Justin Smith
Member
Just a quick question on the Hope Valley route, I read someone arguing online that is was "impossible with present technology" to electrify the Totley tunnel ?
Is that really correct ?
Is that really correct ?
Just a quick question on the Hope Valley route, I read someone arguing online that is was "impossible with present technology" to electrify the Totley tunnel ?
Is that really correct ?
I suspect it is nonsense as well, expensive is not the same as "impossible", but might the Severn Tunnel have a larger loading gauge ?I imagine, seeing as the Severn Tunnel has been successfully electrified, it’s probably nonsense?
Just a quick question on the Hope Valley route, I read someone arguing online that is was "impossible with present technology" to electrify the Totley tunnel ?
Is that really correct ?
As with most of the content on that forum these days, it's nonsense. Likewise with the reasons why trains can't divert via Huddersfield.
I really am not a fan of the Bi Mode alternative to doing a full decent electrification. It may be easier and cheaper in the short term, but more complexity and expense and less efficient in the long term.Yes it's possible to electrify through Totley, Cowburn and Disley Tunnels but that's 3 long lengths of Victorian engineering and the cost is far higher per mile than, say, Hull - Selby. Which should be the cost effective priority between these two lines? Other comparisons are available.
TPE trains are diverted via Huddersfield as a matter of course. Via Penistone is not practical without more passing capacity or cancelling existing stopping services. If it were practical it would be done.
Diversion of the fast TPE services via Wakefield is relatively routine but adds almost half an hour to the normal TPE journey between Sheffield and Manchester, as it will on the next two Sundays.
EMR usually bus from Chesterfield and Sheffield to Stockport.
Northern may bus between New Mills Central and Sheffield - which takes for ever (1 hour 50 just for that section then change to train taking another 30 minutes plus connection time) and most who know will avoid.
A protracted blockade would decimate commuter traffic between the the two cities, add a further nail in the rail option from the east to Manchester Airport and severely damage the growing leisure market for the Hope Valley.
But don't be over concerned about passengers. How is limestone and cement traffic to be diverted?
My guess is that some bi-mode option is most likely. Electrify up to the Chinley end of Cowburn Tunnel and the Totley end if Totley Tunnel. Possibly electify from Edale to Grindleford. The section from Sheffield through Dore would be a natural follow on from the MML scheme, as overrun probably part of it.
I really am not a fan of the Bi Mode alternative to doing a full decent electrification. It may be easier and cheaper in the short term, but more complexity and expense and less efficient in the long term.
I've always been a "long term" kind of guy.
It really would be a case of short term pain for long term gain.
I agree, but, if they knew long possessions of Totley tunnel were going to be needed would it not be opportune to increase capacity on the Penistone to Huddersfield line, getting rid of the single line sections would be a good start, which would also make the normal service timetable more resilient anyway.TPE trains are diverted via Huddersfield as a matter of course. Via Penistone is not practical without more passing capacity or cancelling existing stopping services. If it were practical it would be done.
The route from Sheffield to Huddersfield via Moorthorpe and Wakefield Kirkgate is about 20 minutes quicker than via Penistone.I agree, but, if they knew long possessions of Totley tunnel were going to be needed would it not be opportune to increase capacity on the Penistone to Huddersfield line, getting rid of the single line sections would be a good start, which would also make the normal service timetable more resilient anyway.
Pretty sizeable block of the Hope Valley next year, so it will be seen how things work.I agree, but, if they knew long possessions of Totley tunnel were going to be needed would it not be opportune to increase capacity on the Penistone to Huddersfield line, getting rid of the single line sections would be a good start, which would also make the normal service timetable more resilient anyway.
Do you mean via Moorthorpe and Kirkgate (via Hare Park Junc) ?The route from Sheffield to Huddersfield via Moorthorpe and Wakefield Kirkgate is about 20 minutes quicker than via Penistone.
To make it clearDo you mean via Moorthorpe and Kirkgate (via Hare Park Junc) ?
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Not all that long, but too long for regular users. Freight can still exit to the west but it will be very inconvenient.
I really am not a fan of the Bi Mode alternative to doing a full decent electrification. It may be easier and cheaper in the short term, but more complexity and expense and less efficient in the long term.
I thought Hope valley sees heavy aggregate and cement trains.And yet railways all over europe are buying battery bi modes as a much more effective and efficient way of getting electric trains. Including those already in service in this country, with comfirmed plans for more.
Are all these railways wrong?
And yet railways all over europe are buying battery bi modes as a much more effective and efficient way of getting electric trains. Including those already in service in this country, with comfirmed plans for more.
Are all these railways wrong?
However comparative costs of infrastructure for catenary against charging equipment set against performance make that calculation difficult.
Not sure that many railways are buying bi mode freight locos, yes for crawl from unelectrified sidings to reception line, but not for use on non electrified main lines
Not difficult at all, hence why the French, Germans, us, Italians, Danes etc are all pursuing it.
So you see the future as battery? Pursuing and proving commercial viabilty may take some time.
And yet railways all over europe are buying battery bi modes as a much more effective and efficient way of getting electric trains. Including those already in service in this country, with comfirmed plans for more.
Are all these railways wrong?
Well, in continental Europe it almost never concerns mainlines, because those are electrified anyway.
B(E)MUs are mostly seen as a way to de-carbonize secondary lines (and where possible, many countries still prefer to electrify, the threshold to justify it is often very much lower than in Britain, especially where a decent amount of freight runs). For obvious reasons of course, while tunnels and overpasses can be a problem sometimes, it is much less frequent than in the UK, so electrification is usually much cheaper.
All true.
Obviously when electrification is justified from an economic perspective depends (quite a lot) on the cost of electrification. As stated above, as there are typically fewer problematic structures, electrification tends to be cheaper in mainland Europe, so the boundary for when electrification becomes economically viable is also lower than it is here in the UK.I recently learned that Siemens (IIRC) did a study that recommends electrifying every line where more than one light passenger train per hour is planned to run (so everything from half-hourly onwards, or longer trains, or more than the occasional freight should be fully electric). I am not convinced though, a half-hourly service with short passenger trains does not IMO justify full electrification, except if you have heavy freight also running (does Siemens earn money from electrification? ). But in continental forums, I usually get shouted down when I express this.
Diesel bimodes are a stopgap solution, not a permanent one.Err, we are! (diesel bimodes rather than battery).
Of course this is where battery bi-modes shine...For Ely-King's Lynn, the fact that services continue to KGX via Cambridge undoubtedly played a role.
Ely-King's Lynn hasn't any tunnels or major gradients, which is why Hull-Selby will rank ahead of the Hope Valley line for priority.Obviously when electrification is justified from an economic perspective depends (quite a lot) on the cost of electrification. As stated above, as there are typically fewer problematic structures, electrification tends to be cheaper in mainland Europe, so the boundary for when electrification becomes economically viable is also lower than it is here in the UK.
Simply put, Siemens's study could well be accurate for the german situation, but not be so for the UK situation.
I would point out though that the UK has in past electrified lines that don't meet the suggested boundary (e.g. Ely-King's Lynn), and that is at least in part because the actual costs and benefits depend on more than just frequency and train length. For Ely-King's Lynn, the fact that services continue to KGX via Cambridge undoubtedly played a role.
The difference here is there’s no strategy for wiring even main lines in a planned way. Then the battery idea (or whatever the “bionic duckweed” of choice is this week) gets trotted out as a solution for main lines as well. It’s just embarrassing.All true.
Diesel bimodes are a stopgap solution, not a permanent one.
The difference here is there’s no strategy for wiring even main lines in a planned way. Then the battery idea (or whatever the “bionic duckweed” of choice is this week) gets trotted out as a solution for main lines as well. It’s just embarrassing.