Improving Trains Between London And Bradford
Current Services Between London And Bradford
LNER services run between Kings Cross and Bradford Forster Square stations.
- Two trains per day (tpd) run between Bradford and London in the early morning.
- Two tpd run between London and Bradford in the evening.
- Trains take two and three-quarter hours.
- Stops are at Shipley, Leeds, Wakefield Westgate, Doncaster, Retford Grantham and Stevenage.
- Trains seem to be generally a pair of five-car Class 801 trains.
Note.
- Trains reverse at Leeds.
- The timetable seems a bit lopsided, as there is no early morning train to Bradford or an evening one to London.
- Harrogate gets a one train per two hours (tp2h) service to and from London.
The timetable could do with an improvement.
Grand Central services run between Kings Cross and Bradford Interchange stations.
- Four tpd run between Bradford and London.
- Four tpd run between London and Bradford.
- Trains take three and a quarter hours.
- Stops are at Pontefract Monkhill, Wakefield Kirkgate, Mirfield, Brighouse, Halifax and Low Moor
- Trains are five-car Class 180 trains, which have seen better days.
Note.
- The timetable seems a bit lopsided, as there is no early morning train to Bradford or an evening one to London.
The timetable and the trains could do with an improvement.
LNER’s New Ticketing And Nine-Ten Car Trains
LNER have introduced the selling of Advanced Tickets from machines or the Booking Office as late as five minutes before the train leaves.
- My last three trips from Leeds to London cost me £33.55, £33.75 and £33.55 with my Senior Railcard.
- All were bought less than ten minutes before the train left.
- In two of the journeys, I spread out in two seats
- Trains were either a pair of five-car Class 801 trains or a nine-car InterCity 225.
I took these pictures after my last return from Leeds on Tuesday.
Note.
- Two of the three trains I’ve taken lately have arrived 3-4 minutes early.
- Not a great increase, but I do wonder if LNER are seeing what is possible with the new digital signalling.
- The British Rail era; InterCity 225 seems to hold its own against the new Hitachi train.
I wouldn’t be surprised that LNER intend to both run high-capacity trains between London and Leeds and fill them by competitive pricing.
A Grand Central Train Failure On Tuesday
This was my journey to Bradford on Tuesday,
- I was supposed to take the 1057 Grand Central service to Bradford Interchange, where it was timed to arrive at 1400.
- But the train didn’t run and we were all advised to get on the 1103 to Leeds and change at Doncaster.
- We arrived at Doncaster in Platform 4, a minute late at 1240 and got straight on a Grand Central train in the opposite Platform 6.
- We left Doncaster at 1251, which was sixteen minutes late.
- But we arrived in Bradford Interchange more or less on time at 1401.
Despite leaving six minutes late from Kings Cross and changing trains at Doncaster, we arrived at Bradford on time.
Battery-Electric Trains Between London and Bradford Interchange
I feel that my journey on Tuesday indicated.
- Electric trains between London and Doncaster can easily meet the current timetable.
- The Grand Central train went between Doncaster and Bradford Interchange was sixteen minutes faster than the timetable.
I wouldn’t be surprised that London and Bradford Interchange could be a few minutes under three hours.
Consider.
- It has been said that between Bradford Interchange and Leeds will be electrified.
- Bradford Interchange and Doncaster does not have electrification, but is only 52 miles.
- Electrification of Bradford Interchange station, will allow battery-electric trains to be charged in around 10-12 minutes.
- Most inter-city battery-electric trains have a battery range of at least eighty miles.
- Digital signalling is being installed between London and Doncaster to allow 140 mph running and more trains in the timetable.
I believe that a battery-electric train with sufficient range, charging South of Doncaster and at Bradford Interchange could go between London and Bradford Interchange in 5-10 minutes under three hours.
Bradford Interchange and all the other stations North of Doncaster on the route could probably also have a one tp2h service to and from London and the South.
Splitting And Joining Of Trains
Consider.
- Pairs of the Hitachi Class 801 trains have the ability to split and join en route, during a station stop extended by a few minutes.
- Platforms are long enough to handle splitting and joining at Doncaster, Leeds and York.
- Currently, three services to and from London go past Leeds; Bradford Forster Square, Harrogate and Skipton. All these services reverse in Leeds station, when they pass through.
- The reversing in Leeds station takes about 8-9 minutes.
- The track between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square is electrified.
- Leeds and Harrogate is not electrified and is 19.3 miles.
- The track between Leeds and Skipton is electrified.
- Bradford Forster Square has a service of two tpd.
- Harrogate has a service of one tp2h.
- Skipton has a service of one tpd.
In the Wikipedia entry for LNER, this is said.
From December 2019, LNER introduced a Harrogate to London service six times a day. LNER expected to introduce two-hourly services to Bradford and a daily service to Huddersfield by May 2020 when more Azuma trains had been introduced, however the latter has not yet been introduced.
Note.
- The Huddersfield service would have to reverse in Leeds station, like those to Bradford Forster Square, Harrogate and Skipton.
- Leeds and Huddersfield is not electrified and is 17.1 miles.
- Leeds and Huddersfield is being electrified.
Could LNER’s plan be to give Bradford Forster Square, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton stations a two-hourly service , as the Wikipedia extract indicated, they intend to do for Bradford?
- All trains enter and leave Leeds to and from the West.
- Pairs of five-car trains would split and join at Leeds.
- Bradford Forster Square and Skipton services would be served by electric trains.
- Harrogate and Huddersfield services would be served by bi-mode or battery-electric trains.
- Horsforth, Keighley and Shipley could also get a one tp2h service to London.
It looks like services via Leeds could be much improved.
In a two-hour period the Leeds area will have the following trains to and from London Kings Cross.
- Two trains between London and Leeds via Peterborough, Doncaster and Wakefield Westgate
- One train between London and Bradford Forster Square via Stevenage, Grantham, Retford (Bradford-bound only), Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds and Shipley.
- One train between London and Harrogate via Stevenage, Grantham, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds and Horsforth
- One train between London and Huddersfield via Stevenage, Grantham, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds
- One train between London and Skipton via Peterborough, Newark Northgate, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds, Shipley (London-bound only) and Keighley.
Note.
- Stops between London and Leeds would be adjusted to satisfy passenger numbers.
- Currently, there are a total of four trains in a two hour period.
- Six trains will be fitted in by having two London and Leeds trains and two pairs of five-car trains, that joined and split at Leeds.
There is still only four train paths needed in a two hour period between London and Leeds.
Digital Signalling Between London And Doncaster
The East Coast Digital Programme has its own web site, which gives this introduction to the programme.
The East Coast Digital Programme is delivering the next generation of train travel – creating a better performing East Coast Main Line for passengers and everyone else who uses and depends on it.
As part of the programme, traditional lineside signals will be removed and replaced with state-of the art digital signalling to improve the reliability of the train service.
The new technology continuously communicates with each train, providing signalling information directly to a computer screen in the driver’s cab. It boosts reliability, reduces carbon emissions and provides a more punctual service for customers.
In the first stage, digital signalling will be introduced on the Northern City Line, between Finsbury Park and Moorgate. It will then be progressively rolled out on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line (between London King’s Cross and the Stoke Tunnels, near Grantham).
It is expected that the first trains to operate on the East Coast Main Line using digital signalling technology will run in 2025, with all improvements expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
As a result of this programme, the East Coast Main Line will be GB’s first intercity mainline to be upgraded to digital. It lays the foundation for further improvements across the network, creating a more efficient railway fit for the future.
There is also a video.
Benefits of digital signalling will include.
- 140 mph running instead of 125 mph.
- An increase in the number of train paths.
- Trains will be able to be run closer together.
As a Graduate Control Engineer, I also believe that digital signalling will enable better control of trains through bottlenecks.
- Could ERTMS And ETCS Solve The Newark Crossing Problem?
- Is There An ERTMS-based Solution To The Digswell Viaduct?
A computer solution would surely be more affordable than some massive civil engineering.
What Will Be The Fastest Times Possible Between London King’s Cross And Leeds?
I put my thoughts in What Will Be The Fastest Times Possible Between London King’s Cross And Leeds?.
Conclusion
The original High Speed Two specification gave a time of one hour and twenty-one minutes between Euston and Leeds.
I suspect that time will be approached before 2040.
Fresh Air Fuels Global
Because of its history, South Africa has developed technology to create biofuels, as alternatives to diesel.
If you read the Wikipedia entry for South African chemical company; SASOL, you’ll see the things that South African chemists did, to get round the sanctions imposed because of apartheid.
SASOL has advanced the Fischer–Tropsch process and uses it to produce diesel and other fossil fuels.
Note that Velocys have also developed this process to make sustainable aviation fuel in the UK.
Fresh Air Fuels Global have a page on the G-volution web site.
The page is dominated by an infographic, which shows organic waste (animals and plants) going into an anaerobic digester, which produces.
- Biogas, which is used to create heat, electricity, CO2, biomethane, fuel and gas for the grid.
- Digestate, which is used for fertiliser and livestock bedding.
It almost sounds too good to be true.
This is the mission statement below the graphic.
Our mission: To be the most reliable producer of energy secure low carbon fuels.
There is then these paragraphs, which explain the relationship between G-volution and Fresh Air Fuels Global.
Global energy security concerns and climate targets necessitate countries and businesses to transition away from high-cost fossil fuels towards low-carbon alternatives.
Over more than a decade, Cape Advance Engineering South Africa (CAE) have been developing an incredibly cost-effective Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology, which has proven to generate renewable energy from organic waste in the form of gas, heat and electricity that is cost competitive with fossil fuels.
G-Volution has partnered with CAE to form Fresh Air Fuels Global (FAFG), with aim of introducing the CAE technology to international markets that the G-Volution already have a foothold, constructing AD plants and creating carbon neutral biofuel from waste that can be used in dual fuel engines.
In Grand Central DMU To Be Used For Dual-Fuel Trial, I describe how G-volution’s dual fuel technology has been applied to one of Grand Central’s Class 180 train.
This picture I took after travelling in a Grand Central Class 180 train, shows that G-volution don’t hide their light under a bushel.
Note.
- This train appears to run on diesel and liquified natural gas.
- This G-volution video gives more details.
This clip from the video, shows the possible fuels.
Note.
- Can the dual fuel engine use biodiesel or HVO instead of diesel?
- It looks like the Fresh Air Fuels Global process can produce biomethane, which could be liquified as LNG.
- Hydrogen is the only true zero-carbon secondary fuel.
- There is a Wikipedia entry for ethanol fuel.
- Hydrous ethanol is about 95% ethanol and 5% water and is used as a fuel in Brazil in petrol cars.
- There is a Wikipedia entry for the use of methanol as fuel.
Have G-volution got access to the technology to both reduce the fuel consumption of diesel engines and run them on zero-carbon fuel?
UK Trains That Have Cummins QSK-19 R Diesel Engines
Grand Central’s Class 180 trains have a Cummins QSK-19 R diesel engine.
All these trains have the same engine.
- 14 – Class 180 trains
- 51 – Class 185 trains
- 34 – Class 220 trains
- 44 – Class 221 trains
- 27 – Class 222 trains
In addition, Class 175 trains have a different engine made by Cummins.
Conclusion
If G-volution’s technology can be made to work successfully, it could play a large part in the decarbonisation of UK passenger trains.
Thoughts On The East Midlands Railway Timetable After Class 810 Trains Enter Service
East Midlands Railway will soon be replacing their diesel Class 222 trains with new bi-mode Class 810 trains.
- 32 trains will be replaced by 33 trains.
- 167 cars will be replaced by 165 cars.
- The current trains come in four, five and seven cars.
- The new trains come in five-cars only.
- The platforms at St. Pancras station can accept a pair of the new trains.
- Both Class 222 and Class 810 trains are genuine 125 mph trains.
- St. Pancras and Corby takes one hour and fifteen minutes
- St. Pancras and Nottingham takes hour and forty-five minutes
- St. Pancras and Sheffield takes two hours
The current services are as follows.
- St. Pancras and Corby via Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering
- St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph) and Beeston (1 tph).
- St. Pancras and Sheffield via Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph), Long Eaton (1 tph), Derby and Chesterfield.
Note.
All services are two trains per hour (tph)
If all services were run by single trains, the following number of trains would be needed for each service.
- St. Pancras and Corby – 6 trains
- St. Pancras and Nottingham – 8 trains
- St. Pancras and Sheffield – 9 trains
Note.
- This means a total of twenty-three trains.
- I am assuming, that trains can turn round in fifteen minutes at each end of the journey.
- If pairs of trains run, then the numbers can be doubled to forty-six trains.
These are my thoughts.
Do The Luton Airport Express Services Need Pairs Of Trains?
The Corby service is now branded as the Luton Airport Express.
This picture shows a packed Luton Airport Express at Luton Airport Parkway station.
After seeing this, I believe that a pair of trains must run to Corby to pick up passengers, who want a fast service to and from Luton Airport.
Will The Class 810 Trains Replace The Class 360 Trains To Corby?
If all services are run by single Class 810 trains, the following would apply.
- The current service pattern would need 23 trains.
- All stations would get the same number of trains to and from St. Pancras.
- All East Midlands Railway out of St. Pancras would use the same 125 mph electric trains and services could probably be speeded up.
- The Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on diesel and the Class 360 train has 1.55 MW on electric, so I suspect that the Class 810 train has the faster acceleration.
- Bedford, Kettering, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Market Harborough and Wellingborough would have 125 mph electric commuter services to and from London.
- Corby and Luton Airport Parkway services would have marginally more seats, if Corby services were pairs of trains.
There would be ten spare trains, if the Class 360 trains were replaced or four spare trains, if pairs of trains ran to Corby.
Would Class 810 Trains Running On Electric Execute Stops Faster?
This document on Rail Engineer gives these figures for total power on electric of Class 802 trains.
- Five-car – 2712 kW
- Nine-car – 4520 kW
Note.
- These figures are based on a Hitachi figure of 226 kW for the power of a traction motor.
- The five-car train has twelve motors and the nine-car has twenty.
- As a five-car train has three powered cars and a nine-car train has five, it looks like each powered car has four traction motors.
- The document also says that the power to weight ratio on electric is thirty percent more than on diesel.
This document on the Hitachi web site provides this schematic of the traction system.
Note that four traction motors are confirmed.
Consider the power of the various trains, that run or will run on the Midland Main Line.
- Four-car Class 180 train has one 559 kW diesel engine per car.
- Four, five and seven-car Class 222 train has one 559 kW diesel engine per car.
- Four-car Class 360 train has 1.55 MW on electric – 387 kW per car.
- Five-car Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on diesel – 588 kW per car.
- Five-car Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on electric – 588 kW per car.
Note.
- The Class 810 train will out-accelerate the Class 360 train as it has at least 40 percent more power on electric.
- The Class 810 train has pantographs on both driving cars.
- The Class 810 train has two powered cars; numbers 2 and 4.
- I have assumed that if the Class 810 train can handle 2.94 MW on both diesel and electric.
- With eight traction motors, they would need to be 367.5 kW.
- The Class 810 train should out-accelerate the Class 180 train and Class 222 train as it has at five percent more power on both diesel and electric.
I think it is also relevant that the order for the Class 810 trains was placed in August 2019 and Hitachi announced their collaboration with Eversholt Rail Group to develop the battery-electric versions of the Class 802 trains only sixteen months later. As the Class 810 appears to be an revolution of the Class 802 train, I suspect that Hitachi were working hard on battery design, as this train’s design evolved.
These are the five cars of the Class 810 train.
- 1 – DPTS – Driver-Pantograph-Trailer-Standard with Generator Unit
- 2 – MS – Motored-Standard with Generator Unit
- 3 – TS – Trailer-Standard with Transformer
- 4 – MC – Motored-Composite with Generator Unit
- 5 – DPTF – Driver-Pantograph-Trailer-First with Generator Unit
Note.
- Generator Unit is a diesel generator.
- Motored means the car has four traction motors.
- Composite means a car with both First and Standard accommodation.
- Cars 1-2, and 4-5, form two power units with two generator units, four traction motors and a pantograph, at each end of the train. Cables would connect them to the transformer in car 3.
It looks a neat solution, which probably has high reliability.
I can envisage the two generator units under cars 2 and 4 could be replaced by battery packs.
- The battery packs would mimic the function of the generator units.
- Noise in cars 2 and 4 would be reduced.
- Carbon emissions would be reduced.
- The battery packs would be charged, when running under the wires or possibly from chargers or short length of overhead wires at terminal stations.
- The battery packs would handle regenerative braking.
- Adding battery packs would allow the trains to jump gaps left in the electrification.
At some point in the future, the other two generator units could be removed or replaced with battery packs, depending on whether full electrification happens on the Midland Main Line.
These meanderings convince me that the Class 810 trains will be able to save time in the stops on the Midland Main Line.
Because of these savings, I can see East Midlands Railway, reorganising stops on the electrified section of the route, as although the stop will add a minute or two, this lost time will be picked up on savings at existing stops and by more 125 mph running.
Could The Nottingham And Sheffield Services Be Combined?
These are the current services to Nottingham and Sheffield.
- St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph) and Beeston (1 tph).
- St. Pancras and Sheffield via Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph), Long Eaton (1 tph), Derby and Chesterfield.
Note.
- Both services call at Leicester , Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway.
- Some trains call at Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough on the section of the Midland Main Line, which is currently being electrified between Kettering and Wigston.
- A lot of money has been spent on the Luton DART and it only has two fast trains from St. Pancras. Four tph would be ideal.
Suppose the Sheffield and Nottingham trains operated like this.
- A pair of Class 810 trains would leave St. Pancras.
- South of Leicester, they would call at one or two stations, as defined in the timetable.
- They would then call at Leicester , Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway.
- At East Midlands Parkway, the two trains would split.
- One train would go to Sheffield and the other would go to Nottingham, stopping as defined in the timetable.
Note.
- Because of the trains superior performance, they would be doing quicker calls at stations, which should allow the existing timetable to be maintained or even improved.
- Hitachi trains can split and join in around two minutes.
- These trains would call at Luton Airport Parkway, to give that station four tph from St. Pancras, Luton and Bedford.
I calculated earlier that a 2 tph Sheffield service would need nine trains. So if it served both Nottingham and Sheffield it would need another nine trains. This would give a total of eighteen trains.
- If the St.Pancras and Corby service were to be run by pairs of Class 810 trains, this would require twelve trains.
- Adding the two services together would require thirty trains. Would three trains be enough for backup and in maintenance?
I suspect splitting and joining at East Midlands Parkway could be beneficial.
Could Four tph Be Run To Nottingham And Sheffield?
Consider.
- Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Southampton and York all get two tph from London.
- Some closer stations like Birmingham, Cambridge, Ipswich, Leicester, Oxford and Reading get more.
- Most of these routes are electrified and run modern trains.
I wouldn’t say never, but adding two tph to both Nottingham and Sheffield services would require.
- Two more hourly train paths on both between St. Pancras and Nottingham, and St. Pancras and Sheffield.
- Eighteen extra trains.
But as a sub-two hour service would be running on both routes, it would probably be possible to accurately predict, when more trains were needed.
Electrification Through Leicester
As more electrification is added, this should result in faster journeys, that reduce carbon emissions.
OpenRailwayMap is now showing the electrification as dotted lines on the Midland Main Line.
This map shows the electrification scheme through Leicester.
Note.
- Only the two main lines in the centre of the station seem to be going to be electrified.
- These lines are used by East Midlands Railway’s through trains and surprisingly some freight trains.
- Terminating services from places like Birmingham, Grimsby and Lincoln seem to stop in the outer platforms.
This picture shows the platforms from the Northern footbridge.
This picture shows the platforms from the Northern footbridge.
At the Southern end of the station, the tracks go under the London Road bridge. This map shows the tracks there.
Note.
- The two main tracks of the Midland Main Line appear that they will be electrified.
- But the lines at each side are not electrified.
Some years ago I came back to London from Leicester with a group of drivers. At one point, the conversation turned to electrification and they said that they had met a Network Rail engineer, who had told them, that the bridge was rather low for electrification and the track couldn’t be lowered because Leicester’s main sewer was underneath the railway.
It looks like Network Rail have found a way to squeeze two electrified tracks through the middle of the bridge and then use diesel, battery or other self-powered trains on lines without electrification on either side.
What Will Happen To Northern’s Class 195 Trains?
Northern’s Class 195 trains could be a problem in the future.
- They are diesel multiple units.
- There are twenty-five two-car trains and thirty-three three-car trains.
- All cars have a Rolls-Royce MTU 6H1800R85L diesel engine, that drives the train through a ZF EcoLife 6-speed transmission.
- They are 100 mph trains, which is adequate for the routes they serve.
- According to Wikipedia, the trains are designed for a lifespan of thirty-five years, which takes the trains past the date, when it is intended that all trains should be zero-carbon.
It looks to me, that a plan will be needed to decarbonise these trains, as they are probably too new and costly to scrap.
These are possibilities to upgrade them to zero-carbon.
Rebuild as Class 331 Electric Trains
The design of the Class 195 trains is based on the same platform as that of the Class 331 trains.
I would expect that it could be possible to rebuild the Class 195 trains as Class 331 trains.
But it would be an expensive and disruptive process and would require a lot of electrification.
Some battery-electric versions could be created to cut the need for electrification.
Run The Trains On Net-Zero Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Or Other Fuels
In Powered By HVO, I wrote about research going on into the use of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil or HVO.
There is also ongoing research into other net-zero fuels that can be used in a diesel engine.
The process used by Velocys to create sustainable aviation fuel can also be used to produce diesel from various sources like disposable nappies, household waste and scrap wood.
Run The Trains On A Dual Fuel Basis With Hydrogen
In Grand Central DMU To Be Used For Dual-Fuel Trial, I talk about how Grand Central in collaboration with a company called G-volution are running experiments with dual-fuelling a Class 180 train. G-volution state that they could dual fuel with hydrogen using their technology.
The Class 180 trains have Cummins engines, but I suspect G-volution’s technology or something similar could be applied to the Rolls-Royce MTU engines in the Class 195 trains.
This could be a very promising route.
Convert The Diesel Engines To Run On Hydrogen
Cummins and JCB have developed internal combustion engines, that can run on hydrogen. I would be very surprised if Rolls-Royce MTU are not developing this technology.
Conclusion
There are options to convert the Class 195 trains into low or zero-carbon trains.
.
Grand Central DMU To Be Used For Dual-Fuel Trial
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first two paragraphs.
An Alstom Class 180 Adelante diesel-hydraulic multiple-unit is to be converted to run on a combination of diesel and liquefied natural gas in a dual-fuel technology demonstration project.
One car of the DMU which Arriva-owned open access inter-city operator Grand Central leases from Angel Trains is to be equipped with dual-fuel technology company G-volution’s Optimiser system, which is used in the road sector. The modifications are expected to be straightforward, enabling trials on the national network to start later this year.
The article dates from May 2019 and I suspect the small matter of the pandemic and Grand Central’s resulting three closures due to lockdowns are the reason this development hasn’t been heard of since.
But this was the London end of the Class 180 train, that I rode from Mirfield to King’s Cross.
I haven’t ridden in a Class 180 train for some years and there was nothing to indicate from the performance, that it was not a standard train.
There are fourteen of these 125 mph trains.
This explanatory video of G-volution’s technology is on the G-volution web site.
Note that in the video, one of G-volution’s Managing Director; Chris Smith says that the technology is fuel agnostic and will work with a range of fuels including ammonia, biodiesel, bio-LPG, hydrogen and methanol.
Conclusion
It will be very interesting to see what is decided to be the ideal fuel-combination and how much reduction is possible for the various emissions.
I’ll end with two questions.
Will Passengers Like The New Trains?
What is there not to like! Same train and performance with lower emissions.
Will Cummins Like What G-volution Have Done To Their Engines?
Cummins might be a bit miffed, as they built the QSK19 engines for the Class 180 trains and may have their own plans for them. But they are a pragmatic and flexible company in my experience and generally they do what the customer needs or wants. Decarbonisation is surely in everybody’s interest.
Incidentally, the same Cummins diesel engines are used in the TransPennine Express, Class 185 trains, I’ve been riding in most of today.
There are fifty-one of these 100 mph trains in use in the UK. They could be ideal for some long routes, if they could be converted to low-emission.
Lumo: Why Won’t The New Train Service Stop At Yorkshire Stations?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Yorkshire Post.
This is the first article, I’ve found about Lumo, that has a negative headline.
The reason is probably very simple, in that most Lumo services are planned to stop at only at Newcastle and Morpeth, with two services having an extra stop Stevenage.
They are intending to run the service in as short a time as possible between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.
As each stop has a time penalty, not stopping in Yorkshire will give potential to go cut the journey time.
But the positive message that comes from the writer of the Yorkshire Post article is that Yorkshire likes the concept.
This paragraph is their take on the service.
The goal is to encourage a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation and affordable travel. Lumo will provide low-carbon emissions, affordable long-distance travel for more than one million passengers every year.
Perhaps they would like their own Yorkshire flyer.
The obvious way for this to happen would be for the Open Access operator; Grand Central to convert themselves into a train operator like Lumo.
- The ten diesel Class 180 trains would be replaced by new electric trains.
- The trains would need a 140 mph capability under digital signalling to fit in with the plans of Network Rail, LNER and Lumo to create a top-class high-speed high-capacity East Coast Main Line.
- The trains would need a battery capability as Grand Central’s routes are not fully electrified.
- They could copy Lumo’s green marketing philosophy, ticketing and catering offering.
As to the trains, I’m sure that Hitachi could offer a version of their Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, the specification of which is shown in this Hitachi infographic.
The trains would need a range of fifty miles on battery-power.
Charging facilities wold be needed at Bradford Interchange and Sunderland stations, as neither has suitable 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
Conclusion
The conversion of Grand Central to work on the Lumo model is possible and as the trains will need to be changed to zero-carbon ones soon to meet decarbonisation objectives, I would suspect that at least that will happen.
New Hitachi Rolling Stock Unveiled by Hull Trains As Part Of £60m Investment
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
Five new Class 802 trains will replace Hull Train‘s current fleet of four Class 180 trains and an InterCity 125.
Currently, the InterCity 125 runs the service between Kings Cross and Beverley stations, whilst three Class 180 trains are needed to run the six round trips between Kings Cross and Hull stations.
So Hull Trains have a spare train, that can be in maintenance.
With five new Class 802 trains, replacing the current fleet, four will be needed for the current service, thus leaving a spare train.
The new trains will give various advantages.
- The Class new 802 trains have a top speed of 140 mph, whereas the current Class 180 trains can only do 125 mph.
- The Class 802 trains have an increase of thirteen percent in seating capacity.
- They will obviously have a better interior, with everything passengers expect.
In a few years time, the extra speed may offer a big advantage.
The Southern part of the East Coast Main Line is being upgraded to allow 140 mph running, which would probably save around ten minutes on a journey between Kings Cross and Hull stations.
Could this time-saving mean, that extra services between Kings Cross and Hull stations are possible?
If 140 mph running allowed a round trip in under five hours, I have a feeling this could mean over ten trains per day in each direction, if there are enough paths available.
But flights of Class 800 trains and Class 802 trains running at 140 mph might just do it.
Conclusion
What would ten trains per day between Kings Cross and Hull, do for the economy of Hull?
The East Coast Main Line might not have the 250 mph operating speed of High Speed Two, but 140 mph isn’t that slow.
Grand Central Opts For Split And Join
An article in the April 2018 Edition of Modern Railways is entitled Grand Central Appies For Extra Services.
Grand Central wants to run the following services.
- An extra daily round trip between Sunderland and Kings Cross.
- An extra service from Bradford to Kings Cross.
- An early morning service from Wakefield Kirkgate to Kings Cross.
- A late evening service of two trains; one for Wakefield and one for York, whicj would split at Doncaster.
Cleethorpes would also be served by running West Riding services as two trains, which would split and join at Dncaster.
All this can be done with the current fleet of ten Class 180 trains, supplemented by four extra released by Hull Trains, on delivery of new Class 802 trains.
By running as pairs between Kings Cross and Doncaster, the operator cuts the number of paths needed, on a crowded East Coast Main Line.
Joining and splitting is not without problems.
- Train timings need to be accurate.
- Joining and splitting hasn’t been done on the East Coast Main Line before, so would need permission.
- I suspect that, the process won’t be automatic, as on Hitachi’s trains.
But get it right and this would surely open up the possibility of extra destinations in the North, provided like Bradford, Cleethorpes, Sunderland, Wakefield and York, they are on railway routes North of Doncaster.
The Class 180 trains are 125 mph diesel trains, that are about fifteen years old.
All other operators on the East Coast Main Line in a few years will be running variants of Class 800 trains, which will be capable of running at 140 mph on large parts of the route, when in-cab signalling is up and running.
As these trains can split and join with ease, surely Grand Central will be looking for some suitable new trains.
Currently, the fastest trains take about around a hundred minutes between London and Doncaster.
A rough estimate says that savings of around ten minutes could result from all trains being 140 mph capable, which would benefit all services.
But all operators on the line would have joining and splitting, so expect some new destinations from Kings Cross.
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