Fast Battery-Electric Hitachi Trains Between Paddington And Bristol Temple Mead Stations
It was when I was writing Thoughts On Lumo’s Proposed Paddington And Paignton Service, that I realised how significant Hitachi’s battery-electric high speed trains will be.
This page on the Hitachi web site gives this overview of their Intercity Battery Trains.
A quick and easy application of battery technology is to install it on existing or future Hitachi intercity trains. Hitachi Rail’s modular design means this can be done without the need to re-engineer or rebuild the train and return them to service as quickly as possible for passengers.
Replacing one diesel engine with just one battery reduces emissions by more than 20% and offers cost savings of 20-30%. Our intercity battery powered trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same or increased performance.
For the purpose of this exercise, I will assume the following.
- All trains are five-car trains.
- They were all originally manufactured as Class 800, 802 or 805 trains.
- They were all originally manufactured with three 750 kW Rolls-Royce mtu diesel generators.
- One diesel generator in each train has been replaced by a 750 kW battery-pack of the same size, weight and performance.
According to Hitachi’s web page, that I quote above, this gives intercity speeds at the same or increased performance, for 70 km. on non-electrified routes.
I will now look at how a Hitachi battery-electric high speed train would handle the line between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Mead stations.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the electrification between Chippenham and Bath Spa stations.
Note.
- London Paddington and Bristol Temple Mead stations are 118.3 miles apart.
- The blue arrow indicates Bath Spa station.
- Bristol Temple Meads station is 11.5 miles to the West of Bath Spa station.
- Chippenham station is in the North East corner of the map.
- Black lines are not electrified.
- Red lines are electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- The 93.9 miles betweeen London Paddington and Chippenham is fully-electrified.
- Red and black dotted lines are being electrified.
- The 24.4 miles between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Mead stations is not electrified.
- The residents of Bath Spa are not keen for the railway through Bath to be electrified.
The single battery-pack in the train, will have to propel the train between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Mead stations.
- On arrival at Chippenham, the battery will have been fully charged on the 93.9 miles from London Paddington.
- The train will be switched to battery power and proceed through Bath Spa station to Bristol Temple Meads station.
- The 24.4 miles between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Mead stations is only 39.26 km. so it is well within range of a single battery pack.
- The trains will be able to reach Bath, as fast as the track allows, so they could have come much of the way from London Paddington at speeds approaching 125 mph.
Hence my belief that Bath Spa could be reached in around an hour without any stops from London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads in a very fast time.
There may be a need to top up the battery at Bristol Temple Meads station for London trains to return to the electrification at Chippenham or for other trains to continue their journey through Bristol.
This could be handled by some lengths of electrification in platforms in Bristol Temple Meads station, where the Hitachi trains terminate.
However, I feel Network Rail will be able to avoid the sensitive and possibly very challenging electrification through Bath.
Conclusion
London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads via Bath Spa trains would be substantially speeded up. Especially, if the first stop out of London Paddington were to be Bath Spa station.
Great Western Railway would only cut out the stops if they wanted to speed up services.
Who’d have thought, that powering services by batteries, would speed up services?
Thoughts On Lumo’s Proposed Paddington And Paignton Service
Modern Railways says this about Lumo’s proposed new service between Paddington and Paignton.
Under the plans for Paignton, announced on 5 December, there would be five return Lumo trains running between Paddington and Paignton, serving Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St David’s and Torquay. These could start in May 2028. A sixth path is planned between Highbridge & Burnham and London Paddington.
Modern Railways says that currently there are only three direct trains between Torbay and London and that rail has a 29% modal share on that route compared to 71% for road.
Modern Railways tell us that GWR current run three trains per day to Paignton and these call at Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway and Exeter St. David’s and Torquay.
Note.
- Lumo will be taking five stops using a longer route.
- GWR currently take ten stops using a shorter route via Westbury.
- GWR currently take ten stops between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads.
- The fastest GWR service I can find takes three hours and four minutes between London Paddington and Paignton.
- The fastest GWR service I can find takes one hour and thirty-five minutes between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads.
- The fastest service I can find takes one hour and thirty-nine minutes with five stops between Bristol Temple Meads and Paignton.
- Lumo’s trains will probably be fitted with traction batteries rather than diesel engines, so it is likely, that the fewer stops they execute will be done quieter and faster.
I would not be at all surprised to find that Lumo’s journey times would be of this order.
- London Paddington and Bath Spa – One hour
- London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads – One hour and thirty minutes
- London Paddington and Taunton – Two hours
- London Paddington and Exeter St. David’s – Two hours and thirty minutes
- London Paddington and Torquay – Two hours and fifty minutes
- Paddington and Paignton – Three hours
These sections would not be electrified.
- Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads – 24.4 miles
- Bristol Temple Meads and Paignton – 103.8 miles
In Fast Battery-Electric Hitachi Trains Between Paddington And Bristol Temple Mead Stations, I discuss how Lumo and Great Western Railway will speed trains to Bristol Temple Meads via Bath Spa and Chippenham.
If 128.2 miles on batteries sounds a tough ask, remember that a similar-sized Stadler Addu ran 139 miles on one charge in 2021. Lumo, Hitachi and their battery makers from Sunderland didn’t enter this contest to come a distant second.
Paignton has a big advantage, as this OpenRailwayMap shows.
Note.
- Paignton station is marked by the blue arrow and writing at the top of the map.
- There are two platforms, one of which normally handles arrivals and the other departures.
- There are the Goodrington Carriage sidings to the South of the station.
I’m sure Hitachi will electrify some of the sidings, so that Lumo’s trains can leave Paignton with full batteries. But they only need enough charge to cover the 128.2 miles to Chippenham!
I have a few extra thoughts.
The Train’s Batteries Will Get Bigger
Hitachi must have access to the best battery chemistry, that the world and especially Japan can offer.
I feel very strongly, that the performance of Hitachi’s trains will get better, as the years progress.
Pairs Of Trains Could Be Used
I suspect all the stations that will be used by the service ; Paddington, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St David’s, Torquay and Paignton can handle a pair of five-car Hitachi trains on a busy day.
The Goodrington Carriage sidings at Paignton station would certainly appear to be long enough.
This could be useful.
An Early Bath
Consider.
- Currently, the fastest trains to Bath Spa take one hour and fourteen minutes from London Paddington.
- But the trains do make as many as three stops at Reading, Swindon and Chippenham, before they stop at Bath Spa.
- London Paddington and Bath Spa are 106.8 miles apart.
- The route is fully electrified between London Paddington and Chippenham.
This is an average speed of 86.6 mph.
Lumo will have two advantages
- They will be making Bath Spa the first stop.
- They will be able to maintain at least 100 mph for a large part of the route between London Paddington and Bath Spa, by the use of traction batteries, where there are no wires.
- To go between London Paddington and Bath Spa in an hour, requires an average speed of 106.8 mph
If they could average 100 mph, the time would be 66 minutes.
Bath Spa may not be an hour from Paddington, but it will be very close to it.
I would expect that a fast service to Bath could fill up with day-trippers.
How Long Will A Round Trip Take?
If I’m right that Lumo’s battery-electric high speed trains will be able to do one-way in three hours, then adding in half-an-hour to turn and charge the train at Paignton would suggest a six-an-a-half hour round trip.
How Many Trains Will Be Needed For A Full Service?
Lumo are talking of five round trips per day to Paignton and one to Highbridge & Burnham, so this would probably need two trains to run the service.
The Wikipedia entry for Highbridge & Burnham station says this.
A loop on the west side of the line south of the station can be used by goods trains in either direction, southbound trains crossing over to run wrong line through the northbound No.2 platform to do so. This crossing also allows terminating passenger trains from the north to reverse here if required.
Perhaps this loop will be used to allow one train to start from here in the morning and at the end of the day stable here overnight.
The loop could be electrified to make sure that the first train of the day gets to Chippenham.
Trains could follow a schedule like this.
- Train 1 – Leaves Highbridge & Burnham – 06:00
- Train 1 – Arrives London Paddington – 08:00
- Train 1 – Leaves London Paddington – 08:30
- Train 1 – Arrives Paignton – 11:30
- Train 1 – Leaves Paignton – 12:00
- Train 1 – Arrives London Paddington – 15:00
- Train 1 – Leaves London Paddington – 15:30
- Train 1 – Arrives Paignton – 18:30
- Train 1 – Leaves Paignton – 19:00
- Train 1 – Arrives London Paddington – 22:00
- Train 2 – Leaves London Paddington – 06:30
- Train 2 – Arrives Paignton – 09:30
- Train 2 – Leaves Paignton – 10:00
- Train 2 – Arrives London Paddington – 13:00
- Train 2 – Leaves London Paddington – 13:30
- Train 2 – Arrives Paignton – 16:30
- Train 2 – Leaves Paignton – 17:00
- Train 2 – Arrives London Paddington – 20:00
- Train 2 – Leaves London Paddington – 20:30
- Train 2 – Arrives Highbridge & Burnham – 22:30
Someone with more experience of writing timetables could make this work.
But it does appear to me, that using Highbridge & Burnham station for an early start and an overnight charge of one of the trains could mae the whole service work.
Lumo Launches A 0.5% Beer For The New Year In Partnership With A Newcastle Brewing Company
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Cumberland Gazette.
This is the sub-heading.
Lumo has launches a locally-sourced, low-alcohol beer in partnership with Newcastle’s Donzoko Brewing Company to be available on services between Edinburgh and London.
These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.
Big Nothing 0.5% will be available in time for the new year, aimed towards those taking part in giving up alcohol for Dry January. The addition is part of Lumo’s commitment to providing locally sourced onboard options as part of the catering offer on its services on the East Coast route.
The release of the drink comes after the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) reported a 45% increase in alcohol-related incidents during the festive period last year.
I shall be trying some of this beer next time I travel on Lumo.
Is Internet Security Sometimes Over Secure?
On Friday the 13th December, I received a Purchase Confirmation from eBay by e-mail.
As I get lots of spam e-mails, I decided it was just the usual spam and ignored it.
But then I got thinking.
- I have never bought anything on eBay.
- I sold a lot of surplus things, when I last moved house on eBay and was very satisfied with their service.
- The purchase was for a watch and I don’t wear one.
- It was also an Apple watch and as the company has given me so much grief on their non-standard co9mputer and file formats , when I was a programmer, I never buy or use any Apple products.
- It was also for £650, which is never the sort of sum, I ever would pay for a watch.
So I did all the safety checks on my bank accounts and credit cards and found everything was as it should be.
On the Purchase Confirmation from eBay is a 0204 phone number offering help . So I rang it on the Saturday.
My call was answered by a male operator with a slight accent, but speaking good English.
- After I gave him the Order ID, he said that eBay had closed my account because of inactivity.
- I have since found an e-mail from eBay saying they were closing my account and I remember answering it, but as I felt I didn’t need the account, I took no action.
- The operator, then said that someone had reactivated the account and told me that this needed documents like Council Tax to prove I lived at the house.
- He then asked if anybody lived with me. I told him no, as I’m a widower in perhaps a rather curt manner, as I don’t like being accused of a crime.
- I then realised that this was an inside job, from my experience of working with police forces, banks and consultants in stopping crime.
- I told him my thoughts in a quiet way.
He then said he’d close the account and the conversation ended.
On the Monday, I decided I wanted to go to see the new Northumberland Line on the Wednesday.
- So I decided to book online using Lumo to Newcastle.
- Before entering your bank/credit card number, Lumo ask for your name and address.
- I didn’t get past the name and address entry, probably because, I suspect eBay had put my name and address on a black-list!
In the end, I bought my tickets at the King’s Cross station ticket office using a credit card. At least they were the same as the on-line price.
It was a good trip and I wrote about it in London And Newcastle In A Day By Lumo and My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024.
Conclusion
I have phoned Lumo, most of my banks and credit cards, Action Fraud, the BBC, the police and I still can’t find out how I get myself off this accursed black-list.
The only good thing, is that I have not had ay money taken out of my bank account.
I have also reported the fraud to the Metropolitan Police and got a crime number for it.
My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024
Yesterday, I took Lumo to Newcastle and took my first ride to Ashington on the Northumberland Line.
These are some of the pictures I took.
Note.
- Much of the route is double-track.
- Bridges over the tracks indicate, that some stations will have two platforms.
- I suspect some stations could take a five-car train.
- One guy said that there is a lot of landscaping to do.
- The standard is very similar to the Borders Railway.
I have some other thoughts.
The Blyth Valley Is Well Supplied With Electricity
Several high-capacity connections to wind farms and Norway are planned to come ashore at Blyth and it appears from the pictures that the area is well connected to the grid.
This must have nudged Britishvolt to put their battery plant at Blyth.
But no matter for those jobs, as with a rail service to Greater Geordieland and lots of electricity, there must be other energy-hungry businesses like datacentres or small modular reactor factories, who would want the site.
The Long Platforms
I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long and can carry around 400 passengers.
This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.
Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.
It looks to me, that the Northumberland line was designed for large factories or businesses with lots of workers, that needed lots of electricity.
Development North Of Ashington
This OpenRailwayMap shows the area North of Ashington.
Note.
- The orange line going up and down the map is the East Coast Main Line.
- Morpeth station is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Ashington station is in the South-East corner of the map.
I think there might be scope to develop this area to make the heavy components needed for wind farms and small modular reactors,
London And Newcastle In A Day By Lumo
On Monday, the weather for yesterday in the North-East seemed set fair, I was able to get tickets on Lumo both ways for a reasonable price and the new Northumberland Line had opened.
So I decided to go for it.
My outward journey was on the 10:45 and the return was on the 17:52, which gave me more than enough time to take a train to Ashington and back.
I took these pictures as I arrived in and changed cmy trains at Newcastle.
Note.
- The weather in Geordieland was gorgeous.
- Is there another station in the UK, with an approach with such a large number of bridges over a large river.
- I took the bridge pictures from the lobby of the train.
- The blue railway bridge is on the East side of the train.
- The modern road bridge is on the West side of the train.
- In The Bridges of Newcastle, there are more pictures of Newcastles’s bridges.
- To change trains, I had to cross from one side of the station to the other on a stiff bridge without lifts.
- The Northumberland Line trains run every thirty minutes.
These are some further thoughts on Newcastle station, which I will write later.
Timings Going North
The train left Kings Cross at 10:45½, which was just thirty seconds late.
It arrived in Newcastle at 13:48, which was four minutes late.
The journey time had been three hours and two and a half minutes.
Timings Going South
The train left Newcastle at 17:52, which was on time.
It arrived in Kings Cross at 21:17, which was thirty-three minutes late.
The thirty-three minute delay, must raise the possibility of delay repay.
It does!
Three Hours London Newcastle?
These timings must raise the possibility of a sub-three hour time. on the train, between London King’s Cross and Newcastle stations.
The digital signalling that is currently being installed, with perhaps a few timetable tweaks should do it for both Lumo and LNER.
Could The Trains Absorb The Airline Passengers?
Consider.
- In 2023, 437,735 passengers flew between London Heathrow and Newcastle airports.
- This is just 1,200 passengers per day.
- A five-car Class 803 train has 403 seats.
It would appear that a few extra trains and some targeted marketing, could convert London and Newcastle into an all-electric train route.
Seats
Train seats are a bone of contention to many rail passengers these days.
I first rode on Lumo to Scotland in 2021 and wrote about it in London To Edinburgh On Lumo, where I was fairly complimentary about the seats.
They certainly are better than some train seats I have ridden in.
Am I Tired Today?
Not particularly! But I wasn’t very energetic during my four hours in the North.
Tickets For Onward Journeys
The main purpose of my trip was to ride the Northumberland Line to Ashington.
I made the mistake of not buying my ticket for the second train in London, as I hadn’t realised that my train from London and the Ashington train used different sides of the station.
- It was a stiff walk for me between trains.
- In order to buy a ticket, you need to pass through the barriers twice to get to the ticket office or a machine.
- There was no ticket facilities on the far side of the station, where the Lumo train arrived.
- The ticket machines didn’t accept contactless cards.
- Information was lacking.
The outcome was that I nearly missed my train to Ashington.
So to be sure of catching your connection, if you are changing trains at Newcastle, make sure you buy your tickets before you leave your first station.
First High-Speed Rail Service From Rochdale To London In 25 years Secures Political Support
The title if this post, is the same as this article on Rochdale Online.
These are the first three paragraphs.
MPs, local council leaders, businesses and academics gathered in Manchester to show their support for a new high-speed rail service linking Rochdale with London for the first time in 25 years, in a boost to local jobs, growth and connectivity in the North West.
Lumo, which already delivers more reliable, cheaper train travel along the East Coast Main Line, plans to run six return trains a day between Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Eccles, Newton-le-Willows and Warrington Bank Quay to London Euston from 2027, providing 1.6 million more people in Greater Manchester with a direct link to the capital.
The three-hour service will knock 2hrs 15mins off current journey times by car, secure important emissions savings and create at least 124 direct jobs along the route.
How many other larger towns and cities could use a service like this proposed one to Rochdale?
But Rochdale’s service is more than just a one-dimensional route to and from London.
- Rochdale and Warrington Bank Quay forms a convenient long-range cross-Manchester service.
- Connections at Newton-le-Willows and Warrington Bank Quay provide links to Liverpool and North West England, Wales and Scotland.
- Connections at Manchester Victoria and Eccles provide links to most of Great Manchester.
- Liverpool’s and Manchester’s plans mean that connectivity will only get better.
It will be interesting to see how Lumo’s Rochdale service evolves and develops in the next few years.
Other cities will certainly want one.
Could An Open Access Operator Develop A Train Service Along The South Coast of The UK Between Kent and Fishguard?
Before I go into detail, I will answer a question that explains the terminology and the why’s and wherefores’ of the title of this post.
What Is An Open Access Operator?
This is the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry of an Open Access Operator.
In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising.
In the UK, these are all open access operators, that are running services.
Note.
- Other groups are developing services.
- Regional, High Speed, International, Local and Sleeper services seem to be offered by various open access operators.
- Grand Central is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn,
- Hull Trains and Lumo are both subsidiaries of FirstGroup.
Open Access operators seem to operate in most European Union countries.
Why Run Between Kent and Fishguard?
- The main purpose of the train service would be to provide a low-cost rail connection between the island of Ireland and particularly the Republic of Ireland, with the Southern part of England and the European Union.
- At both ends of the route the train service would connect to ferries.
- At the Eastern end, the train service would also connect to Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel.
- The Port of Dover could be efficiently connected to Dover Priory Station.
- Dover Priory Station could be the Eastern terminus.
- The service could stop at Folkestone Central station, if ferries call at the Port of Folkestone in the future.
- The service could stop at Ashford International station for Eurostar services.
- Fishguard Harbour station has been built as a train terminus for the Port of Fishguard.
- Fishguard Harbour station could be the Western terminus.
This could be a busy service.
Where Would The Trains Call?
Intermediate stations would depend on passenger umbers, but could start as Folkestone Central, Ashford International, Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, Portsmouth & Southsea, Southampton Central, Romsey, Salisbury, Warminster, Westbury, Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff Central, Gowerton, Llanelli and Carmarthen.
How Long Would The Journey Be?
The journey would be around 377 miles and I suspect could take about three and a half hours with modern digital signalling.
Surprisingly, the route is fully-electrified except for the following.
- Ashford International and Ore – 27.9 miles
- Southampton Central and Bristol Parkway – 82 miles
- Cardiff Central and Fishguard Harbour – 115.6 miles
All gaps should be able to be bridged using battery power.
I suspect trains would be Hitachi high speed battery-electric trains.
Would Any European Funding Be Available?
This is an interesting question, as the service does join up two separate sections of the European Union.
Fourteen New Trains To Drive First Rail Open Access Growth
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from First Group.
These four bullet points are sub-headings.
- The Group has signed an agreement with Angel Trains and Hitachi to lease 14 new five-car class 80X Hitachi electric, battery electric or bi-mode trains (70 cars in total) at a cost of c.£500m including maintenance, over a ten year lease period
- The trains will be manufactured by Hitachi in County Durham, securing the skills base and jobs in the local area
- The new trains will enable FirstGroup to significantly expand its open access portfolio and will be used on the newly announced London-Carmarthen route and to increase the number of cars on the existing Lumo and Hull Trains services
- The agreement also contains an option for FirstGroup to lease up to an additional 13 trains on the same terms if the Group’s open access applications are granted by the Office of Rail and Road (‘ORR’)
These first three paragraphs add a bit more detail.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is visiting Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, today to celebrate a significant agreement for the Hitachi factory which has secured an order to manufacture 70 new rail cars for FirstGroup’s growing open access business, creating certainty for the manufacturing skills base, and the factory’s future.
The Lease Agreement will deliver 14 new trains, which will not only give the Group a homogenous fleet across its open access operations, ensuring flexibility and reliability for customers, but also facilitates the Group’s strategic objective of materially increasing its open access capacity. Delivery of the new trains is expected to commence in late 2027. The lease will be financed by Angel Trains, adding to their portfolio of Hitachi assets. The trains will be maintained by Hitachi at their facilities around the country.
The trains will be used on the Group’s open access rail services, including the Carmarthen-London route announced on 5 December, and the existing Hull Trains and Lumo services on the East Coast Mainline.
Note.
- Does the presence of Keir Starmer indicate any approval for open access?
- Trains could be electric, battery electric or bi-mode.
- Bi-mode trains should only be purchased these days, if they are convertible to battery-electric trains. Hitachi’s can.
- Delivery is expected to commence in late 2027.
- The first fourteen trains will be deployed on the London to Carmarthen, Edinburgh and Hull routes.
This table shows the trains needed initially for each route.
- Carmarthen – Class 802 trains – 5 tpd – 5 trains – 75.3 miles unelectrified
- Edinburgh – Class 803 trains – 5 tpd – 5 trains – electrified
- Hull – Class 802 trains – 5 tpd – 5 trains – 44.3 miles unelectrified
Note.
- tpd is trains per day.
- I’m assuming that as unelectrified distances to Carmarthen and Hull are not that far apart, the number of trains needed is the same.
- Class 802 trains are bi-mode.
- Class 803 trains are electric.
After the fourteen new trains are delivered, there will be a combined fleet of 29 trains.
Consider.
- Hull Trains have started running some services as pairs of trains. I wrote about this in Ten-Car Hull Trains.
- Lumo has been a success and perhaps needs more capacity.
The Wikipedia entry for Grand Union says this.
Grand Union proposed to operate with ex-LNER Class 91s and Rail Operations Group Class 93s hauling nine-car Mark 4s and a Driving Van Trailer.
So perhaps the Carmarthen service needs ten-car trains.
That would mean that the number of routes needed for the three routes would be as follows.
- Carmarthen – Class 802 trains – 5 tpd -10 trains
- Edinburgh – Class 803 trains – 5 tpd -10 trains
- Hull – Class 802 trains – 7 tpd – 10 trains
It would appear that we’re a train short with 29 in the combined fleet against a need of 30 trains.
But then it would also appear that Hull Trains can provide the required five/ten car service with only four trains.
I would assume that the extra train, goes to make up the numbers for Lumo’s Carmarthen service.
Where Will Lumo Strike Next?
Yesterday, First Group reported that they had added more possible services to their network of open-access services.
I gave my view in FirstGroup Acquires London – South Wales Open Access Business And Plans Lumo To Devon.
Their list of possible services and destinations include.
- Hull Trains – London King’s Cross and Beverley via Stevenage, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden, Brough, Hull Paragon and Cottingham
- Hull Trains – London King’s Cross and Hull Paragon via Stevenage, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough
- Hull Trains – London King’s Cross and Sheffield via Worksop and Woodhouse
- Lumo – London Euston and Rochdale via Warrington Bank Quay, Newton-le-Willows, Eccles and Manchester Victoria
- Lumo – London King’s Cross and Edinburgh/Glasgow via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth
- Lumo – London Paddington and Carmarthen via Bristol Parkway, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Cardiff Central, Gowerton and Llanell
- Lumo – London Paddington and Paignton via Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St David’s and Torquay
I believe that all services could be run by identical versions of Hitachi’s high speed Intercity Battery Electric Train, which are described in this page on the Hitachi web site.
The London Paddington and Paignton service would require the longest running without electrification at 210 km. and I don’t believe First Group would have put in a bid, unless they were certain zero-carbon trains with sufficient performance would be available.
Other possible open access services could be.
Hull And Blackpool Airport
Note.
- This could be the first half of a Green Route between the North of England and the island of Ireland, if zero-carbon aircraft can fly from Blackpool Airport.
- Trains would call at Selby, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Manchester Victoria, Blackburn and Preston.
- Blackpool Airport has good access from Squires Gate station and tram stop, which could be improved.
- Blackpool Airport could be well supplied with green electricity and hydrogen from wind power.
These are distances to possible airports.
- Belfast City – 111 nm.
- Belfast International – 114 nm.
- Cardiff – 143 nm.
- Cork – 229 nm.
- Donegal – 200 nm.
- Derry/Londonderry – 163 nm.
- Dublin – 116 nm.
- Inverness – 228 nm
- Ireland West Knock – 204 nm.
- Kerry – 253 nm.
- Ronaldsway, IOM – 59 nm.
- Shannon – 220 nm.
Note.
- The Wikipedia entry for the all-electric Eviation Alice, gives the range with reserves as 250 nm.
- The Belfast and Dublin airports could be within range of a round trip from Blackpool without refuelling.
- ,Cork, Kerry and Shannon airports may need to go by another airport, where a small battery charge is performed.
- The Isle of Man is surprisingly close.
Blackpool has reasonably good coverage for the island of Ireland.
London Euston And Holyhead
This could be the first half of a Green Route to Dublin, if the trains met a high speed hydrogen-powered catamaran to speed passengers across to Dun Laoghaire.
London King’s Cross And Aberdeen Or Inverness
Why not? But these routes would probably be best left to LNER.
London King’s Cross And Grimsby Or Cleethorpes
In Azuma Test Train Takes To The Tracks As LNER Trials Possible New Route, I talked about how LNER had run a test train to Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
The Government might prefer that an open access operator took the risk and got all the blame if the route wasn’t worth running.
Humberside is very much involved in the energy industry, with several gas-fried power-stations at Keadby.
It might be more efficient in terms of trains and infrastructure, if this service was an extension of the Lincoln service.
London King’s Cross And Scarborough Via Beverley
This would probably be one for Hull Trains, but it would also serve Bridlington and Butlin’s at Filey.
The BBC was running a story today about how holiday camps are making a comeback. Surely, one on a direct train from London wouldn’t be a bad thing. for operators, train companies or holidaymakers.
London King’s Cross And Middlesbrough, Redcar Or Saltburn
As with the Grimsby and Cleethorpes service, the government might think, that this might be a better service for an open access operator.
Teesside is heavily involved in the offshore wind industry and may add involvement in the nuclear industry.
London Paddington And Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven Or Pembroke Dock
Note.
- This could be the first half of a Green Route to Southern Ireland, if the trains met a high speed hydrogen-powered catamaran to speed passengers across to Rosslare or an electric or hydrogen-powered aircraft from Haverfordwest Airport.
- These three ports and one airport will feature heavily in the development of offshore wind power in the Celtic Sea.
- RWE are already planning a hydrogen electrolyser in Pembrokeshire, as I wrote about in RWE Underlines Commitment To Floating Offshore Wind In The Celtic Sea Through New ‘Vision’ Document.
- According to the Wikipedia entry for Fishguard Harbour station, it was built as a station to handle ship passengers and is now owned by Stena Line, who run the ferries to Rosslare in Ireland.
- I can see a tie-up between FirstGroup and Stena Line to efficiently transfer passengers between Lumo’s planned service to Carmarthen and Stena Line’s ships to Ireland.
All four secondary destinations would be a short extension from Carmarthen.
Summing Up
Note how energy, a Green Route to Ireland and other themes keep appearing.
I do wonder if running a budget train service to an area, is an easy way of levelling up, by attracting people, commuters and industry.
Have the budget airlines improved the areas they serve?
They’ve certainly created employment in the transport, construction and hospitality industries.
Zero-Carbon Ferries And Short-Haul Aircraft
These will be essential for Anglo-Irish routes and many other routes around the world.
I will deal with the ferries first, as to create a zero-carbon ferry, only needs an appropriate power unit to be installed in a ship design that works.
But with aircraft, you have to lift the craft off the ground, which needs a lot of energy.
This article on Transport and Environment is entitled World’s First ‘Carbon Neutral’ ship Will Rely On Dead-End Fuel, with this sentence as a sub-heading.
The Danish shipping giant Maersk announced it will operate the world’s first carbon-neutral cargo vessel by 2023. The company had promised a carbon-neutral container ship by 2030 but now says it will introduce the ship seven years ahead of schedule following pressure from its customers. While welcoming Maersk’s ambition, T&E says the company is betting on the wrong horse by using methanol which may not be sustainable and available in sufficient amounts.
Note.
- I’d not heard of this ship.
- Pressure from customers brought the date forward by seven years.
- As always, it appears that the availability of enough green hydrogen and methanol is blamed.
Perhaps, Governments of the world should put more teeth in green legislation to ensure that companies and governments do what they say they are gong to do?
But worthwhile developments in the field of shipping are underway.
For instance, I estimate that this Artemis Technologies hydrofoil ferry could take passengers across the 54 nautical miles between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead in around 90 minutes.
This ferry is being designed and built in Northern Ireland and I can’t believe, it is the only development of its type.
A Fast Green Route To Ireland
I have talked about this before in High-Speed Low-Carbon Transport Between Great Britain And Ireland and I am certain that it will happen.
- Air and sea routes between the UK and the island of Ireland carry a lot of traffic.
- Some travellers don’t like flying. Especially in Boeings, which are Ryanair’s standard issue.
- It is the sort of trip, that will appeal to a lot of travellers and most probably a lot with Irish connections.
- An electric or hydrogen-powered aircraft or a fast surface craft will be able to cross the Irish Sea in a quick time.
- High speed trains and then High Speed Two will consistently reduce the travel times on the UK side of the water.
Cross-water travel routes, be they by aircraft, ferries, bridges or tunnels are generally popular and successful.
Conclusion
Given the opportunity at Fishguard, I can see that FirstGroup next move would be to extend the Carmarthen service to Fishguard Harbour.
The Anonymous Widower 