Gatwick Airport – 23rd November 2023
I went to Gatwick Airport to see the new railway station.
Note.
- As at Reading and Leeds stations, space has been created by building a wide concourse over the tracks.
- The experience certainly seemed better.
- Most platforms have up and down escalators and lifts.
- There were still a few things that needed to be finished.
But for me, as a man with a Freedom Pass and a Senior Railcard, the ticketing to Gatwick is still a pain.
- If I go to Heathrow or London City, I use my Freedom Pass to get to the Airport.
- If I go to Eurostar, I use my Freedom Pass to get to St. Pancras station.
- If I go to Stansted, I use my Freedom Pass to get to Liverpool Street station and buy a ticket for Stanstead Express.
If I go to Gatwick, Luton or Southend airports, I use my Freedom Pass to get to a station with a Booking Office and then buy an extension ticket from the Zone 6 boundary to the airport.
I believe there are three solutions.
Make It Possible To Link A Bank Card To A Freedom Pass
It should be possible to do something like the following.
- Touch in at Moorgate.
- Take the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon.
- Take Thames to Gatwick Airport.
- Check out at Gatwick Airport.
The credit card associated with the Freedom Pass would then be charged the fee for between the Zone 6 boundary and Gatwick Airport.
The credit card would be entered through the Freedom Pass web site.
On a related matter I believe that the Freedom Pass web site could be a nice little earner for Transport for London, by doing the following.
- Selling rail tickets on a best-priced basis. Savings are to be had by selling tickets for Freedom Pass holders from the Zone 6 boundary.
- Managing Railcards.
- Selling Transport for London merchandise.
Nobody would pay more than they do now, but Transport for London would pick up some commission from selling tickets.
Develop A Flexible App That Works With A Freedom Pass And Phone Payments
Similar to the first option, but the app charges accordingly.
Put Gatwick Airport In Zone 6
The management of Gatwick Airport might like to attract more travellers, so they would pay from the Zone 6 boundary for Freedom Farm users.
Conclusion
I would find the first two options acceptable, providing the charges were no more than now!
Are LNER Going To Take On The Airlines?
Nine years ago, I wrote Edinburgh – Plane Or Train?, after a trip to Scotland, where I took easyJet up and came back in First Class by train.
- Both trips were about five hours door-to-door.
- The flight was about six quid more,
- But I got free food and drink on the train.
- Security on the plane was a pain.
- I had to take my passport for identification at Stansted.
I haven’t flown internally in Great Britain since, although, I have flown to Belfast.
For shorter flights the market is going towards rail, as these posts seem to suggest.
- 2.7M Tonnes Of Co2 Could Be Saved Per Year If UK Domestic Flights Went Electric
- Air Travellers To Be Hit By Carbon Charge On All Tickets
- Climate Change ‘May Curb Growth In UK Flying’
- France Bans Short-Haul Flights To Cut Carbon Emissions
- KLM Replaces Plane With High Speed Train
- Lumo Carbon Data Shows Its Trains Are 22 Times Greener Than Flying
- Next Time I’ll Go By Train
- Ryanair One Of Europe’s Top Polluters, EU Data Suggests
- Stop Taking Internal Flights And Go Green, Says Lib Dem Contender Davey
The climate seems to be turning against flying short-haul.
This is a paragraph, in this press release from LNER, which is entitled First Tri-Mode Long Distance Trains For The East Coast Main Line.
This new fleet of trains will keep LNER on track to reduce its emissions by 67 per cent by 2035 and be net zero by 2045. LNER has already reduced carbon emissions by 50 per cent compared with 2018/19. Per mile, LNER trains produce 15 times less carbon emissions than a domestic flight.
Are LNER building a number of climate-based sticks, with which to beat the airlines on the routes, where they compete?
These are my thoughts on the various routes, where LNER compete with airlines.
Newcastle
Newcastle is an interesting one.
- Newcastle station is in the city centre and is on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
- London King’s Cross is one of London’s major Underground hubs.
- There are lots of buses and local trains within walking distance of both stations.
- There are three trains every two hours and an additional eight trains per day (tpd) between the two London King’s Cross and Newcastle stations.
- Lumo also run five tpd on the route.
- There are generally no security delays at rail stations.
- London King’s Cross is laid out to maximise passenger flows. If it gets busy, everybody just walks out into King’s Cross Square.
- I’ve never had a problem at Newcastle station with overcrowding.
Perhaps, if you live near one of the airports, flying is more convenient.
LNER’s weapons against the airlines between London King’s Cross and Newcastle will be convenience and journey times.
Convenience is all about the location of the stations, their excellent local transport networks and good walking routes around the station.
Journey times will only get better, as the magic of digital in-cab signalling, allows the Azumas, the new CAF tri-mode long distance trains and the few remaining InterCity 225s to show what they were designed to do.
Dalton-on-Tees, where the first phase of the digitally signalling will end, is 39.8 miles South of Newcastle, so once the Newcastle train is passes Dalton-on-Tees on the East Coast Main Line, it will be a digital-signalled electrified railway all the way to Woolmer Green.
- Dalton-on-Tees is 39.8 miles South of Newcastle
- Woolmer Green is 244.8 miles South of Newcastle.
- Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green is 205 miles.
- Newcastle and Dalton-on-Tees takes 37 minutes.
- Woolmer Green and King’s Cross takes 18 minutes
- Trains take typically an average three hours and nine minutes between London and Newcastle.
- A typical train time by LNER between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green is two hours and 14 minutes.
- This is an average speed of 91.8 mph between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
- Between London King’s Cross and Newcastle is fully-electrified.
I can build a table of timings and savings at various average speeds.
- 120 mph – 103 minutes – two hours and 38 minutes – 31 minutes
- 125 mph – 98 minutes – two hours and 33 minutes – 36 minutes
- 130 mph – 95 minutes – two hours and 30 minutes – 39 minutes
- 135 mph – 91 minutes – two hours and 26 minutes – 43 minutes
- 140 mph – 88 minutes – two hours and 23 minutes – 46 minutes
Note.
- The first field is the average speed between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
- The second field is the time between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green.
- The third field is the time between London and Newcastle.
- The fourth field is the saving over current timings.
- The London and Newcastle time is calculated by adding the times for the three sections together.
I have regularly timed trains at a very constant 125 mph, so with digital signalling, I suspect an average of 130 mph is possible.
This would mean, times of a few minutes under two hours and thirty minutes could be possible between London and Newcastle.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh builds on the improvements South of Newcastle.
Edinburgh station Waverley is a well-connected station.
- There are lots of buses, local trains and the Edinburgh Tram within walking distance of Edinburgh Waverley station.
- There are three trains every two hours and an additional seven tpd between the London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations.
- Lumo also run five tpd on the route.
- Trains take typically an average four hours and thirty minutes between London and Edinburgh Waverley.
- Any savings because of the digital in-cab signalling between London and Newcastle can be applied to London and Edinburgh Waverley services.
As my calculations showed that averaging 130 mph between Dalton-on-Tees and Woolmer Green could save 39 minutes on journey times, I am fairly sure than a sub-four hour journey time will be possible between London and Edinburgh Waverley.
It should also be noted that that the power supply has been improved between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.
- The distance between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley is 124.2 miles
- Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley takes around one hour and 30 minutes.
- This is an average speed of 82.8 mph between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.
- Between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley is fully-electrified.
As the record time for between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley was set by an InterCity225 train in 1993 at three hours and twenty-nine minutes, I suspect that with more digital signalling and some track improvements, that there are more journey time improvements to be squeezed out.
I certainly believe that a time of three hours and fifty minutes between London and Edinburgh Waverley will be regularly achieved. This is a journey time saving of around forty minutes.
Dundee
Dundee has an airport and a station on the East Coast Main Line.
Trains between London King’s Cross and Dundee take around five hours and 45 minutes.
LNER run three trains per day to and from London King’s Cross and one tpd to and from Leeds.
CrossCountry also run services.
Loganair has two flights per day to Heathrow.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen builds on the improvements South of Edinburgh.
The four direct tpd between London and Aberdeen take around seven hours and ten minutes.
This should come down to around six hours and thirty minutes with the journey time savings between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley.
Will this tempt travellers from the airlines?
Battery-Electric Trains To Dundee And Aberdeen
One thing that will help, is that Edinburgh and Aberdeen is to be partially electrified.
InPiling Work To Get Underway To Electrify Line To Fife, I included this Network Rail map of the electrification.
This map has been downloaded from the Network Rail web site.
The electrification is split into four phases.
- Haymarket and Dalmeny – 25 km
- Kirkcaldy and Thornton North – 25 km.
- Lochgelly and Thornton North – 20 km.
- Thornton North and Ladybank – 34 km.
Note.
- The last three phases of electrification connect to Thornton North.
- The new rail link to Leven will also be electrified. and connected to Thornton North.
- The Forth Bridge is not to be electrified.
As Ladybank station is just 91.4 miles from Aberdeen, I suspect LNER will use Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Trains to serve Aberdeen.
If these trains haven’t got the range, then I suspect LNER’s new CAF Tri-Mode Trains could handle the route.
Inverness
Inverness has a problem.
Zero-carbon trains will be unlikely to get to the city without full electrification of the Highland Main Line.
- Dunblane is the nearest electrified station to Inverness, but it is 146.2 miles away over a route with lots of steep climbs.
- I doubt that a battery-electric train could handle that route.
One solution would be for LNER to run the new CAF Tri-Mode Trains to Inverness using HVO or biodiesel.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the only other Scottish city with an airport and good rail connections to the South.
I am sure that Avanti West Coast will target airline passengers, if LNER prove it is a successful policy.
Other Factors
These are other factors, that will come into a traveller’s choice.
First Class
Some travellers like a bit more comfort and service.
Ability To Work
Some travellers like to work on a train.
You Don’t Get Tables On a Plane
I like to open a paper or magazine flat, which is difficult on a plane.
Views Tend To Be Better On a Train
Providing you get a window!
Parking Tends To Be Better At An Airport
But it may be more expensive!
Security Is Less Hassle On A Train
At the moment!
You Don’t Need To Prove Your Identity On A Train
Not in the UK! Yet!
Conclusion
It looks like LNER can offer the airlines to four of our major Northern cities serious zero-carbon competition.
Heart Aerospace Unveils New Airplane Design, Confirms Air Canada And Saab As New Shareholders
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Heart Aerospace.
These are the first two paragraphs of the press release.
Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace today unveiled significant design updates to its first electric aircraft and confirmed Air Canada, one of North America’s largest airlines and Saab, the Swedish aerospace and defense company, as new minority shareholders.
The new airplane design, called the ES-30, is a regional electric airplane with a capacity of 30 passengers and it replaces the company’s earlier 19-seat design, the ES-19. It is driven by electric motors powered by batteries, which allows the airplane to operate with zero emissions and low noise.
And this is a visualisation of the aircraft from Heart Aerospace..
It looks fairly normal, except that it has four electric engines instead of two turboprops.
This paragraph of the press release gives details of the engine configuration.
The airplane will also include a reserve-hybrid configuration, consisting of two turbo generators powered by sustainable aviation fuel. The reserve-hybrid system is installed to secure reserve energy requirements without cannibalizing battery range, and it can also be used during cruise on longer flights to complement the electrical power provided by the batteries.
Note.
- The slightly larger Dash 8-100 aircraft seats just under forty and has 2.7 MW of installed power.
- Rolls-Royce have a 2.5 MW hybrid turbo generator that runs on sustainable aviation fuel.
- Honeywell have a similar smaller hybrid turbo generator, based on the auxiliary power unit of an Airbus A 350.
I’m sure that Heart can find the hybrid turbo-generators they need for the ES-30.
This paragraph of the press release gives details of the performance.
This gives the airplane a fully electric range of 200 kilometers, an extended range of 400 kilometers with 30 passengers, and flexibility to fly up to 800 kilometers with 25 passengers, all-inclusive of typical airline reserves.
Eight hundred kilometres is sufficient range to serve Bordeaux, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Inverness, Paris and Shannon airports from London City Airport.
The press release also discloses that the company has received 96 letters of intent for the aircraft and expects that the in-service date will be 2028.
I don’t think that the date is unreasonable.
Will A British Bioelectric Hybrid Plane Really Take Off?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Guardian.
The article is a serious look from a serious newspaper at the Faradair BEHA.
- It will have a capacity of 18 passengers.
- It will have a cruising speed of 230 mph
- It will have a service ceiling of 14,000 feet.
The aircraft is a tri-plane based on a lightweight carbon-composite structure like many current Airbus designs and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
This image is copyright Faradair.
Note.
- The triple wing with the winglets.
- The conventional fuselage.
- The pusher fans at the rear of the fuselage.
It is not conventional.
Power
Power comes from a hybrid power unit consisting of a battery and the auxiliary power unit (APU) of an Airbus A 350 XWB. I wrote about the hybrid power unit in Honeywell Introduces Power Source For Hybrid-Electric Aircraft.
The power unit will run on sustainable aviation fuel produced from something like food, household or industrial waste.
As an experienced pilot and an experienced engineer and taking a few clues from the Guardian article, I believe the aircraft will fly a unique, but very sensible flight profile.
Many years ago, I wanted to fly my Cessna 340 A from Southend Airport to Naples Airport.
- I loaded as much fuel, as the tanks would take.
- I taxied to the runway,
- A fuel bowser followed me down and added extra fuel to make up what I’d used in taxiing.
- Take-off was on full power and I climbed at maximum rate to as high as I was allowed.
- Once over France, I climbed to Flight Level 195 (19,500 ft), which was the highest level allowed in a light aircraft in full visibility without a full instrument rating.
- The French Air Traffic Control handed me over to Italian Air Traffic Control at the same height.
- I flew down the West coast of Italy at around 200 mph.
- North of Naples, I descended slowly, trading height for speed and turned to come straight in to Naples airport.
Note.
- It had taken me six hours and forty minutes to fly around 1350 miles.
- What I had done in UK and French airspace was totally legal, but I suspect I broke the law in Italy.
- But the French ATC felt I was competent, so they just handed me over.
Sadly, I didn’t have a camera with me, as the views of Rome and the Italian coast were spectacular.
I believe that the Faradair BEHA will use a similar flight profile to that, which I used between Southend and Naples.
- The plane will leave the terminal or apron with a full battery.
- Before take-off, the hybrid power unit will make sure that the battery is full.
- Take-off will be on full power and the lift of three wings will be used to lift off quickly and climb at maximum rate to the service ceiling of 14,000 feet.
- The aircraft will build up speed to 230 mph using power in the battery or some extra power from the hybrid power unit.
- The aircraft would execute a low power approach at the destination.
Note.
- Unlike in my flight to Naples, an autopilot will probably fly the aircraft to the maximum range profile.
- The plane will be very aerodynamically efficient and I suspect fuel consumption will be very low in the cruise.
- The higher you go, the less the air resistance.
- Fuel consumption would be almost nothing in the descent, as just as I did in my Cessna potential energy would be converted into kinetic energy to keep the plane at the necessary flying speed.
Faradair have not disclosed the range, but I feel with development, it could be a thousand miles.
Conclusion
By 2030, many of us will be flying around a thousand miles in weird looking airliners with up to twenty-five seats.
The 317 miles between Stansted and Edinburgh will be a piece of cake!
Everybody should read the excellent Guardian article.
The Anonymous Widower 