UK - London to Cardiff rail line to be electrified

[John Ashworth]

London to Cardiff rail line will be electrified to cut carbon footprint


* Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 July 2009 19.00 BST


One of Britain's busiest rail lines is to be electrified in a move that will introduce greener and more reliable services for millions of passengers.

The government is finalising plans to transform the Great Western mainline as part of a drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport. The programme will involve installing hundreds of miles of electric cables as well as alterations to tunnels, bridges and stations on one of Britain's oldest rail routes.

An announcement could come as soon as Thursday, although the financing is still being put in place. The Department for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail, owner of Britain's rail infrastructure, have discussed electrifying the route from London Paddington to Cardiff, taking in Reading and Bristol, as well as the popular commuter route from London to Oxford.

However, the programme is expected to be carried out in phases over the next decade in order to minimise disruption.

Britain lags behind many of its European counterparts in electrical coverage of its rail system, with only 40% of the 20,000-mile network electrified. Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, has pledged to electrify swaths of the network, led by Great Western and the Midland mainline from St Pancras to Sheffield, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport by 14% by 2020.

Train operators said electrification would bring quicker and more reliable services for passengers, as well as giving rail a green edge over car and air travel. Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "Electrification brings with it the dual benefits of helping to make rail services more attractive to customers and drawing them away from cars and planes. It also relies on lower-carbon sources of energy." First Great Western, the main operator on the Great Western network, carries 84 million passengers a year.

According to Network Rail, the diesel trains that travel on the Great Western route emit at least double the carbon dioxide output per mile of an electric train. The government-backed company has also calculated that it will cost £800,000 a track mile just to erect the cabling. Once work on tunnels, bridges and culverts is added in electrifying the 118-mile stretch from London to Bristol could cost £380m, according to Network Rail.

It is understood that the DfT and Network Rail have discussed funding the work through an increase in Network Rail's borrowings. Network Rail's debt is underwritten by the state and the government will pay off the interest over a number of decades, minimising the immediate impact on the taxpayer.

Stephen Glaister, professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London, said the benefits of electrifying thousands of miles of railway track would be undermined if trains were not powered by energy produced from low-carbon sources such as nuclear plants or wind farms. Otherwise, electrification would simply increase demand for electricity from coal- and gas-powered plants, he added. "The government has to clarify where the electricity is coming from. In a world where nuclear power is declining and renewables cannot fill the gap, where else is it going to come from apart from burning more coal and gas?"

Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, said last week: "Transport accounts for a significant amount of our domestic emissions. Therefore decarbonising this sector has to be front and centre of efforts to meet our obligations and commitments to tackle climate change."

The government is also encouraging greater production, and acquisition, of electric and hybrid cars as part of its low-carbon policy.

[John Ashworth]

£1bn plan to electrify rail line

Page last updated at 12:22 GMT, Thursday, 23 July 2009 13:22 UK
BBC


A £1bn plan to electrify the main rail route between London and Swansea has been announced by the government.

A second line between Liverpool and Manchester will also be converted from diesel to electric.

Ministers say electric trains are lighter and more energy efficient, cutting the running cost and environmental impact of train services.

The Conservatives welcomed the move but said the government was leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill.

Upfront investment

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the BBC the massive investment involved would be worth it.

"With the electric trains you get a quieter, cleaner, more reliable and much cheaper train which benefits passengers and it also benefits the taxpayers because it's much cheaper to keep an electric railway going," he said.

"But you've got to put that upfront investment in. Governments historically have been very averse to making long-term investments.

"We've taken the decision that the right thing for the country is to have an electrified railway across the principal main lines and that's why we're going ahead with electrifying the Great Western Main Line."

He said the investment would pay for itself over a 40-year period and that there would be no impact on fares.

'Greener and cleaner'

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at London's Paddington station for the announcement, said improving the rail network was important for the country.

"This is the future. It's greener, it's cleaner, it's faster, it's more reliable. It's making the railways fit for the 21st Century and encouraging more passengers to use the railways," he said.

The move means an electric version of the new Super Express intercity train unveiled last year will be introduced on the Great Western line.

The government and rail industry agree electrification will bring major benefits.

Electric trains do not carry their own fuel - weighing around six tonnes for a non-electric intercity train - and have lighter engines.

Network Rail will buy specialist electrification trains capable of automating the installation job.

The Campaign for Better Transport is concerned the investment will lead to an increase in fares but ministers say electrification will mean cost savings in the running of trains.

'Transport cuts'

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said: "Yet again Labour are maxing out Network Rail's credit card, leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill.

"After [Business Secretary] Lord Mandelson announced cuts to the transport budget, how can we believe that Labour can announce £1.1bn of new spending without impacting on existing transport commitments or putting further strain on public finances already stretched to breaking point?"

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said: "This must be just the start of the project. The Liberal Democrats want virtually the entire network electrified by 2040."

The RMT rail union has called for "cast iron" assurances from the government that the decision will not hit jobs at the UK's only train manufacturer, Bombardier.

The Derby-based firm has bid for a contract to build 200 diesel trains, some planned to be used on the Great Western line, against rivals from Spain and China.

The union's general secretary, Bob Crow, said: "RMT welcomes today's announcement on electrification and is calling on the government to do some joined-up thinking and ensure that there is no risk at all to Bombardier from the expected cancellation of diesel orders.

"There is no reason why Bombardier can't produce rolling stock for the electrified lines as well as meeting demand from the overall expansion of rail services and the call to end overcrowding."

League table

Britain went through a period of electrification between the 50s and 80s in which two other main lines, the East and West, were converted.

Many commuter lines into London from the home counties are also electrified, using a third rail system rather than overhead cables.

But Britain still has proportionally less electric railway than most European countries and is below Macedonia in the league table.

The announcement means Wales will have its first stretch of electrified railway.

Between Manchester and Liverpool a smaller project to electrify the line via Newton-le-Willows has also been given the green light.

This will have the added benefit of allowing Transpennine trains between Manchester airport and Glasgow to run on electric power.

The government is still considering electrifying another major diesel route, the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield, but has not committed the proposal.

EUROPE'S ELECTRIC RAIL COVER

Switzerland: 100%
Sweden: 77%
Netherlands: 73%
Italy: 69%
Germany: 56%
Spain: 56%
UK: 40%

Source: UIC

[John Ashworth]

'Minimum rail disruption' pledged

Page last updated at 12:06 GMT, Thursday, 23 July 2009 13:06 UK

By Jo-Anne Rowney
BBC News

HOW ROUTES WILL BE ELECTRIFIED follow link above to see drawings

Module One
A 'factory train' can install 1.5km of cable in an eight-hour shift. First it drills piles at sides of track. These will hold masts to support overhead (catenary) wires.

Module Two
The factory train moves along unravelling wire at steady pace. The feed-and-return wires are attached to masts to supply overhead wires with electricity.

Module Three
Workers attach cantilevers (support arms) to masts and wires to cantilevers. Finally, essential earthing and safety inspections are carried out.



Network Rail has promised "minimum disruption" after unveiling plans to electrify one of the main rail routes in Britain, between London and Swansea.

In the next eight years, overhead power lines will be installed and tunnels and bridges will be demolished.

Experts have hailed the move as a "positive step" for the industry.

But transport groups, while welcoming the move, are concerned that passengers could be facing major disruption while the work is being done.

Network Rail, which is carrying out the work, has assured the government that lessons in the installation of overhead power lines have been learned following last year's fiasco when work on the West Coast Main Line overran.

Simon Kirby, the company's director of infrastructure investment, said: "We've been planning this for three years, so we can carry out the work safely with minimum passenger disruption.

"We've learnt a lot from the overrun 18 months ago and we've developed new high-output technology.

"They will deliver the cables with low impact to the passenger and communities."

The new trains will install structures and cables, running on the line when services are not being run.

Network Rail says it is buying specialist electrification trains capable of automating the installation job.

It is developing 450m long "factory engineering trains", worth £30m, which will follow each other in tandem.

The first train will place the pylons to hold the electric cables, followed by a second, which will hang the wires and a third, which will run checks.

The system will cover 0.93 miles (1.5km) of track in an eight-hour shift and will only operate at night ensuring "minimum disruption", says the company.

Public transport watchdog Passenger Focus welcomed the plans to electrify the lines.

Spokeswoman Amy Stockton said: "Passengers will recognise that these works are necessary for the long-term benefits that electrification will bring.

But the independent passenger group also acknowledged that works could potentially disrupt services for years to come.

"Work required to electrify these lines will mean several years of disrupted services for passengers," she said.

"Clearly there is a need to manage this and we will be working with the industry to ensure that passengers are given plenty of information and time to help them plan their journeys."

'Positive Step'

Transport analyst Christian Wolmar labelled the move as "long overdue" but a "positive step" for the rail industry.

He added: "This is finally a coherent plan that can be implemented. Electric tracks are known for their benefits. They should only cause short-term disruption. The installation should be of minimal impact."

He said, as with all new technology, it needed to be viewed "in practice before passing judgement".

The government and rail industry agree electrification will bring major benefits.

Electric trains do not carry their own fuel, which weighs around six tonnes for a diesel train, and have lighter engines.

This makes them more than 35% cheaper to run than non-electric trains, according to the Department of Transport.

They also require less maintenance and the trains cost 20% cheaper to buy.

There are also major environmental benefits. The production of electricity for trains creates up to 35% less carbon than burning the equivalent amount of diesel. The current engines do eight miles per gallon of fuel.

'No detailed plans'

Network Rail has identified 113 structures - mainly bridges and tunnels - that will need to be altered due to lack of room for overhead wires. In some instances tracks can be lowered, but other structures will have to be knocked down and replaced.

While the company hopes to carry out the work in eight-hour periods overnight, restricting cancellations to late-evening and early morning services, demolition work will have to be carried out during the day.

Longer closures may be needed and a spokesman for the company did admit there were not any detailed plans yet for the engineering work.

Network Rail has, however, recommended that the busiest 3,000 miles of non-electrified routes be electrified as a priority.

This includes the Great Western route from London to Wales, on which the work is now to be started.