Sheffield Station « The Anonymous Widower

Extending The Elizabeth Line – Could Open Access Services Use The Elizabeth Line?

In the February 2024 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article which is entitled First Bid For Sheffield To King’s Cross Paths.

The article is mainly about FirstGroup’s proposal for a new Sheffield and London service, running under the Hull Trains brand.

But, this is the last paragraph.

Modern Railways understands First is working on a number of proposals for additional open access services, and this is an early statement of intent. Other existing open access proposals include Grand Union Trains’ plans for London to Stirling and Cardiff to Edinburgh services, along with an already approved London to Carmarthen service, and the recently submitted Wrexham, Shropshire and Midland Railway application for a London to Wrexham service. It is understood other organisations, including MTR and Virgin, are also working up plans for new open access services.

The respected Modern Railways magazine seem to think, that we’ll be seeing more open access services on UK railways.

These are my thoughts.

A Simple Example – London Crosslink

In Extending The Elizabeth Line – London Crosslink, I said this.

In the Wikipedia entry for the London Crosslink, this is the introduction.

London Crosslink was a passenger train service operated by Anglia Railways between Norwich and Basingstoke, using the North London Line to bypass central London. Class 170 Turbostar diesel multiple units were used, and the service operated between 22 May 2000 and 28 September 2002, supported by funding from the Strategic Rail Authority through its Rail Passenger Partnership fund.

As it was discontinued and it doesn’t seem to be sadly missed, I’m not advocating its reinstatement, but just looking how it might be run after the full opening of the Elizabeth Line.

But surely, there were good reasons, why the service was run in the first place and there might be a need in the future.

These are some characteristics of the service.

There were about half-a-dozen services in both directions every day.
At its full length it ran between Norwich and Basingstoke.
Stops included Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Colchester, Witham, Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Romford, Stratford, Highbury & Islington, Camden Road, West Hampstead, Brentford, Feltham, Staines, Woking and Farnborough (Main).
Each service seemed to have a different stopping pattern.
The timetable wasn’t very regular.
The route wasn’t fully electrified.

It appears that it may have been a difficult service to timetable.

I lived North of Ipswich for some years.

I never used the London CrossLink service, as I had moved away before the service started in 2000.

I would have found the change to the Central Line at Stratford station useful.
I would have found the change to the Victoria Line at Highbury & Islington station useful.
I would have found the change to Thameslink at West Hampstead station useful.
Basingstoke would have given access to Greater South-West England.
I could have got a bus to Heathrow from Feltham.

But getting to Marylebone, Paddington and Waterloo would have still been tedious.

Could a replacement for the London CrossLink be routed via the Elizabeth Line?

The service would use the Elizabeth Line between Stratford and Reading.
The service would use the Reading and Basingstoke Line between Reading and Basingstoke.

The route has some advantages over the original route.

Except for the 13.6 miles between Southcote Junction and Basingstoke, the route is fully-electrified.
Whitechapel will give access to London Overground services.
Farringdon will give access to Thameslink services.
There will be a lot of connections at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street.
Paddington and Reading will give access to Heathrow, Oxford and West of England services.
Basingstoke will give access to Greater South-West England.

It is certainly an as-useful route as the original, if not more so.

The Trains

In Extending The Elizabeth Line – Will There Be A Need For Long Distance Class 345 Train?, I set out how a standard Class 345 train could be updated with faster running and a more appropriate interior.

As the Elizabeth Line is likely to need some more trains if High Speed Two is delayed, perhaps some extra trains should be ordered fairly soon.

The Routes

Consider.

A terminal station would probably need to be electrified to the Elizabeth Line route.
It would need the infrastructure to turn the trains.

These stations could probably be used as terminal stations.

Basingstoke
Bristol
Cardiff
Colchester
Faversham
Hoo – See Extending The Elizabeth Line – A Branch To The Isle Of Grain.
Ipswich
Northfleet – For European services at Ebbsfleet International.
Norwich
Oxford
Rochester
Southampton
Southend Victoria

There will certainly be others.

Why Use Open Access?

Suppose an operator wants to run a service between Bristol Parkway and Northfleet to give the West Country access to European services.

The operator takes all the risk and Network Rail get track access charges.
Do Transport for London get track access charges for the Elizabeth Line tunnels?
If they get their predictions and sums wrong, they lose the money.

But if they get it right, they probably sell it to an infrastructure company at a profit.

Conclusion

I think open access operation might work through the Elizabeth Line Tunnels.

January 28, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Basingstoke Station, Class 345 Train, Elizabeth Line, Extending The Elizabeth Line, FirstGroup, FirstGroup's Proposed Sheffield Service, High Speed Two, Hull Trains, King's Cross Station, London Crosslink, Open Access Operators, Reading Station, Sheffield Station | 4 Comments

First Bid For Sheffield To King’s Cross Paths

The title of this post is the same as an article in the February 2024 Edition of Modern Railways.

I have covered this before in FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service.

These are extra pieces of information.

FirstGroup Says It’s Only A Start

This is a fragment from the article.

First says the service of two return services per day would enable testing of the market before considering more complex services as plans for the East Coast main line timetable and fleet plans develop. The service is planned to be an additional operation under the brand of existing open access operator Hull Trains, although it would be operated as ‘a separate free-standing daily set of services’.

Nothing is said, but expansion could be extra services or destinations beyond Sheffield.

Currently, Hull Trains run seven trains per day (tpd) between London and Hull, with two tpd extending to Beverley.

Would seven tpd be an objective for between Sheffield and King’s Cross?
Five-car Class 802 trains could run the services and look like they fit all the Sheffield, Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford stations.
Between Sheffield and Retford, the Sheffield and Lincoln Line is not very busy.
Paths between Retford and London could be a problem.
However, the new digital signalling would allow the Hull and Sheffield services to run as a flight in the same path, perhaps two or three minutes apart.
The trains would use one of the longer platforms at King’s Cross, which can accommodate two five-car Class 802 trains.
I suspect that the new service would use one of the through platforms at Sheffield.

I think, there are three possibilities for extending the service from Sheffield.

Huddersfield with a reverse and along the Penistone Line after calling at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
Leeds with a reverse and calling at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
Manchester Piccadilly calling at Hazel Grove and Stockport.

Note.

I don’t think Huddersfield and Barnsley have a direct service to London.
Huddersfield will be on the main electrified TransPennine route.
Huddersfield station is being upgraded with more platforms and electrified.
The Penistone Line is being upgraded.
Leeds already has services from King’s Cross.
Manchester Piccadilly could be used , when there are engineering works on the West Coast Main Line.

I feel that the Huddersfield service is the one that could be successful.

Hull Trains-Style Customer Service

This is a sentence from the article.

The level of customer service on board would match that which Hull Trains currently delivers.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Woodhouse Station

This is a sentence from the article.

First says it will assess the requirement to invest in Woodhouse station to ensure its facilities are fit for purpose for long distance services and work in partnership with the station’s operator, as it did at Morpeth for Lumo services.

Woodhouse station certainly needs improvement.

Trains To Be Used

This is said in the article.

As they want to start services in 2025, it looks like they will use the available Class 221 or 222 trains.
But the article indicates that a consistent fleet for Hull Trains using possibly Class 802 trains would be best.
The route will be cleared for both types of trains.
Currently, overnight servicing for Hull Trains to Hull is done at Hull Botanic Gardens TMD.

I think that getting this route going by 2025 could give the project its own momentum and enable Hull Trains to add more trains to the fleet.

Timetable

Consider.

The timetable is based on two trains per day (tpd) in both directions, seven days a week.
The first train on Monday to Saturday from Sheffield leaves at 9:20, with the Sunday train forty minutes later.
The second train on Monday to Saturday from Sheffield leaves at 16:54, with the Sunday train twenty minutes later.
The first train on Monday to Saturday from London leaves at 12:48, with the Sunday train eight minutes later.
The second train on Sunday to Friday from London leaves at 19:56, with the Saturday train thirty-one minutes later.

Note.

If there are no problems, one train could shuttle between London and Sheffield all week.
As Hull Trains have been using one train to boost some services to ten cars, I suspect they could run the initial Sheffield service with a five-car only Hull service. But what happens if they have a train failure?
If you catch the first train up from Sheffield and the last train down from London, you have 8 hours and 12 minutes in London on Monday to Friday, 8 hours and 43 minutes on a Saturday and 7 hours and 48 minutes on a Sunday.
It looks like, there is good time to watch a show or a match on Saturday and have a meal before returning North.
All last trains return to Sheffield about 22:00.

It looks to be a well-thought out professional-written timetable.

Timetabling From And To Huddersfield

This is a sentence from the article.

It is currently thought the first Up and last Down service will run as empty coaching stock via Meadowhall, so it is proposed to call there on such workings.

Suppose though what would be possible if the First Up and Last Down services started from Huddersfield.

A train between Huddersfield and Sheffield could call at Barnsley and Meadowhall.
Class 150 trains take around 80 minutes between Sheffield and Huddersfield via Barnsley.
Class 802 trains could probably do that route in an hour, once the Penistone Line has been improved.
The second train from London will arrive at Sheffield between 21:56 and 22:26.
The first train to London will leave from Sheffield between 09:20 and 09:57.

It looks to me, that the following would be possible every night.

The second Hull Train service from London arrives in Sheffield between 21:56 and 22:26.
It continues to Huddersfield, where it finishes its journey after dropping passengers at Meadowhall and Barnsley.
Overnight servicing is arranged.
In the morning, it runs to Sheffield, picking up passengers as required at Barnsley and Meadowhall.

The train then forms the first Hull Train service to London between 09:20 and 09:57.

Meadowhall, Barnsley and Huddersfield would get 1 tpd to and from London King’s Cross.

Conclusion

There is certainly scope to create a useful set of services between London King’s Cross and South Yorkshire.

January 25, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Barnsley Interchange Station, Beverley Station, East Coast Main Line, FirstGroup, FirstGroup's Proposed Sheffield Service, Hazel Grove Station, Huddersfield Station, Hull Trains, King's Cross Station, Leeds Station, Meadowhall Station, Open Access Operators, Penistone Line, Retford Station, Sheffield and Lincoln Line, Sheffield Station, TransPennine Route, TransPennine Upgrade, Woodhouse Station, Worksop Station | 1 Comment

High Speed Yorkshire

In December 2019, I wrote Could High Speed Two Be A One-Nation Project?, which I started like this.

As currently envisioned, High Speed Two is very much an English project, with the following routes

London and Birmingham
London and Liverpool via Birmingham
London and Manchester Airport/Manchester via Birmingham and Crewe
London and Sheffield via Birmingham and the East Midlands Hub
London and Leeds via Birmingham and the East Midlands Hub

There are large numbers of mid-sized towns and cities that it won’t serve directly.

This is what I said about the East Coast Main Line in the post.

The East Coast Main Line serves the following routes.

London and Bradford
London and Cambridge
London and Edinburgh via Doncaster, York and Newcastle
London and Harrogate via Leeds
London and Hull
London and Kings Lynn via Cambridge
London and Lincoln via Newark.
London and Leeds via Doncaster
London and Middlesbrough
London and Skipton via Leeds
London and Sunderland

The East Coast Main Line could become another high speed line.

Extra services could be added.

London and Norwich via Cambridge
London and Nottingham
London and Grimsby and Cleethorpes via Lincoln.
London and Sheffield via Retford.

Add the East Coast Main Line and High Speed Two together and there could be a wider range of towns and cities served.

Peterborough and Doncaster could play the same role in the East as Birmingham and Crewe will play in the West.
The East Coast Main Line between London and Doncaster will be upgraded to in-cab ERTMS signalling in a few years time, which will allow 140 mph running on several sections of the route.
Improvements are either under way or being planned to reduce bottlenecks on the East Coast Main Line.
If High Speed Two can handle eighteen trains per hour (tph), then surely the East Coast Main Line, which has a lot of quadruple track, can handle upwards of twelve 140 mph trains per hour between London and Doncaster, after the improvements to track and signalling.
I estimate that 140 mph running between London and Doncaster could save as much as twenty minutes.
I feel that Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York could all be reached in under two hours from London using the existing Azuma trains.
This morning the 0700 from Kings Cross is timetabled to reach York at 0852. Would it be possible for London and York to be around just ninety minutes?
Savings would also apply to trains between London and Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Scotland and Sunderland.
Sub-four hour journeys between London and Edinburgh would be commonplace.

Note that the Internet gives a driving time of nearly three and a half hours between London and Leeds. Surely, two hours or less on High Speed Yorkshire would be much preferable.

I would add this infrastructure.

There might be a good case to create electrified routes to Hull and Sheffield and between Sheffield and Leeds, but they wouldn’t be needed to start the service or obtain the time savings. But they would ease operation, cut carbon emissions and save a few more minutes.
A station at Doncaster-Sheffield Airport.
A parkway station at Barnsley on the Dearne Valley Line with direct services to Doncaster, Leeds, London and Sheffield.

The two latter improvements have been proposed in Sheffield Region’s transport plans.

High Speed Yorkshire should be finished as soon as possible. A completion date of 2024 is not unreasonable.

This was the first time I used the term High Speed Yorkshire.

Benefits Of Digital Signalling On The East Coast Main Line

The obvious benefit is there will be 140 mph running on several stretches of the East Coast Main Line.

But as a Control Engineer, I believe that the digital signalling can be used to eliminate two major bottlenecks on the route.

The Digswell Viaduct, which I wrote about in Is There An ERTMS-based Solution To The Digswell Viaduct?.
The Newark Flat Crossing, which I wrote about in Could ERTMS And ETCS Solve The Newark Crossing Problem?.

Digital Signalling will also offer techniques to run more trains per hour on the route.

LNER Orders CAF Tri-Mode Sets

The title of this section, is the same as this article in the December 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, which has this paragraph.

Modern Railways understands the new fleet will be maintained at Neville Hill depot in Leeds and, like the ‘225’ sets, will be used predominantly on services between London and Yorkshire, although unlike the ‘225s’ the tri-modes, with their self-power capability, will be able to serve destinations away from the electrified network such as Harrogate and Hull.

Note.

This surprised me, as I’d always expected the Yorkshire routes will be served by Hitachi battery-electric trains.
But it does look that both Harrogate and Hull stations, have long enough platforms to hold a ten-car train.
With their tri-mode technology, it also looks like the CAF trains won’t be needed to be charged before returning to London.

The last point would enable them to try out new routes.

But it does look like LNER are planning to strengthen their Yorkshire routes.

Does Azuma Test Train Takes To The Tracks As LNER Trials Possible New Route, also mean that they’re looking at a service to Cleethorpes?
The curtailment of High Speed Two was hard on Yorkshire.
The Government has had time to get a verdict from experts on TransPennine Express.

It could just be that, it’s easier to sell rail tickets to Yorkshire folk, than Lancashire folk.

FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service

The title of this section, is the same as that of this press release from First Group.

These two paragraphs outline FirstGroup’s initial plans.

FirstGroup plc, the leading private sector transport operator, has today submitted the first phase of an application for a new open access rail service between London and Sheffield to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

FirstGroup plans to expand its open access rail operations as part of its award-winning Hull Trains business, building on their successful existing service which has transformed long-distance connectivity between Hull and London.

Note.

FirstGroup want to run two trains per day (tpd) between London King’s Cross and Sheffield stations via Retford.
Services will be non-stop between London King’s Cross and Retford.
The service will be run by Hull Trains.
I suspect that Hull Trains will use a fleet of identical Hitachi trains for both services.
Hull Trains could decarbonise the services by using battery-electric trains.
I believe a time of 82 minutes will be possible between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.
High Speed Two were promising a time of 87 minutes for their route from London Euston via Birmingham and Nottingham.

I believe there could be up to seven tpd to both Hull and Sheffield.

Timings On High Speed Yorkshire

In FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service, I felt the following is possible, between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.

After the digital signalling is completed between King’s Cross and Retford, I suspect that a 135 mph average speed can be maintained between Woolmer Green and Retford. This would mean that a King’s Cross and Retford time of 68 minutes would be possible.
If Network Rail improve the track between Retford and Sheffield, I believe that a 70 mph average could be achieved on the Retford and Sheffield section. This would mean that a Retford and Sheffield time of 20 minutes would be possible.
I would expect at least six minutes would be saved by missing stops.

This gives a time of 82 minutes between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.

I will use these timings to calculate other possible times.

Current time between London King’s Cross and Retford – 82 minutes
Digitally signalled average speed between Woolmer Green and Retford – 135 mph
Digitally signalled time between London King’s Cross and Retford – 68 minutes
Digitally signaled time between London King’s Cross and Sheffield – 82 minutes

These are my estimated timings from London King’s Cross.

Barnetby via Newark Northgate and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 114 minutes

Barnetby via Peterborough and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 128 minutes

Barnsley via Sheffield

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 112 minutes

Note: Uses Penistone Line and Hull Trains times to Sheffield

Beverley

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 101 minutes

Note: Uses Hull Trains times from Doncaster

Bradford Foster Square via Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 146 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Bradford Interchange via Doncaster

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 166 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Brighouse via Doncaster

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 143 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Brough

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 101 minutes

Note: Uses Hull Trains times from Doncaster

Cleethorpes via Newark Northgate and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 141 minutes

Cleethorpes via Peterborough and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 155 minutes

Darlington

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 116 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 127 minutes

Doncaster

Operator: Grand Cenreal, Hull Trains, LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 76 minutes

Durham

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 136 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 160 minutes

Eaglescliffe

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 155 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Northallerton

Edinburgh

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 220 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 234 minutes

Grantham

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 53 minutes

Grimsby Town via Newark Northgate and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 134 minutes

Grimsby Town via Peterborough and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 148 minutes

Halifax via Doncaster

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 153 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Harrogate

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 147 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Hartlepool

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 175 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Northallerton

Horsforth

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 124 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Huddersfield via Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 161 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Huddersfield via Sheffield

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 140 minutes

Note: Uses Penistone Line and Hull Trains times to Sheffield

Hull

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 114 minutes

Note: Uses Hull Trains times from Doncaster

Keighley via Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 178 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 81 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 116 minutes

Lincoln via Newark Northgate

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 85 minutes

Lincoln via Peterborough

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 99 minutes

Market Rasen via Newark Northgate and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 101 minutes

Market Rasen via Peterborough and Lincoln

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 115 minutes

Meadowhall via Sheffield

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 90 minutes

Note: Uses Penistone Line and Hull Trains times to Sheffield

Middlesbrough

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 155 minutes

Mirfield via Doncaster

Operator: Grand Ccentral

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 136 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Newark Northgate

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 60 minutes

Newcastle

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 137 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 145 minutes

Northallerton

Operator: Grand Central, LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 126 minutes

Peterborough

Operator: Grand Central, LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 40 minutes

Pontefract Monkhill

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 103 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Retford

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 68 minutes

Selby

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 92 minutes

Note: Uses Hull Trains times from Doncaster

Sheffield

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 87 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 82 minutes

Shipley via Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 168 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Skipton via Leeds

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 191 minutes

Note: Uses LNER times from Leeds

Sleaford

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 83 minutes

Spalding

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 61 minutes

Sunderland

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 194 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Northallerton

Thirsk

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 116 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Northallerton

Thornaby

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 146 minutes

Wakefield Kirkgate

Operator: Grand Central

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 118 minutes

Note: Uses Grand Central times from Doncaster

Wakefield Westgate

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 95 minutes

Worksop

Operator: Hull Trains

Served by High Speed Two: No

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 81 minutes

York

Operator: LNER

Served by High Speed Two: Yes

High Speed Two time to/from London Euston: 84 minutes

Time to/from London King’s Cross: 98 minutes

Note.

Times have improved because of the digital signalling.
As the digital signalling goes further North timings will will come down further.
Unelectrified branches like those to Beverley, Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Hull, Lincoln, Middlesbrough and Sheffield will be improved and further bring down times.

Sheffield could be as low as 80 minutes, with York at 91 minutes.

January 21, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Digswell Viaduct, FirstGroup, High Speed Rail, High Speed Two, High Speed Yorkshire, LNER, Newark Crossing, Sheffield Station, TransPennine Express, Yorkshire | Leave a comment

Hull Trains Sees Biggest Timetable Transformation In Its 23 Year History

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

These are the first two paragraphs.

Hull Trains has announced it is now running extended 10 carriage trains on a number of its services from Wednesday to Sunday due to growing passenger numbers, bringing an extra 4,000 available seats per week for customers.

Introducing this extra capacity, especially on a Sunday, has been an aspiration of the operator for some time now and it is delighted to finally be able to launch these longer train services. The change will bring additional seats and offers to Hull Trains’ services for customers.

These two paragraphs talks about their performance.

A report released in late 2023 by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), showed that Hull Trains have led the way for long-distance train operators, reporting a 34% growth in journeys compared to the previous year.

This provided further evidence of Hull Trains’ stability and strength with the local open-access operator now delivering 28% more journeys than it was before the pandemic.

So why have they outperformed other operators?

A Local Presence And Name Must Help

So if you’re going to London, you’re probably more likely to use a local train company. It’s also easy to market.

Hull Has One Of The Best Bus/Train Interchanges In The Country

Recently, I went to an SSE presentation about their Hydrogen Pathfinder Project at Aldbrough. This was given at Horden about twenty miles from Hull and the buses to and from the station were just a hundred metres from the platform at Hull station.

They were also reasonable frequent.

At some stations like Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Newcastle the bus/train interchange is bad and require a walk halfway across the City Centre.

Money is Tight At The Moment

I suspect that bus and train is cheaper than going by car to the station.

As in many households there are at often two cars, I wouldn’t be surprised that if one partner can manage without a car, a lot of families have reduced the number of cars they have.

This would be difficult in some places as public transport, isn’t good enough to rely on.

So Hull’s excellent bus/train interchange would benefit train operators.

Interestingly, Doncaster has a co-located bus station.

Sheffield Also Is A Good Bus/Train Interchange

Hull Trains proposed new route is London and Sheffield, which I wrote about in FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service.

Conclusion

Hull trains are certainly getting it right, but I do think the buses in Hull help.

January 18, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Buses, Class 802 Train, Hull Station, Hull Trains, Sheffield Station | 2 Comments

FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from First Group.

These four paragraphs outline FirstGroup’s initial plans.

FirstGroup’s new proposals comprise two return journeys a day from London King’s Cross, calling at Retford, Worksop, Woodhouse and Sheffield, and the company aims to provide a faster link between London and Sheffield than alternative services. Almost three quarters of trips between London and Sheffield are currently made by car, with a further 9% of trips made by coach, and a competitively priced new rail offering will help stimulate a shift in transport mode of choice from road to rail.

The new proposed route will give Sheffield the first regular service from London King’s Cross since 1968 and will also give Worksop in Nottinghamshire the first regular direct London trains in decades. FirstGroup estimates there are 350,000 people in the Worksop and Woodhouse catchment areas who will have direct rail access to London because of these proposals. A sizeable number of rail users in these areas currently drive to Doncaster station to pick up faster services to London rather than travelling via Sheffield, and a convenient rail offering from local stations will also help to reduce the number of these car journeys.

Note.

The press release says this is only the first phase.
It appears to be an extension of Hull Trains.
Comments on a news story based on the press release in The Times, have been generally positive.

These are my thoughts.

The Two Routes Are Similar

Consider.

Beverley is 44.3 miles from the electrified East Coast Main Line at Temple Hirst Junction.
Hull is 36.1 miles from the electrified East Coast Main Line at Temple Hirst Junction.
Sheffield is 23.5 miles from the electrified East Coast Main Line at Retford station.
There is no electrification at Beverley, Hull or Sheffield.

Note.

Trains must be capable of having a range sufficient to go from the East Coast Main Line to the destination and back again.
It is slightly surprising that Sheffield station is closest to the electrification of the East Coast Main Line.
Hull Train’s electro-diesel Class 802 trains regularly handle the 88.6 miles to Beverley and back.

It does look like an appropriate number of Class 802 trains could handle Hull Trains current and future services to Beverley, Hull and Sheffield.

Hull Trains Need Ten-Car Trains

Consider.

In Ten-Car Hull Trains, I show some details of Hull Trains using a pair of five-car trains.
I’ve since seen ten-car Hull Trains regularly.
There were two ten-car services on the 29th December 2023 between London King’s Cross and Hull.

Hull Trains must procure enough trains for all possible scenarios.

Intermediate Stations Of The Two Routes

Intermediate stations are.

Going North from London King’s Cross to Hull, trains call at Stevenage (limited), Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough.
Going North from London King’s Cross to Sheffield, trains call at Retford, Worksop and Woodhouse.

There are only a small number of stops on the Sheffield service. Is this to reduce the journey time as much as possible?

What Will Be The Time Of The London King’s Cross And Sheffield Service?

Consider.

Non-stop trains take 82 minutes between London King’s Cross and Retford, which is 138.6 miles, so it’s an average speed of 101.4 mph.
Woolmer Green and Retford are 111.7 miles and will in a couple of years, be digitally signalled.
Non-stop trains take 66 minutes between Woolmer Green and Retford, which is an average speed of 112 mph.
I have found a direct Retford and Sheffield train, that takes 31 minutes for the 23.5 miles with six stops, which is an average speed of 45 mph.
The Retford and Sheffield section has a mostly 60 mph maximum speed.

I can now build a table of times between King’s Cross and Retford based on the average speed North of Woolmer Green.

125 mph – 72 minutes
130 mph – 70 minutes
135 mph – 68 minutes
140 mph – 66 minutes

Note.

Getting a high average speed using the power of digital signalling can save several minutes.
I have measured an InterCity 125 averaging 125 mph on that section.

I can now build a table of times between Retford and Sheffield based on the average speed.

45 mph – 31 minutes
50 mph – 28 minutes
60 mph – 24 minutes
70 mph – 20 minutes
80 mph – 18 minutes

Note.

The planned service is expected to stop only twice after Retford, so if we take off two minutes for each of the four stops not taken, this could reduce the time between Retford and Sheffield by 8 minutes.
There will be a couple of minutes to add for the stop at Retford.
I feel a typical journey with 125 mph to Retford, 50 mph to Sheffield, could take 94 minutes
Currently, the fastest London St. Pancras to Sheffield take around 116-118 minutes.

Hull Trains new service could save 22-24 minutes on the current service.

I also feel a fast journey could involve 130 mph to Retford, 60 mph to Sheffield, could take 88 minutes.

Hull Trains new service could save a few minutes over half-an-hour.

Could The Time Of The London King’s Cross And Sheffield Service Be Under 90 Minutes?

I reckon the following is possible.

After the digital signalling is completed between King’s Cross and Retford, I suspect that a 135 mph average speed can be maintained between Woolmer Green and Retford. This would mean that a King’s Cross and Retford time of 68 minutes would be possible.
If Network Rail improve the track between Retford and Sheffield, I believe that a 70 mph average could be achieved on the Retford and Sheffield section. This would mean that a Retford and Sheffield time of 20 minutes would be possible.
I would expect at least six minutes would be saved by missing stops.

This gives a time of 82 minutes between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.

In Anxiety Over HS2 Eastern Leg Future, I said that High Speed Two’s promised London and Sheffield time via a dedicated track would be 87 minutes.

It looks to me that running under full digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line, Hull Trains can beat the HS2 time.

Could Hitachi’s Battery-Electric Trains Handle The Routes?

This page on the Hitachi web site is entitled Intercity Battery Trains.

This is the sub-heading

Accelerate the decarbonisation of intercity rail with batteries.

These paragraphs outline the philosophy of the design of the trains.

A quick and easy application of battery technology is to install it on existing or future Hitachi intercity trains. Hitachi Rail’s modular design means this can be done without the need to re-engineer or rebuild the train and return them to service as quickly as possible for passengers.

Replacing one diesel engine with just one battery reduces emissions by more than 20% and offers cost savings of 20-30%. Our intercity battery powered trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same or increased performance.

Wouldn’t it be great, if we could take the diesel engine out of our cars and replace it with an electric power pack?

Paul Daniels would’ve classed it as engineering magic.

But it’s an old engineer’s trick.

As a fifteen year old, I spent time in a rolling mill, building and fitting replacement control systems on large machines. Transistors were used to replace electronic valves and relays.

It’s certainly possible to create a battery pack, that is plug-compatible with an existing diesel generator, that responds to the same control inputs and gives the same outputs.

At the extreme end of this technology, there would be no need to change any of the train’s software.

In The Data Sheet For Hitachi Battery Electric Trains, these were my conclusions for the performance.

The battery pack has a capacity of 750 kWh.
A five-car train needs three battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
A nine-car train needs five battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
The maximum range of a five-car train with three batteries is 117 miles.
The maximum range of a nine-car train with five batteries is 121 miles.

As the East Coast Main Line to Beverley is a round trip is 88.6 miles, I suspect that Hull Trains’s five-car Class 802 trains will need to be fitted with a full-complement of three batteries.

Will Hull Trains Have An Identical Fleet Of Trains?

An identical fleet must have advantages for train staff, maintenance staff and above all passengers.

I believe FirstGroup have two choices.

They buy an appropriately-sized batch of identical Class 802 trains.
They convert their current fleet to battery-electric operation and buy an appropriately-sized batch of identical new trains.

Note.

The second option means that they fully-decarbonise Hull Trains.
Neither option would need any new infrastructure.
I feel this means that this order is more likely to go to Hitachi.

It’ll probably all come down to the accountants.

Retford Station

This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks around Retford station.

Note.

The red tracks are electrified and are the East Coast Main Line.
The black ones aren’t electrified.
Doncaster is to the North.
The black line to the East goes to Lincoln
The black line to the West goes to Sheffield
The red line going South-East goes to Peterborough and London.

The unusual loop allows trains to connect from one direction to another.

This second OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks in more detail.

Note.

As before red lines are electrified and black ones aren’t
Platforms 1 and 2 are on the East Coast Main Line.
Platforms 3 and 4 are on the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.

This third OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms in more detail.

Note.

The yellow tracks are the 125 mph fast lines of the East Coast Main Line.
The light blue tracks are the 40 mph relief lines of the East Coast Main Line.
Northbound tracks are to the left of each pair of lines.
The dark blue track is the 10 mph chord that connects the Northbound relief line of the East Coast Main Line to the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
Platform 1 is on the Southbound relief line.
Platform 2 is on the Northbound relief line.
Unusually, both platforms are on the same side of the line.
In The Lengths Of Hitachi Class 800/801/802 Trains, I state that the full length of an InterCity 225 train is 245.2 metres.
I suspect that both platforms can accommodate a full length InterCity 225, as the trains have been calling at Retford since the 1980s.

I doubt Retford station has any problem accommodating a pair of Class 802 trains, which it does regularly.

How Do Northbound Trains Go To Sheffield From Retford Station?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks to the South of Retford station in detail.

Note.

The yellow tracks are the 125 mph fast lines of the East Coast Main Line.
The light blue tracks are the 40 mph relief lines of the East Coast Main Line.
Northbound tracks are to the left of each pair of lines.

Trains needing to stop in Retford station will need to cross to the Northbound relief line to enter Platform 2 at Retford station.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the curve that connects Platform 2 at Retford station to the Sheffield and Lincoln Line to Sheffield.

Note.

The green tracks are the 60 mph Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
Sheffield is to the West.
The blue tracks are the curve that connects Platform 2 in Retford station to the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
There appears to be a grade-separated junction, where the two lines join to the West of Retford station.

A Northbound train to Sheffield will take curve and then join the line to Sheffield.

How Do Southbound Trains Go From Sheffield Through Retford Station?

I suspect trains do the opposite from a train going to Sheffield.

The train takes the curve and then stops in Platform 2 facing South.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks to the South of Retford station in detail.

When the train is cleared by the signals to go South, it will leave Retford station going South on the Northbound relief line.

Note that on the map there are two crossovers, which the train will take to get on the Southbound fast line for Newark and London.

As a Control Engineer, I suspect this is the sort of manoeuvre, that modern digital signalling will make slicker and safer.

How Do Northbound Trains Go To Hull From Retford Station?

On leaving the station, the train will continue along the relief line until it merges with the Northbound fast line for Doncaster.

This is exactly as any Northbound train stopping at Retford does now.

How Do Southbound Trains Go From Hull Through Retford Station?

Currently, trains from Hull stop in Platform 1 on their way to London.

Trains needing to stop in Retford station will need to cross to the Southbound relief line to enter Platform 1 at Retford station.
When the train is cleared by the signals to go South, it will leave Retford station going South on the Southbound relief line.
The Southbound relief line joins the Southbound fast line to the South of the station.

This is exactly as any Southbound train stopping at Retford does now.

Could A Hull And A Sheffield Service Run As A Pair And Split And Join At Retford Station?

Consider.

Class 802 trains, as used by Hull Trains are designed to be run as a pair of trains, with easy coupling and uncoupling between the two trains.
Hull Trains regularly run services as a pair of Class 802 trains.
A pair of trains could leave King’s Cross. They would then split at a convenient station, after which the two trains go to different destinations.
There are advantages with respect to infrastructure charges.

I feel that Hull Trains two services to Sheffield and Hull/Beverley could work as a pair.

A pair of trains could leave King’s Cross.
At Retford station they would split, with one train going to Hull and the other to Sheffield.

Coming South they would join at Retford.

How Would Splitting Of A Hull And Sheffield Service Be Performed At Retford Station?

The procedure would be something like this.

As the pair of train is stopping in Retford station, it would use the relief line to enter Platform 2.
It would stop in Platform 2.
The trains would be uncoupled.
The front train would go to its destination.
The rear train would go to its destination.

Note.

As the track to Doncaster and Hull is faster, the front train should probably be for Hull.
Platform 2 is electrified, so the Sheffield train could top up its batteries .
The Sheffield train could lower its pantograph.

Uncoupling takes about two minutes.

How Would Joining Of A Hull And Sheffield Service Be Performed At Retford Station?

Consider.

Joining would have to be performed in Platform 2, as there is no route for a train from Sheffield to access Platform 1.
North of Retford station there are two convenient crossovers, to allow a train to cross to the Northbound relief line. There are also a couple of loops, where trains could wait.
As this is coal-mining country, perhaps, they were part of a freight route between Sheffield and Doncaster?

But this infrastructure would allow, a train from Hull to access Platform 2 at Retford station.

As the Sheffield train can easily access Platform 2, the two trains could meet in Platform 2 and then be joined together for a run to London.

Is There A Problem With Splitting And Joining Of the Hull And Sheffield Services?

Earlier, I said these were the stops of the two services.

Going North from London King’s Cross to Hull, trains call at Stevenage (limited), Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough.
Going North from London King’s Cross to Sheffield, trains call at Retford, Worksop and Woodhouse.

Surely, if the trains were travelling as a pair, they would need to stop at the same stations to the South of Retford.

But modern digital signalling will allow trains to run closer together, so perhaps this would be the procedure going North.

The two trains start in the same platform at King’s Cross, with the Sheffield train in front of the Hull train.
The two trains leave King’s Cross a safe number of minutes apart.
At its Stevenage and Grantham stops, the Hull train will tend to increase the distance between the two trains.
The Sheffield train would stop in Platform 2 at Retford station, so that space is left for the Hull train.
The Hull train will stop behind the Sheffield train in Platform 2 at Retford station.
The Sheffield train will leave when ready.
The Hull train will leave when ready.

And this would be the procedure going South.

The train from Sheffield would line up in Platform 2 at Retford station.
The train from Hull would line up in Platform 1 at Retford station.
The train from Sheffield would leave when everything is ready and the train is cleared by the signalling system.
The train from Hull would leave a safe number of minutes behind the train from Sheffield.
At its Grantham and Stevenage stops, the Hull train will tend to increase the distance between the two trains.
The trains could share a platform at King’s Cross.

The digital signalling and the driver’s Mark 1 eyeballs will keep the Hull train, a safe distance behind the faster Sheffield train.

The Capacity Of The Lincoln And Sheffield Line

Looking at the Sheffield and Lincoln Line, it has only an hourly train, that calls at Darnall, Woodhouse, Kiverton Park, Kiverton Bridge, Shireoaks and Worksop between Retford and Sheffield.

I would suspect that there is enough spare capacity for Hull Trains to run a one train per two hours (tp2h) service between London King’s Cross and Sheffield.
If LNER feel that a 1 tp2h frequency is viable for Harrogate, Lincoln and other places, surely Hull and East Sheffield could support a similar service from King’s Cross.

If the services could be run by battery-electric trains, capable of running at 140 mph on the East Coast Main Line and giving times of ninety minutes to Sheffield, this could be a success.

Could Woodhouse Station Become A Transport Hub?

This Google Map shows Woodhouse station.

Note.

It is certainly surrounded by a lot of houses.
Could it be provided with car-parking?

Although, as this picture shows it is not blessed with lots of facilities.

But.

The station is in an area, which Sheffield want to develop.
The Advanced Manufacturing Centre is nearby.
There are aspirations to run a tram-train between Sheffield and Chesterfield via Darnall, Woodhouse and Barrow Hill stations.
The station could be on the tram-train route to Stocksbridge, that I wrote about in Reopening The Don Valley Section Of The Former Woodhead Line Between Stocksbridge and Sheffield Victoria To Passenger Services.

Woodhouse station could be an interchange or it could become something bigger like a hub station.

How Many Sheffield Services Per Day Could Be Run?

If the Hull and Sheffield trains run as a flight under control of the digital signalling, this will mean that every Hull train can be paired with a Sheffield train.

There are five trains per day (tpd) to and from Hull and two to and from Beverley.
It seems a maximum of one tpd in both directions can be a ten-car train.
Two five-car trains could fit in a platform at King’s Cross.

I suspect that the maximum number of trains per day to and from Sheffield is the same as for Hull. i.e. seven tpd.

But there is no reason, if they have enough trains and paths are available, that Hull Trains couldn’t add extra services to both destinations.

Onward From Sheffield

Several of those, who have commented on the new service have suggested that the service could go further than Sheffield, with Manchester and Leeds being given specific mentions.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at the Northern end of Sheffield station.

Note.

The pink tracks at the East are the Sheffield Supertram.
Trains to and from Barnsley, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Lincoln and Retford access the station from the Northern end.
Trains to and from Chesterfield, Derby, London, Manchester and Stockport access the station from the Southern end.
The tracks in Sheffield station are numbered 1 to 8 from the West.
There are five through platforms. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8 and two bay platforms at either end.
An extension of the service to Manchester via the Hope Valley Line, could go straight through the station.
An extension of the service to Barnsley, Huddersfield or Leeds, would mean the train reversing at Sheffield.

It looks like an extension to Manchester Piccadilly over the recently upgraded Hope Valley Line would be the easiest extension. But would Avanti West Coast, who have FirstGroup as a shareholder want the competition?

Recently, it has been announced that the Penistone Line to Barnsley and Huddersfield will be upgraded to accept two trains per hour (tph) and allow faster running.

Because Sheffield could be around eighty minutes from London, there could be some smart times to and from the capital.

Meadowhall in 90 minutes
Barnsley in 112 minutes.
Huddersfield in 140 minutes.

Huddersfield could be almost twenty minutes faster than the route via Leeds.

Comments From The Times

These are some readers comments from The Times.

Hope the prices are competitive with LNER. I rarely go to London from Chesterfield with EMR as they’re so expensive. LNER from Newark is much cheaper but a service from Worksop for me would be perfect.
Excellent News in so many ways. I hope it really takes off which could help ease the congestion on the M1 and also thin out overcrowding on busy LNER services. It really does deserve to succeed.
This is excellent news. The Lumo service has been a game changer for me and those living in the north east.

The public seem in favour.

Conclusion

I really like this proposal from FirstGroup.

It has the possibility to provide Sheffield with a fast train link to London.
It could run about six trains per day.
It will be faster than High Speed Two was proposed.

It could be the first service of High Speed Yorkshire.

January 7, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Automatic Splitting And Joining Of Trains, Beverley Station, Class 802 Train, Digital Signalling, East Coast Digital Programme, East Coast Main Line, FirstGroup, FirstGroup's Proposed Sheffield Service, High Speed Rail, High Speed Two, High Speed Yorkshire, Hitachi Intercity Battery Hybrid Train, Hope Valley Line, Hull Station, Hull Trains, InterCity 225, King's Cross Station, Lincoln, LNER, Penistone Line, Retford Station, Sheffield and Lincoln Line, Sheffield Station, Sheffield Supertram, Sheffield Tram-Train, Stocksbridge, Woodhouse Station | 6 Comments

Penistone Line – 15th December 2023

I took these pictures on the Penistone Line today.

Note.

I started at Sheffield station and travelled to Huddersfield station, before returning to Sheffield on the next train.
The trains run hourly.
There are 15 stops.
The route had good views but it didn’t seem the train worked that hard.
The route is 36.4 miles and trains are timed to take 75 minutes.
That is an average speed of 29.1 mph.
Most services were run by two car Class 150 trains, but some were run by three-car trains.
The two trains I used were well patronised.

I have some thoughts and observations.

Could The Service Be Run Faster?

Consider.

29.1 mph doesn’t seem very fast.
The maximum speed is 50 mph or less in places.
The line North of Barnsley is single-track with passing loops at Penistone and Stocksmoor.
Some of this single-track is on top of high viaducts, so could be difficult to double.
Between Barnsley and Sheffield is double-track.
To do the journey in an hour would need an average of 36.4 mph.
Typically, Greater Anglia run their Class 755 trains at 34-36 mph.

As the Penistone Line has 15 stops, an electric train with faster acceleration and deceleration might be ideal for the route.

But I suspect it would be tight, but possible to do the journey in an hour.

Help And Money Is On Its Way!

This article on Kirkless Together is entitled £48million Funding Boost To Get Penistone Rail Line On The Right Track.

This is the first paragraph.

The government have just announced that we’ve been successful in a bid to their Levelling Up Fund for £48million, to support major improvements to the Penistone rail line.

That certainly sounds like a good start.

The article sums up what the funding means like this.

This funding means we’ll be able to improve the infrastructure along this rail line, and improve access as well. This will make the Penistone line a really important link between Huddersfield, Barnsley and Sheffield!

Improvements are outlined in this paragraph.

It will include station improvements creating better access and waiting facilities, increasing the speed of travel along the line and upgrading the rail infrastructure – including doubling sections of track, which will allow for two trains to travel on the northern section of the line every hour, in both directions.

Note.

I feel that the current track layout could allow a theoretical two trains per hour (tph) service North of Barnsley, if both passing loops at Penistone and Stocksmoor were to be used.
But it might not be very resilient to late trains and other problems, so extra double-track might be desirable, if it made the route more reliable.

I would expect that if possible, the improvements would allow trains to go between Sheffield and Huddersfield in an hour, as that would definitely attract more passengers to the service.

Could Battery-Electric Trains Run The Service On The Penistone Line?

Consider.

Both Sheffield and Huddersfield stations will be electrified in the next few years, so the power supplies will be able to support charging of battery-electric trains.
Sheffield and Huddersfield is only 36.4 miles.
Hopefully, the track improvements would make the route less severe.
The Penistone Line is self-contained with no other services on much of the route.
There is time to charge the train at each end of the route.

In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch, which is not very challenging.

A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.

I don’t think the terrain of the Penistone line is much different from the Uckfield branch, so what are the figures for a three-car-battery electric train?

The answer would appear to be somewhere between 328 and 546 kWh.

According to the data sheet is now on the Stadler web site, the battery size of a Class 777 train is 320 KWh.

I feel that an off the shelf battery electric train could work the Penistone Line.

Could Tram-Train Operation Be Used?

Consider.

A Sheffield tram driver told me that Sheffield’s Class 399 Tram-Trains are excellent on hills.
The cousins of the Class 399 Tram-Trains run a similar service between Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden in Germany on bigger hills.
Battery-electric Class 399 Tram-Trains are available and are being tested in Wales.
Sheffield station handles Huddersfield services straight into one of two single bay platforms.
Huddersfield station handles Sheffield services straight into a single bay platform.
Major improvements to the Penistone Line will allow two trains per hour on the line.

I suspect if two trains per hour can be run using using diesel multiple units operating as a shuttle, then battery-electric Class 399 tram-trains could do the same.

A Tourist Tramway Across The Pennines

I feel there are possibilities to run tram-trains between Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly via Meadowhall and Sheffield stations.

This would create a unique tourist tramway across the Pennines.

Huddersfield’s magnificient Grade 1 Listed station is being upgraded and electrified.

The Hope Valley Line has been upgraded in the last couple of years.

Through Sheffield will be upgraded and electrified for the Midland Main Line.

Stadler have built vehicles for lines like these in many places.

This could be the spectacular attraction that the North-Centre of England needs.

December 16, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 150 Train, Class 399 Tram-Train, Huddersfield Station, Penistone Line, Sheffield Station, Tram-Train | Leave a comment

East Midlands Railway To Leeds

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

This is said about Leeds and Sheffield services.

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 are my thoughts.

A New Mainline Station For Rotherham

This page on Rotherham Business News, says this about the location of the Rotherham mainline station.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and Rotherham Council have been developing a scheme to return mainline train services to the borough for the first time since the 1980s. A site at Parkgate is the frontrunner for a regeneration project described by experts as “a relatively straightforward scheme for delivery within three to four years.”

Various posts and comments on the Internet back the councils preference for a new station at Rotherham Parkgate.

It would be at Rotherham Parkgate shopping centre.
It connects to the tram-trains, which run half-hourly to Cathedral in Sheffield city centre via Rotherham Central.
There appears to be plenty of space.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks at the current Rotherham Parkgate tram stop.

Note.

The orange lines are the main railway tracks.
Rotherham Parkgate is indicated by the blue arrow in the North-East corner of the map.
Trains would run between Sheffield and Rotherham Parkgate via Meadowhall Interchange and Rotherham Central.
Trains and tram-trains would share tracks through Rotherham Central.

After passing Rotherham Parkgate trains would go to Swinton, and then on to Doncaster or Leeds.

Sheffield And Leeds Via Rotherham Parkgate

Currently, there is an hourly service between Leeds and Sheffield, that goes through the Rotherham Parkgate site.

It calls at Outwood, Wakefield Westgate, Sandal & Agbrigg, Fitzwilliam, Moorthorpe, Thurnscoe, Goldthorpe, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Swinton, Rotherham Central, Meadowhall.
The service takes one hour and thirteen minutes, but there are eleven stops.
As the distance is 38.9 miles, that works out at an average speed of 32 mph.

I suspect this schedule was written for Pacers.

The Department of Transport is aiming for a forty minute journey, which is an average speed of 58.4 mph.

Consider.

If you look at the maximum speeds of the route from Rotherham Parkgate to Wakefield Westgate, it is 21.8 miles of 100 mph track.
About twenty miles to the South of Wakefield Westgate is electrified.
Leeds and Wakefield Westgate is 10.1 miles of 75-85 mph track.
LNER’s expresses leave Wakefield Westgate, eleven minutes after leaving Leeds.
I can find a TransPennine Express that takes thirteen minutes to go between Sheffield and Rotherham Parkgate late at night on the way to the depot.

The eleven and thirteen minutes mean that leaves 16 minutes for Rotherham Parkgate to Wakefield Westgate, if Sheffield and Leeds are to be timed at forty minutes, which would be an average speed of 82 mph between Rotherham Parkgate and Wakefield Westgate.

I feel that for a forty minute journey between Leeds and Sheffield, the following conditions would need to be met.

Very few stops. Perhaps only Meadowhall, Rotherham Parkgate and Wakefield Westgate.
100 mph running where possible.
100 mph trains
Electric trains would help, as acceleration is faster. Battery-electric trains would probably be sufficient.
Some track improvements might help.

But forty minutes would certainly be possible.

At present there are five trains per hour (tph) between Leeds and Sheffield.

Northern – 2 tph – via Wakefield Kirkgate, Barnsley and Meadowhall – 58 minutes
Northern – 1 tph – via Outwood, Wakefield Westgate, Sandal & Agbrigg, Fitzwilliam, Moorthorpe, Thurnscoe, Goldthorpe, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Swinton, Rotherham Central and Meadowhall – One hour and 13 minutes
Northern – 1 tph – via Woodlesford, Castleford, Normanton, Wakefield Kirkgate, Darton, Barnsley, Wombwell, Elsecar, Chapeltown and Meadowhall – One hour and 19 minutes.
CrossCountry – 1 tph – via Wakefield Westgate – 44 minutes

Note.

Only the second service will go through Rotherham Parkgate.
The CrossCountry service takes the more direct route avoiding Rotherham Parkgate.
All trains go via Meadowhall, although the CrossCountry service doesn’t stop.
If the CrossCountry service was run by electric trains, it might be able to shave a few minutes as part of the route is electrified.

The CrossCountry service indicates to me, that 40 minutes between Leeds and Sheffield will be possible, but a stop at Meadowhall could be dropped to save time.

Extending East Midlands Railway’s Sheffield Service To Leeds

Consider

Sheffield station has two tph to London all day.
The CrossCountry service looks like it could be timed to run between Leeds and Sheffield in forty minutes.
An East Midlands Railway Class 810 train could probably be timed at 40 minutes between Leeds and Sheffield via Meadowhall, Rotherham Parkgate and Wakefield Westgate.
The current Northern services could continue to provide connectivity for stations between Leeds and Sheffield.

Extending one tph of East Midlands Railway’s trains to Leeds would probably be sufficient to give two fast trains per hour between Leeds and Sheffield.

The East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry services could provide a fast service between Leeds and Sheffield in forty minutes.
If they were electric or battery-electric trains, I suspect that they could call at Meadowhall, Rotherham Parkgate and Wakefield Westgate.
They could be backed up by the two tph through Barnsley, which could probably be speeded up to around fifty minutes by electrification or using battery-electric trains.

The East Midlands Railway service between London and Leeds would be under three hours.

Rotherham would get an hourly train to London.
,London and Leeds in under three hours, would be slower than Leeds and King’s Cross.
But the electrification of the Midland Main Line would speed it up a bit.

A fast Leeds and Derby service might compensate for the loss of the Eastern leg of High Speed Two.

Sheffield And Doncaster Via Rotherham Parkgate

At present there are three tph between Sheffield and Doncaster.

Northern – 1 tph – via Meadowhall, Rotherham Central, Swinton, Mexborough and Conisbrough – 42 minutes
Northern – 1 tph – via Meadowhall – 28 minutes
TransPennine Express – 1 tph – via Meadowhall – 27 minutes

Note.

The first Northern train continues calling at all stations to Adwick.
The second Northern train continues calling at all stations to Scarborough.
Both Northern services go through Rotherham Parkgate.
The TransPennine Express service takes the more direct route avoiding Rotherham Parkgate.
All trains go via Meadowhall.

These services would give good connectivity for a London train, with a change at Rotherham Parkgate.

Improving Tracks Between Doncaster, Leeds and Sheffield

Consider.

About 65 % of the main routes between Doncaster, Leeds and Sheffield have a maximum operating speed of 100 mph.
Doncaster and Leeds is electrified.
Only 35 miles is without electrification.
The Midland Main Line is in the process of being electrified to Sheffield.
There are plans to extend the Sheffield tram-trains to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, that I wrote about in Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

There is also heavyweight electrification infrastructure through Rotherham Central for the Sheffield tram-trains.

As it is only used by the tram-trains it may be only 750 VDC. But it can probably handle 25 KVAC.

Could these routes be improved to allow faster running?
Would it be cost-effective to electrify between Sheffield and the East Coast Main Line and the Doncaster and Leeds Line?
Alternatively battery-electric trains could be run on the routes between Doncaster, Leeds and Sheffield, charging at all three main stations.

Any form of electric train should be faster, as acceleration and deceleration is faster in any electric train, be it powered by electrification, batteries, hydrogen or a hybrid diesel-battery-electric powertrain.

Conclusion

November 2, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Class 810 Train, CrossCountry Trains, Doncaster Sheffield Airport, East Midlands Railway, High Speed Two, Leeds Station, Midland Main Line, Northern Trains, Pacer, Rotherham Central Station, Rotherham Parkgate Station, Rotherham Parkgate Tram Stop, Sheffield Station, Sheffield Tram-Train, Wakefield Westgate Station | 4 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

Thoughts On The East Midlands Railway Timetable After Class 810 Trains Enter Service

East Midlands Railway will soon be replacing their diesel Class 222 trains with new bi-mode Class 810 trains.

32 trains will be replaced by 33 trains.
167 cars will be replaced by 165 cars.
The current trains come in four, five and seven cars.
The new trains come in five-cars only.
The platforms at St. Pancras station can accept a pair of the new trains.
Both Class 222 and Class 810 trains are genuine 125 mph trains.
St. Pancras and Corby takes one hour and fifteen minutes
St. Pancras and Nottingham takes hour and forty-five minutes
St. Pancras and Sheffield takes two hours

The current services are as follows.

St. Pancras and Corby via Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering
St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph) and Beeston (1 tph).
St. Pancras and Sheffield via Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph), Long Eaton (1 tph), Derby and Chesterfield.

Note.

All services are two trains per hour (tph)

If all services were run by single trains, the following number of trains would be needed for each service.

St. Pancras and Corby – 6 trains
St. Pancras and Nottingham – 8 trains
St. Pancras and Sheffield – 9 trains

Note.

This means a total of twenty-three trains.
I am assuming, that trains can turn round in fifteen minutes at each end of the journey.
If pairs of trains run, then the numbers can be doubled to forty-six trains.

These are my thoughts.

Do The Luton Airport Express Services Need Pairs Of Trains?

The Corby service is now branded as the Luton Airport Express.

This picture shows a packed Luton Airport Express at Luton Airport Parkway station.

After seeing this, I believe that a pair of trains must run to Corby to pick up passengers, who want a fast service to and from Luton Airport.

Will The Class 810 Trains Replace The Class 360 Trains To Corby?

If all services are run by single Class 810 trains, the following would apply.

The current service pattern would need 23 trains.
All stations would get the same number of trains to and from St. Pancras.
All East Midlands Railway out of St. Pancras would use the same 125 mph electric trains and services could probably be speeded up.
The Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on diesel and the Class 360 train has 1.55 MW on electric, so I suspect that the Class 810 train has the faster acceleration.
Bedford, Kettering, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Market Harborough and Wellingborough would have 125 mph electric commuter services to and from London.
Corby and Luton Airport Parkway services would have marginally more seats, if Corby services were pairs of trains.

There would be ten spare trains, if the Class 360 trains were replaced or four spare trains, if pairs of trains ran to Corby.

Would Class 810 Trains Running On Electric Execute Stops Faster?

This document on Rail Engineer gives these figures for total power on electric of Class 802 trains.

Five-car – 2712 kW
Nine-car – 4520 kW

Note.

These figures are based on a Hitachi figure of 226 kW for the power of a traction motor.
The five-car train has twelve motors and the nine-car has twenty.
As a five-car train has three powered cars and a nine-car train has five, it looks like each powered car has four traction motors.
The document also says that the power to weight ratio on electric is thirty percent more than on diesel.

This document on the Hitachi web site provides this schematic of the traction system.

Note that four traction motors are confirmed.

Consider the power of the various trains, that run or will run on the Midland Main Line.

Four-car Class 180 train has one 559 kW diesel engine per car.
Four, five and seven-car Class 222 train has one 559 kW diesel engine per car.
Four-car Class 360 train has 1.55 MW on electric – 387 kW per car.
Five-car Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on diesel – 588 kW per car.
Five-car Class 810 train has 2.94 MW on electric – 588 kW per car.

Note.

The Class 810 train will out-accelerate the Class 360 train as it has at least 40 percent more power on electric.
The Class 810 train has pantographs on both driving cars.
The Class 810 train has two powered cars; numbers 2 and 4.
I have assumed that if the Class 810 train can handle 2.94 MW on both diesel and electric.
With eight traction motors, they would need to be 367.5 kW.
The Class 810 train should out-accelerate the Class 180 train and Class 222 train as it has at five percent more power on both diesel and electric.

I think it is also relevant that the order for the Class 810 trains was placed in August 2019 and Hitachi announced their collaboration with Eversholt Rail Group to develop the battery-electric versions of the Class 802 trains only sixteen months later. As the Class 810 appears to be an revolution of the Class 802 train, I suspect that Hitachi were working hard on battery design, as this train’s design evolved.

These are the five cars of the Class 810 train.

1 – DPTS – Driver-Pantograph-Trailer-Standard with Generator Unit
2 – MS – Motored-Standard with Generator Unit
3 – TS – Trailer-Standard with Transformer
4 – MC – Motored-Composite with Generator Unit
5 – DPTF – Driver-Pantograph-Trailer-First with Generator Unit

Note.

Generator Unit is a diesel generator.
Motored means the car has four traction motors.
Composite means a car with both First and Standard accommodation.
Cars 1-2, and 4-5, form two power units with two generator units, four traction motors and a pantograph, at each end of the train. Cables would connect them to the transformer in car 3.

It looks a neat solution, which probably has high reliability.

I can envisage the two generator units under cars 2 and 4 could be replaced by battery packs.

The battery packs would mimic the function of the generator units.
Noise in cars 2 and 4 would be reduced.
Carbon emissions would be reduced.
The battery packs would be charged, when running under the wires or possibly from chargers or short length of overhead wires at terminal stations.
The battery packs would handle regenerative braking.
Adding battery packs would allow the trains to jump gaps left in the electrification.

At some point in the future, the other two generator units could be removed or replaced with battery packs, depending on whether full electrification happens on the Midland Main Line.

These meanderings convince me that the Class 810 trains will be able to save time in the stops on the Midland Main Line.

Because of these savings, I can see East Midlands Railway, reorganising stops on the electrified section of the route, as although the stop will add a minute or two, this lost time will be picked up on savings at existing stops and by more 125 mph running.

Could The Nottingham And Sheffield Services Be Combined?

These are the current services to Nottingham and Sheffield.

St. Pancras and Nottingham via Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph) and Beeston (1 tph).
St. Pancras and Sheffield via Leicester, Loughborough (1 tph), East Midlands Parkway (1 tph), Long Eaton (1 tph), Derby and Chesterfield.

Note.

Both services call at Leicester , Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway.
Some trains call at Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough on the section of the Midland Main Line, which is currently being electrified between Kettering and Wigston.
A lot of money has been spent on the Luton DART and it only has two fast trains from St. Pancras. Four tph would be ideal.

Suppose the Sheffield and Nottingham trains operated like this.

A pair of Class 810 trains would leave St. Pancras.
South of Leicester, they would call at one or two stations, as defined in the timetable.
They would then call at Leicester , Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway.
At East Midlands Parkway, the two trains would split.
One train would go to Sheffield and the other would go to Nottingham, stopping as defined in the timetable.

Note.

Because of the trains superior performance, they would be doing quicker calls at stations, which should allow the existing timetable to be maintained or even improved.
Hitachi trains can split and join in around two minutes.
These trains would call at Luton Airport Parkway, to give that station four tph from St. Pancras, Luton and Bedford.

I calculated earlier that a 2 tph Sheffield service would need nine trains. So if it served both Nottingham and Sheffield it would need another nine trains. This would give a total of eighteen trains.

If the St.Pancras and Corby service were to be run by pairs of Class 810 trains, this would require twelve trains.
Adding the two services together would require thirty trains. Would three trains be enough for backup and in maintenance?

I suspect splitting and joining at East Midlands Parkway could be beneficial.

Could Four tph Be Run To Nottingham And Sheffield?

Consider.

Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Southampton and York all get two tph from London.
Some closer stations like Birmingham, Cambridge, Ipswich, Leicester, Oxford and Reading get more.
Most of these routes are electrified and run modern trains.

I wouldn’t say never, but adding two tph to both Nottingham and Sheffield services would require.

Two more hourly train paths on both between St. Pancras and Nottingham, and St. Pancras and Sheffield.
Eighteen extra trains.

But as a sub-two hour service would be running on both routes, it would probably be possible to accurately predict, when more trains were needed.

Electrification Through Leicester

As more electrification is added, this should result in faster journeys, that reduce carbon emissions.

OpenRailwayMap is now showing the electrification as dotted lines on the Midland Main Line.

This map shows the electrification scheme through Leicester.

Note.

Only the two main lines in the centre of the station seem to be going to be electrified.
These lines are used by East Midlands Railway’s through trains and surprisingly some freight trains.
Terminating services from places like Birmingham, Grimsby and Lincoln seem to stop in the outer platforms.

This picture shows the platforms from the Northern footbridge.

At the Southern end of the station, the tracks go under the London Road bridge. This map shows the tracks there.

Note.

The two main tracks of the Midland Main Line appear that they will be electrified.
But the lines at each side are not electrified.

Some years ago I came back to London from Leicester with a group of drivers. At one point, the conversation turned to electrification and they said that they had met a Network Rail engineer, who had told them, that the bridge was rather low for electrification and the track couldn’t be lowered because Leicester’s main sewer was underneath the railway.

It looks like Network Rail have found a way to squeeze two electrified tracks through the middle of the bridge and then use diesel, battery or other self-powered trains on lines without electrification on either side.

May 30, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 180 Train, Class 222 Train, Class 360 Train, Class 810 Train, Corby Station, East Midlands Railway, Electrification, Leicester Station, Luton Airport, Luton Airport Express, Luton Airport Parkway Station, Midland Main Line, Nottingham Station, Sheffield Station | 2 Comments

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

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