Scottish Electrification updates & discussion

[InOban]

Excellent. Any pictures? Or was anyone taking some on behalf of NR?

 

[YorkshireBear]

Network Rail did want to electrify the south sub in this Control Period for that reason but it was vetoed by ORR who said it wasn't necessary. Thankfully the CP6 project system looks to be much more Transport Scotland led with ORR interference removed so hopefully the proposal to electrify the south sub will now progress.

I believe that it is very much TS intention to electrify the south sub in CP6. Related to depot and other works.

 

[ScottDarg]

Excellent. Any pictures? Or was anyone taking some on behalf of NR?

I saw some pics on the Scottish Railways (Past and Present) Facebook group. It's a closed group so don't think links to them would work.

 

[ScottDarg]

Here's a video posted on ScotRail's social media feeds: https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/925737486126600192?s=09

And the associated press release:

Passengers who travel on the Edinburgh to Glasgow mainline are another step closer to new electric trains, as the ScotRail Alliance successfully tested one of its new trains along the full route this morning.

One of the new Hitachi Class 385 electric trains travelled between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street at 00:30 hours on Wednesday 1 November.

This follows a successful trial of the infrastructure between Edinburgh and Linlithgow in the early hours of Wednesday 18 October 2017.

Full testing of the trains and the infrastructure along the route will continue for several weeks.

When the new trains enter passenger service they will deliver faster journeys, more seats and better services for customers travelling between Scotland’s two biggest cities, and will then be rolled out to other routes in the central belt.

ScotRail Alliance Programmes and Transformation Director Ian McConnell, said:

“This morning’s trial was a massive step towards the introduction of electric passenger trains on the newly electrified Edinburgh to Glasgow mainline. Having a train run successfully along the full route shows real progress.

“We are building the best railway that Scotland has ever had. When our brand new, state of the art, electric fleet enter service, customers will reap immense benefits. With more seats and faster journeys on cleaner, greener trains, the new trains will completely transform travel between our two biggest cities, and across the Central Belt.”

Hitachi Rail Europe Programme Manager Andy Radford, said:

“We are really pleased that our new trains can now be tested on the newly electrified Edinburgh to Glasgow routes. We will continue to work closely with the ScotRail Alliance to ensure the trains deliver the benefits to future passengers as soon as possible.”

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-sc...ow-electrification-enters-final-phase-testing

 

[NotATrainspott]

I believe that it is very much TS intention to electrify the south sub in CP6. Related to depot and other works.

Electrification, resignalling and junction improvements on the South Sub are absolutely required for later work at Waverley and projects across Scotland. Even though there is no direct benefit to passengers, it'll allow electric freight and passenger ECS services to avoid Waverley in the peak. When the eastern throat is being remodelled (including the redoubling of one of the Calton tunnels) it'll be key to allowing any semblance of an ECML timetable to continue running.

 

[snowball]

The first electric train (see #1834) has now made it to a Network Rail press release too:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...ctric-train-runs-full-edinburgh-glasgow-line/

The Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) reached another milestone this week with the first electric train running end-to-end on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line.


Successfully running the first electric train on the line is the culmination of a project which has been a decade in the planning and four years in delivery to upgrade Scotland’s busiest inter-city rail route.

One of the new Hitachi Class 385 electric trains travelled between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street overnight on Tuesday, October 31, into Wednesday, November 1.

Representing the biggest transformation of the route its 140-year history, the electrification of 46 miles of railway between Edinburgh and Glasgow, via Falkirk High, marks an important milestone in the delivery of the overall EGIP.

A central part of the Scottish Government’s rail strategy, EGIP delivers a 20% reduction in journey times and adds 30% more capacity, on comfortable, efficient and more reliable electric trains.

Kevin McClelland, route delivery director for infrastructure projects, said: “I’m delighted that the first Class 385 electric test trains ran between Newbridge and Queen Street on the newly electrified route from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

“The achievement of running the route end-to-end is a momentous day for everyone connected with EGIP over the past few years. It is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and commitment from across the team which has been invested in the project to make this happen.

“While we acknowledge that delivering a project of this scale to electrify a live railway has not been without its challenges, the experience and learning we have taken from this stands us in good stead to deliver more of the rolling programme of electrification that continues across central Scotland.”

During the delivery of EGIP engineers have demolished and rebuilt 60 structures across central Scotland over a four year period to create the extra height needed to safely run the overhead electric cables. In addition, 100 bridges also had their parapet (side wall) heights raised to comply with new safety standards and help keep the public at a safe distance from the overhead equipment.

Platforms were also extended at a number of stations including Croy, Falkirk High, Polmont and Linlithgow and extensive work was required in Winchburgh and Queen Street tunnels to create the correct clearances for electrification.

Across the project 30,000m3 of concrete was poured and nearly 3,000 piled foundations were sunk to provide the bases for the 4,600 tonnes of steel masts that have been erected to carry the 616 kilometres of wires that have been installed on the route.

Almost 4,000 people have contributed to the delivery of the project working a total of almost 6 million staff hours.

 

[InOban]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transp...-trains-now-due-for-february-launch-1-4607932

...there have been a series of problems with electrifying the line and ScotRail said there had also been setbacks with train production at Hitachi's factory in County Durham.

Mr Hynes said other electric trains would start running on the Edinburgh-Glasgow main line from next month as planned - although that is a year later than scheduled. The spare Class 380 trains - which operate on lines such as Glasgow-Ayr and Edinburgh-North Berwick - will take over some peak-hour services from early December.

Apparently the 385 won't be carrying passengers until February, but some peak services may operate with the 380 from next month. We'll see.

 

[jamieintercity]

Don't know if anyone knew but the electrification of the cumbernauld to Greenhill lower junction is considered "live" in this photo by Jed

https://flic.kr/p/21kV6TR

 

[Mordac]

Don't know if anyone knew but the electrification of the cumbernauld to Greenhill lower junction is considered "live" in this photo by Jed

https://flic.kr/p/21kV6TR

That's giving me a bad link. But it's good to know, I was wondering when that was going to happen!

 

[InOban]

I seem to remember that it was pointed out that Greenhill is the grid connection for the whole project.

 

[mcmad]

Cumbernauld to greenhill didnt have wires up last time i checked so isn't likely to be live yet hence the quotes in Jamies original post i assume

 

[snowball]

Press release

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...-drop-in-to-find-out-more-about-railway-work/

Network Rail is offering people the chance to ‘drop-in’ to find out more about work to electrify the railway lines from Stirling to Dunblane Station.

Piling work will be on-going between the Kippenross Tunnel and Dunblane Station throughout January 2018, starting from Monday January 8 and the local community is being invited to come along to an informal event at the Dunblane Centre to meet the team, learn more about the work and ask any questions about the project.

The night-time piling work creates the foundations that provide the base for the overhead electrification masts, which will be erected later in the programme. This phase of work has the potential to be noisy and disruptive. In order to deliver the work safely and maintain train operations on the line, there is no option other than to do this work at night.

The work is part of the electrification of the railway from Grangemouth and Falkirk, through Stirling to Alloa and Dunblane which will enable, longer, faster, greener modern electric trains. The project is being delivered by Network Rail on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Community Drop-in:
Tuesday, November 28 4pm – 7pm,
the Dunblane Centre, Stirling Road, Dunblane, FK15 9EY

If you can’t make it along to the event, you can email questions to SDAelectrification@networkrail.co.uk or call our 24hr national helpline on 03457 11 41 41

The electrification project also includes bridge works at Perth Road in Dunblane and Kerse Road in Stirling, and enhancements to station platforms at Falkirk Grahamston, Larbert and Camelon with work on the phase of the project set for completion in 2019

Electrification of the line from Falkirk through Stirling to Dunblane and Alloa is part of the wider rolling programme of electrification across the central belt. It builds on the recent completion of electrification between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High, the Cumbernauld line, the redevelopment of Edinburgh’s Haymarket station and the completion of the Edinburgh Gateway train-tram interchange.

 

[och aye]

Photo of Millerhill:

https://twitter.com/NetworkRailEGIP/status/931507025212780544

 

[385001]

Overnight testing this week.

Do we know if this is snagging work or in connection with testing the 385s?

https://twitter.com/networkrailegip/status/934041944963059712

 

[InOban]

They've posted the same tweet quite frequently since the wires went live.

 

[absolutelymilk]

https://twitter.com/IanProsser7/status/938867749362765824

Ian Prosser, head of ORR

Pleased was able to authorise EGIP today with conditions but ORR team some a great job

What does this mean in terms of running trains? How soon can the 380s start?

 

[snowball]

https://twitter.com/IanProsser7/status/938867749362765824

Ian Prosser, head of ORR

What does this mean in terms of running trains? How soon can the 380s start?

Given that it's three days to the timetable change ...

 

[Southsider]

With EGIP almost there and Shotts progressing well, indications are that East Kilbride will be next but when? There is some wrangling going on between the Scottish Government and Westminster over finance, is this likely to cause delay or is it just posturing? Does anyone know when we are likely to hear a formal announcement to proceed?

 

[Altnabreac]

With EGIP almost there and Shotts progressing well, indications are that East Kilbride will be next but when? There is some wrangling going on between the Scottish Government and Westminster over finance, is this likely to cause delay or is it just posturing? Does anyone know when we are likely to hear a formal announcement to proceed?

There is a dispute about the total amount of finance due but that shouldn't necessarily affect the top priority schemes.

Essentially the Scottish Government is moving away from giving a list of schemes to ORR that are then measured against the SOFA. Instead there will be a pot of money for enhancements in CP6 and it will be open to existing schemes and any new schemes to be promoted to use that pot of cash. Those schemes can be Transport Scotland schemes (like rolling electrification), Local Authority schemes (like station reopenings) or third party / regional transport authority / Network Rail Scotland schemes.

What isn't clear is the exact timescales for when it will be decided which schemes will be the first to be committed in CP6. My expectation would be that schemes which overlap from CP5 (A2I, HML) and schemes which are currently under development (Aberdeen - Central belt enhancements) will have priority so they don't stall.

Rolling programme of electrification I expect Transport Scotland will be cautious to announce more electrification projects until they are more certain of completion dates of the current batch. Equally however it will make sense to provide certainty to both Network Rail and subcontractors that the current programme will continue to avoid loss of skilled personnel. I'd expect to see an announcement next year sometime.

 

[Mag_seven]

With EGIP almost there and Shotts progressing well, indications are that East Kilbride will be next but when? There is some wrangling going on between the Scottish Government and Westminster over finance, is this likely to cause delay or is it just posturing? Does anyone know when we are likely to hear a formal announcement to proceed?

I would have thought that electrifying Cowlairs North to Anniesland/Westerton would be a bigger priority than EK in that it would eliminate a small pocket of diesel working (aprt from WHL services obviously) and also open up the possibility of a Northern Circle?

 

[92002]

Given that it's three days to the timetable change ...

2 x 7Car 380s due to start on GQS to EDB on Monday 10th December.

Full 385 service expected to start in March 2018.

 

[absolutelymilk]

2 x 7Car 380s due to start on GQS to EDB on Monday 10th December.

Full 385 service expected to start in March 2018.

Will these be extra services or replacing existing ones?

 

[92002]

Will these be extra services or replacing existing ones?

Sunday is 10th December and the trains will replace the normal diesel trains.
Confirmed by Scot-Rail today and reported in the Scotsman. Althoigh their story is as usual not accurate. Some things never change

Will these be extra services or replacing existing ones?

 

[Highlandspring]

It would be nigh on impossible to run extra E&G services without a complete recast of the timetable as it stands today; the 7 car 380s will simply substitute for 6 car 170s. Incidentally the capacity of the line is such that VSTP moves are not allowed to be pathed over the E&G between 07:00 and 19:00 except in an emergency.

 

[route101]

With EGIP almost there and Shotts progressing well, indications are that East Kilbride will be next but when? There is some wrangling going on between the Scottish Government and Westminster over finance, is this likely to cause delay or is it just posturing? Does anyone know when we are likely to hear a formal announcement to proceed?

Nothing has been announced for EK apart from CP6 . Best the line can hope for is some strengthened services in the short term . EK should of been electrified by now with cascaded EMUs ( less comfortable than 156s though ) or new order of EMUs . The frequency should be increased ( single line section a hurdle ) , services are often full by clarkston central bound even after rush hour . Must be one of the busiest services at central . I know 158s are not cleared for the line but if any are going spare they could strengthen service on the line , though it might be that door platform issue .

 

[deltic08]

It would be nigh on impossible to run extra E&G services without a complete recast of the timetable as it stands today; the 7 car 380s will simply substitute for 6 car 170s. Incidentally the capacity of the line is such that VSTP moves are not allowed to be pathed over the E&G between 07:00 and 19:00 except in an emergency.

Can somebody translate VSTP moves please?

 

[deltic08]

I would have thought that electrifying Cowlairs North to Anniesland/Westerton would be a bigger priority than EK in that it would eliminate a small pocket of diesel working (aprt from WHL services obviously) and also open up the possibility of a Northern Circle?

Assuming all three sides of Cowlairs triangle are electrified now and just short of Anniesland station is already wired, how many track miles are we talking about to wire as far as Westerton compared to track miles to East Kilbride? Would the short tunnel at Dawsholm be a problem?

 

[takno]

Can somebody translate VSTP moves please?

Very Short Term Plan. Basically schedules that get entered into the timetable on the day

 

[Highlandspring]

Sorry, should have explained in my first post. As above, VSTP stands for Very Short Turn Planning and refers to train schedules entered into the railway's IT systems from anything between now and within 48 hours of their departure. VSTPs are made up by the various NR Route Controls but beyond the 48hr window schedules are the responsibility of Train Planning. A TOC or FOC will send a VSTP request to whichever Control looks after the point of origin of the train they wish to run and it'll be planned around the booked traffic so as not to delay anything, hence why some lines such as the E&G aren't really practical at certain times.

 

[deltic08]

Many thanks Takno and Highlandspring. I will try and remember that.
Are you telling us there is no spare capacity in and between the morning and evening peaks on the E&G?
Are you both insomniacs?