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Electrification threads and resources index

Mikey C

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From from an initial quick look, they want to electrify:

  • Page 13: MML to Sheffield and Nottingham
  • Page 13: York -> Leeds and Manchester
  • Page 15: Leeds to Bradford Interchange via New Pudsey?
  • Page 17: Wigan -> Bolton -> Manchester.
  • Page 100: Manchester to Liverpool via Warrington Central?
  • Page 109: Warrington to Liverpool (Fiddlers Ferry Route)? The tip would join onto HS2.
Some already have boots on the ground I think. I'll have a more thorough look later but I have probably missed some.
Manchester to Warrington is a new build (a new lines off HS2 at Manchester Airport) rather than electrifying an existing route
 
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GRALISTAIR

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From from an initial quick look, they want to electrify:
  • Page 15: Leeds to Bradford Interchange via New Pudsey
That is certainly my take too judging by the line on the map. It makes sense. As was pointed out by @hwl it also gets a difficult bit of the Calder Valley line electrification done and at start made so all good and logical.
 
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Legolash2o

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Manchester to Warrington is a new build (a new lines off HS2 at Manchester Airport) rather than electrifying an existing route
I spent a while re-reading the Warrington parts but wasn't Warrington Bank (Low Level) on the existing line? I think the HS2 part would link to the Fiddlers Ferry line. I could be wrong on both counts.

Page 100
  • reinstatement of Warrington Bank Quay low level station; upgrading and electrifying existing lines between Warrington and Liverpool; and enhancing Liverpool Lime Street station.
 

Mikey C

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I spent a while re-reading the Warrington parts but wasn't Warrington Bank (Low Level) on the existing line? I think the HS2 part would link to the Fiddlers Ferry line. I could be wrong on both counts.

Page 100
It is

All I was saying is that the Manchester to Warrington section is a new build, and not electrifying an existing line.

Liverpool to Warrington is electrifying an existing line
 

Legolash2o

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I've mapped on my map the new proposed lines.

It's look like there was an old line near Warrington that could be used for the HS2 line connection.

Screenshot_20211118-194901.png
 

snowball

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I've mapped on my map the new proposed lines.

It's look like there was an old line near Warrington that could be used for the HS2 line connection.
That's the Fiddlers Ferry line (which served the recently closed power station of the same name) and the report specifically says it will be used.
 

Legolash2o

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Turns out I was wrong about the Warrington Central one so I will unmap it and cross it off the list.
 

GRALISTAIR

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January 2022-June 2022 Threads

Scotrail future plans

TRIVIA - Electrification not used

ATF feeders installed outside Network Rail boundaries

Bars erupting from OHLE parallel to contact wire

Overhead Line Equipment terminology

Holyhead electrification

Dunblane-Perth-Dundee-Aberdeen electrification planning

Electrification for overruns

SPECULATIVE FORUM -Lines with a strong case for electrification but there are no plans to electrify
Manchester Piccadilly to Rose Hill Marple to service and how it would be brilliant if it could be operated by an EMU. The route is 13 mi 27 ch long, only 7 mi 1 ch of which need electrifying and features short gaps between stations and steep inclines, making a fast-accelerating EMU such as a 331 ideal, whereas the incumbent Class 150s need thrashing, making for an unpleasant experience. Also the stops at Gorton, Fairfield and Guide Bridge are already electrified, yet a slow, noisy and inefficient DMU still has to be used. Despite these benefits of electrifying a mere 7 miles to deliver 13 miles of electric running with few large engineering challenges there seems to be no plans to electrify the route in the near future which made me think, are there any other small electrification schemes that would deliver huge benefits that aren’t in contention to be electrified within the next few years (before the end of the decade)?

Is electrifying Windermere worth it?

Decarbonising Scotlands Railway


1966 onwards West Coast Main Line electrification
 
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GRALISTAIR

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Transpennine Route Upgrade - all information all together on an official website


The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a major, multi-billion-pound programme of railway improvements which will bring better journeys to passengers travelling across the Pennines between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
 

Grumpy Git

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Northern electrification schemes are like my self-build anti-gravity machine; I just can't get it off the ground.
 

Nicholas Lewis

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This item in the 1954 cabinet papers amused me

1649011901552.png

This helped inform the 1955 modernisation plan but even back then they had a GWEP moment come 1960 and curtailed the planned ECML electrification to York.

As Talking Heads say

same as it ever was
 

GRALISTAIR

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Inspired by this
Kettering - Market Harborough, Colton Junction - Church Fenton, Bolton - Wigan, Manchester Victoria - Stalybridge are actively being done right now, Market Harborough - Wigston Jn, Various other parts of the Transpennine Upgrade are in advanced stages of development/design and then there's all the renewals, replacements, enhancements etc on the southern MML, Newcastle-Edinburgh, etc.
I will add this to the pinned thread.


Not had an Electrification update for a while - here goes:

Midland Main Line Kettering to Market Harborough - in progress
Market Harborough to Wigston - active planning to proceed and some contracts let.
Wigston to Syston - active planning but not firmly approved just yet
Grid connection at Kegworth applied for

Transpennine North Upgrade
  1. Manchester Victoria - Stalybridge heavy civils in progress and piling and masting
  2. Huddersfield - Ravensthorpe area - TWAO applied for - and detailed planning in progress
  3. Church Fenton - Colton Jct - piling and masting in progress and other level crossings etc being upgraded/removed

Barrhead electrification -civils and other work including piling and masting in progress
East Kilbride- should start later this year

Rest of Scotland -active planning in progress

Wigan-Bolton electrification - civils in progress -boots on the ground

South Wales Metro - much electrification in progress but discontinuous

Crossrail - ready and opening new build electrified from the start
HS2 new build electrified from the start --in progress

If there are errors please let me know.
 
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snowball

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Midland Main Line Kettering to Market Harborough - in progress
Market Harborough to Wigston (south?)- active planning to proceed and some contracts let.
Wigston to Syston - active planning and (contracts?)
No parentheses required around south, it's definite.
According to the May Modern Railways item (see MML thread #5169) Wigston to Syston does not yet have DfT authority and maybe NR has not yet formally applied for it. It will be pure electrification, not including track capacity improvements previously separately talked about.

  1. East Kilbride-Barrhead electrification -civils and other work in progress
Barrhead line has bridgeworks, masting and piling in progress. EK branch expected to get authority this year for start of construction.

Rest of Scotland -active planning in progress
Work in progress on the ground to reopen Levenmouth to passengers - some track laid - work will include (geographically isolated) electrification of the branch. First trains to use it my be diesel under the wires pending acquisition of battery trains.

Planning application has been submitted to local authorities relating to Haymarket-Dalmeny, and an environmental scoping request relating to Dunblane - Perth - Dundee - Aberdeen.
 
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snowball

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From the PWI Seminar on Electrification at the Glasgow Section event.

One of those talks, "What the UK electrification network may look like in 2050", shows, at around 7 minutes, a map of 9 proposed feeder station sites in the northern half of Scotland, and at around 8 minutes, a map of proposed islands of early electrification around those sites, allowing services to be run by battery trains before full wiring.
 

GRALISTAIR

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Yes - I saw that. I managed to log into my PWI membership portal and got the two slides you mention. Interim battery etc for discontinuous electrification and location of some of the grid feeders which as they are long lead time items are already planning them. Hybrid Scotland.jpgScotland grid points.jpg
 
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Nicholas Lewis

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Yes - I saw that. I managed to log into my PWI membership portal and got the two slides you mention. Interim battery etc for discontinuous electrification and location of some of the grid feeders which as they are long lead time items are already planning them. View attachment 115292View attachment 115293
Seems bizarre to create islands of electrification only fed off a single feeder station but im guess there are tunnels or other encumbrances driving this solution.
 

snowball

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Seems bizarre to create islands of electrification only fed off a single feeder station but im guess there are tunnels or other encumbrances driving this solution.
The most important thing to understand about discontinuous electrification as proposed in Scotland is that, as I keep saying, it's an interim stage to continuous electrification, in order to achieve decarbonisation at the earliest date by using battery trains.

The only lines that are proposed to remain unelectrified in the long term are the Far North line north of Tain, the Kyle line, the West Highland lines, and the Stranraer line south of Girvan.
 

GRALISTAIR

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The whole point of the presentation is that the Grid Feeders are the really long lead time items so they are planning those now and energizing around those. I would think that energized wires would also reduce theft.
 

snowball

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Yes - I saw that. I managed to log into my PWI membership portal and got the two slides you mention. Interim battery etc for discontinuous electrification and location of some of the grid feeders which as they are long lead time items are already planning them. View attachment 115292
Can anyone read the place names in small faint type at the ends of the red lines?
 

GRALISTAIR

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Can anyone read the place names in small faint type at the ends of the red lines?
Not from the pictures I posted - no.
However, I have downloaded the actual PowerPoint in PDF format from PWI website and by using 150% magnification I see the following:
Nairn, Keith, Huntly, Stonehaven, Kinnaber Jct, Barry Buddon, Dalwhinnie and then around Perth --- Charging Sidings and Barnhill.
 

GRALISTAIR

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Scottish Developments

Decarbonising Scotlands Railways

Haymarket to Dalmeny electrification

Borders line electrification news
 
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Class 170101

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Seems bizarre to create islands of electrification only fed off a single feeder station but im guess there are tunnels or other encumbrances driving this solution.
Seems risky thing to do if there should be a massive failure there seems no obvious plan how to feed in an alternative way. (Feeder Station explosions do happen occasionally).
 

Brystar35

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Hello everyone! I am from the United States, in Florida; I hope this is ok for everyone since I am a foreigner from this forum.

Great to see more electrification and Net Carbon Zero technologies in the UK Railways being developed and tested. But what puzzles me is that the UK government, Network Rail, and Great British Railways (2023-onwards) want to make the National Railway network be Net-Carbon Zero by 2050. Still, the thing that puzzles me is the lack of an electrification scheme to finish off the Great Western Mainline Electrification to Bath, Bristol, and points where it is possible. I understand some regions of the Railway network won't use OLE, but I hope Battery and Hydrogen are developed to be used by the Railways. OLE Electrification will help the Mainline Railways to be able to reach speeds of 125 Mph easily and cleaner sources.

Here in the United States, we have some electrification works, and in the Northeast, there are plans to electrify more Rail corridors and lines. We have CAHSR, Caltrain modernization and electrification in California, and some others, including Brightline West.

So in a way, I am all for cleaner sources and that it's achievable and able to travel fast from one destination to another. Also, it's quieter, a win for passengers, Railways, cities, etc.

Are there any active or in the planning Electrification schemes in the UK? I am surprised GWR is not expanding its electrification network coverage?
 

snowball

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Hello everyone! I am from the United States, in Florida; I hope this is ok for everyone since I am a foreigner from this forum.

Great to see more electrification and Net Carbon Zero technologies in the UK Railways being developed and tested. But what puzzles me is that the UK government, Network Rail, and Great British Railways (2023-onwards) want to make the National Railway network be Net-Carbon Zero by 2050. Still, the thing that puzzles me is the lack of an electrification scheme to finish off the Great Western Mainline Electrification to Bath, Bristol, and points where it is possible. I understand some regions of the Railway network won't use OLE, but I hope Battery and Hydrogen are developed to be used by the Railways. OLE Electrification will help the Mainline Railways to be able to reach speeds of 125 Mph easily and cleaner sources.

Here in the United States, we have some electrification works, and in the Northeast, there are plans to electrify more Rail corridors and lines. We have CAHSR, Caltrain modernization and electrification in California, and some others, including Brightline West.

So in a way, I am all for cleaner sources and that it's achievable and able to travel fast from one destination to another. Also, it's quieter, a win for passengers, Railways, cities, etc.

Are there any active or in the planning Electrification schemes in the UK? I am surprised GWR is not expanding its electrification network coverage?

Each part of the UK really requires a separate discussion here. The most positive developments at the moment are in Scotland. The two main routes linking England to Scotland were electrified by 1974 and 1991 respectively, and the suburban network around Glasgow is mostly electrified, having been done in stages since 1960.

Today, the relevant decision-making body for electrification within Scotland is the Scottish government. For several years up to about 2019 it had a programme of electrifying routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh and around Stirling. When this was completed they didn't have a a new generation of shovel-ready schemes to take over, so there was then a lull in construction.

But in July 2020 they published a plan to decarbonise the whole Scottish railway network which, if stuck to (which I believe it will be) will result in electrifying all but the few most remote lines:


Construction is beginning to get going, with a couple of short stretches now showing evidence on the ground: from Glasgow to Barrhead (hopefully soon to be joined by the branch to East Kilbride) and from Edinburgh to the south end of the Forth Bridge.

I'll post about England later unless someone beats me to it.
 

Legolash2o

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There's current a few schemes under construction:

Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge
1654948344027.png

Colton Junction to Church Fenton
1654948361897.png


Kettering to Market Harborough
1654948392713.png


Pontypridd to Aberdare (Wales)

1654948417817.png


Busby Junction to Barrhead (Scotland)
1654948465854.png


Haymarket to Dalmeny (Scotland)
1654948494816.png

Thornton North to Levenmouth (Scotland)

1654948780319.png
 

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