Midland Main Line « The Anonymous Widower

Transformer Deliveries Mark Major Milestone For Braybrooke Substation Project And The Midland Main Line Upgrade

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.

The press release says this.

Since early 2021 National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has been building a new electricity substation near Braybrooke, on the outskirts of Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

The new substation, once complete, will form a vital part of electrical infrastructure to support Network Rail’s electrification of the Midland Main Line.

Following months of hard work, the project has reached a major milestone, as the engineering team have taken delivery of two new transformers.

The transformers arrived during November and were delivered via an access road off Kettering Road built to ensure construction traffic avoids the areas of Market Harborough and Braybrooke. Weighing an impressive 100 tonnes, they will now be installed at the substation over the coming months.

This Google Map shows the access road.

Note.

The main A6 road running across the top of the map.

Kettering road leads off it into Market Harborough.

The Midland Main Line running across the bottom of the map.

The access track runs between the two.

This enlargement of the South East corner of the map shows the 400 kV overhead transmission line.

Note that the shadows give away two 400 kV pylons.

Will the sub-station be built in the smaller rectangular field?

How Many Sub-Stations Will Be Needed For The Midland Main Line Electrification?

I seem to remember that the Great Western Main Line to Cardiff was electrified with just three sub-stations, London, Cardiff and one in the middle and the London one is shared with Crossrail.

So I suspect that the feed of electricity may only need one further substation at the Northern end.

Conclusion

It does seem that National Grid have planned this well.

I suspect, bringing in the transformers didn’t cause too much disruption and the route gives good access to the overhead line.

January 5, 2022 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Electrification, Market Harborough Station, Midland Main Line, Midland Main Line Electrification, National Grid | 4 Comments

Midland Main Line Electrification – 4th Jan 2022

I took these pictures from the train today, as I went to Leicester.

Note.

We overtook the Class 360 train to Corby, just before it left the main line at Kettering North junction.
Once past Kettering North junction, the Midland Main Line is only two tracks as far as Leicester station.
A lot of the gantries on the two slow lines seem tall.
At least twenty gantries had been installed North of the junction.

Some of the new gantries looked to be lighter than those South of the junction, but then they are only supporting electrification for two tracks, rather than four.

This Google Map shows the junction.

In this section, my train overtook the train to Corby.

The track going North-West goes to Leicester.
The track going North-East goes to Corby.
The track going South goes to Kettering.
It looks like to the West of the Midland Main Line is a large electricity sub-station.

In the tenth of my pictures you can see the three vertical poles opposite the sub-station, which can be picked out in the map.

January 4, 2022 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Electrification, Kettering Station, Leicester Station, Midland Main Line, Midland Main Line Electrification | 28 Comments

Discontinuous Electrification Through Derwent Valley Mills

One big problem area of electrification on the Midland Main Line could be North of Derby, where the railway runs through the World Heritage Site of the Derwent Valley Mills. There might be serious objections to electrification in this area.

But if electrification were to be installed between Leicester and Derby stations, the following would be possible.

The Midland Main Line would be electrified at East Midlands Hub station.
Power could be taken from High Speed Two’s supply at East Midland Hub station, even if High Speed Two is not built in full.
Battery-electric trains could do a return trip to Nottingham from an electrified East Midlands Parkway station, as it’s only sixteen miles in total.

I am sure, that Hitachi’s Class 810 trains could be upgraded to have a of perhaps twenty-five miles on battery power, as this fits with Hitachi’s statements.

North of Derby, there would be electrification on the following sections.

Derby station and South of the heritage-sensitive section at Belper station.
Sheffield station and North of the heritage-sensitive section at Duffield station.

Milford Tunnel, which has Grade II Listed portals and is part of the World Heritage Site would not be electrified.

Belper and Duffield stations are 2.6 miles or 4.8 kilometres apart.

I believe it could be arranged that there would be no electrification in the sensitive section, where the Heritage Taliban might object.

The Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Train

Hitachi will start testing their Intercity Battery Hybrid Train next year.

The train is described in this Hitachi infographic.

Note that is has a gap-jumping range of 5 km, which would handle the gap between Belper and Duffield stations.

CrossCountry Services Between Derby And Sheffield

CrossCountry operate the following services between Derby and Sheffield through Milford Tunnel and the World Heritage Site.

Plymouth and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central
Southampton/Reading and Newcastle

CrossCountry would need new trains and one of the current Hitachi Class 802 trains could handle this route and use electrification where it exists.

A five kilometre gap will be no big obstacle to designing a battery-electric train for these CrossCountry services.

Freight Trains

In Will Zero-Carbon Freight Trains Be Powered By Battery, Electric Or Hydrogen Locomotives?, I came to this conclusion.

In the title of this post, I asked if freight locomotives of the future would be battery, electric or hydrogen.

I am sure of one thing, which is that all freight locomotives must be able to use electrification and if possible, that means both 25 KVAC overhead and 750 VDC third rail. Electrification will only increase in the future, making it necessary for most if not all locomotives in the future to be able to use it.

I feel there will be both battery-electric and hydrogen-electric locomotives, with the battery-electric locomotives towards the less powerful end.

Hydrogen-electric will certainly dominate at the heavy end.

These locomotives would be able to handle the section of the Midland Main Line through Derwent Valley Mills.

December 30, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 802 Train, Class 810 Train, Clay Cross North Junction, CrossCountry Trains, Derby Station, Derwent Valley Line, Derwent Valley Mills, Discontinuous Electrification, Freight, Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Train, Midland Main Line, Sheffield Station, World Heritage Site | 7 Comments

New ‘HS3’ Link To Yorkshire Proposed By Thinktank After Region’s HS2 Axe

The title of this post, is the same as this article in the Yorkshire Post.

This is the introductory paragraph.

A new “HS3” high-speed rail line between Yorkshire and the Nottinghamshire town of Newark could help make up for the loss of the HS2 eastern leg from Yorkshire, a report by transport think-tank; Greengauge 21 has suggested.

There is also this map from Greengauge 21.

I clipped my copy of the map from this report on Greengauge 21, which is entitled East, West, North And South.

Note.

As in the Integrated Plan For The North And Midlands, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield have direct connections to London via High Speed Two.
The Derby leg is extended to Sheffield via the existing Midland Main Line.
The Nottingham leg is extended to Newark, where it joins the East Coast Main Line.
A new High Speed Line, which is shown in white and labelled HS3 links Newark to the East Coast Main Line and the line between Leeds and York at a new triangular junction South of Colton Junction.
Part of the current route between Doncaster and Colton Junction is the Selby Diversion, which according to Wikipedia was built for speeds upward of 140 mph.
The route splits in the region of Colton Junction with the Western leg going to Leeds and Bradford and he Northern leg going to York and Newcastle.

I feel this is a better plan than the previous one from High Speed Two.

It adds Bradford, Derby and Nottingham to the High Speed Two network.
There is a connection to Birmingham and possibly the South West and Wales.
The East Coast Main Line is effectively four-tracked between Newark North Gate and York.

I have a few thoughts.

Colton Junction

This junction will feature a lot in this post, so I had better explain where it is.

The Selby Diversion was built in the 1980s to create a new route, which avoided the newly-discovered Selby coalfield.

Colton Junction is about six miles South of York and is at the Northern end of the Selby Diversion.

This Google Map shows the junction.

Note.

The East Coast Main Line going between South-West and North-East across the map.
The railway going North-East leads to York.
The village of Colton is at the top of the map.
Colton Junction is South of the village, where the East Coast Main Line splits.
The line going South-West is the route without electrification to Leeds, used by TransPennine Express and others.

The line going South is the Selby Diversion, used by all trains on the East Coast Main Line.

East Midlands Hub Or East Midlands Parkway

Some reports indicate that a new Birmingham and Nottingham High Speed Line will go via East Midland Parkway station.

East Midland Parkway is a fully-functioning four-platform station.
It is already operating.
There will soon be a large brownfield site next door, when the coal-fired Radcliffe-on-Soar power-station is demolished.
It has connections to Nottingham and Sheffield via Derby and Chesterfield.
Platforms are probably long enough to handle splitting and joining.
An advanced passenger shuttle could be built to East Midlands Airport.

This map from High Speed Two shows the route of the Eastern leg of High Speed Two, where it passes East Midland Parkway station and Radcliffe-on-Soar power-station.

Note.

The coloured line is the route of High Speed Two.
Red indicates viaduct
Yellow indicates cutting.
Green indicates green tunnel.
There is a curious clover-leaf shape to the East of High Speed Two.

This Google Map shows the same area.

Note

The River Soar and Remembrance Way can be picked out on both maps.
The Midland Main Line runs North-South in the Google Map and passes through East Midlands Parkway station.
It is possible to pick out the curious clover leaf shape to the North of the railway station, where the rail line goes into the power station.
Returning to the High Speed Two map it is possible to pick out the railway and power stations.

This map from High Speed Two shows the route of the Eastern leg of High Speed Two, to the South-West of East Midlands Parkway station.

Note.

The coloured line is the route of High Speed Two.
Red indicates viaduct.
East Midlands Parkway station is in the North-East corner of the map.
The Midland Main Line runs North-South down the Eastern side of the map.

Could the route of High Speed Two be adjusted so that it runs through East Midlands Parkway station?

This Google Map shows a similar area as the second High Speed Two map.

With the exception of the village of Radcliffe-on-Soar, there aren’t many, who would get in the way of the development of a connection between High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line to the South of East Midlands Parkway station.

High Speed Two crosses Remembrance Way in the South West corner of the map, where there is a junction with the M1 and runs diagonally across the map.
High Speed Two could probably sneak up the North side of Remembrance Way.
The station might need to be moved to the North a bit to give space.
The map also shows the space to the East, that will be created with the demolishing of the power station.

Developing East Midlands Parkway instead of East Midlands Hub could be the more affordable option.

High Speed Two’s Eastern Leg Services

This graphic shows High Speed Two’s services before the Eastern Leg was deleted.

Note.

Western Leg services are to the left of the vertical black line.
Eastern Leg services are to the right of the vertical black line.
Blue indicates a full-size service.
Yellow indicates a Classic-Compatible service.

Destinations on the former Eastern Leg get the following services.

Chesterfield – 1 tph
Darlington – 2 tph
Durham – 1 tph
East Midlands Hub – 7 tph
Leeds – 5 tph
Newcastle – 3 tph
Sheffield – 2 tph
York – 6 tph

Note.

Two trains will split and join at East Midlands Hub or East Midlands Parkway. But given what I said earlier, the split will take place at East Midlands Parkway.
Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield could get two tph.
If the pattern of the currently proposed High Speed Two service is followed, that would mean that 5tph to Leeds and four tph to York and further North would go through Nottingham.

I suspect that there could be a reduction in either High Speed Services on the Eastern Leg or on the East Coast Main Line.

Splitting And Joining At East Midlands Parkway

Consider.

All Northbound services on High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line pass through East Midlands Parkway station in the same direction.
All Southbound services on High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line pass through East Midlands Parkway station in the same direction.
The four platforms at East Midlands Parkway station will give a lot of flexibility.

If trains split and joined at East Midlands Parkway, there would be no need to reverse to serve Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield. I can’t see how this could be performed at East Midlands Hub without the Sheffield train reversing. This probably explains why in the original plans for High Speed Two, Sheffield and Chesterfield had their own spur and Derby was not served directly by High Speed Two.

The redesign in the Integrated Rail Plan For The North And Midlands, which abandons the Sheffield spur, probably reduces the costs significantly.

Nottingham

Nottingham will be an extremely busy station with these services running through.

High Speed Two – 2 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street and Leeds HS2 via Nottingham – Full-Size – 200 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via Nottingham, York, Darlington and Durham – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and Leeds HS2 via Nottingham – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and Leeds HS2 via Nottingham – Full-Size – 400 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and Leeds HS2 via Birmingham Interchange and Nottingham – Full-Size – 400 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and York via Nottingham – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and Newcastle via Nottingham and York – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres
High Speed Two – 1 tph – London and Newcastle via Nottingham, York and Darlington – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres
East Midlands Railway – 1 tph – London St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough and Leicester – Class 810
East Midlands Railway – 1 tph – London St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway and Beeston – Class 810
East Midlands Railway – 1 tph – Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich via Chesterfield, Alfreton, Nottingham, Grantham, Peterborough and several other stations – Class 158/170
East Midlands Railway – 1 tph – Crewe and Newark Castle via Nottingham and several other stations – Class 158/170
East Midlands Railway – 1 tph – Leicester and Lincoln via East Midlands Parkway, Attenborough, Beeston, Nottingham, Carlton and several other stations – Class 158/170
CrossCountry – 1 tph – Cardiff Central and Nottingham via Derby, Spondon, Long Eaton, Beeston and several other stations – Class 170
CrossCountry – 1 tph – Birmingham New Street and Nottingham via Derby – Class 170
Midlands Connect – 1 tph – Leeds and Bedford via Nottingham and Leicester – Classic-Compatible – 200 metres

Note.

With High Speed Two services London means London Euston and Old Oak Common.
Two High Speed Two services do not stop in Nottingham
With several of these routes I have only put in a few intermediate stations to show the routing of the train at Nottingham.

These services total up to twelve tph going through Nottingham and four tph terminating at Nottingham from London St. Pancras and Birmingham New Street.

Nottingham station would need to be able to handle the following with respect to through trains.

A train every five minutes.
Some trains would be 400 metres long.

But there is plenty of space in Nottingham station and High Speed Two’s digital signalling will be able to handle 18 tph.

Nottingham And Newark

The Nottingham and Lincoln Line between Nottingham and Newark appears from my helicopter to be fairly straight.

The line is double track.
There are eight stations between Nottingham and the East Coast Main Line.
The maximum speed of the line is 70 mph.
It is 18.1 miles between Nottingham and the East Coast Main Line.
I suspect that it could be upgraded to a 100 mph between Nottingham and the East Coast Main Line.

Typical services in tph will be the same as at Nottingham, which is 12 tph. But there are also occasional freight trains and Peak services to and from London St. Pancras.

With digital signalling on this relatively-simple section, if it were to be fitted with High Speed Two digital signalling, that will have to be able to handle 18 tph, what would you do with the other six tph?

Some paths would be used to handle the occasional freight trains and Peak services to and from London St. Pancras.
Some of the capacity could also be used by the stopping trains.

The amount of traffic would probably be less than on the Great Eastern Main Line, which is capable of 100 mph running.

Newark

Newark has the notorious flat crossing, where the Nottingham and Lincoln Line crosses the East Coast Main Line.

This Google Map shows the track layout at Newark.

Note.

Newark Castle station is on the Nottingham and Lincoln Line and is in the South-West corner of the map.
Newark North Gate station is on the East Coast Main Line and is in the South-East corner of the map.
The two rail lines run diagonally across the map and cross near the top of the map towards the right.
Nottingham lies in a South-Westerly direction from this map.
Lincoln lies in a North-Easterly direction from this map.
Doncaster, Leeds and York lie in a North-Westerly direction from this map.
Grantham, Peterborough and London lie in a South-Easterly direction from this map.

Under the Greengauge 21 plan, trains will need to run in the following directions.

In both directions on the East Coast Main Line.
In both directions on the Nottingham and Lincoln Line.
Coming South on the East Coast Main Line, trains will need to be able to go towards Nottingham on the Notting and Lincoln Line.
Coming from Nottingham on the Nottingham and Lincoln Line, trains will need to be able to go Leeds and York on the East Coast Main Line.

It would be a complicated set of junctions and flyovers for a railway, but not impossible to design and build.

Newark North Gate And Colton Junction

I’ll repeat the map I showed earlier, that shows the routes between Newark North Gate and Colton Junction.

Note.

The current East Coast Main Line via Doncaster is shown dotted in black.
The proposed new route, which is called HS3 is shown in white.
Colton Junction is at the Northern end of the new track.

I suspect that the new route would be built to the same operating standards as High Speed Two.

Operating speed of 205 mph.
High specification electrification.
Signalling capable of handling 18 tph.
All classic and Classic-Compatible high speed trains would be able to take both routes, but would be limited to 125 mph or 140 mph with in-cab digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line.
Trains needing to call at Doncaster and freight trains, would use the East Coast Main Line.
Full-Size High Speed Two trains would generally use the new high speed line.

It looks to be a good way to increase capacity between Newark and Leeds and York.

Timings Between Newark North Gate And Colton Junction

Consider.

Newark North Gate and Colton Junction are 63 miles apart.
Trains take 39 minutes.
There is a stop at Doncaster.

This is an average speed of 97 mph.

If trains went non-stop on the new ‘HS3’ route, there would be these timings at different average speeds.

100 mph – 37.8 minutes
125 mph – 30.2 minutes
140 mph – 27 minutes
160 mph – 23.6 minutes
180 mph – 22.2 minutes
200 mph – 18.9 minutes

Note.

I have assumed the distance is the same as via the East Coast Main Line.
I have made no allowance for longer acceleration and deceleration times to and from higher line speeds.
High Speed Two Classic Compatible Trains could handle up to 205 mph if the track could support it.

It does appear that savings of upwards of fifteen minutes could be possible on all services that could use the new route.

Both East Coast Main Line and High Speed Two services would get time savings.

Colton Junction And York

As I saw and wrote about in London To Edinburgh On Lumo, the route between Leeds and York is being fully electrified.

The East Coast Main Line is already fully electrified, so I doubt the connection between ‘HS3’ and York will be difficult.

Trains will just exchange a 205 mph track for the East Coast Main Line’s 125 mph or 140 mph with in-cab digital signalling.

Colton Junction And Leeds

This High Speed Two Map shows the original planned track layout for High Speed Two to the East of Leeds.

Note.

The large blue dot indicates Leeds HS2 station.
The orange lines indicate the new high speed tracks for High Speed Two.
The track going North-East is High Speed Two’s connection to the East Coast Main Line in the area of Colton Junction.
The track going South is the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two to East Midlands Hub station, which has now been deleted.

Would it be possible to modify the route of High Speed Two to create a link between the Norther end of Newark and Colton Junction High Speed Line, which Greengauge 21 called HS3 and the proposed Leeds HS2 station?

This map from High Speed Two shows the area, where the High Speed Two Lines were originally proposed to run.

Note.

The village of Swillington to the East of the proposed route of the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.
Junction 45 of the M1 in the North-West corner of the map.
The River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation Canal on the route of High Speed Two to Leeds HS2 station.

This Google Map shows the same area.

I’m no expert, but I do believe that it would be possible to create a chord to allow trains to access Leeds HS2 station from the York direction.

I would suspect that High Speed Two looked seriously at this chord, as it would enable the proposed Leeds HS2 station to have services to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh using the East Coast Main Line.

But there is one problem with this route – It doesn’t allow and easy solution to serve Bradford.

This map from High Speed Two, shows the Leeds HS2 station and the last bit of the approach from the East.

This article on the Architects Journal is entitled Foster + Partners behind designs for Leeds HS2 Station. The article shows.

Leeds HS2 station is being designed as a terminal station.
It shares a common concourse with the current Leeds station.

It appears from the pictures in the Architects Journal article, that passengers would have to change trains to get to Bradford.

The alternative would be for trains into Leeds to take the route used by Northern’s service between York and Blackpool North, which goes via Church Fenton, Micklefield, East Garforth, Garforth, Leeds, Bramley, New Pudsey and Bradford Interchange.

But judging by the times of other services, Colton Junction and Leeds would take over twenty minutes and it would be a further twenty minutes to Bradford Interchange.

I can’t think that this is a viable alternative.

Conclusion

I am led to the conclusion, that to get a decent service into Leeds from the East using Greengaige 21’s ‘HS3’ between Newark and Colton junction, would necessitate the building of a new Leeds HS2 station and a new route between the new station and Colton junction.

December 7, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Doncaster Station, East Coast Main Line, East Midlands Airport, East Midlands Hub Station, East Midlands Parkway Station, Greengauge 21, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, Integrated Rail Plan for the North And Midlands, Midland Main Line | 8 Comments

The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands

See this link

November 18, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | East Coast Main Line, High Speed Two, Integrated Rail Plan for the North And Midlands, Midland Main Line | 1 Comment

Electrifying Derwent Valley Mills

Under the latest plans the Midland Main Line will be electrified.

One problem is electrifying the line through the World Heritage Site of Derwent Valley Mills.

This Google Map shows the Midland Main Line between Belper and Duffield stations.

Note.

Belper with its station is at the North of the map.
Duffield station is at the South of the map.

In the middle of the map the railway line disappears into Milford Tunnel.

Wikipedia says this about the portals of the tunnel.

Both portals are grade II listed, being part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

I doubt that the Heritage Taliban would allow the tunnel to be electrified, as they wouldn’t want wires near the tunnels.

But between Belper and Duffield stations is only 4.2 kilometres.

This Hitachi infographic shows their Intercity Battery Hybrid Train, which I described in Hitachi Rail And Angel Trains To Create Intercity Battery Hybrid Train On TransPennine Express.

Note that the train can cover gaps of 5 km.

The Class 810 trains, that will be used by East Midlands Railways will have four diesel engines and I’m certain these trains will be able to be retrofitted to be Intercity Battery Hybrid Trains.

The electrification of the line will be discontinuous with no wires between Belper and Duffield stations.

Express trains going between Derby and Sheffield will go through the following procedure.

Arrive at Duffield station with a full battery, after using the electrification from Derby and the South.
Drop the pantograph in the area of Duffield station and switch to battery power.
Proceed through Milford tunnel at an appropriate speed.
Once under the electrification again at Belper station, they would raise the pantograph and switch to using the electrification.

The problem of electrification of Milford tunnel in the area of the World Heritage Site has been neatly side-stepped.

November 18, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 810 Train, derw, East Midlands Railway, Electrification, Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Train, Midland Main Line, Tunnels, World Heritage Site | 1 Comment

How Feasible Is A High Speed Line Between Birmingham And Nottingham?

In Red Wall Commuters To Get Rail Revolution, I indicated that the Department of Transport is considering creating three new high speed lines in the Midlands and the North of England.

One is proposed between Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway, which is described in the original article in The Sunday Times like this.

A 42-mile line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway, just south of Nottingham. This is expected to cut journey times between the two cities from 72 minutes to 27 minutes.

There is a currently, a CrossCountry service between Nottingham and Birmingham New Street stations.

The frequency is two trains per hour (tph)
Trains are generally three- or four-car formations of Class 170 diesel trains.
All trains stop at Tamworth, Burton-on-Trent and Derby.
Some trains stop at Wilnecote, Willington, Spondon, Long Eaton and Beeston
The services take upwards of seventy-one minutes.

Note.

The frequency between Birmingham New Street and Derby is four tph.
Trains reverse at Derby which takes seven minutes.
Three tph stop at Burton-on-Trent.

I feel that the current service is very much a compromise, which is trying to handle three services.

A fast train between Birmingham and Nottingham.
A fast train between Birmingham and Derby.
A local service between Nottingham and Derby.

High Speed Two will be providing a non-stop service between Birmingham Curzon Street and East Midlands Hub stations.

The frequency will be three tph.
There will also be an hourly train between Birmingham Interchange and East Midlands Hub station.
The services will take twenty minutes or slightly less from Interchange.

The services will only get you to East Midlands Hub station.

In addition after High Speed Two opens Midlands Connect are planning to run a direct service between Nottingham and Birmingham Curzon Street stations.

The frequency will be one tph.
The service will use High Speed Two Classic Compatible trains.
The only stop will be East Midlands Hub station.
The service will take thirty-three minutes.

So how does a new high speed line connect Birmingham and Nottingham in twenty-seven minutes?

Consider.

The route between Birmingham New Street and North Stafford Junction is 35.9 miles
At North Stafford junction a double-track freight line leads to the East.
The freight line passes to the North of East Midlands Airport and South of Long Eaton station before joining the Midland Main Line at Trent junction to the North of East Midlands Parkway station.
Trains can pass straight into Nottingham via Beeston.
Nottingham is just 6.7 miles to the East of Trent junction and East Midlands Parkway is just a mile South of Trent junction.
South Stafford junction to Trent junction is probably about seven miles.

I believe that this is the route that will be upgraded to create a high speed line between Birmingham and Nottingham.

Part of the route between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent was upgraded to 125 mph running by British Rail.
Between Birmingham New Street and North Stafford Junction is used by CrossCountry services between Birmingham and Derby and Nottingham.
I believe that the route can be fully electrified and upgraded, so that most of the route could be suitable for 125 mph running.
The Midland Main Line is already capable of handling trains at 125 mph.

This should make it possible for services to run between Birmingham New Street and Nottingham in the required twenty-seven minutes.

I will answer a few questions.

Could The Trains Serve Birmingham Curzon Street In Birmingham?

In Birmingham Airport Connectivity, I said this

But look at this map clipped from the High Speed Two web site.

Note.

The blue dot shows the location of Curzon Street station.
The West Coast Main Line running into New Street station, is just to the South of Curzon Street station.
New Street station can be picked out to the West of Curzon Street station.

This Google Map shows a close-up of the current Curzon Street station site.

The same pattern of rail lines going past the Curzon Street site into New Street station can be picked out.

Surely, a connection could be made to allow trains from a couple of platforms in Curzon Street station to terminate trains from the West Coast Main Line.

Possible services could include.

London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street via Watford Junction, Milton Keynes, Rugby and Coventry
Cardiff and Birmingham Curzon Street via Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Oxford and Milton Keynes.
Cambridge and Birmingham Curzon Street via Bristol Parkway, Bedford and Milton Keynes.

There are a lot of possibilities to give High Speed Two much bigger coverage.

I also suspect that the proposed Nottingham and Birmingham service could terminate in Birmingham Curzon Street.

Could High Speed Two Classic Compatible Trains Run Between Birmingham And Nottingham?

As High Speed Two Classic Compatible Trains would have the same loading gauge as current trains, I don’t see why not.

Could A London Euston And Nottingham Service Be Run With A Reverse At Birmingham Curzon Street?

These are prospective times for High Speed Two.

London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 45 minutes
London Euston and East Midlands Hub – 52 minutes

Note that East Midlands Hub and Nottingham could take at least twenty minutes.

And this is a current timing.

London St. Pancras And Nottingham – 95 minutes

It is possible calculate the time for London Euston to Nottingham with a reverse at Birmingham.

London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 45 minutes
Reverse at Birmingham Curzon Street – 3 minutes
Birmingham Curzon Street and Nottingham – 27 minutes

This would give a time of 75 minutes between London Euston and Nottingham.

It does look to me, that the fastest route between London and Nottingham, will be to to go via Birmingham and the proposed new high speed route.

So the answer to the question in the title of this section is a Yes!

Could A London Euston And Sheffield Service Be Run With A Reverse At Birmingham Curzon Street?

These are prospective times for High Speed Two.

London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 45 minutes
London Euston and East Midlands Hub – 52 minutes
London Euston and Sheffield – 87 minutes

And these are current timings.

London St. Pancras And Derby- 85 minutes
London St. Pancras And Sheffield- 118 minutes
Birmingham New Street And Derby- 33 minutes
Birmingham New Street And Sheffield- 75 minutes

It is possible calculate the time for London Euston to Sheffield with a reverse at Birmingham.

London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street – 45 minutes
Reverse at Birmingham Curzon Street – 3 minutes
Birmingham Curzon Street and Sheffield – 75 minutes

This would give a time of 123 minutes between London Euston and Sheffield.

I wonder what time could be achieved between London Euston and Sheffield could be achieved with improvements to the following lines.

The CrossCountry Route between North Stafford junction and Derby station.
The Midland Main Line between Derby and Sheffield.

I would expect that the improvement to these routes would include.

At least almost full electrification.
Removal of level crossings.
Full digital signalling.
Upgrading to 140 mph running.

I could see the following service improvements.

A substantial reduction of the times between Birmingham and Sheffield.
Derby and Burton-on-Trent would get a fast service to London Euston via High Speed Two.
Derby and Burton-on-Trent would get a fast service to Birmingham probably with a frequency of 4 tph.
CrossCountry services between Birmingham and Sheffield would be faster.

Derby and Burton-on-Trent would get a much better train service.

Could Burton-on-Trent, Derby, Nottingham And Sheffield Be served By Trains Splitting And Reversing At Birmingham Curzon Street?

These are prospective frequencies for High Speed Two.

Burton-on-Trent – No trains
Chesterfield 1 tph
Derby – No trains
East Midland Hub – 7 tph
Nottingham – 0 tph
Sheffield – 2 tph

Suppose there were two tph between London and Birmingham Curzon Street, that split into two trains in Birmingham.

One train could go to Nottingham and call at Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent.
The other train could go to Sheffield and call at Tamworth, Burton-on-Trent, Derby and Chesterfield.

This would give the following frequencies from London on High Speed Two.

Burton-on-Trent – 2 tph
Chesterfield – 2 tph
Derby – 2 tph
Nottingham – 2 tph
Sheffield – 2 tph

Note that I am ignoring the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two in this analysis.

Could We Go For The Full Burton?

In the previous sections, I suggested serving Nottingham and Sheffield from Euston using High Speed Two with a reverse at Birmingham Curzon Street, where the train would split into two trains, with one train going to Sheffield and the other going to Nottingham.

But could the split be at a rebuilt Burton station?

Consider.

Burton station could become an Eastern terminus of Birmingham’s Cross-City Line.
Burton station could become the Western terminus of the Ivanhoe Line to Leicester.
If the Cross Country Route is upgraded, Burton station would have fast connections to Birmingham, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds,
If the new Birmingham and Nottingham route is created, this would mean fast connections to Nottingham and possibly Lincoln.

Burton-on-Trent could become the passenger rail hub for the Mid Midlands.

November 14, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Birmingham And Nottingham High Speed Line, Birmingham Curzon Street Station, Birmingham New Street Station, Burton Station, Class 170 Train, Cross Country Route, CrossCountry Trains, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, Midland Main Line, Midlands Connect, Nottingham Station | Leave a comment

Hitachi Rail And Angel Trains To Create Intercity Battery Hybrid Train On TransPennine Express

The title of this post, is the same as that of this Press Release from Hitachi Rail.

The press release starts with these three points.

Hitachi Rail, Angel Trains and TransPeninne Express (TPE) agree to trial retrofitting battery on intercity train
Trial, starting next year, can cut fuel usage by at least 20% and reduce emissions on Transpennine network from 2022 onwards
Tri-mode service can cut noise pollution in urban areas and improve air quality.

Hitachi also point to this infographic.

This very much looks to be a step forward from the Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train that was announced in December 2020 in this press release from Hitachi which is entitled Hitachi And Eversholt Rail To Develop GWR Intercity Battery Hybrid Train – Offering Fuel Savings Of More Than 20%.

The Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train is described in this Hitachi infographic.

The specifications are very similar, except for the following.

The battery range is given as five kilometres.
Fuel savings are up to 30% instead of at least 20%.
A performance increase of 30 % is claimed.
The upgrade appears to be able to be fitted to Hitachi intercity trains, as opposed to a straight replacement of one engine by batteries.

It looks to me, that Hitachi have been working hard to improve their design.

I think this paragraph of the press release is key.

The trial will see a diesel engine replaced by batteries to help power a five-carriage train, along with the two remaining engines. The power provided by the batteries will help to reduce the amount of fuel required to operate the train.

Hitachi don’t say, but I suspect the trains and their batteries have a lot of energy saving features.

Regenerative braking is already used to power some services like lighting and air-conditioning on the trains.
But I suspect regenerative braking will also be used to recharge the batteries.
A sophisticated computer system will drive the train in the most optimal manner.
Hopefully, diesel will only be used as a last resort.

Features like these and others will enable the trains to jump gaps in the electrification. As more and more tricks are added and batteries hold more charge, the gaps the trains will be able to cross will get larger.

Five kilometres might not sound much, but I think it could be surprisingly useful.

I will use an example from the Midland Main Line to illustrate how the trains and discontinuous electrification might work.

In Discontinuous Electrification Through Leicester Station, I described the problems at Leicester station and how discontinuous electrification could solve the problem.

The following is a modified extract from that post.

This Google Map shows the bridge and the Southern end of the station.

It looks to me, that Leicester station and the road, would have to be closed to traffic for some time, if the bridge were to be rebuilt, to allow the erection of electrification through the area. Leicester and all train passengers would love that!

A solution could be discontinuous electrification.

The electrification from the South, would finish on the South side of bridge.
The electrification from the North, would finish at a convenient point in Leicester station or just to the North.
Electric trains would cover the gap of up to five kilometres on battery power.

Note.

Pantographs could be raised and lowered, where the wires exist.

Trains would probably use a stopping profile in Leicester station, that ensured they stopped with full batteries.

This would mean they had enough electricity to get back up to speed and reconnect to the electrification on the other side of the station.

To get an idea at how long five kilometres is in the Centre of Leicester, this Google Map shows the Leicester station.

Note that the platforms are around three hundred metres long.

In other words the electrification can be kept well away from the station and its troublesome bridge.

How much money would be saved and disruption avoided?

Application To The TransPennine Express Routes

These are the various routes, where Class 802 trains could be used.

Liverpool Lime Street And Edinburgh, Newcastle, Scarborough Or York

Sections are as follows.

Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria – 31.7 miles – Electrified
Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge – 8 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Stalybridge and Huddersfield – 18 miles – Diesel
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – 8 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.2 miles – Diesel
Leeds and York – 25.6 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
York and Newcastle – 80.2 miles – Electrified

Note.

All services take a common route between Liverpool Lime Street and York.
A surprising amount is electrified.
A further 42 miles are being electrified.
The 3 km Morley Tunnel between Dewsbury and Leeds might not be electrified.
The 5 km Standedge Tunnel between Huddersfield and Stalybridge might not be electrified.

It looks to me that the 5 km battery range will avoid electrification of two long Victorian tunnels.

Manchester Airport And Newcastle Or Redcar Central

Sections are as follows.

Manchester Airport and Manchester Victoria – 13.2 miles – Electrified
Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge – 8 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Stalybridge and Huddersfield – 18 miles – Diesel
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – 8 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.2 miles – Diesel
Leeds and York – 25.6 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
York and Newcastle – 80.2 miles – Electrified
Northallerton and Redcar Central – 29 miles – Diesel

The route goes through the Morley and Standedge tunnels.

Manchester Piccadilly And Hull

Sections are as follows.

Manchester Piccadilly and Stalybridge – 7.5 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Stalybridge and Huddersfield – 18 miles – Diesel
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – 8 miles – Electrified probably by 2024
Dewsbury and Leeds – 9.2 miles – Diesel
Leeds and Selby – 21 miles – Diesel
Selby and Hull – 31miles – Diesel

The route goes through the Morley and Standedge tunnels.

Manchester Piccadilly And Huddersfield

The route goes through the Standedge tunnel.

Huddersfield And Leeds

The route goes through the Morley tunnel.

Manchester Airport And Cleethorpes

The Hope Valley Line which is part of this route has three tunnels.

Cowburn – 3.4 km.
Disley – 3.5 km.
Totley – 5.7 km.

Perhaps they will use a bit of diesel to get through Totley.

The Future

This paragraph sums up what Hitachi and Angel Trains could see as a possible future direction.

Once complete, the trial provides a pathway for Hitachi Rail, the train builder and maintainer, and Angel Trains, the train’s owner to develop plans to retrofit batteries to the wider fleet.

These plans will probably go in the directions like decarbonisation, more efficient operation and better standards for passengers.

Conclusion

This looks like a solution that has been helped by real ale in an appropriate hostelry.

The battery range has been chosen so Network Rail don’t necessarily have to electrify the tunnels.
Full electrification can be used either side of the tunnels.
Will any stations not be electrified. After all if the trains are using battery power in stations do they need electrification?
It might be useful to have some more bi-mode freight locomotives, that could traverse the tunnels on diesel or batteries.

Hitachi and Network Rail certainly seem to be cooking up a solution.

November 10, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Diesel/Electric/Battery Hybrid Trains, Discontinuous Electrification, Hitachi, Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Train, Hope Valley Line, Huddersfield Line, Leicester Station, Midland Main Line, Network Rail, TransPennine Express | 9 Comments

Electrification Between Clay Cross North Junction And Sheffield Station

Long term readers of this blog, will have noticed that I make regular references to this proposed electrification, that is part of High Speed Two’s proposals to connect Sheffield to the new high speed railway.

So I thought I would bring all my thoughts together in this post.

Connecting Sheffield To High Speed Two

Sheffield is to be accessed from a branch off the Main High Speed Two route to Leeds.

This map clipped from High Speed Two’s interactive map, shows the route of the Sheffield Branch, from where it branches North West from the main Eastern Leg of High Speed Two.

Note.

Orange indicates new High Speed Two track.
Blue indicates track that High Speed Two will share with other services.
The orange route goes North to Leeds, along the M1
The blue route goes North to Chesterfield and Sheffield, after skirting to the East of Clay Cross.
The orange route goes South to East Midlands Hub station.

This second map, shows where the Erewash Valley Line joins the Sheffield Branch near the village of Stonebroom.

Note.

Red is an embankment.
Yellow is a cutting.
The Sheffield Branch goes North-West to Clay Cross, Chesterfield and Sheffield
The Sheffield Branch goes South-East to East Midlands Hub station.
The Sheffield Branch goes through Doe Hill Country Park.
The Sheffield Branch runs alongside the existing Erewash Valley Line, which goes South to Langley Mill, Ilkeston and the Derby-Nottingham area.

The Sheffield Branch and the Erewash Valley Line appear to share a route, which continues round Clay Cross and is shown in this third map.

Note

Doe Hill Country Park is in the South-East corner of the map.
The dark line running North-South is the A61.
Running to the West of the A61 is the Midland Main Line, which currently joins the Erewash Valley Line at Clay Cross North junction.

High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line will share a route and/or tracks from Clay Cross North junction to Sheffield.

This fourth map, shows where the combined route joins the Hope Valley Line to Manchester to the South West of Sheffield.

Note.

Sheffield is to the North East.
Chesterfield is to the South East,
Totley junction is a large triangular junction, that connects to the Hope Valley Line.

These are some timings for various sections of the route.

Clay Cross North Junction and Chesterfield (current) – 4 minutes
Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield (current) – 17 minutes
Chesterfield and Sheffield (current) – 13 minutes
Chesterfield and Sheffield (High Speed Two) – 13 minutes
East Midlands Hub and Chesterfield (High Speed Two) – 16 minutes
East Midlands Hub and Sheffield (High Speed Two) – 27 minutes

As Class Cross North Junction and Sheffield are 15.5 miles, this means the section is run at an average speed of 53 mph.

Can I draw any conclusions from the maps and timings?

There would appear to be similar current and High Speed Two timings between Chesterfield and Sheffield.
The various junctions appear to be built for speed.

The Midland Main Line will be electrified between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield, so that High Speed Two trains can use the route.

What will be the characteristics of the tracks between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield?

Will it be just two tracks as it mainly is now or will it be a multi-track railway to separate the freight trains from the high speed trains?
Will it have a high enough maximum speed, so that East Midland Railway’s new Class 810 trains can go at their maximum speed of 140 mph?
Will it be capable of handling a frequency of 18 tph, which is the maximum frequency of High Speed Two?

Surely, it will be built to a full High Speed Two standard to future-proof the line.

Current Passenger Services Between Clay Cross North Junction And Sheffield Station

These trains use all or part of the route between Cross North Junction And Sheffield stations.

CrossCountry – Plymouth and Edinburgh via Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds – 1 tph
East Midlands Railway – London St. Pancras and Sheffield via Derby and Chesterfield – 2 tph
East Midlands Railway – Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich via Stockport, The Hope Valley Line, Sheffield and Chesterfield – 1 tph
Northern Trains – Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield via the Hope Valley Line – 1 tph
Northern Trains – Leeds and Nottingham via Meadowhall, Sheffield and Chesterfield – 1 tph
TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Cleethorpes via Stockport, the Hope Valley Line and Sheffield – 1 tph

Note.

tph is trains per hour.
High Speed Two is currently planning to run two tph to Sheffield, which will run between Cross North junction and Sheffield stations.
The services on the Hope Valley Line run on electrified tracks at the Manchester end.

These services can be aggregated to show the number of trains on each section of track.

Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Totley junction – 3 tph
Totley junction and Sheffield station – 7 tph
Totley junction and Clay Cross North junction via Chesterfield – 4 tph

Adding in the High Speed Two services gives these numbers.

Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Totley junction – 3 tph
Totley junction and Sheffield station – 9 tph
Totley junction and Clay Cross North junction via Chesterfield – 6 tph

This report on the Transport for the North web site, is entitled At A Glance – Northern Powerhouse Rail. It states that Transport for the North’s aspirations for Manchester and Sheffield are four tph with a journey time of forty minutes.

Adding in the extra train gives these numbers.

Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Totley junction – 4 tph
Totley junction and Sheffield station – 10 tph
Totley junction and Clay Cross North junction via Chesterfield – 6 tph

This level of services can be accommodated on a twin-track railway designed to the right high speed standards.

Freight Services Between Clay Cross North Junction And Sheffield Station

The route is used by freight trains, with up to two tph on each of the three routes from Totley junction.

And these are likely to increase.

Tracks Between Clay Cross North Junction And Sheffield Station

I am absolutely certain, that two tracks between Clay Cross North junction And Sheffield station will not be enough, even if they are built to High Speed Two standards to allow at least 140 mph running under digital signalling.

Battery Electric Trains

The only battery-electric train with a partly-revealed specification is Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train, which is described in this Hitachi infographic.

Note.

The train is a 100 mph unit.
Ninety kilometres is fifty-six miles.

I would expect that battery-electric trains from other manufacturers like Alstom, CAF and Siemens would have similar performance on battery power.

In Thoughts On CAF’s Battery-Electric Class 331 Trains, I concluded CAF’s approach could give the following ranges.

Three-car battery-electric train with one battery pack – 46.7 miles
Four-car battery-electric train with one battery pack – 35 miles
Four-car battery-electric train with two battery packs – 70 miles

I was impressed.

These are my thoughts on battery-electric trains on the routes from an electrified Sheffield.

Adwick

Sheffield and Adwick is 22.7 miles without electrification