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  1. Nottingham59

    Electrifying Mainlines for Battery Train operation (using Class 897 as an example

    Chris Jackson the MD of Transpennine said: "Up to ninety miles on battery at 100 miles per hour", at 12m40s in the latest Green Signals podcast here:
  2. Nottingham59

    Birmingham New Street the worst UK station?

    This. There is* no signage visible from the inside of the Blue and Green lounges for people who have come up from the platforms. It would be a simple thing to do. * Or at least not when I last interchanged at New St
  3. Nottingham59

    Birmingham New Street the worst UK station?

    There are lots of signs for people going from the Street to the trains, but no effective signage for people coming off trains and looking for another platform. For instance from 9A to 4B, people getting off a train on platform 9A might find a departure screen telling them that their next train...
  4. Nottingham59

    Can you use the return portion of a day return ticket if you do not use the first outward journey ticket?

    Using the return portion will make the outward portion invalid. How will anyone know if the outward portion has not been used?
  5. Nottingham59

    Electrifying Mainlines for Battery Train operation (using Class 897 as an example

    I think that illustrates the paradox that I'm trying to explore in this thread. Batteries are now cheap and getting cheaper as the technology develops, giving ever increasing capacity and faster charging times. But the rail industry seems to regard battery at best as a temporary aberation until...
  6. Nottingham59

    Electrifying Mainlines for Battery Train operation (using Class 897 as an example

    Yes, it is - at high speeds where air resistance is the principal load. (But since the train gets there faster, energy consumed per mile is proportional to square of the speed.) The best benchmark I know for the power required for high speed running is the Euston-Glasgow record attempt back in...
  7. Nottingham59

    Electrifying Mainlines for Battery Train operation (using Class 897 as an example

    This thread is to discuss the electrification needed on mainlines for 125-mph capable battery trains. To start things off, these are my thoughts for main lines in my part of the world (i.e. the MML and the Cross Country route) BEMU SPECIFICATION It seems to me that the 10-car Class 897...
  8. Nottingham59

    Minimum height of a railway flyover?

    If a flat rail junction is to be replaced by a flyover, say at Newark flat crossing, then how high does that flyover have to be? Obviously, it will need to accommodate W12 gauge rolling stock on the lower track, plus an allowance for electrification. Add the depth of the upper beam supporting...
  9. Nottingham59

    Do MUs still need two cabs?

    If Waymo robotaxis can operate without a driver, then so can trains. (As is already done for the Pilbara iron ore trains in Australia) But I agree, it's unlikely to happen in this country for a long time, for reasons that are social, not technological. Driverless busses are likely to come...
  10. Nottingham59

    Do MUs still need two cabs?

    Yes, of course. That's why the abilty to reverse a freight train to be able to take a run up a short but steep gradient is a pre-requisite for building a shorter and therefore cheaper ECML flyover at Newark Crossing. A train going at 10mph has enough energy to climb 1 metre. At 30mph, it can...
  11. Nottingham59

    Do MUs still need two cabs?

    It ought to be possible for train to set back a short distance without the driver having to change ends. If all freight trains had that capability, it would save a fortune in the design and construction of flyovers at places like Newark Crossing, where the approach gradients could be built at...
  12. Nottingham59

    Disruption at St Pancras (Possible Bomb Threat) 18/08/26

    My best guess would be that someone broke down, maybe put up bonnet to look at the engine, and then went off to get help. Only to find they were blocked from getting back to the car as the bomb squad used their robot to blow the boot open, And then someone very brave went checked that the boot...
  13. Nottingham59

    What lessons do Ember Coaches have for battery operation on the railways?

    Only if you've got OHLE in place. Otherwise it's £2-3 million per single track km to install it.
  14. Nottingham59

    Have I got this right re Eurostar journeys?

    Does your pricing include CIV tickets for the Chesterfield-London leg? These do not have peak time restrictions, and are only valid for connecting to/from Eurostar.
  15. Nottingham59

    Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

    See at 8m30s in the video in this post https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/transpennine-route-upgrade-and-electrification-updates.88054/page-268#post-6805299
  16. Nottingham59

    Battery boost for grid feeders?

    Interesting thanks. I can see the argument for electrifying the platforms at Tweedbank to provide hotel power and battery top up for trains stranded there in times of disruption. But that doesn't need a £14m grid feeder and £16m of other works. And I don't agree that anyone would need 26...
  17. Nottingham59

    What lessons do Ember Coaches have for battery operation on the railways?

    Can you say how big that subsidy to Ember was? And how it compares to the subsidy provided every year to keep the Far North Line going? Maybe. But will Ember's battery technology be applied to rail? And what does this mean for future electrification investment? I'm much more interested in the...
  18. Nottingham59

    What lessons do Ember Coaches have for battery operation on the railways?

    Driving to John O'Groats last week, I was struck by the Ember electric coach service that now runs from Inverness to Wick and Thurso. I was genuinely surprised to see these EVs, as the Far North Line has always been held up as an example of a route that would be impossibly far for battery...
  19. Nottingham59

    Battery boost for grid feeders?

    Thank you, that's informative and helpful. Apologies, but I think we may have to differ on this. (For what it's worth, my view is that they should seen sense at some point and realise that 30-mile branch lines can be served by Battery trains with a worst-case operating range of 61 miles or...
  20. Nottingham59

    Battery boost for grid feeders?

    This idea would have to use SFCs (Static Frequency Converters) which convert three-phase grid supply to DC and then back to 25kV AC. The battery would fit naturally into the DC part of the circuitry. I don't know what the firm supply capacity is, but the grid feeder cost £14.4 million. That's...

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