The Anonymous Widower

Exploring The Route Of The Midland Metro Extension To Victoria Square

The extensions at both ends of the Midland Metro in Birmingham and Wolverhampton City Centres will be a first for the UK, in that they will be catenary-free and the trams will run on battery power.

This Google Map shows the area, where the initial extension will go in Birmingham City Centre.

birminghammetroextension

Places of interest are.

  • The cathedral is in the North-East corner.
  • New Street station is in the South-East corner.
  • Victoria Square and the Town Hall are just to the East of the middle.
  • Centenary Square is towards the West side.

This description comes from this page on the Metro Alliance web site.

840m of twin track from Birmingham Grand Central at Stephenson Street, up Pinfold Street through Victoria Square, Paradise St, past Paradise Circus into Centenary Square at Broad St.There will be an intermediate stop outside the Town Hall in Victoria Square, and we will interface with the Navigation Street link.

One of the problems at the moment, is that the development of Paradise Birmingham, seems to sit in the middle of the route.

These pictures show the area of Victoria Square and the route up from New Street station.

Note.

  • The steep hill of Pinfold Street.
  • The route seemed to have been prepared ready for the track to be fitted into the road surface.
  • Utilities seemed to have been moved.
  • When I took the pictures, the Midland Metro had parked a tram at the limit of the current track at the bottom of Pinfold Street.

Climbing The Hill

You can’t accuse Birmingham of lacking ambition, as Pinfold Street is a proper hill.

But then!

  • It is the only steep hill on the route to Centenary Square.
  • The tram will start the ascent with full batteries.
  • There will be no problems coming down.
  • This extension is only 840 metres in length.
  • The MetroCentro in Seville has used similar technology on a 1.4 km. route since 2007.
  • CAF have technology that charges batteries fast.
  • Battery technology has moved on in the last ten years.

If in practice, it does prove a difficult climb, overhead wires could be put on sufficient of the lower part of the up-track on Pinfold Street.

These wires wouldn’t be visible from Victoria Square, so wouldn’t effect the architectural integrity pf the area.

Onward to Edgbaston

According to this article in Rail Technology Magazine, the further four kilometre extension to Egbaston, is also intended to be catenary-free.

As the trams could be charged at Edgbaston, I think this could be possible.

But I doubt CAF would propose the use of batteries, if they hadn’t already proven the range, which is not outrageous.

The Next Step

I looked at a lot of the route of the first section to Victoria Square today, and it would appear that the roadway has been prepared for fitting the track.

So could we see an accelerated development of the first part of the extension?

It would be a good test of the technology, with little risk to the Midland Metrolink!

If the trams can’t make the hill on baqtteries, it would need to be wired, but you could always blame Spanish engineering.

Conclusion

It is a very well-designed scheme.

I wonder, if we’ll see Edinburgh batteries on their CAF trams?

 

 

 

January 25, 2017 Posted by | Energy Storage, Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

Work Has Really Started At Hackney Wick Station

This article in the Hackney Gazette is entitled Hackney Wick Overground station and surrounding streets on track for £25m redesign.

This is said.

Work is underway on a £25 million scheme for east London’s new Hackney Wick Overground station complex with major improvements in the surrounding streets.

So I went along to take some pictures.

The article says that there will be a subway under the railway by the Spring and the station will by completed next January with new stairs and two lifts.

According to this article on Ian Visits, the tunnel will be built alongside and pushed under the railway. This was done successfully at the new Rochester station.

That certainly fits with what i saw!

 

 

January 24, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

Maghull North Station Gets Approval

This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Green light given to Merseyrail’s new Maghull North station.

The following are points from the article about the new Maghull North station.

  • The new station forms a key part of the Sefton Council’s Local Plan.
  • The new station offers relief to Maghull station.
  • The new station will support development in the area.
  • The new station will have 156 car parking spaces.
  • The station has all the facilities passengers need.
  • The station design probably needs little work to the track and a few new signals.
  • Construction will start in August 2017, with opening expected in May 2018.
  • Visualisations show the station has two platforms outside the double-track, with lifts and stairs to both platforms.
  • The main station building is separate from the platforms and has level access to the footbridge.

The whole scheme is costing £13million.

I shall be looking forward to visiting the station, when it opens in sixteen months.

Thoughts On Revenue And Costs

It is interesting to note that Maghull station handles about 1.8 million passengers a year, who probably spend about an average of three pounds on a ticket, so the station could generate about £5million a year.

It is probably, a valid assumption to say that Maghull North station will generate a couple of million pounds a year in revenue.

But as it towards the end of the line and as the only station to the North with substantial traffic is Ormskirk, I suspect that the current four trains per hour service will handle the extra passengers from Maghull North station.

So after a quick look, I feel that Maghull North station could be paid for by the extra passengers and their revenue.

It should be born in mind, that a lot of things will and could happen to trains between Liverpool and Ormskirk.

  • From 2019, the line will see new Stadler trains, which will cut journey times and speed up station stops.
  • Trains may go from Liverpool to Skelmersdale via Ormskirk.
  • Trains may go direct from Liverpool to Preston, without a change at Ormskirk.
  • The Burscough Curves may be reinstated giving access from Ormskirk to Southport and Wigan.

All developments will generate passengers at both Maghull stations.

I hope the station design has left space to add more car parking.

Lessons For Other Station Proposals

I suspect for those, who took the decision to build Maghull North station, found it an easy decision to take.

  • The passenger demand is there.
  • The station can be built without a major blockade of the line.
  • New trains will be serving the station.
  • Related developments could increase the train frequency.

But most importantly, the station could be paid for from extra revenue.

How many other proposed stations fit these criteria?

January 24, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Has Work Stopped On The Met Line Extension?

This question is asked in the title of this article in the St. Albans Review.

The full title is.

Has work stopped on the Met Line extension? TfL worker says work is suspended.

TfL say the project is just being examined in detail.

I think, that when the Croxley Rail Link is built, it will be very different to what Hertfordshire planned.

I gave my view in TfL Seeks New Procurement Plan For Metropolitan Line Extension

I proposed a simpler design.

  • Watford station would remain open.
  • A four tph link would run all day between Watford Junction and Amersham stations.
  • Trains could be Class 710 trains or similar.
  • Stops would be at Watford High Street, Vicarage Road, Cassiobridge, Croxley, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood and Chalfont & Latimer.
  • No new electrification.
  • Single-track in places to reduce costs.

No-one would get a worse service than currently and the new stations of Cassiobridge and Vicarage Road, would make rail an alternative for many travellers.

 

January 24, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

The Cost Of Tram Batteries

This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Midland Metro tram shipped to Spain for battery fit-out ahead of OLE-free operation.

One Midland Metro tram has been sent back to the factory in Zaragoza to be fitted with two roof-mounted lithium-ion cells and after testing it will be returned to the West Midlands in the Autumn, where more testing will be performed, prior to starting running on the catenary-free streets of Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

After a successful completion of testing on the first tram, the other twenty trams will be converted.

This is said in the article about costs.

The total cost to the WMCA of fitting out the fleet will be £15.5m, but the authority says that it will save £9.24m on infrastructure costs on the first four extensions to the Metro network alone, with further infrastructure savings planned as future extensions take place.

So the savings can go a long way to help pay for the trams to run on the four extensions.

The cost of the modifications to each tram is £738,000, but if the infrastructure savings are factored in, the modifications cost just £298,000 per tram.

I also wonder if the layout of the Midland Metro, with a fairly long wired central section and a catenary-free section at either end is ideal for battery operation, as the trams will have a long section to fully charge the batteries.

But it looks like trams will reach Victoria Square and Wolverhampton station in 2019, Edgbaston in 2021 and the Eastside extension to Curzon Street will be completed in 2023.

Perhaps, the most interesting section in the article is this paragraph.

The WMCA is also evaluating a proposed Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension to identify the viability of catenary-free sections.

Could this mean that the South Staffordshire Line, which will be used for the extension will be without catenary? As the tram does small detours into Dudley and at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, then these sections could be wired to charge the batteries, leaving the South Staffordshire Line without any wires. I estimate that the distance the tram would travel would be about seven miles each way.

As Network Rail want to run both trams and freight trains on the South Staffordshire Line, this might allow both to share an unelectrified line, if they have the right wheel and track profiles.

There certainly seems to be some very innovative ideas around, when it comes to using trains and trams in City Centres.

 

 

January 23, 2017 Posted by | Energy Storage, Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

A Look At New Station Projects

If as I wrote in Government Focuses On New Stations And Trains, the government is going to promote more stations, how are the various current station projects progressing?

This list of stations is not complete.

But I can make a few simple conclusions.

Some Regions Have More Stations In The Pipeline Than Others

There are probably several reasons for this.

  • Some regions like Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield have gone the light-rail route.
  • Some regions like East Anglia, East Midlands, Kent, Sussex and Teesside haven’t got their plans fully together.
  • Some regions like Bristol, London and Merseyside have got very detailed plans together.
  • Some regions like Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow have already got extensive heavy rail networks.

I think Merseyside is the interesting region.

  • Merseyrail is very much an independent franchise strongly controlled by the region.
  • It runs a frequent four trains per hour (tph) to most destinations.
  • It seems to be run very professionally.
  • It is proposing at least seven new stations.

In lots of areas, it appears that Merseyrail and London Overground are singing the same tune.

I have a feeling when other regions get their acts together, we’ll be seeing a lot more plans for new stations.

Several New Passenger Routes Are Being Created

In the list of stations, the same new routes arise.

  • Aberdeen Crossrail
  • Anglesey Central Railway
  • Borderlands Line
  • Bristol Metro (MetroWest)
  • Camp Hill Line
  • Canada Dock Branch
  • Coventry to Nuneaton Line
  • Devon Metro
  • East West Rail Link
  • Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway
  • Harrogate Line
  • Ivanoe Line
  • Leamside Line
  • Newcastle And Ashington Line
  • Ripley Branch Line
  • South Staffordshire Line
  • South Wales Metro

Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and Merseyside have obviously been planning.

New Trains Stop At A Station Faster

The UK’s most frequent rail line is the Victoria Line, which is gearing up to a frequency of 36 tph or even more.

Crossrail and Thameslink will be running 24 tph through their central tunnels.

Trains like these and Bombardier’s new Aventras and Stadler’s new trains for Merseyrail will be optimised for fast stops.

  • Driver Only Operation
  • Wide doors and lobbies for easy access.
  • Optimum braking and acceleration.
  • Roll across step-free access for wheelchairs, buggies and large cases.
  • Automatic Train Operation as has been working on the Victoria Line since the 1960s

Trains like these will mean that new stations can be inserted on existing lines without degrading the service.

 

 

 

January 23, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 6 Comments

Thoughts On Batteries

As a Control Engineer, I have a lot of thoughts about making the World a more efficient and safer place.

As a simple example of what Control Engineering is all about, do two hundred mile drives in your car.

  • One is a route you don’t know.
  • The other is one you know very well.

In both journeys drive as carefully as you can to try to do both journeys using the minimum amount of fuel.

Inevitably, in most cases, you will do the second route on less fuel, because you will adjust speed and anticipate possible problems from previous knowledge.

A well-designed control system for a self-driving car should be able to outperform a manually-driver car because it has better knowledge.

Control Engineering is all about taking all the knowledge you can, processing it in a control system or computer and doing the job to the ultimate best.

Batteries Will Get A Higher Charge Density Per Cubic Metre And Per Dollar

There are a lot of clever engineers and scientists out there in countries like China, Germany, Japan, Korea and the USA,  working on battery technology and increasing the charge density will be one of their key objectives.

The smaller and more affordable a battery becomes, the more will be sold.

With several large companies out there investing heavily in the production of batteries, there can only be one ultimate wuner – the individual, company, government or organisation, who eventually pays for the product in which the battery is installed.

So How Will Control Engineering Be Involved?

In some ways, it already is!

Control Engineering In Personal Devices

In your smart-phone, laptop or personal device, you can set parameters to get the maximum minutes for one charge of the battery.

You are effectively, tweaking the device and the battery control system is doing the best it can with the lkimited energy resources of the battery of the device.

Control Engineering In Transport Systems

One of the problems with personal devices, is they need to be plugged in to be charged.

But as transport systems are larger and often have access to other forms of energy, recharging is not such a problem.

  • Batteries in hybrid vehicles can be charged by an onboard engine.
  • Some battery and hybrid cars can be plugged into the mains.
  • Braking energy can be recovered and used to charge the battery.
  • Trains, trams and trolley-buses can use overhead wires or third-rail systems to charge the battery.

It is the major task of the vehicle’s control system to balance the needs of traction and the onboard systems, by pulling in energy from various sources.

A Typical Hybrid Bus

A hybrid bus like a Routemaster, has a very different  transmission system to your bog-standard diesel bus.

  • It is actually driven by a Siemens ELFA2[4]electric traction motor.
  • Braking is regenerative.
  • The Cummins diesel engine is mounted under the rear stairs.
  • The 75 KwH battery is mounted under the front stairs.

Effectively, the diesel engine tops up the battery to a high enough level and the wheels are driven from the battery.

The control system manages the energy starting and stopping the engine as required.

The Ultimate Hybrid Bus

In the ultimate hybrid bus, the control system would know lots of other factors, including.

  • The route.
  • The actual and expected number of passengers.
  • The actual and expected weather.
  • Whether Arsenal were plying at home, or there was a demonstration by taxi-drivers.

So it would manage the power in the battery according to the predicted future energy requirements.

What would that do for fuel economy and the reduction of pollution?

But how could the efficiency of the bus be improved further?

  • A lighter battery with the same capacity.
  • A lighter diesel-engine, traction motor and other components.
  • A much improved control system.

As with most things, reducing weight is probably the most important. But don’t underestimate, what can be achieved with the ultimate control system.

It all points to my belief, that we should probably leave the development of batteries to the big boys and concentrate on the applications.

Hybrid Electric Trucks

Hybrid electric trucks are on the way.

Hybrid Trains And Trams

I think the mathematics point to hybrid trains and trams being one of the better applications of batteries in transport.

A typical four-car electric multiple unit like a new Class 710 train, weighs about 130 tonnes or 138 tonnes with passengers. Going at a line speed of 100 kph, it has a kinetic energy of 15 KwH. So this amount of kinetic energy would be well within the scope of a 75 KwH battery from a Routemaster bus.

I think that the typical four-car electric multiple unit can easily be fitted with a battery to handle the braking for the train.

The physics of steel-wheel-on-steel-rail are also very efficient, as Robert Stephenson, if not his father, would have known.

But with trains, there are several ways the batteries can be charged.

  • From 25 KVAC overhead power.
  • From 750 VDC third-rail power.
  • By recovering braking energy.
  • From a small diesel generator.

A good control system manages the energy and also raises and lowers the pantograph as needed.

Conclusions

Design and manufacturing competition from the big players in batteries, will bring the price down and increase the amount of energy that can be stored in a battery of a particular size.

But the key to making the most out of a battery is to have a well-designed control system to manage the energy.

 

 

January 22, 2017 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage, Transport/Travel | | 1 Comment

60 mph Limit And Fines To Cut M1 Pollution

This is a headline on an article in The Sunday Times.

It refers to a stretch of the M1 near Sheffield, where smart motorway technology will increase the number of vehicles passing through an area of housing and schools and probably breach legal pollution limits.

It sounds drastic, but then we need drastic measures to cut the level of pollution.

Perhaps, the simplest solution would be to assign all vehicles a pollution index.

Then assign all areas in the UK, a level of allowed pollution, which limited the vehicles that could drive in that area.

The trouble is, that this would be a vote loser, as it would mean that some drivers had just purchased a new vehicle, that they couldn’t even drive to their house.

The only safe way to be able to drive anywhere would be, by buying an electric or a very efficient hybrid vehicle.

A measure as harsh as this, must be paired with extensive public transport  with adequate Park-and -Ride facilities.

Solutions will have to be found for delivery vans, trucks and buses.

 

January 22, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

The Future Of East West Rail

There is an article with this title in Rail Technology Magazine.

This is the opening paragraph.

Shortly before the end of last year, transport secretary Chris Grayling announced unprecedented proposals to create a new and independent East West Rail operation tasked with designing, managing and running services between Oxford and Cambridge.

After the opening of the first section of the route, from Oxford to Bicester and on to Marylebone, which I wrote about in Oxford To Marylebone Opens For Business, things seem to be moving on.

  • The Government has announced that the East West Rail Link could be privately financed, built and run.
  • This article in Rail Magazine, which is entitled Verster to leave ScotRail for East West Rail, states that Phil Verster from ScotRail will head up the East West Rail Project.

Let’s hope it all means full steam ahead.

January 22, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Where The Northern Line Extension Spoil Is Going

This article in Your Thurrock, is entitled London Tube tunnelling project set to benefit arable land in East Tilbury.

It gives a good overview of the tunnelling for the Northern Line Extension and states that the tunnel spoil will be taken by barge to Goshems Farm in East Tilbury.

This Google Map shows the North Bank of the Thames from Tilbury Fort to East Tilbury.

tilburyfort

Tilbury Fort is in the South West corner of the map, by the river and East Tilbury is in the North East corner.

This is a more detailed map of the area of Goshems Farm.

goshems

Goshems Farm is in the area of Felmac Metals and Micks Tyres, which from their names are typical businesses, you find in areas like these all over the UK.

Note Station Road leading up to the disused Low Street station, which was on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, which is now served by c2c.

I suspect that the spoil will go into the light-coloured land between this area and the Thames, which could be something like an old landfill site.

It’ll certainly be a lot more use as arable land.

January 22, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

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