The Anonymous Widower

High Speed Two To Barrow-in-Furness

There has been a lot of speculation about the Northern end of High Speed Two, so I might as well add sort out a few facts and add a bit of  speculation of my own.

Barrow-in-Furness Used To Have A Service To London

Barrow-in-Furness station doesn’t have a direct service to London.

This paragraph from the Wikipedia entry, describes how it used to be.

The present station was formerly known as Barrow Central, and at one time it was a terminus for British Rail long-distance or InterCity services. From October 1947 until May 1983 these included sleeper services to and from London Euston. A sleeper service in the London direction only was briefly reintroduced between May 1987 and May 1990.

Note.

1. I find it interesting, that the area had both InterCity and sleeper services.
2. There are some big employers like BAe Systems and British Nuclear Fuels in the area.
3. Rishi Sunak has announced that the Cumbrian Coast Line will be upgraded.
4. A High Speed Two service could improve low-carbon access to the Lake District.
5. Grimsby/Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, which probably has a similar economic profile to Barrow-in-Furness appears to be getting a service from London as I wrote about in Azuma Test Train Takes To The Tracks As LNER Trials Possible New Route. So why shouldn’t Barrow-in-Furness have a similar service?

It is my view that Barrow-in-Furness station could support a sprinkling of services.

The Current Barrow-in-Furness Service

Barrow-in-Furness station’s current services are described in these two paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry.

Services to the north are provided on Monday-Saturday by Northern, with services approximately hourly during the day to Whitehaven and Carlisle. One train per day operates to Sellafield specifically for workers at Sellafield nuclear plant (BNFL). Evening trains run only as far as Millom. There are 19 northbound departures each weekday; 15 of these go to Carlisle, three to Millom and one to Sellafield. There are 20 arrivals from the northern part of the line: 15 from Carlisle, three from Millom, one from Maryport and one from Sellafield. Some of these services continue along the Furness Line to Lancaster and Preston.

To the south, there are a mixture of stopping services to Lancaster and a number of through services to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly. These operate on a broadly hourly frequency, with a few peak extras throughout the week (including Sundays).

Hard facts on what the improvements to the line will be, have not been reported. But it does seem that a doubling of frequency to two trains per hour (tph)  is being proposed.

What Are The Government’s Plans?

This news story from the Government is entitled North West To Benefit From £19.8 billion Transport Investment.

Proposed improvements in Cumbria are contained in this paragraph.

A brand new £2.5 billion fund to transform local transport in 14 rural counties, smaller cities and towns. This new money could pay for new stations, further electrification, bus corridors and new integrated public transport networks. The Energy Coast Line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow will be upgraded, improving capacity and journey times, enabling trains every 30 minutes between Carlisle, Workington and Whitehaven. The upgrade will also accommodate major new freight demands from the new coal mine and provide regular services for the Westlakes Science Park, Nuclear Academy and Sellafield. This could support the creation of over 18,000 jobs.

I have my thoughts.

Will The Route Be Electrified?

The Cumbrian Coast and the Furness Line effectively form a near 120 mile loop between Carnforth and Carlisle stations on the West Coast Main Line.

• A journey from one end to the other takes about three hours and 18 minutes.
• Main towns and places served include Barrow-in-Furness, Sellafield, Whitehaven and Workington.
• A train between Carnforth and Carlisle can stop at as many as 29 stations.
• The route is not electrified, but it connects to the electrified West Coast Main Line at both ends at Carnforth and Carlisle.

This OpenRailwayMap shows Carnforth.

Note.

1. The red line is the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Lancaster.
2. Carlisle is to the North.
3. Lancaster is to the South.
4. The black line going North-West is the Furness Line to Barrow-in-Furness.
5. The black line going East is the Bentham Line to Settle and Leeds.

This OpenRailwayMap shows Carlisle.

Note.

1. The red line is the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and Carnforth.
2. Scotland is to the North.
3. Carnforth is to the South.
4. The black line going South-West is the Cumbrian Coast Line to Workington, Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness.
5. The black line going East is the Settle and Carlisle Line to Settle and Leeds.

If it were to be fully electrified, it could be a diversion route for electrified trains on the West Coast Main Line.

This document on the Government web site is the Train Technical Specification for High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains.

The specification says this about the unit and train formation.

The nominal length of the Unit shall be 200m. It has been determined that all Units should
be the same length, with no requirement for a Unit to be capable of being lengthened or
shortened. This supports the overall HS2 business case.

The Unit shall be capable of Normal Operation as a single Unit or as two coupled Units.

On the Wikipedia entry for the Cumbrian Coast Line, there is a picture of a very long steam-hauled train on the line.

Full electrification would have these advantages.

• In the next few years several 21st century electrical multiple units will be looking for new places to operate.
• I am fairly certain, that a fully-electrified Cumbrian Coast Line could act as a diversion for High Speed Two and the West Coast Main Line between Carnforth and Carlisle.
• It would enable occasional High Speed Two services to Carlisle via Barrow-in-Furness, Sellafield, Whitehaven and Workington.
• It would also allow electrified freight trains to the new coal mine at Workington and to Sellafield.

But trains from the coal mine would probably need to have hydrogen-hybrid locomotives to get across the Pennines to Teesside for export.

Partial Electrification Of The Line

Partial electrification would probably need the following.

• Installation of electrification between Carnforth and Barrow-in-Furness, so that High Speed Two services can reach Barrow-in-Furness.
• Installation of electrification from Carlisle for enough miles towards Workington to be able to charge the local trains.
• The local trains would need to be able to run about seventy miles on batteries.

Partial electrification would be more affordable, but it would allow the following.

• Battery-electric trains to work between Carnforth and Carlisle.
• It would enable occasional High Speed Two services to Barrow-in-Furness
• Hydrogen-hybrid locomotive-hauled freight trains to the new coal mine at Workington and to Sellafield.

Rail passengers in, to and from Cumbria would probably see a similar level of improvement to that with full electrification.

What Time Would Be Possible At The Present Time?

Consider.

• According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, two hours and twenty-five minutes is the fastest time between London Euston and Lancaster.
• Trains are timed to take one hour and four minutes with the nine stops, between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.
• To save time some stops could be cut between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.

This would give a London Euston and Barrow-in-Furness time of three hours and twenty-nine minutes, but by removing perhaps five stops, the time could be around three hours and fifteen minutes.

What Time Would Be Possible When High Speed Two Lite Opens To Handsacre Junction?

Consider.

• According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, two hours and three minutes will be the fastest time between London Euston and Lancaster, after High Speed Two opens to Handsacre junction.
• Trains are timed to take one hour and four minutes with the nine stops, between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.
• To save time some stops could be cut between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.

This would give a London Euston and Barrow-in-Furness time of three hours and seven minutes, but by removing perhaps five stops, the time could be under three hours.

What Frequency Would Be Needed?

LNER seem to run their secondary services to places like Harrogate and Lincoln using a frequency of one train per two hours (tp2h).

That could be an ideal frequency.

Would There Be A Path For The Train To And From London Euston?

This graphic shows High Speed Two services after Phase 2b is completed.

Note.

1. Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
2. Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible  trains.
3. Each of these trains will have a frequency of one tph.
4. The nine paths to the right of the vertical black line will not be needed for some time. If ever!
5. It looks like a maximum of only eleven paths will be needed to the South of Birmingham.
6. It looks like a maximum of only fourteen paths will be needed to the North of Birmingham.

In Will High Speed Two Lite Make Stafford An Important Station?, I totted up all the services through Stafford after High Speed Two Lite opened to Handsacre junction and got these figures.

• Through Stafford station, there are totals of 11 tpd and 14 tph.
• Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 11 tpd and 12 tph.
• North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 9 tpd and 12 tph.
• South of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 2 tpd and 2 tph.
• Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 2 tph.

I accounted for services moving from the West Coast Main Line to High Speed Two.

Consider.

• A large proportion of the route between Preston and Handsacre junction, where the route would join High Speed Two Light has two dedicated high speed tracks and two tracks for freight and local services.
• Digital signalling on High Speed Two has been designed to handle eighteen trains per hour (tph) at 225 mph.
• Surely, the two dedicated high speed tracks, if fitted with High Speed Two digital signalling could handle say 16 tph at 140 mph.
• Network Rail are good at juggling trains to squeeze in more services.
• Extra paths could be created by splitting and joining trains at Crewe or Preston.

My Control Engineering training and practice tells me that it should be possible to add perhaps two tph between Lancaster and Euston.

Could High Speed Two’s Lancaster Service Be Extended To Barrow-in-Furness?

I don’t see why some services could be extended the 34.8 miles to Barrow-in-Furness.

Would Much Work Be Needed At Barrow-in-Furness?

This Google Map shows Barrow-in-Furness station.

Note.

Trains to and from Carnforth come and go from the South East.

Trains to and from Sellafield, Whitehaven and Workington and Carlisle come and go from the North West.

There are three platforms.

Work needed to be done would include.

• Creation of a 200 metre platform for the High Speed Two trains.
• Electrification.
• Addition of charging facilities to the platform for the local trains, which would probably be standard electrification.

Passengers would walk across between the High Speed Two and local trains.

Conclusion

I believe that High Speed Two Classic-Compatible  trains could be under three hours between Barrow-in-Furness and London Euston, when High Speed Two Lite opens from Handsacre junction.

October 9, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | BAe Systems, Barrow-in-Furness Station, Battery-Electric Trains, Cumbrian Coast Line, Electrification, Furness Line, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Lite, Sleeper Train, Spending High Speed Two Money, Teesside, Tourism | 1 Comment