Five New Railway Stations Considered For West Midlands
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the first paragraph.
Transport authorities in the West Midlands are considering the case for building five new stations at Balsall Heath, Coventry East (Binley), Foleshill, Castle Bromwich and Tettenhall.
The location of the stations is as follows.
- Balsall Heath station is on the Camp Hill Line and was formerly known as Brighton Road station, which was shut in 1941 as a wartime economy measure.
- Castle Bromwich station, will be between Birmingham and Water Orton.
- Coventry East station will be on the main line between Coventry and Rugby.
- Foleshill station will be on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line, between Coventry and Coventry Arena stations.
- Tettenhall station will be to the west of Wolverhampton on the Wolverhampton Shrewsbury Line.
Note.
- Balsall Heath station would require construction of the Bordesley Chords and extra capacity at Moor Street Station.
- Coventry East station will benefit from the opening of High Speed Two, will will allow more local services.
- Castle Bromwich station would also benefit from the extra capacity from High Speed Two and the Midland Rail Hub.
Railways in Central Birmingham appear to be having a big sort out.
The article also says this about other stations, being planned in the West Midlands.
These planned new stations will add to expansion of the region’s rail network that is already underway, with new stations being built on the Camp Hill line in south Birmingham at Moseley Village, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road, and on the Walsall to Wolverhampton line serving Darlaston and Willenhall. A new station is also planned at Aldridge, with funding allocated subject to business case. The City of Wolverhampton, South Staffordshire District and Staffordshire County councils have also looked at the case for a new station at Brinsford, which will be considered alongside the case for nearby Tettenhall Station.
In the last part of the article, Andy Street talks about the funding secured.
It certainly looks like station builders in the West Midlands will have lots of work to do.
Green Light For Revived West Midlands Passenger Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Passenger trains are set to return to the line between Walsall and Wolverhampton, having been withdrawn 12 years ago. Since then, the line has been used for freight.
These points are made about the proposed service.
- Network Rail have agreed the timetable.
- It will be an hourly service between Walsall and Wolverhampton.
- Trains will call at Darlaston and Willenhall, where plans are in place for new stations, as I wrote in Reopening Of Darlaston And Willenhall Train Stations Moves Closer.
- There will also be a second hourly service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton via Tame Bridge, Darlaston and Willenhall.
- Both routes appear to be electrified.
The West Midlands Mayor; Andy Street is quoted as saying he’s pleased with the scheme.
And well might he be!
This to me is a classic reopening scheme.
- There is a fully-electrified freight route, that runs between Walsall and Wolverhampton.
- There used to be three intermediate stations; Darlaston James Bridge, Willenhall Bilston Lane and Portobello.
- The first two intermediate stations closed in 1965 and the last in 1973.
- Network Rail have said, it will be possible to run the extra trains needed.
- The direct Walsall and Wolverhampton service will complete an hourly or better triangular service between Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
- This triangular route is also fully-electrified.
- If extra rolling stock is needed, there are quite a few suitable electric multiple units, that are sitting in sidings or will be replaced by new trains in the next couple of years.
Except for the building of the new intermediate stations, nothing would appear to be high cost.
The project must have a high benefit cost ratio.
A Possible Extension From From Walsall To Aldridge
In the Wikipedia entry for Walsall station, this is said.
There are also plans to reopen a terminus single platform at Aldridge for trains to Birmingham New Street via Walsall but not to Sutton Coldfield and Water Orton.
This service would be on part of the freight-only Sutton Park Line between Walsall and Water Orton stations and is regularly used by freight trains avoiding Birmingham New Street station.
This Google Map shows the Sutton Park Line through Aldridge.
Note.
- The Sutton Park Line is double track and not electrified.
- The road running South of the railway is called Station Road, which is a bit of a giveaway.
- There is a xrossover visible in the image,
There would appear to be space for a reopened station. between the railway and Station Road.
- It could have a single platform.
- There could be adequate car parking.
- There would be no need for an expensive bridge.
- The station could be designed to be converted into a two-platform station if a full service were to be run on the Sutton Park Line at a future date.
As the station would be no more than about five miles from Walsall station and its electrification, the extended service from Walsall could be run by a battery-electric train.
Conclusion
I predict, that if this route is reopened and it is a success, other parts of the UK will want to open more freight lines to passenger traffic.
These similar projects have already been widely mentioned.
- The Leamside Line between Ferryhill and Newcastle stations. See Boris Johnson Backs Station Opening Which Could See Metro Link To County Durham.
- The Ivanhoe Line between Burton-on-Trent and Leicester stations. See Reinstatement Of The Ivanhoe Line.
- Newcastle And Ashington. See Northumberland Unveils £3.5m Rail Project To Bring Back Passenger Services.
- The Camp Hill Line In Birmingham. See First Passenger Train In 80 Years Runs On Camp Hill Line.
- The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield and Chesterfield. See Reinstatement Of The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield And Chesterfield.
- The Fawley Line Between Totton And Fawley. See Reintroduction Of Passenger Rail Services On The Waterside Line.
Most of these reopening, would just need refurbishment and some new stations.
Camp Hill Line Set To Gain Third Station
The title of this post, is the same as that of a sub-section on this page on Rail News.
This is said.
PLANS to build a station at Moseley on the Camp Hill line in Birmingham have been submitted. If approved, Moseley will be the third station on the restored route, where Birmingham City Council has already given the go-ahead to stations at Kings Heath and Hazelwell. The line was closed to passengers as a ‘wartime economy’ in January 1941, but the withdrawal was confirmed in November 1946.
Under Future Plans on the Wikipedia entry for the Camp Hill Line, this is said.
In July 2018, the Midlands Rail Hub was unveiled which would see reopening of Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell with the chords built to connect Birmingham Moor Street with the line to Kings Norton and another to Water Orton.
In September 2018, the designs of the new stations were revealed as Kings Heath, Hazelwell and Moseley were planned for reopening by 2021 with a frequency of 2 trains per hour.
It looks to me, that Birmingham City Council are going to make the Camp Hill Line an important route across the city.
First Passenger Train In 80 Years Runs On Camp Hill Line
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
These two paragraphs described the route, that the train took on the Camp Hill Line.
On Monday morning a train carrying the Mayor, West Midlands Railway’s customer experience director Jonny Wiseman and other representatives from across the rail industry, travelled along the line.
The train followed the route of what would be the re-opened line, stopping at the Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell sites before arriving into Kings Norton, and later returning to Birmingham New Street.
The article has a picture showing the VIPs showing boards indicating the stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell, that will be reopened.
Wikipedia says this under Future for all three stations.
In 2019, the project to re-open the stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell received £15 million in Government funding, with construction due to start in 2020 and aimed for completion in time for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
£15million seems good value to reopen three stations.
Let’s hope the world has solved the COVID-19 crisis before the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Trains For The Service
The picture in the article, shows the test service was run by a two-car Class 170 train. This is an ideal train to do the testing, but as the Camp Hill Line is not electrified, self-powered trains will be needed for the passenger service.
West Midlands Trains will have a good selection of self-powered trains with which to run the service.
- They already have a selection of Class 170 and Class 172 Turbostar diesel multiple units in very good condition, which total thirty-seven two-cars and twenty-one three-cars.
- I’m sure Vivarail will pitch diesel-electric or battery-electric versions of their Class 230 trains.
- Alstom will probably pitch the Breeze hydrogen-powered train.
- Porterbrook will probably pitch their proposed Battery/FLEX conversion of Class 350 trains.
I don’t think there will be a problem finding a suitable fleet for this route.
I suspect some form of battery-electric train will be used, as there is lots of 25 KVAC overhead electrification in the Birmingham area, that can be used to charge the batteries.
Battery-electric trains with a range of perhaps forty miles would also open up the possibilities for other electric services for West Midlands Trains.
A Thought On Construction
Because of COVID-19, there will probably be numbers of unemployed in this part of Birmingham, who have skills that could be useful to do the building work.
So should the non-railway related parts of the reopening be accelerated to put money in the pockets of the local unemployed.
Boris Johnson Vows New Life For High Streets And Axed Rail Lines
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Boris Johnson is promising to revitalise “left behind” high streets through tax cuts for pubs and shops and reversing some of the Beeching rail cuts to branch lines.
The article gives a map of the lines and here is a list of them.
- Newcastle and Ashington/Blyth.
- Bristol and Portishead
- Camp Hill Line
- Willenhall and Darlaston
- Thornton-Cleveleys and Fleetwood
- Okehampton and Exeter
- March and Wisbech
- Uckfield and Lewes
- A new station he building of a station at Skelmersdale.
I will suggest other possibilities and add them here.
- West Hampstead and Hounslow – Part of the West London Orbital Railway
- Brent Cross and Kew – Part of the West London Orbital Railway
- Cirencester – See Could Cirencester Be Reconnected To The Rail Network?
There could be several!
The Technology Is With Us!
Anyone who follows railway technology, as I do, knows that technology coming on stream will ease the creation of these routes.
- Modern digital in-cab signalling, as already used on Thameslink.
- Battery-electric trains.
- Innovative charging for battery-electric trains.
- Hydrogen-powered trains.
- Tram-trains
- Automatic train control
- Remote services in simple depots.
- Better bridge-raising and other construction techniques.
Many of these new routes will be able to use a standard train.
Axed Rail Routes May Be Reopened Under New Department for Transport Plans
The title of this post is the same as that on this article on Sky News.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The Department for Transport has confirmed it is actively working with a number of groups to explore the possibility of reopening old rail routes, axed under the so-called Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
It follows a call by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling a year ago, encouraging those in the public and private sector to submit proposals for potential projects to regenerate old lines.
It also quotes a Department of Transport spokesman.
This is on top of exploring reopening the Northumberland Line for passenger use, supporting the reinstatement of stations on the Camp Hill Line, developing new rail links to Heathrow and a new station at Cambridge South
He apparently, didn’t say more because of confidentiality.
The article then talks about the success of the Borders Railway in Scotland.
So is this just a good news story for Christmas or is there a plan to reopen old railway lines?
I feel that a several factors are coming together, that make the reopening of railway lines and the creation of new ones more likely.
Digital Signalling
Signalling is expensive, but where you have rolling stock to a high modern standard, with digital in-cab signalling, does this mean that new or reopened rail lines can be built without conventional signalling?
In addition, installing digital signalling on some routes, would probably make it easier to add a new station. Surely, it must just be a reprogramming of the route!
It could be a problem that, I would expect that on a digitally-signalled line, all trains must be capable of using it. But in many areas of the country, like East Anglia, these routes will be run by new trains.
Digital signalling must also make it easier to design more efficient single-track railways, with perhaps a passing loop to allow higher frequencies.
More Efficient Track Construction
Network Rail and their contractors and suppliers are getting better and more efficient at building track and bridges through difficult terrain and places, judging by some of their construction in recent years, such as the Acton Dive-Under and the Ordsall Chord. They have also overseen some notable successes in the refurbishment of viaducts and tunnels.
It should also be noted that the reopening of the Borders Railway was a successful project in terms of the engineering and was completed on budget and on time.
According to Wikipedia, though there was criticism of the infrastructure.
This is said.
The line’s construction has been described as resembling a “basic railway” built to a tight budget and incorporating a number of cost-saving features, such as using elderly two-carriage diesel trains and running the line as single track.
But looking back on the line from over three years since it opened, it has certainly been judged by many to be an undoubted success.
Would it have had the same level of success, if it had been built as a double-track electrified railway?
Single-Track Lines
The Borders Railway is a good example of an efficient single-track railway, that runs a half-hourly service.
Other routes like the East Suffolk Line and the Felixstowe Branch Line, show how good design can handle more than the most basic levels of traffic, with perhaps selective double track or a well-placed passing loop.
They may be dismissed by rail purists as basic railways, but when well-designed, they are able to provide the service that is needed along the route, for a construction cost that is affordable.
I would though advocate, that if a new single-track railway is built, that provision is made where possible to be able to add the second track. But not at too great an expense or to provide a service level that will never be needed.
I believe that good design of a new railway can cut the construction cost by a fair amount.
Single-Platform Stations
Several of the new stations built in recent years have been stations with only a single-platform.
- Cranbrook – A station in Devon on the West of England Main Line to serve a new housing development.
- Ebbw Vale Parkway – A parkway station in Ebbw Vale.
- Galashiels – A station, that handled 356,000 passengers last year. It is a unique station on a narrow site, that shares facilities with a large bus station on the other side of the road. It is a very functional transport interchange.
- James Cook – A basic but practical station, that serves the hospital in Middlesbrough. – It cost just over £2million in 2014.
- Newcourt – A £4million station handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Pye Corner – A basic station in Newport handling nearly 100,000 passengers per year.
The stations have several common characteristics.
- They can all handle at least a four-car train.
- The single-platform is used for services in both directions.
- Disabled access is either level or by a gently-sloping ramp.
Only James Cook station has a footbridge over the track.
These single-platform stations must cost less, as for instance a footbridge with lifts costs upwards of a million pounds.
Note that of the nine stations on the Borders Railway only three have two platforms.
Single-Platform Terminal Stations
There are also several terminal stations in the UK with only one platform.
- Aberdare – Handling over 500,000 passengers per year.
- Aberystwyth – Handling around 300,000 passengers per year.
- Alloa – Handling around 400,000 passengers per year.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway – Handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Blackpool South – Handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Exmouth – Handling nearly a million passengers per year.
- Felixstowe – Handling around 200,000 passengers per year.
- Henley-on-Thames – Handling around 800,000 passengers per year.
- Marlow – Handling nearly 300,000 passengers per year.
- Merthyr Tydfil – Handling around 500,000 passengers per year.
- North Berwick – Handling around 600,000 passengers per year.
- Redditch– Handling over a million passengers per year.
- Seaford – Handling over 500,000 passengers per year.
- Shepperton – Handling around 400,000 passengers per year.
- Sheringham – Handling around 200,000 passengers per year.
- Walton-on-the-Naze – Handing around 130,000 passengers per year
- Windsor & Eton Central – Handling nearly two million passengers per year.
Many of these stations have only a single hourly train. whereas Redditch and Windsor & Eton Central stations have three trains per hour (tph).
As a single terminal platform can probably handle four tph, I suspect that most terminals for branch lines could be built with just a single platform.
No Electrification
Chris Grayling has said that the East West Rail Link will be built without electrification.
I wasn’t surprised.
- Network Rail has a very poor performance in installing electrification.
- There have been complaints about the visual intrusion of the overhead gantries.
- Electrification can cause major disruption to road traffic during installation, as bridges over the railway have to be raised.
In addition, I’ve been following alternative forms of low- or zero-carbon forms of train and feel they could offer a viable alternative
Bi-Mode, Hydrogen And Battery-Electric Trains
When the Borders Railway was reopened, unless the line had been electrified, it had to be run using diesel trains.
But in the intervening three years, rolling stock has developed and now a new or reopened railway doesn’t have to be electrified to be substantially served by electric trains.
- Bi-Mode trains are able to run on both diesel and electric power and Hitachi’s Class 800 trains are successfully in service. They will be shortly joined by Porterbrook’s innovative Class 769 trains.
- Hydrogen-powered trains have already entered service in Germany and they are being developed for the UK.
- Battery-electric trains have already been successfully demonstrated in the UK and will enter service in the next few years.
All of these types of train, will be able to run on a new railway line without electrification.
Bi-mode trains are only low-carbon on non-electrified lines, whereas the other trains are zero-carbon.
The trains on the Borders Railway must be prime candidates for replacement with hydrogen-powered or battery-electric trains.
Adding It All Up
Adding up the factors I have covered in this section leads me to conclude that rail developments over the last few years have made it possible to create a new railway line with the following characteristics.
- An efficient mainly single-track layout.
- Single-platform stations.
- A single-platform terminal station capable of handling well upwards of a million passengers per year.
- Service levels of up to four trains per hour.
- Zero-carbon operation without electrification.
- Low levels of visual and noise intrusion.
The new railway will also be delivered at a lower cost and without major disruption to surrounding road and rail routes.
The Need For More Housing And Other Developments
There is a very large demand for new housing and other developments all over the UK.
Several proposed rail projects are about connecting new developments with the rail network.
In London Overground Extension To Barking Riverside Gets Go Ahead, I listed a few developments in London, where developers and their financial backers, were prepared to put up around £20,000 for each house to fund decent rail-based transport links.
Obviously, developments in London are expensive, but with all the new developments, that have been built close to stations in the last few years, I suspect that infrastructure financiers. like Legal and General and Aviva, know how much being by a rail station is worth.
Conclusion
Both public and private infrastructure financiers will take advantage of the good railway and rolling stock engineering, which will mean the necessary rail links to new developments will be more affordable and zero-carbon.
The Camp Hill Line Behind St. Andrew’s Stadium
I took these two pictures, as I left St. Andrew’s Stadium after the Ipswich game.
Note the railway track of the Camp Hill Line, with a bridge over it.
This Google Map shows the stadium.
Note the railway line behind the stand on the left.
As it is planned to reopen the Camp Hill Line to passenger services, if Birmingham City were higher in the Leagues, this would surely expect a station to be built here.
New Passenger Rail Routes In The West Midlands
Looking for possible privately-funded rail projects, I have come acrossseveral proposed rail route re-openings and improvement schemes in the West Midlands on Wikipedia.
Birmingham-Peterborough Line
The Birmingham-Peterborough Line is a major route between Birmingham and the East.
I am including it, as there are aspirations to add new stations at Castle Bromwich and Fort Parkway.
Between Birmingham and Nuneaton must be a candidate for in-fill electrification, especially as this section has two freight terminals.
Camp Hill Line
The reopening of the Camp Hill Line across Birmingham has been a long term ambition of the City Council for years.
The current status of the proposed development of the Camp Hill Line is given in Wikipedia under Future Plans.
This is the last part of that section.
In 2017, the newly elected Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street pledged to get work started on restoring services to the line by 2020. And officials were said to be investigating the business case for a fourth station at Balsall Heath (previously called Brighton Road) This would mean Lifford and Camp Hill would be the only stations not to be reopened.
In August 2017, West Midlands Trains announced plans as part of their franchise deal that the line would reopen by December 2019 as part of a £1 billion investment in the West Midlands. This included a new station at Moseley.
In February 2018, Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said that the viaduct would not be needed, as Hereford to Birmingham New Street trains could be diverted along this line, meaning that extra capacity at Birmingham New Street was not required to open this line.
Note that the original completion date for this scheme was 2025 and it has now been moved forward to December 2019.
The current scheme seems to include the following.
- Four new stations at Balsall Heath, Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell.
- A possible connection into Birmingham Moor Street station.
- Birmingham New Street to Worcester services would use the Camp Hill Line.
It seems that this scheme provides a rail service to a new part of the city and also releases capacity at Birmingham New Street. I think there’s some Brummie cunning at work and that a simpler scheme is being created, that could involve.
- The new stations.
- None or very little new electrification, track and signalling.
- No connection to Moor Street station.
- Services from Birmingham New Street to Kings Norton, Redditch and Bromsgrove using new Aventra trains running on batteries on the Camp Hill Line, which would call at all stations.
- An improved Birmingham New Street to the new Worcester Parkway station using new CAF Civity diesel trains, along the Camp Hill Line.
- Will CrossCountry’s Cardiff-Nottingham service be rerouted via the Camp Hill Line?
The New Street to Worcester services could be rerouted earlier, if it was necessary to squeeze more capacity out of New Street station.
Note that if all services stopped at Bromsgrove, when it gets its electric service on the Cross-City Line in May 2018, passengers for a lot of destinations, would surely change at Bromsgrove, rather than New Street!
Darlaston Loop
The reopening of the Darlaston Loop has been suggested by Andy Street, who is now Mayor of the West Midlands.
I suspect that this reopening fits within a larger overall scheme.
South Staffordshire Line
Network Rail and Midland Metro, both seem to have aspirations to run services on the South Staffordshire Line.
Re-opening Proposals in the Wikipedia entry gives full details of the proposals. Included are.
- Freight trains on a single track.
- Midland Metro on a single track with passing places.
- National Rail services.
- Tram-trains sharing with freight trains.
This is the last entry.
In September 2017, the new franchise operators, West Midlands Trains, plans to restore disused railway lines including the South Staffordshire Line which would be an extension of the existing Birmingham to Stourbridge Junction service which it plans to extend to Brierley Hill in the future.
On the Wikipedia entry for the Midland Metro, under Wednesbury and Merry Hill – Extension, this is said.
From Line 1 in Wednesbury, the Brierley Hill Extension (WBHE) would follow the disused South Staffordshire Line, through Tipton to the vicinity of the former Dudley Town station (which closed in 1964 and was later the site of a freightliner terminal), then on-street into Dudley town centre. It would leave Dudley alongside the Southern Bypass to access the railway corridor, leaving it at the approach to the Waterfront/Merry Hill area and Brierley Hill and then on to Stourbridge.
Centro has stated that the WBHE would provide 10 trams per hour, alternately serving Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Journey time from Brierley Hill to West Bromwich was stated as 31 minutes.
There are a lot of possibilities.
Various things might help in the design.
- There is space for two tracks. It has been suggested that one is for trams and one for freight.
- Midland Metro’s trams can run on battery power, so no electrification is required, if all other trains are diesel-powered.
- Midland Metro’s trams and West Midlands Trains’s new diesel trains are both built by CAF, so are they compatible enough to share a track?
- Modern signalling gets better and better.
I think we might see a very innovative plan for the use of this line.
Sutton Park Line
The Sutton Park Line is another line in the est Midlands area, that could be re-opened.
Re-opening in the Wikipedia entry gives full details of the proposals.
In February 2008 it was announced that Birmingham City Council, Network Rail and Centro were launching a feasibility study to assess the possibility of re-opening the line to passenger services. In January 2015 the line was put on hold for reopening to passenger trains. In April 2017, the proposals were being looked at again as part of a spin-off to the HS2 scheme. In December 2017, it has been proposed that the line could reopen as part of the Governments plans to reopen lines closed in the 1960s and later cuts by British Rail.
I would think, that one of the main reasons, this line is being reopened is that is connects several of the other suburban lines in Birmingham. It also allows freight trains to by-pass Birmingham New Street station.
Walsall-Wolverhampton Line
This is said about reopening a passenger service on the Walsall-Woverhampton Line in Wikipedia under Future Plans.
The West Midlands Combined Authority have announced their intention to restore a passenger service to the line by 2027, along with new stations at Willenhall and Darlaston James Bridge.
Note.
- At the present time, this route is for freight.
- It has had passenger services on and off for fifty years.
- It can be used as a diversion route around engineering works.
If a direct service were to be reinstated it would take just twelve minutes, as opposed to an hour via Birmingham New Street station.
It strikes me that this would be a simple route to upgrade.
Walsall and Wolverhampton stations are electrified.
The route is surely short enough to be handled by a battery-powered train.
Signalling is probably up-to-date.
There is also this report in the Wolverhampton Express and Star, which is entitled Spring Satement: £350m Housing Deal For The West Midlands, which says this.
The deal comes after ministers revealed plans to bring the line between the town and city back into use, including new railway stations at Willenhall and James Bridge, Darlaston.
Things seem to be happening on this route.
Possible New Stations
I’ll summarise the possible new and reopened stations.
- Aldridge – Sutton Park
- Balsall Heath – Camp Hill
- Castle Bromwich – Birmingham – Peterborough
- Darlaston James Bridge – Walsall-Wolverhampton
- Fort Parkway – Birmingham – Peterborough
- Hazelwell – Camp Hill
- Kings Heath – Camp Hill
- Moseley – Camp Hill
- Pelsall – South Staffordshire
- Willenhall Bilston Street – Walsall – Wolverhampton
Could a common design be created, so that the cost of stations is reduced?
Is There A Plan?
The West Midlands Combined Authority and the train operation company for the area; West Midlands Trains, seem at a first look, taken all the freight and disused routes and seeing how they can be linked into a network to the benefit of Birmingham.
But I think it is more than that!
The trains and trams are a varied fleet.
- CAF Urbos trams. – Can be fitted powered with batteries
- Bombardier Aventra trains in three- and five-car units. – Might be possible to be powered with batteries
- CAF Civity diesel-multiple units in two- and four-car units.
Full details have not been given about the Aventras, but it could be that all trams and trains are capable of moving for perhaps a dozen miles under their own power. Obviously, the CAF Civitiies can go a lot further on diesel fuel.
I have some questions.
- Could all these trains, mean that the lines can be added to the current network without installing too much electrification?
- Is it only the South Staffordshire Line and the Darlaston Loop, where new track needs to be laid?
- CAF are a company noted for innovation, who are opening a factory in Wales. Have they got a Spanish Surprise to help the WMCA create a world-class network?
- Are architects and engineers working on a unique platform design, that all trains can share?
- Could the Camp Hill Line and the Walsall-Wolverhampton Line have a passenger service, as soon as there are trains to run the service?
I wonder if there is a plan to bring in new routes continuously!
- Electric trains on the Chase Line to Rugeley Trent Valley station and to Bromsgrove station will be first in 2018.
- Walsall and Wolverhampton using the Wallsall-Wolverhampton Line
- New Street and Worcester using the Camp Hill Line.
- New Street and Bromsgrove using new stations on the Camp Hill Line.
- Coleshill Parkway tand Walsall using the Sutton Park Line.
- Walsall and Stourbridge Junction using the South Staffordshire Line and diesel trains.
- Wednesbury and Merry Hill using the South Staffordshire Line and trams.
Note.
- The early bonus of the new electrification.
- Walsall and Bromsgrove will develop into well-connected hubs.
- Euston and Walsall will be introduced by West Midlands Trains.
- As the network expands, new trains are delivered.
- Stations will be added continuously.
- All parts of Greater Birmingham will benefit.
Is this the way, Andy Street will market the network to his customers?
A Detailed Look At A Three-Car Aventra
In Bombardier and CAF To Make 413 Carriages For New West Midlands Franchise, I wondered if the three-car Aventras ordered by West Midlands Trains had a battery capability.
The Train Weight
I need a good estimate of the weight of a typical Aventra carriage.
Wikipedia gives the following values.
- Bombardier Aventra – A nine-car Class 345 train weighs less than 350 tonnes, which gives a figure of 39 tonnes per car.
- Siemens Desiro City – A twelve-car Class 700 train weighs 410 tonnes, which gives a figure of 34 tonnes per car.
- Bombardier Electrostar – A five-car Class 378 train weighs 159.5 tonnes, which gives a figure of 32 tonnes per car.
Bombardier seem to play their weight figures close to their chest, so I’ll just use a figure of 35 tonnes per car. But it does appear that Aventras, could be heavier than Electrostars.
The Battery Weight
I tend to think in terms of New Routemaster hybrid bus batteries, which have a capacity of 75 kWh. Surely hybrid bus batteries are fairly common and if you were needing a battery for a new application, it might be where you will start.
The best estimate I can make is that a 75 kWh battery weighs about 600 Kg. I will use this until I find a better figure.
Could the weight of the battery explain the increase in weight between an Electrostar and an Aventra?
The Gangway Weight
One thing that could add to the weight of the Aventras of West Midlands Trains, is the fact that they will be built with a gangway.
Will they be able to split and join automatically in a couple of minutes?
Aventras Have A Lot Of Traction Motors
From what I’ve seen on the Internet, it appears that Aventras have a lot of powered bogies.
A Three-Car Aventra
I think that a three-car Aventra would have a formation something like.
- DMSLW – Driver Motor Standard – Wheelchair and Universal Access Toilet
- PMS – Pantograph Motor Standard
- DMS – Driver Motor Standard
Note.
- I estimate it would have about 230 Standard Class seats in a traditional layout. or perhaps 150 in a Metro layout.
- There would be a couple of wheelchair spaces.
- Would a toilet be provided on the train? Crossrail puts them in the stations! Does Birmingham?
- Each car would be fully motored.
- Could each car have its own battery, so they handled their own regenerative braking efficiently?
- All the cars would be connected together by an electrical bus fed from the pantograph car.
- West Midlands Trains have said the new trains will be 90 mph units.
The capabilities are not unlike the current Class 323 trains.
The Aventras have advantages over the older trains.
- They are articulated, which gives more space.
- They are wider inside due to thin, strong car sides and underfloor heating.
- Design of lobbies has improved.
- A mixed traditional/metro interior can be used as in Crossrail’s Class 345 trains.
They could also be designed to a slightly longer length if required. But this might have operational and depot issues.
I expect Bombardier will have used every trick and dodge to get this order.
What Size Of Battery Is Needed To Handle Regenerative Braking?
I’ll do the calculation for one car with perhaps a hundred passengers running at 90 mph or 145 kph.
I’ll assume each passenger weighs 80 Kg with all their baggage, which gives a one-car mass of 43 tonnes.
The amount of energy in that one car is a very surprising figure of just 10 kWh.
How Far Could A Three-Car Aventra Go On Battery Power?
In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch.
A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.
The three-car Aventra will be an efficient train, but it will have features like air-conditioning, so I suspect that a figure of 4 kWh per car-mile will be achievable, if the following is done.
- Air-conditioning is very intelligent and efficient.
- The train is very well insulated.
- All electrical equipment on the train like lights, toilets and doors are efficient.
- Operation ensures batteries are fully charged before entering battery sections.
- Pantograph operation will be intelligent to snatch a sneaky charge on a short length of electrification.
- Regenerative braking energy is stored on the train.
3 kWh per car-mile may even be possible.
Suppose the battery in each car had a capacity of 75 kWh. This would give the following ranges with various energy consumption rates.
- 3 kWh – 25 miles
- 4 kWh – 19 miles
- 5 kWh – 15 miles
It certainly is important to get the train as energy efficient as possible.
Increasing the battery capacity will increase the range proportionally.
This would mean that a very efficient train with a double-size battery could go fifty miles without wires.
Where Practically Could These Trains Run?
There are several possibilities.
Camp Hill Line
The Camp Hill Line is an obvious possibility.
A lot is said about the reopening in Future Plans in the Wikipedia entry for the line.
This is the latest part of the section.
In August 2017, West Midlands Trains announced plans as part of their franchise deal that the line would reopen by December 2019 as part of a £1 billion investment in the West Midlands. This included a new station at Moseley.
There has also been speculation in the railway press, that chords will be created to allow trains on the line to run directly into Birmingham Moor Street station.
Moor Street Station
If these trains were to run into Birmingham Moor Street station would the bay platforms at the station be electrified?
This would allow the trains batteries to be charged before returning along the Camp Hill Line.
But it would open up interesting possibilities.
With electrification at stations like Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington to charge the batteries, could services South of Birmingham be run by three-car Aventras running on batteries?
Both |Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa are under forty miles by road from Birmingham,
I think it could be theoretcally possible, but West Midlands Trains are acquiring a lot of diesel trains.
Extending Existing Electric Services
From May 2018, the electric services on the Cross City Line will run between Bromsgrove and Lichfield Trent Valley stations.
Could trains running on batteries extend services?
Conclusion
Three-car Aventras are an interesting possibility.
I think we’ll be seeing a lot of them around the UK.
Bombardier and CAF To Make 413 Carriages For New West Midlands Franchise
The title of this post is the same as this article on Global Rail News.
This is said.
Future operator West Midlands Trains has made a £680 million order with Bombardier and CAF for 413 carriages.
Bombardier will manufacture 36 three-car and 45 five-car Aventra trains at its Derby site, while CAF will produce 12 two-car and 14 four-car Civity trains. In total, 107 new trains will be delivered.
The electric three-car Aventras will operate on metro services, the electric five-car units for outer suburban and long distance, while CAF’s DMUs will run on dedicated services to the towns and cities around Birmingham.
These are my thoughts on the various parts of the order.
The Three-Car Aventras
The thirty-six three-car Aventras will probably replace the twenty-six Class 323 trains, which lack wi-fi and other passenger-friendly features.
It should also be noted that the Aventra has a slightly unusual and innovative electrical layout.
This article in Global Rail News from 2011, which is entitled Bombardier’s AVENTRA – A new era in train performance, gives some details of the Aventra’s electrical systems. This is said.
AVENTRA can run on both 25kV AC and 750V DC power – the high-efficiency transformers being another area where a heavier component was chosen because, in the long term, it’s cheaper to run. Pairs of cars will run off a common power bus with a converter on one car powering both. The other car can be fitted with power storage devices such as super-capacitors or Lithium-ion batteries if required.
This was published six years ago, so I suspect Bombardier have refined the concept, which is probably more to do with spreading weight around the train for better dynamics than anything else!
Obviously for West Midlands Trains, there is no need for 750 VDC, but will there still be a pair of power cars?
So it looks like there may be a reorganisation of the electrical system in the trains.
A few other points.
- I am surprised that some of the trains aren’t six-cars, as every other set of new trains seem to be single and double lengths.
- According to Wikipedia, the trains will have end gangways.
- The trains are air-conditioned and have free wi-fi and power sockets.
Hopefully, the full specification and Tops-number will be disclosed soon.
Are Batteries An Inherent Part Of The Operation Of Three Car Aventras?
Suppose each car in the train was a self-contained power car.
- Each car could also have a 75 kWh battery, which is the size of one on a New Routemaster hybrid bus.
- Regenerative braking would be efficient as it would use the battery in the same car.
- Batteries can be topped up using the 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- Passenger services like power-points would be powered from the battery.
If we assume that each car needs 5 kW to do a mile, this would give the train a range away from the wires of 15 miles.
Would it be possible for trains to run on the Camp Hill Line and the proposed Camp Hill Chords into Birmingham Moor Street station solely using battery power?
I think it is possible and after the battery-powered trams on the Midland Metro, it’s another case of emphasising the B in Birmingham.
The Five-Car Aventras
These will probably be vaguely similar to the other two five-car Aventras; Class 701 and Class 720.
Differences highlighted in the various articles and Wikipedia include.
- According to Wikipedia, the trains will have end gangways.
- The trains will be 110 mph units.
Both are firsts for Aventras.
I don’t think it will be long before a train operator buys an Aventra capable of 125 mph.
The CAF Civity Trains
The CAF Civity are a mixture of two-car and four-car units and will be used to replace some older diesel multiple units and augment some of the more modern Class 170 and Class 172 trains.
Class 230 Trains
West Midlands Trains have also ordered three Class 230 trains for the Marston Vale Line.
The route has the following characteristics.
- It is roughly twenty-four miles long.
- Trains take just over forty minutes for the journey between Bletchley and Bedford stations.
- There are plans to extend the service to Milton Keynes Central station.
- It is a diesel island in a sea of electrified lines.
Wikipedia says this about the Infrastructure.
Apart from a short length of single track at both ends, the line is double track, and is not electrified (barring short lengths at either end). It has a loading gauge of W8 and a line speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). The line’s signalling centre is at Ridgmont.
I would suspect that two trains are needed to provide an hourly service, so buying three trains gives a spare, that might augment the services at busy times.
The flexibility of the Class 230 trains will give a choice of operating modes.
- Using 25 KVAC overhead electrification at the ends.
- Using onboard diesel power.
- Using batteries charged at the ends of the route.
I suspect that the most efficient will be a mix of all three.
The trains are also designed for remote servicing, so they could be based in a siding at Bedford, Bletchley or Wolverton and supported by a well-designed service vehicle and a fuel bowser.
Conclusions
West Midlands Trains seem to have gone for a sensible Horses-for-Courses solution.
I have a feeling that their concept for the Marston Vale Line will be used elsewhere.
The Anonymous Widower 