First French Region Signs Hydrogen Train Contract
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the International Railway Journal.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The Bourgogne-Franche Comté region has signed a contract with Alstom, through operator French National Railways (SNCF), for the supply of three Coradia Polyvalent electro-hydrogen dual-mode multiple units.
These are some points from the article.
- The three trains are from an order for 14 from four French regions.
- The trains can use 1500 VDC and 25 KVAC electrification.
- They will be able to use hydrogen power, where there is no electrification.
- Range on hydrogen will be 400-600 km.
- Operating speed will be up to 160 kph.
- Trains will be four cars, with a capacity of 220 passengers.
- Trains will start test running in 2024 on the 19km non-electrified Auxerre – Laroche – Migennes line.
As with the Alstom Class 600 hydrogen trains for the UK, deliveries don’t seem to be fast.
I wrote Hydrogen Trains Ready To Steam Ahead in January 2019. This is the first few paragraphs.
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s copy of The Times.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Hydrogen trains will be introduced in as little as two years under ambitious plans to phase out dirty diesel engines.
The trains, which are almost silent and have zero emissions, will operate at speeds of up to 90 mph and release steam only as a by-product. The new trains, which will be called “Breeze” will be employed on commuter and suburban lines by early 2021.
Wikipedia is now saying, that these trains will enter service in 2024.
As Alstom haven’t got any orders for the train, I will be very surprised if they achieve that date.
Is it Alstom, French project management or problems with hydrogen?
I don’t think it’s anything to do with hydrogen, as the Germans built the successful iLint for Alstom and Birmingham University put together a hydrogen demonstration train in double-quick time.
Given all the problems that the French are having with rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine could it be that the French have a Can’t Do! attitude, rather than most other countries, which seem to have a Can Do! attitude.
Honeywell Introduces Power Source For Hybrid-Electric Aircraft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Flying Magazine.
Honeywell have created a power source for hybrid-electric aircraft, that will run on a wide range of fuels including jet fuel, diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
The Flying Magazine article is a must-read, which is mainly based on this press release from Honeywell, which is entitled Honeywell’s Newest Turbogenerator Will Power Hybrid-Electric Aircraft, Run On Biofuel.
The turbogenerator has two main parts.
Small Turbofan Provides The Power
These are details of the turbo fan.
- The small turbo fan is the auxiliary power unit or APU from an Airbus A 350 XWB.
- The APU is identified as a Honeywell HGT1700.
- Over four hundred of these APU’s have been delivered in Airbus A350 XWBs.
- It can run on jet fuel, diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
- It can also run on Honeywell Green Jet Fuel.
- I suspect in the future, it will be able to run on hydrogen.
The APU is obviously well-proven technology, from a company with a large share in the airliner market.
Generator To Provide Electricity
These are details of the generator.
- It weighs 127 Kg or about two of me.
- It can generate a megawatt of electricity.
The generator sounds powerful to me.
The first demonstration of this turbogenerator system will occur in the third quarter of 2021, with ongoing development and qualification to follow.
Honeywell says this about their collaboration with Faradair and other companies.
In December, Honeywell signed a memorandum of understanding with British startup Faradair Aerospace to collaborate on systems and a turbogeneration unit that will run on sustainable aviation fuel to power Faradair’s Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft (BEHA). Faradair intends to deliver 300 hybrid-electric BEHAs into service by 2030, of which 150 will be in a firefighting configuration. Honeywell is in advanced discussions with several other potential turbogenerator customers, working to help define power requirements based on mission profiles required by various manufacturers.
I can see a lot of customers for this turbogenerator.
And not all will be in aviation!
The Proposal For Stonehenge And Wilton Junction Station
This article on the Salisbury Journal is entitled Wilton Railway Project On Track As Bid Submitted.
It starts with this paragraph.
An application to reopen the railway station in Wilton has reached the third round of the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund.
There are also more details in the February 2021 Edition of Modern Railways.
The following sections give more information and some of my thoughts.
Station Name
The station appears to be called Stonehenge and Wilton Junction in all the articles and reports.
Station Location
This page on the TransWilts web site, says this about the station.
Wilton is at the junction between the Salisbury to Bristol line and the Salisbury to Exeter line.
It is 7 miles to Stonehenge Visitor Centre. A consultants report by Atkins shows an economic case and a developer for housing at the site has been identified. Station cost is in the order of £15m.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The Wilton Park-and-Ride site at the top of the Map.
- The railway going South-East and North-West across the map is the Wessex Main Line, that links Salisbury and Bristol.
- The railway going South-East and West across the map is the West of England Main Line, that links Salisbury and Exeter.
- Both routes are double track.
It would appear that the new station would have platforms on both rail lines through the station.
Station Design
If Atkins reckon the station can be built for £15 million as I quoted earlier, it can’t be a very grand station.
The Modern Railways article says this about the station.
A park-and-ride facility at the station would reduce congestion in the centre of Salisbury. Improving London services in the proposal improves the cost-benefit ratio, so what is now envisaged is a four-platform station, with platforms on both the TransWilts and the Yeovil to London lines. The thinking is that the new station could work in tandem with the lengthening of the Tisbury loop and other proposals for possible expansion on the South Western route to Exeter that was floated in the latest Network Rail Continuous Modular Strategy.
My feelings are that a radical approach could yield an efficient station with a smaller number of platforms.
Train services through the station could include.
- GWR – Cardiff Central and Portsmouth Harbour – Hourly – Transwilts Lines – Also calls at Salisbury
- GWR – Great Malvern and Brighton or Southampton – Hourly – Transwilts Lines – Also calls at Salisbury
- SWR – London Wareloo and Exeter – Hourly – Yeovil and London Lines – Also calls at Salisbury
There is also talk of extending the Transwilts hourly service between Swindon and Westbury to Salisbury and then on to Southampton via Romsey.
This would do the following.
- Create a link to Southampton Airport.
- Give the new station a Turn-Up-And-Go service to Salisbury.
- The fourth service would mean that three services called on the Transwilts platforms and one service called on the Yeovil and London platforms.
So why not have one large platform between the two pairs of lines?
- It would have a tunnel connecting it to the buses and the car parking.
- One large lift would take passengers with limited mobility to the platform.
- The Southern face of the platform, would handle all trains running on the Yeovil and London line. A single platform can easily handle an hourly fast service in both directions.
- The Northern face of the platform, would handle all trains running on the Transwilts.
- Three trains per hour (tph) in both directions, could probably be handled with some innovation and a long platform.
Why complicate everything with four platforms?
Link To Stonehenge
I haven’t been to Stonehenge since the 1950s, although I have observed it from traffic jams on nearby roads many times.
Surely, there is a chance here to connect the new station and the World Heritage Site with a zero-carbon battery or hydrogen bus.
As the distance between the station and Stonehenge is only about seven miles, it would probably be the easiest way to get large number of visitors to the unique site.
We probably need more well-planned zero-carbon bus links to historic, tourist and other important sites.
Coal Plant Closures Loom Large As NSW Backs Hydrogen For The Hunter
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Sydney Morning Herald.
This is the first paragraph.
The future of NSW’s coal-fired power plants is under increasing threat from cheap renewable energy, which this week forced Victoria’s Yallourn coal plant to bring forward its closure date as analysts warn the end may come even sooner.
The future for coal in Australia certainly doesn’t look good.
‘Staycation Express’ To Return Along Full Length of S & C
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
These are the first three paragraphs,
This year’s ‘Staycation Express’ will use a refurbished High Speed Train and run the full length of the Settle-Carlisle Line.
The final plans are being confirmed by Rail Charter Services, which last year used locomotive-hauled trains between Skipton and Appleby. This year, the plan is for the HST to operate the 0930 Appleby-Skipton, 1130 Skipton-Carlisle, 1500 Carlisle-Skipton and 1730 Skipton-Appleby, although the timings are yet to be finalised.
The trains will run daily except for Fridays between mid-July and early September (dates still to be determined).
Full details will be published by Rail Charter Services in April, but after last year’s success a second year of services is not a surprise.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Locomotive Services Ltd. supplying the rolling stock, as they have recently recreated the Blue Pullman using a redundant InterCity 125.
Long Covid And Coeliac Disease
I recently heard an interview with Adrian Chiles on Radio 5 about the so-called long covid
I am 73 and the more I read about Long Covid, the more I think I had something similar around 1958, when I had just started Minchenden Grammar School, where I missed most of the Spring Term. This was at the time of the 1957-8 flu pandemic., which killed between one and four million people worldwide.
This article on New Decoder is a personal memory of that pandemic, from an experienced journalist called Harvey Morris.
Last night, I was listening to another program about kids with long covid and they seemed to be describing how I felt all those years ago.
One of those two programs, also said that one doctor tested patients for coeliac disease.
In 1997, at the age of fifty, I was diagnosed as a coeliac and have been gluten-free ever since. From friends and acquaintances, who are also coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, it appears that none of us have had a serious dose of the covids, including one who works in an office with several cases of Covid-19.
This observation has been backed-up by peer-reviewed research at the University of Padua, who followed a group of coeliacs on a long-term gluten-free diet through the first wave of the pandemic. None caught the virus.
It should also be noted that Joe West at the University of Nottingham, has shown that coeliacs on a long-term gluten-free diet are 25 % less likely to get cancer, so do we have a strong immune system, that gives us this protection against against both cancer and the covids.
Coeliac disease has been called the many-headed hydra by some doctors, so could it be an alligator in the swamp of Covid-19?
Research needs to be done!
But could it be that in 1958, my less than perfect immune system, because I was not diagnosed as a coeliac and was not on a gluten-free diet, had difficulty overcoming the flu at the time?
Ex-Steelworks To Make Wind Farm Parts In Plan For 6,000 Green Jobs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The government will invest almost £100 million creating new wind turbine ports in northeast England, with a big renewables company announcing plans to make crucial parts in Teesside.
The two ports will be on Teesside and North Lincolnshire.
The next generation of wind turbines in the North Sea will be very different.
Larger Turbines
They will be larger and the blades will be bigger, so building them close to, where they will be installed is a sensible idea.
We are also very good at aerodynamics in the UK. This is the reason Airbus designs and builds wings in the UK.
Floating Turbines
The next generation of wind farms will be floating, as for some reason, they have a higher capacity factor.
I am personally pleased about this, as it appears they are based on a patented but failed design of floating oil production platform from the 1970s, where I performed the calculations on how to install them.
Some of these floating wind turbines can also be floated into port for major services and upgrades, which probably means we need local manufacturing of as many parts as possible.
Hydrogen Rather Than Electrical Connection
They will also create hydrogen, rather than electricity, by using a combination of wind turbine and hydrogen electrolyser.
As distances between shore and wind farm get longer, it is cheaper to use a gas pipe, rather than a DC electricity link.
Hydrogen can also be stored in worked out gas fields and also brought ashore in redundant pipelines.
The hydrogen electrolysers will probably be built in the world’s largest electrolyser factory in Rotherham, owned by ITM Power; a UK company.
Conclusion
As we are going to build almost 70 GW of offshore wind in the next few years, we’re going to need a turbines and I believe increasingly, they will be built in the UK.
So these two wind ports at Teesside and in Lincolnshire are a good idea.
Bid To Get Trains Running From Ashington To Newcastle Move Step Closer As New Station Plans Lodged
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Chronicle Live.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Proposals for a single platform railway station at Northumberland Park have been lodged with North Tyneside Council.
In Trains: £34m For Revival Of 50-Year-Old North-East Railway Line, I said this about linking the new Northumberland Line to the Metro at Northumberland Park station.
Northumberland Park station is planned to be an interchange between the Northumberland Line and the Metro.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
-
- The two Metro tracks either side of an island platform.
- The single track of the Northumberland Line alongside.
There would appear to be space to the North of the Metro tracks to squeeze in two tracks, each with a platform for each.
But if the frequency on the Northumberland Line were only two trains per hour (tph), would the simplicity of a single Northumberland Line platform be worthwhile?
It seems I got it right about a single platform being enough.
But the article says this about access.
The new stop would be built next to the existing Metro station and would be accessed from Algernon Road via stairs or a lift.
The single platform may seem a little on the cheap, but one platform works well at stations like Galashiels.
These pictures show Galashiels station on the recently opened Borders Railway.
Galashiels is an interesting solution, as there is a single-platform step-free railway station on one side of the road and a comprehensive bus interchange on the other with seats, cafes, shops and warm shelter.
Galashiels station is designed to handle two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
CP Hydrogen Locomotive Pilot Powered By Ballard
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Age.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Canadian Pacific (CP) will use fuel cell modules from Ballard Power Systems for its first hydrogen fuel cell (HFC)-powered linehaul freight locomotive.
I have said that someone will build a hydrogen powered freight locomotive for some time and it looks like Canada is first to show their hand.
The engine shown in the picture in the Railway Age article is 4107, which is an EMD FP9, which looks to be a typical North American diesel-electric locomotive.
- It has a power of 1300 kW.
- It can haul freight or passenger trains.
- Ninety were built in the 1950s.
- They have a maximum speed of between 65-105 mph.
The diesel engine and alternator will be swapped for six 200 kW fuel cells from Ballard and a battery.
This video shows 4107 leading the Royal Canadian Pacific, which is a luxury excursion passenger train.
Will this train be hydrogen powered in the future? It would be an interesting way to bring in the tourists.
London Underground Upgrades To Northern Line and Bank Station Gather Pace
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on New Civil Engineer.
It all sounds like good progress and these are some points from the article.
- The Northern Line Extension to Battersea is scheduled for completion this autumn.
- At Battersea Power Station station, equipment, gateline, tiling and finishes are being installed.
- Nine Elms station is getting there, as I said in Nine Elms Underground Station – 14th February 2021.
- Work continues at the two ventilation shafts at Kennington Park and Kennington Green.
- All the major contracts at Bank station have been awarded.
- It appears that the new track in the new Southbound tunnel at Bank is getting ready to be installed.
Note that no date is given for the Bank station blockade to connect the new tunnels or completion of the works.
Under Future Station Upgrade And Expansion, in the Wikipedia entry for the station, this is said.
Before the project can be completed, the Northern line Bank branch will have to close for several months to allow the existing line to be connected to the new running tunnels. As of October 2020, this closure is planned to occur in late 2021/early 2022.
As I suspect other works like those in the new passenger tunnels can go on unhindered by the track works, I would suspect that a few months after the new tracks are connected, the station upgrade will be substantially finished.
I certainly, think that the full upgrade could open complete with the new entrance on Cannon Street sometime in 2022 or if not early in 2023.
It has been reported that the oversite development on the new Cannon Street entrance will be done after the station is complete.
The Anonymous Widower 