Lockdown Scepticism Is Part Of The Brexit Divide
The title of this post, is the same as that of an article on the London School of Economics web site.
It is a must-read article about the views of the British on lock-down.
This is a paragraph.
Additionally, there are indications that lockdown scepticism is becoming increasingly entwined with the Leave/Remain divide that dominates most aspects of British politics. Many pro-Brexit Tory MPs are increasingly critical of the high costs of lockdown on individual freedoms and the economy and have been pushing, both publicly and privately, for easing of the restrictions.
If this view is reflected in the general population, will it increase your chance of Brexiteers getting the Covids, simply because they may be more tempted to break the rules?
Northern Line Extension ‘On Track’ For 2021 Opening
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Transport Network.
I’m looking forward to using the line in the Autumn.
This map from cartometro.com, shows the track layout of the extension.
Note.
- The extension starts from the existing Kennington Loop at Kenning station.
- There is an intermediate station at Nine Elms.
- As with many two-platform stations, there is a cross-over in the approach. It is shown in a picture in the article.
Hopefully, the extension will eventually be extended to Clapham Junction.
Step-Free Interchange At Kennington Station
I have been worried about this and from the comment of others like Melvyn, I am not alone.
This map from cartometro.com, shows the track layout at Kennington station.
Note.
- Elephant and Castle station is at the North-East corner of the map and is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line.
- The pair of tracks going North-West are the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.
- The pair of tracks going South-West are the Morden branch of the Northern Line.
- Trains going South to Morden can use either Platform 2 or 4, depending, whether they have come Charing Cross or Bank.
- Trains going North from Morden can use either Platform 1 or 3, depending, whether they are going to Charing Cross or Bank.
- The Kennington Loop allows trains from Charing Cross that arrive in Platform 2 to go direct to Platform 1 to return to the North.
- There appears to be a revering siding, which can also reverse trains from either Platform 2 or 4 and send them North from Platform 1 or 3.
- Chords South of the platforms allow trains to and from Charing Cross to access the tracks to Morder and the reversing siding.
- The Battersea Power Station branch, is shown in dotted lines and connects to the Kennington Loop.
I took these pictures at Kennington station today.
Note.
The platforms are in two pairs, which are connected by walk-through passages, with Platforms 2 and 4 for Southbound trains and Platforms 1 and 3 for Northbound trains.
- Each platform has a proper clock.
- The only access to the pair of platforms is by steep long stairs.
- The stairs need to be rebuilt with proper handrails on both sides.
- The last picture shows the handrails at Moorgate station.
Currently, the system allows journeys between the North and Morden, either directly or with a walk-across change at Kennington station.
- Going South to Morden, if you get a train, that reverses at Kennington, you would wait for a train to turn up on either Platform 2 or 4, that is going the whole way.
- Going North from Morden, if you get a train going to the wrong Northern destination, you would get off at Kennington and wait for a train to turn up on either Platform 1 or 3, that is going to the destination you desire.
What is needed on all platforms, is more comprehensive information displays.
- Displays on Platforms 2 and 4, would show details of all Southbound trains. whether they terminated at Kennington or went to Morden, or in future went to Battersea Power Station station.
- Displays on Platforms 1 and 3, would show details of all Northbound trains.
Displays would indicate destination and time as now, but with the addition of platform, where you catch the train.
If there is one problem it is taking a train between Battersea Power Station and Morden stations.
This public domain drawing from the Internet shows the station, after the Kennington Loop had been built in the 1920s and 1930s.
Note.
- We are looking from the North.
- The Kennington Loop at the far end of the station.
- The four platforms of the station numbered 2, 4, 3 and 1 from left to right.
- The stairs between the two pairs of platforms, leading to overbridges.
- The lift tower and a spiral staircase leading to and from the surface.
I can now sum up the step-free status of the station.
- Passengers entering or leaving the station, must walk up or down a staircase like that shown in the first picture.
- Passengers needing to change to another train going in the same direction, just walk across to the other platform in the pair.
- Passengers needing to change to another train going in the opposite direction, as they would going between Battersea Power Station and Morden stations, will need to climb one set of stairs and descend another.
It does appear that in an ideal world lifts will need to be added.
Thoughts On Future Step-Free Access At Kennington Station
In the future, it is planned that the Northern Line will be split into two lines.
- Battersea Power Station and Edgware
- Morden and High Barnet
Will this increase the number of passengers, who need to do the opposite direction change, as there will just be more trains running on all branches?
Alternative Step-Free Access
But, there may be another way to go between Battersea Power Station and Morden stations.
- Take a train from Battersea Power Station to Waterloo.
- Walk across the platform at Waterloo to the Southbound platform.
- Take a train from Waterloo back to Kennington.
- Walk across from Platform 2 at Kennington to Platform 4.
- Take the first train from Platform 4 to Morden.
The reverse journey between Morden and Battersea Power Station stations would be.
- Take a train from Morden to Kennington.
- Walk across from Platform 3 at Kennington to Platform 1
- Take a train from Platform 1 to Waterloo.
- Walk across the platform at Waterloo to the Southbound platform.
- Take the first train from Waterloo to Battersea Power Station.
Note,
- Both routes have two changes; one at Kennington and one at Waterloo,
- All changes are step-free.
- All changes are very simple
It should also be noted that Battersea Power Station, Nine Elms and Waterloo are all or will be fully step-free stations.
The two routes I have outlined have one big advantage. They already exist and the only costs would be training of staff and indicating the routes to passengers.
Likelihood Of Dying From A Positive Test For The Covids
Bob, one of my mentors on making sense of data always suggested looking at ratios, when you wanted to investigate a database.
These ratios are the chance of dying after a positive test for Covid-19 in various places in the UK, based on Government statistics.
At the moment, the ratios are mainly from England, but I may expand them with time.
Countries
- England – 2.8 %
- Northern Ireland – 1.7 %
- Scotland – 3.3 %
- Wales – 2.3 %
Regions
- London – 2.0 %
London Boroughs
- Barking and Dagenham – 1.9 %
- Barnet 2.4 %
- Bexley – 2,0 %
- Brent – 3.0 %
- Bromley – 2.0 %
- Camden – 1.7 %
- Croydon – 2.8 %
- Ealing – 2.1 %
- Enfield – 10.1 %
- Greenwich – 1.8 %
- Hackney – 1.7 %
- Hammersmith and Fulham – 1.8 %
- Haringey – 1.8 %
- Harrow – 2.9 %
- Havering – 2.8 %
- Hillingdon – 2.1 %
- Hounslow – 2.1 %
- Islington – 1.5 %
- Kensington and Chelsea – 2.1 %
- Kingston upon Thames – 2.2 %
- Lewisham – 2.3 %
- Merton – 2.5 %
- Newham – 1.7 %
- Redbridge – 2.1 %
- Richmond upon Thames – 2.3 %
- Southwark – 1.4 %
- Sutton – 2.2 %
- Tower Hamlets – 1.1 %
- Waltham Forest – 1.9 %
- Wandsworth – 1.9 %
- Westminster – 2.0 %
Big Cities
- Belfast – 1.9 %
- Birmingham 2.8 %
- Bradford – 2.3 %
- Bristol – 1.3 %
- Cardiff – 2.5 %
- Coventry – 2.3 %
- Derby – 3.3 %
- Edinburgh – 3.4 %
- Glasgow – 3.0 %
- Hull – 3.1 %
- Leeds – 2.1 %
- Leicester – 1.9 %
- Liverpool – 2.6 %
- Manchester – 1.9 %
- Newcastle – 1.8 %
- Nottingham – 1.9 %
- Sheffield 2.6 %
Medium-Sized Towns and Cities
- Blackpool – 4.6 %
- Bolton – 3.0 %
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole – 2.4 %
- Brighton and Hove – 1.9 %
- Luton – 2.6 %
- Middlesbrough – 2.8 %
- Milton Keynes – 2.0 %
- Peterborough – 2.2 %
- Plymouth – 2.2 %
- Portsmouth – 1.8 %
- Reading – 3.0 %
- Rotherham – 4.0 %
- Salford – 2.9 %
- Southampton 2.1 %
- Southend-on-Sea – 3.0 %
- Stoke-on-Trent 3.5 %
- Stockport – 3.2 %
- Sunderland – 3.8 %
- Wakefield – 3.1 %
- Warrington – 2.8 %
- Wigan – 3.8 %
- Wolverhampton – 2.9 %
- York 2.0 %
English Countryside
- Bath and North East Somerset – 1.6 %
- Bedford – 3.7 %
- Buckinghamshire – 2.3 %
- Cambridgeshire – 2.6 %
- Central Bedfordshire – 3.7 %
- Cheshire – 4.0 %
- County Durham – 3.5 %
- Cumbria – 4.1 %
- Derbyshire – 3.6 %
- Devon – 3.0 %
- Dorset – 3.4 %
- East Riding of Yorkshire – 4.0 %
- Essex – 2.7 %
- Gloucestershire – 4.6 %
- Hampshire – 3.3 %
- Herefordshire – 7.8 %
- Hertfordshire – 8.3 %
- Isle of Wight – 3.4 %
- Kent – 2.9 %
- Lancashire – 3.1 %
- Leicestershire – 2.9 %
- Lincolnshire – 3.9 %
- Medway – 2.6 %
- Norfolk – 3.2 %
- North Yorkshire – 3.1 %
- Northamptonshire – 3.7 %
- Northumberland – 3.6 %
- Nottinghamshire – 3.0 %
- Oxfordshire – 2.0 %
- Redcar and Cleveland – 3.2 %
- Rutland – 3.3 %
- Shropshire – 4.0 %
- Staffordshire – 4.0 %
- Sussex – 3.0 %
- Suffolk – 4.9 %
- Surrey – 2.8 %
- Torbay – 4.0 %
- Warwickshire – 3.6 %
- Windsor and Maidenhead – 2.6 %
- Worcestershire – 4.0 %
Miscellaneous
- Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – 2.8 %
- Highland – 2.7 %
- Isle of Wight – 3.4 %
- Orkney Islands – 5.1 %
- Scottish Borders – 3.8 %
- Shetland Islands – 4.7 %
Note that all values are rounded to one decimal place.
Conclusions
Can I draw any conclusions from the data.
The Four Countries
The mean for the whole of the UK, is 2.8 %, which is the same as England.
- Given that England is the largest country, this is not surprising.
- But why is Scotland at 3.3 % higher than England and Northern Ireland and Wales substantially better than England?
Is this a result of devolution? Or a result of national character?
Town Or Country
Looking at English cities and larger towns, their values seem to be lower than the countryside.
I wonder why this is?
To be continued…
Hydrogen Fuel ‘In Time For COP26’ For Glasgow
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Brinkwire.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The companies behind the plans for a new £ 45 million hydrogen production facility in central Scotland have announced the site of the facility, which is planned to be partially operational prior to the delayed COP26 conference in Glasgow next year.
The article gives a lot of useful information including.
- The plant is at Lesmahagow as I reported in Plans For £45m Scottish Green Hydrogen Production Plant Revealed.
- It will initially have a 9 MW electrolyser, which could be upgraded to 20 MW.
- When fully-developed is could create a thousand tonnes of hydrogen per year.The hydrogen will be used to power buses in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Construction could start this year.
Foresight Partners With CNG Fuels To Deliver Carbon-Neutral UK Transport Network As Demand For Clean Fuels Grows
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from the Foresight Group.
These four bullet points introduce the document.
- Two Foresight investment funds have partnered with CNG Fuels to acquire and grow a strategic network of biomethane HGV refuelling stations across the UK
- CNG Fuels is the UK’s dominant supplier of renewable biomethane compressed natural gas for the UK’s truck sector
- Transport sector emissions accounted for 34% of UK emissions in 2019
- Biomethane-refuelling technologies reduce carbon emissions by 80+% and lower operating costs and improve air quality.
This web page is the home page of the CNG Fuels web site.
Judging by the picture on the CNG Fuels have Waitrose as a customer.
It looks to me, that Foresight Group and CNG Fuels are companies to watch, as biomethane or renewable natural gas, produced from food waste could be a valuable alternative fuel to decarbonise trucks.
Fuel Cell Enabling Technologies, Inc. Announces First Major Customer, Signs Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Purchase of Fuel Cells for Locomotives
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Cision.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Fuel Cell Enabling Technologies, Inc. (FCET), a start-up energy technology company that has developed a novel, low-cost solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, has announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NextGenPropulsion, LLC (NGP) indicating NGP’s intent to purchase FCET fuel cells for NGP light-rail trains and freight locomotives. In addition to fuel cell orders, this would mean engineering collaboration between the two firms, each bringing its specific and considerable expertise to these projects.
I have been saying that hydrogen freight locomotives are certain to be ordered in a few years.
Hydrogen-powered freight locomotives, are in my opinion, the logical way of decarbonising rail freight.
A Thought On Covid-19
I am a Control Engineer, Mathematical Modeller and Statistician and have been following the data since the pandemic started.
Consider.
- Systems like the pandemic want to get to an equilibrium. And preferably one where they are in control. The virus tries to infect more people, so they can pass it on.
- But anybody, who is immune to the virus acts as a moderator does in a nuclear reactor, to slow the reaction down. So the more, who are immune in the population the better.
- As of today, 2,713,563 have tested positive for the virus and sadly 75,431 have died. That means at least 2.6 million have had the virus and survived. Are these people now immune to the virus? If they are, can they be added to those who are vaccinated?
- Also, how many people have had the virus and were not tested, but treated it like they might a cold? Are these safe from the virus, a second time around?
- What about children, who seem to have lower susceptibility to the virus?
- We can add in by the end of this week over a million, who have received the vaccine.
- We are at the present time having about 350,000 positive tests in a week. If these people with positive tests isolate as they should, that will be breaking the transmission of a lot of carriers.
- And then if the vaccine makers deliver two million a week and they are all used, that takes a lot of people out of the mix.
- How many people are shielding or working from home and never giving the virus a chance to infect them? It must be a couple of million.
These are all big numbers, but most of them are on our side and not that of the virus.
I watched BBC News at six and Emma Vardy said that in Northern Ireland, the vaccine might be having a positive effect. I wouldn’t have expected that this early!
I am more optimistic, than I was before I started to write this post.
Could the combination of lockdown and increasing numbers of vaccinations cut the rate of transmission of the virus?
Class 777 Train Update
This news story on the MerseyTravel web site is entitled New Trains Programme Update.
This is the first paragraph.
Merseytravel has confirmed that the phased introduction into service of the new fleet of trains for the Merseyrail network will not begin this year due to ongoing challenges as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
As the story is dated the 17th December 2020, the news isn’t as bad as it first appears.
An Encore From The Team That Developed The Covid-19 Vaccine
This article on the Guardian is entitled Team Behind Oxford Covid Jab Start Final Stage Of Malaria Vaccine Trials.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The Oxford team that has produced a successful coronavirus vaccine is about to enter the final stage of human trials in its quest for an inoculation against malaria.
The Jenner Institute director, Prof Adrian Hill, said the malaria vaccine would be tested on 4,800 children in Africa next year after early trials yielded promising results.
This is obviously good news for those, who live in areas affected by malaria, where in Africa a child under five dies every two minutes.
But surely, if the Jenner Institute can crack malaria, they should have the expertise to modify the current Cobid-19 vaccine to handle any new variants.
Conclusion
In my view, this is doubly good news!
Shooter Urges Caution On Hydrogen Hubris
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the January 2021 Edition of Modern Railways.
This is the first paragraph.
Vivarail Chairman Adrian Shooter has urges caution about the widespread enthusiasm for hydrogen technology. In his keynote speech to the Golden Spanner Awards on 27 November, Mr. Shooter said the process to create ‘green hydrogen’ by electrolysis is ‘a wasteful use of electricity’ and was skeptical about using electricity to create hydrogen to then use a fuel cell to power a train, rather than charging batteries to power a train. ‘What you will discover is that a hydrogen train uses 3.5 times as much electricity because of inefficiencies in the electrolysis process and also in the fuel cells’ said Mr. Shooter. He also noted the energy density of hydrogen at 350 bar is only one-tenth of a similar quantity of diesel fuel, severely limiting the range of a hydrogen-powered train between refuelling.
Mr. Shooter then made the following points.
- The complexity of delivering hydrogen to the railway depots.
- The shorter range available from the amount of hydrogen that can be stored on a train compared to the range of a diesel train.
- He points out limitations with the design of the Alstom Breeze train.
This is the last paragraph.
Whilst this may have seemed like a challenge designed purely to promote the battery alternatives that Vivarail is developing, and which he believes to be more efficient, Mr. Shooter explained: ‘I think that hydrogen fuel cell trains could work in this country, but people just need to remember that there are downsides. I’m sure we’ll see some, and in fact we should because competition improves the breed.’
i think Mr. Shooter may have made several good points.
These are my thoughts.
Creating Green Hydrogen
I haven’t done an analysis of the costs of creating green hydrogen from electrolysis, but I have a feeling, that electrolysis won’t be the only way to create large amounts of carbon-free hydrogen, in a few years.
These methods are currently available or under development or construction.
- The hydrogen tram-buses in Pau have a personal electrolyser, that provides hydrogen at 350 bar.
- London’s hydrogen buses will be provided with hydrogen from an electrolyser at Herne Bay by truck. Will the trucks be hydrogen-powered?
Some industrial processes like the Castner-Kellner process create hydrogen as a by-product.
In Shell Process To Make Blue Hydrogen Production Affordable, I describe the Shell Blue Hydrogen Process, which appears to be a way of making massive amounts of carbon-free hydrogen for processes like steel-making and cement production. Surely some could be piped or transported by truck to the rail depot.
In ITM Power and Ørsted: Wind Turbine Electrolyser Integration, I describe how ITM Power and Ørsted plan to create the hydrogen off shore and bring it by pipeline to the shore.
Note.
- The last two methods could offer savings in the cost of production of carbon-free hydrogen.
- Surely, the delivery trucks if used, must be hydrogen-powered.
- The Shell Blue Hydrogen Process uses natural gas as a feedstock and converts it to hydrogen using a newly-developed catalyst. The carbon-dioxide is captured and used or stored.
- If the local gas network has been converted to hydrogen, the hydrogen can be delivered to the depot or filling station through that gas network.
I very much feel that affordable hydrogen can be supplied to bus, train, tram or transport depot. For remote or difficult locations. personal electrolysers, powered by renewable electricity, can be used, as at Pau.
Hydrogen Storage On Trains
Liquid hydrogen could be the answer and Airbus are developing methods of storing large quantities on aircraft.
In What Size Of Hydrogen Tank Will Be Needed On A ZEROe Turbofan?, I calculated how much liquid hydrogen would be needed for this ZEROe Turbofan.
I calculate that to carry the equivalent amount of fuel to an Airbus A320neo would need a liquid hydrogen tank with a near 100 cubic metre capacity. This sized tank would fit in the rear fuselage.
I feel that in a few years, a hydrogen train will be able to carry enough liquid hydrogen in a fuel tank, but the fuel tank will be large.
In The Mathematics Of A Hydrogen-Powered Freight Locomotive, I calculated how much liquid hydrogen would be needed to provide the same amount of energy as that carried in a full diesel tank on a Class 68 locomotive.
The locomotive would need 19,147 litres or 19.15 cubic metres of liquid hydrogen, which could be contained in a cylindrical tank with a diameter of 2 metres and a length of 6 metres.
Hydrogen Locomotives Or Multiple Units?
We have only seen first generation hydrogen trains so far.
This picture shows the Alstom Coradia iLint, which is a conversion of a Coradia Lint.
It is a so-so train and works reasonably well, but the design means there is a lot of transmission noise.
This is a visualisation of an Alstom Breeze or Class 600 train.
Note that the front half of the first car of the train, is taken up with a large hydrogen tank. It will be the same at the other end of the train.
As Mr. Shooter said, Alstom are converting a three-car train into a two-car train. Not all conversions live up to the hype of their proposers.
I would hope that the next generation of a hydrogen train designed from scratch, will be a better design.
I haven’t done any calculations, but I wonder if a lighter weight vehicle may be better.
Hydrogen Locomotives
I do wonder, if hydrogen locomotives are a better bet and easier to design!
- There is a great need all over the world for zero-carbon locomotives to haul freight trains.
- Powerful small gas-turbine engines, that can run on liquid hydrogen are becoming available.
- Rolls-Royce have developed a 2.5 MW gas-turbine generator, that is the size of a beer-keg.
In The Mathematics Of A Hydrogen-Powered Freight Locomotive, I wondered if the Rolls-Royce generator could power a locomotive, the size of a Class 68 locomotive.
This was my conclusion.
I feel that there are several routes to a hydrogen-powered railway locomotive and all the components could be fitted into the body of a diesel locomotive the size of a Class 68 locomotive.
Consider.
- Decarbonising railway locomotives and ships could be a large market.
- It offers the opportunities of substantial carbon reductions.
- The small size of the Rolls-Royce 2.5 MW generator must offer advantages.
- Some current diesel-electric locomotives might be convertible to hydrogen power.
I very much feel that companies like Rolls-Royce and Cummins (and Caterpillar!), will move in and attempt to claim this lucrative worldwide market.
In the UK, it might be possible to convert some existing locomotives to zero-carbon, using either liquid hydrogen, biodiesel or aviation biofuel.
Perhaps, hydrogen locomotives could replace Chiltern Railways eight Class 68 locomotives.
- A refuelling strategy would need to be developed.
- Emissions and noise, would be reduced in Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street stations.
- The rakes of carriages would not need any modifications to use existing stations.
It could be a way to decarbonise Chiltern Railways without full electrification.
It looks to me that a hydrogen-powered locomotive has several advantages over a hydrogen-powered multiple unit.
- It can carry more fuel.
- It can be as powerful as required.
- Locomotives could work in pairs for more power.
- It is probably easier to accommodate the hydrogen tank.
- Passenger capacity can be increased, if required by adding more coaches.
It should also be noted that both hydrogen locomotives and multiple units can build heavily on technology being developed for zero-carbon aviation.
The Upward Curve Of Battery Power
Sparking A Revolution is the title an article in Issue 898 of Rail Magazine, which is mainly an interview with Andrew Barr of Hitachi Rail.
The article contains a box, called Costs And Power, where this is said.
The costs of batteries are expected to halve in the next years, before dropping further again by 2030.
Hitachi cites research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) which expects costs to fall from £135/kWh at the pack level today to £67/kWh in 2030 and £47/kWh in 3030.
United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) are predicting that battery energy density will double in the next 15 years, from 700 Wh/l to 1400 Wh/l in 2-35, while power density (fast charging) is likely to increase four times in the same period from 3 kW/kg to 12 kW/kg in 2035.
These are impressive improvements that can only increase the performance and reduce the cost of batteries in all applications.
Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train
This infographic gives the specification of Hitachi Regional Battery Train, which they are creating in partnership with Hyperdrive Innovation.
Note that Hitachi are promising a battery life of 8-10 years.
Financing Batteries
This paragraph is from this page on BuyaCar, which is entitled Electric Car Battery Leasing: Should I Lease Or Buy The Batteries?
When you finance or buy a petrol or diesel car it’s pretty simple; the car will be fitted with an engine. However, with some electric cars you have the choice to finance or buy the whole car, or to pay for the car and lease the batteries separately.
I suspect that battery train manufacturers, will offer similar finance models for their products.
This paragraph is from this page on the Hyperdrive Innovation web site.
With a standardised design, our modular product range provides a flexible and scalable battery energy storage solution. Combining a high-performance lithium-ion NMC battery pack with a built in Battery Management System (BMS) our intelligent systems are designed for rapid deployment and volume manufacture, supplying you with class leading energy density and performance.
I can envisage that as a battery train ages, every few years or so, the batteries will get bigger electrically, but still be the same physical size, due to the improvements in battery technology, design and manufacture.
I have been involved in the finance industry both as a part-owner of a small finance company and as a modeller of the dynamics of their lending. It looks to me, that train batteries could be a very suitable asset for financing by a fund. But given the success of energy storage funds like Gore Street and Gresham House, this is not surprising.
I can envisage that battery electric trains will be very operator friendly, as they are likely to get better with age and they will be very finance-friendly.
Charging Battery Trains
I must say something about the charging of battery trains.
Battery trains will need to be charged and various methods are emerging.
Using Existing Electrification
This will probably be one of the most common methods used, as many battery electric services will be run on partly on electrified routes.
Take a typical route for a battery electric train like London Paddington and Oxford.
- The route is electrified between London Paddington and Didcot Junction.
- There is no electrification on the 10.4 miles of track between Didcot Junction and Oxford.
If a full battery on the train has sufficient charge to take the train from Didcot Junction to Oxford and back, charging on the main line between London Paddington and Didcot Junction, will be all that will be needed to run the service.
I would expect that in the UK, we’ll be seeing battery trains using both 25 KVAC overhead and 750 VDC third rail electrification.
Short Lengths Of New Strategic Electrification
I think that Great Western Railway would like to run either of Hitachi’s two proposed battery electric trains to Swansea.
As there is 45.7 miles pf track without .electrification, some form of charging in Swansea station, will probably be necessary.
The easiest way would probably be to electrify Swansea station and perhaps for a short distance to the North.
This Google Map shows Swansea station and the railway leading North.
Note.
- There is a Hitachi Rail Depot at the Northern edge of the map.
- Swansea station is in South-West corner of the map.
- Swansea station has four platforms.
Swansea station would probably make an excellent battery train hub, as trains typically spend enough time in the station to fully charge the batteries before continuing.
There are other tracks and stations of the UK, that I would electrify to enable the running of battery electric trains.
- Leeds and York, which would enable carbon-free London and Edinburgh services via Leeds and help TransPennine services. This is partially underway.
- Leicester and East Midlands Parkway and Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield – These two sections would enable EMR InterCity services to go battery electric.
- Sheffield and Leeds via Meadowhall, Barnsley Dearne Valley and the Wakefield Line, which would enable four trains per hour (tph) between Sheffield and Leeds and an extension of EMR InterCity services to Leeds.
- Hull and Brough, would enable battery electric services to Hull and Beverley.
- Scarborough and Seamer, would enable electric services services to Scarborough and between Hull and Scarborough.
- Middlesbrough and Redcar, would enable electric services services to Teesside.
- Crewe and Chester and around Llandudno Junction station – These two sections would enable Avanti West Coast service to Holyhead to go battery electric.
- Shrewsbury station – This could become a battery train hub, as I talked about for Swansea.
- Taunton and Exeter and around Penzance, Plymouth and Westbury stations – These three sections would enable Great Western Railway to cut a substantial amount of carbon emissions.
- Exeter, Yeovil Junction and Salisbury stations. – Electrifying these three stations would enable South Western Railway to run between London and Exeter using Hitachi Regional Battery Trains, as I wrote in Bi-Modes Offered To Solve Waterloo-Exeter Constraints.
We will also need fast chargers for intermediate stations, so that a train can charge the batteries on a long route.
I know of two fast chargers under development.
- Opbrid at Furrer + Frey
- Vivarail’s Fast Charge, which I wrote about in Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains.
I believe it should be possible to battery-electrify a route by doing the following.
- Add short lengths of electrification and fast charging systems as required.
- Improve the track, so that trains can use their full performance.
- Add ERTMS signalling.
- Add some suitable trains.
Note.
- I feel ERTMS signalling with a degree of automatic train control could be used with automatic charging systems, to make station stops more efficient.
- In my view, there is no point in installing better modern trains, unless the track is up to their performance.
The Anonymous Widower 