Common and Birmingham Interchange – 1-11, 18-23 – 17 tph
- Birmingham Interchange (stops) – 2, 3, 7, 11, 20 – 5 tph
- Birmingham Curzon Street (stops) – 1-3, 12-14, 15-17 – 9 tph
- Birmingham and Crewe – 4,5, 7-9, 10-14 – 10 tph
- Crewe (stops) – 4,5 – 2 tph
- Crewe and Liverpool – 4,5 – 2 tph
- Crewe and Lancaster – 4, 10-12 – 4 tph
- Crewe and Manchester – 7-9, 13, 14 – 5 tph
- Crewe and Wigan via Warrington – 4 – 1 tph
- Crewe and Wigan via High Speed Two (new route) – 10-12 – 3 tph
- Lancaster (stops) 4 – 1 tph
- Lancaster and Carlisle – 10-12 – 3 tph
- Carlisle and Edinburgh – 10-12 – 2.5 tph
- Carlisle and Glasgow – 10-12 – 2.5 tph
- Birmingham and Stoke – 6 – 1 tph
- Stoke (stops) – 6 – 1 tph
- Stoke and Macclesfield – 6 – 1 tph
- Macclesfield (stops) – 6 – 1 tph
- Birmingham and East Midlands Hub – 15-17, 18-20, 21-23 – 9 tph
- East Midlands Hub (stops) – 15-17, 18-20, 21 – 7 tph
- East Midlands Hub and Sheffield – 18, 21 – 2 tph
- Sheffield (stops) – 18, 21 – 2 tph
- Midlands Hub and Leeds – 15, 16, 18-20 – 5 tph
- Leeds (stops) – 15, 16, 18-20 – 5 tph
- East Midlands Hub and York – 17, 21-23 – 4 tph
- York (stops) – 17, 21-23 – 4 tph
- York and Newcastle – 17, 22, 23 – 3 tph
- Newcastle (stops) – 17, 22, 23 – 3 tph
These are a few thoughts.
Capacity Of The Southern Leg
The busiest section is between London Euston and Birmingham Interchange, which handles 17 tph.
As the maximum capacity of High Speed Two is laid down in the Phase One Act as 18 tph, this gives a path for recovery, according to the article.
Trains Serving Euston
The following train types serve London Euston station.
- Full-Size – 8 tph
- 400 metre Classic-Compatible – 5 tph
- 200 metre Classic-Compatible – 4 tph
In the current service proposal, , Trains 5,6, 22 and 23 are just single 200 metre Classic Compatible trains.
This is inefficient and another four tph could be run into Euston station, by the use of appropriate splitting and joining.
- Train 5 could run an identical manner to Train 4 to give extra services to Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay.
- Train 6 to Macclesfield is a problem and perhaps should call at Birmingham Interchange, where it could split and join to serve somewhere else like Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury.
- Trains 22 and 23 could split and join at East Midlands Hub and serve other places in the East of England like Cleethorpes, Hull, Lincoln, Middlesbrough and Scarborough.
Paths are expensive entities to provide and every path into Euston should support a 400 metre train or a pair of 200 metre trains.
Platform Use At Euston
This page on the High Speed Two web site, gives details of Euston High Speed Two station.
HS2 will deliver eleven new 400m long platforms, a new concourse and improved connections to Euston and Euston Square Underground stations. Our design teams are also looking at the opportunity to create a new northerly entrance facing Camden Town as well as new east-west links across the whole station site.
So how will the eleven platforms be used?
Destinations served from London are planned to be as follows.
- Birmingham Curzon Street – Full-Size – 3 tph
- Edinburgh/Glasgow – Classic-Compatible – 2 tph
- Lancaster – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
- Leeds – Full-Size – 2 tph – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
Liverpool – Classic-Compatible – 2 tph
- Macclesfield – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
- Manchester Piccadilly – Full-Size – 3 tph
- Newcastle – Classic-Compatible – 2 tph
- Sheffield – Classic-Compatible – 2 tph
- York – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
That is ten destinations and there will be eleven platforms.
I like it! Lack of resources is often the reason systems don’t work well and there are certainly enough platforms.
Could platforms be allocated something like this?
- Birmingham Curzon Street – Full-Size
- Edinburgh/Glasgow – Classic-Compatible
- Leeds – Full-Size
- Liverpool – Classic-Compatible – Also serves Lancaster
- Macclesfield – Classic-Compatible
- Manchester Piccadilly – Full-Size
- Newcastle – Classic-Compatible
- Sheffield – Classic-Compatible – Also serves Leeds and York
Note.
- No platform handles more than three tph.
- There are three spare platforms.
- Each platform would only be normally used by one train type.
- Only Birmingham Interchange, East Midlands Hub, Leeds, Preston and York are not always served from the same platform.
Platform arrangements could be very passenger- and operator-friendly.
Platform Use At Birmingham Curzon Street
Birmingham Curzon Street station has been designed to have seven platforms.
Destinations served from Birmingham Curzon Street station are planned to be as follows.
- Edinburgh/Glasgow – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
- Leeds – Full-Size – 2 tph
- London Euston – Full-Size – 3 tph
- Manchester Piccadilly – Full-Size – 2 tph
- Newcastle – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
- Nottingham – Classic-Compatible – 1 tph
Note.
- The Nottingham service has been proposed by Midlands Engine Rail, but will be running High Speed Two Classic Compatible trains.
- That is six destinations and there will be seven platforms.
I like it! For the same reason as London Euston.
Could platforms be allocated something like this?
- Edinburgh/Glasgow – Classic-Compatible
- Leeds – Full-Size
- London Euston – Full-Size
- Manchester Piccadilly – Full-Size
- Newcastle/Nottingham – Classic-Compatible
Note.
- No platform handles more than three tph.
- There are two spare platforms.
- Each platform would only be normally used by one train type.
- Only East Midlands Hub is not always served from the same platform.
Platform arrangements could be very passenger- and operator-friendly.
Back-to-Back Services via Birmingham Curzon Street
The current plan for High Speed Two envisages the following services between the main terminals served by Full-Size trains.
- London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 3 tph – 45 minutes
- London Euston and Leeds – 2 tph – 81 minutes
- London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly – 3 tph – 71 minutes
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds – 2 tph – 40 minutes
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester Piccadilly – 2 tph – 41 minutes
Suppose a traveller wanted to go between East Midlands Hub and Manchester Airport stations.
Wouldn’t it be convenient if the Leeds to Birmingham Curzon Street train, stopped in Birmingham Curzon Street alongside the train to Manchester Airport and Piccadilly, so passengers could just walk across?
Or the two services could be run Back-to-Back with a reverse in Birmingham Curzon Street station?
Note.
- The current fastest times between Nottingham and Manchester Airport stations are around two-and-a-half hours, with two changes.
- With High Speed Two, it looks like the time could be under the hour, even allowing up to eight minutes for the change at Birmingham Curzon Street.
The design of the track and stations for High Speed Two, has some interesting features that will be exploited by the train operator, to provide better services.
Capacity Of The Western Leg Between Birmingham And Crewe
The section is between Birmingham and Crewe, will be running 10 tph.
As the maximum capacity of High Speed Two is laid down in the Phase One Act as 18 tph, this gives plenty of room for more trains.
But where will they come from?
High Speed One copes well with a few interlopers in the shape of Southeastern’s Class 395 trains, which run at 140 mph, between the Eurostars.
High Speed Two is faster, but what is to stop an operator running their own Classic-Compatible trains on the following routes.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Liverpool via Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Holyhead via Crewe, Chester and an electrified North Wales Coast Line.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Blackpool via Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Blackburn and Burnley via Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston.
Note.
- If these trains were say 130 metres long, they could call at all stations, without any platform lengthening.
- I’m sure that the clever engineers at Hitachi and Hyperdrive Innovation could come up with battery electric Classic-Compatible train, that could run at 225 mph on High Speed Two and had a battery range to reach Holyhead, with a small amount of electrification.
- A pair of trains, could work the last two services with a Split/Join at Preston.
The advantages of terminating these service in Birmingham Curzon Street would be as follows.
- A lot more places get a fast connection to the High Speed Two network.
- Passengers can reach London with an easy change at Birmingham Curzon Street station.
- They can also walk easily between the three Birmingham stations.
But the big advantage is the trains don’t use valuable paths on High Speed Two between Birmingham Curzon Street and London Euston.
Crewe Station
In the current Avanti West Coast timetable, the following trains pass through Crewe.
- London Euston and Blackpool – 4 trains per day (tpd)
- London Euston and Chester – 1 tph
- London Euston and Edinburgh/Glasgow – 2 tph
- London Euston and Liverpool – 1 tph
- London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly – 1 tph
Most trains stop at Crewe.
In the proposed High Speed Two timetable, the following trains will pass through Crewe.
- London Euston and Edinburgh/Glasgow – 2 tph
- London Euston and Lancaster/Liverpool – 2 tph
- London Euston and Manchester – 3 tph
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Edinburgh/Glasgow -1 tph
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester – 2 tph
Note.
- Only the Lancaster and Liverpool trains stop at Crewe station.
- North of Crewe there will be a three-way split of High Speed Two routes to Liverpool, Wigan and the North and Manchester Airport and Piccadilly.
- High Speed Two will loop to the East and then join the West Coast Main Line to the South of Wigan.
- High Speed Two trains will use the West Coast Main Line to the North of Wigan North Western station.
This map of High Speed Two in North West England was captured from the interactive map on the High Speed Two web site.
Note.
- The current West Coast Main Line (WCML) and Phase 2a of High Speed Two are shown in blue.
- Phase 2b of High Speed Two is shown in orange.
- The main North-South route, which is shown in blue, is the WCML passing through Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western as it goes North.
- The Western Branch, which is shown in blue, is the Liverpool Branch of the WCML, which serves Runcorn and Liverpool.
- High Speed Two, which is shown in orange, takes a faster route between Crewe and Wigan North Western.
- The Eastern Branch, which is shown in orange, is the Manchester Branch of High Speed Two, which serves Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
- The route in the East, which is shown in blue, is the Macclesfield Branch of High Speed Two, which serves Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield.
The route of Northern Powerhouse Rail between Manchester Airport and Liverpool has still to be finalised.
Liverpool Branch
Consider.
- The Liverpool Branch will take two tph between London Euston and Liverpool.
- In the future it could take up to 6 tph on Northern Powerhouse Rail between Liverpool and Manchester Piccadilly via Manchester Airport.
I believe that Liverpool Lime Street station, after the recent updating can handle all these trains.
Manchester Branch
This document on the Government web site is entitled HS2 Phase 2b Western Leg Design Refinement Consultation.
It indicates two important recently-made changes to the design of the Manchester Branch of High Speed Two.
- Manchester Airport station will have four High Speed platforms instead of two.
- Manchester Piccadilly station will have six High Speed platforms instead of four.
These changes will help the use of these stations by Northern Powerhouse Rail..
Consider.
- The Manchester Branch will be new high speed track, which will probably be built in a tunnel serving Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly stations.
- The Manchester Branch will terminate in new platforms.
- The Manchester Branch will take five tph between Birmingham Curzon Street or London Euston and Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
- In the future it could take up to six tph on Northern Powerhouse Rail between Liverpool and Manchester Piccadilly via Manchester Airport.
- London Euston and Old Oak Common will be new stations on a tunnelled approach to London and will handle 18 tph.
If London Euston and Old Oak Common can handle 18 tph, I can’t see why Manchester Airport and Piccadilly stations can’t handle somewhere near a similar number of trains.
At the moment eleven tph have been allocated to the Manchester Branch.
I believe that if infrastructure for Northern Powerhouse Rail was designed so that as well as connecting to Manchester and Liverpool, it connected Manchester and the West Coast Main Line running North to Preston, Carlisle and Scotland, services to the following destinations would be possible.
- Barrow
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Windermere
Note.
- Edinburgh and Glasgow would probably be a service that would alternate the destination, as it is proposed for High Speed Two’s Birmingham and Scotland service.
- There would probably be a need for a North Wales and Manchester service via Chester.
- All trains would be Classic-Compatible.
If the Manchester Branch were to be built to handle 18 tph, there would be more than enough capacity.
Crewe, Wigan And Manchester
My summing up earlier gave the number of trains between Crewe, Wigan and Manchester as follows.
- Crewe and Manchester – 5 tph
- Crewe and Wigan via Warrington – 1 tph
- Crewe and Wigan via High Speed Two (new route) – 3 tph
This map of High Speed Two where the Manchester Branch leaves the new High Speed Two route between Crewe and Wigan was captured from the interactive map on the High Speed Two web site.
Note.
- The Manchester Branch runs to the South of the M56,
- The large blue dot indicates Manchester Airport station.
- Wigan is to the North.
- Crewe is to the South.
- Manchester Piccadilly is to the North East.
I believe this junction will be turned into a full triangular junction, to connect Wigan directly to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
- Barrow, Blackburn, Blackpool, Preston and Windermere could all have high speed connections to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly. Trains could be shorter Classic-Compatible trains.
- A Manchester and Scotland service would take the same route.
Another pair of tracks could leave the junction to the West to create a direct route between Manchester Airport and Liverpool for Northern Powerhouse Rail, by sneaking along the M56.
Suppose extra services were as follows.
- Manchester and Barrow – 1 tph
- Manchester and Blackburn – 1 tph
- Manchester and Blackpool – 1 tph
- Manchester and Liverpool – 6 tph
- Manchester and Scotland – 1 tph
- Manchester and Windermere – 1 tph
The frequencies from the junction would be as follows.
- To and from Crewe – High Speed Two (Manchester) – 5 tph – High Speed Two (North) – 3 tph = 8 tph
- To and from Liverpool – Northern Powerhouse Rail – 6 tph = 6 tph
- To and from Manchester – High Speed Two – 5 tph – Northern Powerhouse Rail – 6 tph – Local – 4 tph – Scotland – 1 tph = 16 tph
- To and from Wigan – High Speed Two – 3 tph – Local – 4 tph – Scotland – 1 tph = 8 tph.
Only the Manchester Branch would be working hard.
The Liverpool Connection
I indicated that another pair of tracks would need to extend the Manchester Branch towards Liverpool in the West for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
- Would these tracks have a station at Warrington?
- Would there be a connection to allow services between Liverpool and the North and Scotland?
It might even be possible to design a Liverpool connection, that avoided using the current Liverpool Branch and increased the capacity and efficiency of all trains to Liverpool.
Capacity Of The Western Leg Between Wigan And Scotland
The sections between Crewe and Carlisle, will be running at the following frequencies.
- Wigan and Lancaster – 4 tph
- Lancaster and Carlisle – 3 tph
- Carlisle and Edinburgh – 2.5 tph
- Carlisle and Glasgow – 2.5 tph
Note.
- The unusual Scottish frequencies are caused by splitting and joining at Carlisle and alternate services to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
- Any local high speed services and a Scotland service from Manchester, will increase the frequencies.
Over this section the services will be running on an improved West Coast Main Line.
But in some cases the trains will be replacing current services, so the increase in total frequencies will be less than it first appears.
Avanti West Coast currently run the following Scottish services.
- One tph – London Euston and Glasgow via the most direct route.
- One tph – London Euston and alternately Edinburgh and Glasgow via Birmingham.
This means that effectively Glasgow has 1.5 tph and Edinburgh 0.5 tph from London Euston.
The capacity of the current eleven-car Class 390 trains is 145 First and 444 Standard Class seats, which compares closely with the 500-600 seats given in Wikipedia for High Speed Two trains. So the capacity of the two trains is not that different.
But High Speed Two will be running 2.5 tph Between London Euston and both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I would expect, that Class 390 services to Scotland will be discontinued and replaced by High Speed Two services.
Capacity Of The Eastern Leg Between Birmingham And East Midlands Hub
The section is between Birmingham and East Midlands Hub, will be running 9 tph
As the maximum capacity of High Speed Two is laid down in the Phase One Act as 18 tph, this gives plenty of room for more trains.
But where will they come from?
Midlands Engine Rail is proposing a service between Birmingham Curzon Street and Nottingham.
- It will have a frequency of one tph.
- It will be run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
- The journey will take 33 minutes.
- It will run on High Speed Two infrastructure between Birmingham Curzon Street and East Midlands Hub.
If High Speed Two has been designed with this service in mind, I doubt it will be a difficult service to setup.
- There might be enough capacity on High Speed Two for two tph on the route,
- It could possibly be extended to Lincoln.
It will also depend on the service timing being consistent with an efficient use of trains and platforms.
- Thirty-three minutes is not a good timing, as it means twenty-seven minutes wait in a platform to get a round trip time, that suits clock-face time-tabling.
- The current Lincoln and Nottingham service takes 56 minutes for 34 miles.
- LNER’s London Kings Cross and Lincoln service travels the 16 miles between Lincoln and Newark in 25 minutes.
- I estimate that after track improvements, with a single stop at Newark Castle station, that Nottingham and Lincoln could be achieved in several minutes under fifty minutes.
- This would enable a sub-ninety minute journey time between Birmingham Curzon Street and Lincoln, with enough time to properly turn the trains at both ends of the route.
- The three hour round trip would mean that an hourly service would need three trains.
This is probably just one of several efficient time-tabling possibilities.
Are there any other similar services?
The obvious one is surely Cambridge and Birmingham
- It would run via Peterborough, Grantham, Nottingham and East Midlands Hub.
- It would connect the three big science, engineering and medical centres in the Midlands and the East.
- It could be run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
It might even be a replacement for CrossCountry’s Stansted Airport and Birmingham service.
Capacity Of The Eastern Leg Between East Midlands Hub And Sheffield
The section between East Midlands Hub and Sheffield, will be running 2 tph
As the maximum capacity of High Speed Two is laid down in the Phase One Act as 18 tph, this gives plenty of room for more trains.
But where will they come from?
This map of High Speed Two where the Sheffield Branch leaves the new High Speed Two route between East Midlands Hub and Leeds was captured from the interactive map on the High Speed Two web site.
Note.
- The main route of High Speed Two between East Midlands Hub, is shown in orange and follows the route of the M1 Motorway, towards the East of the map.
- The Sheffield Branch is new track to Clay Cross North Junction, where is takes over the Midland Main Line to Sheffield, which is shown in blue.
- The line going South in the middle of the map is the Erewash Valley Line, which goes through Langley Mill and Ilkeston stations.
I suspect Clay Cross to Sheffield will be an electrified high speed line, with a maximum speed of at least 140 mph.
Could the Erewash Valley Line have been used as an alternative route to Sheffield?
This map of High Speed Two captured from their interactive map, shows the connection of High Speed Two and the Erewash Valley Line to East Midlands Hub.
Note.
- East Midlands Hub is shown by the big blue dot.
- High Speed Two is shown in orange.
- The route to Leeds vaguely follows the M1 Motorway.
- The Erewash Valley Line goes North to the East of Ilkeston.
Would have been quicker and easier to electrify the Erewash Valley Line, as the High Speed Two route to Chesterfield and Sheffield?
- Network Rail updated the route a few years ago.
- It does not have the problems of electrification, through a World Heritage Site, as does the route through Derby.
- It could surely handle two tph, even if they were High Speed Two Classic Compatible trains.
- Sheffield will be just under ninety minutes from London by High Speed Two, as opposed to two hours now.
I suspect that it all comes down to saving a few minutes to Sheffield and the civic pride of having a High Speed Two connection.
So it looks like we’ll have the following capacity between East Midlands Hub and Sheffield.
- Between East Midlands Hub and Clay Cross North Junction, there will be the High Speed Two capacity of 18 tph.
- Between Clay Cross and Sheffield, there will probably be an upgraded capacity of perhaps 8-10 tph.
It seems a lot of capacity for just two tph.
Consider.
- High Speed Two is planning to run three tph between Birmingham Curzon Street and East Midlands Hub
- Midlands Rail Engine is planning to run one tph between Birmingham Curzon Street and East Midlands Hub
- Four tph is considered a Turn-Up-And-Go service, and could exist between Birmingham Curzon Street and East Midlands Hub.
- Sheffield and Leeds, both probably need a Turn-Up-And-Go service, to and from East Midlands Hub.
- Semi-fast services between Sheffield and East Midlands Hub, calling at Chesterfield, Alfreton, Langley Mill and Ilkeston would be possible, by using the Erewash Valley Line.
- The Maid Marian Line will join the Robin Hood Line in adding extra connectivity to East Midlands Hub Station.
- Leeds and East Midlands Hub could have a six tph service courtesy of High Speed Two and Midlands Rail Engine.
Using High Speed Two’s web site, the following times should be possible.
- Sheffield and East Midlands Hub – 27 minutes
- Sheffield and Birmingham Curzon Street – 47 minutes.
Both services allow time for an efficient service.
There are certainly many options to create a Turn-Up-And-Go service between Sheffield and East Midlands Hub and also improve connections to other locations across the area.
Capacity Of The Eastern Leg Between East Midlands Hub And Leeds
The section is between East Midlands Hub and Leeds, will be running 5 tph
High Speed Two between Midlands Hub and Leeds is a totally new high speed line.
- As the maximum capacity of High Speed Two is laid down in the Phase One Act as 18 tph, this gives plenty of room for more trains.
- The Southern section of the leg closely follows the M1 Motorway.
- Leeds, York and Newcastle will be 27, 36 and 93 minutes from East Midlands Hub, respectively.
This map of High Speed Two, which shows the route of the line in Yorkshire, was captured from the interactive map on the High Speed Two web site.
Note.
- Sheffield is marked by the blue dot in the South.
- Leeds is marked by the blue dot in the North West.
- York is marked by the blue dot in the North East.
- New routes are shown in orange.
- Upgraded routes are shown in blue.
The route seems to open up several possibilities for extra routes.
- Leeds and Sheffield will be used by Northern Powerhouse Rail and there will be four tph, taking 28 minutes.
- Leeds and Bedford via East Midlands Hub has been proposed by Midlands Rail Engine.
- Services between Sheffield and the North via York must be a possibility.
This map of High Speed Two, which shows the routes to the East of Leeds, was captured from High Speed Two’s interactive map.
I think that two things might be missing.
- A full triangular junction would surely allow services between Leeds and the North via York.
- A high speed connection to Hull.
We shall see in the future.
Capacity Of The Eastern Leg Between York And Newcastle
The section between York and Newcastle, will be running at a frequency of 3 tph.
Over this section the services will be running on an improved East Coast Main Line.
Conclusion
I shall split the conclusions into various sections.
Route And Track Layout
I think there may be places, where the route and track layout might need to be improved.
- The Manchester Branch probably needs a triangular junction with the Western Leg of High Speed Two.
- How Liverpool is served by Northern Powerhouse Rail needs to be decided.
- The approach to Leeds probably needs a triangular junction with the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.
- It is not clear how services will reach Hull.
Hopefully, these issues will become clear in the next year or so.
Capacity
The sections with the highest levels of capacity would appear to be the following.
- London Euston and Birmingham Interchange.
- The Manchester Branch
- The section shared with the East Coast Main Line between York and Newcastle.
- The section shared with the West Coast Main Line between Wigan and Scotland.
But on these sections extra trains can be run.
- Birmingham and North West England
- Birmingham and East Midlands Hub
- East Midlands Hub and Leeds
- East Midlands Hub and Sheffield
- East Midlands Hub and York
I can see, this capacity being filled by high speed local services, like those proposed by Midlands Rail Engine.
Rolling Stock
The only comment, I will make, is that there could be a need for a shorter Classic-Compatible train to work local services.
Crossrail’s Late-Running Bond Street Project Ready For Key Testing This Month
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Building.
This is the opening paragraph.
Bond Street station should be ready for the crucial next stage of testing by the end of the month.
At last the end of the tunnel seems to be in sight.
Crossrail: Late 2021 Target For Central London
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Crossrail trains could begin operating through central London by the end of next year – if trial running begins before the end of the first quarter of 2021.
Crossrail Ltd Chief Executive Mark Wild told RAIL on October 12 that a six-week blockade carried out in the summer enabled tunnel work to be completed and the company to catch up on work delayed because of Covid-19.
It definitely seems to be a project, where the project management wasn’t to the same standard as the design.
I put my thughts in detail in Thoughts On The Lateness Of Crossrail.
Testing Begins On Midland Main Line Electrification
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
- From the article, it looks like the first part of mechanical testing has been completed as planned and unpowered pantograph runs have been performed at up to 110 mph.
- It does seem to me, that this thirty miles of electrification has avoided the troubles that have plagued similar projects in recent years.
Perhaps the good progress on this electrification, is making the government think again about early electrification of all of the Midland Main Line
In Hopes Rekindled Of Full Midland Main Line Electrification. I showed how battery electric Class 810 trains would be able to work the route.
This was my conclusion of that earlier post.
It appears that both the Nottingham and Sheffield services can be run using battery electric Class 810 trains.
- All four diesel engines in the Class 810 trains would need to be replaced with batteries.
- The route between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station, which will be shared with High Speed Two, will need to be electrified.
- Charging facilities for the battery electric trains will need to be provided at Nottingham.
On the other hand using battery electric trains mean the two tricky sections of the Derwent Valley Mills and Leicester station and possibly others, won’t need to be electrified to enable electric trains to run on the East Midlands Railway network.
Will it be the first main line service in the world, run by battery electric trains?
There was one thing, that wasn’t available, a month ago, when I wrote that post – A charging system for battery electric trains, that could be installed at Nottingham.
In Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains, I report on Adrian Shooter’s plans for Vivarail, which are outlined in a video by Modern Railways.
Ar one point he says this see about Vivarail’s Fast Charge system.
The system has now been given preliminary approval to be installed as the UK’s standard charging system for any make of train.
I may have got the word’s slightly wrong, but I believe the overall message is correct.
So could we see a Hitachi Class 810 train using Vivarail’s patented Fast Charge system at Nottingham?
In Interview: Hitachi’s Nick Hughes On Driving Innovation In Rail Propulsion, Nick Hughes of Hitachi is quoted as saying.
Rail is going to become increasingly digitised and integrated into other sectors involved in smart cities, mobility-as-a-service and flexible green grid. Therefore, Hitachi Rail won’t be able to stay at the forefront of innovation by its self. This is why we are focused on building partnerships with other like-minded, innovative, clean tech companies like Hyperdrive Innovation, Perpetuum and Hitachi group companies such as Hitachi ABB.
Does Vivarail fit that philosophy? In my view, it does!
This Hitachi infographic gives the specification of their Regional Battery Train.
Note.
- The range on battery power is 90 km or 56 miles at up to 100 mph.
- Class 810 trains could be converted to battery electric trains by replacing the diesel engines with batteries.
- As the electrification has reached Kettering. there is only 55 miles between London St Pancras and Nottingham without electrification.
I could see Class 810 trains running between St. Pancras and Nottingham on delivery, provided the following projects have been completed.
- Hitachi have been able to give the Class 810 trains a range of say 60 miles on batteries.
- Hitachi have modified their trains, so they can be recharged by a Vivarail Fast Charge system in fifteen minutes.
- Vivarail have installed a Fast Charge facility at Nottingham station.
Network Rail are planning to extend the electrification from Kettering to Market Harborough, which would reduce the distance without electrification to under 50 miles. This would make running battery electric trains between London St. Pancras and Nottingham even easier.
Expanding The Network
If I am putting two and two together correctly and Hitachi have turned to Vivarail to provide a charging system or a licence for the use of the technology, I am sure, it would be possible to create a comprehensive network of battery electric trains.
Consider.
- Hitachi should be able to squeeze a sixty mile range at 90-100 mph from a battery-equipped Class 810 trains.
- Market Harborough and Derby are about 47 miles apart.
- Derby and Sheffield are about 36 miles apart
- Sheffield and Leeds are about 48 miles apart
- Corby and Leicester are about 41 miles apart.
Vivarail Fast Charge systems at Derby, Leicester and Sheffield would enable the following routes to be run using battery electric trains.
- London St. Pancras and Sheffield via Derby – Fast Charging at Derby and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Leeds via Derby and Sheffield – Fast Charging at Derby and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Sheffield via the Erewash Valley Line – Fast Charging at Ilkeston (?) and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Leicester via Corby – Fast Charging at Leicester
Note.
- The only extra electrification needed for the initial network would be between Kettering and Market Harborough.
- The Class 810 trains would all be identical.
- The Class 810 trains might even be built and delivered as battery electric trains
- Trains would also charge the batteries between London St. Pancras and Market Harborough, between London St. Pancras and Corby. and between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate.
The network can be extended by adding more electrification and Fast Charge systems.
Conclusion
The technologies of Hitachi and Vivarail seem complimentary and could result in a fully electric main line train network for East Midlands Railway.
Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Modern Railways web site.
This is the introductory subtitle.
Vivarail Chairman Adrian Shooter talks to Modern Railways about the company’s Class 230s and its plans for battery trains.
The article is mainly a video of Mr. Shooter talking in front of various examples of Vivarail trains.
It’s probably easier to watch the video and listen on what is said.
But I have some thoughts on what he said.
Battery Range
Consider.
- Early on in the video he talks about a battery range of forty miles with four battery packs on the train.
- He also talks about switching battery supplier to Hoppecke.
- Later he says that a train with six battery packs in the train, has a hundred mile range.
That is impressive.
The number of battery packs has increased by 50 % and the range has gone up by two-and-a-half times.
If those figures are right and I’ve no reason to disbelieve them, then Hoppecke have done a good job with the batteries.
A very rough calculation indicates their size.
- The current 4 x 100 kWh takes the train 40 miles, which is 10 kWh per mile.
- So to travel a hundred miles will need 1000 kWh.
- Divide by six batteries and you get 167 kWh per battery or a 67 % increase in individual battery capacity.
If these are a new generation of batteries, what would they do for Hitachi’s Regional Battery train, which is proposed to have a range of 56 miles? They could give it a range of around 93 miles.
These ranges of distances would be very useful to manufacturers of battery trains.
Charging Battery Trains Using Vivarail’s Fast Charge System
The video did give a few more details of Vivarail’s Fast Charge system.
I was also able to take this screen capture from the video, which shows the extra rails used to pass charge to the train and the batteries.
Note.
- The rails are well-shielded. Not that they’re live unless a train is over the top and connected.
- The driver just has to stop the train in the correct place and automation does the rest.
- This image is four minutes and thirty-five seconds into the video.
My only problem with the design is that those thick copper cables used to bring electricity to the train, way be a tempting target for metal thieves.
Vivarail Now Has Permission To Charge Any Train
Mr. Shooter said this about Vivarail’s Fast Charge system.
The system has now been given preliminary approval to be installed as the UK’s standard charging system for any make of train.
I may have got the word’s slightly wrong, but I believe the overall message is correct.
In the November 2020 Edition of Modern Railways, there is a transcript of what Mr. Shooter said.
‘Network Rail has granted interim approval for the fast charge system and wants it to be the UK’s standard battery charging system’ says Mr. Shooter. ‘We believe it could have worldwide implications.’
I hope Mr. Shooter knows some affordable lawyers, as in my experience, those working in IPR are not cheap.
A Prototype Class 230 Train That Can Use 25 KVAC Is Under Construction
Mr. Shooter also announced that a version of the train with a third can in the middle, with a pantograph on the roof and a 35 KVAC transformer is under construction.
This will enable batteries to be charged from existing electrification.
I can already think of a few routes, where this train could be used.
- Bedford and Bletchley – It would replace a diesel-electric Class 230 train.
- Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood
- Oxenholme and Windermere
- Glasgow Central and East Kilbride
- Glasgow Queen Street and Anniesland
- Chester and Crewe – It would replace a battery Class 230 train
- West Ealing and Greenford
- Slough and Windsor Central
- Henley and Twyford
- Maidenhead and Marlow
This could be the standard train in many places.
The November 2020 Edition of Modern Railways, also has more details on this project.
- The centre vehicle is under construction at their factory at Seaham in County Durham.
- Mr. Shooter is quoted as saying. ‘We’ve identified 60 lines on partially electrified tracks’
Vivarail plans to demonstrate the concept on the Northumberland Line to Blyth and Ashington next spring.
West Highland Opportunity
This is a section of the print article, that is not mentioned in the video.
This is the introductory paragraph.
While Mr. Shooter highlights several opportunities south of the border to deploy the 25kV/battery Class 230, he is particularly interested in deployment of Vivarail trains in Scotland.
And this is the last paragraph, describing a possible deployment on the West Highland Line.
Top of the list is the West Highland Line.
Here a 25kV/battery Class 230 would operate under electric power from Glasgow Queen Street to Craigendoran Junction, switching there to battery power. The batteries could be topped up on the way using Vivarail’s fast charge system, with Mr, Shooter suggesting this could take place at Crianlarich, Oban and Fort William. On the West Highland the 60 mph top speed of the Class 230 is not prohibitive as the top speed on the route does not exceed this.
If this sounds familiar, I made a similar proposal in Hitachi Plans To Run ScotRail Class 385 EMUs Beyond The Wires, in a section, which is entitled Electric Trains On The West Highland Line Between Glasgow And Mallaig/Oban. I start with this sentence.
This might be considered as difficult as putting a London bus on the Moon.
But that was done by the Daily Sport newspaper, so perhaps my reasoning is the same as Vivarail’s.
My conclusion of the section was as follows.
What would battery-electric trains to Oban and Mallaig do for tourism in the area?
Hitachi would have one of the most scenic and iconic test tracks in the world!
These statements would surely, apply to a Vivarail train or a battery electric Class 385 train.
Pop-Up Metro
Mr. Shooter shows a battery train, which is going to the United States to trial a concept called a Pop-up Metro.
- In the US, there are hundreds of lightly used freight lines serving towns and cities
- Temporal separation would mean that freight and passenger trains used the lines at different times of the day.
- Battery powered Vivarail trains could provide a Metro service.
He also talked about his US partner and 50 % shareholder in Vivarail, leasing trains for a year, to see if the concept was viable in a given area. He indicated, the cost could be less than a consultant’s report.
Could the Pop-up Metro concept work in the UK?
In these possible Beeching Reversal projects, there could be scope for using the concept.
- Project Wareham – Complete The Link
- Shepton Mallet (Mendip Vale)
- Increased Service Provision Bodmin General-Bodmin Parkway
- Primrose Line
- Cirencester Community Railway
- South Yorkshire Joint Railway
- Upper Wensleydale Railway
- Restoration Of A Daily Train Service On The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
- The Aston Rowant Extension Of The Chinnor Railway
Note.
- Some of these are on heritage railway infrastructure. Does a Class 230 train count a heritage unit?
- The Aston Rowant Extension is Chiltern territory, so Mr. Shooter could know it well!
- In the Wikipedia entry for the Class 230 train, there is a useful Cost Comparison.
I should say, that I like the concept of a Pop-up Metro.
- The trains have proved they are up to the job.
- A package of one or two trains and a containerised charging system could surely be created.
- Installation of the battery charger in many platforms would not be a major engineering project costing millions.
- On a heritage railway, the enthusiasts could probably do it from their own resources.
But the best point to me, is that a system could probably be leased for a year on a Try-Before-You-Buy basis for less than the cost of a consultant’s report.
Go for it!
Conversion Of Diesel Multiple Units To Battery Electric Multiple Units
This was the bombshell in the tail of the video.
There a lot of diesel multiple units in the UK and Mr. Shooter and Vivarail have developed a plan to convert some of them to battery electric operation.
The trains he is proposing to convert are diesel multiple units, that use a Voith transmission, which I list in How Many Diesel Multiple Units In The UK Have Voith Hydraulic Transmissions?.
Consider.
- There are 815 trains on my list.
- All have a Voith hydraulic transmission, with most having similar type numbers starting with T211.
- Some are 75 mph trundlers and others are full-on 100 mph expresses.
- All have one engine and transmission per car.
They fit into distinct groups.
Sprinters
Sprinters are a group of trains that were produced by British Rail.
The earliest were built in 1984 and all were built in the last century.
- There are 314 trains in total.
- All have a Cummins engine of 213 kW, with one engine per car.
- They have a Voith T211r transmission, which drives two axles per car.
- They have an operating speed of 75 mph.
The trains may be elderly, but like some well-known actresses, they scrub up well with a little TLC.
The pictures show an immaculate refurbished Class 150 train, that I travelled on in Devon.
With a battery electric transmission, they would make a superb rural route and branch line train.
Express Sprinters
Express Sprinters are a group of trains that were produced by British Rail.
- The earliest were built in 1990 and all were built in the last century.
- There are 202 trains in total.
- All have a Cummins engine of between 260 and 300 kW, with one engine per car.
- They have a Voith T211r transmission, which drives two axles per car.
- They have an operating speed of 90 mph.
These pictures show a Class 159 train on a visit to the Swanage Railway, where it was shuttling in visitors.
With a battery electric transmission, that gave a range of say 80 miles at 90 mph, they would be low cost competition for Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train on secondary routes.
Scotrail have forty Class 158 trains, which run on the following routes.
- Glasgow Queen Street and Anniesland – 5.5 miles
- Fife Circle Line – 61 miles round trip
- Stonehaven and Inverurie – 66 miles round trip.
- Borders Railway – 70 miles round trip.
- Edinburgh and Arbroath – 76 miles
- Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh – 82.5 miles
- Inverness and Aberdeen – 108 miles – Inter7City route.
- Inverness and Wick – 174 miles
- Inverness and Edinburgh – 175 miles – Inter7City route.
Note.
- The routes are shown in order of length.
- Anything over a hundred miles would need intermediate charging.
- Some routes would need charging at both ends.
- Glasgow Queen Street and Anniesland would probably not need a Class 158, but is very suitable for a battery electric train.
- The three longest routes from Inverness are probably too long for battery electric power, but two are run by Inter7City trains.
- A battery electric train on the Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh route, would surely be a tourist asset.
With an eighty mile range, ScotRail could find a battery-equipped Class 158 train very useful.
Networkers
Networkers are a group of trains that were produced by British Rail.
- The earliest were built in 1990 and all were built in the last century.
- There are 96 trains in total.
- All have a Perkins engine of 261 kW, with one engine per car.
- They have a Voith T211r transmission, which drives two axles per car.
- They have an operating speed of 75 or 90 mph.
These pictures show ac selection of Class 165 and Class 166 trains.
As with the Express Sprinters, with a battery electric transmission, that gave a range of say 80 miles at 90 mph, they would be low cost competition for Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train on secondary routes.
The Networkers are used by Great Western Railway and Chiltern Railways.
- Great Western Railway do run a few long routes with their Networkers, but these routes would probably be too long for battery operation.
- Local routes around Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth and some short branch lines could be possibilities for battery operation.
- Great Western Railway have also leased tri-mode Class 769 trains for the Reading and Gatwick route.
- Chiltern Railways don’t run their Networkers on the longer routes to Birmingham.
- But they do run them on the shorter routes to Aylesbury (39 miles), Aylesbury Vale Parkway (41 miles), Banbury (69 miles), Gerrards Cross (19 miles), High Wycombe (28 miles), Oxford (66 miles) and Stratford-upon-Avon (104 miles).
- Some of these Chiltern routes must surely be possibilities for battery operation. Especially, as all the stations in the list, don’t appear to be the most difficult to add a Fast Charge facility.
With an eighty mile range, battery-equipped Networkers could be very useful.
Turbostars
Turbostars are a group of trains that were produced at Derby.
- The earliest were built in the last few years of the the last century.
- There are 177 trains in total.
- All have an MTU engine of 315 kW, with one engine per car.
- They have a Voith T211 transmission, which drives two axles per car.
- They have an operating speed of 100 mph.
These pictures show a selection of Turbostar trains.
As with the Express Sprinters and the Networkers, with a battery electric transmission, that gave a range of say 80 miles at 100 mph, they would be low cost competition for Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train on secondary routes.
The post; DfT and Arriva CrossCountry Sign Agreement is partly based on this article on Railway News, which has the same name.
This is a paragraph from the original article.
One element of this new contract is a focus on reducing the environmental impact of the operator’s diesel fleet. For instance, Arriva CrossCountry will do a trial of using electrical shore supplies on its Bombardier Turbostar fleet when these trains are in depots for cleaning. Trains are cleaned both in the winter and at night, which means that the interior lighting and heating systems have to be powered. By using electricity to power these systems instead of the trains’ diesel engines, there will be a reduction in both emissions and noise pollution, which is doubly important when the depots are near built-up areas.
If Turbostars were to have their power unit and transmission updated to battery electric, there would be less need to provide shore supplies to where the trains were to be cleaned.
How Would Sprinters, Express Sprinters, Networkers And Turbostars Be Converted To Battery Electric Power?
The layout of the transmission in all these trains is very similar.
That is not surprising, as they are effectively different interpretations of the same theme over four decades.
- A diesel engine provides the power.
- On the back of the diesel engine, a hydraulic transmission is mounted.
- The transmission performs a similar function to an automatic gearbox in a car. Trains like cars perform better in the right gear.
- The transmission is connected to the final drive in one or more of the bogies using a cardan shaft. The propeller shaft in many rear-wheel-drive vehicles, is a cardan shaft.
In the video at about 5 mins 50 seconds, Mr. Shooter outlines how the train will be converted to battery electric drive.
- The diesel engine, hydraulic transmission, radiator, fuel tank and all the other diesel-related gubbins will be removed.
- A 280 kW electric traction motor will be installed, which will be connected to the cardan shaft.
- Batteries will be installed. Possibly, they will fit, where the diesel engine was originally located.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the weight of the battery was similar to that of all the equipment that has been removed, as this would mean the train’s handling wouldn’t change.
- Acceleration will be faster, as it is in electrically-powered road vehicles.
- The traction motor can work in reverse to slow the train and the energy regenerated by braking can be stored in the batteries.
- Mr. Shooter doesn’t say if his battery electric trains use regenerative braking in the video, but it is possible and a common procedure, as it saves energy.
An intelligent control system will control everything according to the driver’s needs and wishes.
This extract from the print edition, gives Mr. Shooter’s advantages of this diesel to battery electric conversion.
‘Unlike cars, trains have a planned duty cycle so you can easily plan for when the batteries should be charged’ says. Mr. Shooter. ‘Our analysis shows the fuel cost would be halved and the maintenance cost would be halved compared to a DMU. And to allay concerns about battery life we would offer to lease batteries on a cost per mile. You get the financial payback within five years, with the greenness free of charge!’ Mr. Shooter reports early work by Vivarail suggests a converted battery train on the Far North line might need fast charge stations at four locations.
Where In The World Is This?
The print edition of the interview poses an interesting question.
Mr. Shooter says the opportunities are significant, and reports Vivarail is in discussions with an overseas customer about a bid for battery trains for a new 500 mile line which would incorporate 12 fast charge points at stations. He also said customers are suggesting the use of solar parks or even tidal power to feed the static batteries at the fast charge stations, rather than power coming from the local supply.
Imagine two large cities about 500 miles apart, with a string of small towns between them.
- The small towns might be on a scenic river or coastline.
- Commuters drive to both cities.
- People from the two cities visit the area to relax.
- There might even be a lightly used freight line or a dismantled railway alignment running between the cities.
- Perhaps, the road network is overloaded and a green alternative is needed.
Given, Vivarail is part-owned, by an American entrepreneur, I would expect, the proposed line is somewhere in North America. But I also think there would be possibilities in Australia, around the coast of the Baltic Sea and India and South East Asia.
Cpnclusion
This is the conclusion of the print article in Modern Railways.
While electrification will be the key component in decarbonising traction emissions, battery technology will have a role to play, and Vivarail is at the forefront of this development.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Scottish Town Regains Its Station After 56 Years
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railnews.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Trains are calling at Kintore in Aberdeenshire today for the first time since December 1964.
Some points about the new Kintore station.
- It is a two platform station on the newly double-tracked Aberdeen and Inverness Line.
- The station has a footbridge with lifts.
- The station is 13.4 miles or 19 minutes from Aberdeen.
- The station is 94.8 miles or two hours and twenty-three minutes from Inverness.
- All the services I can find yesterday, seem to have been run by Class 158 trains.
- There is a 168 space car park, with 24 charging points.
The station cost £15 million.
London Overground Syndrome
I have a feeling that Aberdeen and Inverness Line could be a prime candidate for suffering from London Overground Syndrome.
I suspect though, that ScotRail will quickly eradicate it, by putting on more trains.
DfT and Arriva CrossCountry Sign Agreement
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The franchisee CrossCountry, which is owned by Arriva, has signed a three-year agreement with the Department for Transport to bring the franchise in line with the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (ERMAs).
CrossCountry has the following trains in its fleet.
34 x Class 220 trains
24 x Class 221 trains
This gallery shows Class 220 trains and the closely related Class 222 trains, which are in service with East Midlands Railways.
Note that these three fleets of Bombadier Voyager trains are now twenty years old and will probably need a makeover soon.
If they have a problem it is that they are diesel multiple units and create a lot of noise and pollution in stations and depots.
This is said in the Railway News article.
One element of this new contract is a focus on reducing the environmental impact of the operator’s diesel fleet.
, Two separate projects are mentioned.
- Using a separate electrical supply to Turbostars during cleaning.
- Use of on-train batteries on the Voyagers in stations.
In Have Bombardier Got A Cunning Plan For Voyagers?, I gave my thoughts on the second project, when Bombardier proposed it in 2018.
I can see the following scenario happening.
- When the new Class 805 trains are delivered, Avanti West Coast’s Class 220 trains are transferred to Arriva CrossCountry.
- When the new Class 810 trains are delivered, East Midland Railway’s Class 222 trains are transferred to Arriva CrossCountry.
- CrossCountry update their Voyagers with batteries.
- CrossCountry retire their InterCity 125 trains.
CrossCountry may have enough trains to run a mainly Voyager fleet, backed up by a few Turbostars.
Could Bombardier’s Plan Be Revived In A Different Form?
If CrossCountry had all the Voyages, they would have the following fleet.
- 34 x four-car Class 220 trains – Currently with CrossCountry.
- 20 x five-car Class 221 trains – Currently with Avanti West Coast
- 20 x five-car Class 221 trains – Currently with CrossCountry
- 4 x four-car Class 221 trains – Currently with CrossCountry
- 6 x seven-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
- 17 x five-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
- 4 x four-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
This totals to eighty-five trains with a total of 285 intermediate cars, of which 128 were built with tilt for Class 221 trains.
Currently CrossCountry has a total of 58 four- and five-car Voyagers and enough Class 43 power cars for six InterCity 125 trains.
If they rearranged the non-tilting intermediate cars of the Voyagers, 157 intermediate cars is enough for one of the following.
- 78 – four-car trains
- 52 – five-car trains
- 39 – six-car trains
- 26 – eight-car trains
- 22 – nine-car trains
Add in forty five-car Class 221 trains and there is more than enough trains for CrossCountry to run their current services without the retired InterCity 125s.
CrossCountry would also be able to form the trains into the lengths they needed for efficient services.
This formation photographed at Basingstoke could be formed of a single train, if they wished, as they have more than enough coaches.
I suspect in true design engineering fashion, engineers at CrossCountry have got the toy trains or Lego bricks out to shuffle the coaches on a big table to see what are the best train lengths for their network.
If they decided to go the eight-car route, which could give up to twenty-six trains, this would be more than enough to be able to retire the InterCity 125s.
Could one of the Intermediate cars be converted into a pantograph and battery car?
- If the diesel engine and the associated gubbins were to be removed, this would save around two tonnes in weight.
- A two-tonne battery could probably have a capacity of 200 kWh.
- Bombardier probably have ideas about how a car could be converted.
Someone could have a lot of fun playing musical carriages and the following trains could be created.
- A fleet of Voyager bi-mode trains of optimum length for CrossCountry’s route network.
- Most services would be run by single trains, which must give advantages to the operator, their staff and passengers.
- All braking would be regenerative braking to battery to save energy.
- Where electrification exists, the trains could use it.
- All station stops would be performed on battery power.
There might even be some left over driving cars and some intermediate cars to be converted into battery electric trains for another route.
Conclusion
There is a route there for CrossCountry to have a much more environmentally-friendly fleet, better suited to their needs
- The Turbostars would be given a local electricity supply to cut noise and pollution during overnight cleaning.
- The InterCity 125s would be retired.
- CrossCountry acquires as many Voyagers as it needs after Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway get their new trains.
- The Voyagers carriages would be shuffled so that they could handle all routes and replace the InterCity 125s.
- The design exists to convert the Voyagers into diesel-electric-battery tri-mode high speed trains.
Note.
- There are enough trains to do a gradual conversion, with CrossCountry having enough trains for a full service at all times.
- All trains will probably have been built this century or nearly so!
I also feel, that the fleet would be a marketing asset, rather than a bit of a discouragement to use CrossCountry’s services again.
The Anonymous Widower 