And designed to provide most of the feed to cover Swansea and Valley lines electrification so not all needed for day 1 of IET running
Not necessarily; all that's been done with those portals is that they were designed to be used by Valley Lines wires, should it be extended into Cardiff Central. There haven't been any further portals west or east of them over the Valley Lines tracks.
All this seems to me to spell out the fact that a change in gov't, or a change in heart of the DfT, cannot come soon enough.
Why is it generally a bad idea? The prevailing preference on theses forums is total electrification as the only way forward, which used to be accomplished with loco haulage back in the 20th century and traction changes at temporary wiring limits en route (Note railway temporary; i.e sometimes for decades). With multiple unit trains some form of dual power source on board is essential, whether that is diesel engines for off wire branches, or batteries to cover shorter neutral sections. My preference is for most mileage to be electrified but realistically if some particularly difficult or expensive short sections of wiring can be omitted, then that could drastically improve the business case for the whole scheme, diffuse some local opposition to schemes and get more train miles decarbonised as well as improve air quality in urban areas. Having the gaps in large stations in urban areas like Bristol Temple Meads where train have to use diesel is clearly not the long term answer. There will always be some far flung lines where electrification will never be justified. In the medium term the sparse service on these can continue using diesel, with little overall carbon output, although electric transmission and some batteries on board can still be beneficial for working in the very few more populated areas theses rural routes pass through. In the longer term these lines, often too long realistically for battery throughout, are the best candidates for hydrogen fuel cell operation.
Aww that’s good news. When will we see them booked onto RTT?
They already are; see the 3Z services on Sunday morning: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...9?stp=WVS&show=non-passenger&order=wtt&toc=GW
There is also further test running between Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction on Sunday night/early Monday morning.
On that page, 3Z52 is pathed as Class 80x on electric. Of course that is no guarantee of anything, but testing in electric mode is the whole point of the journey!
800003 conducted successful tests with the pan up (i.e. on electric) between Patchway and Long Dyke Junction.
