Manchester Piccadilly Station « The Anonymous Widower

A Redbrick Station For A Redbrick University

My late wife; C and myself, met at Liverpool University in the 1960s.

Liverpool considers itself as the Original Redbrick on its web site.

This Google 3D visualisation shows why.

Note.

This 3D picture was taken from the East.
The white building in the bottom-right corner is the Electrical Engineering and Electronics, where I did most of my studying.
The building above it is the Harold Cohen Library.
The clock tower in front is part of the Victoria Building.

There’s a lot of redbrick on the University site.

These pictures show University (Birmingham) station.

Note.

The Architects didn’t spare the red bricks.

The station has an NHS Clinic
The bridge has lifts and steps.
There is a lot of glass.

There are a pair of bi-sexual toilets, which seems to the standard for new stations these days.

Will Other Universities Want A Station?

Here are a few thoughts.

Liverpool University

I wrote about the possibility in A Railway Station At Liverpool University.

This is an extract.

In Liverpool’s Forgotten Tunnel, I showed this map, which shows a proposed reopening of the Wapping Tunnel as a passenger route between Liverpool Central and Edge Hill stations.

Note.

The map shows a station at University
The Wapping Tunnel is shown as a dotted blue line.
Between four and eight trains per hour (tph) would be running through University station.

Liverpool has other projects on its mind at present, but I wouldn’t rule it out in the future.

Manchester University

This Google Map shows the location of Manchester University.

Note.

The red arrow picks out a notable building in the University.
Manchester Piccadilly station is in the North-East corner of the map.
Manchester Oxford Road station is in the South-West corner of the map.
In recent years I’ve walked between the two stations.
The Castlefield Corridor passes through the University.

A station on the Castlefield Corridor could be a possibility.

April 17, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Health | Architecture, Birmingham University, Birmingham University Station, Brickwork, Castlefield Corridor, Education, Liverpool University, Manchester Oxford Road Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Manchester University, Redbrick University, Step-Free, Toilets | Leave a comment

Could Open Access Operators Use High Speed Two?

In Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line, I suggested the Grand Union Trains might like to run their service between London Euston and Stirling via High Speed Two.

But would this be a feasible idea?

These are my thoughts.

What Is An Open Access Operator?

The Wikipedia entry for Open-Access Operator, provide this answer.

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.

It then lists fifty-four operators in fifteen countries.

As the companies, who provide the services take full commercial risk and don’t get a subsidy from the taxpayer, I don’t see why, that providing, the operator can get the paths, they should be allowed to operate.

If they fail, then that’s the operator’s problem.

Are Any Paths Available On High Speed Two?

These are High Speed Two services as originally planned.

Since the Eastern Leg was cancelled, the following has happened.

There are only eleven trains per hour (tph) between London Euston and Birmingham Interchange.
There are only ten tph between Birmingham and Crewe.
There is one tph between Birmingham and Macclesfield via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Note.

The Trent Valley Line section between Stafford and Crewe is 24.3 miles.

The Trent Valley Line between Handsacre Junction and Crewe is nearly all four tracks.

Currently, this section carries these fast trains.

Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Blackpool North, Edinburgh or Glasgow via Birmingham New Street.
Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to North Wales
Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street
Avanti West Coast – 2 tph – London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly
Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to Scotland
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – London Euston to Crewe.
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Stafford to Crewe.
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street.

This totals nine tph and will be 10 tph, when a second London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street is added.

When High Speed Two opens between London Euston and Birmingham Curzon and Handsacre Junction, trains between London Euston and Liverpool, Manchester, the North and Scotland will switch to the Trent Valley Line at Handsacre Junction.

The Trent Valley Line section between Stafford and Crewe will carry these fast trains.

Avanti West Coast – 1 tph – London Euston to North Wales
High Speed Two – 2 tph – London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street
High Speed Two – 3 tph – London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly
High Speed Two – 2 tph – London Euston to Scotland
High Speed Two – 1 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street to Scotland
High Speed Two – 2 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street to Manchester Piccadilly
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – London Euston to Crewe.
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Stafford to Crewe.
West Midlands Trains – 1 tph – Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street

Note.

This totals to ten tph for High Speed Two, 1 tph for Avanti West Coast and the tph for West Midlands Trains.
There is no service to Blackpool.
It looks to me that the London Euston to North Wales should, as soon as the North Wales Coast Line is electrified become a High Speed Two service.
Should the Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street service be replaced with a High Speed Two from Birmingham Curzon Street to Liverpool Lime Street?

There is plenty of paths South of Handsacre Junction on High Speed Two to accommodate a few services to Blackpool and an open access operator like Grand Union Trains, who have been given permission to run a service to Stirling.

Conclusion

My rough calculation says that open access services could be fitted in on the latest variant of High Speed Two.

In Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line, the two Andies; Burnham and Street proposed that the Handsacre Junction and Manchester Airport section of High Speed Two should be built.

If this should happen, then it would open up several possibilities for open access services for the North.

March 24, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Birmingham Curzon Street Station, Birmingham New Street Station, Euston Station, Grand Union Trains, High Speed Two, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Open Access Operators, Stirling Station, West Midlands Trains | 1 Comment

Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

These five paragraphs introduce the article.

The mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester have set out proposals for a new railway line between Staffordshire and Manchester Airport in a bid to improve connections to the north.

Work commission by West Midlands mayor Andy Street and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has concluded the new line is the preferred option to tackle congestion on the West Coast Mainline, following the government’s decision to curtail HS2 beyond Birmingham.

A private sector group – chaired by infrastructure expert Sir David Higgins – had been looking at three potential options to improve connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester.

The options included undertaking significant engineering upgrades to the West Coast Main Line, building bypasses at the pinch points on the line and building a new railway between Handsacre and Manchester Airport.

The group, convened by the mayors, is led by global engineering firm Arup with input from over 60 partners from six other firms – Arcadis, Addleshaw Goddard, EY, Dragados, Mace and Skanska.

This paragraph gives the conclusion.

The group has provisionally concluded that a new line – running approximately 70 miles between HS2 at Handsacre and Northern Powerhouse Rail at High Legh – is likely to offer the best combination of costs and benefits.

It looks to me, that this professional approach has led to a sensible answer.

I will now look at the route.

This Open Railway Map shows the tracks to the South of Handsacre.

Note.

The blue arrow in the North-West corner of the map, indicates the location of the former Armitage station, which had the village of Handsacre to its North-East.
The red line through Armitage station is the Trent Valley Line.
Lichfield Trent Valley station is at the bottom of the map.
The line drawn with large dashes from the South-East corner of the map is the proposed line of High Speed Two. Red indicates under construction and black indicates proposed.

High Speed Two splits into two.

One branch goes North-West to join the Trent Valley Line, whilst the other just stops after about a kilometre.

All trains for Liverpool, Manchester, North Wales, The North and Scotland will take the Trent Valley Line, when High Speed Two opens.
Trains for Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and some to Manchester will leave the Trent Valley Line at Colwich Junction.
All other trains, will take the same route as now and proceed to Crewe via Stafford.

The red dotted line leading from the cancelled branch of High Speed Two shows where the original fast line to Crewe was planned to go.

This Open Railway Map shows the tracks around Crewe.

Note.

Crewe is the important junction station towards the North-West corner of the map.
The orange line going South is the West Coast Main Line to The South and London.
The red dotted line running along the West side of the West Coast Main Line was the proposed route of High Speed Two from Birmingham, London and the South.

This Open Railway Map shows the originally proposed direct route of High Speed Two between Crewe and Handsacre.

Note.

Crewe is in the North-West corner of the map.
The blue arrow in the South-East corner of the map, indicates the location of the former Armitage station, which had the village of Handsacre to its North-East.
The dotted red line was the originally proposed route of High Speed Two.

I feel that this route between Handsacre and Crewe has advantages if it were to be chosen as part of a route between Handsacre and Northern Powerhouse Rail, as recommended by the Mayors and their consultants.

The route seems to stay well clear of large conurbations.
A lot of the design work has been at least started and major problems will be known.
Crewe is the only station on the route, which will need to be upgraded.
Services to Liverpool, Manchester, North Wales, The North and Scotland will be speeded up.
With Crewe, Liverpool and North Wales, times could be as High Speed Two promised in the first place.

I feel that building the Handsacre and Crewe section, as originally envisaged, will score high in a benefit/cost analysis

This OpenRailwayMap shows the originally proposed route of High Speed Two between Crewe and Manchester Airport.

Note.

Crewe is towards the South-West corner of the map.
Manchester Airport is in the North-East corner of the map.
The red line going North from Crewe is the West Coast Main Line.
The dotted red line was the originally proposed route of High Speed Two, between the West Coast Main Line and Manchester Airport.

Northern Powerhouse Rail will go West from Manchester Airport towards Warrington and Liverpool and will join with High Speed Two at a junction at High Legh.

Northern Powerhouse Rail is currently being planned, but surely, if High Speed Two and Northern Powerhouse Rail share a line from High Legh to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, this will be a more affordable project.

Services To Crewe

In Could The High Speed Two Link Between Lichfield And Crewe Still Be Built?, which I wrote after much of High Speed Two was chopped in 2023, I said this.

Currently, Avanti West Coast trains take around one hour and thirty minutes between London and Crewe.

The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two gives these times between London and Crewe.

Fastest time before High Speed Two – one hour and thirty minutes.
Time after Phase 2a of High Speed Two opens – fifty-six minutes.

Note.

That is a time saving of thirty-four minutes.
High Speed Two Trains will use the direct line between Lichfield and Crewe.
High Speed Two will also add eighteen tph to the capacity between London and Crewe.

This would seem to mean that any trains going to or through Crewe will be thirty-four minutes faster, if they use High Speed Two between London and Crewe.

If the Handsacre and Crewe direct line is built, it looks like London and Crewe will be the full High Speed Two time of 56 minutes.

Services To Liverpool

Consider.

Liverpool Lime Street was originally planned to get two trains per hour (tph) to and from London using High Speed Two.
The approaches into Liverpool were improved a few years ago.
No more improvements are planned between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street stations.
Between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street stations currently takes 38 minutes.
There could be time savings on the 16.3 miles between Crewe and Weaver Junction, which currently takes 21 minutes.

It looks like a time of one hour and 34 minutes could be possible, with under one hour and 30 minutes not being impossible.

Services To Manchester

Consider.

Manchester was originally planned to get three tph to and from London using High Speed Two.
No improvements are planned between Crewe and the Manchester stations.
Between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly stations currently takes 34 minutes.

It looks like a time of one hour and 30 minutes could be possible.

But there is still the option of building a new line between Crewe and Northern Powerhouse Rail at High Legh.

I showed this OpenRailwayMap earlier and it shows the originally proposed route of High Speed Two between Crewe and Manchester Airport.

Note.

Crewe is towards the South-West corner of the map.
Manchester Airport is in the North-East corner of the map.
The red line going North from Crewe is the West Coast Main Line.
The dotted red line was the originally proposed route of High Speed Two, between the West Coast Main Line and Manchester Airport.

Northern Powerhouse Rail is currently being planned. and will go West from Manchester Airport towards Warrington and Liverpool and will be built first.

A junction at High Legh will be built to link the West Coast Main Line to Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Services To North Wales

Why Not? With the cancellation of the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two, there must be a path available for North Wales.

Consider.

The North Wales Main Line has been promised electrification.
As Holyhead and Crewe is only 105.5 miles, it could even be in battery high speed train range in a few years.
All times to and from Crewe are assumed to be as Avanti West Coast achieve now.
As Crewe and Chester currently takes 23 minutes, London and Chester would take 1 hour and 19 minutes.
As Crewe and Llandudno Junction currently takes 1 hour and 22 minutes, London and Llandudno Junction would take 2 hours and 18 minutes.
As Crewe and Holyhead currently takes 2 hours and 7 minutes, London and Holyhead would take 3 hours and 3 minutes.

Could this open up a fast zero-carbon route between London and Dublin?

Services To Blackpool, Lancaster, Preston, Warrington And Wigan

Why Not, Blackpool? With the cancellation of the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two, there must be an extra path available, if it is needed.

Cpnsider.

All routes are electrified.
All times to and from Crewe are assumed to be as Avanti West Coast achieve now.
As Crewe and Blackpool currently takes 1 hour and 20 minutes, London and Blackpool would take 2 hour and 16 minutes.
As Crewe and Lancaster currently takes 60 minutes, London and Lancaster would take 1 hour and 56 minutes.
As Crewe and Preston currently takes 40 minutes, London and Preston would take 1 hour and 36 minutes.
As Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay currently takes 22 minutes, London and Warrington Bank Quay would take 1 hour and 18 minutes.
As Crewe and Wigan North Western currently takes 33 minutes, London and Wigan North Western would take 1 hour and 29 minutes.

Note.

Lancaster in under two hours will help the Eden Project Morecambe.
For some areas of the North West, it might be more convenient to change at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western or Preston.

Improvements to track and signalling could probably bring benefits.

Services To Carlisle And Central Scotland

Cpnsider.

All routes are electrified.
All times to and from Crewe are assumed to be as Avanti West Coast achieve now.
As Crewe and Carlisle currently takes 1 hour and 55 minutes, London and Carlisle would take 2 hours and 51 minutes.
As Crewe and Lockerbie currently takes 2 hours and 6 minutes, London and Lockerbie would take 3 hours and 1 minute.
As Crewe and Motherwell currently takes 2 hours and 45 minutes, London and Motherwell would take 3 hours and 41 minutes.
As Crewe and Edinburgh currently takes 3 hours and 9 minutes, London and Edinburgh would take 4 hours and 5 minutes.
As Crewe and Glasgow Central currently takes 3 hours and 3 minutes, London and Glasgow Central would take 3 hours and 59 minutes.

Note.

Just under four hours to Glasgow Central would please the Marketing Department.
Selective splitting and joining could increase the number of destinations.

Improvements to track and signalling could probably bring benefits.

Services To Stirling

In ORR: Open Access Services Given Green Light Between London And Stirling, I wrote about Grand Union Trains’s new open access service to Stirling.

There has been good feedback on this service, so perhaps one of the spare paths on High Speed Two could be allocated to Open Access Operators, so that more of the country could have a high speed service to London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street stations.

In the related post, I showed that London Euston and Stirling takes forty five minutes longer than a London Euston and Motherwell service.

This would mean that a London Euston and Stirling service via High Speed Two would take four hours and 26 minutes.

Services Between Birmingham Curzon Street and the North West

Under the plans for High Speed Two, the following services would have run North from Birmingham Curzon Street.

One tph to Edinburgh or Motherwell and Glasgow via Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie and Carstairs.
Two tph to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.

But there are now spare paths South of Crewe, so Could a one tph Birmingham Curzon Street and Liverpool Lime Street service be squeezed in?

Could The Line Be Privately Financed?

I suspect that building the section between Handsacre and Crewe could be financed in perhaps a similar way, to the Chiltern improvements or the M6 Toll Road were financed.

The Handsacre and Crewe section is just a simple stretch of rail, with a number of trains passing along it.
The number of trains passing through, is likely to increase.
Every train passing through would pay a track charge, just as they do to Network Rail.
Those with lots of money to lend, like simple projects like wind farms or road tunnels, but think very hard about anything complicated like nuclear power stations or High Speed Two’s station at Euston.

Certainly, my late and very good friend, David, who dealt with the finance of some of London’s largest projects and was on the top table of London’s bankers, would have found a way. It might though have been unorthodox.

But then David was a rogue. But a rogue on the side of the angels.

Conclusion

I have come to these conclusions.

Building the direct route between Handsacre and Crewe could be good value as it improves all routes that will pass through Crewe.
Combining High Speed Two and Northern Powerhouse Rail could substantially cut the costs of both routes to the centre of Manchester.
London and Crewe times should be 56 minutes.
London and Liverpool Lime Street times could be under one hour and thirty minutes.
London and Manchester Piccadilly times could start at one hour and thirty minutes and reduce when Northern Powerhouse Rail is built and linked to the West Coast Main Line.
London and Holyhead could be just over three hours and could open up a fast zero-carbon route between London and Dublin.
London and Lancaster in under two hours could help the Eden Project Morecambe.

It’s certainly not a bad plan and it should be looked at in more detail.

March 22, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Andy Burnham, Andy Street, Automatic Splitting And Joining Of Trains, Birmingham Curzon Street Station, Crewe Station, Eden Project Morecambe, Edinburgh Station, Euston Station, Glasgow Central Station, Grand Union Trains, Handsacre Junction, High Speed Two, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Airport, Manchester Mayor, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Open Access Operators, Stirling Station, West Coast Main Line, West Midlands Mayor | 5 Comments

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.

The lilac tracks are those of the Sheffield Supertram.
The darker lines are the tracks in the station.
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 AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, CrossCountry Trains, East Midlands Railway, Hope Valley Line, Hull Station, Leeds Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Market Harborough Station, Midland Main Line, Midland Main Line Electrification, Penistone Line, Rotherham, Scarborough tation, Sheffield Station, Spending High Speed Two Money, TransPennine Express, TransPennine Upgrade | 1 Comment

Electrification Of The Hope Valley Line

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 the Hope Valley Line.

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.

The fast trains are currently TransPennine’s service between Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes.

Between Platform 13 at Manchester Piccadilly station and Sheffield station is 42.6 miles.
At the Manchester end, there will be electrification between Manchester Piccadilly and Hazel Grove stations, which is 8.7 miles and takes typically 17 minutes.
After the electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield, there will be electrification between Dore & Totley and Sheffield stations, which is 4.2 miles and takes typically 8 minutes.

The gap in the electrification between Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove stations will be 29.7 miles.

But it will not be an easy route to electrify.

At the Western end, there is the Disley Tunnel, which is 3535 metres long.
In the middle, there is the Cowburn Tunnel which is 3385 metres long, that is also the deepest tunnel in England.
At the Eastern end, there is the Totley Tunnel, which is 5700 metres long.

Yorkshire doesn’t have an Underground railway, but the combined length of these three tunnels is 7.84 miles, which means that over 26 % of the electrification needed between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield will have to be installed in tunnels.

Could The Route Be Run Using Battery-Electric Trains?

Consider.

The gap in the electrification between Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove stations will be 29.7 miles.
There is electrified sections at Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove stations, which will be able to charge the trains.
Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains have demonstrated a battery range of 84 miles.
A Stadler Akku train has demonstrated a battery range of 139 miles.
Hitachi are developing a battery-electric version of TransPennine’s Class 802 train.
If all trains can run on batteries or be self-powered, there would be no need to electrify the long and possibly difficult tunnels.

I believe that it would be possible to electrify all passenger services between Manchester and Sheffield using appropriate battery-electric trains.

Freight would be a problem and I suspect that hydrogen-hybrid and other self-powered locomotives could handle the route.

Could The Complete TransPennine Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Class 802 trains?

These are the various electrified and unelectrified sections.

Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway – Electrified – 5.7 miles – 10 minutes
Liverpool South Parkway and Trafford Park – Not Electrified – 25.2 miles – 30 minutes
Trafford Park and Hazel Grove – Electrified – 12.6 miles – 28 minutes
Hazel Grove and Dore & Totley – Not Electrified – 29.7 miles – 35 minutes
Dore & Totley and Sheffield – Electrified – 4.2 miles – 6 minutes
Sheffield and Doncaster – Not Electrified – 18.6 miles – 25 minutes
Doncaster and Cleethorpes – Not Electrified – 52.1 miles – 78 minutes

Note.

This is a total of 125.6 miles without electrification.
The Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield time is 56 minutes.
The distance is 37.8 miles.
That is an average speed on 40.5 mph.
Most of the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield has an maximum speed of 70 mph, but there is a short length of track with a 50 mph speed and another longer one with 90 mph.

To achieve 40 minutes between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield would need an average speed of 60.7 mph. Given the improvements being carried out by Network Rail at the current time, I believe that forty minutes between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield should be possible.

I’ll look at a train going East.

The train will leave Liverpool Lime Street with a reasonably full battery after charging using the current electrification in the station.
The train will leave Liverpool South Parkway with a full battery after charging using the current electrification from Liverpool Lime Street.
The train will arrive at Trafford Park with a battery perhaps two-thirds full, but it will be fully charged on the current electrification to Hazel Grove.
The train will arrive at Dore & Totley with a battery perhaps two-thirds full, but it will be fully charged on the Midland Main Line electrification to Sheffield.
The train will arrive at Doncaster with a battery perhaps two-thirds full and the train would wait until it had enough charge to reach Cleethorpes.

I’ll look at a train going West.

The train will leave Cleethorpes with a full battery after charging using the new electrification in the station.
The train will arrive at Doncaster with a battery perhaps two-thirds full and the train would wait until it had enough charge to reach Sheffield.
The train will arrive at Sheffield with a battery perhaps two-thirds full, but it will be fully charged on the Midland Main Line electrification to Dore & Totley.
The train will arrive at Hazel Grove with a battery perhaps two-thirds full, but it will be fully charged on the current electrification to Trafford Park.
The train will arrive at Liverpool South Parkway with a battery perhaps two-thirds full, but the route is electrified to Liverpool Lime Street.

Note.

If the battery range on a full battery was over 90 miles, the two most easterly sections could be run without any charging at Doncaster.
If the battery range was over 125.6 miles, the journey could be done by starting with a full battery.
If every time the train decelerated, regenerative braking would recover energy, which could be reused.
The only new electrification needed will be a short length at Cleethorpes station, that would charge the trains.

I certainly believe that Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes services could be run by battery-electric trains.

Could The Complete TransPennine Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Class 802 trains Without The Midland Main Line Electrification?

In this section, I’m assuming, that there is no electrification at Sheffield.

These would be the various electrified and unelectrified sections.

Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway – Electrified – 5.7 miles – 10 minutes
Liverpool South Parkway and Trafford Park – Not Electrified – 25.2 miles – 30 minutes
Trafford Park and Hazel Grove – Electrified – 12.6 miles – 28 minutes
Hazel Grove and Cleethorpes – Not Electrified – 104.6 miles – 143 minutes

Note.

This is a total of 129.6 miles without electrification.
The battery range of the train, should probably be around 120 miles to make sure the train could run between Hazel Grove and Cleethorpes.
One diesel power-pack could be installed for emergency use.

I’ll look at a train going East.

The train will leave Liverpool Lime Street with a reasonably full battery after charging using the current electrification in the station.
The train will leave Liverpool South Parkway with a full battery after charging using the current electrification from Liverpool Lime Street.
The train will arrive at Trafford Park with a battery perhaps 80 % full, but it will be fully charged on the current electrification to Hazel Grove.
The train would then eek out what power it had left to reach Cleethorpes.

If necessary, the train could stop in the electrified Doncaster station to top up the batteries from the East Coast Main Line electrification for the run to Cleethorpes.

I’ll look at a train going West.

The train will leave Cleethorpes with a full battery after charging using new electrification in the station.
The train will arrive at Doncaster with a battery perhaps 57 % full and the train would wait if needed, until it had enough charge to reach Hazel Grove.
The train will arrive at Hazel Grove with a battery perhaps one-thirds full, but it will be fully charged on the current electrification to Trafford Park.
The train will arrive at Liverpool South Parkway with a battery perhaps one-thirds full, but the route is electrified to Liverpool Lime Street.

Note.

If the battery range on a full battery was over 105 miles, the Eastern section could be run without any charging at Doncaster.
If the battery range was over 129.6 miles, the journey could be done by starting with a full battery.
If every time the train decelerated, regenerative braking would recover energy, which could be reused.
The only new electrification needed will be a short length at Cleethorpes station, that would charge the trains.

However, it might be prudent to electrify the through platforms at Sheffield, so that they could be used for emergency charging if required.

Northern Train’s Service Between Sheffield And Manchester Piccadilly Via The Hope Valley Line

There is a one train per hour (tph) Northern service between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly.

The Class 195 diesel train takes 78 minutes.
The distance is 42 miles.
The first mile or so at the Manchester end is electrified.
Trains seem to take about sixteen minutes to turn round at Manchester Piccadilly.
Trains seem to take about nine minutes to turn round at Sheffield.
The service runs via Reddish North, Brinnington, Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, New Mills Central, Chinley, Edale, Hope, Bamford, Hathersage, Grindleford and Dore & Totley.
The max speed is generally 60 mph to the West of New Mills Central and 70 mph to the East, with short lower speed sections.

There would appear to be two ways to run this route withy battery-electric trains.

As Manchester Piccadilly station is fully-electrified and trains could be connected to the electrification for upwards of twenty minutes, trains will certainly be able to be fully-charged at Manchester. As the round trip is only 84 miles, could trains run the service without a charge at Sheffield.
Alternatively, there could be a dedicated electrified platform at Sheffield. But the problem with this, is that currently this service uses a random platform at Sheffield.

It looks like, if the train has the required range, that charging at the Manchester end would be the better solution.

Liverpool And Norwich Via The Hope Valley Line

This service uses a similar route between Liverpool Lime Street and Sheffield, as the Liverpool and Hull service and then it meanders, through the East Midlands.

Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway – Electrified – 5.7 miles – 11 minutes
Liverpool South Parkway and Trafford Park – Not Electrified – 25.2 miles – 33 minutes
Trafford Park and Hazel Grove – Electrified – 12.6 miles – 26 minutes
Hazel Grove and Dore & Totley – Not Electrified – 29.7 miles – 28 minutes
Dore & Totley and Sheffield – Electrified – 4.2 miles – 6 minutes
Sheffield and Nottingham – Being Electrified – 40.6 miles – 52 minutes
Nottingham and Grantham – Not Electrified – 22.7 miles – 30 minutes
Grantham and Peterborough – Electrified – 29.1 miles – 29 minutes
Peterborough And Ely – Not Electrified – 30 miles – 31 minutes
Ely and Norwich – Not Electrified – 53.7 miles – 56 minutes

This is a total of 161.3 miles without electrification.

But as Sheffield and Nottingham and Grantham and Peterborough will be fully electrified, this route will be possible using a battery-electric train.

Electrifying Sheffield Station

I said earlier in this post, that electrifying Sheffield station would be an option for electrifying the Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly service.

If this were to be done, it would have collateral benefits for other services that terminate at Sheffield, which could be charged whilst they turned around.

I wrote about Sheffield station as a battery-electric train hub in Could Sheffield Station Become A Battery-Electric Train Hub?

Conclusion

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.

October 15, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Chesterfield Station, Class 777 Train, Class 802 Train, Cleethorpes Station, Discontinuous Electrification, Dore and Totley Station, East Coast Main Line, Freight, Hazel Grove Station, Hope Valley Line, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Midland Main Line, Midland Main Line Electrification, Partial Electrification, Sheffield Station, Spending High Speed Two Money, Stadler FLIRT Akku | 5 Comments

Could Manchester Airport Be Accessed From The West By A Tunnel Under The M56?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways of East London between Dalston Junction and Stratford International stations.

Note.

Dalston Kingsland station is marked with an arrow in the West of the map.
Stratford International station is marked by the blue lettering in the East of the map.
The orange line between them is the North London Line.
There are also two pink lines, which indicate High Speed One, which is dug several metres below the North London Line.

It can’t be much different to dig a high speed railway underneath a motorway. Has anybody done this?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways leading to Manchester Airport.

Note.

Junctions 5 and 6 of the M56 motorway are on the Western edge of the Airport.
The red tracks are the Styal Line.
The mauve tracks are the Metrolink.
It should be noted that railway lines pass under Heathrow Airport’s runways.

Point 4 makes me sure, that Manchester Airport can have a station connected to the West by a railway under the M56.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways around Weaver Junction on the West Coast Main Line, where the trains branch off to Liverpool.

Note.

The West Coast Main Line goes down the Eastern side of the map.
Warrington Bank Quay is the next station to the North.
The Liverpool Branch goes off to the West.
The M56 tuns diagonally across the map from the North-East corner crossing both both branches of the West Coast Main Line.

This Google Map shows where the M56 crosses over the West Coast Main Line to Warrington Bank Quay.

Note.

The M56 motorway is obvious.
The Eastbound motorway goes to Manchester Airport and Manchester.
The junction is numbered 11.
The railway runs down the Western side of the map.

I believe that it would be possible to connect a railway running East under the motorway to the West Coast Main Line.

This Google Map shows where the M56 crosses over the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line.

Note.

There is no motorway junction here.
The North-East bound motorway goes to Manchester Airport and Manchester.
The railway runs slightly diagonally across the bottom of the map.
The Westbound railway goes to Runcorn and Liverpool.
The Eastbound railway goes to Weaver Junction, Crewe and the South.

There would only need to be a connection between Liverpool and the railway under the motorway going to and from Manchester Airport.

I have some further thoughts and questions.

This Is Just My First Thought

I am happier about the connection to the Liverpool branch than the Northern connection.

But then I feel there are several routes at both junctions, some of which will take a wider route.

How Long Will The Tunnels Be?

Between Junctions 11 and 6 on the M56 is 16 miles.

At What Speed Would The Trains Run?

I suspect that once on the straight section between Junctions 11 and 6, speeds of up to 90 or 100 mph should be possible, but speeds would probably be lower at the junctions to the West Coast Main Line.

How Would It Connect To Manchester Piccadilly?

The tunnel would continue the other side of the Airport and it’s a further 9.4 miles to under Manchester Piccadilly.

In The Rival Plans For Piccadilly Station, That Architects Say Will ‘Save Millions’, I wrote about Weston Williamson’s plan for Manchester Piccadilly station.

This was their visualisation.

Note.

In the visualisation, you are observing the station from the East.
The existing railway lines into Piccadilly station are shown in red.
Stockport and Manchester Airport are to the left, which is to the South.
Note the dreaded Castlefield Corridor in red going off into the distance to Oxford Road and Deansgate stations.
The new high speed lines are shown in blue.
To the left they go to Manchester Airport and then on to London, Birmingham and the South, Warrington and Liverpool and Wigan, Preston, Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness, the North and Scotland.
To the right, they go to Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds, Hull and the North East, and Sheffield, Doncaster and the East.
Between it looks like a low-level High Speed station with at least four tracks and six platforms.
The high speed lines could be oriented so they ran East-West, rather than North-South in this visualisation.
The Manchester Metrolink is shown in yellow.

The potential for over-site development is immense. If the Station Square Tower was residential, the penthouses would be some of the most desirable places to live in the North.

Onward From Manchester Piccadilly

I would hope that a connection could be made to the Huddersfield Line to the East of Manchester Piccadilly station, so that trains could use the TransPennine Upgrade all the way to Leeds.

October 6, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Dalston Kingsland Station, High Speed One, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Lite, Leeds Station, Liverpool, M56 Motorway, Manchester Airport, Manchester Metrolink, Manchester Piccadilly Station, North London Line, Stratford International Station, Styal Line, TransPennine Upgrade, Warrington Bank Quay Station, West Coast Main Line | 2 Comments

Could High Speed Two Finish At Lichfield?

I wrote this post before Rishi Sunak made his speech.

I went to Manchester and Liverpool yesterday by train.

I took the 10:33 from Euston and this a summary of my journey.

The train left Euston half a minute early.
It arrived at Stafford (133.5 miles) at 11:50 and left at 11:52.
It arrived at Crewe (158.0 miles) at 12:08 and left at 12.10.
It arrived at Wilmslow (176.9 miles) at 12:25 and left at 12:27.
It arrived at Stockport (183.0 miles) at 12:35 and left at 12:37.
It arrived in Manchester Piccadilly (188.9 miles) at 12:46.
It was two minutes late into Manchester and more or less on time at the other stops.

Note.

The route was via the Trent Valley Line and the train passed through Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Colwich and Stafford.
Euston and Manchester had been timetabled at two hours and eleven minutes.
This is an average speed of 86.5 mph.
The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two gives the fastest time before High Speed Two opens as one hour and fifty-four minutes.
This will be an average speed of 99.4 mph.

Coming home, I took the 18:48 from Liverpool Lime Street and this a summary of my journey.

The train left Liverpool on time.
It arrived at Runcorn (13.2 miles) at 18:58 and left at 19:02.
It arrived at Crewe (35.8 miles) at 19:26 and left at 19:28.
It arrived at Milton Keynes (143.8 miles) at 20:27 and left at 20:29.
It arrived in Euston (183.6 miles) at 21:00.
It was five minutes late into Crewe and two minutes early at Euston.

Note.

The route was via the Trent Valley Line and the train passed through Stafford, Colwich, Lichfield Trent Valley, Tamworth and Nuneaton.
Liverpool and Euston had been timetabled at two hours and twenty minutes.
This is an average speed of 78.7 mph.
The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two gives the fastest time before High Speed Two opens as two hours and three minutes.
This will be an average speed of 89.6 mph.

This map clipped from the High Speed Two web site, shows the junction North of Lichfield, where High Speed Two connects to the Trent Valley Line through Stafford.

Note.

High Speed Two runs North-South across the map.
After the Junction by Fradley South, High Speed Two to Crewe and the North, is the branch to the East.
The other branch connects to the Trent Valley Line at Handsacre junction.
Trent Valley Line can be picked out North of Lichfield, where it passes through Lichfield Trent Valley station.

The Trent Valley Line is no Victorian double-track slow-speed bottleneck.

The route between Rugby and Crewe is generally three or four tracks, with only one short stretch of double track, through Shugborough tunnel.
The speed limit is generally 110 mph, with 90 mph at Shugborough.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Avanti West Coast’s Class 390 and Class 807 trains could be running at up to 140 mph on the route, if digital signalling were to be installed.
This speed would probably be attained by High Speed Two trains.

London Euston and Stafford would only have under twenty miles of slower line and that could be 140 mph, so High Speed Two times on the route could be very fast.

This second map clipped from the High Speed Two web site, shows between High Speed Two’s two Birmingham stations and Lichfield.

Note.

High Speed Two Phases 1 and 2a are shown in blue.
High Speed Two Phase 2b is shown in orange.
At the top of the map, can be seen the junction, where High Speed Two to the North splits, that was shown in the previous map.
The large blue dot in the West at the bottom of the map, is Birmingham Curzon Street station.
The other large blue dot is Birmingham International station.
The three sections of High Speed Two to London, Birmingham Curzon Street and the North meet at a triangular junction between the two Birmingham stations.
High Speed Two to the East Midlands, branches off to the East North of the triangular junction.

This third map clipped from the High Speed Two web site, shows between Lichfield and Crewe.

Note.

High Speed Two Phase 2a is shown in blue.
High Speed Two Phase 2b is shown in orange.
Crewe is in the North-West corner of the map, where at the South end of the orange section.
The junction at Lichfield is in the South-East corner of the map.
The lighter blue route to the East, between the Lichfield junction and Crewe is the new tracks of High Speed Two.
The darker blue route to the West, between the Lichfield junction and Crewe is the existing route of the Trent Valley Line and the West Coast Main Line.
The Trent Valley Line joins the West Coast Main Line at Stafford.

These are a few thoughts and questions.

How Will Trains Go Between Birmingham Curzon Street And London?

Trains will use the triangular junction shown in the second map to go between the two Birmingham stations and then head South,

How Will Trains Go Between Birmingham Curzon Street And The North?

Trains will use the triangular junction shown in the second map to turn North and then take one of the two routes to the North; High Speed Two or Trent Valley Line/West Coast Main Line.

How Will Trains Go Between Birmingham Curzon Street And The North If High Speed Two Between Birmingham And The North Is Scrapped?

If High Speed Two is scrapped from the Northern point of the triangular junction to the North, there will be no way that trains could go North from Birmingham Curzon Street.

The overcrowded Birmingham New Street station will still be the link to the North of England and Scotland for Birmingham.
How would trains connect to the future branch to East Midlands Parkway, which connects just North of the triangular junction?

I suspect that a short stub will be built North of the triangular junction to connect to the Trent Valley Line, which is currently, the main route of trains between London and the North through the West Midlands, for trains that don’t go through Birmingham.

Trains Between London And Stafford

Currently, Avanti West Coast trains take around one hour and seventeen minutes between London and Stafford.

The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two gives these times between London and Stafford.

Fastest time before High Speed Two – one hour and seventeen minutes.
Time after Phase 2a of High Speed Two opens – fifty-five minutes.

Note.

That is a time saving of twenty-two minutes.

High Speed Two Trains will use the link between the junction at Lichfield and the Trent Valley Line.

How Many Avanti West Coast Services Use The Trent Valley Line?

These trains use the Trent Valley Line.

London and Holyhead – 8 tpd
London and Liverpool Lime Street – 1 tph, which is planned to increase to 2 tph
London and Manchester Piccadilly – 2 tph
London and Blackpool North – 1 tpd
London and Glasgow – 1 tph

Note.

tpd is trains per day
tph is trains per hour

This is roughly six tph.

Would It Be Possible To Finish High Speed Two At The Lichfield Junction And Connect It To The Trent Valley Line?

This is a repeat of the first map.

Note.

High Speed Two runs North-South across the map.
After the Junction by Fradley South, High Speed Two to Crewe and the North, is the branch to the East.
The other branch connects to the Trent Valley Line at Handsacre junction.
Trent Valley Line can be picked out North of Lichfield, where it passes through Lichfield Trent Valley station.

If the Eastern branch North from the junction were to be scrapped, all trains between London and North would go via Stafford.

As all these tracks are planned and must be at an advanced stage, that is ready for construction, I feel the route would be feasible.

It would have these benefits.

Birmingham Curzon Street services and the North-West of England and the West of Scotland would be possible.
Services between London and Stafford will be twenty-two minutes faster, than they are now.
Time savings will also apply to services from London to Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and all stations between Crewe and Glasgow.

The capacity of the Trent Valley Line would be the limiting factor.

Time Savings Between Crewe And Preston

According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, after Phase 2a of High Speed Two opens, these will be the fastest times to Crewe and Preston.

Crewe – 0:56
Preston 1:18

Note.

The fastest Preston service runs non-stop between Euston and Preston.
Crewe and Preston are 51 miles apart.

A time of 22 minutes between Crewe and Preston, means the average speed is 139 mph.

Does this mean that High Speed Two will improve between Crewe and Preston to allow 140 mph non-stop running?

But 22 minutes is certainly an improvement on the current time between Crewe and Preston for Scottish trains of 40 minutes.

Time Savings Between Crewe And Liverpool

The upgrading of the line between might save another couple of minutes between Crewe and Weaver junction.

What Times Would Be Possible Via High Speed Two And The Trent Valley Line?

These times are based on the following.

The twenty-two minute saving to Stafford, as all High Speed Two services to the North-West of England and the West of Scotland will go via Phase 1 of High Speed Two and Stafford.
A saving of eighteen minutes will be applied to Scottish services because of savings between Crewe and Preston.

This would give these times in hours:minutes.

Blackpool – 2:10
Carlisle – 2:35
Chester – 1:28
Crewe – 1:08
Glasgow – 3:50
Holyhead – 3:10
Lancaster – 2:03
Liverpool Lime Street – 1:41
Llandudno Junction – 2:24
Macclesfield – 1:30
Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe – 1:52
Oxenholme – 1:54
Preston – 1:46
Runcorn 1:31
Stafford – 0:55
Stockport – 1:35
Stoke-on-Trent – 1:10
Warrington – 1:22
Wigan 1:33
Wilmslow – 1:25

I have calculated extra services to Blackpool and North Wales.

Adding The Lichfield And Crewe Section

Consider.

My calculations indicate that London and Crewe will take 1:08.
The Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, after Phase 2a of High Speed Two opens, gives the fastest time to Crewe as 0:56.

This indicates that adding the section of High Speed Two between Lichfield and Crewe will save a further twelve minutes.

Conclusion

I strongly believe that an upgraded Trent Valley Line linked to a shortened High Speed Two at Lichfield could improve journey times between London, Birmingham and the North.

There are certainly savings to be made.

See Also

High Speed Two To Crewe

High Speed Two To Holyhead

High Speed Two To Lancaster

High Speed Two To Liverpool

High Speed Two To Manchester

High Speed Two To Wigan

October 4, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Birmingham Curzon Street Station, Birmingham International Station, Class 390 Train, Class 807 Train, Euston Station, Handsacre Junction, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, High Speed Two Lite, Lichfield Trent Valley Station, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Nuneaton Station, Trent Valley Line | 11 Comments

High Speed Two To Crewe

There has been a lot of speculation about the Northern end of High Speed Two, so I might as well add sort out a few facts and add a bit of speculation of my own.

Sample Times Between London And Crewe

These are selected times from the 27th September 2023.

07:30 – Glasgow Non-Stop – 1:29
07:33 – Manchester Piccadilly – 1:37 – Stops at Stafford
07:43 – Liverpool Lime Street – 1:40 – Stops at Milton Keynes
08:30 – Glasgow Non-Stop – 1:29
08:33 – Manchester Piccadilly – 1:37 – Stops at Stafford
08:43 – Liverpool Lime Street – 1:40 – Stops at Milton Keynes
09:02 – Holyhead – 1:40 – Stop at Stafford
15:02 – Chester – 1:40 – Stops at Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley and Stafford

Note.

The 07:30 and 08:30 Glasgow services appears to be pathed for one of the Class 390 Pendolino electric trains and were run by Pendolinos.
The 07:33 and 08:33 Manchester services appears to be pathed for one of the Pendolino electric trains and were run by Pendolinos.
The 07:43 and 08:43 Liverpool services appears to be pathed for one of the new Class 807 electric trains, but were run by Pendolinos.
The 15:02 Chester service appears to be pathed for one of the new Class 805 bi-mode trains.
All services except the Glasgow services stop at Crewe.
As London Euston and Crewe is 158 miles, the non-stop Glasgow services average 107 mph, the one-stop Manchester service averages 98 mph and the one-stop Liverpool service averages 95 mph.

I have some further thoughts.

How Long Does A Stop Take?

I’ve looked at some stops of Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester services

Crewe

Looking at timings between Weaver Junction and Norton Bridge, I have found the following times.

Glasgow-Euston – 23 minutes
Liverpool-Euston – 28 minutes

Note.

Manchester services don’t go through Weaver Junction.
Weaver Junction and Norton Bridge are respectively North and South of Crewe.
The Liverpool service stops at Crewe, where it has a dwell time of two minutes.
The Glasgow service goes straight through Crewe.

The Crewe stop takes a total of 5 minutes of which 3 minutes are deceleration and acceleration to and from linespeed.

Stafford

Looking at timings between Norton Bridge and Colwich, I have found the following times.

Glasgow-Euston – 7½ minutes
Liverpool-Euston – 7½ minutes
Manchester -Euston – 14 minutes

Note.

Norton Bridge and Colwich are respectively North and South of Stafford.
The Manchester service stops at Stafford, where it has a dwell time of two minutes.
The Glasgow and Liverpool services go straight through Stafford.

The Stafford stop takes a total of 6½ minutes of which 4½ minutes are deceleration and acceleration to and from linespeed.

Milton Keynes

Looking at timings between Weedon and Bletchley, I have found the following times.

Glasgow-Euston – 11½ minutes
Liverpool-Euston – 16 minutes
Manchester -Euston – 12½ minutes

Note.

Weedon and Bletchley are respectively North and South of Milton Keynes.
The Liverpool service stops at Milton Keynes, where it has a dwell time of one minute.
The Glasgow and Manchester services go straight through Milton Keynes.

The Milton Keynes stop takes a total of 4 minutes of which 3 minutes are deceleration and acceleration to and from linespeed.

Average Speeds Between Crewe And London

London Ruston and Crewe is 158 miles according to Real Time Trains.

So what would times would various average speeds deliver?

100 mph – 95 minutes
110 mph – 86 minutes
120 mph – 79 minutes
125 mph – 76 minutes
130 mph – 73 minutes
140 mph – 68 minutes

Obviously, any average speed with over 125 mph running, will need full digital signalling.

Liverpool And London In Two Hours

Tucked away beside the Grand Union Sets Out Stirling Ambitions article in the December 2022 Edition of Modern Railways is a report on Avanti West Coast’s application for a second service between Euston and Liverpool.

This is said.

Avanti West Coast has applied for access rights for its second hourly Euston to Liverpool service, starting from December 2023, although a phased introduction of the new service is likely. This would make use of Avanti’s new fleet of 10×7-car Class 807 Hitachi EMUs, which are expected to enter service from Autumn 2023. The ‘807s’ would be deployed on the current hourly Liverpool service, on which a call at Liverpool South Parkway would be added. (provision is made for this in the December 2022 timetable.).

Pendolinos would then operate the second service each hour, calling at Lichfield Trent Valley and Tamworth.

A linespeed project is in progress to raise the permissible speed for non-tilting trains on the West Coast Main Line, and Avanti’s new Hitachi trains will take advantage of this.

I’ll take a quick look at the Crewe and Runcorn section.

It is 22.5 miles.
It takes 19 minutes.
That is an average speed of 71 mph.
Crewe and Weaver Junction has a speed limit of at least 110 mph
Runcorn and Weaver Junction has a speed limit of at least 90 mph for most of the way.
If with their superior performance, the new Class 807 trains could average 90 mph between Crewe and Runcorn, they would take 15 minutes.
Achieving the 90 mph average may need a bit of track realignment and some signaling changes.

The four minutes saved would be enough to handle the extra stop at Liverpool South Parkway.

Consider.

Currently, Pendolino trains do Liverpool and Crewe in 38 minutes, which includes the stop at Runcorn.
My calculation with the Class 807 trains, shows that with a bit of extra signalling, the new trains could do Liverpool and Crewe in 38 minutes with the two stops.
The stop at Crewe will subtract 5 minutes from the base journey time.
The stop at Milton Keynes will subtract 4 minutes from the base journey time.

This means the base journey time between Crewe and London will be 73 minutes.

This would indicate that the trains would be running at 130 mph to achieve the two hours.

But there are five accelerations and five decelerations on a journey between London and Liverpool and the new Class 807 trains are the Lotuses of Hitachi’s family of AT-300 trains; lightweight and powerful.

Suppose they could save thirty seconds for each acceleration and deceleration.

The base journey time between Crewe and London will be 78 minutes.

This would indicate that the trains would be running at over 120 mph to achieve the two hours.

I certainly feel, that Liverpool and London in two hours is certainly possible using the new Class 807 trains.

London and Crewe with two stops would be times at one hour and twelve minutes.

But what about the Pendolinos?

My last return trip from Liverpool did a practice call at Liverpool South Parkway and still arrived in London a few minutes early.
The Pendolinos will still benefit from any improvements, between Crewe and Runcorn, which could reduce the Liverpool and Crewe time from 38 minutes to 34 minutes.
The stop at Crewe will subtract 5 minutes from the base journey time.
The stops at Lichfield Trent Valley and Tamworth will both subtract 4 minutes from the base journey time.

This means the base journey time between Crewe and London will be 73 minutes, which is the same as for the Class 807 trains.

This would indicate that the trains would be running at 130 mph to achieve the two hours.

Could this average speed be achieved by the selective application of full digital signalling, perhaps on the Trent Valley Line?

But it does appear to me, that the Pendolinos can get very close to two hours between London and Liverpool.

London and Crewe with three stops would be times at one hour and sixteen minutes.

Crewe And London Non-Stop

Consider.

Pendolinos between London and Glasgow, go non-stop between London and Crewe.
I have calculated that Pendolinos between London and Liverpool, will take one hour and sixteen minutes with three stops between London and Crewe.
The three stops take a total of thirteen minutes.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see London and Glasgow Pendolinos take one hour and three minutes between London and Crewe.

This would knock twenty-six minutes off journey times between London and Glasgow.

Conclusion

I believe that with relatively minor improvements on the West Coast Main Line and the Liverpool branch, the following can be achieved.

Liverpool and London can be around two hours with new Class 807 trains or Pendolinos.
Liverpool and London services can increase their calls in the Midlands.
London and Glasgow services can be nearly half-an-hour faster.
The fastest London and Crewe services could be just over an hour using Pendolinos.

I also believe that the only serious infrastructure needed is some track realignment and some updated signalling.

High Speed Two To Holyhead

High Speed Two To Lancaster

High Speed Two To Liverpool

High Speed Two To Manchester

High Speed Two To Stoke-on-Trent

High Speed Two To Wigan

September 30, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Chester Station, Class 390 Train, Class 805 Train, Class 807 Train, Class AT-300 Train, Crewe Station, Euston Station, Glasgow Central Station, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, High Speed Two Lite, Holyhead Station, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Milton Keynes Central Station, Stafford Station, West Coast Main Line | 11 Comments

High Speed Two To Manchester

There has been a lot of speculation about the Northern end of High Speed Two, so I might as well add sort out a few facts and add a bit of speculation of my own.

The Current Manchester Piccadilly Services

Currently, there are three trains per hour (tph) between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.

The services stop as follows.

Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport
Nuneaton, Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport
Stafford, Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport

Note.

One service goes via Crewe.
Two services go via Stoke-on-Trent.
All services go via Stockport.
A London and Manchester Piccadilly train could go via Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport.
A London and Manchester Piccadilly train could go via Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport.

The two trains detailed would mean that Manchester wouldn’t lose any connectivity.

I would expect that Manchester Piccadilly needs at least three tph to and from London.

This graphic shows High Speed Two services after Phase 2b is completed.

Note.

Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
Full Size Services will only run to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly after Phase 2b is completed to Manchester Piccadilly.
Classic-Compatible Services will be able to run to to Manchester Piccadilly after Phase 2a is completed.
Two London and Manchester Piccadilly trains will call at just Old Oak Common and Manchester Airport.
A third London and Manchester Piccadilly train will call at Old Oak Common, Birmingham International and Manchester Airport.
Two Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester Piccadilly trains will call at just Manchester Airport.
Despite Wilmslow and Stockport being shown in the list of stations on the left hand side of the graphic, no High Speed Two services appear to call at the two stations.

The graphic of High Speed Two services also shows these Full-Size services to Manchester Piccadilly.

Three tph to London Euston
Two tph to Birmingham Curzon Street

Some or all of these services will surely be run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.

What services will run to Manchester between the opening of Phase 2a and the opening of Phase 2b?

I will now give some possibilities for services.

London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport

I shall look at the 07:33 train to Manchester Piccadilly on the 20th September 2023.

It was a service via Stafford, Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport
It was a nine-car Class 390 train or Pendolino, which left on time.
Euston and Manchester Piccadilly are 188.9 miles apart.
The train called at Crewe at 09:08 and left at 09:10.
The average speed between London Euston and Crewe is 70.7 mph.
The train arrived in Manchester Piccadilly on time at 09:44.
The journey took two hours and 11 minutes
The average speed was 86.5 mph.
The Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly section is 30.9 miles and the train is scheduled to take 34 minutes.
The average speed between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly is 54.5 mph.
The example train slows past Crewe because of two stops at Wilmslow and Stockport.

When Phase 2a of High Speed Two opens a replacement for this service via Crewe, could operate as follows.

It could use High Speed Two between and Crewe.
It could use the current route between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly.
It would probably use a 200 metre long High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
I wouldn’t be surprised, that the current Pendolino service between Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport was retired.
The new High Speed Two service could take over the path currently used by the current Pendolino service, between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly.
The train could stop at Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport as required.
If it stopped at Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport, it would restore some of the connectivity to smaller places.

According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, these will be the timings.

London Euston and Crewe – 56 minutes
London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly Phase 2a – One hour and 30 minutes
London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly Phase 2b – One hour and 11 minutes

From these figures and the times of the 07:33, I can deduce these journey times for trains via Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport.

Currently, Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly takes 34 minutes.
High Speed Two after Phase 2a will also take 34 minutes.

I am surprised that sectional timings on this section of the West Coast Main Line are the same as current timings. Digital signalling and the faster acceleration and deceleration of the new trains, are quite likely to decrease times.

Because they are both 34 minutes, does that mean that services will stop at Crewe, Wilmslow and Stockport?

London and Macclesfield Via Stafford And Stoke-on-Trent

This map of High Speed Two in North West England was captured from the interactive map on the High Speed Two web site.

Note.

The map dates from around October 2020.
The current West Coast Main Line (WCML) and Phase 2a of High Speed Two are shown in blue.
Phase 2b of High Speed Two is shown in orange.
The main North-South route, which is shown in blue, is the WCML passing through Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western as it goes North.
The Western Branch, which is shown in blue, is the Liverpool Branch of the WCML, which serves Runcorn and Liverpool.
High Speed Two, which is shown in orange, takes a faster route between Crewe and Wigan North Western.
The Eastern Branch, which is shown in orange, is the Manchester Branch of High Speed Two, which serves Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
The route in the East, which is shown in blue, is the Macclesfield Branch of High Speed Two, which serves Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield.

The route of Northern Powerhouse Rail between Manchester Airport and Liverpool has still to be finalised.

The London and Macclesfield service is as follows.

There will be one tph
There are intermediate stops at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
Macclesfield has a long electrified bay platform, which looks like it will take a 200 m High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train.
Macclesfield Station And High Speed Two has pictures of the station.
Four tph operate between Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester Piccadilly via Macclesfield.
Timings from London would be 55 minutes to Stafford, 70 minutes to Stoke-on-Trent and 90 minutes to Macclesfield.

In some ways, I was surprised about this High Speed Two service.

But it does give an easy connection to Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

London and Manchester Piccadilly via Macclesfield, Stafford And Stoke-on-Trent

Currently, Avanti West Coast run a service between London and Manchester which runs as follows.

It calls at Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport
It also passes through Watford Junction, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley.
It could pass through Stafford.
It would mean that Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent were served by 2 tph.
It is run by a Pendolino.
It has a frequency of 1 tph.
The current service takes two hours and 6 minutes.
A few minutes would be added for each extra stop.

I believe it could be a very useful service.

I wonder if it could be run as a complimentary service to High Speed Two to serve more places on the route.

A Second High Speed Two Service Between London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport

So far, I have mapped out three possible services.

High Speed Two – London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport – One hour and thirty minutes
High Speed Two – London and Macclesfield Via Stafford and Stoke – One hour and thirty minutes
Pendolino – London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport – Two hours and 6 minutes plus 4 minutes for each extra stop.

I suspect that four tph could be a good frequency.

The simplest extra service would probably be another High Speed Two London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport.

But it could be another Pendolino service to serve more places.

I believe a service pattern could be arranged with these features.

Major cities and towns between London and Manchester have at least two tph.
A larger number of towns and cities have at least one tph.

Note that many stations on the route already have Pendolino services.

Phase 2b Would Be The Ultimate Solution

Phase 2b which will involve a tunnel via Manchester Airport to new platforms in Manchester Piccadilly could be the ultimate solution.

Phase 2b is also needed so that full-size High Speed Two trains can be run to Manchester Piccadilly.

But it will be difficult, expensive and disruptive to build.

Conclusion

I believe it could be easy to plan four services between London and Manchester Piccadilly or Macclesfield.

High Speed Two Full-Size train – London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport – One hour and eleven minutes
High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train – London and Macclesfield Via Stafford and Stoke – One hour and thirty minutes
High Speed Two Full-Size train – London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Crewe, Wilmslow And Stockport – One hour and eleven minutes
Pendolino – London and Manchester Piccadilly Via Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport – Two hours and 6 minutes plus 4 minutes for each extra stop.

Note.

Services 1 and 3 are identical, but don’t need to be.

Service 4 could be run by a High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train.

High Speed Two To Crewe

High Speed Two To Holyhead

High Speed Two To Lancaster

High Speed Two To Liverpool

High Speed Two To Stoke-on-Trent

High Speed Two To Wigan

September 24, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Class 390 Train, CrossCountry Trains, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, High Speed Two Full-Size Trains, High Speed Two Lite, Macclesfield Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Stafford Station, Stoke-on-Trent Station | 10 Comments

Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle By Battery-Electric Class 802 Train

After my visit to Morley station, which I wrote about in Morley Station – 17th August 2023, in this post, I look at how a battery-electric Class 802 train might run between Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle stations.

These are the various sections of the route.

Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria – 31.6 miles – 36 minutes – Electrified
Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield – 25.7 miles – 30 minutes – Not Electrified
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – 8 miles – 7 minutes – Currently Being Electrified
Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.1 miles – 14 minutes – Not Electrified
Leeds and York – 25.8 miles – 30 minutes – Currently Being Electrified
York and Newcastle – 80.2 miles – 58 minutes – Electrified

Note.

Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria, Leeds and York and York and Newcastle are all long enough to fully charge a battery-electric train.
There is electrification of both ends of the route.
Manchester Victoria and York is a distance of 68.6 miles.
The total route length is a distance of 180.4 miles.

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 a paragraph.

Meanwhile, GWR had announced plans with Eversholt Rail to trial the replacement of a diesel generator unit with batteries on a Class 802 IET. However, Mr. Hopwood says this would not be useful for GWR and so the trial is not proceeding; instead, a TransPennine Express Class 802 will be the subject of a battery trial.

Could the trial be conducted on TransPennine Express’s Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle route?

The total route length is a distance of 180.4 miles.
The two electrified sections at the ends of the route; Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria and York and Newcastle are both long enough to fully charge a battery-electric train.
The central section between Manchester Victoria and York is not overly long at 68.6 miles.
The route is convenient for Hitachi’s headquarters at Newton Aycliffe.

It looks like, the Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle route would make an ideal test route for battery-electric Class 802 trains.

Manchester Piccadilly And Newcastle By Battery-Electric Class 802 Train

This is a very similar route to the Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle route with a different Western terminal.

These are the various sections of the route.

Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield – 25.5 miles – 42 minutes – Not Electrified
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – 8 miles – 10 minutes – Currently Being Electrified
Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.1 miles – 14 minutes – Not Electrified
Leeds and York – 25.8 miles – 30 minutes – Currently Being Electrified
York and Newcastle – 80.2 miles – 58 minutes – Electrified

Note.

Turnround time at Manchester Piccadilly and York and Newcastle are all long enough to fully charge a battery-electric train.
There is electrification of both ends of the route.
Manchester Piccadilly and York is a distance of 68.4 miles.
The total route length is a distance of 148.5 miles.

Like the Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle route, I believe the Manchester Piccadilly And Newcastle route would make an ideal test route for battery-electric Class 802 trains.

August 18, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 802 Train, Electrification, Hitachi, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Morley Station, Newcastle Station, TransPennine Express | 2 Comments

« Previous Entries Next Entries »

About This Blog

What this blog will eventually be about I do not know.

But it will be about how I’m coping with the loss of my wife and son to cancer in recent years and how I manage with being a coeliac and recovering from a stroke. It will be about travel, sport, engineering, food, art, computers, large projects and London, that are some of the passions that fill my life.

And hopefully, it will get rid of the lonely times, from which I still suffer.

Why Anonymous? That’s how you feel at times.

Search for:
Charities
Useful Links
Top Posts
WordPress Admin
Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

Join 1,882 other subscribers

The Anonymous Widower

A Redbrick Station For A Redbrick University

Could Open Access Operators Use High Speed Two?

Mayors Propose New Staffordshire To Manchester Rail Line

Could Sheffield Station Become A Battery-Electric Train Hub?

Electrification Of The Hope Valley Line

Could Manchester Airport Be Accessed From The West By A Tunnel Under The M56?

Could High Speed Two Finish At Lichfield?

High Speed Two To Crewe

High Speed Two To Manchester

Liverpool Lime Street And Newcastle By Battery-Electric Class 802 Train

About This Blog

Charities

Useful Links

Top Posts

WordPress Admin

Email Subscription

Archives

Categories

Tweets

Site info