TRIVIA: Third Rail and OLE in same station.

Captain Bigwig · 29 Jul 2019

On Saturday I traveled from Didcot to Gatwick changing at Reading and I was amused to realise that the platform my train was departing from at Reading (Platform 6) was electrified with a third rail while the platform immediately next to it (Platform 7) had overhead electrification.

So here comes the inevitable trivia question: are there any other stations in Britain that have both third rail and overhead electrification? And if so where are they? Bonus points if there are any other examples of adjacent platforms with different types of electrification.

I'm guessing there can't be very many as you need places where a third rail network meets an overhead network. Possibly at Liverpool?

RailUK Forums

civ-eng-jim · 29 Jul 2019

Ashford International

route101 · 29 Jul 2019

Lines into Euston or was i seeing things ?

yoyothehobo · 29 Jul 2019

Liverpool Lime Street

Peter C · 29 Jul 2019

Drayton Park - this is the station where the Northern City Line trains head into the tunnels to Moorgate and have to switch over from the OHLE to the 3rd Rail. This station has two platforms and both are served by both forms of electrification. The tunnels down to Moorgate are 3rd Rail only and the lines beyond the Finsbury Park end of the station are not served by 3rd rail and are OHLE only.

-Peter

BahrainLad · 29 Jul 2019

City Thameslink

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

Farringdon, (and the track length between there and the above named City Thameslink).

[edited] Acton Central where AC/DC changeover occurs in the platform on the west end of the NLL.

Highbury and Islington and Canonbury, where adjacent NLL & ELL tracks are AC & DC respectively.

Islineclear3_1 · 29 Jul 2019

Does Farringdon still have 3rd rail?

A0wen · 29 Jul 2019

Liverpool South Parkway.

Acton Central.

Stratford (DLR uses 3rd rail and Central Line uses 4 rail).

Farringdon.

A0wen · 29 Jul 2019

swt_passenger said:
Farringdon, (and the track length between there and the above named City Thameslink).

Kew Gardens? Or whoever where AC/DC changeover occurs in the platform on the west end of the NLL.

Highbury and Islington and Canonbury, where adjacent NLL & ELL tracks are AC & DC respectively.

Not Kew Gardens - that changeover happens at Acton Central.

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

A0wen said:
Not Kew Gardens - that changeover happens at Acton Central.

Thanks I realised I’d gone the wrong way soon after posting...

yoyothehobo · 29 Jul 2019

Partick if you include the Glasgow subway

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

robert7111a said:
Does Farringdon still have 3rd rail?

Definitely. The southbound changeover still normally happens there. It was only the northbound changeover that was moved to City Thameslink. This allows the most flexibility for dealing with units that fail to changeover.

coppercapped · 29 Jul 2019

Ealing Broadway - but does 4th rail count?

AM9 · 29 Jul 2019

coppercapped said:
Ealing Broadway - but does 4th rail count?

Other than to RUK pedants, no.

edwin_m · 29 Jul 2019

route101 said:
Lines into Euston or was i seeing things ?

Yes, along with the "suburban" platforms in the middle. Queens Park, Harrow & W, Bushey and Watford Junction have both systems, along with anywhere else I've forgotten that has platforms on the Fast or Slow lines.

Liverpool South Parkway, plus Lime Street if you count the low level platform.

There are lots of stations with OLE plus Underground.

AM9 · 29 Jul 2019

route101 said:
Lines into Euston or was i seeing things ?

To expand that out by specifying only stations where both types of electric trains stop at adjacent platforms:
Euston, Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone, Bushey and Watford Junction.

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Abbey Wood? Has all the infrastructure in place even if the service is severely delayed...

Then there’s Ebbsfleet International North Kent line platforms. Does power changeover happen in the platform?

Elecman · 29 Jul 2019

yoyothehobo said:
Liverpool Lime Street

Nope the dc lines are underground

yoyothehobo · 29 Jul 2019

Elecman said:
Nope the dc lines are underground

I know, but it technically is the same station.

Esker-pades · 29 Jul 2019

swt_passenger said:
Then there’s Ebbsfleet International North Kent line platforms. Does power changeover happen in the platform?

It does.

Saperstein · 29 Jul 2019

Dalston Junction.

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

Saperstein said:
Dalston Junction.

This station is DC only. The AC North London line passes on a separate alignment via Dalston Kingsland. Heading east the parallel pairs of lines split after Canonbury, before reaching either Dalston station.

Saperstein · 29 Jul 2019

swt_passenger said:
This station is DC only. The AC North London line passes on a separate alignment via Dalston Kingsland. Heading east the parallel pairs of lines split after Canonbury, before reaching either Dalston station.

Was it always? I thought that is were one of the changeover points was?

Saperstein.

swt_passenger · 29 Jul 2019

Saperstein said:
Was it always? I thought that is were one of the changeover points was?

Saperstein.

No, there’s no voltage changeover point. There’s a single track connection between the NLL and ELL at Highbury, but it isn’t used by passenger stock, and the power systems don’t overlap. Operationally the ELL and NLL are effectively just two separate railways running in parallel.

Track diagrams show a change of infrastructure owner at a specified chainage on the curve near Dalston Jn, perhaps this has been mistaken for a ‘changeover’ somehow?

Alternatively, before the NLL was significantly rebuilt along there, AC/DC changeover occurred more often and at different locations on the NLL, but that line was made AC throughout before the ELL extension was opened.

Greybeard33 · 29 Jul 2019

A0wen said:
Liverpool South Parkway.

At Liverpool South Parkway, the Merseyrail and main line platforms are some distance apart. It is really two stations with a common concourse.

alangla · 29 Jul 2019

Greybeard33 said:
At Liverpool South Parkway, the Merseyrail and main line platforms are some distance apart. It is really two stations with a common concourse.

Hunts Cross? Does the 3rd rail not cross the OHLE at some point near there?

Saperstein · 29 Jul 2019

alangla said:
Hunts Cross? Does the 3rd rail not cross the OHLE at some point near there?

Not at the actual station.

Platforms 2&3 are Third Rail electrified but no OHLE, nearest is back towards South Parkway (Hunts Cross West Junction)?

Saperstein.

Saperstein · 29 Jul 2019

swt_passenger said:
No, there’s no voltage changeover point. There’s a single track connection between the NLL and ELL at Highbury, but it isn’t used by passenger stock, and the power systems don’t overlap. Operationally the ELL and NLL are effectively just two separate railways running in parallel.

Track diagrams show a change of infrastructure owner at a specified chainage on the curve near Dalston Jn, perhaps this has been mistaken for a ‘changeover’ somehow?

Alternatively, before the NLL was significantly rebuilt along there, AC/DC changeover occurred more often and at different locations on the NLL, but that line was made AC throughout before the ELL extension was opened.

Thanks @swt_passenger I was thinking about some time ago, must have been back in Silverlink days when I remember a voltage changeover there.

Saperstein.

Mag_seven · 29 Jul 2019

Wimbledon if you include the OLE on the tram platforms.

TRIVIA: Third Rail and OLE in same station.

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