Minister Claims Hydrogen Train On Trial In UK
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
This is the first paragraph.
Rail Minister Jo Johnson told the Transport Select Committee on April 30 that a hydrogen train was on trial in the Lake District.
After the end of Amber Rudd’s political career yesterday, for not telling the truth to another Select Committee, I would be very surprised if Jo Johnson’s statement is not substantially correct.
Something strange is happening on the Windermere Branch Line.
- Most of the day, there is an hourly shuttle train between Windermere and Oxenholme Lake District stations.
- But the 10:56, 18:03 and 22:45 services from Windermerre, continue to Preston.
- The 06:23 from Oxenholm Lake District to Windermere starts from Lancaster.
- The 11:20 from Oxen Lake District to Windermere starts from Preston.
- The 18:30 from Oxen Lake District to Windermere starts from Barrow-in-Furness.
It doesn’t seem to be the sort of diagram for a regular scheduled service.
Could it be that Class 769 trains are being tested?
- Running on the West Coast Main Line between Preston and Oxenholme stations would be at up to 100 mph using the 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- Running to Windermere and Barrow-in-Furness stations would be under diesel power.
- Note that the service goes to Preston in the middle of the day. Could this mean , that they are thoroughly testing more than one train?
- From Preston the trains can go to turnback platforms at Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Colne, Ormskirk and Windermere stations. So, Preston would be an ideal base from where to test the trains.
Could one of the trains under test be hydrogen powered?
If what Jo Johnson said is to believed, at least one of the test trains must be!
Who’d have thought, that an old British Rail-designed Class 319 train, that entered service thirty-years ago, could be the UK’s first hydrogen-powered train.
A Hydrogen-Powered Class 769 Train
Of course, the engineering must be possible .
- The train would need a hydrogen tank, a hydrogen fuel cell and a battery.
- They would probably be fitted under the train, where there wuld appear to be plenty of space.
But companies like Ballard have a lot of experience with building hydrogen-powered buses.
Don’t Rule Out Bombardier!
I believe that most train manufacturers are looking seriously at hydrogen power, as a greener alternative to diesel.
Two years ago, Bombardier showed their expertise with batteries, by developing the Class 379 BEMU demonstrator in just a few months.
Could Bombardier have taken an Electrostar or Aventra and fitted it with batteries and a hydrogen tank and a hydrogen fuel cell?
Conclusion
I think that Jo Johnson was telling the truth or at least enough of the truth, not to be caught misleading a Select Committee of the House of Commons.
Coventry Station – 1st May 2018
As I passed through Coventry station, I took these pictures.
It is not the best of stations.
- It needs a London-facing bay platform to handle trains from Kenilworth and Leamingtonj stations. But where would you put it?
- Where would you also put a bay platform to handle services to Nuneaton?
- But the biggest problem, is the stairs in the station.
To emphasise the last point, a lady of perhaps thirty had fallen down the stairs and the only way, the paramedics could get her out was using an old-fasioned stretcher on the stairs. Where she had fallen didn’t have lift access.
The station may have lots of glass and be a noteworthy 1960s Grade II Listed building, but it needs to be rebuilt to a standard, that is fit for the twenty-first century.
Kenilworth Station – 1st May 2018
Kenilworth station opened yesterday on the last day of April 2018.
The design is slightly different.
- There are two footbridges.
- There are two lifts
- There is one track and platform, but with obvious space to add a second track and platform.
- There is adequate car and cycle parking.
But most surprisingly, it has a combined cafe and booking office, where I had a quick cup of quality chocolate and could have used one of the many sockets to charge my phone.
Currently the service at the station is a one train per hour (tph) shuttle using a one-coach Class 153 train between Coventry and Leamington Spa stations.
The capacity of the route will be doubled, when the train is replaced with a two-car Class 172 train, that will be cascaded from the London Overground, when new Class 710 trains can work the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
It could be at least doubled again, by adding the second track and platform through Kenilworth station, which would allow trains to pass and a frequency of at least two tph.
There must also be possibilities to extend the service at both Coventry and Leamington Spa.
Leamington Spa To Nuneaton
It might seem logical to extend the service at Coventry along the Coventry to Nuneaton Line to Nuneaton station, where there is the bay platform, that Coventry lacks.
- This would mean that the service would have to cross the tracks of the West Coast Main Line.
- Coventry to Nuneaton takes twenty-two minutes
- Coventry to Leamington Spa takes nineteen minutes.
- The Class 172 trains, thatwill be working the route are 100 mph trains, whereas the current Class 153 trains, are twenty-fivw mph slower.
If the problem of crossing the West Coast Main Line could be solved, I suspect that a two tph service between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa stations could be run with only two trains.
CrossCountry
CrossCountry services between Bournemouth and Manchester Piccadilly stations, pass through Kenilworth station.
If the second platform is built at Kenilworth, could these trains stop?
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is a ten minute walk from the station.
Will the station bring more visitors?
Conclusion
Kenilworth station will become increasingly important.
Scotland’s New Alcohol Pricing Laws
Scotland now has new alcohol pricing laws, as is detailed in this article on the BBC, which is entitled Scotland Ends Cheap Booze As Minimum Price Starts.
A minimum price on alcohol of fifty pence will certainly have effects, although my preferred drink of Suffolk-brewed low-alcohol gluten-free real ale from Marks and Spencer, which is just 0.25 units for a half-litre bottle at £2.60, would not be affected. I don’t think it’s even sold in Scotland, as it’s a very soft Sassenach drink.
I feel that the minimum pricing will either work very well or be a disastrous failure.
I think it depends on how law-abiding, the average Scot is!
The article in the Guardian is entitled Smoking Rate In UK Falls To Second-Lowest In Europe .
This is said.
In 2016, 15.8% of adults in the UK smoked, down from 17.2% in 2015, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Some 15.5% of adults currently smoke in England, rising to 18.1% in Northern Ireland, 17.7% in Scotland and 16.9% in Wales.
I suspect the Scottish government hope to see similar falls in the sales of alcohol, that the various smoking bans have brought.
If I walk into all the local shops round here, cheap booze is prominent, but I rarely see anybody drunk on the street and never on the buses.
On the other hand, I can’t help feeling that the higher booze prices will be just another tax on those, who can’t afford it.
Tottenham Hale Station – 30th April 2018
These pictures show the space to the East of the third platform space, where the third track will go through.
It looks like there isn’t much space for the fourth track, if they want to squeeze one in. Or will the piles for the electrification have to be moved?
Good Advice About The May 2018 Rail Timetable Changes
Several of the train operating companies don’t seem to have published their timetables, that will become current on May 20th, 2018.
I found this page on the Settle-Carlisle web site, which is entitled May 2018 Timetable.
This is said.
The current timetable for daily services on the Leeds-Settle-Appleby-Carlisle route ends on Saturday, 19 May.
To help you plan your journeys post 19 May, we have put train times on the timetable page.
This is the first major change to train times for many years with extra services and new train departure times. Please check the new times applicable from 20 May carefully.
Printed timetables are not yet available. We are working hard to get the Settle-Carlisle line guide and timetable ready so it is available before the timetable change.
Northern’s printed timetable may not be available until 1 June but we anticipate the Settle-Carlisle lineguide and timetable will be in stations, tourist information centres etc before the start of the new timetable.
This would appear to be good advice, that applies to all train operating companies.
It does seem that what is said on nationalrail.co.uk seems sensible.
Best of luck with your journeys on the 21st of May.
The Resignation Of Amber Rudd
In the almost forty-six years from 18th October 1964 to the 11th May 2010, there have been several Governments of both sides and twenty Home Secretaries.
Which means the average tenure is under two and a half years.
Incidentally, how many of the twenty can you name?
So Amber Rudd‘s tenure is just under the average.
The remarkable thing about the list of Home Secretaries is how few last more than four years, so Theresa May‘s tenure of six years, must show a certain something.
In the same period, there have only been twelve Chancellors of the Exchequer.
I have seen it said by respectable commentators, that if a company has a large turnover of CEOs, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the company.
So is there something fundamentally wrong with the Home Office?
It is a large department with a budget of nearly £9billion and around 30,000 employees.
The Home Office web site, these are the department’s responsibilities.
- working on the problems caused by illegal drug use
- shaping the alcohol strategy, policy and licensing conditions
- keeping the United Kingdom safe from the threat of terrorism
- reducing and preventing crime, and ensuring people feel safe in their homes and communities
- securing the UK border and controlling immigration
- considering applications to enter and stay in the UK
- issuing passports and visas
- supporting visible, responsible and accountable policing by empowering the public and freeing up the police to fight crime
- fire prevention and rescue
Would Sainsburys put such diverse responsibilities together?
I’m certain, that some of these responsibilities need to be reorganised.
Perhaps, then Home Secretaries will find it easier to stay in the job.
Direct Trains Between Liverpool Lime Street And Norwich
In my wanderings around the UK, I very often come across this service and use it for short trips between two major towns or cities many miles from both Liverpool and Norwich.
The Current Service
Currently, the service is run by East Midlands Trains and is usually a two-car Class 158 train. Although, I have seen the service worked by a pair of these trains.
The route is very comprehensive with calls at Liverpool South Parkway, Widnes, Warrington Central, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Alfreton, Ilkeston, Nottingham, Grantham, Peterborough, Ely and Thetford.
The service always seems to be full and I suspect that in addition to offering useful routes like Manchester-Sheffield, Liverpool-Nottingham and Nottingham-East Anglia, it is often a convenient route for some long distance business and family travellers.
The major problem for a train operator is that it needs a lot of rolling stock to provide a service.
Liverpool to Norwich takes five and a half hours, so to provide the hourly service probably needs as many as a dozen trains.
This extract comes from the East Midlands Trains section in Wikipedia entry for the Class 158 train.
The hourly Norwich to Liverpool service has been criticised for overcrowding, especially between Liverpool and Nottingham. This resulted from the Department for Transport specifying two-coach units in the EMT franchise starting in November 2007. In the light of persistent and excessive overcrowding, with some passengers being left behind on occasions, the DfT eventually admitted that it had made a mistake. Various cascades of other units enabled more Class 158 stock to be released for this route, and from the December 2011 timetable change the busiest services have been lengthened to four-coach trains between Liverpool and Nottingham, with units splitting and joining at Nottingham as necessary, two-coach trains being regarded as adequate between Nottingham and Norwich. Further services on this route were strengthened from December 2012.
Running a pair of Class 158 trains on the route between Liverpool and Nottingham, does seem to ease problems there, but I’ve encountered bad over-crowding at the Eastern end too.
Improvements On The Route
Several improvements or changes of rolling stock have or are taking place in the next few years.
Increased Capacity At Liverpool Lime Street
This is detailed in the 2017-2018 Station Remodelling section of the Wikipedia entry for Liverpool Lime Street station.
- Two new platforms are being added.
- Platforms are being lengthened.
In addition there are improvements on the approaches to the station.
Ordsall Chord And Related Improvements In Manchester
The Liverpool-Norwich service calls at both Manchester Oxford Road and Manchester Piccadilly stations, although it doesn’t use the new Ordsall Chord.
But I can’t believe that the Liverpool-Norwich service won’t be affected by all the works in Manchester.
Hope Valley Line Improvements
This article on Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Long-Awaited Hope Valley Line Plans Given The Green Light.
Improvements to the Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield include.
- A loop to allow passenger trains to overtake slow freight trains.
- Removal of a foot crossing.
- Improvements around Dore and Totley station.
This is said on this document on the Transport for the North web site, which announces the Hope Valley improvements.
The new passing loops will mean three fast trains can run per hour between Sheffield and Manchester, one every 20 minutes, freight and stopping trains every hour, and a fast Manchester-Nottingham and East of England service every hour.
If nothing else, the extra capacity between Manchester and Sheffield, will reduce reliance on the Liverpool-Norwich service.
Improvements To The Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is not being electrified between Nottingham and Sheffield, but other improvements have taken place over the last few years.
- In particular, the Erewash Valley Line has been improved and a new station at Ilkeston has been added.
- The Liverpool-Norwich service calls at stations on this by-pass.
- The line has been resignalled.
Would a train with a 125 mph capability, as opposed to the 90 mph operating speed of the Class 158 train, allow a faster service?
East Coast Main Line Running
The 90 mph Class 158 trains must present pathing problems on the East Coast Main Line, whereas a 125 mph train could mix it easier with the high speed trains.
Greater Anglia’s Plans
Greater Anglia have ordered a fleet of Class 755 trains.
- The trains are bi-mode.
- The trains have a 100 mph operating speed.
- Greater Anglia have ordered fourteen three-car and twenty-four four-car trains.
Greater Anglia will be replacing 27 diesel trains, that consists of 58 carriages, with 38 bi-mode trains, that consist of 138 carriages.
- There are forty percent more trains.
- There are a hundred and thirty-eight percent more carriages.
- Average train length of the diesels is 2.1 carriages, wheres that of the bi-modes is 3.6.
There are two possible reasons for these large number of trains.
- Abellio have decided to buy a few bi-modes for their other franchises.
- There is going to be a massive expansion of train services in East Anglia.
Two of the new bi-mode services interact with the Liverpool-Norwich service.
- Colchester to Peterborough via Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds and Ely
- Norwich to Stansted Airport via Ely and Cambridge.
Both services are thought to be hourly.
Consider the Colchester to Peterborough service.
- I estimate that trains will take around two hours.
- The round trip could be under five hours, even with a generous turn-round at both ends and perhaps a wait at Ipswich.
- The waits would allow connecting passengers to join the train.
- A five hour round trip would need five Class 755 trains.
- I would choose four-car trains, as the route can get crowded.
Could the Colchester to Peterborough service be considered as an extension of the Liverpool-Norwich service, that serves Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich and Colchester?
I think it could if the trains were timed appropriately.
- Passengers from Liverpool to Ipswich, would change at Peterborough or Ely to the Peterborough to Colchester train, which would arrive a few minutes after the Liverpool to Norwich train.
- Passengers from Ipswich to Liverpool, would change at Ely or Peterborough to the Liverpool train, which would arrive a few minutes after Colchester to Peterborough train.
Hopefully, the change would not require a platform change.
Consider the Norwich to Stansted Airport service.
- I estimate trains will take about one hour and fifty minutes.
- The round trip would be four hours and would need four Class 755 trains.
- I would choose four-car trains, as the route can get crowded.
Could the Norwich to Stansted Airport service be equally spaced with the Liverpool-Norwich service between Ely and Norwich to give a clock-face two trains per hour (tph)?
These services call at Ely
- CrossCountry -Birmingham to Stansted Airport
- East Midlands Trains – Liverpool to Norwich
- Greater Anglia – Peterborough to Colchester
- Greater Anglia – Norwich to Stansted Airport
- Great Northern – Kings Lynn to Kings Cross
Totalling them up gives the following frequencies to various stations.
- Bury St. Edmunds/Ipswich/Colchester – 1 tph
- Cambridge North/Cambridge – 3 tph
- Kings Lynn – 1 tph
- Norwich – 2 tph
- Peterborough – 3 tph
- Stansted Airport – 2 tph
I suspect that the services will be arranged so there are convenient interchanges. No-one wants to spend an hour on a draughty Ely station waiting for the next train.
I also suspect that Greater Anglia will use some of their extra trains to improve connectivity at Ely.
Speed Limits On The Route
Speed limits on the route are rather variable.
- Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington is limited to 85 mph
- The Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield is 90 mph
- The proportion of the Midland Main Line, where 125 mph running is possible, is being increased.
- Grantham to Peterborough on the East Coast Main Line allows 125 mph running.
- The Peterborough to Ely Line is limited to 75 mph.
- The Breckland Line between Ely and Norwich is limited to 75- 90 mph.
I feel that increasing speed limits on some parts of the line would help the Liverpool to Norwich service.
But surely, a train with a 125 mph-capability would help with journey times and train timetabling between Sheffield and Peterborough.
But on the rest of the route, trains with this speed capability, wouldn’t be needed.
Rolling Stock Choices For Liverpool Lime Street And Norwich
Various choices include.
Class 158 Trains
Everything could carry on as now using Class 158 trains
- Two two-car trains working ass a pair would go from Liverpool Lime Street to Nottingham.
- The trains would divide at Nottingham.
- One train would go on its way to Norwich, and the other would wait at Nottingham to join with the train returning from Norwich.
With all the new diesel multiple units arriving in the next few years, I think it is likely that more Class 158 trains could be made available to strengthen the service.
The trouble with the Class 158 trains, is that with only a 90 mph operating speed, they can’t take advantage of the sections of the route where 125 mph running is possible.
Class 170 Trains
These trains were built as successors to the Class 158 trains.
- They are more modern.
- They are 10 mph faster.
- Most are three cars.
But they are still not fast enough for the 125 mph sections of the route.
A Second Service Between Liverpool And Nottingham
Improvements on the Hope Valley Line and in Liverpool and Manchester, might make it possible to run a much-needed second service between Liverpool and Nottingham via Manchester, Stockport and Sheffield..
This extra service could use the same trains as the full service.
Currently, the direct service between Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham takes two hours thirty five minutes. In some ways, this is a problem, as if the timing was say two hours twenty minutes, a five hour round trip would be possible.
This would mean that the second service would need just five trains.
I doubt that Class 158 trains could meet this schedule, so more would be needed.
Class 800 Trains
Class 800 trains are 125 mph bi-mode trains, but are they fast enough on diesel to make real differences to the timetable by running fast on the Midland Main Line?
I think not!
So more trains would be needed to run the service.
Bombardier’s Proposed 125 mph Bi-Mode
A genuine 125-mph bi-mode, with that performance on both electricity and diesel, would be a totally different matter.
- Timings between Liverpool and Nottingham would drop to perhaps two hours twenty, thus allowing a five hour round trip.
- Timings between Liverpool and Norwich would drop to perhaps four hours fifty, thus allowing a ten hour round trip.
Even so a full service would require fifteen trains.
Bombardier have proposed a train of this type and I wrote about it in Bombardier Bi-Mode Aventra To Feature Battery Power.
In my view, this small exercise shows why some routes in the UK need a 125 mph bi-mode.
If the train can’t do 125 mph, where it is possible on the Midland and East Coast Main Line, the time savings on the route won’t be possible and more trains will be needed to run the service.
One great advantage is that the trains working this route could be the same as those working the main routes of the East Midlands franchise to and from London.
Short Formation InterCity 125 Trains
The forty-year-old InterCity 125 trains have the power and the speed to match the 125 mph bi-mode trains.
Short formation with four or five passenger cars between the two Class 43 locomotives are being used by Scotrail and Great Western Railway, but to use them on Liverpool to Norwich would require another fifteen trains to be updated, which is probably not as cost effective as new 125 mph bi-modes.
Conclusion
If service between the Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich is to continue in its present form, it needs 125 mph bi-more trains.
Direct Fast Train To Bordeaux Opens Up Grape Expectations
The title of this post is the same as that as an article on Page 11 of today’s Sunday Times.
Points from the article.
- SNCF and Eurostar are talking seriously about the route.
- The journey would be less than five hours.
- The service would go through Lille.
- Preferably, customs would be in Bordeaux.
- Markets include lovers of fine wines, those with holiday homes in the Dordogne and the 1.4m passengers, who fly.
- Servies could be launched by 2022.
- Fares could be as low as £90 return.
- Eurostar would probably run the service.
Points from the Internet and myself.
- SNCF already run a direct service between Lille and Bordeaux, that takes four hours thirty-two minutes with eleven stops.
- It skirts to the East and South of Paris.
- London to Lille can be achieved in one hour and twenty-two minutes.
- All of the other possible intermediate stops like Charles de Gaulle Airport and Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy for Eurodisney are covered by other services
- Under five hours is a necessity for sales and marketing purposes.
On the face of it, it would appear that under five hours is challenging, but what would happen to the times, if the journey was non-stop?
It must be under five hours!
I can’t wait for it to start.
Where Next?
Eurostar currently runs regularly to the following places.
- Amsterdam
- Avignon
- Brussels
- Lille
- Lyon
- Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy
- Marseilles
- Paris
- Rotterdam
In addition, various ski resorts are served in winter.
Frontrunners for services must be Cologne, Frankfurt and Geneva, but then Eurostar will be tracking ticket sales to make sure they add the right destinations.
Cologne is my preference for another destination.
- Cologne is an hour and fifty minutes from Brussels.
- It is well-connected to the rest of Germany.
- Frankfurt is only 62 minutes away on the Cologne-Frankfurt High Speed Line.
- Eurostar’s Class 374 trains, would appear to have sufficient power for inclines of the Cologne-Frankfurt High Speed Line.
I estimate that the time from London to Cologne will be something like three hours and forty minutes.
But if the service were to be extended to Frankfurt along the Cologne-Frankfurt High Speed Line, London to Frankfurt should be under five hours.
More Details On 30th April 2018
There is an article on Global Rail News, which gives more details.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The owner and operator of the UK’s first high-speed line has revealed it is in advanced discussions with three international operators to launch a direct high-speed train from London to Bordeaux.
HS1 Ltd, Lisea, Eurotunnel and SNCF Réseau are working on agreed timetable slots and train routes and hope that a new international train operator will be able to get the route up and running “in a couple of years”.
Who is Lisea?
Lisea is the joint venture, that built the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique to Bordeaux and now operate the line. This is all explained in this extract from the Wikipedia entry for the line.
The line was built by consortium LISEA consisting of Vinci Concessions (fr) (Vinci SA subsidiary) – 33.4%, Caisse des dépôts et consignations – 25.4%, Meridiam – 22.0% and Ardian – 19.2%. The consortium will operate and maintain the line until 2061, and will charge tolls to train companies. The consortium invested €3.8 billion, French government, local authorities and the European Union paid €3 billion and €1 billion was contributed by SNCF Réseau (fr) (subsidiary of SNCF. Another €1.2 billion was spent by SNCF Réseau on the construction of interconnecting lines, control centres, capacity enhancements at Bordeaux and remodelling the track layout at Gare Montparnasse.
It looks very much like a French PFI.
Who Are SNCF Réseau?
This definition of SNCF Réseau is from Wikipedia.
SNCF Réseau is the infrastructure division of SNCF, and carries out track and other infrastructure maintenance, design and construction. Subsidiaries in the group include Systra, Inexia and SNCF International.
I have read that SNCF Réseau can be thought of as a French Network Rail.
More On Where Next?
The Global Rail News article also says this.
HS1 is also in discussions with operators to launch routes to Frankfurt and Geneva and has appointed a new market development lead, Edmund Butcher, to develop these plans.
As I said earlier, London-Frankfurt times would appear to be under five hours.
I can’t find a definitive time between London and Geneva, but I suspect it’s under six hours.
Other places and times could be.
- Barcelona – Under ten hours – But gorgeous views through the Camargue.
- Nice – Under nine hours – I did it once, as I wrote in Cambridge to Nice by Train.
It should also be noted, that as the French and German high speed networks grow, there will be large numbers of places accessible within a day, with a single change at places like Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lille, Lyon and Marseille.
I haven’t mentioned Paris, as changing at Paris often involved a trek across the city!
Nova 3 On The Test Track
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the May 2018 Edition of Modern Railways.
Nova 3 is the name that TransPennine Express (TPE) have given to their thirteen new rakes of Mark 5A coaches, that are being built by CAF in Spain and will be hauled by Class 68 locomotives.
These are my thoughts on what we know about the trains.
The Test Phase
Testing is being performed on the Velim test track in the Czech Republic.
Increasingly, it seems that a lot of testing of trains is done on this track and I do wonder if one of the problems al our trains seeming to be late, is a lack of the suitable testing facilities in the UK.
Spanish train manufacturer; Talgo, seem to have noticed this gap and I wrote about their plans for a UK test track in Talgo Explores Options For Building UK Test Track.
Modern Railways, states that there was trouble getting the two test locomotives to Velim, because of industrial action in France.
Perhaps in parallel with the ordering of large numbers of trains, we should have built a test track!
Buying New CAF carriages Enabled Faster Deployment, Than Converting Spare Mark 3 carriages
I think that the main problem of converting Mark 3 carriages, which Chiltern have shown is very possible, is that until Greater Anglia release their carriages, after receiving their new Class 745 trains, the fifty-two coaches needed by TPE could be difficult to find. There are plenty of driving van trailers in store, that just need refurbishing.
The Modern Railways article says that most if not all, of the new Mark 5A coaches will be in service by early 2019.
I suspect that Greater Anglia won’t release their Mark 3 carriages until late 2019.
So to get the required number of Mark 3 coaches could be difficult!
I also suspect that going the CAF route means that if any extra sets re needed or the current ones need lengthening, that CAF would oblige. Whereas starching around for spare Mark 3 coaches might be more difficult.
Transpennine’s New Fleet Of Coaches
TPE have ordered the following.
- Fifty-two coaches, of which thirteen are First Class and the rest Second Class
- Fourteen driving van trailers (DVT). A spare seems prudent, as surely train ends are more likely to hit something.
- Fourteen Class 68 locomotives, two of which are spare.
- These are formed into thirteen fixed rakes of four coaches and DVT, which are hauled by a single Class 68 locomotive.
The Modern Railways article says that the idea is to have twelve sets in service and one in maintenance.
Flexible Length
The rakes appear to have been designed, so they can be lengthened to six or seven coaches.
The article also says that extension beyond six would need infrastructure work at some stations.
Changing The Power Unit
These twelve rakes are powered by a Class 68 diesel locomotive.
But I suspect, they could be powered by any suitable locomotive for the route.
I would be interesting to find out how an electro-diesel locomotive live a Class 88 locomotive, performed with a rake of five Mark 5A coaches.
What is probably needed in the future is an electroc-diesel locomotive with the following characteristics.
- Ability to haul a rake of five coaches at 125 mph on electricity.
- Ability to haul a rake of five coaches at 90 mph on diesel.
In a few years time, such a locomotive could handle some of TPE’s routes as electrification progresses.
Wheelchair Users Travel First Class
The First Class vehicle is next to the engine.
- A small kitvhen is provided.
- It seats thirty passengers.
- It has the only accessible toilet on the train.
Because of the last feature, TPE have taken the pragmatic decision, that all wheelchair users will be able to travel in First.
I’m not disabled or a wheelchair user, but that is probably down to luck more than anything else. So there but for luck, go I!
I travel on trains a lot and it is very rare for me to see more than one wheelchair user on a train.
Obviously TPE have statistics and adding everything up, they find that one accessible toilet is enough provided those needing it can sit close.
By not providing a second accessible toilet, but three ordinary toilets, they probably get another six seats they can sell to passengers.
I do wonder, if other train operating comp will adopt a similar philosophy.
Other Orders
The fleet appears to have been designed, so it can be adjusted to a train operating company’s needs.
I would suspect, that after two orders for their Mark 5 coaches, CAF are expecting more, from the next round of franchise renewals.
I also think, that TPE’s concept of a rake of five coaches with a locomotive could appeal to Open Access Operators like Grand Central Trains, especially if a 125 mph electro-diesel locomotive can be built.
One great advantage that CAF have is that once the TPE fleet is operating successfully, there would not be a large testing phase for a new operator.
Conclusion
It appears that CAF and TransPennine Express have thought long and hard about these trains and I’m looking forward to riding in one.
The Anonymous Widower 