Deployment of the Revolution Very Light Rail Variant

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Revolution Very Light Rail (RVLR) is an innovative, lightweight, cost-effective rail vehicle that is more sustainable than heavy rail.

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Buxton shortlisted for new pioneering electric passenger railway to ride on freight lines to Peak District beauty spots

Buxton has made it to the final three nationwide in a new project which would see electric passenger trains run on the freight lines to Monsal, Tissington and High Peak Trails.

www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk

In April 2022, working with Eversholt Rail, TDI, Northern Trains, the Friends of Buxton Station and the Community Rail Partnership, the Town Team commissioned a scoping study to look at the possibility of running the recently developed Revolution Very Light Rail, VLR, vehicle from Buxton Station to the beginning of the Monsal Trail at Blackwell Mill. The town team say if they secure the new trains this will be the first time that light and heavy rail vehicles have been integrated on the same track and that this will provide useful information for developing similar schemes elsewhere in the UK using spare capacity on freight lines.
Access to the Monsal and Tissington Trails from Buxton is predominantly by private car along the busy A6 and A515. This concept could well revive in part earlier proposals reopen the line from Buxton to Matlock by MEMRAP.

According to the local paper Buxton may see the RVLR vehicle on the existing freight only lines (possibly with minor re-opened extensions). Have any other nominees made it to their local press?

Further to my earlier post February's "Rail Engineer " suggests further applications.

Very light rail - A revolution - Rail Engineer

Listen to this article If you’ve not been following what’s been happening in the world of very light rail (VLR) it is easy to get confused. In Issue 191 (July/Aug 2021), David Shirres described, among other things, the establishment of a VLR National Innovation Centre (VLRNIC) at Dudley and the...

www.railengineer.co.uk

Who is going to have to be a party to the agreement to operate RVLR on freight routes? Will the RVLR require buffers when operating in mixed traffic environments?

 

[billio]

Surely this sort of development should be funded and coordinated by Great British Rail with a view to developing a standard that manufacturers can build to. Is there an export market to tap?

 

[AlanL]

There has been some publicity in the Shropshire Star newspaper about the VLR being tested on the old Ironbridge Power station site and it possible being used to reopen the Ironbridge freight line for passengers long term.

 

[ruaival]

This idea might only work well for cyclists if it has closer to the Danish style of bike space (see attached) thsn our 2 bikes per train approach?

 

[_toommm_]

The town team say if they secure the new trains this will be the first time that light and heavy rail vehicles have been integrated on the same track

Sheffield Supertram Tram Train surely fulfills this criteria?

 

[ruaival]

Sheffield Supertram Tram Train surely fulfills this criteria?

and are there not stretches of track in Tyne & Wear shared by HST and Metro in the past?

 

[eldomtom2]

Who is going to have to be a party to the agreement to operate RVLR on freight routes?

I presume the idea is that the RVLR operates during the day and the freight trains during the night, so the same parties that would be party to any agreement about making changes to the timetable.

 

[The Planner]

There has been some publicity in the Shropshire Star newspaper about the VLR being tested on the old Ironbridge Power station site and it possible being used to reopen the Ironbridge freight line for passengers long term.

Probably the only option for it considering one of the bridges is knackered.

 

[Puffing Devil]

This idea might only work well for cyclists if it has closer to the Danish style of bike space (see attached) thsn our 2 bikes per train approach?

Agreed - useless for group of more than two wanting to travel out/back into the hills. And increasing cycling it touted as one of the benefits. You couldn't make it up.

 

[Llandudno]

When I first read this I thought it was an April Fools Day spoof!

£100,000 in consultants fees for a feasibility study for something that will never happen!

Quicker, cheaper and easier to provide a bus at weekends that connects with trains at Buxton - it could be up and running within 6 weeks!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Agreed - useless for group of more than two wanting to travel out/back into the hills. And increasing cycling it touted as one of the benefits. You couldn't make it up.

You can easily fit 8 bikes onto a double 150/156s (4 bike spaces, 2 bikes in each).
Both also have more avaliable spots if there's no wheelchairs/buggies on board.

Edit: Just realised you're probably talking about the RVLR, can't find many good interior shots.

 

[Horizon22]

When I first read this I thought it was an April Fools Day spoof!

£100,000 in consultants fees for a feasibility study for something that will never happen!

Quicker, cheaper and easier to provide a bus at weekends that connects with trains at Buxton - it could be up and running within 6 weeks!

100K isn't that much really. A few consultants billing to a project for several weeks will get close to that figure.

 

[Puffing Devil]

When I first read this I thought it was an April Fools Day spoof!

£100,000 in consultants fees for a feasibility study for something that will never happen!

Quicker, cheaper and easier to provide a bus at weekends that connects with trains at Buxton - it could be up and running within 6 weeks!

Agree - stick on an electric bus with cycle carrying facilities.

You can easily fit 8 bikes onto a double 150/156s (4 bike spaces, 2 bikes in each).
Both also have more avaliable spots if there's no wheelchairs/buggies on board.

Edit: Just realised you're probably talking about the RVLR, can't find many good interior shots.

Yes - with a single car there's unlikely to be more than 2 spaces. And there's always the ominous warning given by many TOCs, here's TfW's

Even if you have a reservation, bicycles are always carried at the discretion of train staff

 

[renegademaster]

Even in Europe it's rare to get a bus with bike carrying facilities. And those American external bike rack things are illegal due to saftey regs here

Edit: A spelling mistake gave my post a very different meaning

 

[ruaival]

Even in Europe it's rare to get a bus with bike carrying fatalities. And those American external bike rack things are illegal due to saftey regs here

We do have some bikes on board up in the Scottish Borders (see attached) and I agree it is a shame we can't adopt the front of bus racks like King County deploy in Seattle WA across in the States.

Revolution's brochure specification and internal shots look very bus like suggesting a 2nd wheelchair space (at the expense of 4-6 seats) would be the option for carrying just 2 bikes inside.

 

[Greybeard33]

Even in Europe it's rare to get a bus with bike carrying facilities. And those American external bike rack things are illegal due to saftey regs here

A bike trailer behind a bus or minibus might be an option, as for example this one in Brecon:

File:Beacons Bus bicycle trailer, Brecon bus station - geograph.org.uk - 2433258.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.m.wikimedia.org

 

[ruaival]

A bike trailer behind a bus or minibus might be an option, as for example this one in Brecon:

File:Beacons Bus bicycle trailer, Brecon bus station - geograph.org.uk - 2433258.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.m.wikimedia.org

I assume this trailer would need rail wheels to accompany the Light Rail vehicle all the way?

 

[Greybeard33]

I assume this trailer would need rail wheels to accompany the Light Rail vehicle all the way?

No, I said bus or minibus, not LRV.

 

[BlueLeanie]

I'm sure I've seen bikes being loaded onto the Tube at the Lewknor/Chinnor stop. Theres a door towards the back.

 

[DerekC]

We seem to have a lot of bus enthusiasts on this thread! Buses occupy road-space too, especially if big ones are needed to fit lots of bikes in! As a trial of the concept - why not?

 

[AlastairFraser]

Agree - stick on an electric bus with cycle carrying facilities.

The local operator High Peak have quite limited depot facilities at their site in Dove Holes a few miles north of Buxton, it would be interesting to see if they could provide a charging space for a larger bus built to carry bikes as well as passengers.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Who is going to have to be a party to the agreement to operate RVLR on freight routes? Will the RVLR require buffers when operating in mixed traffic environments?

Perhaps not, if the trial runs at weekends, when the stone trains are not running.

In any case, some heavy-rail trains lack buffers - eg HSTs.

 

[Nottingham59]

a scoping study to look at the possibility of running the recently developed Revolution Very Light Rail, VLR, vehicle from Buxton Station to the beginning of the Monsal Trail at Blackwell Mill.

It's the Monsal Trail, for god's sake. You know, a cycling and walking route.

Just run a footpath / cycleway alongside the single-track freight line from Blackwell Mill to Buxton. The railway used to be twin-track all the way. There's plenty of space to put a footpath where the second track was lifted. All it needs is a fence and a bit of tarmac.

 

[Greybeard33]

The local operator High Peak have quite limited depot facilities at their site in Dove Holes a few miles north of Buxton, it would be interesting to see if they could provide a charging space for a larger bus built to carry bikes as well as passengers.

The cost of a new bus depot, plus a couple of new dedicated battery buses with bike trailers to provide a shuttle service, would be dwarfed by the cost new railway depot, siding and station facilities for the Revolution VLR proposal, plus resignalling the freight line to passenger standards.

It's the Monsal Trail, for god's sake. You know, a cycling and walking route.

Just run a footpath / cycleway alongside the single-track freight line from Blackwell Mill to Buxton. The railway used to be twin-track all the way. There's plenty of space to put a footpath where the second track was lifted. All it needs is a fence and a bit of tarmac.

It has been reported on SSC forums that the remaining track has been slewed across the original double track formation since the line was singled. So the existing track would have to be relaid to make room for a cycle path. £££.

 

[Kaydee]

A bus option would struggle to run reliably to any timetable on busy weekends, especially bank holidays, when roads into Buxton can be slow moving. Beating these queues would be an attraction of the rail option. However to access Buxton station it would need a reversal in the sidings north of there which suggests signalling upgrade costs to make this possible.

 

[birchesgreen]

100K isn't that much really. A few consultants billing to a project for several weeks will get close to that figure.

It isn't on it's own but there have been scores of these things over the years. All adds up to something which could have afforded a real project.

 

[norbitonflyer]

A bus option would struggle to run reliably to any timetable on busy weekends, especially bank holidays, when roads into Buxton can be slow moving. Beating these queues would be an attraction of the rail option. However to access Buxton station it would need a reversal in the sidings north of there which suggests signalling upgrade costs to make this possible.

Not necessarily. Access to the station would mean mixing it with Northern DMUs, with safety implications - even if a platform could be spared)

A transhipment point could be set up where the line crosses Charles Street, or in Ashwood Park - both near the NR station. A basic platform doesn't need to be any longer than the VLR vehicle, and as its an experimental service could be prefab like Whitehaven North was.

Something of the kind would in any case be necessary at the other end. There was a short-lived (seven weeks in 1987) halt on the west side of the triangle where the existing line meets the old line from Matlock ( http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/cheedale/index.shtml ) which was created to give access to the Monsal Trail. However, nothing remains of the station as it was dismantled and re-used by Peak Rail as its Matlock Riverside station, so a new structure would be needed at Cheedale.

 

[Egg Centric]

and are there not stretches of track in Tyne & Wear shared by HST and Metro in the past?

LNER sometimes divert via Durham Coast line, which is shared with the Metro as far as Sunderland. So you get Azumas + Metro on the regular.

I would imagine that an HST could still be sent that way on a railtour in principle (I just had a look at Midland Pullman services for this year and they've got and will get close, but no cigar yet).

 

[Junctionman]

just bought a bike too

 

[AlastairFraser]

A bus option would struggle to run reliably to any timetable on busy weekends, especially bank holidays, when roads into Buxton can be slow moving. Beating these queues would be an attraction of the rail option. However to access Buxton station it would need a reversal in the sidings north of there which suggests signalling upgrade costs to make this possible.

Important point, although if a High Peak bus outstation was built on the Bakewell Road side of town, you'd miss the tailbacks on Fairfield Road at least.

The cost of a new bus depot, plus a couple of new dedicated battery buses with bike trailers to provide a shuttle service, would be dwarfed by the cost new railway depot, siding and station facilities for the Revolution VLR proposal, plus resignalling the freight line to passenger standards.

Land in the area and planning permission is very difficult to acquire, I wouldn't be so sure.