Great Western Electrification Progress

[LNW-GW Joint]

Would a Class 88 have enough power to pull a freight train for the relatively short distances off wire to Avonmouth/Portbury docks near Bristol?

The shortest crucial wireless gap will be that from Acton East Jn to the NLL at Acton Wells - 49 chains, but uphill eastbound.
That would give access to the ECML and GEML/LT&S.
It's about another mile unwired from Acton Wells to the WCML either northbound (Acton Wharf Jn) or southbound (Willesden Jn), and 4 miles to the MML at Cricklewood/Brent.
The yard at Acton is also unwired, I don't know if the current GW scheme changes that.
Bristol Freightliner depot is 2 unwired miles west of Temple Meads.
Cardiff Freightliner depot (Wentloog) is on the main line but has no services to/across London from what I can see (Southampton/Midlands).

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Would a Class 88 have enough power to pull a freight train for the relatively short distances off wire to Avonmouth/Portbury docks near Bristol?

Power isn't an issue, in diesel mode it'll move whatever length of train it's hauling on electric, but it will only be able to move on diesel at very low speeds. It's got similar power on diesel to a single Class 20 for what its worth.

 

[Envoy]

Power isn't an issue, in diesel mode it'll move whatever length of train it's hauling on electric, but it will only be able to move on diesel at very low speeds. It's got similar power on diesel to a single Class 20 for what its worth.

Many thanks for that, Mr Phlopp.

 

[Trog]

Not all bridges are "raised" Howard, where possible the track is lowered under the bridge, Green lane bridge just east of Chippenham is an example of that process. In some places it's just not possible though. Track lowering also gives an opportunity to renew the track and sort out any drainage problems in the area if at all possible.

Lowering the track is more likely to create a drainage problem, as you end up with a dip that collects water. If you create a dip it can also be hard to drain, as being a low point getting the drainage pipes to run down hill away from it can be a problem. If the job is not done properly you can also lose the blanketing layer off the formation, add poor drainage to that and the local P-Way Maintenance will not be happy bunnies.

 

[HowardGWR]

Lowering the track is more likely to create a drainage problem, as you end up with a dip that collects water. If you create a dip it can also be hard to drain, as being a low point getting the drainage pipes to run down hill away from it can be a problem. If the job is not done properly you can also lose the blanketing layer off the formation, add poor drainage to that and the local P-Way Maintenance will not be happy bunnies.

Yes I wonder what Hellzapoppin's view is on Chipping Sodbury tunnel? There, the cutting seems to flood very often.

Do the engineers have to effect new / improved drainage and is this a significant cost of GWML electrification?

 

[76020]

I have just done a return trip from London Paddington to Bristol TM over the last week and last Saturday on my out journey from London I noticed that between Wootton Bassett and Chippenham on the up side there is around 60+ piles installed and also three masts sitting upright, on my return journey back to London today on the same section on the down side I counted 26 masts installed and around another 50+ piles hammed home, this is all new since I last travelled on this section in February this year. This is all very good but I thought the focus was on to get London to Wootton Bassett wired by the end of next year, there is still nothing installed in and around the Swindon area and there are still quite a few piles missing between Didcot and Wootton Bassett, I would say it is about 80-85% done.
Masts have now appeared from where the four track section ends, halfway between Didcot and Swindon, I think this is milepost 74, for a couple of miles towards Swindon.
At the London end, apart from the bridge over the river Thames at Maidenhead and a few missing here and there, masts now exists from Airport Junction to Twyford, also wiring cannot be far off such as places like Iver and West Drayton

 

[leomartin125]

Is the line between Southampton and Reading earmarked for any electrification work? And if there is any scheme's, would they cover electrifying the port itself at Southampton? If not, I doubt even with an electrified line from Reading to Southampton, we would see any electric traction on freight.

 

[swt_passenger]

Is the line between Southampton and Reading earmarked for any electrification work? And if there is any scheme's, would they cover electrifying the port itself at Southampton? If not, I doubt even with an electrified line from Reading to Southampton, we would see any electric traction on freight.

There is a project known as the 'Electric Spine', which was supposed to be happening in late CP5, but has been deferred. It is explicitly to do with wiring between Southampton Docks and the Midlands, via Reading, Oxford and Leamington, to Coventry, and via EWR, and it is predominantly a freight project, including 25 kV electrification to replace third rail between Basingstoke and Southampton.

The section between Basingstoke and Reading has however been separated out and is now a sub-project within GW Modernisation.

Clearly as Basingstoke to Southampton is already DC electrified the implications for AC/DC changeover on the route, and modifications for the bulk of SWT's 444 and 450 fleets are complex, and the whole thing has been subject to repeated discussion in these forums over the past 3 or 4 years.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Is the line between Southampton and Reading earmarked for any electrification work? And if there is any scheme's, would they cover electrifying the port itself at Southampton? If not, I doubt even with an electrified line from Reading to Southampton, we would see any electric traction on freight.

Electric Spine works with possible delivery from CP6 onwards. If it happens.

The scheme is planned around the life expectancy of the DC electrification equipment on the Basingstoke to Southampton line, the majority of components becomes life expired in the next 10 to 15 years and although it will cost more to convert the route to AC versus straight like for like DC replacement, there are significant energy loss savings to be gained from using AC rather than DC. If the route was to be upgraded to provide electric freight capability on DC using Class 92 or similar locomotives, it becomes at least as expensive to use DC as AC and electrical losses make it considerably more expensive to run long term.

If it falls further behind that CP6 or CP7, there's a real danger that man hours will need to be committed to replace life expired components for reliability purposes, and you have to fight for a second round of capital expenditure on yet more man hours to convert from DC to AC. The actual replacement equipment would be modular and recoverable, so wouldn't necessarily be considered wasted or need to be written off.

The priority now, in relation to Electric Spine is the Basingstoke to Reading route, which allows dual voltage stock to use this route as necessary.

 

[swt_passenger]

Electric Spine works with possible delivery from CP6 onwards. If it happens.

I didn't want to tempt fate and mention CP6. ISTM there are far more important routes to do first, such as the whole MML to Leeds and then the XC SW/NW axis; especially given the relative lack of interest in electric freight locos...

 

[Philip Phlopp]

I didn't want to tempt fate and mention CP6. ISTM there are far more important routes to do first, such as the whole MML to Leeds and then the XC SW/NW axis; especially given the relative lack of interest in electric freight locos...

There's no reason why route clearance for Electric Spine can't begin early in CP6, the actual wiring works would follow later. The idea is to try and de-couple the risk further, so a large delay on route clearance doesn't delay wiring.

The infrastructure being made available to traffic is probably quite unlikely to be within CP6, March 2024 would be quite ambitious, though on the upside, it's just 35 route miles to convert (can't remember the stk off the top of my head) and should be a little less difficult than GWML wiring.

 

[themiller]

I didn't want to tempt fate and mention CP6. ISTM there are far more important routes to do first, such as the whole MML to Leeds and then the XC SW/NW axis; especially given the relative lack of interest in electric freight locos...

Could this lack of interest in electric freight locos have anything to do with the routes being electrified aligning with passenger traffic rather than freight combined with the surplus of electric locos floating around now that passenger trains are mainly units? As more of the country is electrified, small infills may open up more freight routes. With the current loco fleet numbers being diminished by export and end-of-life scrapping, new build may come soon.

 

[Class 170101]

If it falls further behind that CP6 or CP7, there's a real danger that man hours will need to be committed to replace life expired components for reliability purposes, and you have to fight for a second round of capital expenditure on yet more man hours to convert from DC to AC. The actual replacement equipment would be modular and recoverable, so wouldn't necessarily be considered wasted or need to be written off.

If it gets this far can the replacement kit insofar as is possible be built to work DC and later AC? eg substations?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

If it gets this far can the replacement kit insofar as is possible be built to work DC and later AC? eg substations?

No - it's usually National Grid to Network Rail HV Grid then Network Rail HV Grid to Network Rail DC substations. 275kV/400kV AC to 33kV AC to 750V DC.

You could, I suppose, go down the 275kV/400kV to 25kV AC route and then 25kV AC to 750V DC but that means a massive task of replacing all the 33kV to 750V equipment with 25kV to 750V DC equipment, which is probably a bigger task than slowly reducing the 750V DC electrified network and its accompanying 33kV NR grid.

 

[Mintona]

South Wales update as I've just been past for the first time in a few weeks. Piles have now been installed alongside the down relief most of the way from Ebbw Jn to Pengam, so that stretch is now almost completely piled on both sides. Piles also appearing for the first time alongside the up relief between Magor and Severn Tunnel Jn. And most excitingly, 9 masts have been erected alongside the down relief in the vicinity of Llanwern West.

 

[jimm]

Both relief lines across Moulsford bridge are now wired, but no sign of progress plugging other of the other gaps that I could see today.

 

[snowball]

Two versions of a press release:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/2...evern-Tunnel-electrification-training-centre/

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.c...t-state-of-the-art-training-facility-in-wales

Network Rail engineers are busy preparing for the electrification of the Severn Tunnel at a state-of-the-art training facility in Wales.

The 130-year-old Severn Tunnel will close for six weeks from 12 September to prepare it for electrification, a critical milestone in the project to deliver electric trains for passengers in South Wales, part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

The training facility at Coleg Y Cymoedd in Nantgarw, jointly funded by the College and Welsh Government, comprises of a life size mock-up of the overhead line equipment that will be used to power the new fleet of electric trains through the tunnel.

Network Rail is working in partnership with ABC and AMCO and supported by McGinley Support Services, to deliver the training which enables engineers to build, dismantle and maintain the overhead power lines and specialist equipment unique to the Severn Tunnel electrification project.

It is the only facility in the UK to offer training on this specially-designed piece of equipment known as a Rigid Overhead Conductor Rail, which will help power trains through the narrow tunnel.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

My apologies if this has been answered before, but are they going to put a completely new bridge over the line at Newport Station, or will the old one be refurbished and returned at a higher height? Thank you.

I can answer my own question, now .... they're cutting up the old bridge in the car park where it was "dropped" after being removed.

 

[HowardGWR]

I see ROCR (rigid overhead conductor rail) is the official 4LA I should have used for what I asked about in an earlier post, thanks Snowball for the quote. Should not overhead wire not be denoted as FOCW? (Flexible Overhead Conductor Wire). Both are OLE.

 

[russdx]

I use the Bristol parkway to Reading route everyday and have been keeping eye on the progress. Seems to be a bit slow if it is ment to be complete next year? Only from reading to just before Didcot seems to be complete with overhead cables.

 

[snowball]

Following the Hendy review the date for Reading to Bristol Parkway is December 2018.

 

[HowardGWR]

Following the Hendy review the date for Reading to Bristol Parkway is December 2018.

Given the Hendy approach (just re-order electrics as bi-modes) will work, the pressure for total electrification is off (except for costs).

For those of us who feared for the whole project, it looks rosy. When you get in your IEP from Bristol TM Platform 0 (was BR WR Platform 15) for a 83 minute ride to Paddington via Filton Bank, you will not worry that they change from diesel to electric at Parkway.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Even once electrified they should leave the diesel packs in place, to give flexibility for diversions and when the knitting comes down

 

[cle]

Given the Hendy approach (just re-order electrics as bi-modes) will work, the pressure for total electrification is off (except for costs).

For those of us who feared for the whole project, it looks rosy. When you get in your IEP from Bristol TM Platform 0 (was BR WR Platform 15) for a 83 minute ride to Paddington via Filton Bank, you will not worry that they change from diesel to electric at Parkway.

Is 83 mins the best we can expect?

I thought Bristol Parkway was do-able in about 65 non-stop (Paddington, not Reading) ?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Even once electrified they should leave the diesel packs in place, to give flexibility for diversions and when the knitting comes down

Great Western will need bi-mode units even after the core electrification is complete, which is why they were receiving part of their requirement in bi-mode units and part in electric units. The electric units are being converted to bi-mode but the actual requirement for bi-mode units won't increase significantly post currently planned electrification completion.

What may happen is the additional bi-mode units (the electric order that was converted) could be cascaded away and back-filled with a new tranche of all electric IEP stock, particularly as VTEC need additional IEP stock to avoid the handful of IC225 sets remaining in service and the XC franchise will need extra stock at some stage early into the new franchise (plus a resolution for the weed-killing HST stock).

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I use the Bristol parkway to Reading route everyday and have been keeping eye on the progress. Seems to be a bit slow if it is meant to be complete next year? Only from Reading to just before Didcot seems to be complete with overhead cables.

Thanks for your first post and welcome to the forum. It would be really wonderful if you could post regular updates for us please since you take the route so regularly.

 

[CdBrux]

There's no reason why route clearance for Electric Spine can't begin early in CP6, the actual wiring works would follow later. The idea is to try and de-couple the risk further, so a large delay on route clearance doesn't delay wiring.

Does route clearance bring any benefits on it's own?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Does route clearance bring any benefits on it's own?

It depends, if you're looking for higher speeds, moving to 26m stock, or want to run W12 boxes, then gauge clearance can be helpful, it just depends what route you're looking at and what's already been done.

 

[Mordac]

What may happen is the additional bi-mode units (the electric order that was converted) could be cascaded away and back-filled with a new tranche of all electric IEP stock, particularly as VTEC need additional IEP stock to avoid the handful of IC225 sets remaining in service and the XC franchise will need extra stock at some stage early into the new franchise (plus a resolution for the weed-killing HST stock).

Why weed-killing? Surely their toilets fertilize weeds along the trackbed very regularly.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Why weed-killing? Surely their toilets fertilize weeds along the trackbed very regularly.

They sit in sidings for too long, stopping weeds from growing.