Hyperdrive Innovation And Hitachi Rail To Develop Battery Tech For Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the introductory sub-title.
Hyperdrive Innovation and Hitachi Rail are to develop battery packs to power trains and create a battery hub in the North East of England.
The article gives this information.
- Trains can have a range of ninety kilometres, which fits well with Hitachi’s quoted battery range of 55-65 miles.
- Hitachi has identified its fleets of 275 trains as potential early recipients.
Hitachi have also provided an informative video.
At one point, the video shows a visualisation of swapping a diesel-engine for a battery pack.
As a world-class computer programmer in a previous life, I believe that it is possible to create a battery pack, that to the train’s extremely comprehensive computer, looks like a diesel-engine.
So by modifying the train’s software accordingly, the various power sources of electrification, diesel power-packs and battery packs can be used in an optimum manner.
This would enable one of East Midlands Railway’s Class 810 trains, to be fitted with a mix of diesel and battery packs in their four positions under the train.
Imagine going between London and Sheffield, after the High Speed Two electrification between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield has been erected.
- Between St. Pancras and Market Harborough power would come from the electrification.
- The train would leave the electrified section with full batteries
- At all stations on the route, hotel power would come from the batteries.
- Diesel power and some battery power would be used between stations. Using them together may give better performance.
- At Clay Cross North Junction, the electrification would be used to Sheffield.
For efficient operation, there would need to be electrification or some form of charging at the Sheffield end of the route. This is why, I am keen that when High Speed Two is built in the North, that the shsared section with the Midland Main Line between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station, should be built early.
Hitachi have said that these trains will have four diesel engines. I think it will more likely be two diesel engines and two batteries.
The World’s First Battery-Electric Main Line
I suspect with electrification between Sheffield and Clay Cross North Junction, that a train fitted with four batteries, might even be able to run on electric power only on the whole route.
In addition, if electrification were to be erected between Leicester and East Midlands Parkway stations, all three Northern destinations would become electric power only.
The Midland Main Line would be the first battery electric high speed line in the world!
Hitachi On Hydrogen Trains
The press release about the partnership between Hitachi and Hyperdrive Innovation is on this page on the Hitachi web site.
This is a paragraph.
Regional battery trains produce zero tailpipe emission and compatible with existing rail infrastructure so they can complement future electrification. At the moment, battery trains have approximately 50% lower lifecycle costs than hydrogen trains, making battery the cheapest and cleanest alternative zero-emission traction solution for trains.
I have ridden in two battery-electric trains and one hydrogen-powered train.
I would rate them out of ten as follows.
- Class 230 train – 6 – Battery
- Class 379 train – 8 – Battery
- Coradia iLint – 4 – Hydrogen
It’s not that the iLint is a bad train, as the power system seems to work well, but the passenger experience is nowhere near the quality of the two battery trains.
In my view, battery vehicles are exceedingly quiet, so is this the reason?
On the other hand, it could just be poor engineering on the iLint.
Conclusion
This is as very big day in the development of zero- and low-carbon trains in the UK.
Birmingham-Black Country-Shrewsbury
On the Midlands Connect web site, they have a page, which is entitled Birmingham-Black Country-Shrewsbury.
This is the introductory paragraph.
We’re examining the case to increase services from three to four per hour, made possible by capacity released post-HS2.
They then give the outline of their plans, which can be summed up as follows.
- Services on the corridor are slow and unreliable.
- Network Rail say the service is in danger of acute overcrowding.
- Services will be increased from three trains per hour (tph) to four.
- A direct hourly service from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford to London will be introduced.
- Services to Birmingham International will be doubled.
- The economic case will be examined for speeding up services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham from 56 to 45 minutes, via track upgrades and possible electrification.
It seems a safe, and not overly ambitious plan.
These are my thoughts.
Shrewsbury’s Unique Position
These are distances and times from important stations.
- Birmingham International – 51 miles and 83 minutes
- Birmingham New Street – 42.5 miles and 71 minutes
- Chester – 42.5 miles and 53 minutes
- Crewe – 33 miles and 53 minutes
- Hereford – 51 miles and 59 minutes
- Telford – 14 miles and 21 minutes
- Wellington – 10 miles and 13 minutes
- Welshpool – 20 miles and 25 minutes
- Wolverhampton – 30 miles and 50 minutes
In Sparking A Revolution, I quoted this Hitachi-specification for a battery-electric train.
- Range – 55-65 miles
- Performance – 90-100 mph
- Recharge – 10 minutes when static
- Routes – Suburban near electrified lines
- Battery Life – 8-10 years
I can’t see any problem, for a train with this specification being able to reach Shrewsbury from Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street and Crewe on battery power.
In Hitachi Trains For Avanti, I quote an article with the same title in the January 2020 Edition of Modern Railways as saying this.
Hitachi told Modern Railways it was unable to confirm the rating of the diesel engines on the bi-modes, but said these would be replaceable by batteries in future if specified.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shrewsbury served from Birmingham and Crewe by fast electric trains, that used battery power. Avanti West Coast certainly seem to have that thought in mind.
Zero Carbon Trains Between Shrewsbury And Wales
It will be a formidable challenge to run battery trains from Shrewsbury to the Welsh destinations.
- Aberystwyth – 81.5 miles
- Cardiff – 107 miles
- Carmarthen – 185 miles
- Holyhead – 133 miles
- Milford Haven – 225 miles
- Swansea – 121.5 miles
Note.
- These are challenging distances for battery-electric trains.
- South Wales destinations served via Newport and Cardiff could use the electrification on the South Wales Main Line.
- Many of these services start from East of Shrewsbury and can use the electrified lines that connects to Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
Unless someone like Riding Sunbeams, makes a breakthrough, I can’t see battery-electric trains running to Welsh destinations from Shrewsbury.
Transport for Wales New Trains
Transport for Wales have ordered seventy-seven new Class 197 trains, and these diesel trains will be used for services through Shrewsbury, mainly on services to Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International stations.
- If these trains are similar to Northern’s Class 195 trains, they will be diesel multiple units with a noisy mechanical transmission.
- I was surprised in these days of global warming that Transport for Wales didn’t buy something more eco-friendly, as they have for South Wales and the services around Chester.
- The transmission of the Class 197 trains has not been disclosed.
Perhaps, CAF are going to do something innovative.
- The CAF Civity is a modular train, with either electric or diesel power options.
- The diesel-powered options use MTU engines.
- A logical development would be to use an MTU Hybrid PowerPack to reduce diesel consumption and emissions.
- This PowerPack would also reduce noise, as it has an electric transmission.
- I wonder, if CAF can raid their parts bin and fit a pantograph, so where 25 KVAC overhead electrification is available, it can be used.
- If CAF can convert a bog standard diesel multiple unit into a hybrid diesel-electric-battery multiple unit, by performing a heart transplant, it is a neat way of keeping new diesel Civities running until a later date.
- Remember that Northern and West Modlands Trains have another seventy-four similar new diesel Civities in operation or on order. With trains having a forty year life, they don’t fit with an early phasing out of diesel.
I have no idea, what is actually happening, but my engineer’s nose tells me to expect a surprise from CAF.
Increasing Birmingham And Shrewsbury Services From Three Trains Per Hour To Four
Four trains per hour or one train every fifteen minutes seems to be a preferred frequency on several UK suburban lines.
These services seem to provide four tph or better on most, if not all of their routes.
- Birmingham Cross-City Line
- London Overground
- Merseyrail
- Tyne and Wear Metro
Four tph seems to be a very handy Turn-Up-And-Go frequency that encourages people to use rail services.
So I am not surprised to see Midlands Connect wanting four tph between Birmingham and Shrewsbury.
Currently, the following services seem to operate between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
- Avanti West Coast – 2 trains per day (tpd) – Shrewsbury and London Euston via Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International.
- Trains for Wales – 1 train per two hours (tp2h) – Holyhead and Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street.
- Trains for Wales 1 tph – Aberystwyth/Pwllheli and Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street
- West Midlands Trains – 2 tph – Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street – One semi-fast and one stopper.
Note.
- All services call at Wolverhampton, Telford and Wellington.
- Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street is a 3.5 tph service.
- Shrewsbury and Birmingham International is a 1.5 tph service.
It relies heavily on services from Trains for Wales, who probably don’t put Shrewsbury and Birmingham services at the top of their priorities.
I remember, when local services in the North-East of London were run by Greater Anglia from Norwich. Moving some services to Transport for London, brought about a large improvement
Quite frankly, the current service is best described as pathetic.
Should Trains for Wales Services Terminate As Shrewsbury?
I suspect some local politicians in Shrewsbury and Birmingham, think it would be best to adopt this sort of strategy.
- All Welsh services terminate at Shrewsbury.
- Birmingham and Shrewsbury mandate West Midlands Trains and Avanti West Coast to provide a frequent service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
It might be the way to go, but many travellers from the Marches, would probably want direct connections to Birmingham, Birmingham Airport and in the future High Speed Two.
Introducing A Direct Hourly Service From Shrewsbury, Wellington And Telford To London
On the face of it, it looks like a much needed service to and from Shrewsbury.
- It will be hourly.
- Initially it will use Class 221 diesel multiple units, but these will be replaced with bi-mode Class 805 trains.
- The current infrequent service calls at Watford Junction, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Telford Central and Wellington.
- There are also six other stations between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, which might like an improved service.
- The service will be run by Avanti West Coast.
There might also be the possibility of using battery power between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, which is only thirty miles each way.
But there are other collateral benefits.
- The service increases the frequency between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street stations by one tph to 4.5 tph
- The service increases the frequency between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International by one tph to 2.5 tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Wolverhampton and London Euston by one tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Sandwell and Dudley and London Euston by one tph
- The service increases the frequency between Birmingham New Street and London Euston by one tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Birmingham International and London Euston by one tph.
- The new service will provide an hourly quality connection to High Speed Two at Birmingham International for stations between Shrewsbury and Coventry.
- It appears that the Class 390 trains to Birmingham New Street and being replaced by new Class 807 trains, so Birmingham will have three out of four tph, run by new trains.
- The new Shrewsbury service , has a similar calling pattern to that of the current Scottish service through Birmingham. Will it replace that service, when High Speed Two opens?
Note.
- Midlands Connect’s objective of four tph between Shrewsbury and Birmingham has been met.
- Several stations get a better direct service to London.
- Connectivity to High Speed Two is improved.
- Birmingham New Street and London is now a Turn-Up-And-Go frequency of four tph.
- The Class 805 train will also mean that Avanti West Coast could be zero-carbon in Birmingham. Especially, if it used battery power between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury stations.
The hourly direct service between Shrewsbury and London will make a lot of difference to train services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
Avanti’s London Euston and Birmingham New Street Service
Consider.
- There are two tph that terminate in Birmingham New Street station, that take 88-89 minutes, from London Euston
- There is one tph that goes through Birmingham New Street station to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Preston, or Shrewsbury, that takes 82-84 minutes, from London Euston.
- Currently, the two terminating trains are Class 390 trains, whereas the through train can be a Class 221 train as well.
- Through trains are allowed 5-10 minutes to pass through Birmingham New Street.
- Trains that terminate at Birmingham New Street station are allowed 20-30 minutes to arrive and leave.
- Avanti West Coast have said, that they will be running Class 807 trains between London and Birmingham New Street.
It doesn’t seem to be the best use of scarce platform resources in a busy station to park a train there for half-an-hour.
In Will Avanti West Coast’s New Trains Be Able To Achieve London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street In Two Hours?, I came to the conclusion that the Class 807 trains have been designed as simple, fast, lightweight all-electric trains with no heavy batteries, diesel engines or tilt mechanism.
- I think they’ll be able to shave a few minutes on the timings between London Euston and Birmingham New Street station.
- I would suspect that they will match the 82-84 minutes of the through trains
- The ultimate would be if they could do a round trip between London Euston and Birmingham New Street in three hours.
- Two tph run by what would effectively be a London-Birmingham shuttle would need just six trains.
It might mean new methods of manning the trains, to reduce turnround times.
Doubling Of Services Between Shrewsbury And Birmingham International
The hourly direct London and Shrewsbury Avanti West Coast service will raise the current 1.5 tph service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International to 2.5 tph, so will be a good start.
- Perhaps Trains for Wales could find the missing 0.5 tph.
- West Midlands Trains might be able to squeeze in another train.
But I suspect that the crowded line between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International is the problem.
Shrewsbury And Birmingham In Forty-Five Minutes
This is the last objective and saving eleven minutes on this route would suggest that the best way would surely be to fully electrify the route.
- Between Wolverhampton and Birmingham International stations is fully electrified.
- Electric trains have faster acceleration and deceleration, so would probably achieve the required savings if they stopped more than five times.
- From my virtual helicopter it doesn’t appear to be the most challenging of routes to electrify.
- Only about thirty miles of double track would need to be electrified between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury stations.
- Both Trains for Wales and West Midlands Trains would have to obtain new electric trains.
- Avanti West Coast have already got bi-mode Class 805 trains, that could use the electrification.
But will Trains for Wales go along with Midlands Connect, when they tell them to get electric or bi-mode trains to work between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International stations?
It is because of dilemmas like this, that I feel that electric trains using battery or hydrogen power, when away from electrification can be a very good alternative.
- There is no major disruption raising bridges for the electrification.
- Stations don’t need to be closed for electrification.
- The trains have all the comfort and performance of electric trains.
- Costs and timescales can be reduced.
- When running on battery or hydrogen power, these trains are very quiet, as there is no pantograph noise.
To run battery-electric trains between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, the only infrastructure needed would be a method of charging the train at Shrewsbury station.
This Google Map shows the Southern end of Shrewsbury station.
Note.
- The platforms are built over the River Severn.
- The five-car Class 221 train in Virgin livery sitting in Platform 5.
- When this train leaves it will turn left or to the East for Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
- Trains can turn right for Wales.
It is a very unusual station layout.
- Platform 5 is one of a pair of bay platforms; 5 & 6, that can access either Wales or Birmingham.
- Outside of the bay platforms are a pair of through platforms; 4 & 7, that can also access Wales or Birmingham, but they can also access Chester by going through the station.
- The 115 metre long Class 221 train fits easily in the bay platform 5.
- The 130 metre long Class 805 train would probably need to use Platform 4 or 7.
But with well-planned electrification, it would be ideal for charging electric trains as they pass through or turned back!
Once the train reaches Wolverhampton, it will connect to electrification again.
Shrewsbury And High Speed Two
Currently, Shrewsbury has three connections to stations, where it would be convenient to take a High Speed Two train.
- Birmingham International, which is 51 miles and 83 minutes away. Plus a ride on a people mover for High Speed Two.
- Birmingham New Street, which is 42.5 miles and 71 minutes away. Plus a walk to Birmingham Curzon Street for High Speed Two.
- Crewe, which is 33 miles and 55 minutes away.
Passengers will make their own choice.
Could Shrewsbury Have A Classic-Compatible High Speed Two Service To Manchester Piccadilly?
London To Shrewsbury, Now And Post-High Speed Two
Travel On Monday
If I want to go to Shrewsbury next Monday, one fast journey is taking the 09:10 from Euston and changing at Crewe, which gives a journey time of two hours and thirty-two minutes.
I can also get a train with a change at Birmingham International that takes seven minutes longer.
Travel On High Speed Two
After High Speed Two opens to Birmingham Curzon Street and Interchange in Phase 1 what sort of times to Shrewsbury can be expected?
I estimate the following.
- Travelling via Birmingham Curzon Street could produce a time of around one hour and fifty minutes, if you’re lucky with the trains.
- Travelling via Crewe could produce a time of one hour and thirty minutes, if you’re lucky with the trains.
- Travelling via Interchange could produce a time of around one hour and fifty-five minutes. or forty-four minutes faster.
If I was going to Shrewsbury after High Speed Two has opened, I would probably change at Birmingham Curzon Street, if the walk to New Street station was still within my capabilities, as there will be a Turn-Up-And-Go frequency of four tph between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury stations.
Looking at the Midlands Connect objectives, these help with linking Shrewsbury with London.
- Increasing services between Birmingham and Shrewsbury to four tph, as it’s Turn-Up-And-Go!
- The direct hourly service to London from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford might be the quickest way to London by changing at Birmingham New Street/Curzon Street or Interchange.
- Doubling the service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International, may be a good move, as Interchange, which will be connected to Birmingham International by a high capacity people mover, will have five tph between London Euston and Old Oak Common stations.
- Saving eleven minutes between Shrewsbury and Birmingham will certainly help.
Travelling between London and Telford, Wellington and Shrewsbury will be much improved.
The Big Metro Fleet Upgrade That Could Make It ‘Easy’ To Finally Extend Train Services To New Areas
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Newcastle Chronicle.
This is the first paragraph.
Every train in Metro’s new fleet will be capable of running via an on-board battery, reducing the chance of major shutdowns and making it much cheaper to extend the network.
The fact that it is technically possible, is not a surprise as Stadler’s Class 777 trains for Merseyrail will be using battery power to extend routes. I would be very surprised if the new Tyne and Wear Metro trains and those for Merseyrail, didn’t have a lot of design in common.
But what is surprising, is that the Tyne and Wear Metro’s whole fleet will be fitted with batteries. This must be the first time in the UK, that a whole fleet of trains has been said to have batteries.
The Merseyrail trains will also have a dual voltage capability and will be able to be modified for running on 25 KVAC overhead electrification, as well as 750 VDC third-rail electrification.
Will the Tyne and Wear trains be able to use 25 KVAC electrification? It could be useful in some places on the network and I’m sure, if there was a financial case for a service using existing 25 KVAC electrification, then some trains would be modified accordingly.
A Quick Comparison
This is a quick comparison between Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains and the Tyne and Wear Metro’s new trains.
- Cars – 777 – 4 – T&W – 5
- Operating Speed – 777 – 75 mph – T&W – 50 mph
- Capacity – 484 – T&W – 600
- Capacity Per Car – 121 – T&W – 125
- In Service – 2022 (?) – T&W – 2024
They are not that different and it looks like the Tyne and Wear trains will be built after the Merseyrail trains.
Battery Running
The article says this about running on battery power.
He said the 16km off-wire running would allow for a new loop extending out from South Hylton, through Washington, connecting back to Pelaw.
He added that it would be “easy” to create new connections between existing Metro lines – potentially allowing for a new route through Silverlink and the Cobalt business park in North Tyneside, or a link-up from South Shields towards Sunderland.
Battery power would also solve the problem of running Metro trains on Network Rail lines, which is currently impossible because they operate at different voltages.
Mr Blagburn said: “You could remove the electrification from the complex parts of the route, say over historic structures or through tunnels.
Note.
- The range of sixteen kilometres or ten miles could be very useful.
- The trains appear to be designed to run on Network Rail tracks, as the current trains already do.
- The current trains use the Karlsruhe model to effectively work as tram-trains on shared tracks.
I actually believe that the new Tyne and Wear trains could be modified to run on both 25 KVAC and 750 VDC overhead electrification, as Stadler’s Class 399 tram-trains do in Sheffield.
Conclusion
These trains are using all Stadler’s experience of trains and tram-trains from all over the world.
- They will normally operate using 750 VDC overhead electrification.
- But Stadler have the technology to enable the trains for 25 KVAC overhead electrification, if required.
- They have a range of ten miles on batteries.
- Are the batteries charged by using the energy created by the regenerative braking?
These are not bog-standard trains!
But then neither are the trains built for Greater Anglia by Stadler!
Honeywell Launches Lightweight Cooling System For Electric Aircraft
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Flight Global.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Honeywell Aerospace has unveiled a lightweight, low-maintenance cooling system for developers of urban air mobility (UAM) and electric aircraft, and has named the Eviation Alice as launch platform for the energy-efficient feature.
I particularly like the comment of Eviation’s founder Omer Bay-Yohay’s comment of “Every ounce counts!”.
But although weight is important in an electric aircraft, like the Eviation Alice, it is also important in other forms of transport from a family runabout to a high-speed train. Especially, if the vehicle is powered by batteries.
It should also be noted, that Honeywell are setting up a specialist business unit to provide equipment for and help the builders of electric aircraft.
Conclusion
Other companies will follow Honeywell’s lead and produce lightweight equipment for the automotive and rail industries.
Universities Study Options For Battery Traction To Replace Diesel
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A three-month study of the extent to which battery-powered trains could replace diesel traction in Germany is being undertaken through a collaboration between rolling stock financing company Rock Rail, Technische Universität Dresden and the UK’s University of Birmingham.
In some ways, two Universities and one rolling stock leasing company are strange bedfellows for a study of trains in Germany.
But then Rock Rail are a very successful and surprisingly innovative company, who appear to know their trains. This sentence, is taken from the home page of their web site.
Rock Rail works closely with the franchise train operators and manufacturers to ensure a collaborative approach to design, manufacture and acceptance of the new state of the art trains on time and to budget.
They have certainly been involved in several large fleet orders in the last few years.
I have a feeling that this study will lead to sensible and workable conclusions, that may well have lessons for the UK.
A Timeline Of Hitachi’s Statements And News About Battery Trains
These are posts on this blog, that reference articles about Hitachi and battery trains.
21st November 2018 – Hitachi’s Thoughts On Battery Trains – Modern Railways Modern Railways January 2018 – Candid interview with Nick Hughes of Hitachi.
21st March 2019 – Trains Ordered For 2021 Launch Of ‘High-Quality, Low Fare’ London – Edinburgh Service – Railway Gazette – Announcement of service, but no mention of batteries, diesel or bi-mode.
26th March 2019 – Hitachi Plans To Run ScotRail Class 385 EMUs Beyond The Wires – Rail Engineer – Batteries for Class 385 trains.
1st January 2020 – Hitachi Trains For Avanti – Modern Railway January 2020 – The Hitachi trains for Avanti West Coast can be fitted with batteries, if required.
16th February 2020 – Sparking A Revolution – Rail Magazine Issue 898 – Informative interview with Andrew Barr of Hitachi.
16th April 2020 – First of Five FirstGroup Class 803s Arrives In UK – Rail Magazine Issue 903 – Disclosure that the Class 803 trains will use a battery instead of diesel power for on-board services, but not traction power.
Hitachi seem to have opened up gradually with more information.
Reintroduction Of Passenger Rail Services On The Waterside Line
This is one of the successful bids in the First Round of the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
At first I wasn’t sure, which line was referred to as the Waterside Line. But then I looked at the Fawley Line on Wikipedia.
This is the opening paragraph.
The Fawley branch line, also known as the Waterside line is a standard-gauge railway line to Fawley, in the English county of Hampshire. It is on the opposite side of Southampton Water from the city of Southampton itself, in an area known as Waterside. For 40 years a passenger service operated, but this was withdrawn with the exception of the occasional enthusiasts’ railtour. The line serves the freight needs of Marchwood Military Port, having also served the same function for Fawley Refinery until 2016.
I explored this line in Reopening The Fawley Branch Line.
The Wikipedia entry, also gives details under Future, of a plan by the Association of Train Operating Companies to reopen the line.
The proposals in Wikipedia included.
- Reopening of all former stations along the line; Marchwood, Hythe, Hardley Halt and Fawley
- A new station in Totton called Totton West, sited just west of the junction with the main line.
- A new train service from Fawley or Hythe to Totton and on via Southampton Central, Southampton Airport Parkway, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford and Romsey before returning to Southampton Central, Totton and Fawley or Hythe, also serving other intermediate stations.
The service was planned to run half-hourly during peak times and hourly at other times.
The Route
This Google Map shows the area of the Waterside Line
Note.
- The line starts at Totton and there used to be stations at Marchwood, Hythe, Hardley and Fawley.
- All the places with stations are named on the map.
- The line is about seven miles in length.
- From my helicopter, it looks to be single-track most, if not all the way.
- There is a ferry between Hythe and Southampton.
This picture shows where the Waterside Line joins the main line.
It all looks pretty tidy and in good condition, so making the connection to the main line wouldn’t be too difficult.
The line passes through Hythe about two hundred metres from the water.
This Google Map shows Hythe.
The railway can be picked out as the green scar going across the bottom of the map.
I took these pictures, when I visited Hythe in February 2017.
I’m not sure, where the new Hythe station would go.
As the Waterside Line was still fully in use to Esso Fawley until four years ago, I should suspect that updating the track and signalling for passenger trains wouldn’t be the most challenging of projects.
The Trains
Wikipedia says this about the trains to be used.
The service would be operated by the then franchisee; South West Trains using diesel multiple units (DMUs)
This means they will be Class 158 or Class 159 trains, as South West Trains doesn’t have any other DMUs.
This picture shows a newly-liveried Class 159 train at Corfe Castle station.
The Class 158/159 trains would certainly do a job, but I believe that any solution must be zero-carbon, to meet the UK’s target of being carbon neutral by 2050.
The Use Of Battery Trains
Consider.
- Fawley and Totton West Junction are seven files apart. As there are five stations, I will assume three minutes per station of a journey of fifteen minutes.
- Totton West and Eastleigh are ten miles apart and fast trains take seventeen minutes.
- Eastleigh and Romsey are seven miles apart and fast trains take fourteen minutes.
- Only the section between Totton West and Eastleigh is electrified.
- Adding up the times gives a journey time between Fawley and Romsey of forty-six minutes.
- Add in fourteen minutes to turn the trains and each Fawley and Romsey takes an hour with a two-hour round trip. This is all very convenient!
- For example, an hourly service, would need two trains and they could leave Fawley and Romsey at the same time.
- It could also be arranged, that only one train was on the single-track Waterside Line at any one time.
- The fourteen minutes being used to turn the train, could also be used to charge the batteries on a battery-electric train.
- In each two-hour round trip between Fawley and Romsey, trains would spent thirty-four minutes connected to electrification and twenty-eight minutes connected to chargers. This means that there is plenty of time to charge the batteries.
- It should be noted that the train runs on a busy main line between Totton West and Eastleigh, so good acceleration and 90-100 mph capability would probably be needed, by any trains shuttling between Fawley and Romsey.
With charging facilities at Romsey and Fawley, I would be certain, that a two battery-electric trains could provide an hourly service on the route.
Candidates would probably include battery-electric versions of a Bombardier Aventra or Electrostar, a CAF Civity or a Siemens Desiro City. I doubt, that the performance of a Class 230 train is enough to keep out of the way of fast expresses.
The Use Of Hydrogen Trains
The route could also be worked by a hydrogen-powered train with enough performance.
The Stations
There would need to be new stations at Totton West, Marchwood, Hythe, Hardley and Fawley.
As the first is new and the others were closed in the 1960s, they would be complete builds, rather than an easy refurbishment.
Fawley Waters
In the Wikipedia entry for Fawley station, there is a section called Proposed Reopening, where this is said.
In August 2018, it was revealed that plans to reopen the Fawley Branch Line had been resurrected as part of the redevelopment known as Fawley Waters. It proposed a half-hourly service on a Monday to Saturday from Southampton Central to Fawley. At Marchwood the journey time would take 12 minutes and the linespeed would be 60 mph (97 km/h). Fawley station, if reopened, would be known as Hythe & Fawley Parkway which would serve both Hythe and Fawley.
Now, there would appear to be two plans for the operation of the Waterside Line.
- The Association for Train Operating Companies plan, which has an hourly service to Totton, Southampton Central, Southampton Airport Parkway, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford and Romsey, from five stations on the branch.
- The Fawley Waters plan, which has a half-hourly service to Totton and Southampton Central, from just two stations on the branch.
One plan would probably appeal to existing residents and the other to those, who bought new properties in Fawley Waters.
Conclusion
Future studies funded by the successful bid, could decide, which plan is best.
Overall though, this is a simple plan, that opens up an area to the West of Southampton for development.
Reinstatement Of Branch Lines On The Isle Of Wight
This is one of the successful bids in the First Round of the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
This article on isleofwhiteradio is entitled Funding From Government To Develop Isle Of Wight Railway Reopening Proposals.
The article lists two proposed schemes for expansion of the Island Line.
• Extension of the existing Island Line service (Ryde-Shanklin) south of Shanklin to reach Ventnor, calling at Wroxall.
• Integration with, and extension of, the existing Isle of Wight Steam Railway route to provide passenger services through Smallbrook from Ryde to Newport.
The article has an informative map.
Nearly, three years ago, I wrote Diesel And Battery Trains Could Be The Solution For Island Line, based on an article on the Island Echo, with the same title.
Since then, things have moved on and these developments have started.
- Vivarail are building a fleet of five new zero-carbon Class 484 electric trains.
- Network Rail have promised £5 million to upgrade Ryde Pier to secure the future of the line.
- The track and signalling system will be upgraded this winter.
- The passing loop at Brading will be reinstated.
This will allow a thirty minute service interval from May 2021.
Wikipedia states that a twenty-minute service could be possible in the future.
The Trains
These pictures show the Class 230 trains on the Marston Vale Line.
Note.
- These are a diesel-electric version of the Class 484, which will use the existing third-rail electrification and possibly batteries on the Island Line.
- The operator can choose an interior appropriate to their needs.
- Three-car versions of the train have been ordered by Transport for Wales.
Battery versions of the train are available with a forty-mile range, See Retired London Underground Train Travels Forty Miles Solely On Battery Power.
The Extension To Ventnor
Looking at the map and measuring distance using methods that would have been known to Drake and Grenville, I estimate that the distance between Shanklin and Ventnor via Wroxhall is less than fifteen miles.
- As the battery range of Vivarail’s trains can be in the region of forty miles, this must open up the possibility of using battery power between Shanklin and Ventnor.
- Building the extension without electrification would lower the cost.
- Trains running from Shanklin to Ventnor would be charged on the electrified section of the route.
- One of Vivarail’s charging systems could be installed at Ventnor if required. See Charging A Battery-Powered Class 230 Train.
Would Vivarail just add a third car with batteries to the Class 484 trains and update the software to enable trains to run on the extension to Ventnor?
The Extension To Newport
The Island Line connects to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Smallbrook Junction station.
Note.
- The Island line running North-South on the Eastern side of the map.
- The Isle of Wight Steam Railway curving away to the South-West.
- The two railways connecting at Smallbrook Junction station.
- Ryde is to the North.
- Shanklin is to the South.
- Newport is to the West.
I doubt, that allowing trains to run between Ryde and Newport, would be one of the most challenging projects in railway engineering.
The map on the isleofwightradio web site, shows a chord, that would allow trains to run between Shanklin and Newport.
I would estimate that the distance between Smallbrook Junction and Newport is around ten miles.
- The terminus would appear to be in the Barton area of Newport.
- Much of the route would appear to be across open countryside.
- The only place for a station could be the Isle of Wight Crematorium. Why not?
As with the extension to Ventnor, I believe that battery-electric Class 484 trains could run services to Newport.
Will The Isle Of Wight Steam Railway Object?
I very much feel, that if the scheme is well-designed, that they could be a beneficiary because of increased numbers of visitors.
The scheme might also be able to give the steam railway paths to run steam trains as far as Ryde St. John’s Road station.
Conclusion
This proposal is an elegant one, that uses proven technology and builds smoothly on work, that is already underway.
It is also a zero-carbon solution, if the electricity is from renewable sources.
I also suspect, if Network Rail put one of their brighter teams on the current upgrade to the track and signalling of the Island Line, that the extra work needed to connect to Ventnor and Newport, could be planned and costed in a very short time.
A Train With A Geo-Fence
This article on Rail Advent is entitled New Train For Wrexham to Bidston Line Begins Testing.
The testing of Vivarail‘s Class 230 train for Transport for Wales, is taking place along the Cotswold Line, prior to entering service.
This is the most significant paragraph in the article.
The train is also geo-fenced so that the gensets are never used in stations or sensitive areas, although, the batteries are extremely quiet anyway.
From personal experience of battery trains, including Vivarail’s prototype in Scotland, battery trains are very quiet.
Steventon Listed Railway Bridge Saved From Demolition
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
On the face of it it looks like victory for the Nimbys, who have saved a rather ordinary and possibly decrepit bridge from demolition.
But I believe there is more to this story than meets the eye.
The Bridge
The bridge at the centre of the argument may be Grade 2 Listed, but there are lots of similar bridges on UK railways in better condition with similar heritage, that don’t have a listing.
Type “steventon bridge electrification” into a search engine and you’ll find lots of images of the bridge.
- One picture shows, the bridge with the railway flooded, which puts an interesting slant on the debate. What are the foundations like?
- Notice, that the bridge seemed to suffer a rather botched repair at the hands of British Rail’s finest engineers.
- Having read a lot about this story, I suspect that the locals’ main reason for objecting, is that they don’t want the disruption, whilst it is rebuilt.
- Incidentally, I suspect Great Western Railway don’t want the bridge rebuilt either, as closure will be a long disruption to all services.
I have been involved in the refurbishment of several buildings of around the same age or even older than the bridge. This is the sort of construction, that will have to be replaced at some time. If it’s not replaced, some of the novel techniques that are now available to Network Rail will have to be applied.
Network Rail
The article says this about Network Rail’s solution to the problem.
But following what the company described as ‘extensive and breakthrough testing’ using computer simulations it found a speed reduction to 110mph through the village meant wires could pass underneath the existing bridge.
I do think, that 110 mph is rather convenient. if you look at the maximum operating speeds of trains and locomotives that will pass through.
- Class 801 train with digital signalling -140 mph
- Class 801 with conventional signalling – 125 mph
- Class 800/802 train on diesel power – 100 mph
- Class 80x train on battery power – 100 mph
- Class 387 train – 110 mph
- Class 90 locomotive – 110 mph
- Class 91 locomotive – 125 mph
- Class 93 locomotive – 110 mph
- High Speed Train – 125 mph
Very few trains will have to slow down.
Any train that used onboard power, like a High Speed Train or a Class 80x with batteries, could theoretically go through at the maximum speed, track, signalling and train taken together would allow.
Hitachi
In Issue 898 of Rail Magazine, there is an article, which is entitled Sparking A Revolution, which describes Hitachi’s work and plans on battery-powered trains. This is an extract.
Battery power can be used as part of electrification schemes, allowing trains to bridge the gaps in overhead wires where the costs of altering the infrastructure are high – in tunnels or bridges, for example. This would also have the immediate benefit of reducing noise and emissions in stations or built-up areas.
Elsewhere in the article, it is said that Hitachi trains will be able to do 100 mph on battery power for up to 60 miles.
But would they be able to do 125 mph on battery power for perhaps five miles? I can’t see why not!
The Google Map shows the track through Steventon.
Note.
- The bridge in question is at the East.
- There are also a couple of level crossings in this stretch of track, where the height of wires is also regulated.
Perhaps, the pantograph should be dropped before going through section and raised afterwards, with power in the section taken from a battery.
Avoiding obstacles like this, may be an economic alternative, but it does require that all electric trains using the section are able to use battery power.
I have a feeling, I’ve read somewhere that a Class 88 locomotive can do a similar trick using the onboard diesel engine.
As a Control Engineer, who trained in the 1960s, I would expect that all pantographs can now be raised or lowered with all the precision and repeatability of an Olympic gold-medal gymnast!
I do wonder, if the Great Western Electrification Project had been designed around discontinuous electrification and battery-electric trains, the project would have gone better.
For instance, the Severn Tunnel is 7,000 metres long and trains take under four minutes to pass through. The Wikipedia entry for the tunnel has a section on Electrification, which details the complicated design and the trouble that there has been with corrosion.
Given that battery-electric trains have other advantages, design by hindsight, says that a tunnel without electrification and battery trains may have been a better solution.
Conclusion
Network Rail and Hitachi will get the speed of trains through Steventon up to 125 or even 140 mph, possibly by using battery power.
But whatever happens, I’m certain that the bridge will have to be rebuilt! It has the air of a derelict house, that will suck up all your money.
The Anonymous Widower 