A Passing Loop At Ponders End
I can’t write Ponders End without smiling, as my mother was born in that district of Enfield and used to refer to herself in light-hearted moments as a Ponders Plonker.
The West Anglia Main Line, through Ponders End station is a busy line and Enfield Council want to have four trains per hour (tph) serving their new development at Meridian Water.
This page on the CPMS Group web site is entitled The Changing Face Of Rail Investment and it describes the solution to the capacity problem at Ponders End/Meridian Water stations.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Peter George, Meridian Water Programme Director, London Borough of Enfield, and Damien Gent, Managing Director, CPMS Infrastructure, talk about the ground-breaking work undertaken by the London Borough of Enfield to deliver the rail infrastructure needed to increase passenger capacity at the newly built Meridian Water rail station and regenerate brownfield land to make space for up to 13,000 new homes and create over 6,000 new jobs in North-East London.
The Meridian Water project has been split into three phases.
- Phase 1 of the project was the construction of the new Meridian Water rail station.
- Phase 2 was building the rail infrastructure which would support the increased rail traffic.
- Phase 3 was the regeneration of the area, the procurement of new homes and creation of new jobs.
Only Phase 1 has so far been completed with Meridian Water station opening in June 2019.
This paragraph describes the complexity and solution to Phase 2.
The complexity of Phase 2 of the project was very high. The West Anglia mainline is one of the most congested routes into London. Consequently, the team had to find a way to reconcile increased capacity and trains stopping at Meridian Water station with ensuring high speed trains could still pass through the station seamlessly. This was a very challenging task. The solution which received the most support and proved the most viable was to install a new passing loop, approximately 1700 metres of new track at Ponders end, and to create a bi-directional section on the mainline heading towards London, as well as to implement broad changes to the signalling, telecoms and Overhead Line power systems to align with the new track position. This infrastructure solution provides the capacity within the rail network to then consider the timetable changes required to increase the frequency of services calling at Meridian Water.
It does seem that the web page is getting a bit ahead of reality.
But there is also this article on the Enfield Dispatch, which is entitled Boost For Rail Services At Meridian Water.
This is said.
Plans to boost rail services at Enfield Council’s £6billion Meridian Water regeneration scheme have taken a step forward.
The council has agreed a construction deal to create a passing loop at Ponders End Station, which will allow four trains per hour to serve Meridian Water Station, which was opened in June 2019.
The loop will enable fast trains on the West Anglia Main Line to overtake stopping services at Ponders End Station, allowing more trains to stop at Meridian Water, which is presently only served by two trains per hour towards Stratford.
To secure funding the works need to be completed by the end of March 2024.
A Visit To Ponders End Station
I went to Ponders End station this morning.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The Brimsdown Ditch on the East side of the station.
- The footbridge spanning both the railway and the road.
- The footbridge has ramps for step-free access.
- I suspect that the platforms will take a 240 metre train.
These pictures show the station
Note.
- The station serves the Lee Valley Regional Park and the Lea Valley Athletics Centre, so it probably needs lifts in an ideal world.
- The bridge seems to be built high enough for a track or even two to pass underneath.
- There seems to be plenty of space between the railway tracks and the A1055 road.
I wonder if a very simple solution is going to be built.
Consider that the distance between the two stations either side of Ponders End station is 3.2 miles or 5150 metres. So if the loop is placed symmetrically around Ponders End station to the East of the station, that would mean that the loop started and finished around 1700 metres from Brimsdown and Meridian Water stations. The Brimsdown Ditch could be put in a culvert, if more space were needed.
A Southbound express after passing through Brimsdown station would then take the loop between the platform and the road at Ponders End station and then cross over to the main line after the station.
I could envisage the Southbound express path through the three stations, being as straight as possible for several hundred metres through Ponders End station, with very gentle curves to connect to the current Southbound track at each end.
To access the Southbound platform at Ponders End, there would be two crossovers from the loop to the track through the station at each end of the station. As the train would be stopping or accelerating away, when it crossed between the passing loop and the station track, it could be done at a much slower speed.
There will be no problem for Southbound represses overtaking a stopping train sitting in Ponders End station. The loop would be very simple and I suspect Network Rail have enough expertise to design it for perhaps 100 mph. The sharpest changes of direction would only be performed by the stopping train at a much slower speed.
But surely, a Northbound train will need to overtake a stopping one.
Could this be done at Meridian Water station by stopping the Northbound stopping train in Platform 3 at the station and allowing the Northbound expresses to overtake through Platform 4?
It would need a couple of crossovers either side of Meridian Water station and bi-directional running through Platform 3 at the station.
Conclusion
How many small rail schemes like this, that unlock housing and job opportunities could be accelerated by better design, management, planning and cooperation between stakeholders.
Beeching Reversal – Unlocking Capacity And Services Through Bramley (Hants)
This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
Bramley Station
Bramley (Hants) station is on the Reading-Basingstoke Line, which is 15.5 miles long.
- The line is double-track.
- Bramley station is the nearest one to Basingstoke station.
- The two stations are about five miles apart.
- The basic local service is two trains per hour (tph), with trains taking a few minutes under half-an-hour.
- The speed limit is listed in Wikipedia at 75 mph and my Class 165 train was travelling at about 60 mph on both journeys between Basingstoke and Bramley stations.
This Google Map shows Bramley station.
Note the level crossing, just to the North of the station.
These are some pictures, that I took, whilst I spent about thirty minutes at Bramley station.
Note
- In the thirty minutes, I was at the station, two long freight trains and three passenger trains came through.
- The level crossing barriers were going up and down like a whore’s drawers.
- Each level crossing closure resulted in long queues at the barriers.
It reminded me how bad the level crossing at Brimsdown station used to be in the Peak in 1966, when I crossed it twice every day to go to and from work at Enfield Rolling Mills. At least I was on two wheels and it gave me a break from pedalling!
There is more on the problems of the level crossing on this article on the Bramley Parish Council web site, which is entitled Living With Our Level Crossing.
Current Future Plans For the Reading-Basingstoke Line
The Wikipedia entry for the Reading-Basingstoke Line has a Future section, where this is said.
The railway is listed with Network Rail as part of route 13, the Great Western main line, and was due to be electrified with 25 kV overhead wiring by 2017 as part of the modernisation of the main line.[8] In July 2007, plans were agreed to build a station in Reading south of Southcote Junction in the Green Park business park, serving the southern suburbs of Reading and also the Madejski Stadium. Construction of Reading Green Park railway station was expected to be completed in 2010; the plans were suspended in 2011, but were reinstated in 2013. It is now set to open by the end of 2020[9], with electrification along the line at a later date.
It is my view, that the new Reading Green Park station will probably mean that four tph between Reading and Basingstoke stations will be needed. especially if a second new station were to be built at Chineham.
But four tph would probably be impossible, without improving the traffic of both rail and road through Bramley.
Solving The Level Crossing Problem
Ideally, the level crossing should be closed and the road diverted or put on a bridge,
If you look at a wider map of the area, building a by-pass to enable road traffic to avoid the crossing will be difficult if not impossible.
But this is not an untypical problem on rail networks and not just in the UK.
I suspect that with precise train control using digital ERTMS signalling, trains and level crossing closures can be timed to improve traffic on both road and rail.
Consider.
- If trains crossed on the level crossing and they were under precise control, this would reduce the number of level crossing closures per hour.
- If the line speed was higher and the trains ran faster, this should ease timetabling, as there could be more train paths per hour.
- Faster accelerating electric trains would save time too, by shortening station dwell times.
- A third track might be laid in places.
- The signalling could possibly drive the train or tell the driver exactly what speed to travel, so trains passed on the crossing or in the station.
As Network Rail and their contractors roll-out ERTMS, they’ll discover better and more intelligent ways to deploy the system.
Electric Trains Would Help
Electric trains accelerate faster and if they use regenerative braking to batteries, this cuts station dwell times.
But powering them by electrification would mean the connecting lines between the Reading and Basingstoke Lines and the nearest electrified lines would also have to be electrified. This would make the scheme excessively expensive.
But Battery Electric Trains Could Be Better!
I believe that battery electric trains, would be a more-than-viable alternative.
- You still get the performance advantages of electric trains.
- With charging at just one end of the route, a battery electric train could run a round trip on battery power.
The big advantage, would be that the only new electrification infrastructure needed would be to charge the trains.
Charging Battery Electric Trains At Reading Station
Reading is a fully electrified station and the shuttle trains to and from Basingstoke station, appear to use Platform 2.
This Google Map shows electrification gantries over Platforms 1, 2 and 3 at Reading station.
Note.
- The route between Reading station and Southcote junction, where the Basingstoke and Newbury routes divide, may be under two miles, but it is fully electrified.
- Trains take three minutes to travel between Reading station and Southcote junction.
- Trains wait for up to twenty minutes in the platform at Reading station.
It would appear that trains get enough time at Reading to fully charge the batteries.
Charging Battery Electric Trains At Basingstoke Station
The shuttle trains between Reading and Basingstoke stations, appear to use Platform 5 in Basingstoke station.
This Google Map shows Platform 5 at Basingstoke station.
Platform 5 is towards the top of the map and contains a two-car train.
These pictures show the platform.
Note.
- There would appear to be space on the North side of Platform 5 to install another platform, if one should be needed.
- It appears from the Google Map, that Platform 5 could take a four-car train.
- The platform is wide and spacious for passengers.
- I suspect a Fast Charge system of some sort could be installed in this platform.
As at Reading, trains can take around twenty minutes to turn back at Basingstoke, which would be ideal for a battery charge.
What Trains Could Work The Shuttle?
After South Western Railway‘s interim Managing Director; Mark Hopwood’s comments, that led me to write Converting Class 456 Trains Into Two-Car Battery Electric Trains, these trains must be a possibility.
I also think, that as both South Western Railway and Great Western Railway are both First Group companies, there won’t be too much argument about who supplies the trains for the shuttle.
CrossCountry Trains Between Reading And Basingstoke
CrossCountry will need to replace their Class 220 trains with electric or bi-mode trains soon, to meet the dates for decarbonisation.
The prime candidate must be a dual-voltage version of Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train, which could easily work the 15.5 miles between Reading and Basingstoke on battery power, after charging up on the electrification at both ends.
The trains could also be easily fitted with the ERTMS signalling equipment that will be required to go smoothly along the line.
Freight Trains Between Reading And Basingstoke
We might see this section of the UK rail network, electrified for freight, but as it would require lots of connecting electrification, I think it is more likely that freight locomotives will be powered by an alternative fuel like hydrogen or bio-diesel. This would cut electrification needs, but still reduce carbon emissions.
Freight locomotives are already being fitted with the required ERTMS signalling equipment.
Conclusion
I am absolutely sure, that there’s a technological solution in there, that can increase the number of trains through Bramley.
But diverting the road traffic and clossing the level crossing would appear to be difficult.
West Anglia Route Improvement – Brimsdown Station – 22nd February 2017
I took these pictures at Brimsdown station.
This Google Map shows a closeup of the station.
Brimsdown Station
Note.
- The level crossing is a real bottleneck and has been since the 1960s, when I used it to go to work.
- I was at the station for about thirty minutes and in that time around ten fast trains roared through, so the barriers were more closed than open.
- The space for the tracks is narrow, but there’s nothing of merit in the way.
- There is a poor subway, but no footbridge.
Meridian Way was built to provide an alternative route, but drivers want to use the crossing.
It is another station and level crossing, that might be improved using a Level Crossing Replacement Station.
Before Crossrail 2 – Brimsdown
I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Brimsdown station, despite having rarely used it as a start or end point of a train journey. It’s just that I’ve spent many minutes waiting for trains to cross the level crossing, in a car or with my bike. When I worked at Enfield Rolling Mills, I seemed that every other day, I had to wait perhaps ten minutes for a train to pass.
As you can see on a relatively quiet Sunday morning, the level crossing inconvenienced quite a few.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station and the roads around it.
Brimsdown Station
This is going to be one station, where four-tracking and removal of the level crossing will not be easy.
I think that the four tracks could be squeezed through as there is green space on each side of the tracks, but there is so little space around the station that a bridge or an underpass for traffic would be impossible.
So I suspect the only thing to do is create alternative pedestrian and bicycle routes from one side to the other and close the level crossing.
It will not be popular!
The Anonymous Widower 