The Anonymous Widower

Could A Mega-Station Be Built For The Channel Tunnel?

This article on Railway Gazette International, is entitled Start-Up Announces Amsterdam To London And Paris High Speed Train Ambitions.

It talks about how Dutch start-up; Heuro wants to run fifteen trains per day (tpg) between London and Amsterdam.

The article then has this paragraph, which details other operators, who are wanting to run services between London and the near Continent.

Heuro’s announcement comes after Spanish start-up Evolyn announced plans in October for a Paris – London service, while on November 11 British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that Sir Richard Branson and Phil Whittingham, former head of Virgin Trains and Avanti West Coast, were also drawing up plans to compete with Eurostar and had held discussions with infrastructure managers.

This leads me to the conclusion, that there will be a need for more capacity for trains and/or passengers at some time in the future.

  • There are six International platforms at St. Panvcras International station, which can each probably handle four trains per hour (tph), so I suspect the station could handle 24 International tph.
  • As a modern high speed train can carry over 500 passengers, that is 12000 passengers per hour.
  • Visit St. Pancras station in the morning and it is often crammed with travellers coming from and going to Europe.

I suspect that the number of trains may not be a problem, but the number of passengers will.

We could always join Shengen, but then that would be an open door to all the would-be migrants to the UK.

This Google Map shows Stratford International station.

Stratford International station is in a soulless concrete cavern, that lies across the middle of the map.

In Platforms 1 And 4 At Stratford International Station,  there are a lot of pictures of the station.

I think it would be extremely difficult to add extra platforms and passenger facilities to the station.

This Google Map shows Ebbsfleet International station.

Note.

  1. Ebbsfleet International station, with its two International and four domestic platforms is in the middle of the map.
  2. The station is surrounded by car parks with a total of 5,000 spaces.
  3. Northfleet station is in the North-East corner of the map.

There is a lot of land, without any buildings on it.

These are my thoughts.

Enough Extra Bay Platforms To Handle The Additional Trains

There would appear to be space for perhaps two bay platforms to terminate trains.

But would passengers we happy being dumped outside Central London?

Would An Elizabeth Line Extension To Ebbsfleet Be Needed?

There are various plans to link the Elizabeth Line tp Ebbsfleet International.

In Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion, I showed this map from the Abbeywood2Ebbsfleet consultation.

There doesn’t appear to be too much new infrastructure, except for a proper connection between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet stations. References on the Internet, say that the similar-sized Luton DART connection at Luton Airport, cost around £225 million.

The Elizabeth Line connects to the following.

  • Bond Street
  • Canary Wharf
  • City of London
  • Farringdon for Thameslink
  • Heathrow Airport
  • Old Oak Common for High Speed Two
  • Liverpool Street station
  • Oxford Street
  • Paddington station
  • Slough for Windsor
  • Tottenham Court Road for the British Museum, Oxford Street, Soho, Theatreland and the Underground.
  • West End of London
  • Whitechapel for the Overground and Underground

For many people like me, the Elizabeth Line at Ebbsfleet will provide one of the quickest ways to get to and from European trains.

Ebbsfleet Has Space For A Bus Station

A bus station with comprehensive routes could be built at Ebbsfleet station, which I don’t think will be possible at St. Pancras.

It would also be possible to provide an easy route to Gatwick Airport along the M25.

Hotel Accommodation

This is surely necessary.

It would make an ideal base for tourists and business people, who wanted to visit several of the large cities connected to Ebbsfleet.

A Very Large Car Park

Consider.

  • Heathrow Airport is looking at providing upwards of 50,000 car parking spaces.
  • Some travellers are seriously allergic to public transport and will always use their car.
  • Many travellers these days want to take a severely outside case with them, when they’re only having a weekend in Paris.

I feel that a mega-station for Europe will need upwards of 10,000 car parking spaces. All of them with vehicle-to-grid chargers.

A Very Large Storage Battery

According to this page on the E-on web site, the average size of the battery in an electric vehicle is 40 kWh.

If 5,000 car parking spaces were to be fitted with vehicle-to-grid charging (V2G), that would be 2 MWh of energy storage, that could be used by National Grid, to store surplus electricity.

Get V2G right and it could make a serious contribution to your parking costs.

Pictures Of Ebbsfleet Station

These are some pictures I took at Ebbsfleet station today.

Note.

  1. The station is a fairly boring concrete, glass and steel construction.
  2. The SouthEastern HighSpeed services also go to St. Pancras, so they don’t offer any different connectivity towards the capital.

In addition, the SouthEastern HighSpeed Class 395 trains aren’t step-free at the platforms, as these pictures shows.

As I came back into St. Pancras International station, staff were struggling to load a wheelchair onto a train using a ramp.

Would A Two-Station Solution Increase Capacity?

High Speed Rail lines have  high capacity trains and there are examples of more than one station at the end of a route.

  • The London end of High Speed Two will have stations at Old Oak Common and Euston.
  • The Manchester end of High Speed Two will have stations at Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
  • The Edinburgh end of the East Coast Main Line has stations at Waverley and Haymarket.
  • The Amsterdam end of Eurostar and Thalys has stations at Rotterdam, Schipol Airport and Amsterdam.

A selection of stations gives choice and convenience for travellers.

Conclusion

I believe that selective development of Ebbsfleet International station could be used to take the pressure away from St. Pancras International station.

These developments could include.

  1. A comprehensive bus station
  2. Elizabeth Line to Northfleet
  3. Hotel Accommodation
  4. Lots Of Car Parking

 

 

 

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wisbech To March Rail Link Options Being Discussed

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Four options for a “rail” service between the Fenland towns of Wisbech and March are being considered by Network Rail.

These four options appear to be.

  • Conventional rail
  • Tram-train
  • Light rail
  • Very light rail

Note.

  1. I suspect all modes have their supporters.
  2. But only the first two options would be able to connect to Ely or Cambridge.
  3. The last two options would probably just be a shuttle to March.

I have looked at the route on OpenRailwayMap and there is no less than a dozen level crossings between March and Wisbech.

Even for very light rail, the engineering costs of these level crossings will be large.

Conclusion

I have a feeling that the costs of the engineering required for this scheme might kill it.

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 2 Comments

Europe’s Next High-Speed Train Operator

I was alerted to Heuro Train, by this article in Railway Gazette International, which has this opening paragraph.

A proposal to launch high speed train services from Amsterdam to London and from Groningen to Paris has been announced by Dutch start-up Heuro, while Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson is also reported to be looking at competing with Eurostar on cross-Channel routes.

The Heuro Train web site was easily found and the title of this post, was part of their mission statement on the home page.

I have read the web site and have a few initial thoughts.

Technology-Driven Excellence

This is their first sub heading and this is the text.

In a world where technology defines possibilities, Heuro develops the latest innovations into every aspect of our service. From advanced train systems to intuitive in-seat features that cater to your needs, our technology is the driving force behind a seamless, state-of-the-art travel experience.

We’ve all written things like that in the past.

Meeting The Human Need

This is their second sub heading and this is the text.

Heuro emerged from human desires, informed by analyses from Marveltest.

There’s been a 32% annual increase in online interest for train travel over five years. High-Speed Trains are 98% full at peak times. Over half of Europeans prefer train travel under 2 hours as a greener option. Introducing High-Speed Operators in train monopolies boosts demand by 45%.

They appear to have done their research and those are interesting figures.

Lightning Speed Connectivity

This is their third sub heading and this is the text.

In our digital age, both work and leisure have found a substantial home on the internet for urban humans. Whether sealing a business deal, streaming a favorite show, or connecting with loved ones, online interactions have become integral to our daily lives. At Heuro, we don’t just commit—we guarantee the best internet experience.

This is actually irrelevant these days, as there will be a high standard of Internet experience on all modes of transport in a few years, although some will get it earlier than others.

Planned Routes

This is their sixth sub heading and this is the text.

We will connect Amsterdam with Brussels, Paris, and London with intermediate stops at Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam Central, Antwerp Central & complimentary services to Groningen, Assen, Zwolle and Almere (continuing to Paris, 2 times per day)

This route map is shown.

Note.

  1. It is not a large network.
  2. It makes a lot of use of the Dutch high speed line; HSL-Zuid, that runs between Amsterdam and the Belgian border.
  3. I suspect it has been designed to be extended.

The Railway Gazette Article has these two paragraphs, which give more information on services and Heuro’s thinking.

On November 15 Heuro told Railway Gazette International that it aims to launch in 2028, offering 16 Amsterdam – Paris and 15 Amsterdam – London trains each day with intermediate stops at Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam Centraal, Antwerpen Centraal and Brussels. Two of the Paris trains would run to and from Groningen via Assen, Zwolle and Almere. 

The company said ‘every day, 55 planes fly from Amsterdam to London, while only four trains make this journey. Heuro intends to change that, aiming for more trains to depart from Amsterdam than flights’.

With other train companies wanting to serve London, will St. Pancras International be able to incorporate another fifteen trains per day from Amsterdam?

Web Site Language

Everything is in English! It also appears to be English English.

Les français ne seront pas amusés.

Extensions From London

Much of Central and Eastern England, and Eastern Scotland can be reached from St. Pancras International station, by a hundred metre walk to change platforms.

There is even a signed walking route between St. Pancras International and Euston stations, that isn’t the most arduous of walks.

The St. Pancras International and Euston stations connection could also be handled by a frequent electric shuttle bus.

Extensions From Amsterdam

Heuro are already indicating their intention to extend to Almere, Zwolle, Assen and Groningen.

I have taken that route and extended it via Leer, Oldenburg and Bremen to Hamburg.

Could this be in Heuro’s long term thinking?

Extensions From Paris

The French probably have ideas.

Conclusion

I like Heuro’s philosophy and starter kit.

 

November 20, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Are LNER Going To Take On The Airlines?

Nine years ago, I wrote Edinburgh – Plane Or Train?, after a trip to Scotland, where I took easyJet up and came back in First Class by train.

  • Both trips were about five hours door-to-door.
  • The flight was about six quid more,
  • But I got free food and drink on the train.
  • Security on the plane was a pain.
  • I had to take my passport for identification at Stansted.

I haven’t flown internally in Great Britain since, although, I have flown to Belfast.

For shorter flights the market is going towards rail, as these posts seem to suggest.

The climate seems to be turning against flying short-haul.

This is a paragraph, in this press release from LNER, which is entitled First Tri-Mode Long Distance Trains For The East Coast Main Line.

This new fleet of trains will keep LNER on track to reduce its emissions by 67 per cent by 2035 and be net zero by 2045. LNER has already reduced carbon emissions by 50 per cent compared with 2018/19. Per mile, LNER trains produce 15 times less carbon emissions than a domestic flight.

Are LNER building a number of climate-based sticks, with which to beat the airlines on the routes, where they compete?

These are my thoughts on the various routes, where LNER compete with airlines.

Newcastle

Newcastle is an interesting one.

  • Newcastle station is in the city centre and is on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
  • London King’s Cross is one of London’s major Underground hubs.
  • There are lots of buses and local trains within walking distance of both stations.
  • There are three trains every two hours and an additional eight trains per day (tpd) between the two London King’s Cross and Newcastle stations.
  • Lumo also run five tpd on the route.
  • There are generally no security delays at rail stations.
  • London King’s Cross is laid out to maximise passenger flows. If it gets busy, everybody just walks out into King’s Cross Square.
  • I’ve never had a problem at Newcastle station with overcrowding.

Perhaps, if you live near one of the airports, flying is more convenient.

LNER’s weapons against the airlines between London King’s Cross and Newcastle will be convenience and journey times.

Convenience is all about the location of the stations, their excellent  local transport networks and good walking routes around the station.

Journey times will only get better, as the magic of digital in-cab signalling, allows the Azumas, the new CAF tri-mode long distance trains and the few remaining InterCity 225s to show what they were designed to do.

Dalton-on-Tees, where the first phase of the digitally signalling will end, is 39.8 miles South of Newcastle, so once the Newcastle train is passes Dalton-on-Tees on the East Coast Main Line, it will be a digital-signalled electrified railway all the way to Woolmer Green.

  • Dalton-on-Tees is 39.8 miles South of Newcastle
  • Woolmer Green is 244.8 miles South of Newcastle.
  • Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green is 205 miles.
  • Newcastle and Dalton-on-Tees takes 37 minutes.
  • Woolmer Green and King’s Cross takes 18 minutes
  • Trains take typically an average three hours and nine minutes between London and Newcastle.
  • A typical train time by LNER between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green is two hours and 14 minutes.
  • This is an average speed of 91.8 mph between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
  • Between London King’s Cross and Newcastle is fully-electrified.

I can build a table of timings and savings at various average speeds.

  • 120 mph – 103 minutes – two hours and 38 minutes – 31 minutes
  • 125 mph – 98 minutes – two hours and 33 minutes – 36 minutes
  • 130 mph – 95 minutes – two hours and 30 minutes – 39 minutes
  • 135 mph – 91 minutes – two hours and 26 minutes – 43 minutes
  • 140 mph – 88 minutes – two hours and 23 minutes – 46 minutes

Note.

  1. The first field is the average speed between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
  2. The second field is the time between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
  3. The third field is the time between London and Newcastle.
  4. The fourth field is the saving over current timings.
  5. The London and Newcastle time is calculated by adding the times for the three sections together.

I have regularly timed trains at a very constant 125 mph, so with digital signalling, I suspect an average of 130 mph is possible.

This would mean, times of a few minutes under two hours and thirty minutes could be possible between London and Newcastle.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh builds on the improvements South of Newcastle.

Edinburgh station Waverley is a well-connected station.

  • There are lots of buses, local trains and the Edinburgh Tram within walking distance of Edinburgh Waverley station.
  • There are three trains every two hours and an additional seven tpd between the London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations.
  • Lumo also run five tpd on the route.
  • Trains take typically an average four hours and thirty minutes between London and Edinburgh Waverley.
  • Any savings because of the digital in-cab signalling between London and Newcastle can be applied to London and Edinburgh Waverley services.

As my calculations showed that averaging 130 mph between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green could save 39 minutes on journey times, I am fairly sure than a sub-four hour journey time will be possible between London and Edinburgh Waverley.

It should also be noted that that the power supply has been improved between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.

  • The distance between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley is 124.2 miles
  • Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley takes around one hour and 30 minutes.
  • This is an average speed of 82.8 mph between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.
  • Between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley is fully-electrified.

As the record time for between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley was set by an InterCity225 train in 1993 at three hours and twenty-nine minutes, I suspect that with more digital signalling and some track improvements, that there are more journey time improvements to be squeezed out.

I certainly believe that a time of three hours and fifty minutes between London and Edinburgh Waverley will be regularly achieved. This is a journey time saving of around forty minutes.

Dundee

Dundee has an airport and a station on the East Coast Main Line.

Trains between London  King’s Cross and Dundee take around five hours and 45 minutes.

LNER run three trains per day to and from London King’s Cross and one tpd to and from Leeds.

CrossCountry also run services.

Loganair has two flights per day to Heathrow.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen builds on the improvements South of Edinburgh.

The four direct tpd between London and Aberdeen take around seven hours and ten minutes.

This should come down to around six hours and thirty minutes with the journey time savings between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley.

Will this tempt travellers from the airlines?

Battery-Electric Trains To Dundee And Aberdeen

One thing that will help, is that Edinburgh and Aberdeen is to be partially electrified.

InPiling Work To Get Underway To Electrify Line To Fife, I included this Network Rail map of the electrification.

This map has been downloaded from the Network Rail web site.

The electrification is split into four phases.

  1. Haymarket and Dalmeny – 25 km
  2. Kirkcaldy and Thornton North – 25 km.
  3. Lochgelly and Thornton North – 20 km.
  4. Thornton North and Ladybank – 34 km.

Note.

  1. The last three phases of electrification connect to Thornton North.
  2. The new rail link to Leven will also be electrified. and connected to Thornton North.
  3. The Forth Bridge is not to be electrified.

As Ladybank station is just 91.4 miles from Aberdeen, I suspect LNER will use  Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Trains to serve Aberdeen.

If these trains haven’t got the range, then I suspect LNER’s new CAF Tri-Mode Trains could handle the route.

Inverness

Inverness has a problem.

Zero-carbon trains will be unlikely to get to the city without  full electrification of the Highland Main Line.

  • Dunblane is the nearest electrified station to Inverness, but it is 146.2 miles away over a route with lots of steep climbs.
  • I doubt that a battery-electric train could handle that route.

One solution would be for LNER to run the new CAF Tri-Mode Trains to Inverness using HVO or biodiesel.

Glasgow

Glasgow is the only other Scottish city with an airport and good rail connections to the South.

I am sure that Avanti West Coast will target airline passengers, if LNER prove it is a successful policy.

Other Factors

These are other factors, that will come into a traveller’s choice.

First Class

Some travellers like a bit more comfort and service.

Ability To Work

Some travellers like to work on a train.

You Don’t Get Tables On a Plane

I like to open a paper or magazine flat, which is difficult on a plane.

Views Tend To Be Better On a Train

Providing you get a window!

Parking Tends To Be Better At An Airport

But it may be more expensive!

Security Is Less Hassle On A Train

At the moment!

You Don’t Need To Prove Your Identity On A Train

Not in the UK! Yet!

Conclusion

It looks like LNER can offer the airlines to four of our major Northern cities serious zero-carbon competition.

 

November 19, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rail-Replacement Helicopter Service Takes Off

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.

These paragraphs give the story.

A rail-replacement helicopter service is being offered while the Braunwaldbahn funicular is closed for maintenance.

Services are suspended from November 6 to 17 on the 1 367 m long metre gauge funicular, which climbs 580 m to connect Linthal with the car-free village of Braunwald.

There are four seats available on each 2 min helicopter flight, with local residents, workers and students having priority over tourists.

The story has appeared in the Daily Express and there is this excellent and entertaining YouTube video.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Braunwaldbahn funicular and its connection to the railway at Linthal.

It sounds like fun!

November 19, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Norfolk Boreas Windfarm Work Could Resume After Energy Price Rise

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

There are growing hopes that work on a £10bn windfarm off the Norfolk coast will resume after the government agreed to pay more for energy production.

The first three paragraphs, indicate how positions have changed,

Earlier this year, Swedish company Vattenfall paused work on Norfolk Boreas located 50 miles off the coast of Cromer.

But ministers have agreed to a 66% increase in the amount they will pay for offshore electricity generation.

Vattenfall described the move as “a very positive signal”.

It certainly looks like the Government is looking more favourably at wind power developers.

November 19, 2023 Posted by | Energy | , , , | 6 Comments

Do LNER Have Plans For Lincolnshire?

I ask the question in the title of this post, for two reasons.

Note.

  1. London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes via Newark and Lincoln is just over 200 miles.
  2. Around eighty miles between London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes is not electrified.
  3. The Cleethorpes/Grimsby area is doing well because of all the offshore wind and the power stations at Keadby.
  4. I am fairly sure, that Lincolnshire will attract more energy-related businesses or ones that need a lot of energy.
  5. Lincoln is a city that is becoming more important for business and education.
  6. Lincoln probably needs a train service to the capital of at least one train per hour (tph).

For a train to do the round-trip between London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes, without refueling or charging the batteries at Cleethorpes, needs a train with a range without electrification of over 150 miles.

It seems to me, that LNER’s new CAF tri-mode long distance trains would be ideal to run a one train per two hours (tp2h), between London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes.

  • The service could call at Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark Northgate, Lincoln, Market Rasen, Barnetby and Grimsby Town.
  • I estimate that the trip would take about 0ne hour and 55 minutes to Lincoln and two hours and 55 minutes to Cleethorpes.
  • The CAF tri-mode long distance trains could probably easily handle the 160 miles without wires.
  • Cleethorpes can handle a ten-car train.

The current London King’s Cross and Lincoln service and the future London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes would be timed to give Lincoln an hourly service to and from London King’s Cross.

Serving Sleaford And Spalding

It must surely be possible to route the Cleethorpes trains to the South of Lincoln, via Sleaford, Spalding and the new Werrington dive-under, so that Sleaford and Spalding would have a direct service to London.

Don’t Forget Skegness And Boston

Consider.

Skegness, Boston and other places are connected to the East Coast Main Line, by an hourly train to Nottingham via Grantham.

They are also connected to Lincoln and Peterborough at Sleaford.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the lines at Sleaford.

Note.

  1. Sleaford station is marked with the blue arrow.
  2. The orange track is the Peterborough and Lincoln Line, that avoids Sleaford.
  3. The yellow track going East-West is the Grantham and Skegness Line.
  4. There is a loop from the Peterborough and Lincoln Line, so that passenger trains can go through Sleaford station.

I think that there are possibilities to improve the experience at Sleaford.

One possibility must be to build a Park-and-Ride station, where the two lines cross.

How Many Trains Would Be Needed For London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes Via Peterborough?

I estimate that the journey time could be around two hours and 45-50 minutes, so perhaps a six-hour round trip would be possible.

To run an hourly service would need six trains, with three needed for one tp2h.

New Infrastructure Required

The only new infrastructure required, might be some method of refuelling the CAF tri-mode long distance train at Cleethorpes.

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

LNER’s New Sunday Timetable

LNER’s new Sunday timetable, that starts on the 10th December 2023 is now available to view on this page of the National Rail web site, where this is said.

Sundays are now one of the most popular days to travel on LNER’s network.

To support this increase in demand, LNER is introducing three additional Sunday services into its timetable starting in December 2023 – two (one each way) between Leeds and London Kings Cross and one between Doncaster and London.

There will also be more seats added to some trains with eight existing Sunday services becoming longer trains. The current five carriage services will be replaced with either nine or ten carriage Azuma trains for destinations including Leeds, Harrogate and Lincoln.

This equates to more than 3,000 additional seats on a Sunday and will help reduce overcrowding and increase connectivity for more people between Yorkshire and London.  

To provide additional Sunday seating capacity, due to the lengthening of some London Kings Cross to Harrogate services on Sundays, two northbound station calls at Horsforth need to be removed on Sundays only.  The impacted services are the 09.05 and 17:05 London Kings Cross to Harrogate trains.

Note.

  1. Horsforth looks to have short platforms.
  2. Last Sunday, Harrogate to London services were three nine-car and three five-car trains.
  3. In September 2023, I wrote Yorkshire To See More LNER Services And Longer Trains.

LNER certainly seem to be fulfilling the last promise.

Additionally, in this article on Modern Railways, which is entitled LNER Orders CAF Tri-mode Sets, this is said.

Modern Railways understands the new fleet will be maintained at Neville Hill depot in Leeds and, like the ‘225’ sets, will be used predominantly on services between London and Yorkshire, although unlike the ‘225s’ the tri-modes, with their self-power capability, will be able to serve destinations away from the electrified network such as Harrogate and Hull.

So are LNER gradually moving towards the new timetable they will use after the CAF tri-mode trains are delivered?

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do Rolls-Royce mtu Have A Plan To Decarbonise Their Diesel Engines For Rail Applications?

Data Sheets For Rolls-Royce mtu Diesel Engines For Trains

These are data sheets for various Rolls-Royce mtu diesel engines that can be used in rail applications.

Rolls-Royce Releases mtu Rail Engines For Sustainable Fuels

The title of this section, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.

These four bullet points, act as sub-headings.

  • mtu Series 1300, 1500 and 1800 engines already released; Series 1600 and 4000 to follow shortly
  • Up to 90% CO2 savings by operating existing engines with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO/renewable diesel)
  • Locally emission-free operation possible in combination with mtu Hybrid PowerPack
  • Field tests with DB Cargo and RDC Autozug Sylt

This is the first paragraph.

Rolls-Royce is taking a significant step towards even more climate-friendly rail transport with the release of mtu rail engines for use with sustainable fuels. With synthetic diesel fuels of the EN15940 standard, CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to 100 percent compared to fossil diesel. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO or renewable diesel), which is already commercially available today, reduces CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent. If the fuels are produced with the help of renewable energy and green hydrogen – through what is termed a Power-to-X process – existing rail vehicles can be operated in a completely CO2-neutral manner. The mtu Series 1800 engines which are used in mtu PowerPacks, as well as Series 1300 and 1500 for locomotives and multi-purpose vehicles, are already approved for use with synthetic fuels such as HVO. Series 1600 and versions of Series 4000 engines will follow in the near future. The release of engines for climate-friendly fuels requires a series of tests and trials and Rolls-Royce has found strong partners for this activity. DB Cargo and RDC Autozug Sylt have already tested or are currently testing mtu Series 4000 engines with HVO in their locomotives.

How Does That Fit With The UK’s Population Of Rolls-Royce mtu Diesel Engines?

These classes of train have Rolls-Royce mtu engines.

Note.

  1. Class 168 and 170 trains seem to be powered by older model Rolls Royce mtu engines.
  2. Class 180, 220,221 and 222 trains are powered by Cummins engines.
  3. I can’t find what engines power Class 805 and 810 trains, but it is reasonable to assume they have the same engines as the other Hitachi trains.
  4. As CAF are building LNER’s new tri-mode trains, I suspect these trains will also have Rolls Royce mtu engines.

It would appear that all the Rolls-Royce mtu rolling stock in the UK, with the possible exception of the Class 168 and 170 trains will be able to run on sustainable fuels.

Rolls Royce mtu And Hydrogen

This press release from Rolls-Royce is entitled Rolls-Royce Successfully Tests mtu Engines With Pure Hydrogen.

This is the first paragraph.

Rolls-Royce today announces that it has conducted successful tests of a 12-cylinder gas variant of the mtu Series 4000 L64 engine running on 100% hydrogen fuel. The tests, carried out by the Power Systems business unit, showed very good characteristics in terms of efficiency, performance, emissions and combustion. These tests mark another important step towards the commercial introduction of hydrogen solutions to meet the demand of customers for more sustainable energy.

Engines of mtu’s 4000 family are used in Class 43 power cars, so surely these developments could lead to hydrogen-powered freight locomotives.

The picture shows a Class 43 power car at Glasgow Queen Street station.

Could Rolls-Royce mtu hydrogen power keep these iconic trains running for a few more years?

In ‘Spirit of Innovation’ Stakes Claim To Be The World’s Fastest All-Electric Vehicle, I look at Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation, which set the record for an electric vehicle at 555.9 km/hour.

As the InterCity125 already holds the record for the fastest diesel train, perhaps Rolls-Royce will attempt to set a record for the fastest hydrogen-powered train?

Decarbarbonising The CAF Class 195, 196 And 197 Trains

If Rolls-Royce mtu develop a hydrogen version of the 1800 diesel engine, then this could be used to fully decarbonise the CAF trains.

The operators may consider it’s not worth it and continue with using sustainable fuels.

But the possibility is surely there.

There must also be the possibility of developing a fuel cell replacement for the 1800 diesel, that can be slotted into the train.

Decarbarbonising The Hitachi Class 80x Trains

Hitachi are developing battery packs and the data sheet can be downloaded from this page on the Hitachi web site.

Decarbarbonising The CAF Tri-Mode Trains

I feel that as CAF usually use Rolls-Royce mtu engines, I suspect these trains will be designed, so they can be converted to hydrogen.

Conclusion

Rolls-Royce mtu appear to be on a path to decarbonise all their diesel engines.

 

November 18, 2023 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Set Back As Badgers Undermine 11 km Of Railway

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.

These four paragraphs outline the problems.

Deutsche Bahn reports that burrowing badgers have undermined about 11 km of embankment on the Fröndenberg – Unna railway, and repairs are likely to be very expensive and take a long time as the damage is more extensive than expected.

In some places the repairs will be equivalent to new construction, and DB says the planning and approval phase alone could take several years as the route passes through protected environments. Local media reports that the financial viability of reopening is being questioned.

DB first discovered the damage in 2022, and initiated repairs using a concrete spraying process. It also began to examine the rest of the route and 140 sett entrances have now been discovered, leading to an extensive tunnel system which is believed to have a total length of around 1 500 m spread over the entire length of the embankment.

The line runs through a nature reserve, so investigations had to be suspended over the summer until a special permit was obtained. Trees and bushes also needed to be cut back. Regional train service RB54 remains suspended between Unna and Fröndenberg and replaced by buses, extending journey times by 7 min.

Note.

  1. The railway appears to be only single-track from Google Maps.
  2. Unna station is the Easternmost station of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn.
  3. The RB 54 – Hönnetal-Bahn runs between Fröndenberg and Unna.

I wouldn’t be surprised that this serious problem will be resolved by either closing the railway permanently or by using an expensive rebuild.

How Network Rail Deal With Badgers

I did find this document on the Network Rail web site, which appears to be part of a Safety Course.

There is this page on the Network Rail web site, which is entitled Badgers Sett To Keep Their Homes As Railway Works Around.

Unfortunately for the Germans, they seem to have whole armies of badgers, whereas we seem to have just a couple of families in the second document.

It does look like in the video in the second example, that a certain amopunt of psychology is used to persuade the badgers to do, what Network Rail wants them to do.

Sheep And The M62

When I was at Liverpool University in the 1960s, the Veterinary Department had a contract to design fencing to keep the hardy Pennine sheep off the motorway.

They found that the sheep had little difficulty climbing over a six foot high wire mesh fence.

Perhaps DB should ask Liverpool, if they have any tips!

November 17, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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