A Video About The Class 230 Battery Train
This article on InsideEVs has a rather good video of the Class 230 train demonstrator, which is entitled Fully Charged Checks Out A Battery Powered Train.
Very interesting!
The video was made by Robert Llewellyn of Fully Charged.
A Proposed Trip To Japan
Over the last few months, I have made references to battery trains built by Hitachi running in Japan.
C and myself, bought the guide for Japan, but we didn’t get far in planning a holiday there, as she became ill, with the cancer that killed her.
So perhaps now is the time to go to Japan and explore.
- The plan would be to spend a couple of weeks or so at the end of March, in a decent hotel in Tokyo and explore the country by train.
- Most of the places, I want to visit are served by bullet trains.
- I might also have a few days in South Korea.
If anybody has any ideas or suggestions, then please contact me.
Hitachi Battery Trains On The Great Western Railway
The slow pace of the electrification on the Great Western Main Line has become a big stick with which to beat Network Rail.
But are rolling stock engineers going to pull Network Rail out of their hole?
On page 79 of the January 2018 Edition of Modern Railways, Nick Hughes, who is the Sales Director of Hitachi Rail Europe outlines how the manufacturer is embracing the development of battery technology.
He is remarkably open.
I discuss what he says in detail in Hitachi’s Thoughts On Battery Trains.
But here’s an extract.
Nick Hughes follows his description of the DENCHA; a Japanese battery train, with this prediction.
I can picture a future when these sorts of trains are carrying out similar types of journeys in the UK, perhaps by installing battery technology in our Class 395s to connect to Hastings via the non-electrified Marshlink Line from Ashford for example.
This would massively slice the journey time and heklp overcome the issue of electrification and infrastructure cases not stacking up. There are a large number of similar routes like this all across the country.
It is a prediction, with which I could agree.
I conclude the post with this conclusion.
It is the most positive article about battery trains, that I have read so far!
As it comes direct from one of the train manufacturers in a respected journal, I would rate it high on quality reporting.
Hitachi Battery Train Technology And Their UK-Built Trains
The section without electrification on the Marshlink Line between Ashford International and Ore stations has the following characteristics.
- It is under twenty-five miles long.
- It is a mixture of double and single-track railway.
- It has nine stations.
- It has a sixty mph operating speed.
As the line is across the flat terrain of Romney Marsh, I don’t think that the power requirements would be excessive.
In the Modern Railway article, Nick Hughes suggests that battery technology could be installed in Class 395 trains.
The Class 395 train is part of a family of trains, Hitachi calls A-trains. The family includes.
- Class 800 trains as ordered by GWR and Virgin Trains East Coast.
- Class 801 trains as ordered by GWR and Virgin Trains East Coast
- Class 802 trains as ordered by GWR, Hull Trains and TransPennine Express
- Class 385 trains as ordered by ScotRail.
In Japan, another member of the family is the BEC819, which is the DENCHA, that is mentioned in the Modern Railways article.
As a time-expired electrical engineer, I would think, that if Hitachi’s engineers have done their jobs to a reasonable standard, that it would not be impossible to fit batteries to all of the A-train family of trains, which would include all train types, built at Newton Aycliffe for the UK.
In Japan the DENCHAs run on the Chikuhō Main Line, which has three sections.
- Wakamatsu Line – Wakamatsu–Orio, 10.8 km
- Fukuhoku Yutaka Line – Orio–Keisen, 34.5 km
- Haruda Line – Keisen–Haruda, 20.8 km
Only the middle section is electrified.
It looks to me, that the Japanese have chosen a very simple route, where they can run on electrification for a lot of the way and just use batteries at each end.
Bombardier used a similar low-risk test in their BEMU Trial with a Class 379 train in 2015.
So How Will Battery Trains Be used On the Great Western?
On the Great Western Main Line, all long distance trains and some shorter-distance ones will be Class 80x trains.
The size of battery in the DENCHA can be estimated using a rule, given by Ian Walmsley.
In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch.
A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.
So the energy needed to power the DENCHA, which is a two-car battery train on the just under twenty miles without electrification of the Chikuhō Main Line in a one way trip would be between 112 and 187 kWh.
A Battery-Powered Class 801 Train
The Class 801 train is Hitachi’s all-electric train, of which Great Western Railway have ordered thirty-six of the closely-related five-car Class 800 train and twenty-one of the nine-car units.
The difference between the two classes of train, is only the number of generator units fitted.
- Trains can be converted from Class 800 to Class 801 by removing generator units.
- Bi-mode Class 800 trains have a generator unit for each powered car.
- The all-electric Class 801 train has a single generator unit, in case of electrical power failure.
- When trains couple and uncouple, the train’s computer system determines the formation of the new train and drives and manages the train accordingly.
If I was designing the train, I would design a battery module, that replaced a generator unit
This leads me to think, that a five-car Class 801 train, could have one generator unit and up to four battery modules.
- The computer would decide what it’s got and control the train accordingly.
- The generator unit and battery power could be used together to accelerate the train or at other times where high power is needed.
- If the batteries failed, the generator unit would limp the train to a safe place.
- The number of battery units would depend on the needs of the route.
It would be a true tri-mode train; electric, diesel and battery.
I will now look at some routes, that could see possible applications of a battery version of Class 80x trains.
Cardiff To Swansea
I’ll start with the most controversial and political of the cutbacks in electrification.
At present plans exist to take the electrification on the Great Western as far as Cardiff Central station, by the end of 2018.
The distance between Cardiff Central and Swansea stations is forty-six miles, so applying the Ian Walmsley formula and assuming the train is five-cars, we have an energy usage for a one-way trip between the two cities of between 690 and 1150 kWh.
As the Class 80x trains are a modern efficient design, I suspect that a figure towards the lower end of the range will apply.
But various techniques can be used to stretch the range of the train on battery power.
- From London to Cardiff, the line will be fully-electrified, so on arrival in the Welsh capital, the batteries could be fully charged.
- The electrification can be continued for a few miles past Cardiff Central station, so that acceleration to line speed can be achieved using overhead wires.
- Electrification could also be installed on the short stretch of track between Swansea station and the South Wales Main Line.
- There are three stops between Cardiff and Swansea and regenerative braking can be used to charge the batteries.
- The single generator unit could be used to help accelerate the train if necessary.
- There are only two tph on the route, so efficient driving and signalling could probably smooth the path and save energy.
- Less necessary equipment can be switched off, when running on batteries.
Note. that the power/weight and power/size ratios of batteries will also increase, as engineers find better ways to build batteries.
The trains would need to be charged at Swansea, but Hitachi are building a depot in the city, which is shown in these pictures.
It looks like they are electrifying the depot.
Surely, enough electrification can be put up at Swansea to charge the trains and help them back to the South Wales Main Line..
The mathematics show what is possible.
Suppose the following.
- Hitachi can reduce the train’s average energy consumption to 2 kWh per carriage-mile, when running on battery power.
- Electrification at Cardiff and Swansea reduces the length of battery use to forty miles.
This would reduce the battery size needed to 400 kWh, which could mean that on a five-car train with four battery modules, each battery module would be just 100 kWh. This compares well with the 75 kWh battery in a New Routemaster bus.
Will it happen?
We are probably not talking about any serious risk to passengers, as the worst that can happen to any train, is that it breaks down or runs out of power in the middle of nowhere. But then using the single generator unit, the train will limp to the nearest station.
But think of all the wonderful publicity for Hitachi and everybody involved, if the world’s first battery high speed train, runs twice an hour between Paddington and Swansea.
Surely, that is an example of the Can-Do attitude of Isambard Kingdom Brunel?
Paddington To Oxford
The route between Paddington and Oxford stations is electrified as far as Didcot Parkway station.
The distance between Didcot Parkway and Oxford stations is about ten miles, so applying the Ian Walmsley formula and assuming the train is five-cars, we have an energy usage for the return trip to Oxford from Didcot of between 300 and 500 kWh.
If the five-car train has one generator unit,four battery modules and has an energy usage to the low end, then each battery module would need to handle under 100 kWh.
There are plans to develop a South-facing bay platform at Oxford station and to save wasting energy reversing the train by running up and down to sidings North of the station, I suspect that this platform must be built before battery trains can be introduced to Oxford.
If it’s not, the train could use the diesel generator to change platforms.
The platform could also be fitted with a system to charge the battery during turnround.
Paddington To Bedwyn
The route between Paddington and Bedwyn is electrified as far as Reading station, but there are plans to electrify as far as Newbury station.
The distance between Newbury and Bedwyn stations is about thirteen miles, so applying the Ian Walmsley formula and assuming the train is five-cars, we have an energy usage for the return trip to Bedwyn from Newbury of between 390 and 520 kWh.
As with Paddington to Oxford, the required battery size wouldn’t be excessive.
Paddington To Henley-on-Thames
The route between Paddington and Henley-on-Thames station is probably one of those routes, where electric trains must be run for political reasons.
The Henley Branch Line is only four miles long.
It would probably only require one battery module and would be a superb test route for the new train.
Paddington To Weston-super-Mare
Some Paddington to Bristol trains extend to Weston-super-Mare station.
Weston-super-Mare to the soon-to-be-electrified Bristol Temple Meads station is less than twenty miles, so if Swansea can be reached on battery power, then I’m certain that Weston can be reached in a similar way.
Other Routes
Most of the other routes don’t have enough electrification to benefit from trains with a battery capability.
One possibility though is Paddington to Cheltenham and Gloucester along the Golden Valley Line. The length of the section without electrification is forty-two miles, but unless a means to charge the train quickly at Cheltenham station is found, it is probably not feasible.
It could be possible though to create a real tri-mode train with a mix of diesel generator units and battery modules.
This train might have the following characteristics.
- Five cars.
- A mix of generator units and battery modules.
- Enough generator units to power the train on the stiffest lines without electrification.
- Ability to collect power from 25 KVAC overhead electrification
- Ability to collect power from 750 VDC third-rail electrification.
Note.
- The battery modules would be used for regenerative braking in all power modes.
- The ability to use third rail electrification would be useful when running to Brighton, Exeter, Portsmouth and Weymouth.
The train could also have a sophisticated computer system, that would choose power source according to route,timetable, train loading, traffic conditions and battery energy level.
The objective would be to run routes like Paddington to Cheltenham, Gloucester to Weymouth and Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour, as efficiently as possible.
Collateral Advantages
Several of the routes out of Paddington could easily be worked using bi-mode Class 800 trains.
- But using battery trains to places like Bedwyn, Henley, Oxford and Weston-super-Mare is obviously better for the environment and probably for ticket sales too!
- If places like Bedwyn, Henley and Oxford are served by Class 801 trains with a battery option, it could mean that they could just join the throng of 125 mph trains going in and out of London.
- Battery trains would save money on electrification.
I also suspect, that the running costs of a battery train are less than those of using a bi-mode or diesel trains.
Conclusion
Hitachi seem to have the technology, whereby their A-train family can be fitted with batteries, as they have done it in Japan and their Sales Director in the UK, has said it can be done on a Class 395 train to use the Marshlink Line.
We may not see Hitachi trains using batteries for a couple of years, but it certainly isn’t fantasy.
Great Western Railway certainly need them!
Conditions And Thoughts On The New Southeastern Franchise
The January 2018 Edition of Modern Railways gives a review of the conditions, that the Department for Transport are imposing on bidders.
The First Sentence
This is the first sentence of the article.
The Department for Transport says bidders for the next Southeastern franchise will be required to provide space for at least 40,000 additional passengers in the morning rush hour with 12-car services on the busiest routes.
This raises an interesting question.
Does the DfT mean actual twelve-car trains or ones as long as current twelve-car trains?
In Big On The Inside And The Same Size On The Outside, I discussed how by using good design, Bombardier were getting more passengers in a train of the same length.
This is an extract from c2c’s Press Release.
The Aventra is one of the fastest-selling trains in the UK rail industry, and these new trains will be manufactured at Bombardier’s factory in Derby. Each new train, which will operate in a fixed set of 10-carriages, will include over 900 seats, plus air-conditioning, wifi, plug sockets and three toilets onboard. Each new carriage is larger and contains more seats than on c2c’s current trains, so each 10-carriage new train provides capacity for 15% more passengers onboard compared to a current 12-carriage c2c train.
So three x four-car trains working as a twelve-car train are replaced by one ten-car train, just as with Greater Anglia. Note the claimed fifteen percent capacity increase!
Metro Services
The article says this about Metro services,
Metro-style trains will be introduced on suburban routes, similar to those on other high-capacity routes into London.
Is the DfT thinking of trains like Crossrail’s Class 345 trains?
Changes Of London Terminals
The DfT was thinking of all inner suburban services going to a single London terminal, but this has been dropped following opposition.
Changes are still proposed, to stop conflicts at Lewisham.
- Bexleyheath Line services will switch from Victoria to Cannon Street or Charing Cross.
- Hayes Line services will serve Victoria and Charing Cross, but not Cannon Street.
- North Kent Line services will run to Cannon Street.
- Sidcup Line services will run to Charing Cross and Cannon Street in the Peak.
- Extra services will serve Abbey Wood for Crossrail.
- More twelve-car trains.
The objective is a turn-up-and-go Metro-style service on suburban routes.
To London Overground, Merseyrail and other commuters around the K, that means four trains per hour.
As there was with the proposal Network Rail made to curtail Sutton Loop Line services at Blackfriars, there will be complaints. Especially, from those who were at Eton with certain MPs!
Hopefully the design of London Bridge station will help smooth things over.
Twelve-Car Trains At Charing Cross And Waterloo East
If most trains are twelve-car trains, then surely all platforms at Cannon Street, Charing Cross, London Bridge, Victoria and Waterloo East stations, must surely be able to handle trains of this length.
As it is specifically mentioned, Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations must be the most problem.
There have been suggestions of rebuilding the two stations, with the platforms at Charing Cross extending over the Thames.
Consider.
- Modern signalling could handle twenty-four trains per hour between Charing Cross and London Bridge.
- Connections to the Jubilee Line could be better.
- The Bakerloo Line is planned to be extended to Lewisham.
- Waterloo East station could surely have over-site development.
- Techniques borrowed from London Underground could be used to turn trains faster at Charing Cross.
I have a feeling that we will see something fairly radical happen in the next few years to increase capacity across the South Bank.
Faster Services To Hastings
This is said about services to and from Hastings.
DfT has specified a new two trains per hour service between London, Tonbridge and Ashford, allowing services to Hastings to be speeded up by removing calls at Orpington, Sevenoaks and Hildenborough.
Bidders are incentivised to develop further proposals for reducing journey times, including for deliveringn high speed services between London St. Pancras, Hastings and Bexhill via Ashford.
That all sounds good for Hastings.
More Trains Between Strood And Tonbridge
This route along the Medway Valley Line will have two trains per hour all day.
Trains For The Franchise
The DfT has specified the trains in a fairly detailed way.
Cars No Longer Than Twenty Metres
This is probably because of curved platforms and other restrictions on the various routes.
It is also a similar car length to the current Class 465 trains and Class 377 trains.
No Extra Selective Door Opening, Except At Waterloo East
I suspect this could be that selective door opening, confuses passengers and perhaps slow the stops.
First Class To Be Removed By September 2020
Will this be popular with all passengers?
There doesn’t seem to have been too many protests about the future removal of First Class on Greater Anglia’s services in Essex.
But it will allow the capacity of the train to be increased, to provide space for some of those 40,000 additional passengers.
ETCS Will Have To Be Deployed
European Train Control System (ETCS) can enable higher frequencies of trains in a safe manner and mandating that it be deployed is a sensible move.
At Least One Accessible Toilet On Main Line And High Speed Trains
I think most train operating companies would do this!
Adequate Wi-Fi
Not providing wi-fi and in addition 4G signals, is probably an easy way to reduce ridership.
Walk Through Trains
The fleets that have been bought recently, are all of this type, so I think it would be unlikely, that any new trains for the Southeastern franchise would be different.
My Thoughts
Train Length
Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and Virgin Trains East Coast have set a pattern, by ordering trains and half-trains, that can probably be used in a flexible manner.
Half-train/Full-train ratios for the various companies are.
- Great Western Railway – 1.6
- Greater Anglia – 4.0
- South Western Railway 0.5
- Virgin Trains East Coast – 0.5
Each company has chosen an appropriate number of trains for their routes, but each can adjust numbers by running two half-trains as a full train.
So will we see the same strategy on a future Southeastern franchise?
Perhaps most trains will be twelve-car trains with a small number of six-car trains, that can work together as required.
Train Speed
In Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Elimination Of Slow Trains, I came to this conclusion.
All trains incapable of running a service at 100 mph should be eliminated, just as the two operators;Greater Anglia and South Western Railway, are planning to do.
All of the new Southeastern franchise’s trains should be 100 mph trains.
Plastic Platforms At East Croydon Station
Platforms 1 and 2 at East Croydon station now have glass reinforced plastic surfaces.
They look good and feature.
- Shorter stepping distance into and out of trains.
- Underfloor heating to prevent ice and snow build up.
- Blue LED edge lighting.
- The lights are blue, so they can’t be confused for signals by the drivers.
- The lighting is designed to deter suicides.
The keen-eyed will notice that the lights aren’t switched on. Apparently, some have failed!
Platform 0 At Redhill Station Is Progressing
Redhill station is being upgraded.
This picture of the new Platform 0 was taken from the existing Platform 1.
Works include.
- The new Platform 0 will become a through platform for trains to London.
- It is certainly long enough for a twelve car train.
- It appears it will be fully connected to the entrsnce by the car park.
- The current platform 1 will become a South-facing bay platform.
The January 2018 Edition of Modern Railways, also says this about the upgrade.
This is aimed to allow GWR to boost the Reading to Gatwick frequency from hourly to half-hourly from May 2018. The operator’s ultimate sim is to introduce a third hourly service on the North Downs line, although concerns from Network Rail about level crossing risk have affected progress with this plan.
Currently, the journey between Reading to Gatwick Airport takes 76 minutes without a change, but the train reverses direction at Redhill. One driver told me, that if GWR issued the drivers with better shoes, they could save a minute or so on the timetable at Rewdhill.
But 76 minutes isn’t a bad time by way of the North Downs Line. Especially, as the trains have to negotiste eleven level crossing! Is that what Network Rail mean by level crossing risk?
If you take Crossrail’s estimate of the Reading to Farringdon time of 59 minutes and the timetabled Farringdon to Gatwick Airport time of 54 minutes, you get a time 113 minutes or nearly forty minutes longer than the shorter and more direct route.
The North Downs Line is partly electrified with third rail and I wonder what time a Class 802 train could achieve!
Conclusion
The Platform 0 works at Redhill station are part of a fifty million pound project, whivh will do the following.
- Increase capacity at Redhill station.
- Remove conflicts between Brighton Line and Reading to Gatwick Airport services.
- Enable a two trains per hour service between Reading and Gatwick Airport.
It will be interesting to see if it works in May 2018.
The works do show how money spent on smaller projects can give multiple benefits.
Hitachi’s Thoughts On Battery Trains
On page 79 of the January 2018 Edition of Modern Railways, Nick Hughes, who is the Sales Director of Hitachi Rail Europe outlines how the manufacturer is embracing the development of battery technology.
He is remarkably open.
Hitachi’s Battery Development
Nick Hughes says this.
Hitachi has for many years seen great potential in battery technology.
We began studying on train storage energy systems in 2003. Working jointly qith operational partners in Japan and in the UK, we developed a realistic solution based on a lithium-ion battery, that could store the braking energy and reuse it for the traction.
Then came our V-train 2 (nicknamed the Hayabusa), which was tested on the Great Central Railway in 2007, using hybrid battery/diesel power and regenerative charging. This was the world’s first high-speed hybrid train.
This picture show the Hayabusa running in the UK.
If you think it looks familiar, you are right! It’s a modified Class 43 locomotive from an InterCity 125. The locomotive; 43089, is still in service with East Midlands Trains. But without the batteries!
When the remaining members of the team, who had developed the InterCity 125 in the 1970s, saw these pictures, I suspect it was celebrated with a call for a few swift halves!
BEMU In Japan
Nick Hughes goes on to outline the status of Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) in Japan, where Hitachi launched a train called the DENCHA in 2016, on the Chikuhi line.
- The train has a range of up to 50 km on batteries.
- DENCHA is popular with passengers.
- The train won a prestigious award.
I don’t know what it is with battery trains, but the Bombardier/Network Rail BEMU Trial was also liked by those who rode the train. As was I!
Nick Hughes Prediction
Nick Hughes follows his description of the DENCHA, with this.
I can picture a future when these sorts of trains are carrying out similar types of journeys in the UK, perhaps by installing battery technology in our Class 395s to connect to Hastings via the non-electrified Marshlink Line from Ashford for example.
This would massively slice the journey time and heklp overcome the issue of electrification and infrastructure cases not stacking up. There are a large number of similar routes like this all across the country.
It is a prediction, with which I could agree.
Renewable Energy And Automotive Systems
Nick Hughes finishied by saying that he believes storing power from renewable energy and the development of automotive systems will drive battery technology and its use.
Conclusion
It is the most positive article about battery trains, that I have read so far!
A Walk Down The Finchley Road
Aleks2cv made this comment on my long post about the West London Orbital Railway, which was entitled New Railway Line For West London Proposed.
West London’s version of Goblin, an available resource with potential. All urban London so suitable for Overground 4 car metro service.
I would add extensions to your outline.There is space at the former Midland Finchley Road station for a single terminating platform with existing street facade. Interchange with North London, Metropolitan, and Jubilee and coaches on Finchley Road such as Stansted AirLink.
It got me thinking.
This is only part of the comment and I’ll deal with the rest after Christmas, if I renmember.
This is a Google Map of the area along the Finchley Road, between Finchley Road and Frognal station in the North and Finchley Road station in the South.
It is one of those interchanges, you might do in a North to South direction, as you have gravity assistance.
This second map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the various rail lines.
Note, the following lines can be seen in both maps.
- The Midland Main Line through West Hampstead Thameslink station, which crosses Finchley Road between Finchley Road and Frognal and Finchley Road stations.
- The Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines going through West Hampstead and Finchley Road stations.
- The North London Line going through West Hampstead and Finchley Road and Frognal stations.
I took these pictures as I walked down Finchley Road.
My thoughts on various parts of the area.
Finchley Road And Frognal Station
The station is a very poor example.
- There is no step-free access.
- Station buildings are minimal.
- There is a ruin next door.
- There is a need for perhaps a light-controlled crossing outside the station, as the road is very busy.
Improvement wouldn’t be helped, by the fact that the station is at the end of Hampstead Heath tunnel.
This Google Map shows a close-up of the station.
The only solution is probably a full rebuilding with perhaps a block of housing or offices on the top of a modern station.
The Midland Main Line
This Google Map shows the Midland Main Line as it passes under Finchley Road, to the North of the O2 Centre.
Note.
- There is not much space between the railway and the service road for the O2 Centre.
- The large surface-level car park of the O2 Centre is visible.
- The two slow lines are the Northern pair of lines, with the two fast lines to the South.
At least there is space in the middle of the lines.
A Terminus For The West London Orbital Railway
Aleks2cv in his comment, felt that the West London Orbital Railway can be extended to Finchley Road.
I think this could be very difficult, as the West London Orbital Railway will probably be a single track railway sneaking up the South side of the Midland Main Line.
- There is very little space.
- Passengers would still have to walk about a hundred metres to connect to the Underground.
- Connecting to the Overground would require a stiff walk up the hill.
This Google Map shows the limit of the freight line, that could possibly be turned into the West London Orbital Railway.
Note.
- The railway going East-West is the Midland Main Line.
- The diagonal railway is the North London Line through West Hampstead station.
In the shadows on the South side of the Midland Main Line, you can just see tyhe freight line, which connects to the Down Fast of the Midland Main Line to the East of the bridge.
It looks to me, that years ago, the land now occupied by the O2 Centre was some form of railway yard or factory premises.
Finchley Road Underground Station
Finchley Road Underground station is a station in need of a degree of refurbishment.
- It is not step-free.
- Pedestrian access to the O2 Centre is not good.
But it is a cross-platform interchange between the Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The two Chiltern tracks to the South of the station.
- The closeness of the Western end of the station to the Car Park of the O2 Centre.
- There is space to the South of the Chiltern tracks.
I feel very much that this station could be developed sympathetically to be a very good station, that could be paid for by housing on the top.
The O2 Centre
I think the O2 Centre could be the key to Aleks2cv’s idea for the West London Orbital Railway.
- The O2 Centre appears tired.
- Public transport can take people easily to the shopping at Oxford Street or Brent Cross.
- Surface car parking is so Twentieth Century.
As the O2 Centre is owned by British Land, who are one of the UK’s biggest property companies, I think that it is likely the site could be redeveloped.
Suppose the site was developed as follows.
- It extended over and connected to the Western ends of the platforms at Finchley Road Underground station.
- A two-platform terminal station for the West London Orbital Railway could probably be fitted in reasonably close to the Underground station.
- A small bus station.
Over the top would be shops, offices, housing or whatever was desired.
Conclusion
I believe that something will be done to redevelop this site.
Whether it has the terminal for the West London Orbital Railway underneath, will only be made clear, when planning permissio is given.
This Year’s Engineers Christmas Party Is At Highbury And Islington Station
Three year’s ago, I wrote VolkerFitzpatrick Are Having A Christmas Party At South Tottenham.
This year’s Engineers Chrismas Party is at Highbury and Islington station, where they are replacing the bridge on the Holloway Road over the North London Line.
These pictures were taken on the 20th of December.
The first action of the rebuilding of the bridge was the shutting of the Post Office outside the station, which I wrote about in Highbury And Islington Post Office Is Now Shut.
That post dates from July 2014 and signs around the station say the bridge will be replaced by Summer 2018.
Four years to rebuild a bridge. Are Network Rail looking for an entry in the Guinness Book Of Records?
But then Network Rail has form with bridges in North London.
On the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, they forgot to rebuild the bridges at Wightman Road and Crouch Hill.
These pictures were taken on the 22nd of December.
These pictures were taken on the 28th of December.
These pictures were taken on the 31st of December.
The large cranes have gone.
The 8th of January marked the reopening of the roads.
I think the bridge will be fully completed in the Summer.
C2E – Crossrail 1 1/2?
The title of this post is the same as that in this article in Rail Engineer.
It describes a proposal to extend the Abbey Wood Branch of Crossrail to Ebbsfleet International station along the North Kent Line.
The article starts with these two paragraphs.
With the main Crossrail project now mostly complete, and with tracks running right through the new tunnels, there has been much talk of Crossrail 2 as the next project, crossing under London from South West to North East and linking Wimbledon with the Leigh Valley.
Rather overlooked is a shorter-term proposal to extend the current Crossrail (or Elizabeth line as it will be called) from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet in Kent.
The article talks about the advantages of an extension to Ebbsfleet International station.
This proposal would connect several major brownfield development sites with central London, London City and Heathrow airports, and the West, while also connecting Crossrail passengers with Eurostar and the continent
Specific figures and points include
- Bexley has 1,100 acres of development space available.
- 55,000 homes could be built.
- Potential for high-value jobs.
- Dartford, where there is a lot of demand, has six trains per hour (tph) to London.
In addition the following additional services call or will call in the near future at Dartford.
- Southeastern – Two tph running between Gillingham and London Charing Cross.
- Southeastern – Two tph running between Gravesend and London Charing Cross.
- Thameslink – Two tph running between Rainham and Luton.
This map from the article shows the route.
I think it is a good plan and I’ll give my reasons in the following sections.
Abbey Wood Is Not A Terminal Station
Was the reason Abbey Wood station was chosen as a terminus more to do with giving a rail connection to the public transport desert of Thamesmead and all its supposed Labour voters?
- It’s not by any important tourist venue like the Thames.
- There’s not even a Shopping Centre.
- There’s little space for car parking.
- Abbey Wood station is a very cramped site.
When compared to the three other termini, it is the least significant.
- Shenfield is a small town with shops and a railway junction.
- Reading is a thriving city and a major transport interchange.
- Heathrow is Heathrow.
I also suspect that the track layout at Abbey Wood station has been designed to allow Crossrail trains to continue Eastwards on the North Kent Line.
Ebbsfleet International Would Be A Much Better Terminal Station
Ebbsfleet International station has a lot going for it, as a Crossrail terminal.
- It is a station for Eurostar and the Continent.
- Some continental services might terminate at Ebbsfleet in the future due to capacity limitations at St. Pancras.
- It would connect Crossrail to the Highspeed commuter services to and from East Kent and East Sussex.
- There’s plenty of space for platforms and depots.
- There’s already masses of car parking.
- The area may get a theme park.
There is also the interesting possibility, that it could be faster for many passengers from Central London to use Crossrail and Ebbsfleet, rather than a taxi and St. Pancras to get a train to Paris and Brussels.
I also believe that one of our World Class architects can come up with a proposal for a passenger-friendly station that combines the current Ebbfleet International station with Northfleet station on the North Kent Line.
The Route Would Require Little Major Engineering Works
The route to Ebbsfleet would be predominantly, if not completely, on the surface, along the double-track North Kent Line. Having just flown my helicopter along the route, there is a lot of apace on either side of the tracks for quite a proportion of the route.
A four-track route would probably be impossible, but I suspect that Network Rail could design an efficient route, that would handle the services on the route efficiently.
Trains Along The North Kent Line
Current frequencies of Off Peak through trains on the North Kent Line between Abbey Wood and Gravesend stations are as follows.
- Abbey Wood – 8 tph
- Belvedere – 8 tph
- Erith – 6 tph
- Slade Green – 6 tph
- Dartford – 4 tph
- Stone Crossing – 4 tph
- Greenhithe – 4 tph
- Gravesend – 2 tph
There will be additional services in the Peak and Thameslink will run an extra two tph from Rainham to Luton, within the next year or so.
The North Kent Line doesn’t seem to have the most extensive level of services.
The New Southeastern Franchise
The new South Eastern franchise will be awarded in August 2018 and is due to start by the end of the year.
The franchise will probably bring changes and add new trains to the fleet and lines like the North Kent Line.
I also suspect that all trains running on the North Kent Line will in a few years be modern trains capable of operating at 100 mph.
Modern Signalling Could Handle Twenty-Four Trains Per Hour On The North Kent Line
There is no doubt, that if Crossrail-style signalling were applied to the North Kent Line between Abbey Wood the Medway towns, capacity could be increased, if all trains on the line were modern 100 mph units.
I doubt that twenty-four tph would be needed, but I’m sure that enough capacity could be created on the route to handle all services; curent or proposed.
How Many Trains Would Crossrail Run Between Abbey Wood And Ebbsfleet International Stations?
Crossrail’s timetable plan shows these frequencies at the various termini in the Peak.
- Abbey Wood – 12 tph
- Gidea Park – 4 tph
- Heathrow Terminal 4 – 4 tph
- Heathrow Terminal 5 – 2 tph
- Liverpool Street – 4 tph
- Maidenhead – 2 tph
- Paddington – 12 tph
- Reading – 4 tph
- Shenfield – 12 tph
From these figures, it would appear that four tph to Ebbsfleet International would be reasonable starting point.
This would give the following frequencies along the line.
- Abbey Wood – 14 tph
- Belvedere – 14 tph
- Erith – 12 tph
- Slade Green – 12 tph
- Dartford – 10 tph
- Stone Crossing – 10 tph
- Greenhithe – 10 tph
- Gravesend – 4 tph
Note I have added in the 2 tph Thameslink trains from Rainham to Luton.
These frequencies are well within the limits of a double-track railway with a 100 mph operating speed and modern signalling.
The Original Plan Was To Extend To Gravesend
The route for Crossrail from Abbey Wood is safeguarded to Gravesend. Under Future Extensions in the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, this is said.
The route to Gravesend has been safeguarded by the Department for Transport, although it was made clear that as at February 2008 there was no plan to extend Crossrail beyond the then-current scheme. The following stations are on the protected route extension to Gravesend: Belvedere, Erith, Slade Green, Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Northfleet, and Gravesend.
A depot would be built at Hoo Junction to the East of Gravesend.
The extended service could always call at both stations.
- Ebbsfleet International station connects to Eurostar and has space for masses of parking.
- Gravesend connects to services to East Kent and is on the Thames.
Money and accountants would decide.
Conclusion
Extending four tph from Abbey Wood to a new terminus at Ebbsfleet International station, doesn’t appear to be the most difficult of undertakings.
The Anonymous Widower 