MML Electrification: progress updates

[59CosG95]

Apologies to Glendon......I had been wandering through Northamptonshire, past Grendon Lakes, and my brain faded when typing! Here is a picture Northwards to make up for my error.View attachment 60595

Looks like a pair of Tensorex Series 1-style booms are going up there.

 

[WymoWanderer]

Had a look at the works on the MML to the West and North West of Wymington, North Befordshire earlier this week.

1. Some new TTCs on the fast lines
2. Preparation works to take local distribution power lines which run over the MML underground and route via a foot tunnel
3. New cabling along side the fast lines - presumably for some re-signalling or communications upgrade

TTCs on fast line, looking Eastwards. Original and Original

Concrete mast base and new wiring just visible. TTC on Slow line in background. Original

End of fourth line reinstatement and aforementioned local distribution power lines in background. Original

Works to bury local distribution power lines:
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

 

[WymoWanderer]

Just seen the CP6 announcement and was reading the details on ECML and MML https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-co...an-London-North-Eastern-and-East-Midlands.pdf

Buried in it on page 36:

Midland Mainline: St Pancras-Corby electrified services and additional 1tph and seat capacity from Dec-20; Bi-mode long distance services fully operational from Dec-23

 

[westcoaster]

The first ohle structure has appeared at Wellingborough station.

Also between Bedford and Oakley looks like the return conductor wire has been put up.

 

[iced_blue]

Not sure if mentioned before however driving back from Corby to Kettering noticed a fair amount of cables up on the track along the A43.

 

[59CosG95]

Not sure if mentioned before however driving back from Corby to Kettering noticed a fair amount of cables up on the track along the A43.

Earth wires, perhaps?

 

[Hairy Bear]

You will find that there's a good stretch of the overhead now up between Glendon and the Oakley's, catenary and contact wires.

 

[59CosG95]

MML Wiring Progressometer 26.1 (as of 1st of April 2019)
Mileages are from St. Pancras. Unless mentioned otherwise, all reference to the "Fast" side refers to tracks on the western side of the "10-foot" (centre of the track pairs), and the "Slow" side for the tracks on the eastern side.

Bedford (49m 65ch) - Wellingborough (65m 09ch)

• Work to raise Ford End Rd bridge is now complete.
• On the Fast side, behind Bedford P4's fence, masts to support troughing appear to have been erected. These may carry feeder cables or similar.
• Piles have gone in next to the turnback siding at Bedford.
• On the Fast side south of Bromham Rd Bridge, Bedford, at least 9 masts are now up. These masts stretch northwards from Bromham Rd as far as the eye can see, towards the Great Ouse Bridge. A number of masts now have TTC booms - many booms have stovepipes.
  
• Over the pointwork of Bedford North Jct (just north of Bromham Rd Bridge), the majority of masts now have booms (either TTC or Portal). SPS also starting to go up.
• Between Bedford North Jct & Sharnbrook Jct, about 90% of masts are up on both sides of the line.
• Aerial Earth Wire is starting to go up between Bedford & Oakley.
• At Bromham, between the A6 (Great Ouse Way) & Lower Farm Rd (https://goo.gl/maps/rSPFrDAZQ362), 13 Twin Track Cantilevers/TTCs (with booms) are up over the Slow Lines, and about 6/7 over the Fast Lines. This includes the Box Girder bridge over the river Great Ouse.
• At least 9 boomed and dressed (aka. bedanglied) TTC masts have now gone up north of Lower Farm Rd, adjacent to the Down Fast; 2 similar structures are now up adjacent to the Up Slow here too.
• Between Clapham & Oakley, two Anchor Portals (similar to the Tensorex-bearing variety seen and loathed on the GWML) have gone up; the northern one only has a strut on the Fast side, as does the southern one. Both now have Single Insulator "gooseneck" Cantilevers on stovepipes, as well as Tensorex drums. Additionally, an adjacent TTC on the Slow side (1 mast north of the southern Tensorex Portal) lacks a boom.
• At Oakley, on the site of the old station (just south of Station Rd Bridge), all visible piles over both lines now carry TTC booms. Between Station Rd & Highfield Rd bridges, all TTCS over the Slows and Fasts are now boomed.
• Between Highfield Rd & Oakley Viaducts, I estimate that around 3 TTCs & one Tensorex-bearing portal are missing; all on the Slow side (bar the portal).
• Near Milton Ernest (between Earwig Lane Bridge & New Rd), all masts appear to be up.
• Between Radwell Rd & New Rd, a TTC mast has been placed between the Up Fast & Down Slow, as the embankment adjacent to the Up Slow had to be replaced with a gabion retaining wall.
• About 6 TTCs are up immediately to the north of Radwell Viaduct, over the Slow lines (https://goo.gl/maps/r5oXUSSPSAo); 3 more TTCs are up accompanying them over the Fast lines (positioned between the pairs of lines). Another 2 are now up over the Slows south of the viaduct. Masts for 2 portal booms are up at the southern end of the viaduct; both pairs of masts now have booms, completing the portals.
• Roughly 3 or 4 piles (now with boomless TTC masts) are in next to the Down Fast, and another 4 (3 of which have boomed TTC masts) next to the Up Slow just north of Moor End Lane, Radwell (https://goo.gl/maps/cmgWsgyYAo62). South of Moor End Lane (but north of the next bridge to the south), about 5 TTC masts are up (2 of which have booms) adjacent to the Up Slow, with a similar number in adjacent to the Down Fast. South of that bridge, another 2 piles have masts (possibly w/ booms).
• 2 parallel piles are in place (no masts) adjacent to the Fast lines at Radwell; possibly for a portal frame?
• TTCs have now sprouted at the northern end of Sharnbrook Viaduct; these stretch north to the extremities of Sharnbrook Jct itself. Significantly more steelwork up over the Slows than the Fasts.
• Around Sharnbrook Jct (south of Templars Way O/B), at least 4 piles have gone in adjacent to the proposed alignment of the future Up Slow.
• North of Templars Way overbridge, 3 boomed TTC masts are in place on the Slow side, and 1 boomed & dressed TTC mast is in place on the Fast side. South of these, a pair of portal uprights have gone up.
• Almost all masts are now up over the Slow lines, from just north of Park Ln, Sharnbrook (https://goo.gl/maps/df2As431FDr) to Sharnbrook Rd overbridge (southern end of Souldrop bank); the 4-tracking here is not yet complete as signals "WH378" and “LR 8” sit right in the path of the restored Up Slow. Some TTCs have now gone up on the Fasts between these bridges too.
• At Souldrop (between Sharnbrook Rd & Back Lane overbridges), 400m approx of Aerial Earth Wire (AEW) has gone up on the Slow side TTCs.
• Back Lane Bridge (aka Odell Viaduct), demolished & rebuilt earlier in the year, had its new bridge deck installed over the weekend of 10th/11th November, to allow for a more generous OLE clearance. Follow-up work occurred the following weekend.
• North of Sharnbrook Tunnel, the first 15 piles (13 Down, 1 Up) now bear steelwork. 11 of these are TTCs (all on the Down side); the other 4 will bear SSAs "wicket-keepers" for wire run terminations in Tensorex drums on either side of the running lines.
  South of Bridge WYM-4 (adjacent to the New Inn), 9 of the 17 piles are now in on the Down side of the Slow lines - presumably for the (future) Down Slow at least.
• Between Wymington (https://goo.gl/maps/apZ6wwj9StR2) and Wellingboro', intensive 4-tracking is underway. Near the Google Maps link posted for Wymington, the car park used for the 4-tracking works is due to house a National Grid substation for the electrification; the concrete base has now been laid for the substation.
• In the southern area of the Wymington Deviation, around 9 masts are now up on the Fasts (single cantilever type). North of Souldrop Tunnel, all 7 piles south of the footbridge at 60m56ch (5 down, 2 up) now have masts (4 STCs, 3 TTCs), and another 7 piles (6 of which bear boomed TTC masts) are up to the north.
• A portal (two track) has now gone up on the Fast just south of Wymington Village.
• Near the centre of the "deviation", there are now many more masts up (with cantilevers too) on the Fasts. On the Up Fast side, there is one mast missing near Sharnbrook Summit, just north of the northernmost bridge before the summit. I suspect it might be an Overlap Termination, and as such will be Tensorex.
• On the Slows at the northern end of the "deviation", a number of STCs and TTCs have gone up, with at least two twin track portals also up.
• Masts have now sprung up in large numbers north and south of Station Rd Bridge, Irchester. North of Station Rd, all masts seem to be up over the Fast lines as far as the first footbridge north of there (Knuston Lodge).
• Between Irthlingborough Viaduct & I'borough Rd Bridge (i.e. the Kangaroo Spinney area), at least 10 TTC masts on each side of the line have gone up; about half of those on the Slow side have booms too.
• Irthlingborough Rd Bridge was demolished on Christmas Day 2018 - only the utilities pipe remains. A temporary footbridge has also been erected.
• Update for 26.1 - catenary and contact have gone in for a short length south of Wellingborough on the Down Slow.

Wellingborough (65m 09ch) - Kettering (72m 01ch)

• Preparations to return the 4th platform (P4?) at Wellingborough to public use have now begun. De-veg work and clearing ground for the new entrance and access road are underway.
• Two piles are in next to each other just north of P1; one of which now bears a mast due to take a TTC boom. The other must be for a backstay.
• Extensive 4-tracking laid (except at points where existing infrastructure has to be moved).
• Finedon Rd Bridge, closed from 22/3/18 to 28/9/18 to allow reconstruction for OLE, is assumed to have reopened.
• TTCs stretch north from Wellingborough Yards over both pairs of lines as far north as the Weetabix factory (north of Burton Latimer). A couple of gaps remain where old equipment has to be removed e.g. the signal gantry at Harrowden Jct.
• A number of TTCs have now appeared over the Slows near Wellingborough Yards, along with masts for MPA Portals.
• At Burton Latimer (south of the Weetabix factory), power lines (National Grid) might be due a raise; taller wooden poles have been erected adjacent to the existing ones.
• Almost all (if not all!) masts and booms have now gone up around Kettering Headlands.
• Ground clearance works ongoing at Kettering Yard; the yard will be electrified as part of an EMU stabling facility.
• A number of TTCs have now been erected on the southern approach to Kettering station, roughly parallel to Kettering Yard.[So far, these amount to 8 over the Fasts (4 having booms) and 5 (all boomed) over the Slows. At least 1 STC and 2 Anchor Portal uprights are also up nxt to the Slows.

Kettering (72m 01ch) - Glendon Jct (74m 00ch) - Corby (79m 40ch)

• No activity yet at Kettering station - Platform extensions for the new EMU services are planned, and it is not yet known if canopy works will need to be undertaken.
• On the Fast side, around 6 TTCs are up to the north of the signal gantry at the north end of Kettering station; another is up immediately south of said gantry. On the Slow side, about 4 or 5 TTCs are up roughly parallel to the 6 on the Fasts; one is currently without a boom. Another pile is driven & capped in the 10-foot between the Up Fast & Down Slow.
• Between Kettering station & the A43, a number of piles are now in on the Slow side between the A43 bridge (nr Prologis Park) & the A6003 (Northampton Rd) bridge.
• At Glendon Jct/Kettering North Jct, all piles on the Slow side have now grown TTCs with booms; at least 5 are now bedanglied ("dressed"). A few signal gantries from the BR days have been (or are due to be) removed. Unclear of progress with piling/masts on the Main line north of Glendon Junction.
• A pair of Anchor Boom Portal Masts are now up on the Slow side just short of where the lines to Corby diverge; 1 TTC is between them. No corresponding structures have appeared on the Fast side yet.
• About 5/6 STC masts are up adjacent to each side of the line just north of Glendon Jct, roughly where the Corby Lines diverge from the Mains.
• Pile now in on the Down side near Kettering North Jct.
• 2nd track now in operation, and linespeed raised to 90mph where it was previously 60mph.
• A number of STCs are up over both sides in the Storefield area.
• A good stretch of the overheads are now up between Glendon Jct & the Oakleys (Gt. Oakley/Little Oakley) on the Corby Lines - these include catenary & contact wires.

Glendon Jct (74m 00ch) - Market Harborough (82m 74ch)

• Braybrooke Substation approved. To be located here: (https://goo.gl/maps/fuy1uZeDjdQ2).
• The extent of wiring towards Market Harborough has now been as good as confirmed to reach the station.

Any updates would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Flying Phil]

Thanks as ever for these detailed updates 59CosG95.

 

[InTheEastMids]

Any updates would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

South of Bedford, I also understand that there is significant work ongoing to deliver a new 400/25 kV grid supply point at Chalton/Sundon, which will deliver the power for the Corby electrics. I recall somebody else mentioning that Braybrooke isn't required for the 2tph to Corby, and this is presumably why.

 

[59CosG95]

Update: the Down Slow south of Wellingborough has Catenary and Contact! Check out @railwaytechnic’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/railwaytechnic/status/1112664985300279296?s=09

 

[Flying Phil]

Interestingly in this months "Railway Magazine", on P11, in an article arguing for "Rolling Electrification".....it mentions MML wiring as ..".(since extended to Market Harborough)". Is this journalistic optimism, or does somebody know something?

 

[nlogax]

Interestingly in this months "Railway Magazine", on P11, in an article arguing for "Rolling Electrification".....it mentions MML wiring as ..".(since extended to Market Harborough)". Is this journalistic optimism, or does somebody know something?

It was confirmed a few weeks back.

http://www.railtechnologymagazine.c...nd-main-line-to-be-extended-to-leicestershire

"The electrification of the Midland Main Line is to be extended to Leicestershire, the DfT has confirmed.

Responding to a parliamentary question, rail minister Andrew Jones said Network Rail had been instructed to design an extension of electrification infrastructure from Kettering to Market Harborough station."

 

[Flying Phil]

Ah but "instructed to design" is still a bit less than "cash to build" even though, we on here, are convinced that such an electrification extension would be a cost effective solution!

 

[themiller]

Ah but "instructed to design" is still a bit less than "cash to build" even though, we on here, are convinced that such an electrification extension would be a cost effective solution!

If it’s designed, the cost to electrify should appear lower! Possibly a way of showing the true cost of Electrification without all of the other factors being lumped in.

 

[tonysk14]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but will a non stop service going north be able to switch to diesel at speed, and of course southbound from diesel to electric.

 

[59CosG95]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but will a non stop service going north be able to switch to diesel at speed, and of course southbound from diesel to electric.

Depends on the train in question, and the tensioning arrangements at the northern limit of electrification (formerly Kettering, now looking 95% likely to be Market Harborough).
The 80x fleet can do it on the fly; no other high speed bimodal unit family has appeared yet, so only time will tell if Bombardier/Siemens etc. release a product to rival Hitachi in the intercity BMU field, and whether they can do it on the fly.

 

[hwl]

Depends on the train in question, and the tensioning arrangements at the northern limit of electrification (formerly Kettering, now looking 95% likely to be Market Harborough).
The 80x fleet can do it on the fly; no other high speed bimodal unit family has appeared yet, so only time will tell if Bombardier/Siemens etc. release a product to rival Hitachi in the intercity BMU field, and whether they can do it on the fly.

Bombardier have a 125mph Aventra (with much more installed horsepower than IET diesel) on the drawing board that meets the EM franchise requirements. (IET doesn't)

 

[edwin_m]

Raising and lowering on the fly isn't difficult technically, though it's made more complicated when people start thinking about hazards and human factors. As Hitachi offers it, it's unlikely Bombardier or any other competitor wouldn't do so too.

 

[absolutelymilk]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but will a non stop service going north be able to switch to diesel at speed, and of course southbound from diesel to electric.

Just to add to the other comments, it's much easier to swap from electric to diesel than the other way around - raising the pantograph requires ensuring that it doesn't hit the wire in the wrong way, while lowering the pantograph doesn't have the same issue!

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Just to add to the other comments, it's much easier to swap from electric to diesel than the other way around - raising the pantograph requires ensuring that it doesn't hit the wire in the wrong way, while lowering the pantograph doesn't have the same issue!

Agreed that makes sense. I doubt you would get a dewirement going to diesel and dropping the pan - but as you say, raising the pan is a different issue and more care needed.

 

[tasky]

Bombardier have a 125mph Aventra (with much more installed horsepower than IET diesel) on the drawing board that meets the EM franchise requirements. (IET doesn't)

I'm interested in what about the IETs doesn't meet the requirements?

 

[hwl]

I'm interested in what about the IETs doesn't meet the requirements?

Basically performance on Diesel has to matching that on Electric...

 

[Brissle Girl]

Given that electric performance is a big step up from diesel, surely to then demand equivalent performance on diesel is almost absurd. And if only half the route is electrified, then one would question whether the additional weight carried around by the electric traction equipment is counter-productive in terms of energy savings. (ie the losses over the non-electrified sections outweigh the gains over the electrified sections, bearing in mind that those gains are themselves reduced over "pure electric" by having to lug around some even more chunky diesel engines.)

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Given that electric performance is a big step up from diesel, surely to then demand equivalent performance on diesel is almost absurd. And if only half the route is electrified, then one would question whether the additional weight carried around by the electric traction equipment is counter-productive in terms of energy savings. (ie the losses over the non-electrified sections outweigh the gains over the electrified sections, bearing in mind that those gains are themselves reduced over "pure electric" by having to lug around some even more chunky diesel engines.)

I think most of us on here would agree bimodes are great only if they are a stop gap and allow a rolling programme of electrification and constant cascade

 

[Mikey C]

I think most of us on here would agree bimodes are great only if they are a stop gap and allow a rolling programme of electrification and constant cascade

Especially when the unelectrified line isn't a high(ish) speed mainline. Hull trains ordering 802s makes a lot of sense, for example

 

[gingertom]

Basically performance on Diesel has to matching that on Electric...

the 940BHP engines fitted to the IETs can never deliver sufficient power to allow the traction motors to operate at their maximum continuous rating. It ought to be possible to equip a 9 car IET with 7 gensets (instead of the standard 5) to significantly improve the performance on diesel but this also increases the number of traction bogies so giving it much more power on electric too. It could of course be reined back in software to compensate as per the 800/802.
Stadler FLIRT's power pod equipped with 4 engines has enough power to operate 2 powered bogies at their continuous rating but not the short term boost available on electric- I suspect this qualifies as matching performance on diesel. An 8/9 car set with 3 pods could really shift but walking through so many pods to find a seat will take some getting used to.
Yet to see anything technical on Bombardier's offering- is there anything in the public domain yet or is it a trade secret?

 

[edwin_m]

I think the performance issue is more with a shorter IET unit. Hitachi haven't put diesels in the end cars so a 5-car would only have three engines, although it's probably still lighter than a Meridian so the performance wouldn't go down proportionately. By putting an engine in one end car (the other one has the transformer) they can probably get close to Meridian performance. Isn't the power shared around via DC bus so the motors don't have to be in the same car as the engines?

Another issue with MML is the car length. I'm not sure if two five-car units would fit into St Pancras with enough space for them to stop short of each other, couple and uncouple. If so then the solutions of an all nine car fleet, all four car or a mix of fours fives are all rather unsatisfactory.

 

[hwl]

I think the performance issue is more with a shorter IET unit. Hitachi haven't put diesels in the end cars so a 5-car would only have three engines, although it's probably still lighter than a Meridian so the performance wouldn't go down proportionately. By putting an engine in one end car (the other one has the transformer) they can probably get close to Meridian performance. Isn't the power shared around via DC bus so the motors don't have to be in the same car as the engines?

Another issue with MML is the car length. I'm not sure if two five-car units would fit into St Pancras with enough space for them to stop short of each other, couple and uncouple. If so then the solutions of an all nine car fleet, all four car or a mix of fours fives are all rather unsatisfactory.

Yep shared power though the bus as per Voyagers and Meridians (see eco mode discussions).
The Bombardier solution is getting engines under all the cars.
24.xm Aventra (as per Anglia /LNWR) works far better for St Pancras than 26m as you could use 2x 5car units and have a uniform fleet.

 

[hwl]

It ought to be possible to equip a 9 car IET with 7 gensets (instead of the standard 5) to significantly improve the performance on diesel but this also increases the number of traction bogies so giving it much more power on electric too.

No it doesn't need to increase the number of traction motors as the power from the alternators is rectified and goes into the DC Link the is shared with the traction electronics and auxiliaries throughout the train