Reopening Of Abandoned Merseyside Railway Under Consideration
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on New Civil Engineer.
This is the sub-heading.
St Helens Borough Council is investigating the possibility of reopening part of the abandoned St Helens and Runcorn Gap railway in Merseyside.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the section of railway that will be reopened.
Note.
- The line runs between St. Helens Central and St. Helens Junction stations.
- St. Helens Central is in the North-West corner of the map and is marked by a blue arrow.
- St. Helens Junction station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- Both stations have two tracks and two platforms.
- St. Helens Central appears to have full disabled access,
- Both stations are electrified.
- It appears, that the route is still viable, but the track is not intact.
I have a few thoughts.
St. Helens Junction Station
This Google Map shows St. Helens Junction station.
Note.
- There are two platforms.
- Platform 1 is the Northern platform and trains go East.
- Platform 2 is the Southern platform and trains go to Liverpool Lime Street.
- There appears to be a footbridge at the Eastern end.
- Trains from the new route from St. Helens Central station would approach from and leave to the South-West.
- In a typical hour, between five and eight trains per hour (tph) go through the station in both directions on the main line.
I feel that a bay platform would need to be built at the station to handle the proposed service at St. Helens Junction station. But it would be able to handle four tph.
St. Helens Central Station
This Google Map shows St. Helens Central station.
Note.
- There are two platforms.
- Platform 1 is the Western platform and trains go to Wigan North Western.
- Platform 2 is the Eastern platform and trains go to Liverpool Lime Street.
- There appears to be a footbridge in the middle, with lifts.
- Trains from the new route from St. Helens Junction station would approach from and leave to the South-West.
- In a typical hour, between two and three tph go through the station in both directions on the main line.
It may be possible to run two tph on the route to St. Helens Junction station, by using the Southern end of Platform 2.
It would probably be able to handle two tph, by fitting in between the current services.
If a new bay platform were to be built at St. Helens Central four tph would be possible.
What Would Be The Frequency Of The Service?
Consider.
- As I said earlier, because of the current frequency of trains through St. Helens Junction station, I feel a dedicated bay platform will be needed at that station, which would probably handle four tph.
- Without building a dedicated bay platform, I doubt that St. Helens Central station could have more than two tph.
- Two tph on the new route, would fit well with the services through St. Helens Central station.
I believe that providing it gave sufficient capacity for the route, that two tph will be the frequency, as it only needs one bay platform at St. Helens Junction station to be built.
What Length Of Train Will Be Used?
As a bay platform will have to be built at St. Helens Junction station, this will probably determine the length of train.
I would build the bay platform to accept a three or four car train, as lengthening platforms is always a pain.
Looking at the map of St. Helens Junction station, I suspect that a four-car platform may be the longest possible.
What Type Of Train Should Be Used?
If you look at all the Beeching Reversal schemes, there isn’t one like this, where two electrified lines are connected by a short length of new railway, which in this case is only 3.5 km, according to the New Civil Engineer article.
Consider.
- A round trip is only 7 kilometres.
- I suspect each trip between the two stations will take no more than ten minutes.
- If the frequency is two tph, there will be plenty of time to turn a train at each end.
- All new routes opened on UK railways from now on, should have carbon-free traction.
For these reasons, I suspect that the route could be run by a battery-electric train, which is charged at one end.
Putting up a short length of overhead electrification in the new bay platform at St. Helens Junction, as the station is already electrified, would not be the most challenging of tasks.
Alternatively, the train could be charged, whilst it is waiting to return in St. Helens Central, using the existing overhead electrification.
Will There Be Any Intermediate Stations Between St. Helens Central And St. Helens Junction?
On the first map the station sites of two former stations are shown; Peasley Cross and Sutton Oak.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Sutton Oak station, there was quite an intensive service a hundred years ago.
Why shouldn’t they be rebuilt? Especially, if there are plans for housing or regeneration in the area.
Will Between St. Helens Central And St. Helens Junction Be Single Track?
This would still enable two tph, if the trains did a quick turn-round in the bay platform at St. Helens Junction.
But it would mean.
- Lower cost infrastructure.
- Simple tram-style intermediate stations.
- One train on line operation for safety.
I feel that it is highly likely the new route will be single-track.
Carr Mill Station
This map shows Merseyrail’s future plans.
Note the proposed new station at Carr Mill, which is North-East of St. Helens Central on the Liverpool and Wigan Line.
The Wikipedia entry for Carr Mill station, says this about a proposed new station.
Proposals to construct a new station to serve the expanding population have been suggested by Merseytravel but funding has yet to arrive. A new proposal to open a station was raised by Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram as part of his re-election plans in January 2020.
It should be noted, that a new Carr Mill station could be on the East Lancashire Road, so it might be a good place to create a Park-and-Ride station for Liverpool and St. Helens.
Perhaps if a bay platform were to be incorporated into the new Carr Mill station, it might be better to run a service between Carr Mill and St. Helens Junction.
- There would be two tph.
- Intermediate stops would be St. Helens Central, Peasley Cross and Sutton Oak.
- I estimate the distance would be about four miles of which 1.8 miles would be electrified.
- The trains would be charged on the electrified line between Carr Mill and St. Helens Central stations.
There would be no need to electrify the bay platform at St. Helens Junction
Should The Service Go All The Way To Wigan?
It must surely be a possibility to run the service between Wigan North Western and St. Helens Junction.
- There would be two tph.
- Intermediate stops would be Carr Mill, Bryn, Garswood, St. Helens Central, Peasley Cross and Sutton Oak.
- I estimate the distance would be about eleven miles of which nine miles would be electrified.
- The trains would be charged on the electrified line between Wigan North Western and St. Helens Central stations.
This would create an excellent connection to Wigan North Western for all the long distance trains to Scotland and the South.
Should The New Route Be Electrified?
Consider.
- St. Helens and Wigan North Western is a fully-electrified route.
- It is only 2.2 miles, which would probably be single track railway.
- As there is electrification at both ends of the new route, there would be no problem arranging power.
- It would remove the need for battery-electric trains.
I suspect that this is one that accountants will decide, as both battery-electric and electrification will work equally well!
What Trains Would Be Used?
If the route is electrified, any electric train of a suitable length could be used. I would argue, that the same class of train, as is used through the two St. Helens stations, should be used for operational and passenger convenience.
To maintain the operational and passenger convenience, if battery-electric trains are used, then Northern’s Class 331 trains and Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains come or will come in both electric and battery-electric versions.
Conclusion
This looks like a very sensible scheme.
Ballymena: Wrightbus To Develop Hydrogen Production Facility
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Wrightbus is planning to develop a green hydrogen production facility at its factory in Ballymena.
And these first three paragraphs outline the project.
The proposal is being made in partnership with a sister company, Hygen Energy.
Part of the Wrightbus business is the manufacturing of hydrogen-powered buses, some of which are operated by Translink.
The new facility would help create a reliable source of fuel for those buses and other hydrogen-powered vehicles.
It seems a well-designed project and it appears Hygen are building a similar facility in Bradford.
Some months ago, I had a drink in my house, with three senior London bus company executives.
One has had problems with electric buses, as getting the required power to charge a fleet in some Central London garages is not easy.
I showed them these figures, from the Wrightbus web site.
- A Wrightbus electric double-decker takes 2.5 hours to charge for a 200 mile range.
- A hydrogen double-decker takes 8 minutes to refuel with up to a 280 miles range.
They were impressed. Especially, as a typical duty for a bus in London is almost 200 miles. A hydrogen bus seemed to make a lot more sense.
So why isn’t London preparing for scores of hydrogen buses?
Ask the Mayor!
This Hydrogen Bus Will Take You And Your Car To Your Holiday Destination – Topgear
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
The article details an interesting concept called Symone, from the French.
Looking at it, I suspect British Rail’s Motorail service was more efficient, as it had a larger capacity.
Solar Farms And Biodiversity
I have an old farmer friend, who told me this tale.
His neighbour put up a few acres of solar panels on a field, that adjoins one of his fields, where it generally grows cereal crops.
He told me that he felt he was seeing more hares on his land and wrote to me asking if it could be the solar panels.
I searched the Internet and couldn’t find anything at the time.
But, it should be remembered, that hares have an unusual way of bringing up their leverets, where the mothers generally abandon them during the day and feed them in the evening.
We did wonder, if the solar panels offered protection to the leverets from aerial predators. And the mothers were learning that solar panels were a safer place.
This morning someone made a comment about solar panels on a page in The Times and I searched again.
I found this article on the Solar Power Portal, which is entitled Solar Farms And Biodiversity and thoroughly read it.
It doesn’t say much about hares, but it puts a strong case, that solar panels can increase biodiversity.
Arrest Warrants For Architects Over Collapsed Buildings in Turkey Earthquake
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Architects’ Journal.
This is the sub-heading.
Turkish government officials have issued 113 arrest warrants for people involved with the construction of buildings that collapsed in last week’s earthquake – including architects, contractors and engineers – reports claim
The article is a serious review of what happened in Turkey, that might have contributed to the scale of the disaster.
These are three paragraphs.
The Guardian claimed the arrests were ‘likely to be seen as an attempt by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan … to deflect blame’, saying that the president ‘faces tough elections in May’.
As already reported by the AJ, regulations introduced in Turkey after a previous earthquake 24 years ago should have ensured that modern buildings were able to withstand quakes of this magnitude.
But it has been widely reported that tens of thousands of buildings were granted ‘construction amnesties’ over several decades. These enabled owners of structures built without the required safety certificates to gain legal exemption upon payment of a fee, a situation that critics say has long risked catastrophe.
The last paragraph sounds very much like institutionalised bribery.
The article is very much a must read.
Riding On Hydrogen-Powered Buses And Trains
These posts describe my trips on hydrogen-powered buses
Note.
- The first bus starts from Birmingham City Centre.
- The second bus runs between Paddington station and John Lewis in Oxford Street in London.
This post describes my first ride in a hydrogen-powered train.
My First Ride In An Alstom Coradia iLint
This was through the German countryside between Hamburg and Cuxhaven.
Findlater’s Corner At London Bridge – 11th February 2023
This restoration was shown on the BBC London news in a story, which was entitled London Bridge: Derelict Railway Arches Restored To Past Glory, and I thought it was worth a visit.
Note.
- It is a fine restoration.
- I shall be interested to see, the tenants it attracts.
- The railway bridge needs an appropriate repainting, to eliminate the graffiti.
I think, that with the right tenants, the tea room could be a gem.
The BBC article says this about the tea room.
The project team also made a surprise discovery when removing a section of plaster from a wall to another of the arches; a glass mosaic for an Express Dairy Tea Room dating back to the early 1900s.
Railway stations were a popular location for tea rooms because at the time they had access to the freshest milk, often transported from farms on trains before being sent to urban milk dairies.
“The tea rooms were one of the first places that ladies, who couldn’t necessarily go and eat in bars or eat in chop houses, could come, get together as single women and meet their friends, so this is perhaps an important part of the emancipation of urban woman in London”, said Mr O’Looney.
Mr. O’Looney is the architect of this project, who is the gloriously named; Benedict O’Looney.
He featured in this blog before in It’s Not April The First, where I wrote about his restoration of the waiting room at Pekham Rye station.
Bank Station Upgrade – 11th February 2023
I took these pictures as I passed through Bank station this morning.
The central passageway between the two Northern Line platforms appears to be complete with the standard heavy steel fire-doors.
I also took these pictures of the new Cannon Street entrance.
Note the passage running up the side of the station to King William Street.
Chatting to staff I got two different stories about the opening.
- One said it will open on Friday.
- Another said there would be testing earlier in the week to decide when it opens.
But those two stories would fit.
Mersey Tidal Project And Where It Is Up To Now
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Liverpool Echo.
This is the sub-heading.
With a major agreement on the project reached this week, we take a look at what it all means.
There is a section, which is called So What Is A Mersey Tidal Project?, where this is said.
The idea is to build a huge damn structure in the River Mersey with turbines that can harness energy from the tides of the river and convert it into clean power. The city region combined authority is hopeful that this could power up to 1 million homes and create thousands of local jobs
The city region has one of the country’s largest tidal ranges so it is seen as a perfect opportunity to explore a tidal project here. It is hoped such a project could generate a ‘plentiful, reliable supply of clean, green energy for generations to come.
In the 1970s, I did a small project management consultancy at Frederick Snow and Partners in London. They showed me their ambitious plans for a Severn Barrage, which was a tidal scheme, that would have created a tenth of our electricity and would have cost around a billion pounds.
But Harold Wilson, who was Prime Minister at the time, felt that the money would be better spent on building massive coal-fired power stations, rather than building a clean power station, that would last centuries.
A second section is called What Happened This Week?, where this is said.
This week the Liverpool City Region signed an agreement with the company behind the current world’s current largest tidal project with a view to learning lessons.
The Sihwa Lake tidal range power plant, which is operated by Korea Water Resources Corporation, generates 552GWh of clean, green energy every year, replacing the equivalent of 862,000 barrels of oil a year.
Jeong Kyeong Yun, Vice President of Korea Water Resources Corporation, known as K-water, was in Liverpool this week to sign an historic Memorandum of Agreement with Mayor Rotheram. It is hoped the agreement will pave the way for close co-operation between the two tidal power projects, through reciprocal visits and information sharing.
Note.
- The Liverpool Echo is still making spelling mistakes, like damn instead of dam. In the 1960s, Fritz Spiegl used to give us all pleasure by writing about them.
- 552 GWh would keep the UK powered up for nearly a month.
- The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station has a comprehensive Wikipedia entry.
- The Sihwa dam has a road over the top.
- Unlike Frederick Snow’s scheme for the Severn, Sihwa only generates power, on the incoming tide. But it does generate 254 MW.
As ever, Liverpool is thinking big and getting the experience from those, who know what they are doing.
This last paragraph, gives the thoughts of the Mayor.
Mayor Rotheram said that with the right support, he hopes the project could be generating clean, renewable power by the end of this decade.
I would go along with that.
The Mersey Tidal Project And The Mersey Gateway Bridge
Frederick Snow’s plans for the Severn could have incorporated a new road and rail crossing of the estuary.
This Google Map shows the the Sihwa Lake Tidal power station.
The road over the dam is clearly visible.
I took these pictures of the Mersey Estuary as I came back from Liverpool on Tuesday.
This Google Map shows the Mersey Estuary.
Note.
- The River Mersey flowing from the North-East corner of the map to the South-West corner.
- On the South Bank of the Mersey, there is the deep-water channel of the Manchester Ship Canal.
- The bridge in the North-East corner of the map is the Mersey Gateway Bridge.
- Then there is the pair of bridges at Runcorn; the Silver Jubilee Bridge and the Runcorn Railway Bridge.
I am fairly sure, that the Mersey Tidal Project would be built downstream of the pair of bridges at Runcorn.
This Google Map shows the Mersey Estuary from the Runcorn Bridges to the mouth of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Note.
- The Mersey Gateway Bridge and the two Runcorn bridges are in the North-East corner.
- The route of the Manchester Ship Canal is clearly visible.
- Liverpool John Lennon Airport is on the North Bank of the Mersey.
- The M56 and M53 Motorways run East-West across the map to the South of the River.
This map leads me to the conclusion, that a tidal barrage with a road on top could link Liverpool to the M56.
I have some thoughts.
Rail Access To Liverpool
There is an electrified railway between Liverpool and Ellesmere Port.
- The railway can be picked out running across the bottom of the map.
- In Liverpool’s Vision For Rail, I talked about Liverpool City Region’s plan to expand this service to Helsby, Frodsham and Runcorn East.
- Helsby and Frodsham are shown on the map.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new Park-and-Ride station, where the M56 and the railway cross.
Ship Access To Manchester And Other Ports
Barrages usually have to provide access for ships to pass through to any ports behind the barrage.
But the Mersey Tidal Project already has that access. – It was built in the 1893 and is called the Manchester Ship Canal.
There is probably strong protection between the Mersey and the Canal between the mouth of the Canal and Runcorn, which may impact positively on the costs of the barrage.
The Simple Barrage
Sihwa Lake Tidal power station is a simple barrage with a bridge over the power station in the middle.
This Google Map shows the location of the power station.
Note.
- Seoul is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The Sihwa Lake Tidal power station is marked by the red arrow.
This Google Map shows a close-up of the power station.
Note.
- The ten turbines appear to be in the gap.
- There appears to be a road on top of the barrage.
- The area to the West of the power station is marked as a rest area.
- A Moon Observatory is marked.
- It has bus stops, showing that it is served by the 123 and 123-1 buses.
It is an impressive structure.
I’m sure that this type of barrage would work over the Mersey.
- A road could be built on top.
- It may only be able to generate electricity,from an incoming tide, like Sihwa.
- It could incorporate a rest area.
I do suspect though Liverpudlians would add a few unique touches of their own. Perhaps some liver birds or superlambananas.
The Frederick Snow Solution
The Severn is a wide river and he proposed that there would be a dam across the river, with a spine running East along the middle of the river.
- The spine would divide the river into two lakes.
- On the incoming tide, sluices would open and allow water to flow into the Northern or high lake from the Mersey estuary.
- On the outgoing tide, sluices would open and allow water to flow out of the Southern or low lake into the Mersey estuary.
- Water would flow between the high and low lake through turbines to generate electricity.
- I have assumed that the high lake is on the North side, but if the geography is more suitable, the high and low lakes could be reversed.
In the design for the Severn Barrage, an International airport would have been built on the spine.
But Liverpool already has a nearby International airport, so perhaps it could be much better to install a large electrolyser and hydrogen storage on the spine.
Swedish Battery-Electric Aircraft Selected By A Major Airline
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on autoevolution.
This is the sub-heading.
You know that saying, “New year, new me”? In the case of this major airline, it’s more like “New decade, new me.” Air New Zealand wants to flaunt a brand-new regional fleet starting 2030. And it looks like that will include an all-electric model developed by the Sweden-based Heart Aerospace.
The article then gives a description of their plan called Mission Next Gen Aircraft to go zero-carbon on their short haul routes.
This paragraph describes the aircraft that will be used.
ATR will bring its upgraded aircraft concept, called the ATR EVO, designed to be 100% compatible with SAF (sustainable aviation fuel). Embraer will showcase the innovations of an entire new family of aircraft named Energia, based on various types of clean propulsion. Universal Hydrogen will retrofit the existing regional airliners with its efficient hydrogen solution. Last but not least, Heart Aerospace will focus on the niche segment of battery-electric aircraft.
It will be fascinating to see how all this works out.
We’re still waiting in the UK for an airline to announce the purchase of a zero-carbon aircraft.
Especially, as we have some routes, like those around Scottish islands, where there are many short routes, that have less than a dozen passengers on a flight.
