Arriva Group Submits Open Access Rail Application To Connect Newcastle And Brighton, Via London Gatwick
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Arriva Group.
These three bullet points act as sub-headings.
- New services operated by Arriva’s Grand Central would introduce a direct rail connection between the Northeast and Midlands to London Gatwick and the South Coast.
- Making better use of available network capacity, the proposed route would connect underserved communities in the UK and enhance long-distance connectivity without the need to interchange through London.
- The application reflects Arriva’s wider European strategy to connect people and places through sustainable transport solutions, strengthening regional economies and supporting modal shift.
This introductory paragraph provides more details.
Arriva Group has today announced it is submitting an open access application to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to introduce a new direct rail service between Newcastle and Brighton, via London Gatwick, providing vital connectivity for underserved communities along the route.
Other points to note include.
- There will be five trains per day in each direction.
- The proposed service would call at Durham, Darlington, Northallerton, York, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby, Burton-on-Trent, Birmingham New Street, Warwick Parkway, Banbury, Oxford, Reading, Wokingham, Guildford, Redhill, London Gatwick and Haywards Heath.
- The service would be operated by Grand Central.
- The service could be introduced from December 2026.
It will be the be the first direct service between Newcastle and Brighton.
This final paragraph outlines where the service fits in Arriva’s wider philosophy.
The plans are part of Arriva Group’s broader commitment to strengthening regional connectivity and making better use of available rail capacity. By opening up new travel corridors, Arriva is helping to connect more people to jobs, education and leisure opportunities – and to encourage a greater shift from private cars to public transport.
There are certainly plenty of places in Europe, that could use a service like this one between Brighton and Newcastle.
In The Ultimate Open Access Service, I describe a possible open access service between Amsterdam and Hamburg, which is about the same distance as Brighton and Newcastle, which is 372.8 miles by Arriva’s proposed route.
These are some of my thoughts in no particular order.
A High-Class Service Between Oxford And Brighton Could Be An Interesting Development In Its Own Right
Governments, rail operators and passenger groups of all persuasions and flavours have warmly welcomed the planned reopening of the rail route between Oxford and Cambridge.
I suspect an Oxford and Brighton service would be equally welcomed.
Brighton may not be an academic powerhouse yet, but it does have one thing that Oxford and Cambridge lack ; the sea.
Gatwick Airport Will Surely Welcome The Extra Connectivity
Gatwick Airport will expand and extra rail services will do the following for the airport.
- Make it easier to get the planning permission for the second runway.
- Make it easier for passengers and airport and airline staff to get to the airport.
- Surely, the more direct rail connections the airport has, will increase the likelihood, that families and other groups, will choose to fly from Gatwick.
- More train services could cut the amount of car parking per flight needed at the airport.
Gatwick Airport station has recently rebuilt and added extra capacity, so I doubt there will be trouble accommodating another ten trains per day.
Would The Army Welcome The New Service?
Two of the British Army’s main training areas are in North Yorkshire and in Surrey.
Would they find a train service between the two areas useful?
What Trains Will Grand Central Trains Use For The New Service?
In Arriva Group Invests In New Battery Hybrid Train Fleet In Boost To UK Rail Industry, I talked about how Grand Central will be acquiring Hitachi trains for their routes between London and Bradford and Sunderland.
- These will be Hitachi tri-mode trains.
- The trains will have a range of over forty miles on batteries.
- They will probably be serviced in Yorkshire or the North-East.
- The trains will be built by Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe, with batteries from Turntide Technologies in Sunderland.
- The first trains will be delivered in 2028.
As Arriva intend to start services from December 2026, they would probably use diesel trains to start with.
I would expect that Grand Central would go for a unified fleet, which would mean more Hitachi tri-mode trains.
For convenience, they could all be serviced at Doncaster, which all Grand Central services will pass through.
What Sections Will Not Be Electrified Between Brighton and Newcastle?
As far as I can see from OpenRailwayMap, the following sections of the route are not electrified.
- Two sections of the North Downs Line – 29 miles.
- Didcot and Birmingham New Street – 80.9 miles
- Birmingham New Street and Derby – 41.3 miles
- Derby and Sheffield – 36.4 miles
- Sheffield and Doncaster – 18.4 miles
Note.
- Electrification South of Reading will be third rail, so some trains will need to have third-rail shoes.
- The length without electrification is a total of 206 miles.
- As Newcastle and Doncaster, Redhill and Brighton, Reading and Didcot, and Birmingham New Street station are all electrified, the longest sections the trains would run without electrification would be between Didcot and Birmingham New Street and between Birmingham New Street and Doncaster.
- The planned electrification between Derby and Sheffield would make life easier.
It appears that trains capable of handling a hundred miles of unelectrified railway are needed.
Hitachi have shown that a five-car train with one battery will travel 70 km (43.5 miles) on a full battery, so one with three batteries should be able to manage the hundred miles needed in a few years.
Will Any Extra Electrification Be Needed?
I think Birmingham New Street station will be the critical point.
- The next electrification on the route to the South of Birmingham New Street is at Didcot, which is 80.9 miles away.
- The next electrification on the route to the North of Birmingham New Street is at Doncaster, which is 96.1 miles away.
These battery ranges should be possible, but an alternative would be to provide an electrified platform at one or more intermediate stations to be safe.
Stations that could be equipped to the South would include Oxford and Banbury and to the North would include Burton-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield.
Perhaps electrifying a single platform at these stations, should be the first thing to be done, so that battery-electric trains can run on some useful routes as soon as they are delivered and approved.
Electric Trains, Even Battery-Electric Ones, Will Be Quick Off The Mark
Electric trains have good acceleration and I wonder, if this acceleration will enable stops, that are not feasible with diesel trains to be fitted in with electric trains, without having to take the same time penalty.
This might allow useful stops to be added to the service.
- Chesterfield is not mentioned, but most trains passing through stop.
- As I said, Farnborough North could be a useful stop for the Army.
- There might be a case for selective stopping patterns.
Battery-electric trains stop without any noise or pollution.
Connection To The Ivanhoe Line At Burton-on-Trent
The proposed Ivanhoe Line is intended to link Burton-on-Trent and Leicester.
As it is intended that the Newcastle and Brighton service will call ten times per day at Burton-on-Trent station, this must surely improve the economics of the Ivanhoe Line.
Are there any other new or reopened rail schemes, that will be helped by the proposed Brighton and Newcastle service?
Updated Frequencies At Sheffield
Currently, trains at Sheffield have these daily frequencies to the towns and cities on the proposed Newcastle and Brighton route.
- Newcastle – 18
- Durham – 16
- Darlington – 15
- Northallerton – 0
- York – 19
- Doncaster – 64
- Derby – 58
- Burton-on-Trent – 9
- Birmingham New Street – 21
- Warwick Parkway – 0
- Banbury – 0
- Oxford – 3
- Reading – 4
- Wokingham – 0
- Guildford – 0
- Redhill – 0
- London Gatwick – 0
- Haywards Heath – 0
- Brighton – 0
Note.
- Sheffield gets five trains per day (tpd) direct connections to nine new destinations.
- Other useful destinations will get five more tpd.
- Reading is a useful interchange for Wales and the West.
- Guildford is a useful interchange for Portsmouth, Southampton and West Surrey.
- Reading and Guildford have coach services to Heathrow.
There are also a large number of universities along the route.
Hitachi Can Offer A One-Supplier Battery-Electric Train Solution
It should be noted that Hitachi can offer a complete package including battery-electric trains and all the electrification, transformers and other electrical gubbins needed.
So perhaps for the Chiltern Main Line, which is used for part of the route between Didcot and Birmingham, Hitachi could deliver a one-supplier solution, that would also electrify Chiltern’s services between Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street.
Remember, Chiltern are another Arriva Group company.
If Hitachi get this right, I can see other lines being electrified in this way.
Could This One-Supplier Battery-Electric Solution Be Exported?
I discussed this in Arriva Group Invests In New Battery Hybrid Train Fleet In Boost To UK Rail Industry, where I suggested that the United States could be a market.
- Arriva Group are ultimately American-owned.
- Hitachi’s battery technology is also American-owned.
In these days of Trump’s tariffs, these could prove useful facts.
As Arriva Group used to be owned by Deutsche Bahn, they may be another interested party, especially as they have a lot of lines, where I believe Hitachi’s solution would work.
Conclusion
A battery-electric railway service of nearly four hundred miles would certainly attract the passengers.
The UK’s Worst Airport For Flight Delays Revealed
The title of this post, is the same as that, as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
The shortage of air traffic controllers is a European problem but some in the industry have blamed early retirement during the pandemic
These are the first two paragraphs.
Gatwick was the country’s worst airport for delays last year as it struggled with air traffic issues and capacity.
Departures were an average of more than 23 minutes late, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data. It is the second year in a row it has topped the late league table.
It does look that the first paragraph is saying they need more air traffic controllers and that second runway.
Ironically, one of the adverts in my copy of the article was for Avanti West Coast.
Checking The Traffic In The Blackwall Tunnel
In A Return Journey Through The Silvertown Tunnel On A 129 Bus, I observed that there wasn’t much traffic in the Silvertown Tunnel, but that it might be in the Blackwall Tunnel.
So this morning, I went through the Blackwall tunnel to check and took these pictures.
Note.
- I caught the 108 bus from bus stop F, which is opposite the taxi rank at Stratford station.
- The bus went round parts of the Olympic Park to pick up passengers.
- There was quite a bit of traffic slowing my journey before the Blackwall Tunnel.
- I went Southbound first in the modern tunnel buiult in the 1960s.
- I turned round at North Greenwich station, as the bus was crowded and I wanted a good seat from on return, from which to take pictures.
- I came back in the Northbound tunnel, which dates from the 1890s.
But I achieved my objective and found that the Blackwall Tunnel was taking more vehicles than the Silvertown Tunnel. Even the buses were taking more passengers!
I have further thoughts.
I Don’t Like The Blackwall Tunnel
Consider.
- We were going to my Uncle Bert’s house in Broadstairs one day, when I was about eight.
- In those days of the 1950s, there was only one bore of the tunnel and we got stuck in it, for a couple of hours.
- I don’t remember using the tunnel again and I suspect we probably used Tower or London Bridge.
The last time I used it in a car, was coming back from Gatwick to when we lived just North of Ipswich and the Dartford Crossing was blocked. So I cut through South-East London, drove through the Blackwall Tunnel and up the A12.
If I Was A Driver I’d Probably Take The Silvertown Tunnel
Unless of course there was a problem!
Gatwick Airport South Terminal Bus Station
These pictures show the bus station at Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal
Note.
- It is in two separate sections (Northbound and Southbound) on either side of a fairly busy dual carriageway.
- This is the bus station in the South Terminal for Metrobus local services.
- Most of these pictures were taken on the Southbound side, with the last four looking down from the terminal.
- The information displays were clear and easy to understand.
- Access to the terminal and the train station was via lifts and a pair of travelators.
- About 80 % of the buses I saw were hydrogen-powered.
It did look as if it had been designed by an architect, who was more used to designing rudimentory rural tram stops or train stations.
This page on the London Gatwick web site gives more details of Coaches and Buses at Gatwick Airport.
From Reading To Gatwick Airport Along The North Downs Line
After writing Connecting Reading And The West To Gatwick Airport And Eurostar, I decided to go and look at the reality of the North Downs Line between Reading and Gatwick Airport stations.
I took my usual route to Reading, which is to go to Moorgate and get the Elizabeth Line direct to Reading using my Freedom Pass, after having breakfast in the Leon on Moorgate.
- I then had to leave the station at Reading, so that I could buy my ticket to Gatwick Airport.
- It would be so much easier, if there ere a couple of ticket machines on the bridge or platform at Reading station, so that passengers, who were changing trains could buy tickets quickly and easily.
In the end, I caught the 11:24 train to Gatwick with only a few minutes to spare.
From Reading To Gatwick Airport Along The North Downs Line
Along the North Downs Line, the train was a well-refreshed Great Western Railway Class 165 train.
These are some of the pictures, that I took on the route.
Note.
- The route goes through a lot of typical Surrey heathland.
- I noticed several pubs along the way.
- I suspect that there are some good walks from the stations.
- Reading and Guildford are university cities.
- Sandhurst is home to the Royal Military Academy.
- Farnborough Airport used to be home to the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
- Most of the seats on the train were taken.
I would expect that for a mainly rural route it is fairly busy.
Hitachi’s Intercity Battery Trains
Hitachi have developed an Intercity battery train and it is described on this page on their web site, where this is said about converting the trains to battery-electric operation.
A quick and easy application of battery technology is to install it on existing or future Hitachi intercity trains. Hitachi Rail’s modular design means this can be done without the need to re-engineer or rebuild the train and return them to service as quickly as possible for passengers.
Replacing one diesel engine with just one battery reduces emissions by more than 20% and offers cost savings of 20-30%. Our intercity battery powered trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same or increased performance.
That performance is certainly enough for Reading and Ashford via Gatwick, as only 37.7 miles in total, is not electrified.
Does The North Downs Line Mirror The East-West Rail?
Consider.
- The East West Rail will encircle London to the North, between Oxford and Cambridge.
- The North Downs Line encircles London to the South, between Reading and Ashford.
They could be considered two complimentary rail lines.
A Milton Keynes And Ashford International Service
Looking at the track layout on OpenRailwayMap, it would appear that one of Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains fitted with dual voltage could pick its way elegantly along the East West Rail and the North Downs Line between Milton Keynes and Ashford International via Oxford, Reading and Gatwick Airport.
An Occasional Sheffield And Ashford International Service
If you could run a service between Milton Keynes and Ashford International, why not extend it to Bedford or even Sheffield in the North?
I believe if you put these Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains on a cross-country route, that they will quickly suffer from London Overground Syndrome. This is my definition of the syndrome.
This benign disease, which is probably a modern version of the Victorian railway mania, was first identified in East London in 2011, when it was found that the newly-refurbished East London Line and North London Line were inadequate due to high passenger satisfaction and much increased usage. It has now spread across other parts of the capital, despite various eradication programs.
Put simply, it can probably be summed up as Quality Attracts Passengers.
Serving Heathrow
There have been various plans to get rail access into Heathrow from the West, but none have so far got off the starting blocks.
It is my view, that in the interim period, after my trip last weekend in the superb Wrightbus hydrogen double deck bus from Sutton to Gatwick, that I wrote about in Sutton Station To Gatwick Airport By Hydrogen-Powered Bus, that we should ask Wrightbus, who are designing a hydrogen-powered coach, to design the ultimate coach to connect rail hubs to major airports.
I would then run these coaches every ten minutes between Reading station and Heathrow Airport.
Serving Attractions
I believe that pairing Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains with Wrightbus’s hydrogen coach could be a winner for passengers and operators.
As an example, Lumo are hoping to run an open access service between Paddington and Carmarthen, if Heidi the Spoilsport permits. Would it not be sensible, if one of Wrightbus’s hydrogen coaches did the last mile duties to the ferry for Ireland at Fishguard harbour.
Connecting Reading And The West To Gatwick Airport And Eurostar
I have just checked the electrification between Reading and Ashford International using OpenRailwayMap.
- Between Cardiff and Reading the electrification is 25 KVAC overhead.
- Between Reading and Wokingham the electrification is 750 VDC third-rail.
- Between Wokingham and Reigate is not electrified.
- Between Reigate and Gatwick Airport the electrification is 750 VDC third-rail.
- Between Gatwick Airport and Ashford International the electrification is 750 VDC third-rail.
Only 37.7 miles is not electrified.
Hitachi’s Intercity Battery Trains, have a range on battery power of seventy kilometres or forty-five miles, so these trains could go between Reading or any station to the West to any station on the North Downs Line, including Guildford, Redhill, Gatwick Airport, Tonbridge and Ashford International stations.
The trains would need to be dual voltage and I’m fairly sure, that no new infrastructure would be needed.
A Green No-Fly Route Between Europe And Ireland
Consider.
- The Great Western Main Line is electrified to Cardiff.
- There is no electrification to the West of Cardiff.
- Cardiff and Fishguard Hsrbour is 115.6 miles.
- There is a ferry between Fishguard and Rosslare.
I suspect Hitachi could configure one of their Intercity Battery Trains, that could connect Ashford International and Fishguard Harbour stations.
Gatwick’s Hydrogen Advantage Over Heathrow
The Future Of Hydrogen In Aviation
I believe that hydrogen will have a big future in aviation.
Powering Aircraft
It will be some years, but not as many as some people think, before we see hydrogen-powered aircraft in the air.
Airbus have produced this infographic of three possible hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Discover the three zero-emission concept aircraft known as ZEROe in this infographic. These turbofan, turboprop, and blended-wing-body configurations are all hydrogen hybrid aircraft.
I wrote a bit more about these three hydrogen-powered concepts in ZEROe – Towards The World’s First Zero-Emission Commercial Aircraft.
My best estimate is that we’ll see hydrogen-powered aircraft in the air by 2035.
Towing Aircraft Around
Most aircraft are very heavy and towing them around needs a lot of zero-carbon energy.
So I think it is likely, that at some time in the near future,tugs to tow large aircraft around an airport will be hydrogen powered.
If you type “hydrogen-powered aircraft tug” into Google, you get several sensible product developments, including ones from.
- Exeter Airport
- Teesside Airport
- The Royal Air Force.
- The US Air Force
Note.
- The involvement of the military.
- At least two of the tugs are conversions of existing equipment.
- The extra weight of the battery in an electric-powered tug, may make the realisation of a viable electric aircraft-tug difficult.
I suspect we’ll see hydrogen-powered aircraft tugs in use on airports around the world in the near future.
Long-Term Car-Park Buses
I would have thought that using hydrogen-powered or battery-electric buses to serve long-term car-parks at an airport would be an obvious application. But it does appear that airports using zero-carbon buses to serve long-term car-parks are not very common.
- Gatwick uses a large fleet of hydrogen buses to bring passengers and staff to the airport, but these don’t appear to be linked to car parking.
- Incheon Airport in Korea does appear to use hydrogen-powered buses.
Please let me know, if you know of any other uses of hydrogen-powered vehicles at airports.
Hydrogen For Heathrow
This Google Map shows Heathrow Airport.
Note.
- The M4 going across the map.
- The two main runways.
- A new third runway would go between the M4 and the Northern runway.
It is likely if the third runway goes ahead, the village of Harmondsworth will be flattened.
It is likely that supplying hydrogen to Heathrow will mean a hydrogen terminal somewhere South of the M4, which could be supplied by rail tankers.
Hydrogen For Gatwick
This Google Map shows Gatwick Airport.
Note.
- The current main runway with the emergency runway to its North.
- Because the runways are too close together they cannot be used simultaneously.
- To create a second runway, the two runways would be moved further apart and the current emergency runway would be enlarged.
- The Brighton Main Line runs North-South past the Eastern end of the main runway.
Gatwick’s expansion plan doesn’t appear to require any properties outside the airport boundaries to be demolished.
This Google Map shows Sussex between Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
Note.
- Gatwick Airport is indicated by the red arrow at the top of the map.
- Gatwick’s runways can be picked out under the red arrow.
- The South Coast is at the bottom of the map.
- The M23 and the Brighton Main Line connect Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
- Shoreham and Brighton are on the South Coast.
- Click the map to show on a larger scale.
Under current plans, the Ramplion offshore wind farm off the South Coast is going to be increased in size to 1.6 GW.
The simplest plan to provide large amounts of green hydrogen to Gatwick would be to build a large electrolyser in the Port of Shoreham and pipe it along the railway to Gatwick Airport. Hydrogen could also be shipped at night into the Airport using rail tankers.
There’s no doubt in my mind, that it will be much easier to supply large quantities of hydrogen to Gatwick, rather than Heathrow.
In 2023, I wrote Discover How Greater Brighton Is Championing The Transition To Hydrogen, which probably indicates that the locals and their politicians, would welcome the investment in hydrogen in their city.
It should also be noted that world class consultants Ricardo, who are very much involved in the development and promotion of hydrogen technology are based in Shoreham.
Liquid hydrogen could also be imported and distributed from the Port of Shoreham.
Brighton could end up as the South of England’s Hydrogen City.
Never Mind Heathrow: Gatwick Airport Is Close To Getting A New Runway
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
A friend passed through at Gatwick Airport yesterday, so I went to wish him well. For a change , I took a Metrobus from Sutton station to the South terminal – This route is free and doesn’t need a ticket with a Freedom Pass!
The bus was no ordinary bus, but a brand new Wrightbus hydrogen double decker from Ballymena.
It took a round-about route, as its main function is to bring local workers and passengers into the airport and handle traffic to Redhilll, Reigate and East Surrey Hospital.
But if this is the shape of buses to come, then I’m for it. Quality was more coach than bus and performance was sparkling with little or no noise and vibration.
Gatwick and Metrobus are building a network of local hydrogen buses to bring workers and passengers into the airport and I suspect, if the Airport has the fuel, they’ll use it for other purposes, like air-side vehicles, aircraft tow-trucks and car park buses.
Gatwick unlike Heathrow has a close-by source of electricity to produce hydrogen in the soon-to-be-extended 1.6 GW Ramplion offshore wind farm, just off Brighton.
Airbus are talking about bringing hydrogen aircraft into service by 2035 and I believe that by this date we’ll be regularly seeing hydrogen-turboprops on short routes.
As someone, whose software planned the Channel Tunnel, I think it reasonable by 2035, the following projects will be completed.
- Zeroavia are talking of converting aircraft to hydrogen in the next few years.
- A number of short-haul hydrogen aircraft are in service.
- Gatwick’s new runway and terminals are built.
- Ramplion is pumping hydrogen to the airport.
- The station has been updated.
- The Thameslink frequency of trains will have been increased.
Gatwick could be the first major airport to use large amounts of hydrogen, to cut emissions.
Sutton Station To Gatwick Airport By Hydrogen-Powered Bus
In Central London and Gatwick Airport For Free On A Freedom Pass, I indicated it was possible to go to Gatwick Airport for nothing, if you had a Freedom Pass, which is also a free bus pass for England.
This morning I took public transport to Gatwick Airport by this route.
- I took a 43 bus to London Bridge station.
- This bus terminates in the bus station in front of the train station, so it was a simple step-free entry into the part of the station, where Southern Trains terminate.
- I took a Southern Train to Sutton station.
- I then took a Metrobus 420 bus from Sutton station to Gatwick Airport.
These pictures show the journey.
Note.
- The bus stop is directly outside the entrance to Sutton station.
- Sutton station is step-free.
- The information on the Metrobus’s buses at Sutton station is poor.
- The bus had a 74 number plate, so was registered after September 1st, 2024.
- The bus said it was a hydrogen bus.
- The seats were comfortable with leather facings.
- The route was mainly through rural Surrey.
- There were sections of dual-carriageway road with continuous 40 mph running.
- There were a number of steep hills.
- Previously, I have been told by a Bradford Councillor, that the City of Bradford is going for hydrogen-powered buses , as the city has lots of steep hills.
- The unusual Reigate and Redhill War Memorial on the A25.
- The route goes past Hadworth, Reigate and Redhill stations.
- Just before Gatwick Airport, the bus called at East Surrey Hospital.
I have some thoughts.
Does This Hydrogen Bus Have Almost The Quality Passengers Would Expect From A Coach?
Consider.
- I was very impressed with the quality of the bus and its fittings.
- But its biggest assets were the ride and mouse-quiet noise and being vibration-free.
- It was certainly up there, with the best British buses on UK roads.
- Strangely, I never rode in any of London’s Green Line coaches of the 1950s and 1960s.
But as Wrightbus are selling hydrogen-powered single-decker buses to the Germans, the quality must be of a certain standard.
The Performance Of The Bus
I would sum up the bus as follows.
- The bus didn’t hang around and it was well-driven.
- On much of the dual-carriageway, the bus appeared to be at the maximum speed limit of 40 mph
- Ride and seats were comfortable.
- There was virtually no vibration.
- At times, you almost felt you were in a top-of-the-range coach.
- The running gear is from German company ZF, which certainly doesn’t hinder the ride.
- The journey from Sutton to Gatwick Airport is twenty miles and took about ninety minutes.
I would feel that if Wrightbus design their CoachH2 chassis to the same standard of this bus, they’ll have a difficulty to meet sales demand.
Wrightbus Hydrogen Buses For My Local Bus Route 141
Consider.
- The 141 bus route is my local bus, which gets me to Moorgate, Bank, London Bridge and Manor House.
- The length of the full route is twenty miles and it takes about an hour to go from London Bridge station to Palmers Green.
- The route is currently run by older Wrightbus hybrid diesel-electric buses.
- I suspect that modern hydrogen buses could last almost all day on one fill of hydrogen, with perhaps a top-up at lunchtime.
They would have no difficulty handling the route and would greatly increase the customers current rock-bottom satisfaction.
Hydrogen Buses In Leafy Suburbs
- Where I live, is not particularly leafy or a suburb.
- But I seems to remember, when I moved here, that some of my neighbours complained about the noise of the 76 bus route.
- So Transport for London put on some quieter buses.
I would expect, that Metrobus might use the mouse quieter hydrogen buses in post areas, to avoid annoyance.
Hydrogen Buses As Route Extenders
Effectively, the Metrobus route 420 is acting as a route extender for Southern and Thameslink services coming South from London.
As it is a quality bus, that gets a move on, I suspect that some travellers, who previously took a train to Sutton, Tadworth, Reigate, Redhill or other stations and were then picked up, may take a hydrogen bus to a more convenient bus stop.
Because of the long range of a hydrogen bus or coach, zero-carbon performance, should be achieved without any range anxiety for passengers, driver or bus company.
Onward From Oakhampton Parkway Station
Consider.
- In 2014, storms destroyed the railway at Dawlish in Devon.
- As there was no alternative route, the storms cut everything west of Dawlish off from the rest of the UK.
- It is now likely, that a Park-and-Ride station will be built close to Okehanpton, which commuters would use for travel to Exeter.
- The main road to the South-West ; the A 30 will pass nearby.
It would appear, that Okehampton Interchange station could be used, if Nepture decided to show his power again.
Hopefully, the emergency plan will scare Nepture away.
Lumo To The Scottish Borders
Consider.
- Lumo have applied to extend some of their Edinburgh services to Glasgow.
- Talking to a friend in the Scottish Borders, they said, that travelers drive to Newcastle or Morpeth to catch Lumo for London.
- Four or five Lumo services every day stop in each direction at Morpeth station.
- So would it be sensible to run a bus or coach through the Scottish Borders to connect with the Lumo services?
This Google Map shows Morpeth in relation to the Border towns.
Note.
- Morpeth is marked by the red arrow in the South-East corner of the map.
- Galashiels, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Peebles, Saint Boswells and Selkirk can be picked out on the map.
- The coach service would probably terminate at Galashiels, as it has a large bus terminal and and a railway station.
- Click the map to show it to a larger scale.
Morpeth to Galashiels is 69 miles and it should take about an hour and a half.
Hydrogen Buses As Rail Replacement Buses
Consider.
- I have had Rail Replacement Coaches as opposed to buses a few times in the UK.
- Once on the East Coast Main Line but usually on the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich or Norwich.
- They are generally more suited to their task. as they are faster and more luxurious.
- Many of our major rail lines run alongside trunk roads or motorways or fast dual carriageways.
So because hydrogen buses and coaches a have superior performance, than their diesel cousins, will hydrogen be the better fuel for a Rail Replacement Bus.
Metrobus’s Hydrogen Buses
This press release on the Metrobus web site is entitled Hydrogen Buses.
This is the sub-heading.
Our commitment to Zero Emissions
As part of our commitment to reducing emissions, twenty new hydrogen fuelled buses will operate on Fastway routes 10 & 20. These new buses demonstrate an ongoing commitment to reducing our local emissions. They deliver against science-based targets set by Metrobus and its parent company, The Go-Ahead Group, of becoming a net zero business by 2045 and decarbonising our bus fleet by 2035.
Conclusion
This bus is the best I’ve ridden in.
Central London and Gatwick Airport For Free On A Freedom Pass
I have always found it odd, that I can get to Heathrow Airport for free on my Freedom Pass, but for Gatwick Airport, I must buy a ticket.
Not that I’m bothered about the price of the ticket, but for some it might mean that they can’t get to their preferred holiday destination, as planes only fly from Heathrow.
The different treatment of the two airports must also annoy some airport and airline owners and bosses.
But recently, a free route for London’s Freedom Pass holders has opened.
This article on Inside Croydon is entitled Metrobus Rolls Out Zero-Emission Hydrogen Fleet Into Sutton.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Metrobus has been rolling out a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses, and last week its first double deckers, operating the 420 route from Sutton town centre to Gatwick Airport and Crawley, were brought into service.
Metrobus is planning on having more than 40 hydrogen-powered buses, in a partnership with West Sussex, Surrey and Kent county councils and Gatwick, in a £24million investment by the partners including a £10 million grant from the Department for Transport.
Note.
- The range of a Wrightbus Hydroliner is 280 miles on a full tank of hydrogen.
- It looks like as Crawley to Sutton station is a 42.2 miles round trip, so that means six round trips are possible on a tank of hydrogen.
- The Hydroliners may have the speed to use the M23 between Sutton and Crawley.
According to the article, refueling would be at Crawley.
A Zero-Carbon Extension To The Freedom Pass Zone
The free route for Freedom Pass holders to Gatwick Airport will be.
- Southern or Thameslink Train to Sutton.
- 420 bus to Gatwick Airport.
The article says this about the routes that are being planned.
The 420 route runs from Sutton town centre, through Belmont and Banstead, to Tadworth and then on to Reigate and Redhill, serving East Surrey Hospital before going on to the airport and Crawley. Metrobus is planning to use other hydrogen-powered buses on routes that will serve Caterham, Dorking, Tunbridge Wells, Haywards Heath and Brighton.
It appears that the hydrogen buses will add a large zero-carbon area to the Freedom Pass zone.
The only new infrastructure, would be the refueling equipment at Crawley.
I can also see the buses becoming an unusual tourist attraction for the area.
An Extension To An Electric Railway Or Tramway
They may also set a precedent for how a transport network can be extended in a zero-carbon manner from a tram or rail terminal served by an electric railway or tramway.
Battery electric buses could be used, but their range means that on anything but the shortest routes, they would constantly need recharging.
Okehampton Interchange Station
The first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for Okehampton Interchange station describes it like this.
Okehampton Interchange (formerly known as Okehampton Parkway) is a proposed railway station in Okehampton on the Dartmoor Line. The station would be part of the Devon Metro and has been described as a priority station. The station is to be sited off Exeter Road, by the Business Park and close to the junction with the A30, in the Stockley Hamlet area of Okehampton. It would also serve 900 new homes to be built nearby.
But I believe that Okehampton Interchange station also has another purpose.
If the sea should destroy the coastal railway, as it did a few years ago, then passengers for the South-West could be ferried to and from Okehampton Interchange station by high-speed hydrogen-powered coaches along the A30, to catch trains to Exeter and London.
So, I would build a hydrogen filling station at Okehampton Interchange station, so that if the sea destroys the coastal railway again, the alternative is ready.
Normally, the hydrogen filling station would refuel local hydrogen buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles and those passing on the A30 to and from Cornwall.
Okehampton Interchange station would be the ultimate extension to an electric railway. Even if the Dartmoor Railway was worked by electro-diesel trains.
The Anonymous Widower 