The London And Edinburgh Travel Market
This paragraph comes from of this article on Railway Gazette.
Lumo is aiming to carry more than 1 million passengers per year. It is particularly targeting people who currently fly between Edinburgh and London; in June it says there were 74 764 air journeys on the route, compared to 82 002 by rail.
Lumo’s million passengers per year, will equate to around 83,300 passengers per month.
What these figures don’t show is the number of rail journeys made to intermediate stations like Newcastle, York, Doncaster and Peterborough.
These are a few thoughts.
Rail Capacity Between London And Edinburgh
Consider.
- LNER is currently the only rail carrier offering a daytime service between London and Edinburgh.
- LNER run approximately 26 trains per day (tpd) in both directions between London and Edinburgh.
- A nine-car Class 801 train can carry 510 Standard Class passengers and 101 First Class passengers.
That means that LNER had a capacity of just over 950,000 seats in June.
It might seem poor to have only sold 82,002 seats in June between London and Edinburgh, which is just 8.6 % of the available seats.
On the other hand, LNER’s two trains per hour (tph) are a lot more than London and Edinburgh trains, as they connect towns and cities all the way up the East Coast Main Line between London and Aberdeen.
Lumo’s capacity of a million seats per year, works out at 83,300 seats per month, which is another 8.7 % of capacity.
- Lumo will sell seats on price initially and I suspect they’ll end up running about 85-95 % full.
- It has been stated that they need to run 80% full to break even.
- I also think, that they would like to have a few seats for late bookers.
But even so, they will surely affect LNER’s bookings.
What Will LNER Do?
Several of the things, that Lumo are doing can be easily copied by LNER.
- Early booking.
- Improve onboard service.
- Better seating.
They could even reduce prices.
I think it is very likely we could end up with a price and service war between LNER and Lumo.
Would The Airlines Be The Losers?
This could be an outcome of competition between LNER and Lumo.
We are now talking about times of around four hours and twenty-five minutes between London and Edinburgh, but there are improvements underway on the East Coast Main Line.
- The remodelling of the approach to Kings Cross station has not been reflected in the timetables.
- The Werrington Dive Under has not been completed yet.
- Digital signalling is being installed South of Doncaster.
- The power supply is being upgraded North of Newcastle.
When these and other improvements are complete, I can see journey times reduced below four hours.
But would that only be for starters?great b
If a 1970s-technology Intercity 225 train, admittedly running as a shortened train formation, could achieve a time of just under three-and-a-half hours for the 393.2 miles between Kings Cross and Edinburgh stations in September 1991, what could a modern Hitachi train do, if all of the improvements had been completed and perhaps half of the route could be run at 140 mph under the watchful eyes of full digital signalling and an experienced driver.
Consider.
- London and York is nearly two hundred miles of fairly straight railway, that is ideal for high speed.
- Current trains run the 393.2 miles in four hours 25 minutes, which is an average speed of 89 mph.
- A train running at 89 mph would take two hours and fifteen minutes to cover 200 miles.
- A train running at 125 mph would take one hour and thirty-six minutes to cover 200 miles.
- A train running at 140 mph would take one hour and twenty-six minutes to cover 200 miles.
When Network Rail, Great British Railways or the Prime Minister renames the East Coast Main Line as High Speed East Coast, I think we can be sure that trains between London and Edinburgh will be able to achieve three-and-a-half hours between the two capitals.
High Speed Two is only promising three hours and forty-eight minutes.
What About LNER’s New Trains?
LNER Seeks 10 More Bi-Modes, was written to explore the possibilities suggested by a short article in the December 2020 Edition of Modern Railways.
There has been no sign of any order being placed, but Hitachi have moved on.
- They are building the prototype of the Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery for testing on the Great Western Railway.
- They have completed some of the Class 803 trains for East Coast Trains, which has now been renamed Lumo. These trains have a battery for hotel power in case of catenary failure, but no diesel engines.
- They are building the Class 807 trains for Avanti West Coast, which appear to be designed for high speed and have no batteries or diesel engines.
- The latest versions of the trains will have a reshaped nose. Is it more aerodynamic at high speeds?
It does seem that there is an emphasis on speed, better acceleration and efficiency.
- Could the lessons learned be used to improve the performance of the existing trains?
- Could a small high performance sub-fleet be created to run LNER’s Scottish services?
There are certainly possibilities, that would cut journey times between London and Edinburgh.
Conclusion
I can see the airlines flying between London and Edinburgh suffering a lot of collateral damage, as the two train companies slug it out.
LNER’s Terrible Tickets
On my last trip on LNER to Spalding, I had to buy the tickets in the Booking Office, as I can’t get the hang of their machines at King’s Cross.
Like several other companies, they have changed to thermal tickets.
They are awful!
- You can’t put them in a typical pocket in a wallet.
- They curl up.
- I constantly drop them, because my left hand doesn’t work properly.
- Is thermal paper as environmentally-friendly as the credit-car-sized card tickets?
They should be banned as soon as possible!
The Definitive Seating Layout Of Lumo’s Class 803 Trains
This article on Economy Class and Beyond is entitled Enter Lumo – The New East Coast Railway Competitor.
It contains a drawing from Lumo, which shows the layouts of the seats on the train.
- Coach A – 44 Standard seats – 8 Priority seats – 2 Wheelchair spaces – 2 Tip up seats – Accessible toilet – 56 Total seats
- Coach B – 84 Standard seats – 12 Priority seats – Bike store – Toilet – 96 Total seats
- Coach C – 84 Standard seats – 12 Priority seats – 96 Total seats
- Coach D – 84 Standard seats – 12 Priority seats – Bike store – Toilet – 96 Total seats
- Coach E – 52 Standard seats – 8 Priority seats – 2 Tip up seats – Accessible toilet – 62 Total seats
Note.
- This is a total of 406 seats.
- Judging by the position of the tip-up seats they are for staff and perhaps emergency use, if say a coffee gets spilled on a seat.
- Each car has a pair of tables, where four can sit. As Lumo’s business model allows early booking, if you and your partner want to take the kids to see granny on her birthday, you should be able to get a table, by booking early.
- There are two bike stores in Coaches B and D.
These are some further thoughts.
Toilet Provision
I was on an LNER Class 800 train earlier this week and needed to go to the toilet.
- I wasn’t sure which way I needed to go, as I couldn’t see a sign pointing me to the toilet, but in the end I struck lucky.
- You don’t have that problem with Lumo’s trains, as there appears to be a toilet at both ends of the three middle coaches, either in your car or the next.
- If you’re in one of the driver cars, there is an accessible toilet at the blunt end.
I don’t think anybody will argue with the toilet provision on Lumo’s trains.
Can The Trains Be Lengthened?
If you look at the diagram of the train, Coaches B and D appear to be identical with a toilet and a bike store at one end.
These ends are connected to the centre car, which doesn’t have its own toilet, but passengers can use the toilets in the next coaches.
One of the advantages of this layout is that although it is a five-car train, it only has four coach types, which must help in both manufacture and maintenance.
But it also helps, if the train service is successful and more capacity needs to be provided.
An extra coach just needs to have a toilet at one end and when it is slotted into the formation. The train software, then automatically acknowledges the additional car.
The rule of having a toilet at both ends of the centre coaches will not be broken.
These trains are certainly designed for a service that could be more successful, than the train operator has initially planned.
The maths of lengthening are very simple.
- Each new coach will add another 96 seats.
- The five trains (25 coaches) cost £100 million.
- That is £4 million per coach.
- All stations on the route are capable of handling at least nine-car trains.
Different lengths of trains would give the following increases.
- Six-car trains would hold 502 seats and increase capacity by 24 %.
- Seven-car trains would hold 598 seats and increase capacity by 47 %.
- Eight-car trains would hold 694 seats and increase capacity by 71 %.
- Nine-car trains would hold 790 seats and increase capacity by 94 %.
The ability to lengthen trains so easily, must mean that Lumo can match their train size to demand, without needing any extra expensive train paths.
Bicycle Storage
There are two bike storage racks in Coaches B and D.
As there has been complaints about bicycle storage on these Hitachi trains, I would assume that Lumo have got the provision right for the target market.
Wheelchair Travellers
These are positioned next to one of the accessible toilets, which is standard practice.
How Will These Trains Compare To Budget Airliners?
This is not a great picture of even a boring subject like the A14 going over the East Coast Main Line.
But it was taken from an airline-style seat through the wide window of an LNER Hitachi train, that is in the same family as the trains purchased by Lumo.
Try taking a decent picture through the porthole on a budget airliner.
If Lumo have used decent seats for the trains, they will have the budget airlines screwed, glued and tattooed on the London and Edinburgh route.
Conclusion
These are certainly trains designed for their market.
Lumo Aims To Be The Green Alternative To Edinburgh – London Flights
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
Some points from the article.
Lumo Is Targeting Flyers
This is a paragraph.
Lumo is aiming to carry more than 1 million passengers per year. It is particularly targeting people who currently fly between Edinburgh and London; in June it says there were 74 764 air journeys on the route, compared to 82 002 by rail.
I find it interesting that the number of passengers using air and rail are within nine percent. I thought it would have been more of a difference.
The Service Will Ramp Up
This is a paragraph.
Services will ramp up over a period of months to the planned timetable of five trains each way per day. A small increase is envisaged at the December timetable change, followed by full implementation in Q1 2022.
There is a lot of training to do and some more Class 803 trains to be delivered.
Viability Level
Industry sources are quoted that at the prices charged, the trains will need to be eighty percent full to be viable.
As a Control Engineer, who has built hundreds of mathematical models, I am fairly certain, that by adjusting ticket prices and getting the marketing right, they’ll hit that level.
Late Bookers
The eighty percent viability level probably means that they can afford to leave a few seats available for those that need to book the day before.
Yesterday, when I went to Spalding, I bought my ticket in the Booking Office half-an-hour before travel and got a seat with a window.
Seat allocation algorithms on LNER seem to be very good and I don’t think Lumo’s will be in any way inferior.
Early Bookers
The article says advance tickets can be bought earlier than the usual twelve weeks.
So say you always travel to Scotland for your mother’s birthday, you can buy the ticket early and not be hit by low availability, as it turns out later that Rangers are playing Celtic on the day you travel.
Mutual Support In Case Of Disruption
This is a paragraph.
Reciprocal contracts providing support in case of disruption have been signed with other operators, including LNER.
I think in all the troubles yesterday, that I wrote about in Azumas Everywhere!, LNER could have done with some help yesterday.
Lumo Want To Grow Rail
This is a quote from the company.
We want to grow rail and bring people to a more sustainable, environmentally way of travelling.
They also seem fairly relaxed if you want to travel in First on LNER.
Luggage
This is a paragraph.
Passengers will be able keep their luggage close by or, for an additional charge, have it delivered to their final station or destination.
Does that mean you’re going to Edinburgh to see the family at Christmas and the New Year, you can take a lot of luggage and get it delivered both ways?
Efficient Running North Of Newcastle
I particularly liked this paragraph.
The trainsets will be able to run with power draw limited to 80% of normal on the northern part of the East Coast Main Line where there is limited power supply, with modelling by FirstGroup’s engineers and Network Rail suggesting that for five-car sets this will not affect sectional running times and will allow electric trains to continue running.
If you’re on time, the passengers won’t mind, but the electricity saved is all profit.
As a Control Engineer, my philosophy would be to have an economy mode for 80 % power sections.
- Trains would enter these sections with a full battery, that had been charged earlier from the electrification.
- The battery would provide hotel power in these sections.
- Traction power would come from the electrification.
- Trains could leave these sections with an almost flat battery.
The battery is not used for traction, but because it is handling the hotel power, less power is drawn from the electrification for traction.
I always remember Freddie Laker was keen on getting his pilots to save fuel.
Charging The Hotel Power Battery
Obviously this can be charged from the overhead electrification, although I doubt they would charge it in sections where power supplies are limited.
But can the battery be charged using regenerative braking?
In Do Class 800/801/802 Trains Use Batteries For Regenerative Braking?, I tried to answer this question using the information in this document on the Hitachi Rail web site, which is entitled Development of Class 800/801 High-speed Rolling Stock for UK Intercity Express Programme , which was published in 2014 and contains this diagram of the traction system.
Note that BC in the diagram stands for battery charger. So even in 2014, Hitachi were thinking about batteries.
In this diagram it seems to me, that electricity for the Auxiliary Power Supply and charging any batteries, can come from these sources.
- The Electrification
- The Generator Unit, if fitted
- The Drive Converter if it can divert regenerative braking energy to the APS.
It is all very comprehensive.
Handling Engineering Blockades
This is a paragraph.
Lumo has looked at how to manage any engineering blockades involving diversions away from the wires, with options including transfers to Hull Trains or TPE services operated using bimode trainsets, transfer to buses if no alternatives are available, and even the cancellation of a service if passengers indicate they would prefer not to travel if their journey will be disrupted.
Being part of a larger group always helps.
Borrowing Trains
Yesterday, whilst waiting to leave Peterborough, I saw a TransPennine Express Class 802 train go through.
Peterborough isn’t exactly near the Pennines!
On checking today, it appears it was running in one of Lumo’s paths.
So was the train being borrowed for training purposes?
But I can envisage, when a difficult blockade say around Newark is to be enacted, that Lumo would borrow a bi-mode from TransPennine Express, so they could use diesel to run the service via Lincoln.
Conclusion
There’s a lot more to Lumo than has so far been disclosed.
In the meantime read the Railway Gazette article, as there’s more there for starters.
Azumas Everywhere!
I arrived in Peterborough twenty-five minutes late to the site of Azumas everywhere.
Something had obviously gone very wrong. Passengers for Inverness were even being moved from one train in Platform 2 to another in Platform 4.
Was this chaos and my post called Was The Queen’s Locomotive Acting As A Thunderbird? connected?
With hindsight and a bit of help from Real Time Trains, I think they probably were?
Arriving In Platform 0 At Kings Cross
I’ve arrived in Kings Cross station hundreds of times, but today, when i came back from Spalding via Peterborough, it could have been the first time, that I arrived in Platform 0.
I took these pictures of the island between Platform 0 and Platform 1, which contains the InterCity 225.
Note that it is a very long and wide platform.
I am getting more convinced that the answer to the question I asked in Is King’s Cross Station Ready For Parcel Trains?, is in the affirmative.
All Change As First Class Ditched By New Intercity Rail Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Rail bosses signalled the end of the first-class carriage today with plans for a new all-standard intercity train service between London and Edinburgh.
The new budget service will operate on the east coast mainline from October 25, with one-way fares starting from £14.90. In all, 60 per cent of single tickets will be below £30.
I find it interesting that The Times is making the lack of First Class, the most important point in the story.
In Thoughts On Seating In East Coast Trains’ New Class 803 trains, I looked at what the seats could be like and decided they could be generous with lots of tables given the number of seats and the size of the train.
The Times article confirms my analysis.
Having travelled to Liverpool a couple of years ago in Standard Class with two senior guys from Legal and General, I suspect that many business travellers who want to read and chat could turn to East Coast Trains from the airlines.
The article does give some previously-unknown information.
The Service Will Be Called Lumo
The name is unusual, but it is short, memorable and lumo.co.uk was available and is now up and under development as the East Coast Trains web site.
Lumo has also been used for an energy provider, which has now been merged into OVO Energy and is also a video game.
The Service Starts On October 25th
The times are still as I said in Thoughts On Seating In East Coast Trains’ New Class 803 trains, with London and Edinburgh services as follows.
King’s Cross and Edinburgh
- 05:45 – Arrives 10:10 – 4 hours 25 minutes – Stops at Stevenage
- 10:45 – Arrives 15:17 – 4 hours 32 minutes
- 12:18 – Arrives 16:41 – 4 hours 23 minutes – Stops at Stevenage
- 14:36 – Arrives 19:15 – 4 hours 39 minutes
- 20:18 – Arrives 00:46 – 4 hours 28 minutes
Edinburgh and King’s Cross
- 06:14 – Arrives 10:51 – 4 hours 37 minutes
- 09:11 – Arrives 13:48 – 4 hours 37 minutes
- 11:14 – Arrives 15:46 – 4 hours 32 minutes
- 16:12 – Arrives 20:47 – 4 hours 35 minutes – Stops at Stevenage
- 19:58 – Arrives 01:05 – 5 hours 7 minutes – Stops at Stevenage
Note.
- Times appear to be in-line with those of LNER.
- East Coast Trains’ objective of arriving by 10:00 is not met.
- Paths exist for East Coast Trains from the 7th June.
I got these times from Real Time Trains.
The Lumo Web Site
I have also tried to book a ticket on their web site.
They accept Railcards and I was able to get a one-way ticket for £13.30. But as the site doesn’t appear to be complete, I didn’t buy the ticket.
But if you can go between London and Edinburgh for £13.30, that is certainly good value.
The First Group Press Release
This Press Release from First Group gives more details and was the source of The Times article.
New Rail Service From Newcastle To Edinburgh To Stop At These Northumberland Stations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Chronicle Live.
Details of the service are as follows.
- It will be run by TransPennine Express.
- It starts in December 2021.
- It will run five times per day (tpd)
- It will call at Cramlington, Morpeth, Widdrington, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston and Dunbar.
It is planned to run at least until May 2023.
These are my thoughts.
What Trains Will TransPennine Express Use?
The service will probably need a single train, if it was run by a dedicated fleet of trains, that just shuttled between Edinburgh and Newcastle. TransPennine could use either an electric Class 802 train or a diesel Class 185 train.
The diesel train might not be a good idea for operational reasons as TransPennine’s current services to Newcastle and Edinburgh use Class 802 trains.
But this service wouldn’t need a Class 802 train, as the route is fully electrified, so TransPennine might use a Class 800 train, if one were available from another company in the First Group.
TransPennine could also extend selected Manchester Airport and Newcastle services to Edinburgh, which might be the most efficient ways of using both trains and platforms in Newcastle.
This would give those using the intermediate stations between Edinburgh and Newcastle a service to and from Manchester Airport and the intervening stations, with a change at Newcastle, which would involve staying on the same train.
I’d organise the service as five tpd between Manchester Airport and Edinburgh with calls at Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, York, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street, Newcastle, Cramlington, Morpeth, Widdrington, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston and Dunbar.
The big advantage of this, is that TransPennine could use the existing Class 802 trains, although they may need one more.
Reston Station
It looks like it will be a much needed service, that will get the new Reston station up and running.
I suspect that, passenger numbers at Reston station will determine the calling pattern after May 2023.
Will Other Services Continue?
TransPennine Express only has one service that stops between Newcastle and Edinburgh and that is the hourly service between Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh stations and that only stops at Morpeth.
I doubt this service will be changed, although after May 2023, it may make some extra stops depending on passenger numbers on the new service.
It should be noted that CrossCountry and LNER call irregularly at Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar.
As LNER are in rather a mess over their new timetable, I suspect that after May 2023, there could be a bit of a sort out of services.
How Will The New Service Fit With The Reopened Northumberland Line?
Initially the Northumberland Line will run as far as Ashington and won’t open until 2023 at the earliest.
But plans exist to extend the Northumberland Line to Morpeth.
The new service would fit well with an extended Northumberland Line service.
How Will The New Service Fit With East Coast Trains New London And Edinburgh Service?
East Coast Trains will be running a new Open Access service between London and Edinburgh from this autumn.
- It will have a frequency of 5 tpd.
- It will stop at Newcastle, Morpeth and Stevenage.
- It will offer one way fares of £25.
East Coast Trains are another First Group company.
As both services are five tpd in both directions, will the two services co-ordinate stops, so that passengers between say London and Reston can take advantage?
Going North, the stopping train could follow the East Coast Trains express and going South the stopping train would be a few minutes in front of the express.
This would also help with maximising capacity between Edinburgh and Newcastle on the busy East Coast Main Line.
Conclusion
This new stopping service between Edinburgh and Newcastle looks to be a simple solution to improve passenger services for intermediate stations between the two important cities.
Anxiety Over HS2 Eastern Leg Future
I did think about giving this post a title of Here We Go Again, as it yet another story about delaying or cancelling the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.
But in the end I decided to use the title of the article in the September 2021 Edition of Modern Railways.
I wrote about this subject in Is The Eastern Leg Of High Speed Two Under Threat? in December 2020.
In that post, this was my major conclusion.
To achieve the required timings for High Speed Two, major improvements must be made to existing track on the East Coast Main Line and these improvements will mean that existing services will be competitive with High Speed Two on time.
It is backed up by the timings in the following table., which show the direct time by High Speed Two and my best estimate of time on an improved East Coast Main Line.
- Bradford – Will not served by High Speed Two – One hour and fifty-four minutes
- Cleethorpes – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and fifty-one minutes
- Darlington – One hour and forty-nine minutes – One hour and forty-nine minutes
- Doncaster – Will not served by High Speed Two – One hour
- Edinburgh – Three hours and forty minutes via Western Leg – Three hours and thirty minutes.
- Grimsby – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and thirty-six minutes
- Harrogate – Will not served by High Speed Two – One hour and fifty-two minutes
- Huddersfield – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and eight minutes
- Hull – Will not served by High Speed Two – One hour and fifty minutes
- Leeds – One hour and twenty-one minutes – One hour and thirty minutes
- Lincoln – Will not served by High Speed Two – One hour and fifty-one minutes
- Middlesbrough – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and twenty minutes
- Newcastle – Two hours and seventeen minutes – Two hours and sixteen minutes
- Nottingham – One hour and seven minutes – One hour and fifty minutes
- Scarborough – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and fifty-seven minutes
- Sheffield – One hour and twenty-seven minutes – One hour and twenty-seven minutes
- Skipton – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and seven minutes
- Sunderland – Will not served by High Speed Two – Two hours and thirty minutes
- York – One hour and twenty-four minutes – One hour and twenty-four minutes
Note.
- I have included all destinations served by Grand Central, Hull Trains and LNER.
- I have included Nottingham and Sheffield for completeness and in case whilst electrification is installed on the Midland Main Line, LNER run services to the two cities.
- I suspect LNER services to Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Skipton will split and join at Leeds.
There are a total of nineteen destination in this table.
- Twelve are not served by High Speed Two.
- Six are not more than fifteen minutes slower by the East Coast Main Line.
Only Nottingham is substantially quicker by High Speed Two.
In Is The Eastern Leg Of High Speed Two Under Threat?, I said that if Nottingham services ran at the sort of speed on the East Coast Main Line, that a time of one hour and twenty-one minutes between London St. Pancras and Nottingham could be possible. That would be just fourteen minutes slower than the time on High Speed Two with a change at East Midlands Hub.
Conclusion
I am getting more convinced that we don’t need the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two to East Midlands Hub and Leeds for a few years yet, as by uprating the East Coast and Midland Main Lines we can handle the traffic that we currently are generating with ease.
Middlesbrough To London LNER Trains To Run From 13 December
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
The title is clear and these paragraphs give details of the train service.
The daily weekday service in each direction will also connect nearby Thornaby with London King’s Cross.
The services will depart Middlesbrough at 07:08 and Thornaby at 07:15, arriving at King’s Cross at 10:22.
Northbound from London will leave at 15:25, stopping at York, to Thornaby at 18:08 and Middlesbrough at 18:18.
This is obviously not a complete service.
- It will be impossible to use direct trains to spend a day on Teesside from London, as I have done many times over the years, usually with a change at Darlington station.
- It needs to run seven days a week.
But as the article says, more work needs to be done at Middlesbrough to turn the trains.
Currently, LNER run one train per two hours (1tp2h) to York, which alternates with a service to Lincoln at the same frequency.
LNER have said, that the Middlesbrough service will be an extension of the York service.
- As York trains can be nine-car trains, this could explain the need for works at Middlesbrough station.
- As York and Middlesbrough are 51 miles and an hour apart, it looks to me, that once Middlesbrough station has been updated, LNER can extend services to Middlesbrough according to passenger demand.
I suspect that eventually, the London and Middlesbrough service will have a similar frequency as the Harrogate and Lincoln services of five trains per day (tpd).
What Real Time Trains Says About The Service
Although it’s exactly four months before the service starts, it has already been entered into Real Time Trains.
The following information is given about the services.
- One seven-minute stop at York going South and a five-minute stop going North.
- Changeover between diesel and electric at Longlands junction, where the Teesside trains leave and join the East Coast Main Line.
- Services do not appear to pass through Northallerton station.
Train times are as given by the BBC.
Splitting And Joining At Newark
I think it would be possible to combine the Lincoln, Middlesbrough and York services into one service.
- A pair of five-car Azumas would run between Kings Cross and Newark North Gate, with stops at Stevenage, Peterborough and Grantham.
- They would split at Newark North Gate station.
- The front train would continue Northwards to Middlesbrough, with stops at Retford, Doncaster, York and Thornaby.
- The rear train would continue Eastwards to Lincoln, with a possible extension to Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes.
Returning South the trains would join at Newark North Gate.
Note.
- As TransPennine Express services to and from Middlesbrough, call at Northallerton, LNER services could do the same.
- As with splitting and joining at Newark, only a five-car train runs to and from Middlesbrough, this could be used before the new platform at Middlesbrough is constructed.
- if this service ran at a frequency of 1tp2h, there would be space in the timetable for a new 1tp2h service to perhaps Newcastle and Edinburgh.
There are a lot of possibilities.
Battery-Electric Trains Between London And Middlesbrough
Only the twenty miles between Northallerton and Middlesbrough on the route are without electrification.
Hitachi have announced the Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, which is described in this Hitachi infographic.
I believe that a version of this train could be given sufficient battery range to be able to achieve a round trip to Middlesbrough station from the electrification of the East Coast Main Line, without any need for charging at Middlesbrough.
It could be one of the first InterCity services in the world, run by battery-electric trains.
The Anonymous Widower 