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Great Western Electrification Progress

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stj

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It was ever thus. I stood on Lime St station ,1962,watching the overhead wires being erected. The WCML electrification was subsequently paused beyond Crewe for quite sometime before continuing .We can only hope common sense will prevail and a continuous program of electrification will get the go ahead once the General Election is done and dusted.
I remember in 1976 the wires at the start of the Blackpool branch at Preston and a friend thinking it was going all the way to Blackpool, it has but 40 years later!
 

R G NOW.

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Rather than laid off, I imagine the team will be contracted into other work - just not electrification. If the same company won contracts in the future they could be brought back in.
They will probably be moved onto oxford to complete that next as I read somewhere it was to be done by the end of cp6.
 

swt_passenger

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They will probably be moved onto oxford to complete that next as I read somewhere it was to be done by the end of cp6.
Don’t bank on it. The “CP6” has been printed alongside Didcot to Oxford in the successive enhancement delivery plans for quite a few years, but since March there’s no further updates at all, and 6 months into CP6 nothing whatsoever has been confirmed. The same ”CP6” applies to Filton Bank, and Chippenham to Bristol Temple Meads. Other routes such as Basingstoke, Windsor, Henley, all show “assumed CP6” as well.
 

Envoy

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Don’t bank on it. The “CP6” has been printed alongside Didcot to Oxford in the successive enhancement delivery plans for quite a few years, but since March there’s no further updates at all, and 6 months into CP6 nothing whatsoever has been confirmed. The same ”CP6” applies to Filton Bank, and Chippenham to Bristol Temple Meads. Other routes such as Basingstoke, Windsor, Henley, all show “assumed CP6” as well.

That is bonkers - to have a delay and not get the guys who are expert at putting up the catenary transferred straight over to Didcot to Oxford along with the Filton bank and then the route through Bath. Perhaps the Welsh Government/Amey could get them straight to work on wiring the valleys north of Cardiff - or are we STILL waiting for them to be transferred from Network Rail?
 

swt_passenger

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That is bonkers - to have a delay and not get the guys who are expert at putting up the catenary transferred straight over to Didcot to Oxford along with the Filton bank and then the route through Bath. Perhaps the Welsh Government/Amey could get them straight to work on wiring the valleys north of Cardiff - or are we STILL waiting for them to be transferred from Network Rail?
Yes it is bonkers, but it still seems people are unaware, although the lack of any of certainty has been discussed regularly in this thread for a couple of years.
 

ATW158Xpress

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Is there any update as to when wires west of Bristol Parkway will be signed off for passenger trains to run on electric?
 

JN114

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2 Units on the diesel only list for today - both 5 cars. The units they are paired to will thus necessarily be on diesel also.
 

Wilts Wanderer

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2 Units on the diesel only list for today - both 5 cars. The units they are paired to will thus necessarily be on diesel also.

Why is that out of interest? The ability to run a 10-car train with one set on diesel and one set on electric was, IIRC, a required functionality of the IET trainset. I’ve also heard first hand of at least one instance of it happening in service. Why doesn’t it happen more often? Surely the drivers are trained on this split-mode working.
 

sk688

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Some 800s were on diesel through Didcot yesterday.

I was on the 0359 from Swansea to Paddington on Saturday Morning , and just before Didcot our train came to a complete halt , before switching to diesel through Didcot , and then went back to electric soon after . Very weird , and not sure why that happened
 

Chris M

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I was on the 0359 from Swansea to Paddington on Saturday Morning , and just before Didcot our train came to a complete halt , before switching to diesel through Didcot , and then went back to electric soon after . Very weird , and not sure why that happened
That suggests it was something to do with the infrastructure in the Didcot area rather than something to do with the train.
 

YourMum666

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Woah apparently the line to Plymouth could be electrified in the near future "in strips" According to DFT im gonna post the link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pl...electrification-could-speed-trains-496964.amp

Gary Streeter Conservative MP for South West Devon, said part of the money would be used for a feasibility study into “spot electrification”.

Although the Government has cut short electrification of the Great Western main line at Newbury, Mr Streeter said he was optimistic that spot electrification could provide a long-term solution.
 
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yorkie

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Woah apparently the line to Plymouth could be electrified in the near future "in strips" According to DFT im gonna post the link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pl...electrification-could-speed-trains-496964.amp
Let's await the outcome of the feasibility study for now, and try to keep this thread for actual progress please :)

Also just a gentle reminder that if anyone wishes to make any suggestions for how the route should be electrified further, please don't hesitate to post these suggestions, but they must be made in the Speculative Ideas section, thanks :)
 

swt_passenger

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Woah apparently the line to Plymouth could be electrified in the near future "in strips" According to DFT im gonna post the link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pl...electrification-could-speed-trains-496964.amp
Welcome to the forums, but unfortunately you found something on Google thats 2 years old, and it was posted here at the time:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...fication-progress.83452/page-191#post-3133338
This is a long drawn out saga, and it’s easy to clutch at straws...
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...fication-progress.83452/page-191#post-3133338
 
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