How would you electrify Scotland?

[Nottingham59]

How would you electrify Scotland?

Steadily and progressively

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Steadily and progressively

Well - that should be a given! But yes I agree.

 

[option]

It could be a battery pack now. An electric 5 car weighs 38 tonnes less than a bimode 5 car, if you believe Wikipedia. Personally, I don’t in this case, but the engines alone are over 2 tonnes each dry weight and there will be well over a tonne of fuel, plus cooler group, exhaust after treatment, alternator, etc - each power pack will certainly be over 8 tonnes. So let’s say that the three power packs are actually collectively 25 tonnes, and collectively they supply 2.1 MW when derestricted.

25 tonnes of battery pack will get you somewhere in the region of 4-5MWh. Let’s be really conservative, and say it’s less than half that, and 2.1MWh. On all these conservative assumptions, a Class 80x with batteries weighing the same as a diesel power pack would therefore have enough energy to be able to operate at full power for an hour.

Page 6 of this gives an overview of how much stuff is associated with having the diesel generator on board

http://www.hitachi.com/rev/pdf/2014/r2014_10_105.pdf

 

[HST43257]

I reckon the vast majority of Scotland should be electrified, with exceptions being:

- Ayr - Stranraer (unless any of it ever gets anything better than hourly)

- Tain - Wick/Thurso (I’d have 2 hourly Inverness - Wick Bi-Mode services and hourly EMU Inverness - Tain services

- Dingwall - Kyle of Lochalsh (2 hourly Inverness - Kyle Bi-Mode serivce alternating with Wick service below)

- Craigendoran Jn - Oban & Mallaig (very long Line with limited tpd (will probably only become 1tp2h in the near future at best. Also electrification would ruin the most scenic line in Britain).


On what is currently an HST operated Inter7City train, I’d use the same Mk3s with electric loco haulage like Class 90s.

On local/commuter services, 4-car EMUs would be good. I’m personally a big fan of Class 387s.

 

[MarkyT]

Page 6 of this gives an overview of how much stuff is associated with having the diesel generator on board

http://www.hitachi.com/rev/pdf/2014/r2014_10_105.pdf

Thanks for that. Very interesting. Saved for future reference.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Thanks for that. Very interesting. Saved for future reference.

Indeed thank you and likewise.

 

[mmh]

I'd electrify any diesel islands in otherwise electrified areas which give an operational benefit. Outside that, I probably wouldn't bother with any, and certainly not lines which only see an hourly train or fewer. As stock is replaced, if they're useful bi-modes are now a realistic and actual proposition. I'd not worry about battery trains, which are still at the very experimental stage. Perhaps one day they may make sense, but until then there's little point proposing them.

 

[A0]

"How would you electrify Scotland?"

750v DC 3rd rail or 1500v DC overhead, paid for by a Scottish only income tax