Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Ashford Spurs
The Kent On The Cusp Of Change article in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways talks of the Ashford Spurs.
Not a new Kentish football team, but possibly one of the most important developments in Kentish railways in the last couple of years.
Eurostar’s Class 373 And Class 374 Trains
Eurostar are replacing their original fleet of Class 373 trains, with smart new Class 374 trains.
The Class 373 trains were built in the 1990s and were designed to run on both high speed and traditional lines and they had signalling systems to allow this.
Wikipedia says this about Class 373 Signalling Systems.
The class have multiple signalling systems, leading to a cluttered control desk. These include
-
Automatic Warning System, the British signalling system (induction-based), used in the Ashford area
-
Train Protection & Warning System, the warning system that supplements AWS, used in the Ashford area
-
Transmission Voie-Machine (TVM), used on lignes à grande vitesse, on Eurotunnel tracks, and on High Speed 1.
-
Contrôle de vitesse par balises, used between Paris Gare du Nord and the LGV Nord, on French lignes classiques and the HS1-connected throat around St Pancras. It is electro-mechanical with fixed radio beacons.
-
TBL, the Belgian signalling system (electro-mechanical), used between Brussels-South and HSL 1, Belgium.
Perhaps this is why multi-tasking is needed to be a train driver.
On the other hand, the Class 374 trains have just one signalling system, that can be used in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. And that is just for starters. Wikipedia says this about the operation of the two trains.
Eurostar International’s existing fleet of Class 373 “Eurostar e300” trains, which date from the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1993, cannot operate under the 15 kV AC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in Germany, most cannot operate under the 1.5 kV DC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in the Netherlands and they do not have sufficient space to install ERTMS signalling. Therefore, Eurostar cannot use its Class 373 units on services to these countries and the Class 374 was designed and built to go where the Class 373 could never go. The Class 374 has replaced around half of the Class 373s, with some Class 373s being scrapped in the UK after the introduction of the new trains.
Class 374 Trains And Ashford International Station
The one place, where the Class 374 trains can’t go on the existing network is Ashford International station, as the platforms for high speed trains are on a loop from the high speed lines, which go over the station on a flyover.
Consequently, services from Ashford to the Continent have to use the older trains.
The Track Layout At Ashford International Station
This diagram from Wikipedia shows the lines through Ashford International station.
Note how the two main tracks of High Speed One use a flyover to get out of the way of Ashford International station. The Ashford Spurs connect the lines through the two platforms to High Speed One.
The Ashford Spurs Project
The Ashford Spurs resignalling project will allow the new Class 374 trains to call at Ashford International station, when it is completed in Spring 2018.
Eurostar trains will stop at Ashford, as required by the number of passengers who want to use the service at Ashford.
At present, three trains per day (tpd) to Paris and one tpd to Brussels call at Ashford, as against to five and four respectively at Ebbsfleet International station.
I suspect that the Class 374 trains can execute a stop faster than the older trains, so I think we’ll see Ashford getting a much improved service to the Continent.
The Modern Railways article also indicates that there will be a lot more connecting services to and from Ashford station, so passengers between Thanet and along the South Coast to Brighton and even Southampton, wanting to go to and from the Continent, will use Ashford for convenience.
There will be a lot of collateral benefits to things like house prices in the far South-East of England.
I would also feel that the area, would be an ideal business base for someone supporting an International business, that needs quick access to Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, London and Paris.
I believe that all the places I mentioned, will have fast direct trains to and from Ashford in a few years, with a customer-friendly frequency.
Conclusion
This project is reported to be costing less than five million pounds and it must be returning more than that to Kent.
See Also
These are related posts.
- Abbey Wood Station
- Crossrail
- Elimination Of Slow Trains
- Fawkham Junction Link
- Highspeed Routes
- High Speed To Hastings
- Historic Routes
- Longfield Station
- Maidstone
- Reading To Tonbridge
- Thameslink
- Thanet Parkway Station
- Track Improvements
- Ultimate Class 395 Train
- Victoria As A Highspeed Terminal
To know more read Kent On The Cusp Of Change in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways.
Kent On The Cusp Of Change
This is the title of an article in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which discusses the various issues that will be tackled by the new franchisee, who will take over from the current Southeastern.
Under Future Of The Franchise, Wikipedia says this.
In June 2017 the Department for Transport announced an Abellio/East Japan Railway Company/Mitsui consortium, incumbent Govia, Stagecoach and Trenitalia had been shortlisted to bid for the next South Eastern franchise.
The Invitation to Tender for the next franchise will be released in September 2017, the winning bidder will be announced in August 2018 and they will take over the franchise in December 2018.
So four big beasts will be fighting it out to run trains from London to Kent.
Over the last few years, new franchises; Greater Anglia, Northern, South Western Trains and TransPennine have all promised or arranged selections of the following.
- New fleets of trains.
- Refurbished trains.
- Lots of new seats.
- Increased frequencies.
- Better passenger facilities.
- Improved ticketing.
- Smart-card tuckering.
- Better repay systems for delays.
- Wi-fi.
I can’t believe that big promises will not be made in all the offers to take over the franchise.
So what will and what may happen?
The Modern Railways article discusses the following.
- Abbey Wood Station
- Ashford Spurs
- Crossrail
- Elimination Of Slow Trains
- Highspeed Routes
- High Speed To Hastings
- Historic Routes
- Longfield Station
- Maidstone
- Reading To Tonbridge
- Thameslink
- Thanet Parkway Station
- Track Improvements
- Ultimate Class 395 Train
- Victoria As A Highspeed Terminal
Each is discussed in separate posts.
Do You Have A Child Approaching Twenty-Four Who Uses Trains?
Martin Lewis came up with this tip on BBC Radio 5.
If a Young Person’s Railcard is bough on a three-year basis, it stretches a few months past, their twenty-seventh birthday.
He did say you had to get your dates right!
From Barcelona To Paris
The TGV between Barcelona and Paris took six and a half hours.
Sadly, I didn’t see any flamingos this time, as I did in From Madrid To London in 2014.
This journey illustrates the good and the bad of double-deck trains.
You may get a good view, but getting in and out is a nightmare, as everybody travels with enormous bags and have to take them up and down the stairs.
On The Barcelona Metro
These are a few pictures of the Barcelona Metro
Note the station I used was being rebuilt.
Barcelona Wakes Up
On my way back, I stayed overnight in the Tryp Apolo Hotel in Barcelona.
These are pictures I took on my morning walk.
Some of the pictures show Las Ramblas.
Seville’s Elegant Trams
Seville’s tramway; the MetroCentro, by the cathedral is powered without using traditional overhead catenary.
Each double-sided stop has a high electrified rail on each side.
When the tram stops, it puts up a pantograph and then for a minute or so, it charges the batteries.
Seville’s Urbos trams are the same as in Birmingham, so will the Midland Metro be using the same elegant system to charge the batteries, that are now been fitted, so trams can run to Centenary Square in Birmingham and the railway station in Wolverhampton?
|Edinburgh also has another version of Urbos trams, so if Birmingham battery trams are successful, will we be seeing them North of the Border?
There’s only one thing wrong with Seville’s trams. Every one is wrapped in advertising, which makes it difficult to see out and look at the outstanding buildings.
How Does The Battery System Work?
CAF , who built the Urbos trams, have this page on their web site, which is entitled Greentech Tram.
The system uses two methods of storing electricity.
Supercapacitor Modules
A supercapacitor has the advantage that it can be quickly charged and discharged.
So as a tram only takes perhaps fifteen seconds to stop from full speed, the fast charging allows the regenerative braking energy to be stored.
On starting again, this energy can be discharged quickly from the supercapacitor to accelerate the tram.
This charging/discharging cycle does degrade the supercapacitor and they would have to be replaced periodically.
Lithium-Ion Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries can hold greater amounts of electricity, but their charge and discharge rate is slower.
They can provide smaller amounts of power to keep the tram going at a constant speed after it has been accelerated.
A Sophisticated Control System
The page talks about a sophisticated control system that optimised the driving of the tram and the minimisation of energy.
The System Can Be Licenced From CAF
It should be noted that CAF will licence the system to other manufacturers.
Conclusion
By using two different storage systems with different characteristics, CAF are able to drive the tram along its 1.4 km route, charging at each stop.
Rail Improvements Between Hastings and London
With four bids to run the new Southeastern franchise, in a few months we will be able to see a bit clearly what will happen to the train service between Hastings and London. The two latest franchises to be awarded in East Anglia and South West London etc. have both gone to companies willing to spend almost a billion pounds on new trains, which will bring more services and seats, wi-fi and 4G to the resp3ctive framchise areas. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new incumbent spends a similar amount and Network Rail chips in a couple of hundred million to make sure that passengers see a real benefit.
As far as Hastings is concerned, we could see the following.
- A faster service to Ashford.
- St. Pancras in 70 minutes.
- A fast service from Brighton to Hastings.
- A rail by-pass through an Eastbourne Parkway station.
We might even see a Brighton to St. Pancras srvice via Hastings, Ashford, Ebbsfleet and Stratford.
In the medium term the following could happen.
- A link to Crossrail at Ebbsfleet.
- A link to Cambridge/Stansted services at Stratford of only a few metres.
- A South Coast Express from Bournemouth to Ashford.
Who knows where companies spening a billion pounds on infrastructure and trains will go.
Anber Rudd is the key, as she sits like the Queen Bee in the middle.
Alliance Delayed In Opening London Blackpool Service
Accordinh to this article in Global Rail News, Allisnce will have to delay opening its six times a day, three-hour aervice.
A three hour service will mean that a train leaving Blackpool at 6 will be back in the town at 12 and then again at 18:00. So one train will give three return trips a day, if you add in some minutes for turning the train.
So six trains per day will need just two trains.
Bimodal Flirting
This sounds like something that goes on in bars, which are friendly to both LGBT and straight people.
But it isn’t.
The innovative Swiss train manufacturer has just unveiled their first bimodal Flirt train in the Aosta area of Italy, where it will enter service.
One of the other places where bimodal flirting will happen is East Anglia, as the trains will serve routes between and from Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Nowich.
The Anonymous Widower 