Thoughts On Batteries In East Midland Railway’s Class 810 Trains
Since Hitachi announced the Regional Battery Train in July 2020, which I wrote about in Hyperdrive Innovation And Hitachi Rail To Develop Battery Tech For Trains, I suspect things have moved on.
This is Hitachi’s infographic for the Regional Battery Train.
Note.
- The train has a range of 90 km/56 miles on battery power.
- Speed is given at between 144 kph/90 mph and 162 kph/100 mph
- The performance using electrification is not given, but it is probably the same as similar trains, such as Class 801 or Class 385 trains.
- Hitachi has identified its fleets of 275 trains as potential early recipients.
It is also not stated how many of the three diesel engines in a Class 800 or Class 802 trains will be replaced by batteries.
I suspect if the batteries can be easily changed for diesel engines, operators will be able to swap diesel engines and battery packs according to the routes.
Batteries In Class 803 Trains
I first wrote about the Class 803 trains for East Coast Trains in Trains Ordered For 2021 Launch Of ‘High-Quality, Low Fare’ London – Edinburgh Service, which I posted in March 2019.
This sentence from Wikipedia, describes a big difference between Class 803 and Class 801 trains.
Unlike the Class 801, another non-bi-mode AT300 variant which despite being designed only for electrified routes carries a diesel engine per unit for emergency use, the new units will not be fitted with any, and so would not be able to propel themselves in the event of a power failure. They will however be fitted with batteries to enable the train’s on-board services to be maintained, in case the primary electrical supplies would face a failure.
Nothing is said about how the battery is charged. It will probably be charged from the overhead power, when it is working.
The Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train
Hitachi announced the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train in this press release in December 2020.
This is Hitachi’s infographic for the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train.
Note.
- The train is battery-powered in stations and whilst accelerating away.
- It says that only one engine will be replaced by batteries.
- Fuel and carbon savings of 20 % are claimed.
Nothing has been said in anything, I’ve read about these trains, as to whether there is regenerative braking to batteries. I would be very surprised if fuel and carbon savings of 20 % could be attained without regenerative braking to batteries.
In Do Class 800/801/802 Trains Use Batteries For Regenerative Braking?, I discussed the question in the title.
This is a shortened version of what I said in that post.
If you type “Class 800 regenerative braking” into Google, you will find this document on the Hitachi Rail web site, which is entitled Development of Class 800/801 High-speed Rolling Stock for UK Intercity Express Programme.
If you search for brake in the document, you find this paragraph.
In addition to the GU, other components installed under the floor of drive cars include the traction converter, fuel tank, fire protection system, and brake system.
Note that GU stands for generator unit.
The document provides this schematic of the traction system.
Note that BC which is described as battery charger.
Is that for a future traction battery or a smaller one used for hotel power as in the Class 803 train?
As a Control and Electrical Engineer, it strikes me that it wouldn’t be the most difficult problem to add a traction battery to the system.
From what Hitachi have indicated in videos, it appears that they are aiming for the battery packs to be a direct replacement for the generator unit.
Generator Unit Arrangement In Class 810 Trains
When I wrote Rock Rail Wins Again!, which was about the ordering of these trains, the reason for four engines wasn’t known.
It now appears, that the extra power is needed to get the same 125 mph performance on diesel.
The formation of a five-car Class 802 train is as follows.
DPTS-MS-MS-MC-DPTF
Note.
- The three generator units are in the three middle cars.
- The three middle cars are motored.
- The two driver cars are trailer cars.
How are Hitachi going to put four generator units into the three middle cars?
- I wonder if, the engines can be paired, with some auxiliaries like fuel-tanks and radiators shared between the generators.
- A well-designed pair might take up less space than two singles.
- A pair could go in the centre car and singles either side.
It will be interesting to see what the arrangement is, when it is disclosed.
Is there the possibility, that some of the mathematics for the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train has indicated that a combination of generator units and battery packs can give the required 125 mph performance?
- Battery packs could need less space than diesel generators.
- Regenerative braking could be used to charge the batteries.
- How far would the train be able to travel without electrification?
- Trains would not run the diesel engines in the station.
- Could the fuel and carbon savings of 20 %, that are promised for the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, be realised?
There may be a train buried in the mathematics, that with some discontinuous electrification could handle the East Midlands Railway Intercity services, that generates only a small amount of carbon!
Would A Mix Of Diesel Generators And Battery Packs Enable 125 mph Running?
Consider.
- The trial Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train intended for the London Paddington and Penzance route, will probably have two diesel generators and a battery pack according to what Hitachi have said in their infographic for the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train.
- East of Plymouth some of the stretches of the route are challenging, which resulted in the development and ordering of Class 802 trains, that are more powerful, than the Class 800 trains used on easier routes.
- An Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train with two diesel generators and a battery pack, needs to be as powerful as a Class 802 train with three diesel generators.
- So effectively does that mean that in the right installation with top class controlling software, that in fast running, a battery pack can be considered equivalent to a diesel generator?
I don’t know, but if it’s possible, it does bring other advantages.
- Fuel and carbon savings of 20 %
- No diesel running in stations or whilst accelerating away.
- Better passenger environment.
Configurations of 3-plus-1 and 2-plus 2 might be possible.
Is The Eastern Leg Of High Speed Two Under Threat?
This page on the High Speed Two web site is entitled HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg.
These are the opening three paragraphs.
Earlier this year the government made clear in its response to the Oakervee Review its commitment to Phase 2b of HS2, ensuring we boost capacity, improve connectivity between our regions and share prosperity.
As part of this, the government plans to present an Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands by the end of the year, informed by an assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission, which will look at how to deliver HS2 Phase 2b, Northern Powerhouse Rail, Midlands Rail Hub and other rail programmes better and more effectively.
In the meantime, the government has asked HS2 Ltd to pause work on the Eastern Leg. We recognise that this causes uncertainty and our Eastern Leg community engagement teams remain in place to support you.
The page then says that the work on the Western Leg should proceed, with the aim of a Western Leg Bill in early 2022.
In Northern Powerhouse Rail – Significant Upgrades Of The East Coast Main Line From Leeds To Newcastle (Via York And Darlington) And Restoration Of The Leamside Line, I showed that the current and future upgrades to the East Coast Main Line, required by the East Coast Main Line, Northern Powerhouse Rail and High Speed Two, will greatly reduce the times on services from London Kings Cross to Doncaster, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland.
I said this on timings on the East Coast Main Line.
- London Kings Cross and Doncaster could be around an hour.
- London Kings Cross and Leeds could be around one hour and thirty minutes, using the current Doncaster and Leeds time, as against the one hour and twenty-one minutes for High Speed Two.
- London Kings Cross and York could be around one hour and twenty-three minutes, using the current Doncaster and York time, as against the one hour and twenty-four minutes for High Speed Two.
- Timings between York and Newcastle would be the same fifty-two minutes as High Speed Two, as the track will be the limitation for both services.
- High Speed Two’s timing for York and Newcastle is given as fifty-two minutes, with York and Darlington as twenty-five minutes.
- London Kings Cross and Darlington could be around one hour and forty-nine minutes
- London Kings Cross and Newcastle could be around two hours and sixteen minutes.
- London Kings Cross and Edinburgh would be under three-and-a-half hours, as against the proposed three hours and forty-eight minutes for High Speed Two.
LNER’s Azuma cavalry will hold the fort for as long as is needed.
I’ll now look at how various stations, will be affected if the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two is not built, until a couple of decades in the future.
Leeds
Current Long Distance Services At Leeds Station
Leeds station has the following long distance services in trains per hour (tph)
- CrossCountry – 1
- LNER – 2
- TransPennine Express – 5
It is a bit thin compared to say Birmingham or Manchester.
Northern Powerhouse Rail And Leeds
Northern Powerhouse Rail has plans for Leeds with these services to other Northern cities.
- Hull – two tph in 38 minutes
- Manchester – six tph in 25 minutes
- Newcastle – four tph in 58 minutes
- Sheffield – four tph in 28 minutes.
From what they have written, the following could also be possible.
- Bradford – six tph in a few minutes
- Liverpool – four or more tph in 51 minutes
- Manchester Airport – four or more tph in 35 minutes
It is an ambitious plan.
High Speed Two And Leeds
High Speed Two is planning to run the following trains to Leeds in every hour.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds – 200 metre train
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds via East Midlands Hub – 200 metre train
- London Euston and Leeds via Old Oak Common and East Midlands Hub – 200 metre train
- London Euston and Leeds via Old Oak Common and East Midlands Hub – 400 metre train
- London Euston and Leeds via Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and East Midlands Hub – 400 metre train
Timings will be as follows.
- Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds – 49 minutes.
- London Euston and Leeds – One hour and 21 minutes.
There will be about 1000 seats per hour between Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds and 2500 seats per hour Between London Euston and Leeds.
High Speed Two And Leeds Via Manchester
This report on the Transport for the North web site, is entitled At A Glance – Northern Powerhouse Rail.
This map shows Transport for the North’s ideas for connections in the West linking Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester, Manchester Airport, Warrington and Wigan.
A black line goes East from Manchester to link it to Leeds via Huddersfield and Bradford.
- This is proposed as a route shared between High Speed Two and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
- High Speed Two are promising that London Euston and Manchester will be timed at one hour and eleven minutes.
- London Euston and Manchester will have a frequency of three tph and will all be 400 metre High Speed Two Full Size trains, with about a thousand seats.
- Northern Powerhouse Rail have an objective of a twenty-five minute journey time between Manchester and Leeds.
I would also build the Manchester and Leeds route with the following characteristics.
- As a full-size tunnel capable of taking High Speed Two Full Size trains and the largest freight trains.
- Intermediate and underground stations at Huddersfield and Bradford.
- It could be built as a base tunnel, like the similarly-sized Gotthard base tunnel in Switzerland.
- The Swiss tunnel has a maximum operating speed for passenger trains of 125 mph.
If it can be built for a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time-scale, it could be a way of doing the following.
- Creating a straight 150 mph plus route across the Pennines, with a capacity of 18 tph.
- Running high-capacity fast trains between London Euston and Leeds via Manchester Airport and Manchester.
- Running freight trains between the two sides of the Pennines.
- Creating a high frequency route between Liverpool and Hull via Manchester Airport, Manchester, Huddersfield and Bradford and Leeds.
The passenger service between Liverpool and Hull could be the world’s first high speed metro.
If the London Euston and Manchester trains, were to be extended to Leeds, London Euston and Leeds would take one hour and thirty-six minutes, which would only be fifteen minutes slower, than is promised for the route going via the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.
London Kings Cross And Leeds
When the in-cab digital signalling is complete between London Kings Cross and Leeds, I am fairly confident that with a few other improvements and more zoom from the Azumas, that a London Kings Cross and Leeds time of one hour and fifty minutes will be possible.
But will two nine-car or pairs of five-car trains per hour (tph), be enough capacity? Especially, as pairs of five-car trains will split and join to serve a wider catchment area, which will harvest more passengers.
LNER will in a couple of years have an extra path every hour into Kings Cross.
I would feel that best use of this path would be to run between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh via Leeds and Newcastle.
- Leeds and Newcastle could be the only intermediate stops.
- Leeds would be the ideal place to change to Northern Powerhouse Rail for anywhere in the North of England.
- My estimates, say it could run between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh in around three-and-a-half hours.
- It would run non-stop between London Kings Cross and Leeds, Leeds and Newcastle and Newcastle and Edinburgh.
It would increase capacity, between the four major destinations on the route; London Kings Cross, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
It could start running, once the digital signalling and current improvements to the East Coast Main Line are complete.
London St. Pancras And Leeds
I discussed, Northern Powerhouse Rail’s plan for Sheffield and Leeds in Northern Powerhouse Rail – Connecting Sheffield To HS2 And On To Leeds.
This could see the following new infrastructure.
- Electrification between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station of the route shared by the Midland Main Line and High Speed Two.
- Electrification through Sheffield and on to Leeds, via the Wakefield Line
- New stations for High Speed trains at Rotherham and Barnsley Dearne Valley.
I could see East Midlands Railway taking advantage of this route, with their new Class 810 trains and running a regular Leeds and St. Pancras service.
- It would call at Wakefield Westgate, Barnsley Dearne Valley, Rotherham and Meadowhall. between Leeds and Sheffield stations.
- It would take twenty-eight minutes between Leeds and Sheffield, if it met Northern Powerhouse Rail’s objective.
- Perhaps one of the two tph between London St. Pancras and Sheffield could be extended to Leeds.
As the current time between London St. Pancras and Sheffield, is a few minutes under two hours, I can see a time of comfortably under two-and-a-half hours between London St. Pancras and Leeds.
A Summary Of Journey Times Between London And Leeds
I can summarise my estimates, between London and Leeds.
- High Speed Two – Direct via Eastern Leg – One hour and twenty-one minutes.
- High Speed Two – via Manchester – One hour and thirty-six minutes.
- East Coast Main Line – via Doncaster – One hour and thirty minutes.
- Midland Main Line – via Derby and Sheffield – Two hours and twenty minutes.
The direct High Speed Two route is the fastest., but others could be viable alternatives for some passengers.
Bradford
Consider.
- Under current plans Bradford won’t be getting any high speed service from High Speed Two.
- The best it can get under current plans is several direct services per day, between Bradford Forster Square and London Kings Cross in perhaps two hours.
- The layout of the city and its two stations doesn’t give good connectivity.
Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton could probably be served by trains to and from London Kings Cross that join and split at Leeds.
But if Northern Powerhouse Rail goes for a tunnel between Manchester and Leeds with Bradford as an underground station, it could be served by High Speed Two services going between London Euston and Leeds via Manchester.
I would estimate that if London Euston and Leeds via Manchester took around one hour and thirty-six minutes, London Euston and Bradford could take around an hour-and-a-half.
Darlington
I can summarise my estimates, between London and Darlington.
- High Speed Two – Direct via Eastern Leg – One hour and forty-nine minutes.
- High Speed Two – via Manchester and Leeds – Two hours and six minutes.
- East Coast Main Line – via Doncaster – One hour and forty-nine minutes.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle; will speed up East Coast Main Line services to Darlington.
Edinburgh
I can summarise my estimates, between London and Edinburgh.
- High Speed Two – Direct via Western Leg – Three hours and forty minutes.
- High Speed Two – via Manchester and Leeds – Three hours and forty-eight minutes.
- East Coast Main Line – via Doncaster – Three hours and thirty minutes.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle; will speed up East Coast Main Line services to Newcastle.
Harrogate
Consider.
- Under current plans Harrogate won’t be getting any high speed service from High Speed Two.
- The best it can get under current plans is several direct services per day, between Harrogate and London Kings Cross in perhaps two hours.
Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton could possibly be served by trains to and from London Kings Cross that join and split at Leeds.
Huddersfield
- If Huddersfield is served by underground platforms beneath the current Huddersfield station, a lot of what I said for Bradford would apply to Huddersfield.
- The timings would probably be around an-hour-and-a-half from London Euston.
Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton could possibly be served by trains to and from London Kings Cross that join and split at Leeds.
Hull
Hull is an interesting destination.
- Reaching Hull from the current High Speed Two network will need a change at Leeds or another station.
- Using Northern Powerhouse Rail’s objectives on timings, London Euston and Hull via Manchester on High Speed Two, would be a few minutes under two-and-a-half hours.
- I strongly feel, that London Kings Cross and Hull via Selby could be reduced to below two hours.
Hull would also make a superb Eastern terminal station for both Northern Powerhouse Rail and a High Speed Two service from London via Manchester and Leeds.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
Middlesbrough
Reaching Middlesbrough from the proposed High Speed Two network will need a change at York or another station.
But a time of two hours and twenty minutes, should be possible using the East Coast Main Line via Doncaster.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle, will speed up East Coast Main Line services to Middlesbrough.
Newcastle
I can summarise my estimates, between London and Newcastle.
- High Speed Two – Direct via Eastern Leg – Two hours and seventeen minutes.
- High Speed Two – via Manchester and Leeds – Two hours and thirty-four minutes.
- East Coast Main Line – via Doncaster – Two hours and sixteen minutes.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle; will speed up East Coast Main Line services to Newcastle.
Nottingham
I will compare average speeds on the Midland Main Line between London St. Pancras and Nottingham and on the East Coast Main Line, between London Kings Cross and Leeds.
Currently.
- London St. Pancras and Nottingham services, over the 126 mile route, take one hour and fifty minutes. which is an average speed of 69 mph.
- London Kings Cross and Leeds services, over the 186 mile route, take two hours and thirteen minutes, which is an average speed of 94 mph.
Note.
- The two routes are of similar character and are fairly straight with large sections of 125 mph running and quadruple tracks.
- The East Coast Main Line to Leeds is fully electrified, whereas the Midland Main Line is only partially electrified.
- Both routes have a small number of stops.
- In a few years time, services on both routes will be run by different members of the Hitachi AT-300 train family.
I don’t feel it would be unreasonable to assume that a London St. Pancras and Nottingham service could be run at an average speed of 94 mph, if the Midland Main Line were upgraded to the same standard as the East Coast Main Line.
This could mean a time of around one hour and twenty-one minutes between London St. Pancras and Nottingham, or a saving of twenty-nine minutes.
Is that possible?
- The new Class 810 trains, will have four engines instead of the normal three for a five-car AT-300 train. Will they be able to be closer to the 125 mph line-speed on diesel power, where it is available on the Midland Main Line.
- The trains will be able to use electrification between London St. Pancras and Market Harborough.
- There have been hints, that more electrification may be installed on the Midland Main Line.
- Hitachi have announced a battery electric version of the AT-300 train called an Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, where one or more of the diesel engines are replaced by battery packs.
- The new trains will be ready to accept in-cab ERTMS digital signalling, so they could be able to run at up to 140 mph, if the track were to be upgraded.
I certainly feel, that substantial time savings could be possible between London St. Pancras and Nottingham.
Eighty-one minutes would be very convenient, as it would comfortably allow a three hour round trip, which would mean just six trains or more likely pairs of trains would be needed for the current two tph service.
Eighty-one minutes would not be the fifty-two minute service promised by High Speed Two!
But!
- The new trains are planned to be introduced from 2023.
- Who knows, when High Speed Two will arrive at the East Midlands Hub station?
- They won’t need any new substantial infrastructure to replace the current trains.
I also suspect the new trains will have more seats, but, the capacity of the Class 810 train, has not been published.
Nottingham could also be served by a high speed service from London Kings Cross via Grantham, which I estimate would take about one hour and twenty minutes.
Sheffield
A lot of what I said for Nottingham can be applied to Sheffield.
- Currently, London St. Pancras and Sheffield services, over the 165 mile route, take two hours, which is an average speed of 82.5 mph.
- High Speed Two is promising a journey time of one hour and twenty-seven minutes.
- An average speed of 90 mph, would mean a journey time of one hour and fifty minutes.
- This would allow a four hour round trip, which would mean just eight trains or more likely pairs of trains would be needed for the current two tph service.
It would be very convenient for the operator.
It looks like if pairs of trains were to be run on both the Nottingham and Sheffield routes, that twenty-eight trains would be needed to run both services.
This fits well with a fleet size of thirty-three trains.
The only caveat, is that to get the required journey times, it might be necessary to rebuild and electrify the tracks, between Sheffield and Clay Cross North Junction.
- These tracks will be shared with the future Sheffield Branch of High Speed Two.
- It would only be 15.5 miles of double-track to rebuild and electrify.
- It could be rebuilt to allow 140 mph running. Several minutes could be saved!
The electrification could allow Hitachi’s Intercity Tri-Mode Battery trains to be able to run the Sheffield service.
These trains would certainly be a way of avoiding the tricky electrification of the Derby and Clay Cross section of the route, which goes through the World Heritage Site of the Derwent Valley Mills.
Sheffield could also be served by a high speed service from London Kings Cross via Doncaster, which I estimate would take about one hour and thirty minutes.
Skipton
Consider.
- Under current plans Skipton won’t be getting any high speed service from High Speed Two.
- The best it can get under current plans is several direct services per day, between Skipton and London Kings Cross in perhaps two hours.
Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton could possibly be served by trains to and from London Kings Cross that join and split at Leeds.
Sunderland
Reaching Sunderland from the proposed High Speed Two network will need a change at York or another station.
But a time of two hours and thirty minutes, should be possible using the East Coast Main Line via Doncaster.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle, will speed up East Coast Main Line services to Sunderland.
York
I can summarise my estimates, between London and York.
- High Speed Two – Direct via Eastern Leg – One hour and twenty-four minutes.
- High Speed Two – via Manchester and Leeds – One hour and forty-two minutes.
- East Coast Main Line – via Doncaster – One hour and twenty-four minutes.
Improvements on the East Coast Main Line, needed to enable and speed-up High Speed Two services to York, Darlington and Newcastle; will speed up East Coast Main Line services to York.
I believe strongly, that York would be about as fast from London, by either of the direct routes, but both would serve different intermediate destinations.
Conclusion
My first conclusion is a surprising one, but the promised timings from High Speed Two and the current timings in the timetable make it clear.
To achieve the required timings for High Speed Two, major improvements must be made to existing track and these improvements will mean that existing services will be competitive with High Speed Two on time.
These improvements fall into this category.
- Improving the East Coast Main Line between York and Newcastle, will make East Coast Main Line services to York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle competitive with High Speed Two services.
- Improving the East Coast Main Line between York and Newcastle, may also mean that London Kings Cross and Edinburgh will be faster than the High Speed Two service between London Euston and Edinburgh.
- Electrifying the route shared between Sheffield and Clay Cross North Junction, will speed up London St. Pancras and Sheffield services and make them more competitive with High Speed Two.
I suspect there may be similar mutual improvements on the Western leg of High Speed Two.
Other smaller conclusions from my analysis of the improvements include.
- These improvements will create some extra capacity on the East Coast and Midland Main Lines, by removing bottlenecks and improving line speeds.
- Electrification, even if it is only partial or discontinuous, will improve services on the Midland Main Line.
- Some places like Harrogate, Middlesbrough and Skipton will never be served directly by High Speed Two, but are easily served by East Coast Main Line services from London Kings Cross.
- Northern Powerhouse Rail is very much part of the North-South capacity for England.
- In-cab ERTMS signalling will play a large part in increasing capacity and line speeds.
Perhaps in our planning of High Speed Two, we should plan all the routes in the North and Midlands in a much more holistic way.
If we look at the capacity between London and the North, I feel that with the addition of Phase 1 of High Speed Two to Birmingham in 2029-2033 and hopefully Phase 2a soon afterwards, that Phase 2b will not be needed for reasons of speed and capacity until years later.
So, I would pause most construction of the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two until Phase 1 and Phase 2a are complete.
I would make exceptions for the following.
- Improvements to the shared section of the East Coast Main Line and High Speed Two, between York and Newcastle.
- Building a high speed connection between Leeds and York for the use of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the East Coast Main Line.
- Rebuilding and electrification of the shared section of the Midland Main Line and High Speed Two, between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield.
- Improve and electrify the route between Sheffield and Leeds.
But I would continue with the design, as I feel that East of Leeds is very much sub-optimal at the present time.
The route of the Eastern leg of High Speed Two would be safeguarded.
But the biggest problem with the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two to Leeds, is that however it is built travellers to and from Leeds, York and further North will not see any improvements for some years, but improving the East Coast Main Line wouldn’t exactly see jam tomorrow, but tons of it by 2024.
Northern Powerhouse Rail – Connecting Sheffield To HS2 And On To Leeds
In this article on Transport for the North, which is entitled Northern Powerhouse Rail Progress As Recommendations Made To Government, one of the recommendations proposed for Northern Powerhouse Rail is connecting Sheffield to High Speed Two and on to Leeds.
Northern Powerhouse Rail’s Objective For The Sheffield and Leeds Route
Wikipedia, other sources and my calculations say this about the trains between Leeds and Sheffield.
- The distance between the two stations is 39 miles
- The current service takes around 40 minutes and has a frequency of one train per hour (tph)
- This gives an average speed of 58.5 mph for the fastest journey.
- The proposed service with Northern Powerhouse Rail will take 28 minutes and have a frequency of four tph.
- This gives an average speed of 84 mph for the journey.
This last figure of 84 mph, indicates to me that a fast route will be needed.
But given experience of 100 mph lines in other parts of the UK, 100 mph trains and infrastructure could make this demanding objective of twenty-eight minutes between Sheffield and Leeds a reality
Connecting Sheffield To High Speed Two
Sheffield is to be accessed from a branch off the Main High Speed Two route to Leeds.
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, shows the route of the Sheffield Branch, from where it branches North West from the main Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.
Note.
- Orange indicates new High Speed Two track.
- Blue indicates track that High Speed Two will share with other services.
- The orange route goes North to Leeds, along the M1
- The blue route goes North to Chesterfield and Sheffield, after skirting to the East of Clay Cross.
- The orange route goes South to East Midlands Hub station.
This second map, shows where the Erewash Valley Line joins the Sheffield Branch near the village of Stonebroom.
Note.
- Red is an embankment.
- Yellow is a cutting.
- The Sheffield Branch goes North-West to Clay Cross, Chesterfield and Sheffield
- The Sheffield Branch goes South-East to East Midlands Hub station.
- The Sheffield Branch goes through Doe Hill Country Park.
- The Sheffield Branch runs alongside the existing Erewash Valley Line, which goes South to Langley Mill, Ilkeston and the Derby-Nottingham area.
The Sheffield Branch and the Erewash Valley Line appear to share a route, which continues round Clay Cross and is shown in this third map.
Note
- Doe Hill Country Park is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The dark line running North-South is the A61.
- Running to the West of the A61 is the Midland Main Line, which currently joins the Erewash Valley Line at Clay Cross North junction.
High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line will share a route and/or tracks from Clay Cross North junction to Sheffield.
This fourth map, shows where the combined route joins the Hope Valley Line to Manchester to the South West of Sheffield.
Note.
- Sheffield is to the North East.
- Chesterfield is to the South East,
- Totley junction is a large triangular junction, that connects to the Hope Valley Line.
These are some timings for various sections of the route.
- Clay Cross North Junction and Chesterfield (current) – 4 minutes
- Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield (current) – 17 minutes
- Chesterfield and Sheffield (current) – 13 minutes
- Chesterfield and Sheffield (High Speed Two) – 13 minutes
- East Midlands Hub and Chesterfield (High Speed Two) – 16 minutes
- East Midlands Hub and Sheffield (High Speed Two) – 27 minutes
As Class Cross North Junction and Sheffield are 15.5 miles, this means the section is run at an average speed of 53 mph.
Can I draw any conclusions from the maps and timings?
- There would appear to be similar current and High Speed Two timings between Chesterfield and Sheffield.
- The various junctions appear to be built for speed.
The Midland Main Line will be electrified from Clay Cross North Junction to Sheffield, so that High Speed Two trains can use the route.
What will be the characteristics of the tracks between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield?
- Will it be just two tracks as it mainly is now or will it be a multi-track railway to separate the freight trains from the high speed trains?
- Will it have a high enough maximum speed, so that East Midland Railway’s new Class 810 trains can go at their maximum speed of 140 mph?
- Will it be capable of handling a frequency of 18 tph, which is the maximum frequency of High Speed Two?
Surely, it will be built to a full High Speed Two standard to future-proof the line.
Before finishing this section, I will answer a few questions.
Would It Be Possible For Class 810 Trains Fitted With Batteries To Run Between London St. Pancras And Sheffield?
East Midlands Railway’s new Class 810 trains could be fitted with batteries to become Regional Battery Trains with the specification, given in this Hitachi infographic.
Note.
- This would give the trains a range of 90 kilometres or 56 miles on batteries, if a number of diesel engines were exchanged for batteries.
- The trains would only be a few mph slower on batteries, than the current Hitachi trains on diesel.
- The Class 810 trains have four diesel engines. Is this to enable 125 mph running on diesel?
By perhaps replacing two diesel engines with batteries and using the remaining two diesel engines as range extenders or some other combination, I feel that Hitachi might be able to obtain a longer self-powered range for the train.
Consider.
- Between Sheffield and Clay Cross North Junction will be fully-electrified and at 15.5 miles, it will be long enough to fully-charge the batteries on the train.
- Between London St. Pancras and Market Harborough will be fully-electrified and at 83 miles, it will be long enough to fully-charge the batteries on the train.
- The section between Market Harborough and Clay Cross North Junction is not electrified and is 66 miles.
I feel that Hitachi and their partner; Hyperdrive Innovation can design a battery electric Class 810 train, that can travel between London St. Pancras and Sheffield, without using a drop of diesel.
A great advantage of this approach, is that, as more electrification is added to the Midland Main Line, as it surely will be, the trains will be able to use the wires to reduce journey times.
I believe there are two sections on the Midland Main Line. where traditional electrification is less likely.
- The bridge at the Southern end of Leicester station is low and would need to be rebuilt causing immense disruption to both road and rail in the city.
- Between Derby and Alfreton is the World Heritage Site of the Derwent Valley Mills. Will electrification be fought by the heritage lobby?
Both sections may eventually be electrified at some far off date in the future.
Why Is There A Spur Of Electrification At Totley Junction?
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, shows the Southern Leg of Totley Junction, where the Hope Valley Line joins the Midland Main Line.
Note that a short length of electrification is shown, between the Midland Main Line and a tunnel on the Southern leg.
This Google Map shows the same area.
Note, that the line disappears into a tunnel.
- In Northern Powerhouse Rail -Significant Upgrades And Journey Time Improvements To The Hope Valley Route Between Manchester And Sheffield, I indicated, that running battery electric trains between Manchester and Sheffield would be a possibility and could be a way of meeting Northern Powerhouse Rail’s objectives for the route.
- A short length of electrification might help battery electric trains turn out to go South.
- I don’t think any passenger trains ever go that way now, but I have seen articles and heard complaints from passengers, that want a better service between Derby and/or Nottingham and Manchester.
- It might also help with the decarbonisation of freight trains to and from the quarries.
I also suspect, that if building High Speed Two in Manchester temporarily reduced the capacity of Manchester Piccadilly station, trains could use the Hope Valley Line to get to the city, as they have done previously, with Project Rio.
Accessing The Infrastructure Depot At Staveley
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, shows the location of the infrastructure depot at Staveley.
Note.
- Chesterfield is shown by the large blue dot.
- High Speed Two’s Sheffield Branch runs North from Chesterfield station.
- High Speed Two’s Eastern Leg runs down the Eastern side of the map.
- Two spurs from East and West go towards each other and would meet to the North of the town of Staveley.
The infrastructure depot will be located where they meet.
The route from the Sheffield Branch uses the Barrow Hill Line, which might be reopened as another passenger route between Chesterfield and Sheffield.
I wrote about this idea in Reinstatement Of The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield And Chesterfield.
If the line is being upgraded and electrified as far as Barrow Hill for the Infrastructure Depot, would it be worthwhile to create a new electrified route into Sheffield?
I also wrote in Could East Midlands Railway’s Liverpool And Norwich Service Avoid A Reverse At Sheffield By Using the Barrow Hill Line?, that the Barrow Hill Line might be an alternative route for the Liverpool and Norwich service.
When the railway routes in the area of the Infrastructure Depot are developed, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some routes changed.
Between Sheffield And Meadowhall Stations
One of the original designs for High Speed Two had it calling at Meadowhall station.
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, clearly shows High Speed Two running across Sheffield.
Note.
- Sheffield station is the big Blue dot in the South-West corner of the map.
- The M1 runs across the North-East corner of the map.
- The railway between Sheffield and Meadowhall stations already exists.
- Sheffield and Meadowhall stations are 3.5 miles apart and trains take seven minutes.
Is there any reason, why High Speed Two trains shouldn’t serve both Sheffield and Meadowhall stations, by just taking the existing line across the city?
Taking The Wakefield Line Towards Leeds
In extending to Meadowhall, High Speed Two’s route seems to be taking the current Wakefield Line.
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, clearly shows High Speed Two passing through Sheffield and Rotherham and then going towards Leeds.
Note.
- Orange indicates new High Speed Two track.
- Blue indicates track that High Speed Two shares with other lines.
- The Wakefield Line is shown in blue and has stations at Meadowhall, Swinton, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Goldthorpe and Thurscoe.
- The main High Speed Two leg to Leeds is shown in orange.
It looks to me, that High Speed Two are aiming to provide a route, so that trains going to Sheffield can extend the journey to Leeds.
As Leeds will have three tph to and from London, why is this service being extended to Leeds?
I will explore a few reasons why in the next few sub-sections.
It’s Convenient For Running Trains
Consider.
- High Speed Two are saying London and Sheffield will be one hour and twenty-seven minutes.
- Northern Powerhouse Rail have an objective of Leeds and Sheffield in twenty-eight minutes.
- One hour and fifty-five minutes could be a convenient time for a London and Leeds service, as it could be a four hour round trip.
But High Speed Two are saying London and Leeds will be one hour and twenty-one minutes.
It looks to me, that it is a convenient way to serve Meadowhall, Rotherham, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Goldthorpe and Thurscoe stations
High Speed Two Through Rotherham
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, clearly shows High Speed Two passing through Rotherham to the North of the Parkgate Shopping Park.
Note.
- High Speed Two is the bright blue line running North-East from the Western edge of the map.
- The grey blocks are the stores in the Shopping Park.
- The Rotherham Parkgate tram-train stop is marked.
This Google Map shows a similar area.
To the East of the Parkgate Shopping Park, is a large brownfield site, as this Google Map shows.
Could Rotherham have a station on the line North of this site?
- The rail line running SW-NE across this map is drawn in blue on High Speed Two’s interactive map.
- Rotherham Masborough station used to be in this area.
If High Speed Two is supposed to be a railway for all the people, or at least as many as possible, surely there should be a station in the town.
High Speed Two Through Bolton-upon-Dearne
In July 2019, I wrote a post called Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Station At Barnsley Dearne Valley.
So have High Speed Two taken on this feature of the Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019, to add another station to their list of destinations?
Approach To Leeds
This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, clearly shows route High Speed Two will take to approach Leeds from the South East.
Note.
- Leeds station is the blue dot in the North West corner of the map.
- High Speed Two is shown in orange and continues North to York, where it joins the East Coast Main Line.
- Wakefield is in the middle at the bottom of the map and is on the Wakefield Line and the current route for LNER’s expresses from London.
It looks to me, that Leeds and Sheffield will eventually end up with two faster routes between the two cities.
- An upgraded Wakefield Line
- A route based on the Southern section of the Wakefield Line and the Eastern leg of High Speed Two route to Leeds.
If High Speed Two’s trains are to be able to get across Sheffield and call at Sheffield, Meadowhall, Rotherham and Barnsley Dearne Valley stations, then these conditions must be met.
- The trains must be High Speed Two’s Classic-Compatible trains or a train to a similar specification.
- Some platform lengthening might be needed to allow the two hundred metre long trains to call.
- The Wakefield Line must be electrified between Sheffield and just North of Goldthorpe station, where it will be able to join the link to the Eastern leg of High Speed Two.
It would probably be sensible to electrify the Wakefield Line all the way to Fitzwilliam station, from where the line is electrified all the way to Leeds.
This would enable the following.
- Electric trains to run between Sheffield and Leeds via Wakefield Westgate station.
- Would Northern Powerhouse Rail’s objective of a twenty-eight minute journey be achieved?
- East Midlands Railway could run their Class 810 trains between London St. Pancras and Leeds under electric power.
- High Speed Two could serve Leeds before the Northern infrastructure of the Eastern leg of High Speed Two is complete.
- High Speed Two could offer services to Wakefield, Barnsley and Rotherham via Sheffield.
I can see reasons for early upgrading of the Wakefield Line.
Conclusion
It appears that High Speed Two are planning an electrified route through Sheffield between Clay Cross North Junction on the Midland Main Line and Goldthorpe station on the Wakefield Line.
Once complete it would enable the following.
- Rotherham and Barnsley to have direct electric services to and from the capital.
- When East Midlands Railway introduce their new Class 810 trains, the electrification North of Clay Cross North Junction would mean faster services and less running on diesel power.
- I believe these Class 810 trains could run between London and Sheffield, if their four diesel engines are replaced with batteries, which would power the trains between Clay Cross North Junction and Market Harborough.
- The electrification at Sheffield would allow battery electric trains to work between Manchester and Sheffield as I outlined in Northern Powerhouse Rail -Significant Upgrades And Journey Time Improvements To The Hope Valley Route Between Manchester And Sheffield.
I think it is a good plan.
Project Management Recommendations
It is my view that the following projects should be started as soon as possible.
- Electrification between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station.
- Electrification of the Wakefield Line between Sheffield and Fitzwilliam stations.
- Provision of new stations at Rotherham and Barnsley Dearne Valley on the Wakefield Line.
These projects could deliver worthwhile improvements in services in a couple of years, rather than the tens of years for High Speed Two.
EMR Set To Retain Liverpool – Nottingham Service
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The Department for Transport has confirmed to East Midlands Railway that, for the time being at least, it is no longer planning to transfer the Liverpool Lime Street – Nottingham service to TransPennine Express from the December 2021 timetable change.
My experience of the service is limited these days, but occasionally, I do use the Liverpool and Sheffield section of the service to get across the Pennines on trips North.
In January 2020, I had a horrendous trip on an overcrowded train composed of several one-car Class 153 trains, which I wrote about in Mule Trains Between Liverpool And Norwich.
This is not the way to run a long distance service, which takes over five and a half hours.
The plan to improve the service involves splitting it into two from the December 2021 timetable change.
- Liverpool and Nottingham
- Derby and Norwich
It was thought that the Liverpool and Nottingham section would be going to TransPennine Express (TPE).
These points summarise the Railway Gazette article.
- TPE were training drivers and that has now stopped.
- EMR have told staff, they will be keeping both services.
- The service will still be split.
- EMR will not have enough trains to run the split service.
This paragraph sums up what could happen to run the service.
One option favoured by industry insiders would see EMR take on 15 Class 185 Desiro trainsets which are due to be released by TPE during 2021 as its fleet renewal programme concludes. These trains are maintained by Siemens at its conveniently located Ardwick depot in Manchester.
I see this splitting, as being a pragmatic solution to the problems of running a long service, with a very varied loading at various parts of the route.
- As one company runs both sections, the changeover can be arranged to be very passenger-friendly.
- EMR manage the possible change stations at Derby and Nottingham.
- Passengers can be given proper care in the changeover.
- Derby gets a direct connection to Peterborough, Cambridge and Norwich.
With my East Anglian hat on, I can see advantages in the split, as I regularly used to travel as far as Derby or Nottingham, when I lived in the East, but only once took the full service to Liverpool.
I have a few thoughts.
Capacity Between Liverpool And Nottingham
This section of the service is generally run by a pair of Class 158 trains, which have a capacity of around 140 each or 280 in total.
The Class 185 trains have three-cars and a capacity of 180 seats.
Currently, Liverpool and Nottingham takes just under two hours and forty minutes, which would make for a comfortable six-hour round trip. This would mean, that an hourly service between the two cities, will need a fleet of six trains.
Under Future in the Wikipedia entry for Class 185 trains, this is said.
Following the August 2020 decision not to transfer the Liverpool Lime Street to Nottingham route to TransPennine Express, East Midlands Railway could opt to take on the 15 trainsets due to be released from TPE to run this route.
Fifteen trains would be more than enough trains to run a pair on each hourly service and perhaps run some extra services.
Pairs of Class 185 trains between Liverpool and Nottingham would go a long way to solve capacity problems on this route.
Calling At Derby
The current service between Liverpool and Norwich doesn’t call at Derby, as it uses the Erewash Valley Line via Alfreton.
The proposed Eastern portion of the split service has been proposed to terminate at Derby, so passengers would change at Nottingham, if they wanted to travel to Sheffield, Manchester or Liverpool.
As East Midlands Railway, runs both services, they can optimise the service to serve and attract the most passengers.
Preparation For High Speed Two At East Midlands Hub Station
Eventually, the two halves of the Liverpool and Norwich service must surely call at the future East Midlands Hub station for High Speed Two, so future routes must fit in with the plans for High Speed Two.
But there’ll be plenty of time to get that right.
Interchange At Nottingham
I’m sure a quick and easy interchange can be performed at Nottingham.
In the simplest interchange, the two services could share a platform and passengers could just walk between the two trains on the level.
The following sequence could be used at Nottingham.
- The train from Derby to Norwich would arrive in the platform and stop at the Eastern end of the platform.
- The train from Liverpool to Nottingham would arrive in the platform and stop close behind it.
- Passengers on the train from Liverpool, who wanted to take the Norwich train, would simply walk a along the platform and board the train.
- The Norwich train would leave when ready.
- The train from Liverpool would stay where it had stopped and be prepared for the return trip to Liverpool.
- , The next train from Norwich to Derby would pull in behind the Liverpool train.
- Passengers on the train from Norwich, who wanted to take the Liverpool train, would simply walk a along the platform and board the train.
- The Liverpool train would leave when ready.
- Finally, the Norwich to Derby train would leave for Derby.
Only one platform would be needed at Nottingham station, that would need to be long enough to handle the two trains.
Between Norwich And Derby
This is the only section of the Liverpool and Norwich route with any electrification.
- Currently about thirty miles between Grantham and Peterborough are electrified.
- The lines around Ely and Norwich are also electrified.
I think that Ely and Peterborough will be electrified earlier than other lines.
- It would be part of an electrified freight route between Felixstowe and the East Coast Main Line.
- It would enable electric passenger trains between Cambridge and the North.
- It would mean the Ipswich and Peterborough services could be run by battery electric trains.
- It could be a useful electrified diversion route to London, during engineering works.
,This extra electrification, would also mean that Norwich and Derby would probably be within range of battery electric trains.
Stadler have stated that Greater Anglia’s Class 755 trains can be converted from bi-mode into battery electric trains.
So as Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway are both Abellio companies, could we see battery electric operation on the around 150 miles between Norwich and Derby?
Conclusion
Splitting the Liverpool and Norwich service opens up a lot of possibilities to improve the service.
Testing Begins On Midland Main Line Electrification
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
- From the article, it looks like the first part of mechanical testing has been completed as planned and unpowered pantograph runs have been performed at up to 110 mph.
- It does seem to me, that this thirty miles of electrification has avoided the troubles that have plagued similar projects in recent years.
Perhaps the good progress on this electrification, is making the government think again about early electrification of all of the Midland Main Line
In Hopes Rekindled Of Full Midland Main Line Electrification. I showed how battery electric Class 810 trains would be able to work the route.
This was my conclusion of that earlier post.
It appears that both the Nottingham and Sheffield services can be run using battery electric Class 810 trains.
- All four diesel engines in the Class 810 trains would need to be replaced with batteries.
- The route between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station, which will be shared with High Speed Two, will need to be electrified.
- Charging facilities for the battery electric trains will need to be provided at Nottingham.
On the other hand using battery electric trains mean the two tricky sections of the Derwent Valley Mills and Leicester station and possibly others, won’t need to be electrified to enable electric trains to run on the East Midlands Railway network.
Will it be the first main line service in the world, run by battery electric trains?
There was one thing, that wasn’t available, a month ago, when I wrote that post – A charging system for battery electric trains, that could be installed at Nottingham.
In Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains, I report on Adrian Shooter’s plans for Vivarail, which are outlined in a video by Modern Railways.
Ar one point he says this see about Vivarail’s Fast Charge system.
The system has now been given preliminary approval to be installed as the UK’s standard charging system for any make of train.
I may have got the word’s slightly wrong, but I believe the overall message is correct.
So could we see a Hitachi Class 810 train using Vivarail’s patented Fast Charge system at Nottingham?
In Interview: Hitachi’s Nick Hughes On Driving Innovation In Rail Propulsion, Nick Hughes of Hitachi is quoted as saying.
Rail is going to become increasingly digitised and integrated into other sectors involved in smart cities, mobility-as-a-service and flexible green grid. Therefore, Hitachi Rail won’t be able to stay at the forefront of innovation by its self. This is why we are focused on building partnerships with other like-minded, innovative, clean tech companies like Hyperdrive Innovation, Perpetuum and Hitachi group companies such as Hitachi ABB.
Does Vivarail fit that philosophy? In my view, it does!
This Hitachi infographic gives the specification of their Regional Battery Train.
Note.
- The range on battery power is 90 km or 56 miles at up to 100 mph.
- Class 810 trains could be converted to battery electric trains by replacing the diesel engines with batteries.
- As the electrification has reached Kettering. there is only 55 miles between London St Pancras and Nottingham without electrification.
I could see Class 810 trains running between St. Pancras and Nottingham on delivery, provided the following projects have been completed.
- Hitachi have been able to give the Class 810 trains a range of say 60 miles on batteries.
- Hitachi have modified their trains, so they can be recharged by a Vivarail Fast Charge system in fifteen minutes.
- Vivarail have installed a Fast Charge facility at Nottingham station.
Network Rail are planning to extend the electrification from Kettering to Market Harborough, which would reduce the distance without electrification to under 50 miles. This would make running battery electric trains between London St. Pancras and Nottingham even easier.
Expanding The Network
If I am putting two and two together correctly and Hitachi have turned to Vivarail to provide a charging system or a licence for the use of the technology, I am sure, it would be possible to create a comprehensive network of battery electric trains.
Consider.
- Hitachi should be able to squeeze a sixty mile range at 90-100 mph from a battery-equipped Class 810 trains.
- Market Harborough and Derby are about 47 miles apart.
- Derby and Sheffield are about 36 miles apart
- Sheffield and Leeds are about 48 miles apart
- Corby and Leicester are about 41 miles apart.
Vivarail Fast Charge systems at Derby, Leicester and Sheffield would enable the following routes to be run using battery electric trains.
- London St. Pancras and Sheffield via Derby – Fast Charging at Derby and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Leeds via Derby and Sheffield – Fast Charging at Derby and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Sheffield via the Erewash Valley Line – Fast Charging at Ilkeston (?) and Sheffield
- London St. Pancras and Leicester via Corby – Fast Charging at Leicester
Note.
- The only extra electrification needed for the initial network would be between Kettering and Market Harborough.
- The Class 810 trains would all be identical.
- The Class 810 trains might even be built and delivered as battery electric trains
- Trains would also charge the batteries between London St. Pancras and Market Harborough, between London St. Pancras and Corby. and between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate.
The network can be extended by adding more electrification and Fast Charge systems.
Conclusion
The technologies of Hitachi and Vivarail seem complimentary and could result in a fully electric main line train network for East Midlands Railway.
Hopes Rekindled Of Full Midland Main Line Electrification
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
This is the key section of the article.
During a House of Commons debate on transport on September 17, HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said in response to a question from Alex Norris (Labour/Co-op, Nottingham North): “We are currently delivering the Midland Main Line upgrade, which includes electrification from London to Kettering, with additional electrification to Market Harborough being developed.
“Further electrification of the MML is currently at an early stage, but it is being examined by Network Rail.”
Stephenson said the DfT will continue to work closely with NR on the development of a proposal that would include approaches to advancing the delivery of electrification across the route.
The title of the article, probably sums it up well.
Electrification Of The Midland Main Line
Having read lots of stories about electrification of Midland Main Line, I think the following must be born in mind.
- Electrification on the line will reach as far North as Market Harborough station.
- The route between Sheffield station and Clay Cross North Junction will be shared with High Speed Two. It will obviously need to be electrified for High Speed Two.
- The section of the Midland Main Line between Derby and Clay Cross North Junction, runs through the World Heritage Site of the Derwent Valley Mills. The Heritage Taliban will love the electrification, with a vengeance.
- Electrification through Leicester station could be tricky, as the station building and the A6 road are over the tracks and there is limited clearance. Electrification could involve major disruption to the trains for some time.
These are some of the distances involved of sections of the route that are not electrified.
- Market Harborough and Derby are 54 miles apart.
- Market Harborough and Clay Cross North Junction are 67 miles apart.
- Market Harborough and Chesterfield are 70 miles apart.
- Market Harborough and Nottingham are 44 miles apart
- Market Harborough and Leicester are 16 miles apart.
- Derby and Clay Cross North Junction are 21 miles apart.
Since 2017, when electrification for the full route was originally abandoned, there have been big changes in rolling stock technology.
The biggest change has been the development of battery trains.
Hitachi’s Regional Battery Trains
This infographic from Hitachi gives the specification for their Regional Battery Train.
Note.
- The trains have a range of 56 miles on battery power.
- The trains can cruise at 100 mph on battery power.
- Hitachi have said that all of their AT-300 trains can be converted into Regional Battery Trains.
- Trains are converted by removing the diesel engines and replacing them with battery packs.
- I suspect these battery packs look like a diesel engine in terms of control inputs and performance to the driver and the train’s computer.
It is extremely likely, that the bi-mode Class 810 trains, which are a version of the AT-300 train, that have been ordered for the Midland Main Line can be converted into Regional Battery Trains.
These trains have four diesel engines, as opposed to the Class 800 and Class 802 trains, which only have three.
These are reasons, why the trains could need four engines.
- The trains need more power to work the Midland Main Line. I think this is unlikely.
- Four engine positions gives ,more flexibility when converting to Regional Battery Trains.
- Four battery packs could give a longer range of up to 120 kilometres or 75 miles.
It could just be, that Hitachi are just being conservative, as engines can easily be removed or replaced. The fifth-car might even be fitted with all the wiring and other gubbins, so that a fifth-engine or battery pack can be added.
I suspect the train’s computer works on a Plug-And-Play principle, so when the train is started, it looks round each car to see how many diesel engines and battery packs are available and it then controls the train according to what power is available.
London St. Pancras And Sheffield By Battery Electric Train
Any battery electric train going between London St. Pancras and Sheffield will need to be charged, at both ends of the route.
- At the London end, it will use the electrification currently being erected as far as Market Harborough station.
- At the Sheffield end, the easiest way to charge the trains, would be to bring forward the electrification and updating between Sheffield station and Clay Cross North Junction, that is needed for High Speed Two.
This will leave a 67 mile gap in the electrification between Market Harborough station and Clay Cross North junction.
It looks to me, the Class 810 trains should be able to run between London St. Pancras and Sheffield, after the following projects are undertaken.
- Class 810 trains are given four battery packs and a battery range of 75 miles.
- Electrification is installed between Sheffield station and Clay Cross North Junction.
Trains would need to leave Market Harborough station going North and Clay Cross Junction going South with full batteries.
Note.
- Trains currently take over an hour to go between Chesterfield to Sheffield and then back to Chesterfield, which would be more than enough to fully charge the batteries.
- Trains currently take around an hour to go between London St. Pancras and Market Harborough, which would be more than enough to fully charge the batteries.
- Chesterfield station is only three miles further, so if power changeover, needed to be in a station, it could be performed there.
- Leeds and Sheffield are under fifty miles apart and as both stations would be electrified, London St. Pancras and Sheffield services could be extended to start and finish at Leeds.
London St. Pancras and Sheffield can be run by battery electric trains.
London St. Pancras And Nottingham By Battery Electric Train
Could a battery electric train go from Market Harborough to Nottingham and back, after being fully-charged on the hour-long trip from London?
- The trip is 44 miles each way or 88 miles for a round trip.
- Services have either three or eight stops, of which two or three respectively are at stations without electrification.
- Trains seem to take over thirty minutes to turnback at Nottingham station.
Extra power North of Market Harborough will also be needed.
- To provide hotel power for the train, during turnback at Nottingham station.
- To compensate for power losses at station stops.
If 75 miles is the maximum battery range, I doubt that a round trip is possible.
I also believe, that Hitachi must be developing a practical solution to charging a train during turnback, at a station like Nottingham, where trains take nearly thirty minutes to turnback.
If the Class 810 trains have a battery range of 75 miles, they would be able to handle the London St. Pancras and Nottingham service, with charging at Nottingham.
Conclusion
It appears that both the Nottingham and Sheffield services can be run using battery electric Class 810 trains.
- All four diesel engines in the Class 810 trains would need to be replaced with batteries.
- The route between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station, which will be shared with High Speed Two, will need to be electrified.
- Charging facilities for the battery electric trains will need to be provided at Nottingham.
On the other hand using battery electric trains mean the two tricky sections of the Derwent Valley Mills and Leicester station and possibly others, won’t need to be electrified to enable electric trains to run on the East Midlands Railway network.
Will it be the first main line service in the world, run by battery electric trains?
Beeching Reversal – More Stopping Services At Radcliffe-on-Trent And Bottesford Stations On The Poacher Line Between Grantham And Nottingham
This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
It is one of a pair of submissions from the local MP; Alicia Kearns. The other is Increased Services To Nottingham And Leicester, via Syston And Loughborough From Melton Mowbray.
When I heard of the MP’s submissions, I wrote MP Campaigns To Extend Train Services For Melton Borough and the following uses that post as a starting point.
Wikipedia says this about services at Bottesford station on the Poacher Line.
- The service is generally every two hours to Nottingham in the West and Skegness in the East.
- Some trains call at Grantham and have a connection to the East Coast Main Line.
- LNER services at Grantham connect to Doncaster, King’s Cross, Leeds, Lincoln, Peterborough, Stevenage, Wakefield and York.
- Bottesford is in the Borough of Melton and their is no direct rail service between Bottesford and Melton. A typical journey takes over two-and-a-half hours with two changes, that can include a wait of an hour at Leicester station.
- Bottesford is in the County of Leicester. There is no direct rail service between Bottesford and Leicester.
I think the MP has a point and an improved and more frequent service at Bottesford could be very beneficial.
- Many routes like this in the UK have a regular hourly service. Coastal stations with a regular hourly or better service include Blackpool South, Cleethorpes, Cromer, Exmouth, Felixstowe, Kings Lynn, Paignton, Scarborough and Sheringham
- I suspect many communities along the Poacher Line would benefit from a regular hourly service.
- All services calling at Grantham for East Coast Main Line services would be useful.
- Do services have a good interchange at Nottingham for Midland Main Line services?
Replacing 75 mph Class 153 and Class 156 trains with 100 mph Class 170 trains would probably be a big help.
Conclusion
It looks like improvements at Bottesford would not require any new expensive infrastructure.
But East Midlands Railway would need more trains and they would probably need to be faster too!
Beeching Reversal – Restoring A South Humber Link
This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
The project is described by these two paragraphs in this article in the Yorkshire Post, which is entitled Government Announce Yorkshire Rail Schemes That Could Receive ‘Reverse Beeching’ Funding.
North Lincolnshire Council have bid for funding to subsidise a new train service that would allow passengers from Barton-on-Humber to travel to Gainsborough, from where they would be able to catch direct services to Sheffield.
This would be achieved by diverting the existing Barton to Grimsby and Cleethorpes trains up a freight-only section used by traffic heading to Immingham docks. There have never been passenger trains using this path before.
This rail map clipped from Wikipedia shows the Barton Line to Barton-on-Humber station.
Note.
- Barton-on-Humber station has a bus link to Hull station.
- The loop gives a grand tour of the Port of Immingham on what is now a freight-only line.
- There is a lot of development going on in the area including the AltAlto aviation biofuel, that I wrote about in Grant Shapps Announcement On Friday.
Perhaps all this development is causing a lot of small problems.
- Is it causing congestion on the roads?
- Are workers difficult to find in the Immingham area?
- Is commuting over the Humber Bridge expensive?
- Is parking difficult in the Port?
North Lincolnshire Council could feel that a better rail connection serving the Port of Immingham, would be an asset, that reduces these problems.
I suspect the current two-hourly service between Barton-on-Humber and Cleethorpes stations, will be replaced by an hourly one, between Barton-on-Humber and Gainsborough Lea Road stations, that takes the following route.
- Barton-on-Humber to Ulceby
- At Ulceby station the train will reverse and go clockwise around the loop.
- After calling at Great Coates, Healing, Stallingborough and Habrough stations, the train would go West to Barnetby and Gainsborough Lea Road stations.
- Passengers wanting to go from Barton-on-Humber to Grimsby Town or Cleethorpes, would change at Great Coates station.
It may look a rather round-about route, but I suspect that the plan includes some stations to serve the Port of Immingham and the industrial development.
I suspect that some of these port, oil, chemical and energy companies can afford to pay a contribution.
Gainsborough Lea Road Station
Gainsborough Lea Road station is a mix of architectural styles.
But with the addition of a friendly café and some other facilities, it would be a good interchange between the Immingham area and Sheffield and the county town of Lincoln.
Future Trains
Lincolnshire is an energy-rich county, which partly explains all the industrial development in the North-East of the county around Grimsby, Immingham and Scunthorpe.
- Immingham is a large importer of biomass for power generation.
- There are off-shore and on-shore gas fields connected to Theddlethorpe gas terminal.
- There is the large power station complex at Keadby.
But the energy mix is a-changing.
- Keadby now includes a solar farm.
- Wind turbines are springing up both on land and in the sea.
If I was to make a prediction, it would be that more and more large energy-related businesses will develop in the area.
- In recent months, Altalto’s waste-to-aviation biofuel plant has been given national and local government backing to be built at Immingham.
- ITM Power are involved in a hydrogen development project in the area.
- I wouldn’t be surprised to see hydrogen produced for transport from all this energy.
I think it will be inevitable, that zero-carbon battery electric or hydrogen-powered trains will run in the area.
- Cleethorpes and Doncaster via Scunthorpe 52 miles apart.
- Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber are 23 miles apart
- Lincoln and Newark are 16.5 miles apart.
- Lincoln and Doncaster are 37 miles apart.
- Lincoln and Sheffield are 48 miles apart
- Lincoln and the electrification at Peterborough are 54 miles apart.
- Skegness and Sleaford are 41 miles apart.
- Sleaford and Grantham are 18 miles apart.
With charging facilities at Barton-on-Humber, Lincoln, Skegness and Sleaford, the whole of Lincolnshire could be served by zero-carbon battery electric trains.
I suspect LNER could lead the way, as a five-car Class 800 train equipped with batteries, is predicted to have a 56 mile range away from the wires, which would easily handle a return trip between Newark and Lincoln.
There could be a small problem, in that the first train of the day, between Lincoln and London Kings Cross positions from Doncaster Carr IEP Depot, so running Doncaster to Newark via Lincoln might challenge the battery range of the train. I suspect, that the positioning could be performed via Newark with a reverse, prior to the installation of a charging facility at Lincoln Central station.
I estimate that Barton-on-Humber and Gainsborough Lea Road stations are about 35 miles apart, so with today’s battery technology, I suspect that a round trip in a battery electric train would be on the limit. But with charging facilities at Gainsborough, there would be no problems.
I suspect that East Midlands Railway would use several of their forty diesel Class 170 trains on this and other routes in Lincolnshire, so perhaps a good interim solution would be to run the Class 170 trains on Altalto’s biodiesel, that will be produced at Immingham.
There is also the possibility, that some or all of the Class 170 trains will be retrofitted with MTU Hybrid PowerPacks, which would cut their diesel consumption.
Surely, with all Lincolnshire’s energy, hydrogen-powered trains must be a possibility. But they seem to be stuck in a siding!
The MTU Hybrid PowerPack and Altalto’s bio-diesel seems a more affordable and less risky route.
A Direct Connection To London
In the Wikipedia entry for Gainsborough Lea Road station, there is a section called Future Services, where a direct connection to London is mentioned.
Conclusion
Given that the likes of East Midlands Railway, Hull Trains, LNER and TransPennine Express are improving their services to Hull, Lincoln, Cleethorpes and Grimsby, this local North Lincolnshire Metro serving the Port and the industrial development, could well be welcomed by those that live and work in the area.
I doubt that the infrastructure cost will be very high.
Hyperdrive Innovation And Hitachi Rail To Develop Battery Tech For Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the introductory sub-title.
Hyperdrive Innovation and Hitachi Rail are to develop battery packs to power trains and create a battery hub in the North East of England.
The article gives this information.
- Trains can have a range of ninety kilometres, which fits well with Hitachi’s quoted battery range of 55-65 miles.
- Hitachi has identified its fleets of 275 trains as potential early recipients.
Hitachi have also provided an informative video.
At one point, the video shows a visualisation of swapping a diesel-engine for a battery pack.
As a world-class computer programmer in a previous life, I believe that it is possible to create a battery pack, that to the train’s extremely comprehensive computer, looks like a diesel-engine.
So by modifying the train’s software accordingly, the various power sources of electrification, diesel power-packs and battery packs can be used in an optimum manner.
This would enable one of East Midlands Railway’s Class 810 trains, to be fitted with a mix of diesel and battery packs in their four positions under the train.
Imagine going between London and Sheffield, after the High Speed Two electrification between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield has been erected.
- Between St. Pancras and Market Harborough power would come from the electrification.
- The train would leave the electrified section with full batteries
- At all stations on the route, hotel power would come from the batteries.
- Diesel power and some battery power would be used between stations. Using them together may give better performance.
- At Clay Cross North Junction, the electrification would be used to Sheffield.
For efficient operation, there would need to be electrification or some form of charging at the Sheffield end of the route. This is why, I am keen that when High Speed Two is built in the North, that the shsared section with the Midland Main Line between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station, should be built early.
Hitachi have said that these trains will have four diesel engines. I think it will more likely be two diesel engines and two batteries.
The World’s First Battery-Electric Main Line
I suspect with electrification between Sheffield and Clay Cross North Junction, that a train fitted with four batteries, might even be able to run on electric power only on the whole route.
In addition, if electrification were to be erected between Leicester and East Midlands Parkway stations, all three Northern destinations would become electric power only.
The Midland Main Line would be the first battery electric high speed line in the world!
Hitachi On Hydrogen Trains
The press release about the partnership between Hitachi and Hyperdrive Innovation is on this page on the Hitachi web site.
This is a paragraph.
Regional battery trains produce zero tailpipe emission and compatible with existing rail infrastructure so they can complement future electrification. At the moment, battery trains have approximately 50% lower lifecycle costs than hydrogen trains, making battery the cheapest and cleanest alternative zero-emission traction solution for trains.
I have ridden in two battery-electric trains and one hydrogen-powered train.
I would rate them out of ten as follows.
- Class 230 train – 6 – Battery
- Class 379 train – 8 – Battery
- Coradia iLint – 4 – Hydrogen
It’s not that the iLint is a bad train, as the power system seems to work well, but the passenger experience is nowhere near the quality of the two battery trains.
In my view, battery vehicles are exceedingly quiet, so is this the reason?
On the other hand, it could just be poor engineering on the iLint.
Conclusion
This is as very big day in the development of zero- and low-carbon trains in the UK.
The Anonymous Widower 