Councillors Approve Train Station For Inverness Airport
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Planning permission has finally been granted for a two-platform train station at Inverness Airport.
The plans were “reluctantly” granted by the Highland Council, as much debate over the Petty Level crossing which is to be removed as a consequence.
Ir certainly looks like there were strong arguments over the level crossing.
This Network Rail visualisation shows the station from a virtual helicopter hovering over the Airport.
And this Google Map shows the Airport from the South-West
Note.
- The link road to the A96 crossing the railway in both images. But from opposite directions.
- In the Network Rail visualisation you can see the roundabout, where the link road joins the A96 in the top left corner.
- The current railway is only single track, but Network Rail will be doubling it.
- From these images and this document on the Network Rail web site, I can deduce this about the station.
- The station will have two platforms that will be capable of handling six-car trains.
- The footbridge is shown with lifts.
- The station will be able to be used as a Park-and-Ride for Inverness.
I suspect there will be a shuttle bus to the Airport terminal.
Travel Between London And Inverness
I’ve been to Inverness twice and and in both cases, I’ve gone by train.
- The first time, I went by a day train from Edinburgh. And I was in the cab courtesy of East Coast. I wrote about it in Edinburgh to Inverness in the Cab of an HST.
- The other occasion, I took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness and that is a civilised way to go.
I feel that on this route very keen competition could develop.
Advantages Of Flying
Flying to Inverness Airport has these advantages.
- A shorter journey time.
- A greater choice of destinations.
- Destinations in the sun.
- After the new station is built it will be rail connected all the way to Aberdeen.
This Google map shows Inverness and Inverness Airport.
Note.
- The city of Inverness is at the Southern end of the Moray Firth.
- With all the water, I suspect the airport can be a good neighbour as far as noise and pollution are concerned.
- The Airport would have good access to green hydrogen and electricity from renewable sources.
- Even the Airport train and all the ground-handling equipment could run on hydrogen.
I feel that the Airport could sell itself as an environmentally-friendly way to the Highlands, when sufficient numbers of zero-carbon aircraft are available.
- You should be able to fly in from Amsterdam, Birmingham, Brussels, Geneva, London, Manchester etc. and not feel any environmental guilt.
- Airbus’s proposed hydrogen-powered ZEROe Turbofan is quoted as having a range of 2,000+ nautical miles,
- That distance would put a lot of the sun in range of Inverness Airport.
- Smaller feeder airliners could connect to other airports in the North of Scotland and the islands.
Inverness Airport will not be beaten without a fight.
Advantages Of Trains
Taking the train to Inverness has the following advantages.
- Luxury
- Zero Carbon-Footprint
- The possibility of an overnight trip on a sleeper train.
- The scenery through the Highlands.
I also believe that it would be possible to design a hydrogen-powered luxury train. I laid out my ideas in LNER Seeks 10 More Bi-Modes.
I believe a train could have this specification.
- 140 mph operation on 25 KVAC overhead electrification. This was done by British Rail almost forty years ago.
- Ability to use full digital in-cab signalling. This is on its way and already working in some applications.
- 110 mph operation on hydrogen. Hitachi are planning 100 mph battery trains, so it should be possible.
- 400 mile range on one filling of hydrogen. This is working in Germany.
- Ability to be upgraded to higher speeds on electric power, should the East Coast Main Line be upgraded for higher speeds in the future. The train manufacturers are probably ahead of track designers with this one.
I believe a sub-seven hour time would be possible between London and Inverness.
Conclusion
This is the sort of route, where rail and air will have a hard fight for supremacy.
Could Trains From The North Connect To High Speed One At St. Pancras?
I was casually flying my virtual helicopter over the throat of St. Pancras International station, when I took a few pictures.
This Google Map shows the Northern ends of the platforms and the tracks leading in.
Note.
- Platforms 1-4 to the West with darker tracks handle the East Midlands Railway services.
- Platforms 5-10 in the centre with lighter tracks formed of three shorter islands handle the Eurostar services.
- Platforms 11-13 to the East with longer platforms handle the Southeastern HighSpeed services.
This Google Map shows the East Midlands Railway platforms.
Note.
- There are two island platforms; 1-2 and 3-4.
- The four platforms are served by two tracks, that connect to the fast lines of the Midland Main Line.
- The platforms will be able to handle a pair of Class 810 trains, which will be 240 metres long.
- Will the two trains per hour (tph) using Class 360 trains between London and Corby always use the same platform at St. Prancras station?
This Google Map shows the Eurostar platforms.
Note.
There are three island platforms; 5-6, 7-8 and 9-10.
The two island platforms in the West are for East Midlands Railway services.
The two longer island platforms in the East are for Southeastern HighSpeed services.
The six platforms connect to two fast lines, that are shared with the Southeastern services.
This Google Map shows the lines proceeding to the North.
Note.
- There are four sets of tracks.
- The two light-coloured tracks on the left are for Thameslink or sidings.
- The next two dark-coloured tracks are the two tracks of the Midland Main Line.
- The next set of tracks are those connecting to the six Eurostar platforms.
- The two tracks on the right are those connecting to the Southeastern Highspeed platforms.
- There are crossovers between the Eurostar and Southeastern Highspeed tracks to allow efficient operation of the trains going to and from the twin tracks of High Speed One.
This Google Map shows where the Midland Main Line and High Speed One divide.
Note.
The two dark-coloured tracks of the Midland Main Line running North.
There appear to be four tracks running North East towards High Speed One.
Between the two sets of tracks two further tracks lead to the North.
The track closest to the Midland Main Line joins to the slow lines of the Midland Main Line.
The other one connects to the North London Line.
This Google Map shows the connecting lines to the High Speed One tunnel.
Note the tunnel portal is in the North-East corner of the map.
- It looks to me that the following connections are possible.
- St. Pancras station Eurostar platforms and Midland Main Line.
- St. Pancras station Eurostar platforms and North London Line to the West.
- High Speed One and North London Line to the West.
These connections are in addition to those connections needed to run scheduled services.
They would enable trains to take the following routes.
- St. Pancras station Eurostar platforms and Midland Main Line.
- St. Pancras station Eurostar platforms and the West Coast Main Line via North London Line
- High Speed One and the West Coast Main Line via North London Line
- St. Pancras station Eurostar platforms and the Great Western Main Line via North London Line
- High Speed One and the Great Western Main Line via North London Line
I suspect most of the times, that these routes are used it is for engineering purposes or behaps dragging a failed train out of St. Pancras.
But the track layout would seem to allow the following.
Direct electric freight and passenger services between High Speed One and Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.
Direct electric passenger services between High Speed One and Sheffield and Leeds, with a reverse at St. Pancras, after the Midland Main Line were to be fully electrified.
Was this by design for Eurostar or was it just what Network Rail ended up with?
A Modern Regional Eurostar Service
These are my thoughts on a modern Regional Eurostar service.
Rolling Stock
High Speed Two is coming and this year, the company will order some of the rolling stock.
There will be fifty-four trains
The trains will be Classic-Compatible for running on the West Coast Main Line.
They will be 200 metres long and be able to run in pairs.
They will be able to operate at 225 mph.
The operating speed of High Speed One is 186 mph.
I can see no reason why trains of this type, couldn’t run between St. Pancras and many destinations in Europe.
North Of England And The Continent
Could this be the service pattern?
- One train could start in the North West and another in the North East.
- Both trains would proceed to St. Pancras picking up passengers en route.
- At St. Pancras the two trains would join together.
- The driver could then position themselves in the front cab and take High Speed One, through the Channel Tunnel.
The train could even split at Calais to serve two different Continental destinations.
Going North, the spitting and joining would be reversed.
What Infrastructure Would Be Needed?
I suspect the following will be needed.
- The West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line would need in-cab digital ERTMS signalling.
- Full electrification of the Midland Main Line would probably be necessary, as I don’t think the tunnel allows diesel trains to pass through.
- Some platform lengthening might be needed.
It would not be an expensive scheme.
What Timings Would Be Possible?
Using current timings you get the following times.
- Leeds and Paris – Five hours
- Leeds and Brussels – Four hours forty minutes
- Manchester and Paris – Five hours
- Manchester and Brussels – For hours forty minutes
- Newcastle and Paris – Six hours
- Newcastle and Brussels – Five hours thirty minutes
Note, that the times are best estimates and include a long stop of several minutes at St. Pancras.
Could Sleeper Service Be Run?
I don’t see why not!
Conclusion
It looks like it may be possible to run regional services to Europe, where pairs of train split and join at St. Pancras.
St
‘Sleeper Trains’ London To Berlin And Prague A New Possibility
The title of this post, is the same as the title of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
For those who have grown a travel bug during lockdown, the truth is that flying looks like it won’t be a viable option as a global pandemic persists. However, for those who dream to travel again, there might be some hope. With growing new interest, there are ambitious plans to take overnight ‘Sleeper trains’ services through the channel tunnel from London to cities around Europe .
I regularly use sleeper trains to Scotland, as they deliver me North of the Border for an early start or are ideal for coming back ;ate after a busy day.
As I can sleep with no trouble on a train and generally book a few days in advance, it generally works out that the cost of the sleeper one way is good value, as it avoids paying for a hotel.
Certainly, in the UK, if you use sleeper trains properly and have a rail-card, I find them convenient and good value. A couple of times, there’s also been a party in the lounge car.
It appears that the first sleeper trains will start from Brussels.
- NightJet already run a service between Brussels and Vienna.
- A route of Brussels and Prague via Amsterdam, Berlin and Dresden is suggested.
- These routes could be extended to London, at some time in the future.
But if they were timed appropriately, you could take an afternoon or evening Eurostar to Brussels and have supper before you get the sleeper, either on Eurostar or in Brussels.
With sleeper trains popping up in several places in Europe and becoming more fashionable with better rolling stock, I’m sure that this sleeper train would work.
Brussels and Berlin is currently seven hours with a change, so a sleeper train without a change could probably take you to Berlin for eight in the morning, if it left Brussels at about yen at night.
Nightjet Depot Investment To Support Sleeper Train Network Expansion
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Austrian Federal Railways held a groundbreaking ceremony on August 21 to launch the construction of a €40m facility at its Wien Simmering depot for the maintenance of its Nightjet overnight train fleet.
The article then goes on to give more details of Nightjet‘s expansion.
- A service between Vienna and Brussels was introduced earlier this year.
- The Nightjet network currently has nineteen routes.
- A service from Amsterdam to München, Innsbruck and Vienna, will be introduced in December.
- Vienna is the EU city with the most night train services.
- In August 2018, Nightjet ordered thirteen new seven-car trains from Siemens.
- Another twenty seven-car trains were ordered this month.
It does look like Nightjet is linking up with Eurostar to take people far into Europe.
GWR and DfT’s Commitment To The Night Riviera
The May 2020 Edition of Modern Railways has an article, which is entitled West Of England Improvements In GWR Deal.
Under a heading of Sleeper Planning, this is said about plans for the Night Riviera.
Whilst GWR is already developing plans for the short term future of the ‘Night Riviera’ sleeper service, including the provision of additional capacity at times of high demand using Mk. 3 vehicles withdrawn from the Caledonian Sleeper fleet, it is understood the company has been asked to develop a long-term plan for the replacement of the current Mk. 3 fleet of coaches, constructed between 1981 and 1984, as well as the Class 57/6 locomotives, which were rebuilt in 2002-03 from Class 47 locomotives constructed in the early 1960s.
This must show commitment from both GWR and the Department for Transport, that the Night Riviera has a future.
These are a few of my thoughts on the future of the service.
The Coaches
I would suspect that GWR will opt for the same Mark 5 coaches, built by CAF, as are used on the Caledonian Sleeper.
I took these pictures on a trip from Euston to Glasgow.
The coaches don’t seem to have any problems and appear to be performing well.
The facilities are comprehensive and include full en-suite plumbing, a selection of beds including doubles and a lounge car. There are also berths for disabled passengers.
The Locomotives
The Class 57 locomotives have a power output around 2 MW and I would suspect a similar-sized locomotive would be used.
Possible locomotives could include.
- Class 67 – Used by Chiltern on passenger services – 2.4 kW
- Class 68 – Used by Chiltern, TransPennine Express and others on passenger services – 2.8 MW
- Class 88 – A dual-mode locomotive might be powerful enough on diesel – 700 kW
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stadler come up with a customised version of their Euro Dual dual-mode locomotives.
Will COVID-19 Create A Boom In Sleeper Train Services?
I have regularly used the Caledonian Sleeper to go to Scotland, as it gets you there at an early hour in the morning and if you book the train, at the right time, the cost of a single First Class cabin can be about the same cost as a day First Class ticket and a night in a Premier Inn.
Look at this picture, that taken a few months ago, as I was leaving Euston on a Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh. It would be very easy to board the train without breaking the two-metre rule.
I believe sleeper trains will see an increase in passengers.
We may also see in increase in services. These posts detail various planned or possible services.
- Caledonian Sleeper Considers Seven-Day Running
- Rail Sleeper Plan Between Caithness And Edinburgh
- Lying Not Flying, As Nightjet Sleeper Train Reaches Brussels
- SJ Invests In Thriving Sleeper Trains
- Austrian Railways To Run More Sleeper Trains
Note that the Caledonian Sleeper, the Swedes and the Austrians are investing in new rolling stock, so that won’t be a problem.
But perhaps the most interesting story, is described in Nightjet Plans Mini-Capsules For Private Travellers.
I can see a series of sleeper trains criss-crossing Europe, where everybody has their own mini-capsule. Perhaps, it will be called Ryantrain or easyTrain.
Nightjet Plans Mini-Capsules For Private Travellers
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
I think they look rather good and they will surely appeal to Japanese tourists.
Thello Bids To Run Milano – Paris High Speed Service
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
This is the first paragraph.
Trenitalia subsidiary Thello has notified rail regulator ARAFER of its intention to launch the first open access passenger services on the French high speed network. The regulator announced on June 4 that Thello had requested paths from SNCF Réseau for a twice-daily service between Milano and Paris to start from June 2020.
These are more details of the service.
- Services will leave both cities around 07.00 and 15.00 each day.The journey time would be under 7 hours.
- Intermediate stops would be at Torino, Modane, Chambery Challes Les Eaux and Lyon Part Dieu.
- Services would be worked by Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa 1000 trainsets.
- Trains would use LGV Sud-Est.
- Each train would be able to carry up to 457 passengers, with 300 standard class seats, 76 Premium, 69 Business and 10 Executive.
SNCF also run a service between Milano and Paris, which I have used between Novara and Paris.
I wrote about that trip in From Novara To Paris.
It looks to me that the Trello service could be a better experience.
- It could be faster as it will use the Torino to Milano High Speed Line.
- It runs twice a day.
Combined with Eurostar, it would make London to Milan in a day feasible.
But whether you would want to do that is another matter!
I have come home in a day from Barcelona, Geneva, Karlsruhe, Madrid, Munich and Novara.
- But then, I can be in my bed at home in under twenty minutes from when the Eurostar arrives in St. Pancras.
- Leaving the UK, I will often fly to my starting point.
- I will also come home in half-day-sized journeys, breaking the trip in a reasonable hotel each night.
There are various developments making this mode of travel around Europe easier and more comfortable.
- More high-speed lines are being developed.
- Austrian Railways are developing more sleeper trains, that they call NightJet.
- The availability of affordable hotels is getting better.
At certain times of the year, hotels and train tickets can be arranged easily in every overnight stop.
Will NightJet Connect To Eurostar?
NightJet is Austrian Railways sleeper service, that they took off the hands of the Germans when they closed it as a waste of money.
Ridership is increasing and they will be bringing in new trains in the next few years.
They also appear to have formed a partnership with Hungarian, Croatian and Polish Railways to take the network further East.
But what about the West? NightJet serves German cities like Cologne and Frankfurt, which are on Eurostar’s wish list.
Frankfurt is boring, but Cologne is the sort of city where you can fill time enjoyably.
So will we see travellers taking a morning Eurostar to Cologne, spend a day in the city and then take an overnight NightJet to Vienna. Vienna is linked by more NightJet services to places that non-European tourists love.
I don’t know the Austrian psyche well. But it does seem to me, that they have taken a loss-making Getman sleeper network and may succeed in turning it jnto something profitable and worthwhile with a little help from their friends. Do Austrians like getting one over the Germans?
A Eurostar connection in the West at Cologne and possibly in Switzerland, where NightJet runs to Zurich, would surely be beneficial. Eurostar have ambitions on Geneva and the connections between the two Swiss cities are good and picturesque!
I feel that we could be seeing the takibg of train tourism to a new level. How cuvilised?
SJ Invests In Thriving Sleeper Trains
The title of this post is the same as that on this article on Global Rail News.
This is said.
Over the last five years, passenger numbers on its Malmö to Stockholm services have increased by 100 per cent.
There has also been growth on the Gothenburg-Stockholm-Umeå-Luleå-Kiruna-Narvi route, where passenger numbers have risen by 25 per cent.
That sounds like thriving to me!
So why is it that sleeper trains are thriving in the UK and Sweden, but countries like Germany have given up?
Malmö to Stockholm
These factors probably help this service
- Malmö is Sweden’s third-largest city.
- The frequent trains between Malmö and Stockholm take four and a half hours.
- Stockholm and Malmö are a very similar distance apart as London and Glasgow or Edinburgh.
- Malmö is only thirty-five minutes from Copenhagen by train.
As the Caledonian Sleeper works between London and Edinburgh/Glasgow, why shouldn’t a quality service work on a similar distance in Sweden?
Gothenburg-Stockholm-Umeå-Luleå-Kiruna-Narvi
These factors probably help this service
- The service effectively goes from the South-West of Sweden right up to the North.
- The distance as 1,600 kilometres
- I have been recommended to take this train to go to see the Northern Lights. So perhaps, it is useful for tourists.
- The service probably appeals to train enthusiasts.
- It is probably a reasonably civilised way to go to the North of Sweden.
I would certainly use it in winter to get to see the Northern Lights at Abrisko.
