Batteries Ordered For Grand Central Inter-City Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These three paragraphs add detail to the article.
Hitachi Rail has selected Turntide Technologies to supply lithium iron phosphate batteries for use on electric-diesel-battery hybrid inter-city trainsets it is to build for Arriva’s open access operator Grand Central.
Nine five-car trainsets are to be manufactured at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe factory for delivery in 2028 under a order placed by leasing company Angel Trains in March.
Under the latest agreement announced on July 2 Hitachi Rail will place orders worth nearly £10m for Turntide to continue with R&D and supply next-generation LFP batteries, which are designed to be smaller and more powerful than previous lithium-ion batteries. The Safety Integrity Level 2 and IEC 61508 compliant battery management system will detect and mitigate hazards and meet the IEC 62243 cybersecurity standard.
There is also this paragraph, which describes the benefits of the trains.
The battery technology is expected to cut the Grand Central trains’ emissions and fuel consumption by around 30%, with the trains entering and exiting stations in zero-emission mode to improve air quality and reduce noise in urban centres.
Angel Trains, Grand Central, Hitachi Rail and Turntide Technologies seem to be playing this all carefully, as I suppose that they don’t want to be left with a large problem, if the current government decides to take over open access services.
mtu Engines From Rolls-Royce Provide Emergency Power On Offshore Wind Platforms In The UK
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.
These two bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Four engines from the mtu Series 4000 provide emergency power for two converter platforms
- Norfolk wind farm will generate electricity for demand from more than four million households
This opening paragraph adds more detail.
Rolls-Royce has received a second order from Eureka Pumps AS to supply mtu Series 4000 engines to power emergency power generators for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Farm on the east coast of the United Kingdom. Rolls-Royce will thus supply a total of four mtu engines for the first and second phases of the large wind farm, which is operated by energy supplier RWE. The engines will be installed on two converter platforms at sea and onshore, which are the heart of the offshore grid connection: they ensure that the electricity generated at sea can be fed into the power grid. With a total capacity of 4.2 GW, the wind farm is expected to generate electricity for more than four million households during the course of this decade. It is located 50 to 80 kilometers off the east coast of the UK.
In some ways I find it strange, that a diesel generator is used to provide the necessary emergency power.
But when I asked Google if mtu 4000 generators can operate on hydrogen. I got this answer.
Yes, mtu Series 4000 engines, specifically the gas variants, can be adapted to run on hydrogen fuel. Rolls-Royce has successfully tested a 12-cylinder mtu Series 4000 L64 engine with 100% hydrogen fuel and reported positive results. Furthermore, mtu gas engines are designed to be “H2-ready,” meaning they can be converted to operate with hydrogen, either as a blend or with 100% hydrogen fuel.
That seems very much to be a definite affirmative answer.
So will these mtu Series 4000 engines for the Norfolk wind farms be “H2 ready”? The hydrogen needed, could be generated on the platform, using some form of electrolyser and some megawatts of electricity from the wind farms.
Will The Norfolk Wind Farms Generate Hydrogen For Germany?
Consider.
- Germany needs to replace Russian gas and their own coal, with a zero-carbon fuel.
- Germany is developing H2ercules to distribute hydrogen to Southern Germany.
- Germany is developing AquaVentus to collect 10 GW of hydrogen from wind-powered offshore electrolysers in the North Sea.
- The AquaVentus web site shows connections in the UK to Humberside and Peterhead, both of which are areas, where large hydrogen electrolysers are bing built.
- In addition Humberside has two of the world’s largest hydrogen stores and is building a 1.8 GW hydrogen-fired powerstation.
- The Norfolk wind farms with a capacity of 4.2 GW, are not far from the border between British and German waters.
- To the North of the Norfolk wind farm, RWE are developing the 3 GW Dogger Bank South wind farm.
- 7.2 GW of British hydrogen would make a large proportion of the hydrogen Germany needs.
I clipped this map from a video about Aquaventus.
Note.
- The thick white line running North-West/South-East is the spine of AquaVentus, that will deliver hydrogen to Germany.
- There is a link to Esbjerg in Denmark, that is marked DK.
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Norway, which goes North,
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Peterhead in Scotland, that is marked UK.
- There appears to be a link to just North of the Humber in England, that is marked UK.
- Just North of the Humber are the two massive gas storage sites of Aldbrough owned by SSE and Brough owned by Centrica.
- Aldbrough and Rough gas storage sites are being converted into two of the largest hydrogen storage sites in the world!
- There appear to be small ships sailing up and down the East Coast of the UK. Are these small coastal tankers, that are distributing the hydrogen to where it is needed?
When it is completed, AquaVentus will be a very comprehensive hydrogen network.
It will also be a massive Magic Money Tree for the UK Treasury.
So why is this vast hydrogen system never mentioned?
It was negotiated by Clair Coutinho and Robert Habeck, back in the days, when Boris was Prime Minister.
A Message From Trump
Donald Trump published this last night, according to a reader’s comment in The Times.
Trump Fragrances are here. They’re called “Victory 45-47” because they’re all about Winning, Strength, and Success For men and women. Get yourself a bottle, and don’t forget to get one for your loved ones too. Enjoy, have fun, and keep winning!
Roll up folks, you too can smell like Trump for a very reasonable $249!
I used to have a basset hound, who farts probably smelled better than anything produced by the world’s number one confidence trickster.
I must say, that the more, I read about Trump, the more it gets like a Tom Sharpe novel!
All Trump’s life needs is a good dose of rubber fetishism! He’d certainly look ridiculous in a rubber cat-suit.
GWR Battery-Powered Trains Could Be Used In Future
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Battery-powered trains could be used more frequently after a successful trial by Great Western Railway (GWR).
These three paragraphs give more details.
The rail company says using former underground trains and a rapid-charging system has shown the technology could replace its existing diesel fleet.
The year-long trial was held in west London but the trains will eventually be rolled out in the Thames Valley.
GWR says it can now prove the concept works and hopes to take the initiative to government.
A couple of weeks ago, I used similar trains between Wrexham Central and Shotton stations, which I wrote about in Vivarail Trains And Wrexham Central Station – 6th June 2025.
Heathrow Shutdown Caused By Problem Found Seven Years Ago
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Issues at an electrical substation which caused a fire that resulted in Heathrow Airport closing were first detected seven years ago but not fixed, a report has found.
These two paragraphs, explain the problem.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) said moisture entering electrical components at the North Hyde substation caused the blaze at the site that supplies the UK’s biggest airport with power.
It revealed an elevated moisture reading had been first detected in July 2018, but that “mitigating actions appropriate to its severity were not implemented”, with basic maintenance cancelled.
This was a failure of National Grid’s management and I suspect the company will received a severe punishment.
But what worries me, is that power networks are built from a series of standard components.
So how many other North Hydes are waiting to happen?
25-Year-Old Danish Offshore Wind Farm Gets Approval To Operate For 25 More Years
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
After approving the production permit extension for the Samsø offshore wind farm earlier this month, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has now granted extended permits to two more of Denmark’s oldest offshore wind farms, Middelgrunden and Nysted.
These first two paragraphs add more details.
To support its decisions, the DEA has requested that the applicants for the production permit extensions deliver an impartial analysis of the remaining lifetime. After receiving the extensions, the owners are now obliged to carry out comprehensive annual service inspections.
The Middelgrunden offshore wind farm was built in 2000 and received its electricity production permit the same year, before full commissioning in March 2001. The DEA has now approved Middelgrunden to operate for 25 more years.
This must be a very good thing, if with a good well-planned maintenance regime, engineers can get a productive life of fifty years out of an offshore wind farm.
With nuclear power stations, engineers seem to be able to predict their life expectancy fairly well, so if we can do the same with wind farms, it must make the planning of future power capacity a lot easier.
I asked Google for an answer to how long do nuclear power stations last and got this AI Overview.
Nuclear power plants are typically designed to operate for 40 to 60 years, but some can be extended to 80 years or even longer with upgrades and maintenance. Early plants were often designed for 30 years, but many have been refurbished to extend their operational life, according to the World Nuclear Association. The actual lifespan can also depend on factors like financial viability, operating costs, and the need for decommissioning, according to the National Grid Group.
As I suspect that solar farms could remain productive for fifty or sixty years, a mix of nuclear, solar and wind should serve us well in the future. Especially, as every next generation of nuclear, solar and wind power should be better than the last.
As a very experienced mathematical modeller, I like it.
Centrica And PTT Sign Heads Of Agreement For Long-Term LNG Supply
The title of this post, is the same as that as this press release from Centrica.
These two paragraphs add details to the deal.
Under the agreement, PTT will supply LNG to Centrica for a 10-year period across a range of destinations in Asia, with deliveries expected to begin in 2028.
This agreement marks a significant step forward in Centrica’s strategic efforts to grow its LNG portfolio. The agreement provides access to diverse markets in Asia, whilst deepening Centrica’s relationship with PTT, an important partner in Asia. For PTT, this deal represents its first, long-term, international LNG sale.
I wonder if this is a much wider deal than it first appears.
There are a lot of small nations in Asia and it looks as the press release talks about a range of destinations in Asia, that Centrica are setting themselves up as a major supplier of LNG to the smaller nations in Asia.
Centrica are also building up a portfolio of products, that they could offer to these small nations.
- LNG terminals from their own engineering resources.
- Domestic client management software.
- Hydrogen production from HiiROC, which they have backed.
- Carbon black for soil improvement from HiiROC.
- Liquid Air energy storage from Highview Power, which they have backed.
- Gas-fired power stations perhaps based on Rolls-Royce mtu diesel engines running on natural gas or hydrogen.
Countries could get these products and services from China, but at what price?
Darlington Station – 26th June 2025
I visited Darlington station, three times on my trip.
These pictures are in chronological order.
Note.
- The station is being given a major upgrade, so it can handle more trains.
- The station has a large number of top-quality Victorian features.
- The station is Grade II* Listed.
- Inside the enormous train-shed are two long platforms, that handle most of the trains and two South-facing bay platforms.
- Two new platforms, which are numbered 5 & 6, and possibly a double-track avoiding line are being added outside the train-shed on the East side.
- In images with a comment saying Note Platform 5, the new long electrified Platform 5 can be seen.
- Platform 5 appears to be already electrified at its Southern end.
These three OpenRailwayMaps shows the future layout.
The first OpenRailwayMap shows the junction, where the branch to Newton Aycliffe, Shildon and Bishop Auckland connects.
Note.
- The red tracks are electrified and indicate the East Coast Main Line.
- The track curving off to the North-West is the Bishop Auckland Branch.
- The black tracks are not-electrified.
- The Bishop Auckland Branch is shown dotted black and red, as it will be electrified, so that Hitachi can get their new trains to the East Coast Main Line.
- The two tracks of the East Coast Main Line are very straight and the map shows them to have a 125 mph operating speed.
The second OpenRailwayMap, shows the lines immediately to the South of Darlington station.
Note.
- The red tracks are electrified.
- The black tracks are not electrified.
- Tracks are number 4, 3, 2 and 1 from the West.
- The Southern ends of Platforms 1 and 4, and Platforms 2 and 3, which are inside the current train-shed appear to be virtually unchanged.
- Platform 1 is electrified and will probably still cater for Southbound trains.
- Platforms 2 and 3 are bay platforms without electrification for trains terminating at Darlington.
- Platform 4 is electrified and will probably still cater for Northbound trains.
- There is an electrified avoiding line to the East of Platform 1.
- The brick wall of the current train shed is in the white space to the East of Platform 1.
- Outside the current train shed are two electrified 125 mph lines, an electrified through platform and a South-facing bay platform without electrification.
- The new electrified platform looks very long. Could it be long enough to handle a pair of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains? I suspect though it is long enough to handle the splitting and joining of a pair of five-car Hitachi Class 80x trains.
- The new bay platform looks longer that the current bay platforms 2 & 3. Is it long enough to handle a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train?
- It does appear from the track layout, that the new electrified platform is connected to the East Coast Main Line, the Saltburn branch and stabling sidings to the North of the station.
- The new bay platform appears to be connected to the Saltburn branch.
The two new platforms also appear to be adjacent to an area of the station, which is labelled Darlington Station Gateway East. I would assume, that this proximity will be used to make the station easy for changing trains.
The third OpenRailwayMap shows the section of the station between the two previous maps.
Note.
- The red tracks are electrified.
- The black tracks are not-electrified.
- The Darlington end of the Bishop Auckland Branch is shown dotted black and red, as it will be electrified, so that Hitachi can get their trains to and from the East Coast Main Line.
- Both Platforms 1 and 4 appear to connect to the East Coast Main Line, so high speed services can operate as they do now, by taking a diversion through the current Darlington station.
- To the East of the East Coast Main Line, there appear to be some very useful stabling sidings.
I have some general thoughts about Darlington station.
Will Trains Not Stopping At Darlington Station Use The New 125 mph Lines Through the Station?
It does appear that the two 125 mph lines through the new part of the station are very straight.
- They are shown as 125 mph, but could be faster.
- It should be remembered that according to Wikipedia, British Rail built the Selby Diversion for 160 mph in 1983.
- Between Durham and York stations is 66.2 miles of mainly 125 mph railway.
I believe that cutting out the need for trains to slow to go through Darlington station could save several minutes.
Will Trains Stopping At Darlington Station Use The Current Platforms 1 And 4 As They Do Now?
The track layout would seem to allow this and those changing to another train, would not have to walk a long way.
Can Trains Stopping At Darlington Station Use The New Eastern Platforms?
I have examined the second and third maps in detail and it looks as if the track layout will allow trains on the East Coast Main Line in both directions to stop at the long electrified platform.
The shorter bay platform appears to be only connected to the Tees Valley Line to Middlesbrough and Saltburn.
How Long Are The New Eastern Platforms?
Estimating against the scale on the map, I reckon these are the likely lengths.
- Long electrified platform – 400 metres – Appears to be numbered 5
- Bay platform – 200 metres – Appears to be numbered 6.
These are very useful lengths.
An Aerial View Of The New Platforms
This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the Northern ends of the new platforms and the new footbridge.
Note.
- The original four-platform Victorian station is on the right, which is the Western side.
- The East wall of the Victorian train shed can be clearly seen.
- The two absolutely straight 125 mph lines, that allow trains to bypass the original station are closest to the wall.
- The long electrified platform, which appears to be numbered 5, also appears to be absolutely straight.
- The unelectrified bay platform, which appears to be numbered 6, is to the left.
- Platforms 5 and 6 would seem to be separated by a wide island platform, which would make interchange easy.
This page on the Network Rail web site, gives more information.
Car Parking At Darlington Station
This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the Northern end of the station.
Note.
- The three sections of the Victorian station.
- The two new platforms ; 5 and 6 at the top of the image.
- The two 125 mph lines bypassing the Victorian station.
- There are two new footbridges connecting the Victorian station to the land on the other side of the 125 mph lines.
To the left of the station, there appears to be a massive multi-story car-park.
I asked Google about the new car park at Darlington station and got this reply.
The new multi-story car park at Darlington Station will have a capacity of more than 650 vehicles. This is part of a larger £140 million redevelopment of the station, which also includes new platforms and an eastern concourse. The car park will include accessible parking bays and electric car charging points.
This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the car parking from the South.
Note.
- The building appears to be a five-story car park.
- There appears to be a very easy connection between the car park and the bridge to the station.
- From the roof layout, there appears to be several lifts.
- It looks like there will be a large area between the platforms and the car park, where travellers can meet and socialise.
- The bay platform 6 already has a pair of red buffer stops.
Railways may have come to Darlington two hundred years ago and it looks like they are getting the car parking at the station ready for at least the next two hundred.
Further Electrification
If as I expect, the UK embraces battery electric technology for local and regional trains, I can see the three South-facing bay-platforms being electrified, so they could charge he battery-electric trains.
This picture shows that bars have been placed across Platforms 2 and 3, that could be used to support the electrification.
This method has been used in Victorian stations in the UK before. I show some installations and discuss electrifying Victorian stations in Could Hull Station Be Electrified?.
Darlington Station And High Speed Two
This graphic shows the original service pattern for High Speed Two.
Note.
- There are seventeen paths terminating in the South at Euston station.
- Six of these paths go to Leeds, Newcastle or York.
- As the Eastern leg has been abandoned, that means there will be no High Speed Two trains to Leeds HS2, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle via the East Coast Main Line.
Darlington was to be served by these hourly services.
- Train 17 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub, York, Darlington and Durham.
- Train 23 – London and Newcastle via York and Darlington.
Both trains would have been a single 200 metre long High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train.
Joining And Splitting Trains At Darlington
As Platform 5 looks like it would be a 400 metre long platform, it would look like it would be possible to handle a pair of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
But these trains will not now be serving Darlington in the near future, as the Eastern leg of High Speed Two has been cancelled.
A pair of nine-car Class 801 trains would be 467.4 metres long and might be able to fit into Platform 5.
But a pair of seven-car trains would certainly fit into a 400 metre Platform 5.
In Do Class 800/801/802 Trains Use Batteries For Regenerative Braking?, I found this snippet in an Hitachi document.
To simplify the rearrangement and management of train configurations, functions are provided for identifying the train (Class 800/801), for automatically determining the cars in the trainset and its total length, and for coupling and uncoupling up to 12 cars in
normal and 24 cars in rescue or emergency mode.
So I suspect with software updates two nine-car trains could run together.
Suppose LNER wanted to attack the airlines on the London and Scottish route.
- Two seven- or nine-car Class 800 or 801 trains would leave Edinburgh working as a pair.
- First stop would be Platform 5 in Darlington.
- The trains would split in Darlington.
- One train would go to King’s Cross stopping at perhaps Doncaster and Peterborough.
- The other train would go to St. Pancras stopping at perhaps Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Bedford.
Note.
- A seven-car Azuma would be under 200 metres long.
- Seven-car trains would fit in St. Pancras.
- LNER have run an Azuma train into St. Pancras.
- The train would interchange with East-West Rail at Bedford.
- Travellers to and from East Anglia would change at Peterborough.
Large areas of England would have a fast route to and from Scotland.
It’s Too Darned Hot!
The title says it all!
The British Mini Nuclear Fusion Reactor That Actually Works
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
The only functional model in the world is so small it fits on a table and is set to help diagnose and cure cancer
These are the first two paragraphs, which add more details.
There are a few things that mark this nuclear fusion reactor out as unusual. For one, it is rather small: it could fit on a table top. For another, this research model currently has a little more gaffer tape than you might expect of the energy technology of the future.
But the biggest difference between it and its competitors is that this nuclear fusion reactor, in a warehouse north of Bristol, is actually working. And it is on the cusp of doing something more unusual still: making money.
It almost makes you think, that it should be filed under Too Good To Be True!
In the late 1960s, I shared an office at ICI Mond Division in Runcorn, with a guy, who was working on a process to make acetylene by a revolutionary route.
The process never worked, but now it has turned up being used by a company called HiiROC to make hydrogen.
They are also backed by some big names like Centrica, Hyundai, Kia and others.
I wonder how many other old ideas are finally ripe for developing, due to improvements in manufacturing and systems to control them.
The Anonymous Widower 