The Anonymous Widower

Thoughts About Electrification Through Devon And Cornwall

Distances

I’ll start by looking at a few distances.

• Penzance and Taunton – 162.3 miles
• Penzance and Exeter St. David’s – 131.5 miles
• Penzance and Plymouth – 79.5 miles
• Taunton and Exeter St. David’s – 30.7 miles
• Plymouth and Exeter St. David’s – 52 miles
• Taunton and Newbury – 89.6 miles
• Plymouth and Taunton – 82.8 miles
• Taunton and Paignton – 59 miles
• Taunton and Patchway – 51.7 miles

Note.

1. Patchway and Newbury are already electrified to Cardiff Central and London Paddington respectively.
2. Bombardier’s engineer told me eight years ago, that the battery-electric Class 379 had a range of sixty miles.
3. Stadler’s FLIRT Akku has a Guinness world record of 139 miles on one battery charge. See this page on the Stadler web site.
4. Even Stadler’s Class 777 trains for Merseyrail have a range of 84 miles on battery power. See New Merseyrail Train Runs 135km On Battery.

The rail distances in Devon and Cornwall are getting closer to being within the capability of trains fitted with batteries.

Station Stop Times

These are typical times that trains stop in the more important stations between Taunton and Penzance.

• Taunton – < 2 mins
• Tiverton Parkway – < 2 mins
• Exeter St. Davids – 2 mins
• Newton Abbot – < 2 mins
• Totnes – < 2 mins
• Plymouth – 11 minutes
• Devonport – < 2 mins
• Saltash – < 2 mins
• Menheniot – < 2 mins
• Liskeard – < 3 mins
• Bodmin Parkway – 2 mins
• Lostwithiel – 2 mins
• Par – 2 mins
• St. Austell – 2 mins.
• Truro – 2 mins
• Redruth – 2 mins
• Camborne – 2 mins

Note.

1. The timings were for today.
2. The Cardiff and Penzance services were being run by five-car Class 802 trains.
3. Most station stops are around two minutes or less, but Plymouth on this train was eleven minutes.

I find it interesting that the Plymouth stop takes so much longer.

Train Stops At Plymouth

I looked at about twenty trains stopping at Plymouth, that included these services.

• London Paddington and Penzance
• Penzance and London Paddington
• Cardiff Central and Penzance
• Penzance and Cardiff Central

Note.

1. I found an average time of eight minutes.
2. Eleven minutes was a common stop.
3. Eight minutes could be enough time for the rail equivalent of a Formula One splash and dash.
4. CrossCountry services were going through the station in three minutes.

I am led to believe that the timetable used by the GWR trains would allow a quick battery charge at Plymouth station.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Plymouth station.

Note.

1. London is to the East and Penzance is to the West.
2. Platform numbers increase from South to North.
3. The two East-facing bay platforms are Platforms 1 and 2.
4. The West-facing bay platform in the South-West corner is Platform 3.
5. Platform 4 shares the island with the bay platforms 1, 2 and 3.
6. Most trains going to Penzance use Platform 4.
7. Platforms 5 and 6 share the centre island platform.
8. Platforms 7 and 8 share the Northernmost island platform.
9. Most trains going towards London use Platform 7.
10. Wikipedia indicates that the track layout is comprehensive and allows a lot of operational flexibility.

Although the station was completed around forty years ago, it could have been designed for handling modern battery-electric trains.

• There are three bay platforms numbered 1 to 3, to charge local services and send them on their way.
• Trains can arrive and depart in the five through platforms, numbered 4 to 8, from either direction.
• Two days ago, a nine-car London Paddington to Plymouth train terminated in Platform 7. After waiting an hour it returned to London. An hour would be enough time to fully-charge a train.
• As many platforms as needed could be electrified.

I am fairly sure, that most battery-electric trains could be timetabled to leave Plymouth station with full batteries.

Turnround At Penzance

I have found these turnrounds.

• 802113 arrived from Paddington at 1142 and left for London at 1215
• 802022 arrived from Paddington at 1307 and left for London at 1415
• 802103 arrived from Paddington at 1500 and left for London at 1615

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Penzance station.

Note.

1. The three example trains used Platform 1.
2. Platform 1 is the long platform on the landward side of the station.
3. Platforms are numbered 1 to 4 from left to right.
4. An appropriate number of platforms would be electrified to charge trains terminating at Penzance.

Trains would appear to have plenty enough time to recharge, so they would start their return journey with full batteries.

Engineering Ambition

Several times in my life, I’ve got fired up about engineering or software projects and I like to think, I’ve produced the best and fastest solution.

For this reason, I believe that Hyperdrive Innovation, who are now part of Turntide Technologies, and Hitachi will set themselves three objectives with the design of the the battery packs for the Class 802 train.

• The battery-electric Class 802 will outperform the Stadler FLIRT Akku in terms of speed and distance.
• The battery packs will be plug-compatible with the diesel engines, so there will only be minor software modification to the trains.
• The train will be able to be handle all Great Western Railway’s routes without using diesel.
• I wouldn’t be surprised that on many routes the train will cruise at over 110 mph on batteries.

I also suspect they want the Akku’s Guinness world record, which will mean the range will be in excess of 139 miles.

Battery Range Needed For Routes

These are routes that need to be covered by battery-electric Class 802 trains or similar.

• Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Chester – 22.2 miles
• Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Holyhead – 105.5 miles
• Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Llandudno Junction – 65.5 miles
• Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Wrexham – 34.4 miles
• Avanti West Coast – Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton – 29.7 miles
• Great Western Railway – Penzance and Plymouth – 79.5 miles
• Great Western Railway – Plymouth and Taunton – 82.8 miles
• Great Western Railway – Taunton and Patchway – 51.7 miles
• Great Western Railway – Newbury and Taunton – 89.6 miles
• Great Western Railway – Taunton and Paignton – 59.0 miles
• Great Western Railway – Weston-super-Mare and Chippenham – 43.5 miles
• Great Western Railway – Oxford and Great Malvern – 65.6 miles
• Great Western Railway – Oxford and Hereford – 86.3 miles
• Great Western Railway – Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street – 57.6 miles
• Great Western Railway – Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill – 57.2 miles
• Great Western Railway – Cheltenham Spa and Swindon – 43.2 miles
• Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Carmarthen – 77.4 miles
• Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Pembroke Dock – 118.9 miles
• Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Swansea – 45.7 miles
• Hull Trains – Beverley and Temple Hirst Junction – 44.3 miles
• Hull Trains – Hull and Temple Hirst Junction – 36.1 miles
• LNER – Hull and Temple Hirst Junction – 36.1 miles
• LNER – Middlesbrough and Longlands Junction – 22.2 miles
• LNER – Sunderland and Longlands Junction – 48.5 miles
• LNER – Lincoln Central and Newark Northgate – 16.6 miles
• LNER – Leeds and Bradford – 13 miles
• LNER – Leeds and Harrogate – 18 miles
• LNER – Leeds and Huddersfield – 17 miles
• LNER – Stirling and Inverness – 146 miles
• LNER – Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen – 130 miles
• LNER – Peterborough and Doncaster via Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line – 93.7 miles
• South Western Railway – Basingstoke and Exeter St. David’s – 124.5 miles
• TransPennine – Hull and Micklefield – 42 miles
• TransPennine – Longlands Junction and Saltburn – 34.7 miles
• TransPennine – York and Scarborough – 42 miles
• TransPennine – Doncaster and Cleethorpes – 52.1 miles
• TransPennine – Stockport and Doncaster – 55.4 miles
• TransPennine – Stockport and Cleethorpes – 107.5 miles

Note.

1. Stirling and Inverness and Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen could be shortened by up to thirty miles, by planned electrification in Scotland.
2. I have assumed that the TransPennine Upgrade has been completed.
3. It looks like a battery-electric Class 802 train could use the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line diversion via Lincoln.
4. I am slightly surprised, that the longest stretch of line without electrification and with a passenger service is Basingstoke and Exeter St. David’s.

Charging will be needed at some places to charge the battery-electric trains. Stations fitted with chargers could include Aberdeen, Carmarthen, Cleethorpes, Exeter St. David’s, Hereford, Holyhead, Hull, Inverness, Paignton, Penzance, Pembroke Dock, Plymouth, Swansea, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Worcester.

Most chargers would be a length of electrification in the platform, where the battery-electric trains terminated or passed through.

More On LNER’s Ten New Bi-Modes

I wrote about these trains in LNER Seeks 10 More Bi-Modes.

This was my conclusion.

There is a lot of scope to develop LNER’s services.

I think it is likely that the order will go to Hitachi.

But as I indicated, I do believe that there is scope for a manufacturer to design a zero-carbon train, that was able to serve Aberdeen and Inverness.

• • I suspect a fleet of ten trains would be sufficient.
  • Trains would use the 25 KVAC overhead electrification, where it exists and hydrogen or battery power North of the wires.

The trains would also be capable of being upgraded to higher speeds, should the East Coast Main Line be turned into a High Speed Line.

I also think, that whatever trains are bought, there will be a large upgrading of the existing Hitachi fleet, which will add batteries to a lot of trains.

In the July 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article, which is entitled LNER Embraces Pioneering Spirit, which takes the form of an interview with LNER’s Managing Director; David Horne.

In a section, which is entitled ‘225’ Replacement, this is said.

Meanwhile, Mr Horne is looking to what might replace the InterCity 225 fleet, now smartly repainted in a scheme which pays homage to the original ‘Swallow’ livery. While there were fears this fleet may be withdrawn as an economy measure, the ‘225s’ are now on lease until at least next summer.

But Mr Horne says obsolescence issues are a real challenge and LNER will struggle to maintain the fleet beyond 2025, and from the May 2023 timetable change the number of daily diagrams was reduced from five to four to conserve the fleet’s mileage. Much of the heavy maintenance work had previously been carried out at Wabtec’s Doncaster site, but this facility is no longer available, and while a recent reliability improvement programme is bearing fruit, the challenges remain. The crunch point comes with the transition to ETCS at the southern end of the ECML as part of the East Coast Digital Programme – Mr Horne says LNER does not want to fit cab signalling on the ‘225s’.

The solution to this  issue is to procure additional trains to run alongside the 65 Azumas, and LNER went out to tender in October 2020 for a fleet of 10 trains with self-power capability.

While a preferred bidder has been identified, the business case to proceed with the procurement is awaiting approval, but Mr Horne is still hopeful this project can be progressed.

The current plan envisages the new trains broadly replacing the ‘225s’ on Leeds and York diagrams, but a major benefit with the new fleet would be during engineering work – at present LNER has to withdraw services to places such as Harrogate and Hull to concentrate its bi-mode Azumas on services using non-electrified diversionary routes, and having more stock with self-power capability would ease the issue.

Currently, LNER has these Azumas and InterCity 225s in its fleet.

• Five-car bi-mode Class 800 trains – 10
• Nine-car bi-mode Class 800 trains – 13
• Five-car electric Class 801 trains – 12
• Nine-car electric Class 801 trains – 30
• Nine-car electric ImterCity 225 trains – 8

Note.

1. There are 23 bi-mode trains and 50 electric trains.
2. There are 167 bi-mode carriages and 302 electric carriages.
3. Currently 31.5 % of the trains are bi-mode.
4. With ten new bi-mode trains and no InterCity 225 trains, 44 % of the fleet will be bi-mode.

Is this increase in the percentage of the fleet, that are bi-mode acceptable?

I wonder, if there is a more affordable and flexible way to increase the fleet size.

In the Wikipedia entry for the Class 800 train, there is a section, which is entitled Traction And Generator Units, where this is said.

The Class 800 and Class 802 bi-mode are equipped with three GU per five-car set and five GU per nine-car set; a five-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/4 and a nine-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/5/7/8. In comparison, the electric-orientated Class 801 features a single GU for a five to nine-car set, which provides emergency power for limited traction and auxiliaries if the power supply from the overhead line fails. By adding or removing GUs, a Class 800 can be converted into a Class 801 and vice versa.

Let’s look at LNER’s needs, which are actually two separate sub-needs.

• There is a need for ten new trains to replace the InterCity 225 trains.
• There is a need to increase the size of the bi-mode fleet to be able to use the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line and other non-electrified routes to by-pass engineering works.

Note.

1. I suspect that as Mr Horne explained, there are only five or possibly four InterCity 225s diagrammed on a particular day, then perhaps ten five-car bi-mode Class 800 trains, might be able to cover for the retirement of the InterCity 225s.
2. These trains would work as pairs to Leeds and York to replace the InterCity 225 capacity.
3. If required they could split and join at Leeds and York to serve other destinations.
4. The diversion route of the Great Eastern Joint Line has an unelectrified distance of 93.7 miles and the route is electrified at both ends.
5. Would a battery-electric Class 800 train handle this distance? I suspect if Stadler can do it, then Hitachi and Turntide Technology will be able to do it too!

LNER will have replaced the InterCity 225s and acquired ten new five-car blockade runners.

As an order for ten new five-car battery-electric trains, is not to be sneezed at, I suspect Hitachi will make sure that their new battery-electric variants have enough range.

So this would mean that the range of a five cat battery-electric Class 800 train, should be in excess of 93.7 miles.

It should be noted that the five-car Class 800 and Class 802 trains have specific advantages when it comes to converting them to battery-electric trains.

• They are modern trains, that are still in production, every bit of information about the train is known down to the last nut, bolt and plastic clip.
• Like most modern trains, hey have a sophisticated computer system controlling the train.
• They have spaces for three, four or maybe even five diesel engines under the floor, which could be used for a battery-pack in every car designed to hold a diesel engine.
• The train has an electric bus between nose and tail.
• As is shown, when the trains change between diesel and electric, the pantograph can go up and down with all the alacrity of a whore’s drawers.
• The trains can be converted between bi-mode and electric, by adding or removing diesel packs. I doubt this feature will be removed, as batteries replace diesels.

With my Electrical and Control Engineer’s hard hat on, I doubt there is anything to stop a Class 800 or Class 802 train being fitted with three or more batteries to create a 125 mph train, with a range approaching two hundred miles on battery power.

The initial name of these Hitachi trains was the Hitachi Super Express. Is this train the Hitachi Super Battery Express?

But it would appear, that for their initial needs, LNER, just need a range to handle the near hundred miles of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line.

Inverness and Aberdeen will come later.

Hull Trains

This page on the Lumo web site is entitled Greener Travel Between Edinburgh And London.

These are the first three paragraphs.

A new, 100% electric rail service is to start running between London and Edinburgh with fares for as little as £14.90 in a bid to encourage greener and more affordable travel between the capitals.

Called Lumo, it will provide low-carbon, affordable long-distance travel for over 1 million passengers per year. Over 74,500 passengers currently fly between Edinburgh and London each month3.

And with single tickets between the capitals starting from just £14.90, Lumo will be a comfortable, convenient alternative to flying that is affordable for all. Some 60% of all single fares will be available at a cost of £30 or less.

I’m sure Hull Trains, who are owned by First Group like Lumo would like to position themselves in the 100 % electric low-carbon box too!

Currently, Hull Trains’s five-car Class 802 trains, run 88.6 and 72.2 miles using diesel on round-trips to Beverley and Hull respectively from London.

If batteries were fitted to their trains to give a battery range of around a hundred miles, Hull Trains could call themselves 100 % electric.

No new infrastructure would be required, but a short length of overhead electrification in a convenient platform at Hull station would ensure the train left for London and Beverley with a full battery.

The pictures show Hull Trains’s Class 802 train in Platform 7 at Hull station.

Penzance And Taunton

This to me is the key section as if you can run a battery-electric train between these two stations it allows so many of the services to be run using zero-carbon traction.

These are distances from Taunton.

• Exeter St. David’s – 30.7 miles
• Newbury – 89.6 miles
• Okehampton – 55.3 miles
• Paignton – 59.0 miles
• Patchway – 51.7 miles
• Plymouth – 82.8 miles

Note.

1. I’ve added Okehampton, as I feel that if Dawlish had another encounter with Poseidon, Okehampton with its proposed Parkway station on the A30 could be the terminus for coaches to and from Cornwall.
2. All would be possible with a battery-electric train, with a hundred-mile range, leaving Taunton with a full battery.
3. Charging could be needed at Okehampton and Paignton.

What is needed is some form of charging in the Taunton area.

This OpenRailwayMap shows Taunton station.

Note.

1. The station has four through platforms.
2. All Great Western Railway services to and from Devon and Cornwall stop in the station.
3. I feel it would be possible to electrify the station, so that all stopping trains could charge the batteries.

But the problem would be, that as typically trains only stop for a couple of minutes at Taunton, there may not be enough time to take enough charge on board.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the track between Wellington and Collumpton, between Taunton and Exeter.

Note.

1. The black line is the railway between Taunton and Exeter.
2. The blue arrow in the North-East corner of the map indicates the position of the proposed Wellington station.
3. Collumpton is in the South-West corner of the map and has also been put forward for a new Collumpton station.
4. I talked about the reopening of these two stations in Reopening Of Wellington and Cullompton Stations.
5. The M5 to the North of Collumpton runs closely alongside the railway.
6. According to Real Time Trains, it takes just under ten minutes to go the thirteen miles between Wellington and Collumpton.

This Google Map shows a section of the M5 North of Collumpton.

And this Google Map shows Tiverton Parkway station.

Note how the railway runs alongside the M5 to the West.

I feel that if the two new stations of Wellington and Collumpton are built between Taunton and Exeter St. David’s, then why not partially electrify the route, so that all trains would leave or pass through Taunton and Collumpton stations with full batteries.

• Going West the trains would reach Exeter St. David’s, Okehampton or Plymouth.
• Going East trains would reach Newbury for Reading and Paddington, and Patchway for Cardiff.

I believe that a battery-electric solution is possible, that would enable the decarbonisation of the Great Western Main Line all the way to Penzance.

June 25, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Class 777 Train, Class 802 Train, Collumpton Station, Cornwall, CrossCountry Trains, Devon, East Coast Digital Programme, Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line (GNGE), Great Western Main Line, Great Western Railway, Hitachi, Hull Trains, InterCity 225, Okehampton Parkway Station, Okehampton Station, Penzance Station, Plymouth Station, Stadler FLIRT Akku, Taunton Station, Turntide Technologies, Wellington Station | 8 Comments