Electrifcation - it's on!

[philjo]

I'd be interested to hear about the plans for the Thames Branches. DMUs are going to be required for Reading - Gatwick, Reading - Basingstoke, north of Oxford and west of Newbury (although the latter two could be provided by stops/additional long-distance services), so keeping hold of extra DMUs wouldn't be too much of a problem, except for the direct trains to/from Paddington (1 train per weekday Bourne End - Paddington; 2/3 trains per weekday Henley - Bourne End) but of which there are so few would probably not be too hard to curtail at Twyford/Maidenhead. AIUI there is also a separate plan as part of Crossrail to terminate Greenford trains at West Ealing. On the other hand I expect that electrification of Marlow/Bourne End and Henley branches could be done quite cheaply as part of the total project.

Personally I think that Slough-Windsor should be electrified & become part of Crossrail (though it may require a flyover to access the slow lines at Slough), considering that Windsor has a large tourist market as well as commuters

 

[Aictos]

I found a video on YouTube posted by Network Rail which does explain what the OHL trains will look like and how they will be working which is very detailed.

It looks like it's formed from many MPVs back to back working as one train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFg0EOUJNrc

Enjoy,

 

[Oswyntail]

....It looks like it's formed from many MPVs back to back working as one train....

Judging from the general terrain and the sea in the background, they seem to be wiring up the line to Sunderland.

 

[Metroland]

What is this? Microsoft electrification simulator?

 

[Aictos]

What is this? Microsoft electrification simulator?

Well you've got Train Simulators, Flight Simulators, Bus Simulators, Truck Simulators, Railway Signalling Simulations, Ships Simulations and NOW you're also got the option of Farming Simulator which is on my list as a present this year,

So why not then,

 

[paul1609]

I'd be interested to hear about the plans for the Thames Branches. DMUs are going to be required for Reading - Gatwick, Reading - Basingstoke, north of Oxford and west of Newbury (although the latter two could be provided by stops/additional long-distance services), so keeping hold of extra DMUs wouldn't be too much of a problem, except for the direct trains to/from Paddington (1 train per weekday Bourne End - Paddington; 2/3 trains per weekday Henley - Bourne End) but of which there are so few would probably not be too hard to curtail at Twyford/Maidenhead. AIUI there is also a separate plan as part of Crossrail to terminate Greenford trains at West Ealing. On the other hand I expect that electrification of Marlow/Bourne End and Henley branches could be done quite cheaply as part of the total project.

Would there still be long distance services past Newbury? I reckon with electrification and bi mode SET London to Plymouth would be 20 to 25 mins faster via Bristol Temple Meads than via Castle Cary. I cant see that a bi mode SET could maintain HST timings over the current route.

 

[asylumxl]

Would there still be long distance services past Newbury? I reckon with electrification and bi mode SET London to Plymouth would be 20 to 25 mins faster via Bristol Temple Meads than via Castle Cary. I cant see that a bi mode SET could maintain HST timings over the current route.

Yeh, I reckon so too. Whenever I've been to Plymouth from Paddington and it's been diverted via Bristol, we've always arrived on time or early into Plymouth..

 

[thelem]

It's a shame that can't be third railed, that'd allow Brighton/ Portsmouth etc a through link to Reading, giving a connection with Birmingham/ Manchester etc (since they are no longer on Cross Country)

That's not a problem, you just need dual voltage trains - e.g. the Thameslink route.

 

[EWS 58038]

What is this? Microsoft electrification simulator?

Nope... this is the sad end of the HST mate.

 

[Techniquest]

Nope... this is the sad end of the HST mate.

Not for a few years yet! If they are withdrawn in 2016 as per the date suggested in the DfT .pdf then it will have been 40 years of HSTs on the Western. 40 years of daily frontline passenger service for the fleet, which I reckon is more than most classes on the mainline. A milestone which will need to be celebrated when we get to it!

Even so, I'm still concentrating more on getting all of the fleet bashed on Swansea to London and Bristol to London before the inevitable withdrawals begin. I'm also hoping to have gotten my machine in to Newquay, Pembroke Dock, Cheltenham Spa (I shock myself with not having it done to Cheltenham yet) and Penzance before the end of the decade. Which is a lot easier said than done! Clearing her for 5,000 miles will be easier than trying to get her bashed to every corner of the FGW HSS network!

Here's to another 7 years of HSTs on the Western!

 

[Failed Unit]

Not for a few years yet! If they are withdrawn in 2016 as per the date suggested in the DfT .pdf then it will have been 40 years of HSTs on the Western. 40 years of daily frontline passenger service for the fleet, which I reckon is more than most classes on the mainline. A milestone which will need to be celebrated when we get to it!

Even so, I'm still concentrating more on getting all of the fleet bashed on Swansea to London and Bristol to London before the inevitable withdrawals begin. I'm also hoping to have gotten my machine in to Newquay, Pembroke Dock, Cheltenham Spa (I shock myself with not having it done to Cheltenham yet) and Penzance before the end of the decade. Which is a lot easier said than done! Clearing her for 5,000 miles will be easier than trying to get her bashed to every corner of the FGW HSS network!

Here's to another 7 years of HSTs on the Western!

I will be amazed if they are not inservice until the 2020 deadline for DDA, although the mk1 lasted longer than the safety police expected as well. Maybe once they released from the ECML some open access operators may go for them. Could be perfect low cost train for a start up operation.

 

[Techniquest]

One can only wait and see what happens, but I'd expect at the absolute minimum a significantly reduced HST fleet (I think it's 52 sets required for daily service on the Western these days, best I've ever managed to bash is 10 sets in one day ) for the Paddington to Cornwall services. Although I await finding out more about they plan to do these in the future, to run from Newbury to Penzance on one SET power car would take some serious beef in the engine to handle it at any sort of proper speed, especially when tackling monsters like Whiteball, Dainton, Rattery and Hemerdon!

 

[Mystic Force]

The plan is for dual diesel power cars for the devon/cornwall trains and I don't see anything from any source other than conjecture that its going to change. The point of bimode is for journeys mainly under the wires with extension of the electrified trunk routes. Newbury to penzance is not an extension but most of the route the great point of the bimode in my mind is that you can use it to link up journeys across unelectrified parts as a rolling program of work proceeds instead of having to wait till its complete to benefit from the wires. The cross country franchise is the one that could benefit most from this as it doesn't stick to self contained routes (ECML,WCML,GWML etc) but goes between them. How would liverpool-norwich be on a bimode set? Better than a sprinter!

 

[Techniquest]

Can't see why they would change the current setup either, but I still reckon the SET will need to be very powerful to maintain decent speeds as well as go up Hemerdon (a 1 in 60 bank) at more than a few miles per hour.

Either way, there's 7 years to go and we may still see the Cornish services stay as HSTs for some time after that until enough SETs are ready for service.

When the prototype comes out to play most of us will be paying careful attention to how well it performs!

 

[jopsuk]

And of course, the design of even the fully-diesel SET is such that should more wires go up in future, one or both diesel cars can be swapped for new pantograph driving trailers, converting either to bi mode or fully electric. On neither the diesel nor the electric, under the plans that have been shown, are the traction motors on the leading/trailing cars. The diesel cars really will be just big generator trailers.

Unless they change the concept.

 

[paul1609]

The bi modal set wil have 70% of the power of an HST (on diesel) so the all diesel set would have around 140% of an HST.
The interesting thing is that a Bi-modal travelling via Bristol with the normal stops would get to Cogload about 20 mins quicker than the all diesel via Westbury.
If you went for 140 mph running you'd be nearly 30mins quicker.
I dont think there would be more than a couple of mins in it to Newton Abbot but then the bi mode would lose out big style on the banks.
However I reckon electrification will reduce the importance of the Berks and Hants with the fast services diverted via Bristol,

 

[EWS 58038]

Well to be honest with you, I think the majority of HST's will be scrapped, others will go to some preservation sociaties and yes... I guess around tree to five sets will be available on the spot hire market for another 10 years orso. They could always be great if the IEP needs replacement by a less havier train