POLL: What lines do you think should be next for electrification?

[PTR 444]

With diesel emissions becoming ever more socially unacceptable and the government committing to eradicating it by 2040, we need to seriously start thinking about electrifying all our main lines. Even though it would be nice to have every mile of track done by then, this would be near impossible to achieve so I thought i’d set up this poll to decide which lines you think should get more priority for conversion than the others.

You may choose up to five options. Also feel free to consider lines in your local area which you might like to see upgraded, even if they are not a national priority.

 

[Iskra]

1) MML but in that I'd include Sheffield-Moorthorpe (for Leeds) and to Doncaster.

That's the one that I really want. Next I'd go for the XC core.

2) Bristol-Birmingham
3) Birmingham-Derby
4) Bristol-Plymouth

Then:

5) Liverpool-Hull including Leeds-Colton junction.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I can't see "Paddington to Bristol via Bath", so I voted other. Not having wired the busiest IC route on the GWML is nuts.

 

[PTR 444]

I can't see "Paddington to Bristol via Bath", so I voted other. Not having wired the busiest IC route on the GWML is nuts.

I thought that had already been electrified. Have I missed something?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I thought that had already been electrified. Have I missed something?

Yes, part of the line (Chippenham I think to Bristol via Bath) is lacking the wires.

 

[PTR 444]

Yes, part of the line (Chippenham I think to Bristol via Bath) is lacking the wires.

Any idea as to when that stretch will be finished?

 

[ainsworth74]

Any idea as to when that stretch will be finished?

It won't. Wires aren't going to Bristol via either route.

 

[PTR 444]

It won't. Wires aren't going to Bristol via either route.

Ah I see, another one of those pesky government cuts.

If anyone else wishes to see wires above this route, I would recommend choosing the Wessex Main Line option in the poll as trains on that route also cover Bath - Bristol.

 

[Gareth]

I still think the CLC’s omission in the North West Electrification scheme was a mistake.

Otherwise, the MML and TPE are the stand out options for me, as currently backed by the poll.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

What about Didcot-Oxford-Banbury-Nuneaton

 

[PTR 444]

What about Didcot-Oxford-Banbury-Nuneaton

Option is already listed in poll. Look for the 9th one down

 

[Bletchleyite]

I still think the CLC’s omission in the North West Electrification scheme was a mistake.

I agree. I can see why Chat Moss was done first (because it could be used for Manchester-Preston and beyond too, even though for years nothing had used Parkside bar a couple of Parliamentary services) but with its frequent stops the CLC would benefit from being operated by high acceleration EMUs (323s would be ideal, 319s not) hugely.

 

[NoMorePacers]

Since I can't vote for both, I've picked Liverpool-Hull (out of personal bias more than anything). But I would also have the MML done.

 

[PTR 444]

Since I can't vote for both, I've picked Liverpool-Hull (out of personal bias more than anything). But I would also have the MML done.

You should be able to choose up to five options in the poll. Is it not letting you do so?

 

[NoMorePacers]

You should be able to choose up to five options in the poll. Is it not letting you do so?

I didn't check so I made an assumption. Apologies.

 

[Mountain Man]

The Windermere branch as was originally planned. The road congestion is horrendous in summer on the Windermere / Keswick axis and getting people onto trains is essential to avoid complete gridlocl

 

[RichJF]

Midland Main Line & Chiltern are more strategically important for the country, no doubt.

I would argue that electrifying the North Downs & Uckfield makes sense in my area. It's ludicrous to have diesel islands in a sea of electric with a high number of commuting traffic. It would also help with fleet hegemony and operating efficiency. Ultimately I reckon it'll be bimode on these lines in the future.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

It won't. Wires aren't going to Bristol via either route.

Then what on Earth was the point of bothering electrifying the line in the first place? Why didn't they just electrify Heathrow Airport Junction to Oxford and be done with the whole wretched thing?

 

[ainsworth74]

Then what on Earth was the point of bothering electrifying the line in the first place? Why didn't they just electrify Heathrow Airport Junction to Oxford and be done with the whole wretched thing?

Because until Network Rail exploded the budget in dramatic fashion it was supposed to reach Bristol by both routes as well as Swansea and Oxford (recall that Oxford is not certainly happening) so the whole project made sense at that time. But then the budget and timescales exploded and the DfT chickened out of finishing the job properly. Indeed this is the very reason why part of the originally DfT order of IETs for GWR included EMUs. The whole bi-mode fleet was a change enforced by the electrification project going so disastrously wrong.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Why didn't they just electrify Heathrow Airport Junction to Oxford and be done with the whole wretched thing?

It was tied in with a plan to replace the forty year old HSTs. Thus electrics to Swansea and Bristol, with bi modes to Taunton, Exeter and beyond. NSE didn't attempt to get wires up in the early 1990s to replace first generation DMUs and hauled trains. Had they done so, the project would likely to have been wires to Oxford and Newbury.

 

[Mikey C]

Surely electrification to Temple Meads will happen eventually, but has been delayed both for financial reasons and because TM station needs remodelling. I assume both this AND Oxford will happen before any new schemes are started elsewhere.

As my "other" option I voted for Uckfield to remove a silly diesel island, especially as it has through trains to London unlike some of the other diesel islands south of the Thames.

 

[Thebaz]

Hurst Green to Uckfield

 

[ainsworth74]

Surely electrification to Temple Meads will happen eventually, but has been delayed both for financial reasons and because TM station needs remodelling. I assume both this AND Oxford will happen before any new schemes are started elsewhere.

You'd like to think so but as far as I'm aware as it currently stands both are cancelled. Hopefully to be restarted in the not too distance future but...

 

[option]

By Chiltern Main Line do you mean the Snow Hill lines to Stourbridge/Leamington/Stratford?
If not, then I vote for those.

 

[VT 390]

By Chiltern Main Line do you mean the Snow Hill lines to Stourbridge/Leamington/Stratford?
If not, then I vote for those.

I agree, to me it seams an obvious one to electrify as it is a frequent service serving lots of stops and it would reduce pollution levels in Birmingham. Also it would release some good DMU's for use elsewhere.

 

[Mikey C]

By Chiltern Main Line do you mean the Snow Hill lines to Stourbridge/Leamington/Stratford?
If not, then I vote for those.

As an option you could almost split it into several sub options.

1) Amersham to Aylesbury
2) Marylebone to Banbury and Oxford
3) Snow Hill to Banbury
4) The other bits (e.g. Stratford to Leamington, Aylesbury to Princes)

 

[deltic08]

1) MML but in that I'd include Sheffield-Moorthorpe (for Leeds) and to Doncaster.

That's the one that I really want. Next I'd go for the XC core.

2) Bristol-Birmingham
3) Birmingham-Derby
4) Bristol-Plymouth

Then:

5) Liverpool-Hull including Leeds-Colton junction.

I would endorse your choices 1 to 5 but would add Gloucester-Severn Tunnel Junction to 3 for Nottingham-Cardiff/Cardiff-Gloucester stoppers and then to Swindon added to 2 for Paddington-Gloucester/Cheltenham and Paddington-Cardiff diverts when Severn Tunnel is frequently closed.
Leeds-Harrogate-York as Leeds and York already wired and have enough feeder capacity between them for the loop.
Those routes already planned before the 2017 cancelling.

 

[PTR 444]

As an option you could almost split it into several sub options.

1) Amersham to Aylesbury
2) Marylebone to Banbury and Oxford
3) Snow Hill to Banbury
4) The other bits (e.g. Stratford to Leamington, Aylesbury to Princes)

I would say the Chiltern Main Line option covers all of these and the Snow Hill - Worcester section which is pretty much a natural extension of the Chiltern anyway.

 

[NoMorePacers]

As an option you could almost split it into several sub options.

1) Amersham to Aylesbury
2) Marylebone to Banbury and Oxford
3) Snow Hill to Banbury
4) The other bits (e.g. Stratford to Leamington, Aylesbury to Princes)

Amersham to Aylesbury would be better off stuck onto the Met Line and 4th railed. The rest could probably be OHLEd.

 

[Bantamzen]

I've gone for:

1) Midland Main
2) Liverpool - Hull
3) Bristol - Birmingham
4) Birmingham - Derby
5) Other - Sheffield Leeds/Doncaster

Assuming that Leeds-York is assumed to be completed, this would give a central & cross country electric spine.