South Western Railway and Network Rail - merged posts

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Office of Rail and Road Investigation
Review of Network Rail’s performance delivery to South Western Railway services
July 2018

53 pages at  http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/28186/review-of-network-rail-performance-delivery-to-south-western-railway-services-july-2018.pdf

and from the conclusions:

135. Overall, we have concerns around the route’s performance planning. While Wessex appears to be addressing the challenges it faces (for example it has plans in place), our interrogation of its plans has exposed issues particularly with the level of detail and commitment to deliver solutions to address those challenges.

140. We were also not fully assured the route’s capability to deliver its performance plans.
Are the route’s plans also sustainable in the medium to long term

141. Given that we have concerns around Wessex’s plans to deliver improvements in the short term, we do not have confidence there are sustainable plans for the medium to long term.

[SandTEngineer]

That makes for very interesting reading Grahame.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a similar investigation into NR^» (Network Rail - home page)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) performance?

[grahame]

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/about-us/independent-performance-review

South Western Railway and Network Rail recognise that we haven’t delivered the standard of service expected or that we want to deliver. A number of challenges have contributed to this and we took action earlier this year to commission an independent review of performance on the network.

Following the completion of that review, chaired by Sir Michael Holden, we now have a blueprint to help us improve performance – and the good news is that many of the recommendations in the report had already been identified and are underway. Network Rail is also investing a record £2 billion1 over the next five years to run the railway and help give passengers more reliable journeys.

The independent report commissioned by South Western Railway and independently chaired by experienced railwayman Sir Michael Holden, looked at every aspect of performance on the South Western Network to establish why it has been in decline since 2011.

The report concludes that a number of factors have caused a loss of timetable resilience and a degradation in service recovery capability during and after disruption over a number of years. It lists growing passenger numbers,  the management of train crew , the operation of longer trains, increasing numbers of speed restrictions, , and ageing infrastructure as having contributed to the decline over the last eight years. More recently the Waterloo works in August 2017 and the move of the joint Control between Network Rail and the train operator to Basingstoke in early 2017, have exacerbated the situation.

As well as identifying the causes of decline the report makes a number of recommendations to address these issues. In some cases these areas had already been identified and remedial action has been underway for some time.

[Lee]

They were only a couple of strategically placed letters away from having the bloke who narrated Paddington chairing the review, which would have been the ultimate irony.

[johnneyw]

From Rail magazine online:

'Islands’ of third-rail electric power are being assessed for the West of England line between Basingstoke and Exeter.

Network Rail and South Western Railway have been working for two years on plans to remove diesel trains on the long-distance route.

They have involved train manufacturers and rolling stock leasing companies in studies to fit battery power to either Class 450 Desiros or new Class 701 Arterio trains, able to recharge on sections of discontinuous third-rail track.o


You need to log on to their site to read the rest.

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/2024/09/26/discontinuous-third-rail-idea-for-west-of-england-line

Edit to add link.

[Timmer]

At last, some common sense finally prevailing by extending third rail towards Exeter even if it’s discontinuous.

[ChrisB]

So, at line speed, how many miles of third rail would be required how often to keep the b attery at least 75% charged? Or is that answer impossible?

[grahame]

So, at line speed, how many miles of third rail would be required how often to keep the battery at least 75% charged? Or is that answer impossible?

I suspect there are too many variables to make for an easy answer.   Let's start with "will trains be charging while sat in the Tisbury loop" ... and "will there be pickup charging on each carriage or will it be the train as a whole that charges?".  "Does in need to be 75% all the time even when it arrives in Basingstoke"

[Mark A]

Service to be marketed as the 'Sarum Sizzlers'.

Mark

[TonyN]

Service to be marketed as the 'Sarum Sizzlers'.

Mark

It's got to be The Electric Mule

[broadgage]

So, at line speed, how many miles of third rail would be required how often to keep the battery at least 75% charged? Or is that answer impossible?

Too many variables to calculate I suspect. And it would depend upon WHICH miles were electrified, rather than how many miles were electrified.
Passing loops and stations would be a high priority, and inclines.

For new or heavily modified trains, energy use on battery power could be minimised, for example heat the passenger saloon to say 22 degrees on electrified sections but only to 20 degrees on battery power. In Summer, cool to 23 degrees on electrified sections, but to 25 degrees on battery power. Fill compressed air tanks to the maximum safe pressure on electrified sections, but to a lower pressure on battery power.
In cold weather, use waste heat from the electronic variable speed drive, to warm the saloon. Modern electronics are very efficient and the gain is moderate, but even a few KW per coach reduces battery drain for heating.

[grahame]

Service to be marketed as the 'Sarum Sizzlers'.

Mark

It's got to be The Electric Mule

That has me thinking of this sort of thing - perhaps it should be a side-thread in "The Lighter side"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_locks#/media/File:Mule_in_the_Miraflores_Locks.JPG



In all seriousness, third rail section between also between (say) Mottisfont and Dean, and between Wilton and Warminster, could also transform and electrify the Cardiff - Portsmouth service too.   Further of topic, my first ever departure on Saturday on board a train that was electric powered from Pilning. Clean, fast, good acceleration reducing the headway needed on that line to restart trains.

[broadgage]

Are they proposing 25 KV AC or 750 volts DC^▸ (Direct Current) ?
AC might be out nimbyed, DC is de-facto prohibited by the healthansafety.
My preferred system would be 750 volt DC overhead, lighter structures and smaller insulators so less liable to nimbys.
Use of this system reduces the need for costly grid upgrades, because the load is balanced three phase and therefore less disturbing to other consumers.

[ChrisB]

Third rail

[broadgage]

Third rail

I doubt that it will be allowed.
Someone, somewhere, will have to "sign off" the design as being as safe as is reasonably practicable, whilst knowingly rejecting safer alternatives such as OHLE, or batteries throughout. That person could be at risk of criminal prosecution, maybe decades later, when a trespasser is electrocuted.