Do Network Rail Have A Cunning Plan To Run Battery Electric Trains To Wigan Wallgate And Blackburn?
This news story, which is entitled £72 million Boost For Train Services In Manchester And The North, was released by the government today.
This is the sub-heading.
This package will improve the passenger experience by having more reliable trains and fewer delays.
These two paragraphs describe the work.
The funding will deliver a third platform at Salford Crescent station and track improvement work across north Manchester to help reduce delays, bottlenecks and station overcrowding, meaning passengers will enjoy more comfortable and reliable journeys.
Manchester Victoria Station will also benefit from extra entry and exit points to platforms, making it easier for passengers to travel through the station during busier periods.
These are my thoughts.
Battery-Electric Trains
New Merseyrail Train Runs 135km On Battery says a lot about the capabilities of modern battery-electric multiple units.
135 km is 84 miles and if you look at services in the Wigan and Blackburn area, these are the services, currently run by diesel trains on lines without electrification.
- Blackburn and Bolton – 13.9 miles
- Blackburn and Manchester Victoria – 39.4 miles
- Hindley and Salford Crescent – 16.2 miles
- Southport and Wigan Wallgate – 17.4 miles
- Kirkby and Wigan Wallgate – 12 miles
- Clitheroe and Bolton – 23.7 miles
- Manchester Piccadilly and Buxton – 19 miles
I believe that a modern battery-electric train would be able to handle all these routes, with assistance from regenerative braking and Newton’s friend.
I also believe that CAF, Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler would be capable of building a battery-electric train for these routes.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the electrification between Wigan and Lostock Junction.
Note.
- Wigan is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Lostock Junction is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The black and red line between Wigan and Lostock Junction indicates the track is being electrified with 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- The black line going East to the South-East corner of the map is the unelectrified line to Salford Crescent via Atherton.
- At Lostock Junction the line joins the electrified Manchester and Preston Line via Bolton.
Network Rail’s layout means that trains to Kirkby, Southport and Salford Crescent via Atherton can all charge their batteries in a convenient station before embarking to their destination without electrification.
The Third Platform At Salford Crescent Station
Three platforms at Salford Crescent will give capacity advantages.
But it will also mean, that if all battery-electric trains for Wigan Wallgate via Atherton can have a dedicated platform, that if necessary, they can use to top up the batteries.
Northern’s Trans-Pennine Services
Northern Trains run four hourly trains across the Pennines.
- York and Blackpool North via Church Fenton, Garforth, Leeds, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge, Burnley Manchester Road, Accrington, Blackburn, Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton-le-Fylde.
- Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Bramley, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale.
- Leeds and Wigan Wallgate via Morley, Batley, Dewsbury, Ravensthorpe, Mirfield, Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Walsden, Littleborough, Smithy Bridge, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Salford Central, Salford Crescent, Swinton, Moorside, Walkden, Atherton, Hag Fold, Daisy Hill, Hindley and Ince.
- Leeds and Chester via Bramley, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown and Warrington Bank Quay.
Note.
- All routes are partly electrified.
- Hebden Bridge gets four trains per hour (tph).
- Bradford Interchange, Halifax, New Pudsey Rochdale, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden and Manchester Victoria get three tph.
- It is a comprehensive set of routes serving nearly fifty stations in the North.
Stretches of line without electrification include.
- Chester and Earlstown – 23 miles
- Leeds and Manchester Victoria – 49.8 miles
- Leeds and Blackburn – 50.2 miles
- Hindley and Salford Crescent – 16.2 miles
There may be a need to electrify Blackburn and Preston or some other short sections.
Conclusion
I have a feeling that most of the diesel services in Manchester could be replaced by battery-electric trains.
Could Hydrogen Trains Be Used As Pathfinders?
I must admit, I have a soft-spot for hydrogen transport, but I suppose most people look back on their first real job with a certain affection.
The only new hydrogen train under development for the UK Is the Alstom Hydrogen Aventra, which was announced in this press release in November 2021 and is entitled Alstom And Eversholt Rail Sign An Agreement For The UK’s First Ever Brand-New Hydrogen Train Fleet.
Little is known about these trains, except what is in the original press release.
- Ten trains have been ordered.
- Each will be three-cars.
- Contracts will be signed in 2022, which didn’t happen.
Nothing is said about the following important features.
- What will be the operating speed?
- What will be the range on a fill of hydrogen?
- Will the trains have a pantograph, so they can be run on electrified lines with 25 KVAC overhead electrification?
All are important to train operating companies, who along with the Department for Transport need to be able to plan.
What Do I Mean By A Pathfinder?
I will look at the service between Reading and Basingstoke.
- It is 15.4 miles long.
- There are four stops, which will soon be five, with the addition of Reading Green Park.
- The line is partly-electrified.
- The service is only hourly and probably needed to be two trains per hour (tph).
- It is currently run by diesel trains.
In a decarbonised railway, there are only two options for running this line.
- Use hydrogen trains.
- Electrify and use electric trains.
Note.
- The cost of the two options will be different.
- If the hydrogen and electric trains are both quality trains, the passenger experience will be similar.
- To run two tph, track and signalling modifications will be needed.
- These modifications would also allow a two tph diesel service.
- There is no way to accurately determine, how many passengers would use a two tph hydrogen and electric service.
So suppose the following plan were to be enacted.
- Upgrade the track and signalling to allow a two tph service.
- Run the two tph service with diesel trains.
- Install hydrogen infrastructure for the route. In this case, it would probably be at the nearby Reading depot.
- Run the two tph service with hydrogen trains.
Hopefully on the completion of some months of successful running of the hydrogen trains, the number of passengers to be expected will have been predicted to a better accuracy than UK railways normally manage.
Then the decision between hydrogen and electric trains can be taken.
If hydrogen trains are the decision, the trains could stay in service, but if electrification is the solution, then once the electric service is operating, the hydrogen trains would move on to the next line to be decarbonised.
Why The Alstom Hydrogen Aventra’s Need To Be Able To Use Electrification
If you look at routes, where hydrogen trains could be used as Pathfinders, they could include, some partially-electrified routes.
- Reading and Bedwyn
- Reading and Oxford
- Reading and Gatwick
- London Bridge and Uckfield
- Ashford and Eastbourne
- Preston and Blackpool South
- Wisbech and Cambridge
- Dereham and Norwich
- Basingstoke and Exeter
- Romsey and Salisbury
- York and Scarborough
This list includes both routes with both types of electrification; 25 KVAC overhead and 750 VDC third rail.
But if the electrification is there and not used, the exercise will be labelled as greenwashing, by some.
Mercedes eCitaro Fuel Cell Will ‘See The Light’ At UITP Summit 2023
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Sustainable Bus.
This is the first paragraph.
Daimler Buses will unveil the Mercedes eCitaro fuel cell at UITP Global Public Transport Summit in early June. At the group’s stand, visitors will have the opportunity to see the first series-production eCitaro electric bus with a fuel cell as a range extender. First order for the vehicles dates back to October 2022.
This paragraph describes the bus.
The Mercedes eCitaro in fuel cell bus version offers a stated range of approximately 350 kilometers without the need for recharging. This goes together a passenger capacity, on the articulated version, of up to 128 passengers. The difference between the eCitaro fuel cell project and most of the fuel cell buses on the market stay in the battery capacity: while it’s common to feature a small LTO battery (below 50 kWh) accompanying the fuel cell module, the eCitaro is equipped with a battery capacity similar to its battery-electric counterpart (up to 392 kWh for the 18-meter).
It looks an impressive bus with a generous capacity and range.
But I doubt we’ll see many in the UK.
- Motorists object to their blocking of junctions.
- They were easy for dodging fares.
- In London, they were dubbed Ken’s Chariots of Fire.
I don’t think politicians will chance them in the UK!
Is This The Solution To The Train Tea-Bag Problem?
One of the biggest problems on a train, is disposal of a tea-bag without getting tea everywhere.
This sequence of pictures, shows my tea on the trip to Cardiff.
At least this worked.
But then British rail catering has form, as years ago, they invented the small carrier bag to bring drinks and snacks back to your seat.
I’m always surprised, that you don’t see them more often in non-travelling takeaways.
Merseyrail Saw Over 90,000 Extra Journeys Made As Eurovision Revellers Travelled Across The Region
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
These two paragraphs outline the story.
Merseyrail has reported an approximate increase of 24% in journeys made when compared to the same period in 2022 with an extra 90,000 trips made with the rail operator whilst Liverpool hosted Eurovision.
Special strategies were put in place to facilitate the increase in passengers, including late-night services to support the two busiest nights with trains running into the early hours following the Grand Final.
Sounds like Liverpool had a result, even if the UK didn’t.
A Waste Of Valuable Resources Between Paddington And Heathrow
Much of my working life was spent in writing project management software.
I like to think, I was an expert at writing software to juggle resources.
I wrote my first piece of software in that field in ICI, to get my boss out of trouble, after he’d promised the department a program to allocate the department’s office space more efficiently.
Unfortunately, the student, who’d written the software, without leaving anything that worked or any decent instructions.
So I told my boss;Colin, that I’d have a go.
In my previous position at ICI in Runcorn, I’d worked out an algorithm to decode mass spectrometer traces, which started with a rough idea of what was there, which was entered by an operator and then used permutations and combinations to fit the output.
I used the algorithm in every resource scheduler, I ever wrote and it worked a treat.
So when I see a waste of resources, I get angry, as I know those who devised the system could have done a lot better.
Look at these pictures, I took of a Heathrow Express, that I took today.
It is barely ten percent full.
It has become a waste of resources; train, valuable paths in the Heathrow tunnel, and platform space at Paddington.
These are a few thoughts.
Capacity To And From Heathrow
Consider.
- Heathrow Express uses twelve-car Class 387 trains, with a capacity of 672 seats, that run at a frequency of four trains per hour (tph), which is 2,688 seats per hour.
- The Elizabeth Line uses nine-car Class 345 trains, with a capacity of 454 seats, that run at a frequency of six tph, which is 2,724 seats per hour.
- The Class 345 trains can also carry another 1046 standing passengers on each journey, which adds up to a maximum of 6276 standees per hour.
- The Piccadilly Line uses 73 Stock trains, with a capacity of 684 seats, that run at a frequency of twelve tph, which is 8,208 seats per hour.
This gives a capacity of 19,896 passengers, staff and visitors per hour, or which 13,620 get seats.
Expressed as percentages, the four modes of transport are as follows.
- Heathrow Express – 13.5 %
- Elizabeth Line – Sitting – 13.7 %
- Elizabeth Line – Standees – 33.8 %
- Piccadilly Line – 41.2 %
In Effects Of The ULEZ In West London, I said this about journeys to and from the airport.
Heathrow Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports and 76,000 people work at the airport, with many more employed nearby.
The airport handled 61.6 million passengers in 2022, which is a few short of 170,000 per day.
If you consider that those that work at the airport do two trips per day and passengers generally do one, that means there are 322,000 trips per day to or from the airport.
But as it now so easy to get to the Airport using the Elizabeth Line will more people use the new line to meet and greet and say goodbye to loved ones or business associates. Since the Elizabeth Line opened, I’ve met a couple of friends at Heathrow, who were passing through.
I wonder, if that daily journey total of 322,000 could be nearer to 350,000 or even 400,000.
If the ULEZ charge makes some passengers and staff switch from their car to using a bus or train, this probably means that public transport to and from the airport, will need to be boosted by a substantial amount.
322,000 trips per day is 13,416 per hour assuming a 24 hour day.
Consider.
- The ULEZ will drive employees and passengers to trains to Heathrow.
- A lot of would-be travellers to Heathrow have had a tough couple of years.
- Because of the Elizabeth Line more meeters and greeters will go to the airport.
- The Elizabeth Line is making it easy to get to Heathrow for a large proportion of those living in the South-East.
- There have been numerous car parking scandals at Heathrow and other airports.
- Are there enough charging points for electric cars in Heathrow’s parking?
- Parking at Heathrow is expensive.
- Taxis to the airport are very expensive.
- Passengers with large cases can use the Elizabeth Line.
- Good reports of the Elizabeth Line will push people to use it.
- The Elizabeth Line serves the City, Canary Wharf and the West End.
- The Elizabeth Line has a step-free connection with Thameslink.
- Passengers seem to travel with very large cases.
- Passengers seem to be deserting Heathrow Express, as I wrote in Elizabeth Line Takes Fliers Away From Heathrow Express.
Note.
- The train, I took back from Heathrow this morning was full with all seats taken and quite a few standees.
- And it was a Sunday morning!
- We won’t know the effect of the ULEZ until August, but I believe it will be significant.
Obviously, I’m only using rough figures, but they lead me to believe that in a few months, the Elizabeth Line will be at full capacity to and from Heathrow.
Heathrow Express’s Train Paths Should Be Re-Allocated To The Elizabeth Line
This would increase hourly passenger capacity from 19,896 to 23,208 or by seventeen percent.
Great Western Railway would get two extra platforms at Heathrow and the Class 387 trains could be reallocated.
Where Would Great Western Railway Run Trains From Two Extra Platforms?
Consider.
- Various government levelling up funding has been allocated to Wales and the West.
- I talk about the Mid-Cornwall Metro in Landmark Levelling Up Fund To Spark Transformational Change Across The UK.
- The Mid-Cornwall Metro could include direct trains between London and Newquay.
- There are also plans for a new station at Okehampton Parkway.
- Given all the wind farm development in the Celtic Sea, I can see more trains between London and Pembrokeshire.
- Cardiff and Bristol would probably welcome extra services.
I don’t think Great Western Railway will have problems finding destinations to serve from two extra platforms.
What Will Happen To The Class 387 Trains?
Currently, twelve Class 387 trains are used for Heathrow Express.
In The Future Of The Class 387 And Class 379 Trains, I said this.
The Battery-Electric Class 379 Train
I rode this prototype train in 2015.
An Outwardly Normal Class 379 Train
I think it is reasonable to assume, that as battery technology has improved in the seven years since I rode this train, that converting Class 379 trains to battery-electric operation would not be a challenging project.
Creating A Battery-Electric Class 387 Train
If the Class 387 train is as internally similar to the Class 379 train as it outwardly looks, I couldn’t believe that converting them to battery-electric operation would be that difficult.
I could see a lot of the Class 379 and Class 387 trains converted to 110 mph battery-electric trains.
Would Heathrow Express Completely Disappear?
If the Elizabeth Line trains are going between Heathrow Airport and Central London, at a frequency of 10 tph or one train every six minutes, I feel there may be scope for marketing and operational reasons to create a sub-fleet of the Class 345 trains.
The trains would be identical to the Elizabeth Line’s current fleet, except for livery, seating and some internal passenger features.
- Perhaps, they could be called the Heathrow Train boldly on the outside, so even the dimmest passenger didn’t get on a Reading train instead of a Heathrow one.
- All trains would have wi-fi and 4G connectivity. These features have been promised for the Class 345 trains.
- Some coaches would be fitted with luggage spaces for the outsize cases people carry.
I could envisage the Heathrow Trains terminating at a wide number of places in addition to Abbey Wood and Shenfield. Possibilities must include Beaulieu Park, Ebbsfleet, Gravesend, Northfleet and Southend Victoria
Shenfield To Heathrow – 21st May 2023
Today, is the first day, when Elizabeth Line trains are running direct between Shenfield station and Heathrow.
I took the 10:41 train from Shenfield and it arrived at Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 station at 12:02.
I took these pictures on the route.
Note.
- The busiest section of the journey was between Ilford and Liverpool Street, when all seats were taken.
- It was also reasonably busy after Ealing Broadway.
- Are passengers going to Heathrow Airport with a change at Ealing Broadway?
Given the crowds of passengers, that I keep seeing on the Elizabeth Line, I keep thinking that the sixteen trains per hour (tph) Off Peak frequency needs to be increased.
The First Elizabeth Line Train From Shenfield To Heathrow Leaves At 07:26 Tomorrow
The National Rail timetable is showing that tomorrow, Elizabeth Line trains will leave Shenfield at four minutes to the half-hour.
They take ninety minutes to get to the airport.
Zero/Low-Emission Locomotive Global Roundup
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Age.
This is the introduction.
By 2050, in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement, zero-emission locomotives may have completely replaced conventional diesel-powered equipment on the railways of the world.
Current development of zero-emission switcher locomotives, combined with practical operating experience, increases this likelihood in the foreseeable future.
It will be increasingly possible to determine the optimal type or types of zero- or low- emission locomotives to replace conventional diesel units.
They then give a roundup, which includes American, Canadian Chinese, French, Indian and Polish locomotives.
There was no mention of Clean Air Power‘s conversion of a Class 66 locomotive to dual-fuel operation, that I wrote about in Clean Air Power Adds Hydrogen To Class 66 Fuel Mix.
The Anonymous Widower 