Should the Felixstowe branch be electrified?

[Adrian1980uk]

Moderator note: Split from

DB class 90 updates

Yes. So maybe now the psudogoverment that is Network Rail will listen to the FoCs and make it financially viable to run electric trains, or perhaps someone will step up and rebate running electrics against their cost to try and prevent burning so much oil. Can someone explain please how...

www.railforums.co.uk

Spot on. Loco swap adds 20-40 minutes into the schedule depending on location, potentially meaning you miss a path, and requires a shunt on site available to guide the driver in and then hook everything up. Also requires either the same driver to be capable of both traction or two drivers for one train, and a yard with enough capacity for the shunts. And then there's loco utilisation, it's very inefficient to have a 66 run just to Ipswich and then layover waiting for the next lecky hauled train in.
There's also the entire diagram to consider but they could of course be reworked if desired.

Swapping locos is a pain all round, it would have to be a substantial saving to make it worth while, for the life of me I can't see why electrification of Felixstowe branch hasn't been a priority even back in the 90s.

Also it could simplify movements around Ipswich as you're either joining straight down the GEML or going towards Ely.

 

[zwk500]

Swapping locos is a pain all round, it would have to be a substantial saving to make it worth while, for the life of me I can't see why electrification of Felixstowe branch hasn't been a priority even back in the 90s. Also it could simplify movements around Ipswich as you're either joining straight down the GEML or going towards Ely.

I suspect BR would have liked to get going on it but in the 80s the focus was on the ECML and then privatisation put a pin in any network enhancements.

Had BR been kept on I suspect it might have got higher up the priority list than it has but even then there would have been stronger priorities.

Of course back then you didn't have the bacon factory curve so the loco swap from diesel to electric would have involved reversing the consist in Ipswich Yard - not the worst thing in the world but an additional operational inefficiency when considering loading at the origin.

Electrification may also have triggered doubling the branch back to allow for additional traffic to justify the investment, increasing costs as you then have to do various layout and signalling upgrades on the branch.

Today, with the Bacon Factory Curve and the pressure on the NLL you'd want to be able to keep the route via Ely, which means Electrification through to Nuneaton or even Birmingham.That triggers resignalling of Absolute Block semaphore areas, and obviously then the question of what to do at Leicester has to be tackled head on.

Because of the way projects are appraised, Leicester is best tackled as part of an MML upgrade for journeys involving London (these give the most benefits so the bigger interventions are more cost-effective), but obviously that requires a longer lead-in time.

With locos like Class 93s however the case for the branch might well benefit, as the opportunity to utilise the electric capability on the busiest section whilst not having to do entire routes would be helpful and cost-effective.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

I suspect BR would have liked to get going on it but in the 80s the focus was on the ECML and then privatisation put a pin in any network enhancements. Had BR been kept on I suspect it might have got higher up the priority list than it has but even then there would have been stronger priorities. Of course back then you didn't have the bacon factory curve so the loco swap from diesel to electric would have involved reversing the consist in Ipswich Yard - not the worst thing in the world but an additional operational inefficiency when considering loading at the origin. Electrification may also have triggered doubling the branch back to allow for additional traffic to justify the investment, increasing costs as you then have to do various layout and signalling upgrades on the branch.
Today, with the Bacon Factory Curve and the pressure on the NLL you'd want to be able to keep the route via Ely, which means Electrification through to Nuneaton or even Birmingham. That triggers resignalling of Absolute Block semaphore areas, and obviously then the question of what to do at Leicester has to be tackled head on. Because of the way projects are appraised, Leicester is best tackled as part of an MML upgrade for journeys involving London (these give the most benefits so the bigger interventions are more cost-effective), but obviously that requires a longer lead-in time. With locos like Class 93s however the case for the branch might well benefit, as the opportunity to utilise the electric capability on the busiest section whilst not having to do entire routes would be helpful and cost-effective.

Remember the GEML was only completely electrified in 86/7 and Felixstowe wasn't what it is today, we can see why we are where we are but my feeling over the coming years decisions will have to be made to invest or not. Until something is done at Ely there's limited frieght expansion that way and the GEML is under pressure too.

My feeling is that we will get the Felixstowe branch done along with Haughly junction improvement but Ely is a long way off