Disabled Passenger Numbers Hit Record Levels
The title of this post is that of an article in Rail Technology Magazine.
It certainly shows that rail companies are going the right way!
One thing you notice in London is the increase in the number of disabled and blind passengers being guided by staff.
Perhaps the perceived increase in London is due to their simple policy on help. This is said.
On the Tube, TfL Rail and Overground, station staff will also accompany you to the train and help you on board and, if needed, can arrange for you to be met at your destination. Anyone can use this service, but it is particularly used by blind and visually impaired passengers and people using boarding ramps onto trains.
If you would like to use this service, ask a member of staff when you arrive at the station.
I hope things are as relaxed elsewhere.
Luton Airport Goes For Light Rail
This article in The Guardian is entitled Luton airport to replace bus transfers with £200m light rail link.
Passengers will take the light rail link between Luton Airport and Luton Airport Parkway station, where they will use Thameslink and Midland Main Line trains to travel North and South.
This Google Map shows the area, where the rail link will run.
Luton Airport And Luton Airport Parkway Station
The Midland main Line and the station are close to the end of the runway.
A few months ago, an article in Railway Technology was entitled Luton Airport reveals plans for new direct rail service.
What isn’t shown from the map, but is very much obvious if you’ve piloted an aircraft out of Luton Airport, is that the end of the runway is on top of a hill and the railway is at the bottom.
I said this in Will Bombardier Develop The Ultimate Airport Train? about running trains into a Luton Airport station.
I think that railway engineers can create an elegant junction here, where trains can easily go in both directions between London and the Airport. Designing a line connecting the North and the Airport could be more difficult, but even so given the terrain and that some of the junction will be inside the airport boundary, a solution must be possible.
One thing that could help, is that if Class 387/2 IPEMUs were to be used on all Luton Airport services, then the branch would not need to be electrified.
If it was decided to run it in a tunnel under the car parks, then surely a tunnel without overhead wiring would be a smaller, simpler and more affordable proposition.
As the Railway Technology article was only published in July 2015, after promising results from the IPEMU train, could it be that this rail link is not possible with conventionally-powered electric trains?
But I now think that there are other problems with a direct rail link into the airport, even with the help of IPEMU and other recently-developed technology.
- In other documents, it is stated that Luton Airport wants four trains an hour to the capital and it has to be asked if there are enough paths available to the South.
- It probably is more difficult than I thought to run trains to and from the North to the airport.
I also wonder, if after Luton Airport Parkway station has been rebuilt for the light rail link, that this might open up other possibilities for development in this part of Luton.
I also found the original press release about the link. This is said.
The light rail link is part of a broader rail connectivity improvement plan, which aims to introduce a 20 minute express rail service with four fast trains per hour between LLA and central London as part of the upcoming East Midlands rail franchise. LLA is also currently working with Transport for London to add the airport to the Oyster network which will help ensure smooth connections for passengers travelling by rail.
Everything will hopefully become clearer, when the full plans for the link are published.
In a few months time, when Luton and Gatwick have contactless ticketing, who will be next in the queue; Heathrow or Stansted?
Transport for London have certainly started the game of contactless cards, by playing two powerful aces.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stansted and Southend accept contactless ticketing before the end of 2016, leaving Heathrow as the odd one out!
A Part-Solution To The Level Crossing Problem?
Several times in my life, I have been delayed on trains, by accidents at level crossings.
Luckily none of them were that serious, but this list of United Kingdom level crossing accidents, includes quite a few where several died.
So I was pleased to find this data sheet on the Internet for a Vector LX. This is said.
VECTOR LX is now in operation at multiple level crossing sites around the UK, operating as an unattended enforcement system. VECTOR LX is a highly capable monitoring and enforcement tool that continually captures and analyses data, identifying offenders and providing valuable ‘intelligent’ data.
Using a unique combination of ANPR, video and scanning radar, VECTOR LX not only identifies when offences occur, but gathers a wealth of ‘situational awareness’ data to identify behaviours at different times of day. All of this is delivered without the need for road loops or intrusive connections into the traffic signals, providing a system that is powerful, effective and simple to maintain.
Surely, it is a part-solution to the problem of drivers weaving through the barriers.
Is The West Midlands Going To See A Boom In Rail Station Building?
Yesterday, when I wrote West Midlands To Get A New Freight Interchange, I wondered, if the original Four Ashes station would be rebuilt.
On looking at the list of proposed stations on Wikipedia, I noticed the first was Brinsford Parkway station, which I’d never heard of before.
But it turned out it was just a couple of miles South of Four Ashes. Wikipedia says this about Brinsford Parkway station.
It would be located on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line loop of the West Coast Main Line, and would give the north of Wolverhampton local commuter trains easing congestion on the A449, M6 and M54 motorways. Penkridge is the only station that still remains open on the line between Wolverhampton and Stafford.
The proposed station would serve a new development on the MoD depot at Brinsford (whose builder would fund the station), other local communities and passengers drawn from the motorway network. It would provide Park and Ride facilities, with a large car park.
It sounds like Wulfrunians are thinking holistically!
It looks like a good idea to me, as it ticks a lot of boxes.
So, I then went through Wikipedia’s lists of current and proposed station projects, to see what other interesting ones were in the pipeline. I found these in the West Midlands.
- Aldridge on the Sutton Park Line, which has been proposed for reopening
- Castle Bromwich on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line
- Fort Parkway on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line
- Hazelwell on the Camp Hill Line, which has been proposed for reopening
- Kenilworth – Crawling into reality, quite a few years late
- Kings Heath on the Camp Hill Line
- Moseley on the Camp Hill Line
The West Midlands has certainly expanded its suburban services with electrification, new trains and the Midland Metro in the last couple of decades and it looks like they will be building more train and tram lines in the future.
Birmingham To Peterborough Line
In my view the most interesting proposal is the two new stations on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line. Except for Water Orton, this line is station free between Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street.
If Fort Parkway and Castle Bromwich stations were to open, surely two trains per hour on this line will not be enough, so I do wonder if there are plans to add extra services to and from somewhere like Nuneaton with its connections up and down the West Coast Main Line and possibly extend them the other way to perhaps the new Bromsgrove station to the West of Birmingham.
It strikes me that there will be some reorganisation. I suspect though, that one of the problems is that it would appear that the line from Nuneaton to Birmingham is not electrified, although Nuneaton and Birmingham New Street stations are. There is also incomplete electrification between Birmingham New Street and Bromsgrove stations.
It looks to me like a cash of call in some Aventra IPEMUs. The only problem might be hauling a full load of passengers up the Lickey Incline on the on-board energy storage.
West Midlands To Get A New Freight Interchange
This article in Rail News is entitled New railfreight hub proposed for West Midlands. This is the first paragraph.
Plans have been published for a major rail interchange in the West Midlands, which its promoters say will boost the regional economy and could create between 6,500 and 8,500 jobs.
It sounds good to me. Especially, when you look at this map of the location.
Four Ashes Railfreight Hub
The area is known as Four Ashes and it used to have have a station of the same name.
- On the map the railfreight hub will be in the large triangular area of white and grey buildings towards the bottom of the map and slightly left of the middle.
- The site is 250 hectares.
- The M6 runs South East to North in a gentle curve and has a major junction (12!) with the A5.
- the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line runs North-South to the right of the line of yellow fields (rape?) and the left of the site of the railfreight hub.
- It’s also not the only proposed new rail infrastructure in the area, as a station has been proposed at Brinsford Parkway, a few miles to the South.
It could certainly be described as a big well-positioned railfreight hub.
But will the locals object, despite the thousands of jobs?
c2c Signs The First Deal On Porterbrook’s Class 387 Trains
This article on Global Rail News is entitled C2c signs short-term lease for Class 387 EMUs to cope with “unprecedented” demand, which tells how c2c have decided to go for a stop-gap lease of six of the twenty Class 387/1 trains, that were ordered by Porterbrook, when they saw a gap in the market.
c2c’s Future Fleet Plans
At present c2c has a one-class fleet of seventy-four Class 357 trains, which I think are leased from Porterbrook. These trains, like the Class 387 trains, are Electrostars. Wikipedia, also says this about c2c’s future fleet.
As part of its new franchise, c2c has committed to leasing new trains to cope with rising passenger numbers, which were boosted especially by the opening of the DLR station at West Ham in 2011 and the rise of Canary Wharf as a financial centre, 17 new four-car trains will be introduced by 2019, followed by 4 more by 2022 and 4 more by 2024.
This would bring the fleet up to one short of a hundred four-car trains.
One curiosity about the Class 357 trains is that they are 100 mph units, but the maximum line speed of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway is only 75 mph. So any new trains will have to be 100 mph units, in case the line speed is increased.
The Global Rail News article says this.
Porterbrook Leasing will supply 24 new Bombardier-built Class 387 carriages on a three-year lease. In November 2015, Porterbrook announced it would be ordering 80 additional Class 387 EMUs to meet the increasing demand for electric rolling stock.
The timing of delivery in the Autumn of this year fits, as Bombardier will have finished building the Class 387/2 trains for Gatwick Express.
The Class 387 trains will certainly do the job in the short term, but running a 110 mph train on a line with a maximum speed of 75 mph in the long term, might not be the best use of resources.
The Crossrail Effect
c2c has a problem in that, when Crossrail opens fully to Shenfield in 2019, this will mean that a lot more places will be easily accessible from South East Essex by changing to Crossrail.
But c2c has no easy connection to the new line.
- At Fenchurch Street, you could walk to Liverpool |Street.
- At West Ham, you could take the Jubilee Line to Stratford or Canary Wharf.
- At Upminster, you could take the Romford and Upminster Line to Romford.
- At Southend Central, you could walk to Southend Victoria and get a train to Shenfield.
To make matters worse, the current time of 65 minutes between Southend Central and Canary Wharf, could possibly be challenged by an improved link from Southend Victoria to Shenfield for Crossrail.
It all depends, where you want to go at the London end.
c2c must be thinking hard about how to improve their services.
I believe they’ll be looking at all or some of these.
- New services to and from new stations.
- Use of London-style contactless ticketing.
- Faster train services, making more use of the 100 mph capability of the trains.
- A viable link to Crossrail.
Whoever, is the operator to Southend Victoria will be doing the same.
It strikes me that the major winners will be passengers going between South East Essex and London.
Electrostar Or Aventra?
I wonder, if the extra train buying for c2c will follow a similar pattern to the London Overground.
The Overground has got a total of 57 Class 378 trains, which like c2c’s are Electrostars, but are ten years younger and five-cars.
I thought, when it was announced that Bombardier had won the order for more trains for the Overground to serve the Lea Valley Lines and Gospel Oak to Barking Line, that it would be more of the same Class 378 trains.
But London Overground added a fleet of Class 710 trains from the new Aventra family.
The Electrostar and the Aventra are both four-card electric multiple units and I suspect once inside, the average passenger won’t notice much difference, but under the skin, the Aventra will be a more efficient train.
Aventra IPEMUs For c2c?
One of the advantages of an Aventra over the Electrostar, is that the trains are wired to be fitted with on-board energy storage. The main reasons for fitting this and making the train an IPEMU include.
- Saving energy by enabling regenerative braking. Not needed as the lines are already enabled.
- Simplifying overhead wiring in depots. Only needed if the existing depots need to be extended.
- Running trains on branch lines without electrification. Not needed unless c2c opens new services to places like London Gateway and Tilbury Riverside.
Running services to London Gateway could be the clincher, as to whether Aventras with an IPEMU-capability are ordered.
I have a feeling that a few miles closer to London, that London Overground will be using similar Aventra IPEMUs to enable the new Barking Riverside Extension to be built without electrification. I wrote about this in Defining The GOBlin Extension To Barking Riverside.
Aventra IPEMUs could run the following route.
- The service would start on the current line to London Gateway, which is not electrified, at a new station, serving the important port and logistics area.
- After calling at East Tilbury, it would serve Tilbury Riverside, by reopening the old branch as a line without electrification.
- It would then use the existing line through Tilbury Town and Grays, before going to Upminster via the line through Chafford Hundred Lakeside.
- After stopping at Upminster, it would use the Romford to Upminster Line, to continue to Romford.
I would estimate that London Gateway to Romford via Tilbury Riverside would take under the hour and four trains could be needed to run a two trains per hour service.
Note the following.
- The Aventra IPEMUs would run normally on the electrified parts of the route, charging their on-board energy storage along the way.
- On the branches without electrification, trains would run on their stored energy.
- This service would connect London Gateway to Heathrow Airport via Crossrail and to Felixstowe via the Great Eastern Main Line.
- A service could be run from Shoeburyness and Southend to Romford, which would not need IPEMUs.
- The service to Romford also give c2c’s network a much-needed link to Crossrail.
- Calling at Tilbury Riverside would be for the cruise ships at the London Cruise Terminal and the Gravesend-Tilbury Ferry
- Calling at Chafford Hundred Lakeside would connect the Lakeside Shopping Centre to Crossrail.
- London Overground would lose responsibility for the Romford to Upminster Line.
- There would be some track adjustments at Upminster, but there would be no need to electrify the two new branches.
Given that the route connects several important commercial, leisure and housing areas, I think it could become a route, that exceeded its expectations, by a long way.
The one problem could be in linking the single track from Romford to Upminster to the single track through Chafford Hundred Lakeside.
Trackwork At Upminster
This Google Map shows Upminster station.
Upminster Station
Note.
- The line to Chafford Hundred Lakeside going off to the South East.
- The line to Romford going off to the North West.
- London Underground’s Upminster Depot to the North East of the station.
- The Romford to Upminster Line comes into a platform at the North side of the station.
I suspect that engineers have methods to get trains across the London Underground lines in a flat junction without building an expensive viaduct.
Conclusions
Obviously c2c have a plan for their new trains and extra services, all over South-East Essex. All will be revealed in the next few years!
But I do think that the Romford to Upminster Line is more use to c2c, than as an isolated single-train outpost for the London Overground.
I also think that the local authorities and the people of the area, would all like to see Crossrail, Lakeside Shopping Centre, London Cruise Terminal, London Gateway, Romford, Southend and Upminster connected together by frequent electric trains.
Aventra IPEMUs would enable the two new branches to London Gateway and Tilbury Riverside, to be added without electrification.
A Trip To Bromley
I like to explore and when I saw the Bromley North Branch on the Tube and Rail Map, I just had to visit.
One sub-theme that percolates through this post is that everything I wanted to buy seemed to be unavailable.
It started at the Co-op outside Dalston Junction station, where all copies of The Times had been sold.
I took a train to New Cross station, where the charming newsagent sold me my paper and I had a chat and a moan with a web designer called Ben about the lack of seats on platform C/D on the station to sit in the sun.
At least if it had started to rain, I wouldn’t have got wet!
From New Cross I took a train to Grove Park station.
This Google Map also shows Grove Park station
Grove Park Station
Note that Platform 1 is to the south side of the station and the Bromley North Branch Line goes out of the South East corner of the map
From Platform 1, I got a train to Bromley North station.
This Google Map shows the station.
Bromley North Station
It would appear that there isn’t much space to extend the line from Bromley North station.
I then walked down to Bromley South station.
It was a fairly easy walk as it was generally downhill.
My ability to buy a drink was restricted though, as all tables in the sun were busy.
At Bromley South station, i took a train to Victoria.
In the Wikipedia entry for Bromley North station, there is a section called Future Proposals, where this is said.
Proposals have been put forward by Transport for London and the London Borough of Bromley for the Bromley North Line to be extended and connected to either the Docklands Light Railway via a link south of Lewisham, to the Tramlink system from Beckenham Junction, or to an extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant and Castle. These schemes have not been taken beyond the proposal stage and recommendations are expected to be published around 2017.
Additionally, it has been suggested that the Bromley North Line could be connected to London Overground via an extended service from New Cross, although the problems of line capacity make this seem an unlikely solution.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines in the area.
Lines Around Bromley
Grove Park station is beyond Sunbridge Park station.
This Google Map shows the two Bromley stations.
Bromley Stations
Note.
- Bromley North station is in the North and Bromley South station is in the South, as would be expected.
- The only surface routes between the two stations would be through the Town Centre along the High Street or along the A21.
- Building along both would probably be highly controversial and extremely difficult.
- Creating any connection between a tram or train to the lines through Bromley South station would need a lot of land and possibly some demolition.
So I think that it is unlikely that there will be any connection between the two stations, unless it is in a tunnel.
The Germans, who have had this sort of problem in cities like Kassel would probably do something like this.
- Use tram-trains starting in Platform 1 at Grove Park station, running as trains to Bromley North station.
- At Bromley North station, they would switch to tram operation, cross under the main road at the station and run towards the Town Centre.
- Alternatively, they could cross the main road under control of traffic lights, as is done in Nottingham.
- The trams would run to Bromley South station down the middle of the High Street.
As I believe there isn’t enough space for trams or tram-trains to join the railway to go to Beckenham Junction station, they would probably just go round a loop with a couple of stops to return to Bromley North station.
There is also the problem of building tram-trains that work on railways with third-rail electrification. I believe it is technically possible, but it could be complicated and have safety issues.
Quite frankly, I think it is unlikely any surface transport solution will be added to Bromley North station.
A much better and safer solution could be to use several small electric buses, that shuttled between the two stations through the Town Centre.
Sense About Steel
This article in the South Wales Evening Post is entitled Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon one solution to Tata Steel crisis, insists council chief Steve Phillips.
He is right and I said so in The Death Of Traditional Steel-Making.
I also said that in addition to the tidal lagoon, a comprehensive metro should be developed all over South Wales.
Abbey Wood To Romford In Forty Minutes
I didn’t believe this figure when I calculated it yesterday, so I’m laying it out properly.
Crossrail have said that the two Eastern branches of the line;Abbey Wood and Shenfield will both run a dozen trains an hour.
- Whitechapel to Abbey Wood would take 15 minutes
- Whitechapel to Canary Wharf would take 3 minutes
- Whitechapel to Romford would take 24 minutes
- Whitechapel to Shenfield would take 38 minutes
- Whitechapel to Stratford would take 5 minutes
These times are from Crossrail’s journey time calculator.
But obviously, when changing trains at Whitechapel to go from say Abbey Wood to Romford, you’d have to wait for the next train going the other way.
So as there are twelve trains an hour in the peak, that would mean a wait of up to five minutes.
Or would it?
All the trains on Crossrail will be tightly controlled to keep to an exact schedule, so that twenty-four trains an hour can go through the core tunnel between Whitechapel and Paddington. Think Victoria Line with full-size trains carrying fifteen hundred people a train.
So if it was timed that trains from Abbey Wood turned up at Whitechapel at 0, 5, 10, 15 etc. minutes past the hour and trains left Whitechapel for Shenfield at say 1, 6, 11, 16 etc. you’d have a minute to walk a few metres across the platform to await the arrival of your onward train.
Trains from Shenfield could arrive at Whitechapel at 2, 7, 12, 17 etc. with trains leaving for Abbey Wood at 3, 8, 13, 18 etc.
Obviously, the flow of trains to and from the West would have to be at precise frequency of twenty-four trains per hour or one train every two and a half minutes.
I think trains could be timed to the second!
These train times of mine are just speculation, but I can’t see why the interchange at Whitechapel needs to take more than a minute.
So adding up the times to Abbey Wood and Romford from Whitechapel with a minute for the change gives 15+24+1 = 40.
Stratford to Canary Wharf would take 3+5+1 = 9, which is the same time as on the Jubilee Line.
The East of London doesn’t know the revolution that will be happening to their lives.
Whitechapel station will truly be the Jewel In The East and one of the most important transport interchanges in the UK, let alone London.
The High Speed Metro Train
According to the Wikipedia entry for High-Speed Rail, the European Union Directive 96/48/EC, Annex 1 defines high-speed rail in terms of
- Infrastructure: track built specially for high-speed travel or specially upgraded for high-speed travel
- Minimum Speed Limit: Minimum speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) on lines specially built for high speed and of order 200 km/h (124 mph) on existing lines which have been specially upgraded. This must apply to at least one section of the line. Rolling stock must have a minimum speed of at least 200 km/h (124 mph) to be considered high speed.
- Operating conditions: Rolling stock must be designed alongside its infrastructure for complete compatibility, safety and quality of service.
In the UK, we have several types of High Speed Train, which are capable of 200 kph on upgraded lines like the East Coast Main Line, with perhaps the most famous being the legendary InterCity 125.
An InterCity 125 Passes Through Sydney Gardens
If there were classic trains, like there are classic cars, then Terry Miller‘s development would be a classic.
Not only does it hold world records for being the fastest diesel-powered train, but some features of the design, like the wonderfully smooth-riding Mark 3 coaches have been used to create many other trains, which range from the traditional locomotive-hauled rakes of Chiltern Railways and Abellio Greater Anglia, and the Class 442 trains, which hold the speed record for third-rail electric trains, down to hundreds of multiple units like the Class 455 trains, one of which survived the Oxshott Rail Incident.
So it would appear that one common design of train, can adapt to various different applications.
But then Miller and his team got the basic structure and design right! I once read a story about how a few years ago, structural engineers at Salford University applied modern finite-analysis techniques to a Mark 3 coach designed without computers in the 1970s. They were amazed at how good it was. When you read what happened at Oxshott, the quality of the structure is not surprising.
On 5 November 2010, at approximately 3:30pm, a cement mixer lorry fell off a bridge crossing over the railway line close to Oxshott railway station, and landed on carriages of a passing train. No-one was killed. Witnesses stated that the rear of the lorry crashed through the parapet of the bridge and dragged the whole vehicle over the side of the bridge. The eight-carriage train, operated by South West Trains, was working the 1505 Guildford to London Waterloo. The train was formed of two Class 455 electric multiple units. The lorry, loaded with concrete and weighing 24 tonnes, landed on the sixth carriage, severely crushing the end of the roof. Further damage was sustained to the fifth and sixth, seventh and eighth carriages, with the latter being derailed at its trailing bogie, although the train remained upright. British Transport Police reported that six people on board the train sustained minor injuries whilst the driver of the lorry had sustained more serious injuries. This was later revised to two serious and five minor injuries. The Class 455 electric multiple unit involved has since been fully repaired using a rebuilt carriage from a Class 210 diesel multiple unit and returned to service in July 2013
Will we ever see a train, as good and versatile as a Mark 3, where the same design of vehicle is is as happy at 200 kph from St. Pancras to Sheffield as it is trundling its way from Liverpool Street to Chingford?
I would have thought, it would have been unlikely, that anybody could come up with a one-size-fits-all design, but after reading Ian Walmsley’s article in the April 2015 Edition of Modern Railways, about Bombardier’s new Aventra train for Crossrail, I’m not so sure
Ian writes enthusiastically about Bombardier’s new train, where under Potential he starts with this sentence.
As a platform, the design will be offered in various guises for future contracts up to 125 mph.
He then goes on to say this about a possible future order for Aventras.
But the interesting one to me is East Midlands Trains electrics. As a 125 mph unit it could cope well with Corby commuters and the ‘Master Cutler’ crowd – It’s all about the interior.
Ian is talking about a train, that is equally at home, running at over a hundred miles per hour on InterCity routes, or trundling through suburbs bringing commuters to work.
This is a genuine bi-mode train.
- InterCity – Up to 200 kph on fast lines.
- Metro – Appropriate speed with great efficiency on commuter or metro routes.
Consider the various features and benefits.
An Identical Fleet
The advantages of an identical fleet that can work all lines and services for an operator must be immense!
Ryanair, Easyjet and all those budget airlines with homogeneous fleets can’t be wrong!
A Universal High-Class Interior
Bombardier’s Class 387/1 trains are almost there, with most seats having a table. Just like Chiltern’s Mark 3s or the original InterCity 125s.
You might not get the passenger density, but you get punters rolling up.
Features on what I call the High Speed Metro would include.
- 2+2 seating.
- Most seats with tables.
- Seats aligned to windows.
- Wi-fi
- Electronic Seat Reservations
- Full step-free access and compliance with all disabled regulations.
- No ghastly pink interiors!
All except electronic seat reservations, would be in both InterCity and Metro configurations.
Ability To Have An IPEMU Capability
I believe that if you have one train, that can act in both InterCity and Metro configurations, that you need the extra features that an IPEMU or on-board energy storage capability would bring on some or all of the fleet.
On-board energy storage would be similar to buying a car with a higher performance, but with a more more efficient and less polluting engine.
- IPEMUs would help break the need of having to design a train for a specific route.
- IPEMUs would have the ability to add branches to a company’s InterCity network. Think Liverpool Street to Lowestoft!
- Regenerative braking becomes available for all electrified routes and improves efficiency. Think Merseyrail and other intensive Metros!
- Discontinuous electrification would be possible. Think Ipswich to Cambridge!
- New branches without electrification would be possible. Think Barking Riverside!
- No electrification, where it gets habitually nicked.
- Heritage, difficult or areas with stroppy natives could be left without electrification. Think Bath, Dawlish or Severn Tunnel!
- Less wiring in depots.
- Unwired level crossings and stations. Think health and safety!
- Trains would use less electricity.
- Trains have a get-to-the-next-station capability and essential power for charging passengers’ phones and devices, when electrification fails.
Obviously, the amount of on-board energy storage on the trains would be provided appropriately.
Automated Pantograph Up And Down on IPEMUs
If IPEMUs were working routes, where the electrification was discontinuous, the trains would need an automated system to raise and lower the pantograph accordingly.
This would also be done at line speed.
As we landed men on the moon in the 1960s, surely we can land a pantograph on an overhead wire in the 2010s.
Dual Voltage Capability
As required by the routes, this will sometimes be fitted.
An Interesting Statistic
In this article in Rail Magazine about the Great Eastern Main Line, it says that better signalling, faster trains and track improvements would increase the number of train between Liverpool Street and Chelmsford from the current twenty-four trains per hour to thirty-two!
Compare that with the frequency of nine trains per hour through High Wycombe on the Chiltern Main Line.
Both are double track main lines, but the Great Eastern Main Line is electrified.
How much of the capacity difference, is down to the faster stopping and starting of electric trains?
Note that the work-horses of both lines are 160 kph trains.
Pick-Up-and-Dash And Dash-And-Drop-Off Services
Because the High Speed Metro is equally at home running a local service as on a high speed line, it could work in ways impossible for a normal train.
Suppose the first service from Lowestoft to Ipswich in the morning was run by an IPEMU working in Metro mode, using the on-board energy storage, to run the route as efficiently as possible. Once at Ipswich on the Great Eastern Main Line, with all the passengers on the branch for the capital, it would dash for London in InterCity mode. Going back in the evening, the process would reverse and passengers would be dropped off on the branch.
The train could even overnight in Lowestoft, whilst plugged into a charging system.
This may not be a practical idea for other reasons, but a train with a unique schizophrenic character will get used in innovative ways.
East Midlands Trains
We can assume that East Midlands Trains could be one of the first customers, as Ian Walmsley mentioned them specifically.
- They have both 200 kph InterCity and slower commuter routes.
- They have heritage issues in the Derwent Valley.
- The Midland Main Line is being electrified.
- I believe that electrification could be discontinuous to both save money and accelerate installation.
- I have a feeling that an IPEMU could serve Corby from where the wires run out at Bedford, with just a few extra miles of wires.
- IPEMUs could work branches without electrification to Luton and East Midland Airports.
- Some branch line services in the East of the franchise could be run by IPEMUs.
- There is scope for extending services past Corby, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield using IPEMUs.
- Long-distance cross-country services like Norwich-Liverpool might be within the range of an IPEMU in a few years.
It will be interesting to see what decision the company makes.
Abellio Greater Anglia
Abellio Greater Anglia were involved in the IPEMU trials, so it is likely, that they will have plans for trains with an IPEMUs.
- They have some long routes, where a proportion is not electrified. Think Liverpool Street to Lowestoft!
- The ageing London-Ipswich-Norwich trains must be replaced. IPEMUs could reach Yarmouth going via Cambridge.
- They have some routes with discontinuous electrification. Think Ipswich to Cambridge!
- They have several branch lines, that could be served by IPEMUs. Think Marks Tey to Sudbury!
- Speed is always important and the track is being upgraded. Think Norwich in Ninety!
It will make a change if East Anglia gets some new trains, rather than somebody else’s scrapyard specials!
A new Aventra IPEMU running to Felixstowe would probably be the first new train on the branch since the 1950s.
Virgin Trains, Grand Central, Hull Trains Etc.
I’m putting these operators together, as all could use Aventras on services to the North.
- Nearly all services would be run at high speeds of up to 200 kph.
- Some or all would have an IPEMU-capability to serve places away from the electrified network. Think Blackpool, Huddersfield and Lincoln!
- Pick-up-and-dash and other innovative services would be possible. Think Sunderland to London!
One of the great advantages of these trains, would be that as the electrification network in the North expanded, more and more places could be reached from London and the South by electric trains without a change.
Chiltern Trains
In Could A Chiltern Metro Be Created? and A Trip To Aylesbury Vale Parkway, I showed how the High Speed Metro train could provide electric train services on all or most of Chiltern‘s services.
Electrification could be discontinuous.
- Marylebone to Neasden. Or perhaps West Ruislip and Harrow-on-the-Hill!
- A section in the middle perhaps between Banbury and Leamington Spa.
- The Snow Hill Lines into Birmingham.
- Shared sections with the East West Rail Link.
The gaps would be bridged by using the trains on-board energy storage.
High Speed Metro trains would give Chiltern other advantages.
- High Speed Metro trains and especially the IPEMUs are expansionist and high class. They suit Chiltern’s character.
- Chiltern could end up as almost a one electric train class railway.
- Chiltern would meet their objective of London to Birmingham in ninety minutes.
- The train’s performance would enable innovative timetabling to make maximum use of the limited platforms and paths on the Chiltern Main Line.
I would be very surprised if Chiltern didn’t go the High Speed Metro route.
Conclusion
I think Bombardier are going to sell quite a few Aventras.
Would a train operator like to see another company using new 200 kph metro trains, say from London to Norwich or Leicester, whilst they run 140 kph trains with a dated interior to say Bournemouth, Warwick or Hastings?
Bombardier have created the train equivalent of a high-performance saloon car, beloved of those that commute long distances by car.
The Anonymous Widower 