The Anonymous Widower

May The Maths Be With You!

It was a bit of a surprise, when in the November 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, in an article, which was entitled Extra Luggage Racks For Lumo, I read this closing paragraph.

Lumo celebrated its second birthday in late October and was also set to mark the carriage of its two-millionth passenger. It is understood Lumo is interested in augmenting its fleet, such has been the success of the service; while many operators favour bi-mode units, Lumo is proud of its all-electric credentials so straight EMUs are still preferred, although the possibilities of including batteries which could power the trains may be pursued (the ‘803s’ have on-board batteries, but only to provide power to on-board systems if the electricity supply fails).

I find this development very interesting.

Surely the obvious way to increase capacity would be to acquire some  extra identical trains and run the busiest services as ten-car trains. I talked about Hull Trains running ten-car trains in Ten-Car Hull Trains. Both companies have five trains, so I suspect that this number would allow for occasional ten-car trains.

If not, then add a few identical trains to the fleet, so capacity can be matched to the demand.

  • Some services would be ten-car instead of five-car.
  • Platforms at Edinburgh, King’s Cross and Newcastle already handle nine and ten-car trains, so infrastructure costs would be minimal.
  • No extra paths would be needed, as a ten-car train can run in a path, that normally has five-car trains, as Hull Trains have shown.

A simple spreadsheet should probably predict, when and how many extra trains need to be added to the fleet.

Lumo And Traction Batteries

But why does the Modern Railways’s article talk about traction batteries?

In the two years since Lumo started their service, there have been days, when the East Coast Main Line has been closed for engineering works, bad weather or an incident. I wrote about an incident in Azumas Everywhere!.

Some of these engineering works have been able to be by-passed by using diversions. But not all of these diversion routes are fully-electrified, so are not available for Lumo.

There would appear to be three viable diversions for the East Coast Main Line.

  • Werrington Junction and Doncaster via Lincoln – Not Electrified – 85.4 miles
  • Doncaster and York via Leeds – Being Electrified – 55.5 miles
  • Northallerton and Newcastle – Not Electrified – 56.8 miles

If all or some of Lumo’s five-car trains had a battery-range of a hundred miles, they would be able to divert around some blockades.

Note.

  1. A traction battery could also provide power to on-board systems if the electricity supply fails.
  2. A traction battery would allow the train to skip past some catenary problems.
  3. I would be interested to know how much diversions, bad weather and incidents have cost Lumo in lost sales and refunds.

As an electrical engineer, I believe, that the emergency-only and the traction batteries could be the same design, but with different software and capacity.

The extra cost of the larger capacity traction battery, might deliver a better service and also pay for itself in the long term.

Extending Lumo’s Route

Lumo will want to maximise revenue and profits, so would it be possible to extend the route North of Edinburgh?

Consider.

  • Edinburgh and Aberdeen is 131.4 miles
  • Ladybank is a station to the North of the Forth Bridge, which is under 40 miles from Edinburgh.
  • The line between Edinburgh and Ladybank is being electrified.
  • Ladybank is just 91.4 miles South of Aberdeen.

At some point in the next few years, I believe that one of Lumo’s trains fitted with a hundred mile traction battery could reach Aberdeen on electric power.

The train would need to be charged at Aberdeen before returning South.

How would Aberdonians like that?

Unfortunately, Inverness is 146.1 miles from the nearest electrification at Dunblane, so it is probably too far for a hundred mile traction battery.

It does appear to me that if Lumo’s trains were fitted with a hundred mile traction battery, this would enable them to take some non-electrified diversions and provide a service to Aberdeen.

How Useful Would A Hundred Mile Range Battery-Electric Train Be To Other Operators?

I take each operator in turn.

Hull Trains

Consider.

  • It appears that Hull Trains change between diesel and electric power at Temple Hirst junction, which is between Doncaster and Selby, on their route between King’s Cross and Hull/Beverley.
  • The distance between Temple Hirst junction and Beverley is 44.3 miles.
  • It would appear that an out-and-return journey could be possible on a hundred mile traction battery.
  • The hundred mile traction battery would also allow Hull Trains to use the Lincoln diversion, either when necessary or by design.

To ensure enough range, a short length of overhead electrification could be erected at Hull station to combat range anxiety.

The Modern Railways article also says this.

The co-operation between sister East Coast Main Line open access operators Lumo and Hull Trains continues, with one recent move being the use of Hull Trains ‘802’ on Lumo services to cover for a shortage of the dedicated ‘803s’ while one was out of action for repairs following a fatality. although the two types are similar, there are notable differences, most obviously that the Hull Trains units are bi-modes while the Lumo sets are straight EMUs, and a training conversion course is required for Lumo drivers on the ‘802s’. There are also challenges from a passenger-facing perspective – the Hull trains units have around 20 % fewer seats and a First Class area.

If Hull Trains used traction batteries rather than diesel engines could the trains be identical to Lumo’s trains from the driver’s perspective?

This would surely appeal to First Group, who are the owner of both Hull Trains and Lumo.

TransPennine Express

These are TransPennine Express services.

  • Liverpool Lime Street and Newcastle – Fully Electrified
  • Liverpool Lime Street and Hull – Part Electrified – Hull and Micklefield – 42 miles
  • Manchester Airport and Saltburn – Part Electrified – Saltburn and Northallerton – 33.6 miles
  • Manchester Piccadilly and Newcastle – Fully Electrified
  • Manchester Piccadilly and Scarborough – Part Electrified – York and Scarborough – 42.1 miles
  • York and Scarborough – Not Electrified – 42.1 miles
  • Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield – Fully Electrified
  • Huddersfield and Leeds – Fully Electrified
  • Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes – Part Electrified – Hazel Grove and Cleethorpes – 104.6 miles

Note.

  1. I am assuming that the TransPennine Upgrade has been completed and Manchester and Leeds is electrified.
  2. Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes will need some form of charging at Cleethorpes and a slightly larger battery.

All of these TransPennine  Rxpress routes would be possible with a battery-electric train with a hundred mile traction battery.

LNER

These are distances from the electrification of the East Coast Main Line.

  • Aberdeen via Ladybank – 91.4 miles – Charge before return
  • Bradford Forster Square – Electrified
  • Carlisle via Skipton – 86.8 miles – Charge before return
  • Cleethorpes via Newark and Lincoln – 63.9 miles – Charge before return
  • Harrogate via Leeds – 18.3 miles
  • Huddersfield via Leeds – 17.2 miles
  • Hull via Temple Hirst junction – 36.1 miles
  • Lincoln via Newark – 16.7 miles
  • Middlesbrough via Northallerton – 22.2 miles
  • Scarborough via York – 42.1 miles
  • Skipton – Electrified
  • Sunderland via Northallerton – 47.4 miles

Note.

  1. The first place after the ‘via’ is where the electrification ends.
  2. Carlisle could be a possibility during High Speed Two upgrading of the West Coast Main Line or for an enthusiasts’ special or tourist train.
  3. Cleethorpes is a possible new service for LNER. I wrote about this in LNER To Serve Cleethorpes.
  4. Scarborough must be a possible new service for LNER.
  5. ‘Charge before return’ means the train must be charged before return. Carlisle is electrified, but Cleethorpes is not.
  6. The only new infrastructure would be the charging at Cleethorpes.

All of these LNER routes would be possible with a battery-electric train with a hundred mile traction battery.

The hundred mile traction battery would also allow LNER to use the Lincoln diversion.

Grand Central

These are distances from the electrification of the East Coast Main Line for Grand Central’s services.

  • Bradford Interchange via Shaftholme junction – 47.8 miles
  • Cleethorpes via Doncaster – 52.1 miles – Charge before return
  • Sunderland via Northallerton – 47.4 miles

Note.

  1. The first place after the ‘via’ is where the electrification ends.
  2. Cleethorpes is a possible new service for Grand Central.
  3. ‘Charge before return’ means the train must be charged before return.

All of these routes would be possible with a battery-electric train with a hundred mile traction battery.

The hundred mile traction battery would also allow Grand Central to use the Lincoln diversion.

Avanti West Coast

These are distances from the electrification of the West Coast Main Line for Avanti West Coast’s services.

  • Chester via Crewe – 21.1 miles
  • Gobowen via Wolverhampton – 47.7 miles
  • Holyhead via Crewe – 105.5 miles – Charge before return
  • Shrewsbury via Wolverhampton – 29.7 miles
  • Wrexham via Crewe – 33.3 miles

Note.

  1. The first place after the ‘via’ is where the electrification ends.
  2. Gobowen is a possible new service for Avanti West Coast.
  3. ‘Charge before return’ means the train must be charged before return.

All of these routes would be possible with a battery-electric train with a hundred mile traction battery.

Great Western Railway

These are distances from the electrification of the Great Western Main Line for Great Western Railway’s services.

  • Bristol Temple Meads via Chippenham – 24.4 miles
  • Carmarthen via Cardiff Central – 77.4 miles – Charge before return
  • Cheltenham Spa via Swindon – 43.2 miles
  • Exeter St. Davids via Newbury – 120.4 miles – Charge before return
  • Great Malvern via Didcot East junction – 76.1 miles – Charge before return
  • Hereford via Didcot East junction – 96.9 miles – Charge before return
  • Oxford via Didcot Parkway – 10.3 miles
  • Paignton via Newbury – 148.7 miles – Charge before return
  • Pembroke Dock via Cardiff Central – 121.6 miles – Charge before return
  • Penzance via Newbury – 172.6 miles – Charge before return
  • Plymouth via Newbury – 120.4 miles – Charge before return
  • Swansea via Cardiff Central – 53 miles – Charge before return
  • Weston-super-Mare via Chippenham – 43.8 miles
  • Worcester Foregate Street via Didcot East junction – 68.2 miles – Charge before return
  • Worcester Shrub Hill via Didcot East junction – 67.6 miles – Charge before return

Note.

  1. The first place after the ‘via’ is where the electrification ends.
  2. ‘Charge before return’ means the train must be charged before return.
  3. Partial electrification through Hereford, Great Malvern, Worcester Foregate Street and Worcester Shrub Hill, could possibly be used to charge services from Hereford and Worcester.
  4. Partial electrification through Penzance, Plymouth and Exeter St. Davids, could possibly be used to charge services from the South West.
  5. Partial electrification West of Swansea, could possibly be used to charge services from West Wales.

All routes, except for Hereford and Worcester, the South-West and West Wales, would be possible with a battery-electric train with a hundred mile traction battery.

I’ll now look at the three groups of services in more detail.

Services To Hereford And Worcester

These are distances from the electrification of the Great Western Main Line for Great Western Railway’s Hereford and Worcester services.

  • Great Malvern via Didcot East junction – 76.1 miles
  • Hereford via Didcot East junction – 96.9 miles
  • Worcester Foregate Street via Didcot East junction – 68.2 miles
  • Worcester Shrub Hill via Didcot East junction – 67.6 miles

Note.

  1. All services join the Great Western Main Line at Didcot East junction.
  2. Some services will be probably need to have, their batteries charged at the Hereford and Worcester end.

At the present time, the electrification finishes at Didcot East junction, but if it were to be extended to Charlbury station, these would be the distances without electrification.

  • Great Malvern via Charlbury – 52.3 miles
  • Hereford via Charlbury – 73.1 miles
  • Worcester Foregate Street via Charlbury – 44.4 miles
  • Worcester Shrub Hill via Charlbury – 43.8 miles

Note.

  1. Some of the track between Oxford and Charlbury is only single track, which may give advantages, when it is electrified.
  2. It might be possible with a hundred mile traction battery for all Worcester services to charge their batteries between Charlbury and London Paddington and not need a charge at Worcester to return.
  3. A larger traction battery or extending the electrification to perhaps Morton-in-Marsh could see Great Malvern in range of battery-electric trains from London Paddington without a charge.
  4. Hereford would probably be too far to get away without charging at Hereford.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the layout of Hereford station.

I’m certain that a platform can be found, where there is space for a charger, which could also be used for other trains serving the station.

Services To The South West

In the August 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article, which is entitled GWR Seeks Opportunities To Grow.

This is the sub-heading.

Managing Director Mark Hopwood tells Philip Sherratt there is plenty of potential to increase rail’s economic contribution.

This is two paragraphs.

The desire to provide electrification to support aggregates traffic from the Mendip quarries could also benefit GWR , says Mr. Hopwood. ‘Having an electric loco would massively help with pathing heavy freight trains through the Thames Valley. If you could electrify from Newbury to East Somerset Junction, a big chunk of the Berks and Hants route would be wired.

Then you can ask how much further you could get on battery power on an IET without running out of juice.’

Newbury to East Somerset Junction would be 53.5 miles of electrification, so I can build this table of services to the South-West

  • Exeter St. Davids via Newbury – 120.4 miles – 66.9 miles
  • Paignton via Newbury – 148.7 miles – 95.2 miles
  • Penzance via Newbury – 251.9 miles – 198.5 miles
  • Plymouth via Newbury – 172.6 miles – 119 miles

Note.

  1. The distance between Penzance and Plymouth is 79.5 miles.
  2. The first figure in the table is the distance to Newbury.
  3. The second figure in the table is the distance to East Somerset junction.

A possible way of running these four services to London on battery power is emerging.

  • Exeter St. Davids via Newbury – Charge before return – Run on battery for 66.9 miles to East Somerset junction.
  • Paignton via Newbury – Charge before return – Run on battery for 95.2 miles to East Somerset junction.
  • Penzance via Newbury- Charge before return – Run on battery for 79.5 miles to Plymouth – Charge at Plymouth – Run on battery for 119 miles to East Somerset junction.
  • Plymouth via Newbury – Charge before return – Run on battery for 119 miles to East Somerset junction.

Once at East Somerset junction, it’s electrification all the way to Paddington.

This is the corresponding way to run services from London.

  • Exeter St. Davids via Newbury – Run on electrification to East Somerset junction, charging the battery on the way – Run on battery for 66.9 miles to Exeter St. Davids.
  • Paignton via Newbury – Run on electrification to East Somerset junction, charging the battery on the way – Run on battery for 95.2 miles to Paignton.
  • Penzance via Newbury – Run on electrification to East Somerset junction, charging the battery on the way – Run on battery for 119 miles to Plymouth – Charge at Plymouth – Run on battery for 79.5 miles to Penzance.
  • Plymouth via Newbury – Run on electrification to East Somerset junction, charging the battery on the way – Run on battery for 119 miles to Plymouth.

More electrification or a larger  than a hundred mile traction battery would be needed, as Plymouth and East Somerset junction is 119 miles.

But if a Stadler Akku can do 139 miles on a charge, why shouldn’t a Hitachi battery-electric train?

Services To West Wales

It seems that the current timetable is already setup for battery-electric trains to run to and beyond Swansea.

  • Carmarthen and Swansea is almost exactly 32 miles.
  • Pembroke Dock and Swansea is 73.4 miles.
  • Swansea and Cardiff Central is 45.7 miles.

Note

  1. All these sections could be run by a battery-electric train, with a fully-charged hundred mile traction battery.
  2. All trains going to or from Carmarthen or Pembroke Dock reverse at Swansea, where a generous time of more than eleven minutes is allowed for the manoeuvre.
  3. During the reverse at Swansea, there is sufficient time to charge the batteries, if overhead wires were present.

Battery-electric services could serve Wales Wales with overhead electrification at Carmarthen, Pembroke Dock and Swansea.

Conclusion

We will go a long way, if we embrace battery-electric trains.

Most routes can be handled with a train with a traction battery range of 100 miles.

Exceptions are.

  • Hazel Grove and Cleethorpes – 104.6 miles
  • Plymouth and East Somerset junction – 119 miles

But if a Stadler Akku can do 139 miles on a charge, why shouldn’t a Hitachi battery-electric train?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 28, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Could Sheffield Station Become A Battery-Electric Train Hub?

Promised Improvements To Train Services At Sheffield

This news story from the Department of Transport is entitled Yorkshire And The Humber To Benefit From £19.8 billion Transport Investment.

Sheffield station gets several mentions of improvement to these routes.

Sheffield And Hull

This is said about train services between Sheffield and Hull.

The number of trains between Hull and Sheffield will be doubled, to 2 per hour, with capacity also doubled.

These points describe typical current services.

  • The route is 59.4 miles long.
  • Modern Class 170 trains take 78 minutes.
  • There are stops at Meadowhall, Doncaster, Goole and Brough.
  • The maximum speed of the line is mostly around 70 mph, with one short section of 100 mph.
  • The average speed is 45.7 mph.
  • The train continues to Scarborough after a six-minute stop at Hull.

I believe that if this route were to be electrified, that a time around an hour would be possible between Sheffield and Hull.

Sheffield and Scarborough takes two hours and 45 minutes. With electrification, this time could be less than two hours and 30 minutes.

But it would be around 113 miles of new double-track electrification.

I believe that Sheffield and Hull is a route that could be run by battery-electric trains, that would be charged at both ends of the route.

Sheffield And Leeds

This is said about train services between Sheffield and Leeds.

The line between Sheffield and Leeds will be electrified and upgraded, giving passengers a choice of 3 to 4 fast trains an hour, instead of 1, with journey times of 40 minutes. A new mainline station for Rotherham will also be added to the route, which could give the town its first direct service to London since the 1980s, boosting capacity by 300%.

These points describe typical current services.

  • The route is 41.1 miles long.
  • Modern Class 195 trains take 56 minutes.
  • There is a few miles of electrification at the Leeds end.
  • There are stops at Meadowhall, Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate.
  • The maximum speed of the line is mostly around 60-70 mph.
  • The average speed is 44 mph.

I believe that if this route were to be electrified, that a time around fifty minutes might be possible between Sheffield and Leeds.

That is not really good enough, but if they went through a new mainline station for Rotherham, the trains would be able to use 100 mph tracks all the way to Leeds. There would also be electrification between South Kirby junction and Leeds.

I suspect forty minutes should be possible with 100 mph running between Rotherham and Leeds.

I believe that Sheffield and Leeds is a route that could be run by battery-electric trains, that would be charged at both ends of the route.

Sheffield And Manchester

This is said about train services between Sheffield and Manchester.

The Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield will also be electrified and upgraded, with the aim of cutting journey times from 51 to 42 minutes and increasing the number of fast trains on the route from 2 to 3 per hour, doubling capacity.

In Electrification Of The Hope Valley Line, I talked about electrification of the line and how the services on the line could be run by battery-electric trains.

This was my conclusion in the linked post.

I believe that full electrification of the Hope Valley Line is not needed, if battery-electric trains are used.

I also believe that battery-electric trains and the current improvements being carried out on the Hope Valley Line will enable a forty minute time between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield.

I believe that the Hope Valley Line could be speeded up, by the use of intelligent engineering, rather than expensive and disruptive electrification.

Don Valley Line

This is said about the Don Valley Line.

Communities will be reconnected through the reopening of lines and stations closed under the Beeching reforms of the 1960s. This will include the restoration of the Don Valley Line between Stocksbridge and Sheffield Victoria, and new stations at Haxby Station, near York, Waverley, near Rotherham, and the Don Valley Line from Sheffield to Stocksbridge.

I’ve talked about the Don Valley Line before in Reopening The Don Valley Section Of The Former Woodhead Line Between Stocksbridge and Sheffield Victoria To Passenger Services.

The Don Valley Line has a comprehensive Wikipedia entry, which is well worth a read.

Could the Don Valley Line be worked by battery-electric trains?

It would appear that these promised improvements to and from Sheffield could be worked by battery-electric trains.

Now that battery-electric trains are being developed, it could also have services, using these trains.

Could Battery-Electric Trains Improve Other Services At Sheffield?

These are some possibilities.

Chesterfield And Sheffield Victoria

This news story from the Department of Transport is entitled East Midlands To Benefit From £9.6 billion Transport Investment.

This news story also talks about the Stocksbridge Line and Sheffield Victoria, where this is said.

Funding will also be provided for the Barrow Hill Line between Chesterfield and Sheffield Victoria, with a new station at Staveley in Derbyshire.

I wrote about the Barrow Hill Line in Reinstatement Of The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield And Chesterfield.

In the related post, this was my conclusion.

This looks to be a very sensible project.

  • It could be run with either trains or tram-trams.
  • It should be electrified, so it could be zero-carbon.
  • Tram-trains could be used to make stations simpler.
  • It could give an alternative route for electric trains to Sheffield station.
  • The track is already there and regularly used.

But surely the biggest reason to built it, is that it appears to open up a lot of South and South-East Sheffield and North-East Chesterfield for development.

Now that battery-electric trains are being developed, Chesterfield and Sheffield could also have services, using these trains.

Sheffield And Adwick

Nothing is said in the news story about train services between Sheffield and Adwick.

Consider.

  • Sheffield and Adwick is 22.7 miles.
  • Journeys take fifty minutes.
  • There are seven intermediate stations.
  • This is an average speed of 27.2 mph.
  • Adwick and Doncaster is 4.4 miles and electrified.
  • There are generous turn-round times at both ends of the route.
  • There are rather unusual reversing arrangements at Adwick.

I wonder if electric trains on this route, would knock a few minutes off the journey time because of the better acceleration and deceleration of electric trains.

Could this route be another route from Sheffield suitable for battery-electric trains?

  • The train could fully charge between Adwick and Doncaster and at Adwick.
  • It is only a short route with a round trip under sixty miles.

I believe this route could be very suitable for battery-electric trains.

Sheffield And Huddersfield

Nothing is said in the news story about train services in the Penistone Line between Sheffield and Huddersfield.

Consider.

  • Sheffield and Huddersfield is 36.4 miles.
  • Journeys take one hour and nineteen minutes.
  • There are fifteen intermediate stations.
  • This is an average speed of 27.6 mph.
  • Huddersfield is being electrified as part of the TransPennine Upgrade.

I wonder if electric trains on this route, would knock a few minutes off the journey time because of the better acceleration and deceleration of electric trains.

Could this route be another route from Sheffield suitable for battery-electric trains?

Sheffield And Lincoln

Nothing is said in the news story about train services between Sheffield and Lincoln.

Consider.

  • Sheffield and Lincoln is 48.5 miles.
  • All Sheffield and Lincoln services start in Leeds.
  • Journeys take one hour and twenty-five minutes.
  • There are nine intermediate stations.
  • This is an average speed of 34.2 mph.
  • There is no electrification.
  • Turn-round time at Lincoln is 26 minutes.
  • All trains terminate in Platform 5 at Lincoln.

I wonder if electric trains on this route, would knock a few minutes off the journey time because of the better acceleration and deceleration of electric trains.

Could this route be another route from Sheffield suitable for battery-electric trains?

  • Platform 5 could be electrified at Lincoln.
  • There may need to be a battery top-up at Sheffield and Leeds.

I believe this route could be very suitable for battery-electric trains.

Electrification Between Sheffield And London

Consider.

  • The Midland Main Line electrification is creeping up from London.
  • It should soon be installed between St. Pancras and Market Harborough.
  • Sheffield and Market Harborough is 81.9 miles.
  • The Class 810 trains that will run the Sheffield and London route can’t be far off entering service.

There might be scope for running battery-electric trains on the route, until the electrification is complete.

A Battery-Electric Train Hub At Sheffield

I believe that a fair proportion of services to and from Sheffield could be run using battery-electric trains or bog-standard electric trains.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Sheffield.

Note.

  1. The lilac tracks are those of the Sheffield Supertram.
  2. The darker lines are the tracks in the station.
  3. Tracks could be electrified as required.

Eventually, Sheffield will be a fully-electrified station, because of the Midland Main Line electrification.

But why not do it sooner rather than later, so that by running new or refurbished battery-electric trains to places like Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Lincoln, London and Manchester?

  • Services would be speeded up by around a minute or two for each stop.
  • Faster journeys may attract more passengers.
  • Routes would be creating less carbon emission and pollution.
  • In some cases, routes would be zero carbon.

Some routes would need electrification at the terminal to charge the trains, but Leeds, London St. Pancras and Manchester are already fully electrified.

Charging Long Distance Battery-Electric Trains When They Stop In Sheffield

These long distance services stop in Sheffield.

  • CrossCountry – Plymouth and Edinburgh
  • CrossCountry – Reading and Newcastle
  • East Midland Railway – London and Leeds
  • East Midland Railway – Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich
  • Northern – Leeds and Lincoln
  • Northern – Leeds and Nottingham
  • Northern – Sheffield and Cleethorpes
  • TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes

battery-electric trains could be given a top-up, as they pass through.

I am assuming that CrossCountry, East Midland Railway, Northern and TransPennine Express will be running suitable battery-electric trains.

Battery-Electric Train Hubs

To be a battery-electric train hub, a station probably needs to have all or nearly all of its platforms electrified.

  • It should be able to fully-charge any battery-electric trains terminating in the station, provided that the turn-round time is long enough.
  • It should be able to give a through battery-electric train a boost if required, so that it gets to the final destination.

It would appear that there are already several battery-electric train hubs in the England, Scotland and Wales.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows Liverpool Lime Street station, with electrified tracks shown in red.

It would appear that the station is fully electrified and is an excellent battery-electric train hub.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows Manchester Piccadilly station, with electrified tracks shown in red.

It would appear that the station is fully electrified, except for the Northernmost platform, and is an excellent battery-electric train hub.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows Leeds station, with electrified tracks shown in red.

It would appear that the station is fully electrified and is an excellent battery-electric train hub, with twelve electrified bay platforms.

Conclusion

I can see a very comprehensive scheme being developed for Sheffield, based on a hub for battery-electric trains at Sheffield station.

 

October 17, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Improvements To Leeds And Hull Services

This news story from the Department of Transport is entitled Yorkshire And The Humber To Benefit From £19.8 billion Transport Investment.

This is said about Leeds and Hull services.

Hull will also be brought into the Northern Powerhouse Rail network, reducing journey time from Leeds from 58 minutes to just 48. The number of trains between Hull and Sheffield will be doubled, to 2 per hour, with capacity also doubled. Journeys from Hull to Manchester will drop from 115 to 84 minutes, enabling 2 fast trains to Leeds.

I shall look at the 10:15 Northern Trains service between Hull and Leeds on the 13th October 2023.

  • The distance is 51.8 miles.
  • There are seven stops.
  • The service is run by a diesel Class 158 train.
  • Journey time is 69 minutes.

Ten minutes off this time would be worthwhile.

I shall look at the 10:03 TransPennine Express service between Hull and Leeds on the 13th October 2023.

  • There are two stops.
  • The service is run by a diesel Class 185 train.
  • Journey time is 54 minutes.

Ten minutes off this time would be difficult.

Note.

  1. The line between Micklefield and Leeds is being electrified.
  2. The distance between Hull and Micklefield is 42 miles.
  3. The route has a maximum speed of between 75 and 90 mph.

There is also an historic swing bridge at Selby, which would probably be difficult to electrify.

How Many Minutes Could Electric Trains Save Between Leeds and Hull?

Electric trains have better acceleration and deceleration, when compared to diesel trains, so two minutes per stop and for the acceleration and deceleration at Hull and Leeds, would give the following times.

  • Northern Trains – 53 minutes
  • TransPennine Express – 48 minutes

As electrification is not mentioned for between Leeds and Hull, the only electric trains, that could work the route will be battery-electric trains.

Battery-Electric Trains Between Leeds and Hull

Consider.

  • TransPennine Express already have Class 802 trains, from which the battery-electric version is being developed.
  • Northern Trains would need a suitable battery-electric train. There has been talk of a CAF battery-electric Class 331 train, but nothing more. These would surly be ideal.
  • Trains could be charged on new electrification in Hull station and between Micklefield and Leeds.

The trains would need a range of just 42 miles.

A Second Fast Train Between Leeds and Hull

What does this statement in the news story imply?

Journeys from Hull to Manchester will drop from 115 to 84 minutes, enabling 2 fast trains to Leeds.

I feel that this statement must be read in conjunction with the benefits of the TransPennine Route Upgrade.

One benefit is given as Faster Journeys, where this is said.

We’re speeding up journeys so you can travel to your favourite towns and cities more quickly. Our fastest journey times are forecast to be 63-66 minutes between Manchester and York and 41-42 minutes between Manchester and Leeds.

The news story says that the fastest journey times between Leeds and Hull will be 48 minutes, which would give a Hull and Manchester time of 89-90 minutes.

Alternatively, there could be these timings on one train.

  • Hull and Leeds – 48 mins
  • Hull and Manchester Victoria – 84 mins
  • Leeds and Manchester Victoria – 36 mins

Note.

  1. The train would call at Brough, Selby, Leeds, Huddersfield and Stalybridge.
  2. There may be a new station at Leeds Thorpe Park
  3. The distance between Hull and Manchester Victoria is 94.7 miles.
  4. This is an average speed of 67.6 mph.

It almost looks like it’s connectivity East of Leeds and speed between Leeds and Manchester.

Conclusion

Battery-electric trains would provide all the improvements promised between Leeds and Hull.

October 16, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Could Hull Station Be Electrified?

I took these pictures, as I passed through Hull station yesterday.

It appears that Hull station has a similar Victorian roof to Liverpool Lime Street and London Paddington, so I suspect the answer is yes.

These pictures show the platforms and overhead electrification at Liverpool Lime Street station, since the recent remodelling.

The electrification seems to be very traditional, with lots of steel gantries over the tracks.

These pictures show the platforms and overhead electrification at London Paddington station.

Note.

  1. The roof seems to have extra tie-bars reaching across.
  2. The wires seem to be hung from the roof.
  3. At the end of the platform they are fixed to large arch supports.
  4. Because Liverpool Lime Street’s electrification is newer than Paddington’s, it seems to have much more professional look.

After looking at the electrification in Liverpool Lime Street and Paddington, I believe that Hull station could be successfully electrified.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the platform layout at Hull station.

Note.

  1. Yesterday, my trains arrived in and left from Platform 7, which is the Northern-most platform.
  2. Other pictures in this blog show Hull Trains’s London service in Platform 7.
  3. Yesterday all Class 802 trains to and from London run by Hull Trains and LNER used Platform 7.
  4. I have been told by station staff, that Platform 7 can take a nine-car LNER Azuma.
  5. In Ten-Car Hull Trains, I talk about ten-car Class 802 trains running to and from Hull.
  6. Platform 7 or another platform at Hull station must be able to handle a ten-car train, which means that Hull station can handle a train, that is 260 metres long.

Looking at the station map, I believe that Hull station’s capacity for long express trains, is on a par with that of Liverpool Lime Street station.

I could see both stations handling two trains per hour (tph) across the Pennines and to and from London, with if necessary trains being formed of a pair of five-car trains.

How Many Services From Hull Station Can Be Run With Battery Trains?

Hull Trains service between London and Beverley travels for 44.5 miles on unelectrified track between Temple Hirst junction and Beverley.

Typically Hull Trains services wait in Hull station for the following times.

  • Going between London King’s Cross and Beverley – Between ten and fifteen minutes.
  • Returning to London King’s Cross – Upwards of twenty-five minutes.

I believe these waits in Hull station would mean that.

  • A train going North to Beverley will have a battery containing enough electricity to get the train to Beverley and back, which is a distance of 16.7 miles.
  • A train going South from Hull  will have a battery containing enough electricity to get the train to Temple Hirst junction, which is a distance of 36.1 miles.

I believe that Hull Trains are currently working a timetable, that has been designed for operation by trains with a range on batteries of around fifty miles, provided there is electrification in at least one platform at Hull station to charge the trains.

It is also interesting to look at LNER’s two services that serve Hull.

  • The 0700 to London, is scheduled to arrive at Hull station at 0635 from stabling at Doncaster and waits up to twenty-five minutes before leaving for London.
  • The 2004 from London, is scheduled to arrive at Hull station at 2004 and waits up to twenty-five minutes before going South to overnight stabling in Doncaster.

It looks like LNER’s two trains follow Hull Trains rules.

  • They use Platform 7 in Hull station.
  • Trains going South have up to twenty-five minutes in the station.

It appears to me, that both Hull Trains and LNER are running a timetable, that would allow their services to be run using trains with a battery that had a range of around fifty miles, that could be fully-charged at Hull station before going South.

TransPennine Express run an hourly service to Liverpool Lime Street via Leeds and Manchester Victoria.

According to OpenRailwayMap’s map of electrification, when the TransPennine Upgrade is complete, the only section of the route without electrification will be the 42.1 miles between Hull and Micklefield.

As TransPennineExpress have some of the same Class 802 trains as Hull Trains, if there were at least two electrified platforms in Hull station, then Hull and Liverpool services could be run by battery-electric trains, with a similar specification to those of Hull Trains.

Northern Trains run an hourly service to Halifax via Leeds.

According to OpenRailwayMap’s map of electrification, , the only sections of the route without electrification will be the 42.1 miles between Hull and Micklefield and the 17.5 miles between Leeds and Halifax.

As Leeds and Micklefield is timetabled for seventeen minutes, I suspect this would be enough time to fully charge a battery-electric version of CAF’s Class 331 train and with charging in Hull station, then this route could be electrified.

Northern Trains also run other services, but because the Goole swing bridge is closed, I can’t get all the distances without electrification from Hull.

Ones I can find are.

  • Beverley – 16.7 miles for return trip.
  • Bridlington – 31.1 miles
  • Doncaster – 40.8 miles
  • Micklefield – 42.1 miles
  • Scarborough – 53.8 miles
  • Sheffield – 59.4 miles
  • Temple Hirst – 36.1 miles
  • York – 41.1 miles – Hull and Church Fenton

Note.

  1. York and Doncaster are electrified.
  2. Bridlington and Scarborough have suitable platforms where 25 KVAC overhead electrification could be installed to charge trains.
  3. Sheffield and Doncaster is only 18.6 miles and this may be the way to electrify between Sheffield and Hull.
  4. In The Data Sheet For Hitachi Battery Electric Trains, I state that Hitachi’s battery-electric trains have a range of 43.5 miles

It looks if enough platforms are electrified at Hull, all current services from the city could be run by battery-electric trains.

Conclusion

I believe that by electrifying Hull station, that Hull could have a station consistent with the HumberZero philosophy, with battery-electric trains running hither and thither, handling all rail traffic to and from the City.

 

June 7, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Have Your Say About Potential New Hydrogen Facility In Aldbrough

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on HullLive.

This is the first paragraph.

SSE Thermal is looking for input from the local community regarding its first-of-a-kind low-carbon hydrogen facility.

They are holding meetings in the Hull area as follows to discuss the project with anybody who is interested.

  • Tuesday, June 6, 2:30pm – 7pm: Hedon Town Hall, 36 St Augustine’s Gate, Hedon, HU12 8EX
  • Wednesday, June 7, 2:30pm – 7pm: East Village Meadows, Northfield Farm, Garton, HU11 4QB
  • Thursday, June 8, 2:30pm – 7pm: Aldbrough Village Hall, Garton Rd, Aldbrough, HU11 4QA

I shall be going on the Tuesday. There are buses from Hull station, which take about 35 minutes.

This section is copied from the HullLive article.

What is the Pathfinder Project?

The Aldbrough Hydrogen Pathfinder project is an important building block in the development of a thriving Humber hydrogen economy, underpinning the region’s decarbonisation and supporting economic growth locally and nationally.

The project is proposed to be developed within its existing site at Aldbrough Gas Storage, and all visible infrastructure will be within the site boundary.

The project intends to use one of the current storage caverns and repurpose it to develop a project in the Humber that would unite hydrogen production, storage and power generation in one.

As someone, who feels strongly about the benefits of hydrogen, I feel this is a very worthwhile project.

May 11, 2023 Posted by | Hydrogen | , , , | Leave a comment

Hull Trains Is Back And Stronger Than Ever

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Hull Trains.

This is the first paragraph.

Timetables at Hull Trains will be back to pre-pandemic levels from December as public confidence in rail travel continues to grow.

These are other points from the press release.

  • The number of returning passengers is steadily increasing.
  • From December 12th, Hull Trains will be running 94 trains per week in total, which is two higher than the pre-pandemic record.
  • An additional service will be run on Sunday to match the six trains per day (tpd) on Saturday.
  • There will be seven tpd on weekdays. That’s not far off one train per teo hours (tp2h)  all day.

Passenger numbers must be coming out from the pandemic well.

This sentence from the press release gives a clue to how Hull Trains will cope with increasing passenger numbers.

Ten-car operations will commence on Fridays and Saturdays to provide additional capacity just in time for Christmas travel and the general growing demand as we prepare to enter 2022.

I suspect by rescheduling maintenance and running all five trains in services, they can run some trains on Fridays and Saturdays as pairs.

  • As Hull trains only stop at Stevenage, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden, Brough, Hull and Beverley, there aren’t many stations, that need to be able to take ten-car trains.
  • I suspect a couple of platforms might need lengthening, as a ten-car train is 260 metres long. Or they could instruct passengers to only use the front train for the stations with short platforms. Or only use five-car trains to the stations with short platforms.
  • But the longer trains won’t need any extra paths.
  • I was also told last year, that Hull station can take nine-car trains, so perhaps it can take a ten.

So to increase capacity on the route, Hull Trains just need to add another train to their fleet.

As all costs are probably well-known, with a bit of simple modelling, Hull Trains can probably predict, when they need to add a new train.

Whilst I was looking at the Lumo train yesterday, I got talking to a driver from Hull Trains, who had come over to take a professional look at Lumo’s Class 803 train.

I asked him what he liked about Hull Trains’s Class 802 trains as a driver. He said the brakes, which is probably most important to a driver, as they’re at the sharp end, if anything happens. So that’s comforting.

He also said that some of the Hitachi trains had shown they were stable at 140 mph. So that’s good too.

On talking about the batteries on the Lumo train, I got the impression that batteries will appear on other Hitachi Trains.

Conclusion

It appears to be all trains go between London and Hull.

In Could We See Between London And Much Of The North By Train In Under Two Hours?, I looked at the effect of improvements on the East Coast Main Line and concluded that timings between London Kings Cross and Hull could be around two hours and twenty minutes. This would surely be a spur to increasing traffic on the route.

Surely, when Hull Trains use battery-electric Hitachi trains between London and Hull, this will be the icing on the marketing cake, as we seem to be coming to a point, where zero-carbon sells.

As an aside, will Lumo, who are another First Group company, use a similar mix of five- and ten-car trains on the London and Edinburgh route to increase capacity?

I suspect that what is good for Hull Trains will be good for Lumo.

October 26, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Could We See Between London And Much Of The North By Train In Under Two Hours?

I shall write about each route in order starting from Euston and working East.

Avanti West Coast And Euston

These are services from Euston, that I feel could be under two hours.

London Euston And Liverpool Lime Street

On Thursday, I went to Liverpool by train.

  • My train took two hours and thirteen minutes between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street stations.
  • There were stops at Stafford, Crewe and Runcorn.
  • The Class 390 train was travelling at 125 mph for a lot of the way.
  • The distance between the two terminals is 193.6 miles.
  • The start to stop average including the stops was 87.3 mph.

So could London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street be achieved in the magic two hours?

A few thoughts.

Average Speed

To do the journey in this time  would need an average speed of 96.8 mph.

Accelerating And Stopping

Ideally, the train will run as fast as it can only changing speed for the station stops.

  • The train will accelerate from stop to cruising speed at Euston, Stafford, Crewe and Runcorn or four times.
  • The train will decelerate from cruising speed to stop at Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool Lime Street or four times.

Effectively, the train goes through four complete station stops, although one will be split between the two ends of the journey.

These figures are from Wikipedia and the Internet

  • The acceleration of the Class 390 train is 1.0 mph/sec which means that it takes 125 seconds to get to 125 mph.
  • The deceleration of a Class 390 train is 2.0 mph/sec, which means that it takes 63 seconds to stop from 125 mph.
  • The acceleration of a Class 801 train is 1.6 mph/sec which means that it takes 78 seconds to get to 125 mph.
  • The deceleration of a Class 801 train is 2.2 mph/sec, which means that it takes 57 seconds to stop from 125 mph.

These figures would appear to show, that a Class 801 train can decelerate and accelerate at a stop in nearly a minute faster than a Class 390 train.

So how can we increase the acceleration and deceleration? The two obvious ways are more power and less weight.

Form the Internet, I estimate that the average car in a Class 390 train is around 52 tonnes, as opposed to 41 tonnes for the Hitachi trains.

So does this weight difference explain some of the difference in acceleration and deceleration times?

Consider.

  • The Class 390 trains have all the extra weight of the tilt mechanism. More weight means slower acceleration.
  • Avanti West Coast’s new Class 807 trains have no diesel engines or batteries. Have the trains been put on a diet?
  • They also have a reprofiled nose. Is it more aerodynamic?

So if these trains can save time on the four accelerate/decelerate cycles compared to the Class 390 trains, they must be getting nearer to the magic two hours.

If two minutes a stop can be saved that would save eight minutes on the journey between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street.

140 Mph Running

The time to do a mile at various speeds are as follows.

  • 100 mph – 36 seconds
  • 125 mph – 29 seconds
  • 140 mph – 26 seconds

So running at 140 mph, as opposed to the current 125 mph would save three seconds for every mile.

To save five minutes would mean the train would have to run for a hundred miles at 140 mph instead of 125 mph.

As Stafford is 133.5 miles from London, it could be that full digital signalling should be installed on the West Coast Main Line all the way to Stafford or even Crewe, which is 158 miles from London.

This schematic map of the West Coast Main Line was clipped from Wikipedia.

Note.

  1. Trains between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street take the Trent Valley Line through Nuneaton and Lichfield Trent Valley and stop at Stafford, Crewe and Runcorn.
  2. Trains between London Euston and Manchester take a variety of routes and all go via Stockport.
  3. One train per hour (tph) between London Euston and Glasgow Central takes the Trent Valley Line and goes non-stop between London Euston and Warrington Central.
  4. Norton Bridge Junction just to the North of Stafford has recently been remodelled.

I believe there is potential to enable up to at least a hundred miles of 140 mph running to the South of Crewe. Especially as most of the track South of Crewe is quadruple track.

This should enable the shaving of five or more minutes off the time of any train capable of 140 mph running that uses the Trent Valley Line through Nuneaton, Lichfield Trent Valley and Stafford.

Norton Bridge Junction

Norton Bridge junction, which is five miles North  used to be a bottleneck, but it has now been remodelled.

I wrote about it in The New Norton Bridge Junction In Action.

The new junction has probably been designed so that it can save a few seconds for trains going between Stafford and Crewe, whether or not they stop at either or both stations.

Non-Stop Between London Euston and Runcorn

If you look at the times of a London Euston and Glasgow Central train via the Trent Valley Line , it travels the 174.7 miles between London Euston and Weaver Junction non-stop in one hour and forty minutes. This is an average speed of 104.8 mph.

By comparison, my train on Thursday took one hour and forty-seven minutes with the two stops at Stafford and Crewe.

So there is at least six minutes to be saved by going non-stop.

 

Two Trains Per Hour Between London Euston And Liverpool Lime Street

Wikipedia says this about an additional service.

Subject to approval by the Office of Rail and Road, an additional hourly service will be introduced between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street with a stop at Liverpool South Parkway from December 2022.

I have a few thoughts and questions on extra services between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street,

  • In my view the second service is much needed.
  • I also think, that a later train back to London is needed.
  • Does the Wikipedia statement mean that only one train will stop at Liverpool South Parkway?
  • Does Runcorn need two tph to and from London?
  • Would the platforms at Liverpool South Parkway be lengthened to accept eleven-car Class 390 trains?

I feel that if a train stopped at both Liverpool South Parkway and Runcorn, this would make a two-hour journey more difficult to achieve.

London Euston And Liverpool Lime Street In Two Hours

The new Class 807 trains will be delivered by 2022. Because of the pandemic, I’ll assume that of the ten trains on order, some, but not all, will be available by the December 2022 timetable change.

The time savings needed for a two-hour journey will come from four improvements.

  1. The increased performance of the Class 807 trains.
  2. Full digital signalling South of Crewe.
  3. The track improvements already completed like Norton Bridge Junction.
  4. Cutting out stop on the second service.

There may also be time savings to be obtained at the intermediate stops, by better working practices.

I doubt that the full digital signalling will have been installed, but all trains will be capable of 125 mph running.

Avanti West Coast probably have a good idea of the time they could achieve without digital signalling and I feel that they could be about five minutes over two hours with the Class 807 trains.

As the eleven-car Class 390 trains are too long for Liverpool South Parkway station, could we see the following service?

  • 1 tph – Class 390 train – London Euston And Liverpool Lime Street via Runcorn, Crewe and Stafford.
  • 1 tph – Class 807 train – London Euston And Liverpool Lime Street via Liverpool South Parkway.

Note.

  1. The Class 390 train would run the existing timetable in two hours and thirteen minutes.
  2. The Class 807 train would be a two-hour express service if possible.
  3. Going from three stops to one could save the express at least seven minutes, as I showed earlier by looking at train timings South of Weaver Junction.
  4. There would be time savings of at least two minutes on the express service due to the better performance of the Class 807 train.

To save the final four minutes, there would need to be at least eighty miles of 140 mph running, as each mile saves three seconds.

I am fairly certain, that London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street can be regularly achieved in two hours.

London Euston And Warrington Bank Quay

The hourly London Euston and Glasgow Central expresses seem to take one hour and forty-five minutes for the non-stop trip of 182.1 miles, which is an average speed of 104 mph.

As this service is non-stop, I believe that this service would get the maximum benefit from digital signalling and this service will only get faster, as more and more of the route allowed 140 mph-running.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see almost ten minutes lopped off this service by signalling and other improvements.

I am fairly certain, that London Euston and Warrington Bank Quay can be regularly achieved in well under two hours, by a Class 390 train.

London Euston And Wigan North Western

The hourly London Euston and Glasgow Central expresses seem to take one hour and fifty-six minutes for the single-stop trip of 193.9 miles, which is an average speed of 100.3 mph.

As this service just a single stop at Warrington Bank Quay, I believe that this service would get the maximum benefit from digital signalling and this service will only get faster, as more and more of the route allowed 140 mph-running.

As with Warrington Bank Quay, I wouldn’t be surprised to see almost ten minutes lopped off this service by signalling and other improvements.

I am fairly certain, that London Euston and Wigan North Western can be regularly achieved in comfortably under two hours, by a Class 390 train.

London Euston And Preston

The hourly London Euston and Glasgow Central expresses seem to take two hours and eleven minutes for the two -stop trip of 209 miles, which is an average speed of 95.7 mph.

As this service just stops at Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western, I believe that this service would get the maximum benefit from digital signalling and this service will only get faster, as more and more of the route allowed 140 mph-running.

As with Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western, I wouldn’t be surprised to see almost ten minutes lopped off this service by signalling and other improvements.

I am fairly certain, that London Euston and Preston can be regularly achieved in just under two hours, by a Class 390 train.

London Euston And Blackpool North

Avanti West Coast have indicated that their new Class 807 trains will run between London Euston and Blackpool North.

Consider.

  • I am fairly certain that a Class 390 train will be able to run between London Euston and Preston in under two hours, once digital signalling is installed South of Crewe.
  • Currently, Class 390 trains take twenty minutes between Preston and Blackpool North stations.
  • The Class 807 trains have better acceleration and deceleration and should be able to execute faster stops than the Class 390 trains.

I wonder if Avanti West Coast, Hitachi, Network Rail and Rock Rail have thought up a cunning plan to run Class 807  trains between  London Euston And Blackpool North, in under two hours.

Trains would go via the Trent Valley.

Trains might only stop at perhaps Milton Keynes Central, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston.

Trains would run at up to 140 mph using digital signalling, in as many places as possible.

Is the performance of the Class 807 trains sufficient to achieve London Euston and Blackpool North in under two hours via the Trent Valley?

London Euston And Manchester Piccadilly via Wilmslow

Consider.

  • Most trains between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Wilmslow seem to take around six or seven minutes over two hours.
  • I believe that if the 158 miles between London Euston and Crewe were to be digitally signalled, then this could save up to eight minutes by allowing trains to run at 140 mph rather than the current 125 mph.

This could be enough to bring the London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Wilmslow below two hours.

I am not surprised at this, as the trains were built for 140 mph and because there is no digital signalling, they are limited to 125 mph, which slows the trains by six or seven minutes.

London Euston And Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent

Everything I said about trains between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Wilmslow probably apply, except that the services via Stoke-on-Trent are a few minutes slower.

But I do feel, that this could be enough to bring the London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent below two hours.

East Midlands Railway And St. Pancras

These is only one service from St. Pancras, that is not comfortably under two hours.

London St. Pancras And Sheffield

A typical service between London St. Pancras And Sheffield takes a few minutes over two hours..

  • There are two tph
  • There are stops at Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby or Chesterfield depending on the service.
  • The Class 222 trains travel at 125 mph for most of the way.
  • The distance between the two terminals is 164.7 miles.
  • The start to stop average including the stops is 81 mph.

I would suspect that East Midlands Railway’s new bi-mode Class 810 trains will be able to easily break the two-hour barrier.

  • They have four diesel engines so they can cruise at 125 mph on diesel.
  • They have electric power for South of Market Harborough.
  • Some diesel engines will be changed for batteries.

As electrification increases on the Midland Main Line, these trains will use less and less diesel.

I also suspect that digital signalling will start to creep into the route, starting from Bedford, where it is used on Thameslink.

LNER And King’s Cross

These are services from King’s Cross, that are or I feel will be under two hours.

London King’s Cross And Doncaster

A typical service between London King’s Cross And Doncaster takes around one hour and thirty-seven minutes.

  • There are four tph
  • There are stops at Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark and Retford depending on the service.
  • The Class 80x trains travel at 125 mph for most of the way.
  • The distance between the two stations is 156 miles.
  • The start to stop average including the stops is 96.5 mph.

Digital signaling is being installed on this section of the East Coast Main Line and I suspect that this will reduce timings between London King’s Cross And Doncaster.

A simple estimate based on the maximum operating speed, indicates a time of one hour and twenty-six minutes should be possible.

But as a Control Engineer, I believe that digital signalling will lead to faster running over the Digswell Viaduct and through the flat crossing at Newark.

The timing will certainly be under one hour and thirty minutes between London King’s Cross And Doncaster.

London King’s Cross And York

A typical service between London King’s Cross And York takes around one hour and forty-eight minutes.

  • There are two tph
  • There are stops at Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Retford and Doncaster depending on the service.
  • The Class 80x trains travel at 125 mph for most of the way.
  • The distance between the two stations is 188.5 miles.
  • A non-stop service takes one hour and fifty-two minutes, which is a start to stop average including the stops is 101 mph.

If my crude estimate of time savings because of digital signalling South of Doncaster can be applied, this would imply a reduction in journey time of at least eleven minutes.

London King’s Cross And Leeds

A typical service between London King’s Cross And Leeds takes around two hours and thirteen minutes.

  • There are three tph
  • There are stops at Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Doncaster and Wakefield Westgate depending on the service.
  • The Class 80x trains travel at 125 mph for most of the way.
  • The distance between the two terminals is 185.9 miles.
  • This is a start to stop average including the stops is 83.9 mph.

If my crude estimate of time savings because of digital signalling South of Doncaster can be applied, this would imply a reduction in journey time of at least eleven minutes, which would put a time between London King’s Cross and Leeds of around two hours.

London King’s Cross And Bradford Forster Square

LNER run some services on this route

  • The services take thirty minutes between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square stations.
  • The services do not reverse at Leeds.

Given that two hours should be possible between London Kings Cross and Leeds, it would appear that two hours and thirty minutes should be possible between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square stations.

London King’s Cross And Bradford Interchange

Grand Central run some services on this route

  • The services call at Doncaster, Wakefield Kirkgate, Mirfield, Brighouse and Low Moor
  • The services take two hours and fifty-four minutes between London King’s Cross and Bradford Interchange stations.
  • The services take one hour and seventeen minutes between Doncaster and Bradford Interchange stations.

The services are run by Class 180 diesel trains, which will have to be replaced to decarbonise the route.

I suspect that Hitachi will have a train for this route, that could use diesel or batteries to the North of Doncaster.

  • My estimate for the best time between King’s Cross and Doncaster is one hour and twenty-six minutes.
  • The current time between Doncaster and Bradford Interchange stations is one hour and seventeen minutes.

This gives a best time of perhaps two hours and forty-three minutes between Doncaster and Bradford Interchange stations.

The route to Bradford via Leeds is perhaps fifteen minutes faster, but it serves different stations.

London King’s Cross And Harrogate

LNER has been running to Harrogate for some time.

  • There is one train per two hours (tp2h)
  • The service calls at Stevenage, Grantham, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.
  • some services reverse at Leeds.
  • The service takes two hours and fifty-five minutes between London King’s Cross and Harrogate stations.
  • The service takes thirty minutes between Leeds and Harrogate stations.

Given that two hours should be possible between London Kings Cross and Leeds, it would appear that two hours and thirty minutes could be possible between London King’s Cross and Harrogate stations.

London King’s Cross And Huddersfield

In LNER Expands To Huddersfield, I described LNER’s new service to Huddersfield.

  • There will be one train per day (tpd)
  • The service will call at Peterborough, Newark North Gate, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds and Dewsbury.
  • The service will split and join with the London King’s Cross and Skipton service at Leeds.
  • The service will reverse at Leeds.
  • The service take two hours and fifty-five minutes between London King’s Cross and Huddersfield stations.
  • The service will take twenty-five minutes between Leeds and Huddersfield stations.
  • Improvements are planned, which include electrification, between Dewsbury and Huddersfield

Given that two hours should be possible between London Kings Cross and Leeds, it would appear that two hours and thirty minutes could be possible between London King’s Cross and Huddersfield stations.

London King’s Cross And Hull

The fastest Hull Trains service between London King’s Cross And Hull takes around two hours and thirty minutes.

  • There are seven tpd
  • There are stops at Stevenage, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough depending on the service.
  • The Class 80x trains travel at 125 mph for most of the way.
  • The distance between the two terminals is 205.3 miles.
  • This is a start to stop average including the stops is 82.1 mph.

If my crude estimate of time savings because of digital signalling South of Doncaster can be applied, this would imply a reduction in journey time of at least eleven minutes, which would put a time between London King’s Cross and Hull of around two hours and twenty minutes.

London King’s Cross And Middlesbrough

LNER have announced a Middlesbrough service, which I wrote about in LNER’s Middlesbrough And London Service. Starts On December 13th.

  • There will be one tpd in both directions
  • Intermediate stops will be at Thornaby and York.
  • The Middlesbrough and London service will leave Middlesbrough from Platform 1 at 07:08 and arrive in King’s Cross at 10:22.
  • The London and Middlesbrough service will leave King’s Cross at 15:25 and arrive in Middlesbrough in Platform 2 at 18:18.

There appear to be some curiosities in the timetabling of these trains, which I may explore later.

I would assume that is because LNER want a competitive time of three hours between King’s Cross and Middlesbrough.

These are Southbound times between Eaglescliffe and King’s Cross in the morning.

  • Grand Central –  Two hours and thirty-nine minutes
  • LNER – Three hours and two minutes

Is this because the Class 180 train is a genuine 125 mph train on diesel and the Class 800 train is not?

If my crude estimate of time savings because of digital signalling South of Doncaster can be applied, this would imply a reduction in journey time of at least eleven minutes, which would put a time between London King’s Cross and Middlesbrough of around three hours.

Conclusion

Of the cities and towns in the North, that I have discussed only Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Hull and Middlesbrough, are ones that will be difficult to be provided with a two-hour journey time to and from London. But all should be possible in close to or under two hours and thirty minutes.

 

 

October 17, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Open Access Operators And The Lumo Model

In the UK, there are only three established Open Access operators, who run UK train services.

  • Grand Central
  • Heathrow Express
  • Hull Trains

From the 25th of October, they will be joined by Lumo.

We probably don’t think of Heathrow Express as an Open Access operator and as it is effectively a short distance special service with new trains between Heathrow and Paddington, it has its own business model, that may or may not survive.

But how will Lumo and their bold new business model affect Grand Central, Hull Trains and any future Open Access operators?

Grand Central Trains

Grand Central is a well-established Open Access operator.

  • They run services between London King’s Cross and Bradford Interchange, Sunderland and several other convenient en-route stations.
  • They are owned by Deutsche Bahn.
  • They also regularly seem to apply for new routes and extra services.

But they have a big problem fast catching up on them; they have a diesel-only fleet and need to decarbonise.

I also think that all express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line will at some date need to be run by 140 mph trains capable of running with full digital signalling and a degree of Automatic Train Operation.

In Lumo: Why Won’t The New Train Service Stop At Yorkshire Stations?, I said that to continue to be successful, they probably need to embrace the Lumo model and acquire new trains.

I will repeat what I said in the related post.

This would entail.

  • The ten diesel Class 180 trains would be replaced by new electric trains.
  • The trains would need a 140 mph capability under digital signalling to fit in with the plans of Network Rail, LNER and Lumo to create a top-class high-speed high-capacity East Coast Main Line.
  • The trains would need a battery capability as Grand Central’s routes are not fully electrified.
  • They could copy Lumo’s green marketing philosophy, ticketing and catering offering.

As to the trains, I’m sure that Hitachi could offer a version of their Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, the specification of which is shown in this Hitachi infographic.

The trains would need a range of fifty miles on battery-power.

I have some other thoughts.

Financing

If you look at the finances of decarbonising Grand Central, they would need a new fleet of ten trains, which as Lumo’s fleet of five trains are reported to be costing £100 million, so that figure can be at least doubled.

There would also be costs for the two charging systems at Bradford Interchange and Sunderland. But at least there are several possible solutions for charging systems, so the price will probably not be more than a few million, if that.

Will Deutsche Bahn be prepared to stump up the extra finance?

A Service To Cleethorpes

In the Wikipedia entry for Grand Central, there is a section which is entitled London Kings Cross to Cleethorpes, which outlines a proposed service.

  • It would split and join with the London King’s Cross and Bradford service at Doncaster.
  • It would call at Crowle, Scunthorpe, Barnetby, Habrough and Grimsby.
  • Doncaster and Cleethorpes is 52.1 miles and should be in range of a Battery-electric train with a charging system at Cleethorpes.

Using current times from LNER and TransPennine Express, I estimate that Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Trains could travel between London and Cleethorpes in around two hours and twenty minutes.

With digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line to the South of Doncaster, the overall time could be much closer to two hours.

This could be a very viable service with battery-electric trains capable of running at 140 mph on the East Coast Main Line and for sixty miles at 100 mph on battery power.

Maximising The Use Use Of Train Paths By The Use Of Splitting And Joining

The proposed service to Cleethorpes is a classic use of splitting and joining, which enables two separate services to run a large part of their routes together.

  • On the East Coast Main Line, it means that maximum use can be made of the paths available.
  • Splitting and joining is part of the specification for the Hitachi trains and they do it automatically in under two minutes.
  • LNER are already talking about using the technique to serve various destinations from Leeds.

I wouldn’t rule out Grand Central’s two services working as a pair between London King’s Cross and Doncaster, where they would split and join.

Conclusion On Grand Central Trains

Decarbonisation with high-speed battery-electric trains could ensure the future of Grand Central Trains.

Hull Trains

Hull Trains is another well-established Open Access operator.

  • They run services between London King’s Cross and Hull and Beverley.
  • They have a fleet of five bi-mode Class 802 trains.
  • The company is part of First Group.

Hull Trains don’t have the decarbonisation problem of Grand Central Trains, as I suspect Hitachi will come up with a solution to turn Class 802 trains into a battery-electric train with a range of perhaps seventy miles on battery power.

  • Beverley and Temple Hirst junction is a distance of 44.3 miles and is the only section of the route without electrification.
  • Charging of the batteries will be needed at the Eastern end and probably would be best handled by a short length of electrification in Hull station or between Hull and Brough stations.

The Class 802 trains are also ready for updating to run under the new digital signalling of the East Coast Main Line.

First Harrogate Trains

First Harrogate Trains was a subsidiary of Hull Trains, which hoped to run the following services.

  • London King’s Cross and Harrogate via York
  • London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes via Peterborough, Spalding and Lincoln

Both these services could be run in conjunction with the current service with an appropriate split and join.

Conclusion On Hull Trains

As both Hull Trains and Lumo share London King’s Cross and are both owned by First Group, I would expect that both train operators would share some services, methods and ideas.

There may be advantages if Hull Trains’s Class 802 trains and Lumo’s Class 803 trains could run each other’s services.

Grand Union

Grand Union is a prospective open access operator who are proposing to operate train services from England to Wales and Scotland.

They are proposing two services.

London Paddington and Cardiff Central via Reading, Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport and Cardiff Parkway, with a possible extension later to Swansea andLlanelli or Carmarthen.

London Euston and Stirling via Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

Note.

  1. London Paddington and Cardiff Central is fully electrified, but there is no electrification West of Cardiff Central.
  2. Cardiff Central and Swansea are 45.7 miles apart.
  3. London Euston and Stirling is fully electrified.

Currently, the rolling stock for both services is proposed to be a tri-mode Class 93 locomotive hauling a rake of Mark 4 coaches and a driving van trailer.

The locomotive should be capable of handling the routes to Stirling and Cardiff using the electrification alone.

When the Cardiff route is extended, Grand Union would intend to use Class 802 trains, which could be fitted with batteries to serve Swansea, where the batteries would be charged.

There is no sign as yet, that the Office of Rail and Road have approved any of their possible services, but both services might be improved with some Lumo-style thinking.

Alliance Rail Holdings

Alliance Rail Holdings, which is a sister company to Grand Central, is ultimately owned by Deutsche Bahn, seems to have several ideas for new services, but only seems to have got approval to one.

They were given approval some years ago to run a service between London Euston and Blackpool North.

  • Calls would be made at Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham and Wesham, Preston, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central.
  • There will be six trains per day.
  • Trains would be InterCity 225 trains.
  • The approval is for seven years from 2018.

But because of the pandemic it hasn’t run.

Conclusion

The Lumo model will affect all these services.

 

 

 

September 12, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Battery-Electric Trains And The TransPennine Upgrade

In Is There Going To Be Full Electrification Between Leeds And Huddersfield?, I showed this map of the TransPennine Upgrade between Huddersfield and Westtown near Dewsbury.

Note.

  1. There will be electrification between Dewsbury and Huddersfield.
  2. Tracks will be doubled from two to four.
  3. Ravensthorpe, Mirfield, Deighton and Huddersfield stations will be electrified and probably upgraded.
  4. Dewsbury and Huddersfield stations are eight miles apart.

This page on the Network Rail website gives more information.

Click on Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury) and you get this information.

On 31 March 2021, we submitted a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application to the Secretary of State for Transport for the Huddersfield to Westtown (Dewsbury) scheme.

Throughout this eight-mile section of the route, we’re proposing to double the number of tracks from two-to-four, electrify from Huddersfield to Dewsbury and make big improvements to the four stations in this section – Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe; where we also need to separate the lines going to/from Leeds from the lines going to/from Wakefield, with either a bridge or a tunnel.

It is a much larger scheme than the one between Bolton and Wigan, which I wrote about in Bolton-Wigan £78m Rail Electrification Project Announced.

  • Huddersfield-Westtown is eight miles, whereas Bolton-Wigan is 6.5 miles.
  • Both involve upgrading four stations.
  • Both involve full electrification.
  • Huddersfield-Westtown involves doubling the number of tracks, whereas Bolton-Wigan needs little work to the track.
  • Huddersfield-Westtown will need a bridge or a tunnel, whereas Bolton-Wigan might need minor work to a couple of flat junctions.
  • Huddersfield station is Grade 1 Listed, whereas Wigan Wallgate station has some good features.
  • The Huddersfield-Westtown scheme is costed at £2.9 billion, whereas Bolton-Wigan is just £78 million.

The Huddersfield-Westtown scheme is thirty-seven times larger in terms of money.

What Passenger Services Use The Route Between Huddersfield And Dewsbury?

These services use the route, all or in part.

  • Northern Trains – Wigan Wallgate and Leeds via Manchester Victoria, Hebden Bridge, Brighouse, Mirfield, Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury – 1 tph
  • Northern Trains – Huddersfield and Castleford via Deighton, Mirfield and Wakefield Kirkgate – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough via Manchester Victoria, Stalybridge, Huddersfield and Leeds – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Redcar Central via Manchester Victoria, Stalybridge,  Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh via Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield and Leeds – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Newcastle via Manchester Victoria,  Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Piccadilly and Hull via Stalybridge,  Huddersfield and Leeds – 1 tph
  • TransPennine Express – Huddersfield and Leeds via Deighton, Mirfield, Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury – 1 tph

Note.

  1. All trains are one train per hour (tph)
  2. Three tph run non-stop between Huddersfield and Leeds.
  3. Two tph stop at Deighton station, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe.

After completion of the Huddersfield and Westtown upgrade, there will be electrification at the following places.

  • West of Manchester Victoria station
  • Between Huddersfield and Westtown
  • Between Leeds and York – Currently being electrified between York and Church Fenton.

And these routes will not be electrified.

  • Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.2 miles
  • Leeds and Hull – 51.5 miles
  • Mirfield and Castleford – 16 miles
  • Manchester Piccadilly and Stalybridge – Could be electrified – 7.5 miles
  • Manchester Victoria and Heaton Lodge Junction via Hebden Bridge – 47.4 miles
  • Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge – Could be electrified – 7.7 miles
  • Redcar Central and Northallerton – 28.1 miles
  • Stalybridge and Huddersfield – 18 miles
  • York and Scarborough – 42.1 miles

Note that all routes except Mirfield and Castleford and Leeds and Hull have electrification at both ends.

Which Routes Between Huddersfield And Westtown Could Be Handled By Battery-Electric Trains?

I will assume that operators will have a battery-electric train capable of running 56 miles on batter ypower. This distance comes from Hitachi’s specification for the Hitachi Regional Battery Train, which is shown in this Hitachi infographic.

These are the routes and my answers.

Northern Trains – Wigan Wallgate and Leeds

The longest section without electrification is Manchester Victoria and Heaton Lodge Junction via Hebden Bridge, which is 47.4 miles.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

Northern Trains – Huddersfield and Castleford

The longest section without electrification is Mirfield and Castleford, which is 16 miles.

But it must be handled on both an out and back basis. So the train will cover 32 miles on battery power.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough

The longest section without electrification to the West of Leeds, is Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, which is 25.7 miles.

At the Eastern end, as York and Scarborough is 42.1 miles without electrification, there would need to be some electrification or a charging system at Scarborough station.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Redcar Central

The longest section without electrification to the West of Leeds,is Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, which is 25.7 miles.

At the Eastern end, as Northallerton and Redcar Central is 28.1 miles without electrification, there may need to be some electrification or a charging system at Redcar Central station.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh

The longest section without electrification is Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, which is 25.7 miles.

Leeds and Edinburgh is fully electrified.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Newcastle

The longest section without electrification is Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, which is 25.7 miles.

Leeds and Newcastle is fully electrified.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Manchester Piccadilly and Hull

The longest section without electrification to the West of Leeds, is Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, which is 25.5 miles.

At the Eastern end, as Leeds and Hull is 51.5 miles, there would need to be some electrification or a charging system at Hull station.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

TransPennine Express – Huddersfield and Leeds

The longest section without electrification is Dewsbury and Leeds, which is 9.2 miles.

I am sure this route is possible with battery-electric trains.

Handling The Eastern Ends

At Hull, Redcar Central and Scarborough stations, there will need to be some means to recharge the trains, so they can get back to the electrification on the East Coast Main Line.

There could either be a short length of 25 KVAC overhead electrification or a special-purpose charging station.

There would need to be an allowance in the turnback, of perhaps 10-15 minutes to make sure trains started back with full batteries.

Will Huddersfield And Westtown Be Long Enough To Charge A Battery-Electric Train?

I have looked at train times between Huddersfield And Westtown and typically trains take around 11-12 minutes to go between Huddersfield and Dewsbury stations.

That should probably be enough, especially, as the trains will probably be using regenerative braking to batteries at any station stops.

Conclusion

I am absolutely certain that by completing the TransPennine Upgrade with full electrification between Huddersfield and Westtown, that all passenger services through the section could be run by battery-electric trains with a range of ninety kilometres or fifty-six miles.

There would probably need to be some electrification or a charging system at Hull, Redcar Central and Scarborough stations.

A Thought On Short Sections Of Electrification

As with the Bolton-Wigan scheme to the West of the Pennines, a length of electrified track that is less than ten miles, allows several services to be run by battery-electric trains and decarbonised.

How many other sections of less than ten miles of electrification can transform train services and reduce the use of diesel around the UK, by the introduction of fleets of battery-electric trains?

 

September 4, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Is A Crossrail For Leeds On The Way?

This article on Insider Media is entitled Schemes Totalling More Than £140m Backed By Investment Committee.

This is introductory paragraph.

Schemes totalling more than £140m to support the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, have have been backed by West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Investment Committee.

These are the two main schemes.

A £24.2m million (including £17m Combined Authority funding) rail station between Morley and Cotttingley on the Transpennine route at White Rose/

A 31.6m (including £13.9m of Combined Authority funding) parkway rail station at Thorpe Park on the Leeds to York section of the route.

There are also several other schemes for West Yorkshire.

White Rose Station

This Google Map shows the White Rose Centre.

The Huddersfield Line runs North-South alongside the Centre and there must be plenty of space for a new White Rose station.

From Wikipedia and other sources, the following seems to be on the agenda for the station.

  • Two platforms.
  • Ability to take six-car trains, with a possibility to extend to eight-cars.
  • Two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
  • Up to 340,000 passengers per year.
  • Lots of parking.

The station would be about 3.5 miles to the South-West of Leeds station.

Thorpe Park Station

This Google Map shows the area where the station could be built.

Note.

  1. The Selby Line curving across the Northern side of the map.
  2. Cross Gates station is the next station to the West.
  3. Going East on the Selby Line, you pass through Garforth, East Garforth and Micklefield stations before the line divides for York to the North and Selby and Hull to the East.
  4. The M1 Motorway passing to the East of Leeds.

Other features of the proposed station and the area include.

  • Wikipedia says that the station will have two island platforms and the ability to handle inter-city trains.
  • The route through the station would be electrified.
  • High Speed Two could be routed to go close to the station.
  • Lots of parking.

The station would be about 4 miles to the East of Leeds station.

A Crossrail For Leeds

Could these two stations in the future become stations on a high-capacity route across Yorkshire centred on Leeds?

  • The Western end of the route could be Huddersfield.
  • The Eastern end of the route could be both York and Hull.
  • Plans exist and projects have started to fully electrify between Huddersfield and York.
  • Both stations will be Park-and-Ride stations with good connections to the motorway network.
  • Intermediate stations between Leeds and Huddersfield could include Cottingley, White Rose, Morley, Batley, Dewsbury, Ravensthorpe, Mirfield and Deighton
  • Intermediate stations between Leeds and York could include Cross Gates, Thorpe Park, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, Church Fenton and Ulleskelf.
  • Intermediate stations between Leeds and Hull could include Cross Gates, Thorpe Park, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, South Milford, Selby, Wrassle, Howden, Eastrington, Gilberdyke, Broomfleet, Brough, Ferriby and Hessle.

With the exception of the two new stations and the electrification, infrastructure needs would not appear to be large.

These are some thoughts.

Distances And Timings

These are some distances and estimated timings from Leeds.

  • Huddersfield – 27 miles – 32 minutes – 51 mph
  • Hull – 52 miles – 55 minutes – 57 mph
  • York – 15,5 miles – 23 minutes – 40 mph

Note.

  1. With full electrification, timings could be improved.
  2. York and Huddersfield would be under an hour.
  3. Kull and Huddersfield could be under ninety minutes.

These timings would certainly be achievable by a 125 mph Class 802 train, but I suspect, that they could be achieved by a 110 mph electric train like a Class 730/1 train.

Current Services Through White Road, Leeds and Thorpe Park Stations

These services currents pass through the three stations or their proposed sites.

  • TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh
  • TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Newcastle
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Redcar Central
  • TransPennine Express – Manchester Piccadilly and Hull

Note.

  1. All of these trains are one tph.
  2. There could be five quality tph on the route, most of which would be five-car Class 802 trains.

In addition the following services would pass through Leeds and Thorpe Park stations.

  • CrossCountry – Plymouth and Edinburgh/Glasgow
  • Northern Trains – Blackpool North and York via Bradford Interchange
  • Northern Trains – Halifax and Hull via Bradford Interchange
  •  

Note.

  1. All of these trains are one tph.
  2. Two trains serve Bradford Interchange.

These services could mean eight tph between Thorpe Park and Leeds stations.

In addition the following services would pass through Leeds and White Rose stations.

  • Northern Trains – Wigan Wallgate and Leeds
  • TransPennine Express – Huddersfield and Leeds

Note.

  1. All of these trains are one tph.

These services could mean seven tph between White Rose and Leeds stations.

A Possible Future Service

I believe that services across Leeds could be recast to give the City a network of railways that would satisfy the needs of the City.

Possible services could include.

Four tph – York and Huddersfield via Thorpe Park, Leeds and White Rose in under an hour.

Two tph – Hull and Huddersfield via Thorpe Park, Leeds and White Rose in under ninety minutes.

Two tph – Halifax and Thorpe Park via Leeds and Bradford

Note

  1. There are a lot of possibilities.
  2. Services would be timed to make interchange easy with other services at Leeds.

I would also arrange for East to West and West to East services to share the same island platform at Leeds.

Conclusion

Leeds will get the electrified local railway the city deserves.

February 14, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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