More Open Access Services Could Be On The Way
In the February 2024 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article which is entitled First Bid For Sheffield To King’s Cross Paths.
The article is mainly about FirstGroup’s proposal for a new Sheffield and London service, running under the Hull Trains brand.
But, this is the last paragraph.
Modern Railways understands First is working on a number of proposals for additional open access services, and this is an early statement of intent. Other existing open access proposals include Grand Union Trains’ plans for London to Stirling and Cardiff to Edinburgh services, along with an already approved London to Carmarthen service, and the recently submitted Wrexham, Shropshire and Midland Railway application for a London to Wrexham service. It is understood other organisations, including MTR and Virgin, are also working up plans for new open access services.
These are my thoughts.
Grand Union Trains
These posts talk about Grand Union Trains services, where a proposal has been filed with the Office of Rail and Road.
- Grand Union Trains – Cardiff and Edinburgh – Cardiff – Edinburgh Open Access Train Service Proposal Under Development
- Grand Union Trains – Carmarthen and London – Regulator Approves New Grand Union Train Service From Carmarthen To London Paddington
- Grand Union Trains – Stirling and Euston – Grand Union Sets Out Stirling Ambitions
Note.
- All three services are substantially electrified.
- Cardiff and Edinburgh is not electrified between Severn Tunnel Junction and Doncaster, which is 180.7 miles, but 258.4 miles are electrified.
- Once the Midland Main Line is electrified, the longest section of unelectrified track is the 72.5 miles between Severn Tunnel Junction and Bromsgrove.
- Carmarthen and London has 145.1 miles of electrification between London and Cardiff and about 75 miles of unelectrified track West of Cardiff.
- Stirling and Euston is fully electrified.
A bi-mode or tri-mode train with an independent range at least 190 miles would be able to handle all three services. It would also allow extension of the Stirling service to Perth, if later that was felt to be a better terminus.
Trains able to be used would include.
- CAF Tri-Mode Train – As being built for LNER
- Class 221 train – Will be released soon by Avanti West Coast.
- Class 222 train – Will be released soon by East Midlands Railways
- Class 802 train
- Class 755 train – A Greater Anglia driver told me, the train is designed for 125 mph.
- Class 93 locomotive and a rake of coaches.
Note.
- All trains except the Class 221 and Class 222 trains would be able to make use of the electrification.
- The Class 93 locomotive option is not a 125 mph train.
- CAF Tri-Mode Train and the Class 802 train have digital signalling as standard, which could allow some 140 mph running.
But I do believe after the completion of the Midland Main Line electrification, a battery-electric high speed train with an independent range of around 100 miles could also handle all routes with perhaps charging in a couple of stations, like Carmarthen.
The services could of course be commenced using refurbished Class 221 and Class 222 trains from Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railways respectively.
I can see a bidding and design war going on between CAF, Hitachi and Stadler to supply Grand Union Trains.
Liverpool Lime Street Station
Liverpool Lime Street station has been updated and has the capacity for extra services.
I also feel, that with the improvements to the West Coast Main Line and especially between Crewe and Liverpool in preparation for High Speed Two, that journey times between London and Liverpool will improve to around two hours.
Given the attractions of Liverpool, this will increase passenger numbers on the route and I believe extra services will be viable.
The Wikipedia entry for the station says this about a proposal from Virgin.
In June 2019, Virgin Trains lodged an application for an open access service from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street calling at Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street to rival the future West Coast Partnership franchise Avanti West Coast from December 2022.
It does seem to have gone quiet.
A Fast Zero-Carbon Route Between England And Ireland
This OpenRailwayMap shows Liverpool South Parkway station and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Note.
Liverpool South Parkway station is in the North-West corner of the map.
The orange track at the top of the map is the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line.
At the bottom of the map, the long runway of Liverpool John Lennon Airport can be seen.
I believe that a fast link could be developed between the station and the airport.
- Initially this would be a coach.
- But later it could be developed as a tram-train from the City Centre, that also would call at Liverpool South Parkway station.
Operation of the airport could be ideal for up to 30-seater electric airliners.
Destinations served could include.
- Belfast City – 151 miles
- Bristol – 135 miles
- Cardiff – 135 miles
- Derry/Londonderry – 210 miles
- Dublin – 140 miles
- Glasgow – 186 miles
- Haverfordwest – 127 miles
- Humberside – 104 miles
- London City – 176 miles
- Norwich – 180 miles
- Ronaldsway – 89 miles
- Southend – 172 miles
Note.
- Liverpool appears to sit in circle of airports
- An Eviation Alice has a range of 290 miles with 9 passengers.
- The Wikipedia entry for Heart Aerospace, says their 30-seater electric airliner says it has a range of 124 miles or more if less passengers are carried.
- The East-West runway is also in line with the prevailing wind, which should help take-off.
- Liverpool Airport is located such that there is access to plentiful supplies of green electricity and hydrogen.
I will be very surprised if Liverpool Airport doesn’t develop into an airport for zero-carbon flights.
This could attract open access rail services from London and across the country.
Huddersfield
In First Bid For Sheffield To King’s Cross Paths, I postulated that Huddersfield station could be an ideal extension of FirstGroup’s proposed open access service between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.
High Speed Two To Blackpool
There has been a lot of speculation about the Northern end of High Speed Two, so I might as well add sort out a few facts and add a bit of speculation of my own.
The Current Blackpool Service
I shall look at the 05:35 train on the 5th October 2023.
- It was a pair of Voyagers or Class 221 trains.
- Euston and Blackpool North are 226.5 miles apart.
- The train called at Preston, Wigan North Western, Warrington Bank Quay, Crewe and Stafford
- The train should have arrived at Preston at 05:56 and left at 0600.
- The train should have arrived at Wigan North Western at 06:11 and left at 06:12.
- The train should have arrived at Warrington Bank Quay at 06:22 and left at 06:24.
- The train should have arrived at Crewe at 06:46 and left at 06:55.
- The train should have arrived at Stafford at 07:13 and left at 07:14.
- The train should have arrived at London Euston at 08:35
- The journey took three hours.
- The average speed was 75.5 mph.
- The Crewe and Blackpool North section is 68.5 miles and the train is scheduled to take one hour and eleven minutes.
- The average speed between Crewe and Blackpool North is 57.9 mph.
- There are three trains per day (tpd).
Note.
- Other services between London Euston and Blackpool North are run by eleven-car Class 390 trains or Pendolinos.
- Blackpool North is fully electrified to London.
This means that London Euston and Blackpool North could be run using High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
I have a few questions.
What Time Would Be Possible At The Present Time?
Consider.
- According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, one hour and seventeen minutes is the fastest time between London Euston and Stafford.
- The 05:35 is timed to take one hour and thirteen minutes with the four stops, between Blackpool North and Stafford.
This would give a London Euston and Blackpool North time of two hours and thirty minutes.
What Time Would Be Possible When High Speed Two Lite Opens To Handsacre Junction?
Consider.
- According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, fifty-five minutes will be the fastest time between London Euston and Stafford, after High Speed Two opens to Handsacre junction.
- The 05:35 is timed to take one hour and thirteen minutes with the four stops, between Blackpool North and Stafford.
This would give a London Euston and Blackpool North time of two hours and eight minutes.
What Frequency Would Be Needed?
LNER seem to run their secondary services to places like Harrogate and Lincoln using a frequency of one train per two hours (tp2h).
That could be an ideal frequency.
Would There Be A Path For The Train To And From London Euston?
This graphic shows High Speed Two services after Phase 2b is completed.
Note.
- Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
- Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
- Each of these trains will have a frequency of one tph.
- The nine paths to the right of the vertical black line will not be needed for some time. If ever!
- It looks like a maximum of only eleven paths will be needed to the South of Birmingham.
- It looks like a maximum of only fourteen paths will be needed to the North of Birmingham.
In Will High Speed Two Lite Make Stafford An Important Station?, I totted up all the services through Stafford after High Speed Two Lite opened to Handsacre junction and got these figures.
- Through Stafford station, there are totals of 11 tpd and 14 tph.
- Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 11 tpd and 12 tph.
- North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 9 tpd and 12 tph.
- South of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 2 tpd and 2 tph.
- Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 2 tph.
I accounted for services moving from the West Coast Main Line to High Speed Two.
Consider.
- A large proportion of the route between Preston and Handsacre junction, where the route would join High Speed Two Light has two dedicated high speed tracks and two tracks for freight and local services.
- Digital signalling on High Speed Two has been designed to handle eighteen trains per hour (tph) at 225 mph.
- Surely, the two dedicated high speed tracks, if fitted with High Speed Two digital signalling could handle say 16 tph at 140 mph.
- Network Rail are good at juggling trains to squeeze in more services.
- Extra paths could be created by splitting and joining trains at Crewe or Preston.
My Control Engineering training and practice tells me that it should be possible to add perhaps two tph between Preston and Euston.
Conclusion
I believe that High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains could be close to two hours between Blackpool and London Euston, when High Speed Two Lite opens from Handsacre junction.
Rockton To Buy Up To 40 Heart Aerospace ES-30 Electric Aircraft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Aviation Source News.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Swedish investment and aircraft leasing company Rockton has confirmed that it will acquire up to 40 of Heart Aerospace’s regional electric aircraft, the ES-30.
The purchase confirmation converts an earlier letter of intent with the Swedish aircraft manufacturer into firm purchase orders for 20 aircraft with purchase rights for 20 more.
It’s good to see a leasing company getting involved, as it probably means that the finances are viable.
The Wikipedia entry for Heart Aerospace, describes the range of the ES-30 like this.
The ES-30 is planned to have a 108 nautical miles (200 kilometres; 124 miles) fully electric range or a 215 nmi (398 km; 247 mi) range when also using generators powered by aviation biofuel. A range of 430 nmi (800 km; 490 mi) could be possible if only 25 passengers are carried.
These are some UK airport to airport distances.
- Aberdeen – Kirkwall – 124 miles
- Aberdeen – Sumburgh – 188 miles
- Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Cork – 192 miles
- Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
- Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
- Anglesey – Ronaldsway – 58 miles
- Anglesey – Shannon – 186 miles
- Anglesey – Waterford – 130 miles
- Birmingham – Belfast – 226 miles
- Birmingham – Dublin – 200 miles
- Birmingham – Edinburgh – 250 miles
- Birmingham – Glasgow – 260 miles
- Birmingham – Inverness – 363 miles
- Birmingham – Kirkwall – 451 miles
- Birmingham – Newcastle – 178 miles
- Birmingham – Newquay – 198 miles
- Birmingham – Schipol – 402 miles
- Birmingham – Sumburgh – 513 miles
Birmingham – Wick – 418 miles - Edinburgh – Schipol – 473 miles
- Gatwick – Edinburgh – 356 miles
- Gatwick – Schipol – 374 miles
- Glasgow – Belfast – 106 miles
- Glasgow – Belfast City – 103 miles
- Glasgow – Derry – 121 miles
- Glasgow – Kirkwall – 221 miles
- Glasgow – Sumburgh – 300 miles
- Glasgow – Stornoway – 177 miles
- Haverfordwest – Waterford – 94 miles
- Haverfordwest – Newquay – 94 miles
- Heathrow – Newquay – 212 miles
- Humberside – Schipol – 333 miles
- Inverness – Kirkwall – 106 miles
- Inverness – Sumburgh – 190 miles
- Leeds – Schipol – 386 miles
- Liverpool – Belfast City – 151 miles
- Liverpool – Cardiff – 135 miles
- Liverpool – Dublin – 140 miles
- Liverpool – Haverfordwest – 127 miles
- Liverpool – Norwich – 180 miles
- Liverpool – Ronaldsway – 89 miles
- London City – Haverfordwest – 167 miles
- London City – Humberside – 145 miles
- London City – Manchester – 161 miles
- London City – Norwich – 100 miles
- Manchester – Schipol 413 miles
- Newcastle – Cardiff – 230 miles
- Newcastle – Belfast City – 168 miles
- Newcastle – Newquay – 346 miles
- Newcastle – Schipol – 395 miles
- Newquay – Brest – 140 miles
- Newquay – Cardiff 98 miles
- Newquay – Cork – 180 miles
- Newquay – Deauville – 241 miles
- Newquay – Dinard – 183 miles
- Newquay – Dublin – 212 miles
- Newquay – Guernsey – 128 miles
- Newquay – Jersey – 152 miles
- Newquay – Nantes – 211 miles
- Newquay – Orly – 351 miles
- Newquay – Rouen – 285 miles
- Newquay – Scillies – 68 miles
- Newquay – Waterford – 150 miles
- Norwich – Schipol – 277 miles
- Ronaldsway – Belfast – 75 miles
- Ronaldsway – Belfast City – 62 miles
- Ronaldsway – Birmingham – 165 miles
- Ronaldsway – Dublin – 80 miles
- Ronaldsway – East Midlands – 161 miles
- Ronaldsway – Glasgow – 123 miles
- Ronaldsway – Leeds – 121 miles
- Ronaldsway – Manchester – 109 miles
- Southend – Schipol – 180 miles
- Stansted – Aberdeen – 379 miles
- Stansted – Edinburgh – 316 miles
- Stansted – Glasgow – 334 miles
- Stansted – Inverness – 426 miles
- Stansted – Schipol – 335 miles
- Stansted – Wick – 472 miles
- Sumburgh – Bergen – 226 miles
- Sumburgh – Kirkwall – 85 miles
Note.
- I have included Schipol, as in certain areas of the UK, passengers sometimes fly long-haul from Schipol.
- I have included Haverfordwest, as it will be close to all the wind farm activity in the Celtic Sea.
- I have included Anglesey, as I think it has possibilities.
- The distances wee calculated using on of the Free Map Tools.
These are some more specific thoughts.
The Basic ES-30 And The UK
With a range of 124 miles, I don’t believe that the range is long enough for the UK.
But saying that there are some established routes, where it should be able to operate.
- Glasgow – Belfast
- Glasgow – Belfast City
- Glasgow – Derry
- Haverfordwest – Waterford
- Haverfordwest – Newquay
- Inverness – Kirkwall
- Liverpool – Haverfordwest
- Liverpool – Ronaldsway
- London City – Norwich
- Newquay – Cardiff
- Newquay – Scillies
- Ronaldsway – Belfast
- Ronaldsway – Belfast City
- Ronaldsway – Dublin
- Ronaldsway – Glasgow
- Ronaldsway – Leeds
- Ronaldsway – Manchester
These routes have the following in common.
- They are mostly between major airports with advanced facilities.
- Most airports served have access to renewable electricity.
- Some of the routes can support hundred seat airliners.
- Fifty percent go to the Isle of Man.
I can see several routes between the UK and the island of Ireland and to and from the Isle of Man using ES 30 aircraft.
The Extended Range ES-30 And The UK
The 247 mile range of the extended range ES-30, brings lots more routes into play.
Key routes could be the following.
- Aberdeen – Kirkwall
- Aberdeen – Sumburgh
- Anglesey – Cork
- Anglesey – Shannon
- Birmingham – Belfast
- Birmingham – Dublin
- Birmingham – Newcastle
- Birmingham – Newquay
- Glasgow – Kirkwall
- Glasgow – Stornoway
- Heathrow – Newquay
- Inverness – Sumburgh
- Liverpool – Belfast City
- Liverpool – Dublin
- Liverpool – Norwich
- London City – Haverfordwest
- London City – Humberside
- London City – Manchester
- Newcastle – Belfast City
- Newcastle – Cardiff
- Newquay – Brest
- Newquay – Cork
- Newquay – Deauville
- Newquay – Dinard
- Newquay – Dublin
- Newquay – Guernsey
- Newquay – Jersey
- Newquay – Nantes
- Newquay – Waterford
- Ronaldsway – Birmingham
- Ronaldsway – East Midlands
There will also be other routes.
The Extended Range With 25 Passengers ES-30 And The UK
The 490 mile range of the extended range ES-30 with only 25 passengers, brings a few more routes into play.
- Birmingham – Edinburgh
- Birmingham – Glasgow
- Birmingham – Inverness
- Birmingham – Kirkwall
- Birmingham – Schipol
- Birmingham – Wick
- Edinburgh – Schipol
- Gatwick – Edinburgh
- Gatwick – Schipol
- Glasgow – Sumburgh
- Humberside – Schipol
- Leeds – Schipol
- Manchester – Schipol
- Newcastle – Newquay
- Newcastle – Schipol
- Newquay – Orly
- Newquay – Rouen
- Norwich – Schipol
- Southend – Schipol
- Stansted – Aberdeen
- Stansted – Edinburgh
- Stansted – Inverness
- Stansted – Glasgow
- Stansted – Schipol
- Stansted – Wick
Note.
- All airports East of Birmingham and Manchester seem to be close enough to Schipol for an Extended Range ES-30 with 25 passengers to serve the route.
- Most major Scottish Airports can be reached from Stansted.
- Flying from Gatwick to Scottish Airports is around forty miles longer than flying from Stansted.
Liverpool Airport
Liverpool Airport could be a major destination for the ES 30, as it could be a key airport for flying between the UK and the island of Ireland.
Liverpool would obviously need the electric infrastructure, but I also believe it needs a better connection to the major railway station at Liverpool South Parkway, which has extensive rail connections.
This Google Map shows the area between Liverpool South Parkway station and the airport.
Note.
- Liverpool South Parkway station is marked by the red arrow in the North-West corner of the map.
- The airport is in the opposite corner, with the terminal to the North of the runway.
- The main railway between the South and Liverpool Lime Street passes to the South of the station.
- The A561 passes across to the South of the railway and to the North of the airport.
I suspect some form of people mover like the Luton DART can be built between the station and the airport.
It should be noted that as Hunts Cross has only one platform for Merseyrail Northern Line trains and this could be a factor in limiting the line’s capacity. So could a second platform be installed at the airport to both act as an airport station and to increase the frequency on the Northern Line?
I believe that in a couple of years, journey times between Euston and Liverpool South Parkway will be under two hours and they will only get shorter with High Speed Two. With a fast connection between the airport and the station, there could be a sub-three-hour zero-carbon route between London and the island of Ireland.
- Avanti West Coast Class 805 train to Liverpool South Parkway.
- People mover to the airport.
- Electric aircraft on the 140 miles to Dublin.
Dublin air traffic are usually efficient in getting planes in quickly.
Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport could be a major destination for the ES 30, as it could be a key airport for flying between the UK and the island of Ireland.
As with Liverpool Airport it needs a better connection to the rail network.
If Glasgow Airport is successful running zero-carbon aircraft to Ireland, this could change all previous thinking on a Glasgow Airport Rail Link.
Ronaldsway Airport
Geography and electric airliners could be very kind to Ronaldsway Airport and the Isle of Man.
- Electric airliners can easily reach much of the island of Ireland and the UK mainland between Glasgow and Birmingham, from Ronaldsway Airport with ease.
- The Isle of Man will in a couple of years be surrounded by wind farms.
- With other developments on the island, it could sell itself to the UK and Ireland, as a green holiday destination.
But what would the motorcycle enthusiasts say?
Anglesey Airport
I believe that Anglesey Airport could be brought to life in a big way by electric aircraft like the ES-30 or the Eviation Alice.
These are flight distances from Anglesey Airport.
- Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Cork – 192 miles
- Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
- Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
- Anglesey – Ronaldsway – 58 miles
- Anglesey – Shannon – 186 miles
- Anglesey – Waterford – 130 miles
All of these except for Cork, Derry, Shannon and Waterford would be possible in the basic ES-30.
This Google Map shows the airport, which is also labelled as RAF Valley.
Note that the North Wales Coast Line passes the site on the North-East side.
At present, Avanti West Coast trains take nearly four hours between London and Holyhead.
But later this year, new bi-mode Class 805 trains will replace, the current diesel only Class 221 trains.
- The current diesel only trains take two hours and five minutes between Crewe and Holyhead.
- The current diesel only trains take one hour and forty-three minutes between Crewe and London Euston.
- The fastest electric trains take one hour and twenty-nine minutes between Crewe and London Euston.
- High Speed Two trains will take 56 minutes between Crewe and London Euston.
When you consider that a lot of the North Wales Coast Line, is straight and flat, I can see the following times being possible, with some improvement and smart electrification between Crewe and Holyhead and a smaller number of stops.
- Crewe and Anglesey Airport – One hour and twenty minutes
- London Euston and Anglesey Airport – Two hours and fifty minutes
With High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains, the London Euston and Anglesey Airport time could be below two hours and thirty minutes.
I believe that with a well-designed terminal at Anglesey Airport, this could be the fastest zero-carbon way between London and Ireland.
Haverfordwest Airport
This Google Map shows the location of Haverfordwest Airport in the East of Pembrokeshire.
This second Google Map shows a close-up of the airport.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the airport and the nearest railway station.
Note.
- Haverfordwest Airport is at the top of the map.
- Haverfordwest station is at the bottom of the map.
- There are rail connections to Cardiff, Fishguard, Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock and Swansea from the the station.
- Rail passengers for London would change at Swansea.
The road looks good between the airport and the station, so would an electric bus to handle transfers be ideal?
Consider.
- I have flown myself into Haverfordwest Airport and there were no navigation or operational problems that I can remember.
- With all the wind farm development planned for the coast of Pembrokeshire and the Celtic Sea, I feel that an airport in the area with regular flights to London and perhaps Waterford in Ireland could be essential.
- London City and Haverfordwest airports are 167 miles apart
- Waterford and Haverfordwest airports are 94 miles apart
- Quiet electric aircraft may ease any planning problems.
- Will a helicopter base be needed for serving wind farms in the Celtic Sea?
I believe, Haverfordwest Airport could be converted into a high-class airport for the Eastern tip of South Wales.
Haverfordwest Airport could also attract other services, given that the Welsh Government have a policy of not building new roads.
I have a feeling that quiet electric airliners will lead to the development of airports like Haverfordwest as feeder airports for the Heathrows and Schipols of this world.
Waterford Airport
Waterford Airport has recently been expanded and it appears from the Wikipedia entry, they are expecting more tourists.
This Google Map shows the position of the airport and the railway station in Waterford.
Note.
- The red arrow at the top of the map indicates Waterford station on the Northern side of the city.
- The airport is indicated by the blue dot in the South-East corner of the map.
- The airport is about ten kilometres from the City Centre.
In the past, Waterford has been quite a busy airport, but Covid-19 seems to have killed most of the traffic.
So could a zero-carbon service between Waterford and Haverfordwest be profitable?
- Those working with the wind energy in the Celtic Sea might find route useful.
- It would give a low-carbon route between Waterford and South Wales, which some might like.
- I also believe that the novelty of flying in an electric plane would attract passengers.
Waterford and Haverfordwest might be one of those routes, where electric planes might be worth trying.
This Google Map shows the Celtic Sea.
Note.
- Waterford Airport is indicated in red on the South-East corner of Ireland.
- Haverfordwest Airport is on the South-Western tip of Wales.
- Newquay Airport is in the South-East corner of the map on the North coast of Cornwall.
There could be as much as 50 GW of floating wind farms installed in this area.
I feel that there could be a case for a triangular Haverfordwest, Newquay and Waterford service.
Newquay Airport
Newquay Airport has been in the news recently because of the antics of Richard Branson and Virgin Orbit.
This Google Map shows the airport in relation to the town.
Note.
- The airport is in the North-East corner and boasts a long runway.
- The airport serves well over a dozen destinations.
- The town of Newquay is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Newquay station is by the sea.
All of these places would be suitable destinations for electric aircraft.
- Birmingham
- Brest
- Cardiff
- Cork
- Deauville
- Dinard
- Dublin
- Guernsey
- Heathrow
- Jersey
- Nantes
- Orly
- Rouen
- Scillies
- Waterford
Newquay Airport could get very busy with electric aircraft supporting tourism and the developing wind power industry.
This second Google Map shows the town centre and station.
Surely, having the station by Great Western Beach is good marketing.
In The Proposed Mid-Cornwall Metro, I talked about a plan to run an hourly Metro service between Newquay and Falmouth.
This article on Rail Technology Magazine is dated January 2023 and entitled Mid Cornwall Metro Secures £50m In Levelling Up Funding, where these are the first two paragraphs.
Following yesterday’s major Levelling Up funding announcement, the government has pledged an almost £50m grant to improve the railways linking Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth in Cornwall.
This financial aid to improve Cornwall Rail links represents the only successful bid out of four that were submitted to the Levelling up funding. The improvement scheme will be helmed by a partnership with Great Western Railway and Network Rail.
Note.
- I believe this means the Mid-Cornwall Metro will be built.
- Especially as looks like it will cost less than £100 million.
- As this Metro will serve Newquay, it shouldn’t be too difficult to link the plane with the train, with perhaps a zero-carbon bus.
- The Metro would then link Newquay Airport to the main population centres of Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth.
- If the Metro could be run using zero-carbon trains, that would surely put the icing on the cake!
The map from OpenRailwayMap shows the route.
Note.
- Newquay is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Trains spend around 6-7 minutes waiting at Newquay.
- The blue arrow in the North-East corner marks Par station, where a chord will be reinstated to allow trains to go between Newquay and St. Austell.
- Par is the nearest station to the Eden Centre.
- Newquay and Par is 20.6 miles.
- The route, then goes along the Cornish Main Line, through St. Austell and then on to Truro.
- Par and Truro is 18.9 miles.
- At Truro the Metro would take the Falmouth branch.
- Falmouth and Truro is 11.8 miles.
- Trains spend around 7-8 minutes waiting at Falmouth Docks
- The total route is just over fifty miles, which probably means that battery-electric trains could work the route with charging at each end, whilst the train is turned round.
This airport and metro combination could give a big-boost to zero-carbon tourism.
Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport has recently been expanded with a station on the Inverness and Aberdeen Line.
Consider.
- Electric aircraft like the ES-30 will be able to reach both Kirkwall on Orkney and Sumburgh on Shetland from both Inverness and Aberdeen Airports.
- Sumburgh would need an extended range ES-30.
- Flights would be a few miles shorter from Inverness than from Aberdeen.
- Kirkwall and Sumburgh is only 85 miles, so there may be possibilities for serving both Orkney and Shetland with one flight.
- Extended range ES-30s might be able to do return trips to Kirkwall without a major charge at Kirkwall.
- I once flew in my Cessna-340 to Kirkwall to see the original turbine, that was placed on the island. There is a lot of cold forbidding sea in the area. Perhaps the slightly shorter trip from Inverness, might be better for everybody’s nerves?
- Just as the oil and gas industry did in the last century, I can see the offshore wind power industry generating a lot of passenger traffic to the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
Both Inverness and Aberdeen can be reached from Stansted by an ES-30 carrying a reduced passenger load.
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport could become a major base for electric aircraft.
The 247 mile range of the extended range ES-30 would allow it to be able to reach the following places.
- Belfast
- Dublin
- Newcastle
- Newquay
- Ronaldsway
Reduce the passenger load slightly to 25 passengers and the plane would be able to reach.
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Inverness
- Kirkwall
- Wick
But Birmingham Airport is only 65 minutes from Euston and will in the future be served by High Speed Two, in under an hour.
The airport also has a large catchment area of its own, who might be tempted to choose flying zero-carbon.
Spokes From Speke
In the 1980s, I went to a presentation from Royal Mail in Ipswich about guaranteed next day delivery of parcels. It was important to me, as I was writing software that needed to get from Ipswich, where it was created to London, where it would be tested and installed on customers machines. We also needed to get copies to our customers in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
The Royal Mail’s latest concept of Spokes From Speke was described.
- All urgent parcels and First Class mail would be collected from the local sorting office and taken to the local airport, which in our case would probably have been Stansted.
- These consignments would then be flown to Speke Airport as Liverpool Airport was known in those days at around midnight.
- They would then be sorted and reloaded onto other planes to complete their journey.
- The planes would then return home and the parcels and mail would be delivered by truck to the local sorting office.
Aircraft used included Short Skyvans and piston-engined twins. Some we’re the quietest of aircraft.
I have heard or read somewhere that in some airports, there were complaints about noisy aircraft flying in and out in the middle of the night.
Now fifty years on companies are looking to speed up deliveries.
- In the UK, companies are experimenting with 100 mph overnight parcels trains.
- This article on Railway Gazette is entitled Varamis Rail Launches Regular Express Light Freight Service.
- Eversholt Rail are putting money behind converting redundant electric multiple units into parcel trains.
But DHL in the USA are going another way and have ordered twelve Alice aircraft from Eviation.
It looks like the cargo Alice could have a useful load of just over a tonne and a range of around 290 miles.
I can envisage flights of near-silent silent Alices sneaking into and out of airports in the middle of the night to deliver and collect urgent parcels.
Techniques like Spokes From Speke will come again, but this time with electric aircraft.
How Would The ES-30 Compare With An Eviation Alice?
The Wikipedia entry for the Eviation Alice gives these figures.
- Passengers – 9
- Maximum Speed – 300 mph
- Range – 290 miles
- Take-off distance – 840 metres
- Landing distance – 620 metres
Note.
- These are figures that most pilots would expect from an aircraft of this size.
- My Cessna 340 was about the same and about eight percent slower.
- It also had a much longer range.
If you look at my list of flights, these will not be possible.
- Birmingham – Inverness – 363 miles
- Birmingham – Kirkwall – 451 miles
- Birmingham – Schipol – 402 miles
- Bimingham – Sumburgh – 513 miles
Birmingham – Wick – 418 miles - Edinburgh – Schipol – 473 miles
- Gatwick – Edinburgh – 356 miles
- Gatwick – Schipol – 374 miles
- Glasgow – Sumburgh – 300 miles
- Humberside – Schipol – 333 miles
- Leeds – Schipol – 386 miles
- Manchester – Schipol 413 miles
- Newcastle – Newquay – 346 miles
- Newcastle – Schipol – 395 miles
- Newquay – Orly – 351 miles
- Stansted – Wick – 472 miles
- Sumburgh – Bergen – 226 miles
- Sumburgh – Kirkwall – 85 miles
Note.
- Most routes that are too long are to Schipol or Scotland.
- Anglesey appears to have Ireland extremely well covered.
- Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool keep their Irish routes.
- Newquay is still a hub, that would promote tourism in Cornwall and only loses the Orly connection, although it keeps the flight to Heathrow.
- Ronaldsway still looks to be a possible zero-carbon airport.
I would suggest that a range of 290 miles, is an ideal one for an electric aircraft in the UK, as it can handle a large number of routes.
These are routes that I feel would attract a large number of passengers.
- Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
- Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
- Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
- Glasgow – Belfast – 106 miles
- Glasgow – Belfast City – 103 miles
- Glasgow – Derry – 121 miles
- Heathrow – Newquay – 212 miles
- Inverness – Kirkwall – 106 miles
- Inverness – Sumburgh – 190 miles
- Liverpool – Belfast – 153 miles
- Liverpool – Belfast City – 151 miles
- Liverpool – Dublin – 140 miles
- Liverpool – Norwich – 180 miles
- Liverpool – Ronaldsway – 89 miles
- London City – Humberside – 145 miles
- London City – Manchester – 161 miles
- Newcastle – Cardiff – 230 miles
- Newcastle – Belfast City – 168 miles
- Newquay – Brest – 140 miles
- Newquay – Cardiff 98 miles
- Newquay – Cork – 180 miles
- Newquay – Deauville – 241 miles
- Newquay – Scillies – 68 miles
- Newquay – Waterford – 150 miles
- Norwich – Schipol – 277 miles
- Ronaldsway – Belfast City – 62 miles
- Ronaldsway – Dublin – 80 miles
- Ronaldsway – Glasgow – 123 miles
- Southend – Schipol – 180 miles
- Sumburgh – Kirkwall – 85 miles
Alice may not be big enough for some routes.
But it will be a wonderful route-proving aircraft for the larger ES-30 and other zero-carbon aircraft.
Conclusion
There will be a lot of uses for battery-electric aircraft in the UK.
Could The Bombardier Voyagers Be Converted To Hydrogen Power?
Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains all run versions of Bombardier Voyager trains.
- There are 103 sets in service.
- Lengths are four, five and seven cars.
- They are 125 mph trains.
- They are powered by one Cummins QSK19 diesel engine in each car.
Given Cummins’s enthusiasm for hydrogen could these diesel engines be converted to hydrogen power, so the trains could run long distance routes on zero-carbon power?
If there is no need for them in the UK, there are probably lots of places in the world that would like them!
West Coast Main Line Electro-Diesels On Test
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
The first two of 13 Hitachi Class 805 electro-diesel trainsets ordered for Avanti West Coast services are undergoing testing on the West Coast Main Line ahead of entry into service later this year.
These Class 805 trains will go to places like Chester, Bangor and Holyhead via Crewe.
It is interesting to look at various Crewe to London Euston services this morning.
- 0740 – Class 390 train – From Liverpool – One Stop – 1 hour 40 minutes
- 0755 – Class 221 train – From Holyhead – One Stop – 1 hour 40 minutes
- 0832 – Class 390 train – From Manchester – One Stop – 1 hour 37 minutes
- 0844 – Class 390 train – From Glasgow – 1 hour 28 minutes
Note.
- The first field is the four-figure time that the train left Crewe.
- The last field is the journey time between Crewe to London Euston.
- The Class 390 and 805 trains will use electricity to run between Crewe and London Euston, whereas the Class 221 train will use diesel.
- Crewe and London Euston is 158 miles.
- The Glasgow train covers the 158 miles at an average speed of 107.7 mph.
I have some thoughts.
What Will Be The Time For A Class 805 Train Between Crewe And London Euston?
Consider.
- From Crewe, the Class 805 train will be using the electrification to London Euston.
- The Class 390 train can tilt, whereas the Class 805 train can’t!
- The Class 805 train is at least three tonnes lighter per car, than the Class 390 train.
- The lighter weight and possibly more power of the Class 805 trains, will give better acceleration.
- There is twenty-one years of difference in the build dates of the two trains. In that time, I also suspect that Network Rail have improved the track between Crewe and London Euston.
- Norton Bridge junction has been improved to avoid conflicts.
- It would be very convenient for Avanti West Coast and Network Rail, if the performance under electrification of the two trains were similar.
For these reasons, I believe that the performance of a non-stop Crewe And London Euston service using a Class 805 train will be such that it can match that of a Class 390 train.
I would also expect that with a similar stopping pattern between Crewe And London Euston, there would be little to choose between the two trains.
I can see with its better acceleration and lighter weight that the time between Crewe and London Euston will be perhaps a dozen minutes faster than the current time.
Using the electrification will also save a lot of diesel fuel with all its emissions.
Along The North Wales Coast Line
Consider.
- Crewe and Holyhead is 105.5 miles and takes two hours and two minutes in a typical service.
- These figures give an average speed of 52 mph.
- There are six stops, which are scheduled to take a total of ten minutes.
- About half the North Wales Coast Line has a maximum operating speed of 90 mph, but through Chester, Llandudno Junction and West of Bangor, the operating speed is 75 mph or less.
I am fairly sure, that with both the current Class 221 trains and the new Class 805 trains, it will be the track, rather than the train that determines the average speed.
It would therefore appear that if the average speed can be raised by track improvements these time savings could be achieved.
- 60 mph – 105.5 mins – 16.5 mins
- 70 mph – 90 mins – 32.5 mins
- 80 mph – 79 mins – 43 mins
- 90 mph – 70 mins – 52 mins
- 100 mph – 63 mins – 59 mins
- 110 mph – 58 mins – 64 mins
- 120 mph – 53 mins – 69 mins
- 130 mph – 49 mins – 73 mins
- 140 mph – 45 mins – 77 mins
Note.
- The first column is the average speed.
- The second column is the time between Holyhead and Crewe.
- The third column is the saving.
- I suspect that 90 or 100 mph would be the highest possible practical average speed.
- Trains average 100 mph on several long sections of the Great Eastern Main Line.
- I put in the higher speeds to show what is possible, if the North Wales Coast Line were to be converted into a 140 mph electrified line with digital signalling.
Even at these relatively slow speeds compared to High Speed Two, there are considerable time savings to be made, just by improving the tracks.
Incidentally, High Speed Two is quoted in Wikipedia as aiming for a Crewe and London Euston time of 56 minutes, so by averaging 100 mph between Crewe and Holyhead, London Euston and Holyhead could be under two hours.
Batteries And Class 805 Trains
I wouldn’t be surprised that soon after the Class 805 trains are delivered, they could be converted to a version of Hitachi’s Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, the specification of which is shown in this Hitachi infographic.
Note.
- I suspect that the batteries will be used to handle regenerative braking on lines without electrification, which will save diesel fuel and carbon emissions.
- The trains accelerate faster, than those they replace.
- The claimed fuel and carbon saving is twenty percent.
- It is intended that these trains will be introduced in 2023.
But Hitachi have not given any predictions of the range of these trains on battery power alone.
However, they do claim a battery range of 56 miles for the Hitachi Regional Battery Train, which is based on similar technology.
These trains could help in speeding the stops between Crewe and Holyhead.
- Batteries would be charged at Holyhead and on the electrification to the South of Crewe.
- At each stop, trains would use a proportion of the power in the battery to accelerate faster and save fuel and cut emissions.
- Battery power would be used in stations for train hotel power.
- Westbound trains would arrive in Holyhead and Southbound trains would arrive in Crewe, with not much power in the battery.
I suspect that, whether diesel or battery power is used, will be controlled by a sophisticated computerised control system.
Electrification Along The North Wales Coast Line
I think this will eventually happen to allow High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains to run to Chester and along the North Wales Coast Line to Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead.
But there is no benefit to be gained in electrifying until higher speeds are possible, after track improvements.
I believe these times will be possible with track improvements and the opening of High Speed Two.
- Holyhead and Crewe – Class 805 train and 80 mph average – 79 mins
- Holyhead and Crewe – Class 805 train and 90 mph average – 70 mins
- Holyhead and Crewe – High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train, electrification and 100 mph average – 63 mins
- Crewe and London Euston – Class 805 train – 80 mins
- Crewe and London Euston – High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train – 56 mins
Note, electrification will be needed, to run High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains along the North Wales Coast Line.
I am confident that these times will be possible.
- Holyhead and London Euston – Class 805 train and 90 mph average along the coast – 2 hours 30 mins
- Holyhead and London Euston – High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train and 100 mph average along the coast – 2 hours
The current time between Holyhead and London Euston is over three hours 45 minutes.
Conclusion
These trains will certainly speed up trains to North Wales.
Through Settle And Carlisle Service Under Consideration
The title of this post, is the same as that of an article in the June 2021 Edition of Modern Railways.
This is the first paragraph.
Plans for a new Leeds to Glasgow through service via the Settle and Carlisle line are being developed, with CrossCountry and the Department for Transport starting to look at the possible scheme.
It sounds like a sensible idea to me.
The article also suggests the following.
- CrossCountry is a possible operator.
- CrossCountry are keen to improve services between Leeds and Glasgow
- The trains could be InterCity 125s, freed up, by a the arrival of Class 221 trains from Avanti West Coast, when they receive their new Class 805 trains.
- Maintenance of the trains wouldn’t be a problem, as this could be done at Neville Hill in Leeds or Craigentinny in Edinburgh.
- Services could start in December 2023.
I have a few thoughts of my own!
The Route
The route between Leeds and Carlisle is obvious, but there are two routes between Carlisle and Glasgow.
Trains would probably choose a route and call at stations to maximise passenger numbers.
These stations are on the various routes.
- Settle and Carlisle – Shipley, Bingley, Keighley, Skipton, Gargrave, Hellifield, Long Preston, Settle, Horton in Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Dent, Garsdale, Kirkby Stephen, Appleby, Langwathby, Lazonby & Kirkoswald and Armathwaite
- Glasgow South Western – Dunlop, Stewarton, Kilmaurs, Kilmarnock, Auchinleck, New Cumnock, Kirkconnel, Sanquhar, Dumfries, Annan and Gretna Green
- West Coast Main – Motherwell, Carstairs and Lockerbie
There are certainly a lot of possibilities.
Upgrading The InterCity 125 Trains
CrossCountry appear to have enough InterCity 125 trains to muster five in a two Class 43 power car and seven Mark 3 coach formation.
They may not be fully in-line with the latest regulations and there may be a need for a certain degree of refurbishment.
These pictures show some details of a refurbished Great Western Railway Castle, which has been fitted with sliding doors.
Will The InterCity 125 Trains Be Shortened?
Scotrail’s Inter7City trains and Great Western Railway’s Castle trains have all been shortened to four or five coaches.
This picture shows a pair of Castles.
Journey Times, Timetable And Frequency
The current journey time between Leeds and Glasgow Central stations via the East Coast Main Line is four hours and eight minutes with nine stops.
The Modern Railways article says this about the current service.
The new service would be targeted at business and leisure travellers, with through journey times competitive with road and faster than the current direct CrossCountry Leeds to Glasgow services via the East Coast main line.
I would expect that CrossCountry are looking for a time of around four hours including the turn round.
- Stops could be removed to achieve the timing.
- The trains could run at 125 mph on the West Coast Main Line.
This could enable a train to have the following diagram.
- 0800 – Depart Leeds
- 1200 – Depart Glasgow Central
- 1600 – Depart Leeds
- 2000 – Depart Glasgow Central
- Before 2400 – Arrive Leeds
Note.
- A second train could start in Glasgow and perform the mirrored timetable.
- Timings would probably be ideal for train catering.
- Trains would leave both termini at 0800, 1200, 1600 and 2000.
- The timetable would need just two trains.
I also think, if a second pair of trains were to be worked into the timetable, there could be one train every two hours on the route, if the demand was there.
I certainly believe there could be a timetable, that would meet the objectives of attracting business and leisure passengers away from the roads.
Tourism And Leisure Potential
The Settle and Carlisle Line is known as one of the most scenic railway lines in England, if not the whole of the UK.
There are important tourist sites all along the route between Leeds and Glasgow
- Leeds – The station is well-connected in the City Centre.
- Saltaire – For the World Heritage Site and Salt’s Mill
- Keighley – For the Keighley and Worth Heritage Railway
- Settle – The town of Settle is worth a visit.
- Ribblehead – For the famous Ribblehead Viaduct
- Appleby – For the Horse Fair.
- Carlisle – The station is well-connected in the City Centre.
- Glasgow – Glasgow Central station is well-connected in the City Centre.
Many of the stations are used by walkers and others interested in country pursuits.
I believe that it is a route that needs a quality rail service.
Travel Between London and Towns Along The Settle And Carlisle Line
In Thoughts On Digital Signalling On The East Coast Main Line, I said this.
I think it is highly likely that in the future, there will be at least one train per hour (tph) between London Kings Cross and Leeds, that does the trip in two hours.
It may seem fast compared to today, but I do believe it is possible.
With a timely connection at Leeds station, will this encourage passengers to places along the Settle and Carlisle line to use the train?
What About the Carbon Emissions?
The one problem with using InterCity 125 trains on this route, is that they are diesel-powered, using a pair of Class 43 locomotives.
But then there are over a hundred of these diesel-electric locomotives in service, nearly all of which are now powered by modern MTU diesel engines, which were fitted in the first decade of this century.
Consider.
- The locomotives and the coaches they haul have an iconic status.
- Great Western Railway and Scotrail have recently developed shorter versions of the trains for important routes.
- There are over a hundred of the locomotives in service.
- Companies like ULEMCo are developing technology to create diesel-powered vehicles that can run on diesel or hydrogen.
- There is plenty of space in the back of the locomotives for extra equipment.
- MTU have a very large number of diesel engines in service. It must be in the company’s interest to find an easy way to cut carbon emissions.
- I believe that the modern MTU diesel engines could run on biodiesel to reduce their carbon footprint.
And we shouldn’t forget JCB’s technology, which I wrote about in JCB Finds Cheap Way To Run Digger Using Hydrogen.
If they could develop a 2 MW hydrogen engine, it could be a shoe-in.
I believe that for these and other reasons, a solution will be found to reduce the carbon emissions of these locomotives to acceptable levels.
Conclusion
In this quick look, it appears to me that a Glasgow and Leeds service using InterCity 125 trains could be a very good idea.
DfT and Arriva CrossCountry Sign Agreement
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The franchisee CrossCountry, which is owned by Arriva, has signed a three-year agreement with the Department for Transport to bring the franchise in line with the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (ERMAs).
CrossCountry has the following trains in its fleet.
34 x Class 220 trains
24 x Class 221 trains
This gallery shows Class 220 trains and the closely related Class 222 trains, which are in service with East Midlands Railways.
Note that these three fleets of Bombadier Voyager trains are now twenty years old and will probably need a makeover soon.
If they have a problem it is that they are diesel multiple units and create a lot of noise and pollution in stations and depots.
This is said in the Railway News article.
One element of this new contract is a focus on reducing the environmental impact of the operator’s diesel fleet.
, Two separate projects are mentioned.
- Using a separate electrical supply to Turbostars during cleaning.
- Use of on-train batteries on the Voyagers in stations.
In Have Bombardier Got A Cunning Plan For Voyagers?, I gave my thoughts on the second project, when Bombardier proposed it in 2018.
I can see the following scenario happening.
- When the new Class 805 trains are delivered, Avanti West Coast’s Class 220 trains are transferred to Arriva CrossCountry.
- When the new Class 810 trains are delivered, East Midland Railway’s Class 222 trains are transferred to Arriva CrossCountry.
- CrossCountry update their Voyagers with batteries.
- CrossCountry retire their InterCity 125 trains.
CrossCountry may have enough trains to run a mainly Voyager fleet, backed up by a few Turbostars.
Could Bombardier’s Plan Be Revived In A Different Form?
If CrossCountry had all the Voyages, they would have the following fleet.
- 34 x four-car Class 220 trains – Currently with CrossCountry.
- 20 x five-car Class 221 trains – Currently with Avanti West Coast
- 20 x five-car Class 221 trains – Currently with CrossCountry
- 4 x four-car Class 221 trains – Currently with CrossCountry
- 6 x seven-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
- 17 x five-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
- 4 x four-car Class 222 trains – Currently with East Midlands Trains
This totals to eighty-five trains with a total of 285 intermediate cars, of which 128 were built with tilt for Class 221 trains.
Currently CrossCountry has a total of 58 four- and five-car Voyagers and enough Class 43 power cars for six InterCity 125 trains.
If they rearranged the non-tilting intermediate cars of the Voyagers, 157 intermediate cars is enough for one of the following.
- 78 – four-car trains
- 52 – five-car trains
- 39 – six-car trains
- 26 – eight-car trains
- 22 – nine-car trains
Add in forty five-car Class 221 trains and there is more than enough trains for CrossCountry to run their current services without the retired InterCity 125s.
CrossCountry would also be able to form the trains into the lengths they needed for efficient services.
This formation photographed at Basingstoke could be formed of a single train, if they wished, as they have more than enough coaches.
I suspect in true design engineering fashion, engineers at CrossCountry have got the toy trains or Lego bricks out to shuffle the coaches on a big table to see what are the best train lengths for their network.
If they decided to go the eight-car route, which could give up to twenty-six trains, this would be more than enough to be able to retire the InterCity 125s.
Could one of the Intermediate cars be converted into a pantograph and battery car?
- If the diesel engine and the associated gubbins were to be removed, this would save around two tonnes in weight.
- A two-tonne battery could probably have a capacity of 200 kWh.
- Bombardier probably have ideas about how a car could be converted.
Someone could have a lot of fun playing musical carriages and the following trains could be created.
- A fleet of Voyager bi-mode trains of optimum length for CrossCountry’s route network.
- Most services would be run by single trains, which must give advantages to the operator, their staff and passengers.
- All braking would be regenerative braking to battery to save energy.
- Where electrification exists, the trains could use it.
- All station stops would be performed on battery power.
There might even be some left over driving cars and some intermediate cars to be converted into battery electric trains for another route.
Conclusion
There is a route there for CrossCountry to have a much more environmentally-friendly fleet, better suited to their needs
- The Turbostars would be given a local electricity supply to cut noise and pollution during overnight cleaning.
- The InterCity 125s would be retired.
- CrossCountry acquires as many Voyagers as it needs after Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway get their new trains.
- The Voyagers carriages would be shuffled so that they could handle all routes and replace the InterCity 125s.
- The design exists to convert the Voyagers into diesel-electric-battery tri-mode high speed trains.
Note.
- There are enough trains to do a gradual conversion, with CrossCountry having enough trains for a full service at all times.
- All trains will probably have been built this century or nearly so!
I also feel, that the fleet would be a marketing asset, rather than a bit of a discouragement to use CrossCountry’s services again.
Birmingham-Black Country-Shrewsbury
On the Midlands Connect web site, they have a page, which is entitled Birmingham-Black Country-Shrewsbury.
This is the introductory paragraph.
We’re examining the case to increase services from three to four per hour, made possible by capacity released post-HS2.
They then give the outline of their plans, which can be summed up as follows.
- Services on the corridor are slow and unreliable.
- Network Rail say the service is in danger of acute overcrowding.
- Services will be increased from three trains per hour (tph) to four.
- A direct hourly service from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford to London will be introduced.
- Services to Birmingham International will be doubled.
- The economic case will be examined for speeding up services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham from 56 to 45 minutes, via track upgrades and possible electrification.
It seems a safe, and not overly ambitious plan.
These are my thoughts.
Shrewsbury’s Unique Position
These are distances and times from important stations.
- Birmingham International – 51 miles and 83 minutes
- Birmingham New Street – 42.5 miles and 71 minutes
- Chester – 42.5 miles and 53 minutes
- Crewe – 33 miles and 53 minutes
- Hereford – 51 miles and 59 minutes
- Telford – 14 miles and 21 minutes
- Wellington – 10 miles and 13 minutes
- Welshpool – 20 miles and 25 minutes
- Wolverhampton – 30 miles and 50 minutes
In Sparking A Revolution, I quoted this Hitachi-specification for a battery-electric train.
- Range – 55-65 miles
- Performance – 90-100 mph
- Recharge – 10 minutes when static
- Routes – Suburban near electrified lines
- Battery Life – 8-10 years
I can’t see any problem, for a train with this specification being able to reach Shrewsbury from Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street and Crewe on battery power.
In Hitachi Trains For Avanti, I quote an article with the same title in the January 2020 Edition of Modern Railways as saying this.
Hitachi told Modern Railways it was unable to confirm the rating of the diesel engines on the bi-modes, but said these would be replaceable by batteries in future if specified.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shrewsbury served from Birmingham and Crewe by fast electric trains, that used battery power. Avanti West Coast certainly seem to have that thought in mind.
Zero Carbon Trains Between Shrewsbury And Wales
It will be a formidable challenge to run battery trains from Shrewsbury to the Welsh destinations.
- Aberystwyth – 81.5 miles
- Cardiff – 107 miles
- Carmarthen – 185 miles
- Holyhead – 133 miles
- Milford Haven – 225 miles
- Swansea – 121.5 miles
Note.
- These are challenging distances for battery-electric trains.
- South Wales destinations served via Newport and Cardiff could use the electrification on the South Wales Main Line.
- Many of these services start from East of Shrewsbury and can use the electrified lines that connects to Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
Unless someone like Riding Sunbeams, makes a breakthrough, I can’t see battery-electric trains running to Welsh destinations from Shrewsbury.
Transport for Wales New Trains
Transport for Wales have ordered seventy-seven new Class 197 trains, and these diesel trains will be used for services through Shrewsbury, mainly on services to Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International stations.
- If these trains are similar to Northern’s Class 195 trains, they will be diesel multiple units with a noisy mechanical transmission.
- I was surprised in these days of global warming that Transport for Wales didn’t buy something more eco-friendly, as they have for South Wales and the services around Chester.
- The transmission of the Class 197 trains has not been disclosed.
Perhaps, CAF are going to do something innovative.
- The CAF Civity is a modular train, with either electric or diesel power options.
- The diesel-powered options use MTU engines.
- A logical development would be to use an MTU Hybrid PowerPack to reduce diesel consumption and emissions.
- This PowerPack would also reduce noise, as it has an electric transmission.
- I wonder, if CAF can raid their parts bin and fit a pantograph, so where 25 KVAC overhead electrification is available, it can be used.
- If CAF can convert a bog standard diesel multiple unit into a hybrid diesel-electric-battery multiple unit, by performing a heart transplant, it is a neat way of keeping new diesel Civities running until a later date.
- Remember that Northern and West Modlands Trains have another seventy-four similar new diesel Civities in operation or on order. With trains having a forty year life, they don’t fit with an early phasing out of diesel.
I have no idea, what is actually happening, but my engineer’s nose tells me to expect a surprise from CAF.
Increasing Birmingham And Shrewsbury Services From Three Trains Per Hour To Four
Four trains per hour or one train every fifteen minutes seems to be a preferred frequency on several UK suburban lines.
These services seem to provide four tph or better on most, if not all of their routes.
- Birmingham Cross-City Line
- London Overground
- Merseyrail
- Tyne and Wear Metro
Four tph seems to be a very handy Turn-Up-And-Go frequency that encourages people to use rail services.
So I am not surprised to see Midlands Connect wanting four tph between Birmingham and Shrewsbury.
Currently, the following services seem to operate between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
- Avanti West Coast – 2 trains per day (tpd) – Shrewsbury and London Euston via Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International.
- Trains for Wales – 1 train per two hours (tp2h) – Holyhead and Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street.
- Trains for Wales 1 tph – Aberystwyth/Pwllheli and Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street
- West Midlands Trains – 2 tph – Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street – One semi-fast and one stopper.
Note.
- All services call at Wolverhampton, Telford and Wellington.
- Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street is a 3.5 tph service.
- Shrewsbury and Birmingham International is a 1.5 tph service.
It relies heavily on services from Trains for Wales, who probably don’t put Shrewsbury and Birmingham services at the top of their priorities.
I remember, when local services in the North-East of London were run by Greater Anglia from Norwich. Moving some services to Transport for London, brought about a large improvement
Quite frankly, the current service is best described as pathetic.
Should Trains for Wales Services Terminate As Shrewsbury?
I suspect some local politicians in Shrewsbury and Birmingham, think it would be best to adopt this sort of strategy.
- All Welsh services terminate at Shrewsbury.
- Birmingham and Shrewsbury mandate West Midlands Trains and Avanti West Coast to provide a frequent service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
It might be the way to go, but many travellers from the Marches, would probably want direct connections to Birmingham, Birmingham Airport and in the future High Speed Two.
Introducing A Direct Hourly Service From Shrewsbury, Wellington And Telford To London
On the face of it, it looks like a much needed service to and from Shrewsbury.
- It will be hourly.
- Initially it will use Class 221 diesel multiple units, but these will be replaced with bi-mode Class 805 trains.
- The current infrequent service calls at Watford Junction, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Telford Central and Wellington.
- There are also six other stations between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, which might like an improved service.
- The service will be run by Avanti West Coast.
There might also be the possibility of using battery power between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, which is only thirty miles each way.
But there are other collateral benefits.
- The service increases the frequency between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street stations by one tph to 4.5 tph
- The service increases the frequency between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International by one tph to 2.5 tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Wolverhampton and London Euston by one tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Sandwell and Dudley and London Euston by one tph
- The service increases the frequency between Birmingham New Street and London Euston by one tph.
- The service increases the frequency between Birmingham International and London Euston by one tph.
- The new service will provide an hourly quality connection to High Speed Two at Birmingham International for stations between Shrewsbury and Coventry.
- It appears that the Class 390 trains to Birmingham New Street and being replaced by new Class 807 trains, so Birmingham will have three out of four tph, run by new trains.
- The new Shrewsbury service , has a similar calling pattern to that of the current Scottish service through Birmingham. Will it replace that service, when High Speed Two opens?
Note.
- Midlands Connect’s objective of four tph between Shrewsbury and Birmingham has been met.
- Several stations get a better direct service to London.
- Connectivity to High Speed Two is improved.
- Birmingham New Street and London is now a Turn-Up-And-Go frequency of four tph.
- The Class 805 train will also mean that Avanti West Coast could be zero-carbon in Birmingham. Especially, if it used battery power between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury stations.
The hourly direct service between Shrewsbury and London will make a lot of difference to train services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
Avanti’s London Euston and Birmingham New Street Service
Consider.
- There are two tph that terminate in Birmingham New Street station, that take 88-89 minutes, from London Euston
- There is one tph that goes through Birmingham New Street station to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Preston, or Shrewsbury, that takes 82-84 minutes, from London Euston.
- Currently, the two terminating trains are Class 390 trains, whereas the through train can be a Class 221 train as well.
- Through trains are allowed 5-10 minutes to pass through Birmingham New Street.
- Trains that terminate at Birmingham New Street station are allowed 20-30 minutes to arrive and leave.
- Avanti West Coast have said, that they will be running Class 807 trains between London and Birmingham New Street.
It doesn’t seem to be the best use of scarce platform resources in a busy station to park a train there for half-an-hour.
In Will Avanti West Coast’s New Trains Be Able To Achieve London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street In Two Hours?, I came to the conclusion that the Class 807 trains have been designed as simple, fast, lightweight all-electric trains with no heavy batteries, diesel engines or tilt mechanism.
- I think they’ll be able to shave a few minutes on the timings between London Euston and Birmingham New Street station.
- I would suspect that they will match the 82-84 minutes of the through trains
- The ultimate would be if they could do a round trip between London Euston and Birmingham New Street in three hours.
- Two tph run by what would effectively be a London-Birmingham shuttle would need just six trains.
It might mean new methods of manning the trains, to reduce turnround times.
Doubling Of Services Between Shrewsbury And Birmingham International
The hourly direct London and Shrewsbury Avanti West Coast service will raise the current 1.5 tph service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International to 2.5 tph, so will be a good start.
- Perhaps Trains for Wales could find the missing 0.5 tph.
- West Midlands Trains might be able to squeeze in another train.
But I suspect that the crowded line between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International is the problem.
Shrewsbury And Birmingham In Forty-Five Minutes
This is the last objective and saving eleven minutes on this route would suggest that the best way would surely be to fully electrify the route.
- Between Wolverhampton and Birmingham International stations is fully electrified.
- Electric trains have faster acceleration and deceleration, so would probably achieve the required savings if they stopped more than five times.
- From my virtual helicopter it doesn’t appear to be the most challenging of routes to electrify.
- Only about thirty miles of double track would need to be electrified between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury stations.
- Both Trains for Wales and West Midlands Trains would have to obtain new electric trains.
- Avanti West Coast have already got bi-mode Class 805 trains, that could use the electrification.
But will Trains for Wales go along with Midlands Connect, when they tell them to get electric or bi-mode trains to work between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International stations?
It is because of dilemmas like this, that I feel that electric trains using battery or hydrogen power, when away from electrification can be a very good alternative.
- There is no major disruption raising bridges for the electrification.
- Stations don’t need to be closed for electrification.
- The trains have all the comfort and performance of electric trains.
- Costs and timescales can be reduced.
- When running on battery or hydrogen power, these trains are very quiet, as there is no pantograph noise.
To run battery-electric trains between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, the only infrastructure needed would be a method of charging the train at Shrewsbury station.
This Google Map shows the Southern end of Shrewsbury station.
Note.
- The platforms are built over the River Severn.
- The five-car Class 221 train in Virgin livery sitting in Platform 5.
- When this train leaves it will turn left or to the East for Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
- Trains can turn right for Wales.
It is a very unusual station layout.
- Platform 5 is one of a pair of bay platforms; 5 & 6, that can access either Wales or Birmingham.
- Outside of the bay platforms are a pair of through platforms; 4 & 7, that can also access Wales or Birmingham, but they can also access Chester by going through the station.
- The 115 metre long Class 221 train fits easily in the bay platform 5.
- The 130 metre long Class 805 train would probably need to use Platform 4 or 7.
But with well-planned electrification, it would be ideal for charging electric trains as they pass through or turned back!
Once the train reaches Wolverhampton, it will connect to electrification again.
Shrewsbury And High Speed Two
Currently, Shrewsbury has three connections to stations, where it would be convenient to take a High Speed Two train.
- Birmingham International, which is 51 miles and 83 minutes away. Plus a ride on a people mover for High Speed Two.
- Birmingham New Street, which is 42.5 miles and 71 minutes away. Plus a walk to Birmingham Curzon Street for High Speed Two.
- Crewe, which is 33 miles and 55 minutes away.
Passengers will make their own choice.
Could Shrewsbury Have A Classic-Compatible High Speed Two Service To Manchester Piccadilly?
London To Shrewsbury, Now And Post-High Speed Two
Travel On Monday
If I want to go to Shrewsbury next Monday, one fast journey is taking the 09:10 from Euston and changing at Crewe, which gives a journey time of two hours and thirty-two minutes.
I can also get a train with a change at Birmingham International that takes seven minutes longer.
Travel On High Speed Two
After High Speed Two opens to Birmingham Curzon Street and Interchange in Phase 1 what sort of times to Shrewsbury can be expected?
I estimate the following.
- Travelling via Birmingham Curzon Street could produce a time of around one hour and fifty minutes, if you’re lucky with the trains.
- Travelling via Crewe could produce a time of one hour and thirty minutes, if you’re lucky with the trains.
- Travelling via Interchange could produce a time of around one hour and fifty-five minutes. or forty-four minutes faster.
If I was going to Shrewsbury after High Speed Two has opened, I would probably change at Birmingham Curzon Street, if the walk to New Street station was still within my capabilities, as there will be a Turn-Up-And-Go frequency of four tph between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury stations.
Looking at the Midlands Connect objectives, these help with linking Shrewsbury with London.
- Increasing services between Birmingham and Shrewsbury to four tph, as it’s Turn-Up-And-Go!
- The direct hourly service to London from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford might be the quickest way to London by changing at Birmingham New Street/Curzon Street or Interchange.
- Doubling the service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International, may be a good move, as Interchange, which will be connected to Birmingham International by a high capacity people mover, will have five tph between London Euston and Old Oak Common stations.
- Saving eleven minutes between Shrewsbury and Birmingham will certainly help.
Travelling between London and Telford, Wellington and Shrewsbury will be much improved.
The Anonymous Widower 