Rail Live 2021; rolling stock highlights

Rail Live "The only exhibition to bring the entire rail industry together in a real railway environment" returned for 2021 after the pandemic forced organisers to cancel the event in 2020. It's no surprise then that Rail Live 2021 seemed bigger than ever, not only with the usual live demonstrations that visitors have come to expect, but this year the Honeybourne shuttle made a return courtesy of Vivarail, Transport for Wales and SLC Operations who operated the service on behalf of Vivarail. Another train that will also be serving on the Wirral was also on display, one of Merseyrail's Class 777 EMUs built by Stadler ran regular short trips carrying passengers during the two-day event. 

Class 230 010 at Rail Live 2021

As someone who will, as a passenger benefit from the introduction of both units, I was keen to step aboard and take a look. My first port of call was the Class 230 which I was especially keen to take a look at inside for the first time, as I have been involved in campaigning for their introduction on the Wrexham-Bidston line for since 2016. I have to say that on first impression I was genuinely impressed. A small number of detractors like to remind people that they are ex London underground stock dating from the late 70s, but honestly, sitting onboard the Class 230  you would never know their past. I think even those who were sceptical at first have been won over by the transformation. 

Below is a short video which shows the full interior of the Class 230

During the conversion from D78 stock to Class 230 the interiors were completely stripped back to the shell and the new high-quality fixtures and fittings installed. The two driving motor cars were very quiet, more akin to an electric train than a DMU, which isn't surprising as the Class 230s are diesel-electric hybrids. The middle trailer car under which the diesel gen-sets are housed was, if I'm being honest a little rattly whilst the engines were running, however nowhere near as noisy as the Class 150s which the 230s are set to replace. I was assured by Vivarail that they are working to address the rattle from the fixtures and fittings, but honestly, even with the engines on, the middle car is a lot quieter than a Class 150.

The interior of TfW's Class 230s

The Class 230s feature all the modern amenities that passengers now expect, such as charging points and an accessible toilet. In addition, the Class 230 also features air conditioning, something which even the fully refurbished Class 150s don't have.

For much more information about the Class 230 click here

There was so much to see and do at Rail Live I had to return for day 2 to step aboard Merseyrail's Class 777 built by Stadler. If I was impressed by the Class 230 then I think I was stunned by the Class 777. When you step onboard it truly is astounding, especially when, as a passenger you are more accustomed to Class 507/8s. The sense of space is something else, looking down all 4 carriages through the extra-wide gangways it feels almost like a TARDIS. Class 777s have 4 carriages but the units are only 4m longer than Class 507/8s, at 64.98mm, compared to 3 car 507/8s which are 60.7m long. The designers have cleverly used the space to increase the 333 maximum passenger capacity of the 507/8s, to 475 seated and standing for the 777s. There is also more legroom, passengers who travel on 507/8s will be familiar with the awkward angles at which you have to sit when there are passengers sat opposite, not with the 777, there is space to comfortably seat 2 adults opposite each other, without touching knees.

Below is a short video which shows the full interior of the Class 777

The Class 777 on display number 002 is a little bit different from the rest of the fleet, as it's fitted with a 67kwh hour battery, meaning that it can operate beyond the 3rd rail network. 002 is currently being tested on the Merseyrail network to see how well it can perform, to ensure that the added weight of the battery has no impact on its overall performance compared with the non-battery classmates, but also how well the battery itself can perform. So far 002 has been able to travel from Sandhills to Southport on battery power alone, a journey of approximately 20 miles. So far all indications are that 002 can perform just as well as units without batteries, so the added weight of the battery doesn't appear to cause any noticeable reduction in acceleration or braking performance.

The trial of 002 opens up the very real possibility of extending the Merseyrail network, or the reach of the 777s beyond the 3rd rail network and 777s fitted with batteries could potentially operate as far as Wrexham on the Wrexham-Bidston line, or from Ellesmere Port to Helsby. For the former to happen a number of 777s would likely have to be fitted with larger batteries with a short section of 3rd rail fitted at the Wrexham end for rapid charging. If you would like to know more about the possibilities that the battery variants offer click here.

Class 777 interior

Merseytravel is currently working on a business case that may see all 777s fitted with batteries, which would mean the planned extension of the network to a new station at Headbolt Lane would not require any further electrification. Fitting all 777s with batteries would also help balance the power from regenerative braking which would otherwise be sent directly back down the 3rd rail.

Class 777 002 at Rail Live 2021

One of the most anticipated features of the Class 777 is the step-free access that they will provide across the Merseyrail Network once in service. Merseytravel has had to make some modifications to platforms, which you can find more information about here, but the 777s themselves have been designed with step-free access in mind. The units have been designed so that the floor of the carriage is level with a UK platform set at 915mm, with an offset of 730mm. To ensure that there is a minimal gap the units are also fitted with a retractable step which has an infrared camera fitted inside. As the step extends the camera detects the platform edge and ensures that there is no more than a 35mm gap between the step and platform. The step, combined with the camera and the 4 slightly shorter carriages helps to ensure that the gaps are equally spaced even on curved stations.

Class 777 retractable step

Rail Live has become an event at which rolling stock manufactures want to show off their new units, but primarily the event provides infrastructure and services companies with an opportunity to display what they have to offer. In part 2 I will be taking a look at some of the plant and engineering that was also on display.

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Re-Blog: Merseyrail: Expanding the network

Originally published in Rail Magazine issue 920

The Merseyrail network currently consists of 75 miles of railway, 6.5 miles of which are underground, split between 2 lines serving a total of 68 stations. The line is electrified by means of 750v DC third-rail and is served by 56 Class 507 and 508 EMUs, however, these units are due to be replaced by new, Class 777 trains over the next couple of years.

Prior to the outbreak of Covid 19 the network carried 110,000 passengers per day and Central Station where the Wirral Line intersects with the Northern Line was the second busiest station in the North West with over 14 million entries and exits between 2018-2019.

Current extent of the Merseyrail network

Rail maps on Redbubble, available on mugs, prints and much more

The Merseyrail network is, in effect a self-contained network which has 8 termini, 6 of which join the national rail network where passengers can transfer on to services which operate beyond the Merseyrail network. These include Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby, Ellesmere Port, Chester and Hunts Cross. Ellesmere Port currently only has a limited service beyond the Merseyrail Network with 1 arrival from Leeds at 18:08 and a service to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Bank Quay departing at 18:25.

The network also has a number of other stations which have connections to the national rail network. They include Liverpool Lime St, Liverpool South Parkway, and Bidston where passengers can join Wrexham-Bidston line services.

Outgoing Class 507/8s are due to be replaced by Class 777s over the next couple of years.

 

Currently, Merseyrail services are unable to travel beyond those 8 termini because that is the extent of the third-rail network. It is unlikely that the third-rail network will be extended, as the Department for Transport and Network Rail have little appetite for future expansion of the UK third-rail lines.

When compared to 25kv overhead electrification, 750v DC third-rail is less efficient, more expensive to install and maintain, and with a live conductor rail at ground level is also more dangerous. Having said that, in terms of efficiency, third-rail electrification is still vastly more efficent than diesel traction.

Taking this into account you could be forgiven for thinking it is unlikely that the Merseyrail network will be expanded in future and that services are destined to remain limited to third-rail lines. However, there is some good news on the horizon and Merseytravel which is the strategic transport advisor to the Liverpool City Region is certainly not content with terminating services at the current stations.

The Class 777 units being delivered to Merseyrail are set to provide serious opportunities for expansion beyond the third-rail network and Merseytravel is working with the train manufacture Stadler to investigate technologies that would allow just that. Firstly, units on which Class 777 are based can be constructed with a pantograph and transformer to take power from 25kv overhead wires. Or could be fitted with batteries, and in fact, one of the Class 777s which is being delivered to Merseyrail will be fitted with batteries and trialled on the Merseyrail Network.

Update. The first Class 777 fitted with batteries, 777 002 arrived in the UK last week and was spotted in Crewe on the 5th of May.

Merseytravel plans to test how well the battery-powered Class 777 can perform, initially limited to operating on the third-rail network to provide a fail-safe should the batteries fail. However, Merseytravel will be able to put the battery-powered unit to the test across the Merseyrail network. Particular attention will likely be paid to how the unit performs on the steep incline on either side of the tunnel underneath the Mersey. The standard Class 777 units will have much better acceleration characteristics when compared to the outgoing Class 507/8s, so much so, when all Class 777s are in service the timetable will be sped up. This will allow Merseyrail to provide the same level of service (pre Covid19) with fewer vehicles, the order for new units stands at 52, compared to the current 56 units. For the battery trail to be successful the unit must perform comparably under all conditions to the Class 777s which are not fitted with batteries.

Class 777s at Kirkdale TMD

 

Merseytravel isn't paying lip service to future expansion with this trial, they have serious ambitions to extend the network and are already working on plans for an initial modest extension from Kirkby to a new station to be constructed at Headbolt Lane, but they have more ambitious plans to extend services to Skelmersdale, which would require reinstating a former route which was closed in the 1960s and the construction of a new station. Plans for Skelmersdale link are currently at the GRIP 3 stage. The new Headbolt Lane station would become the new eastern terminus on the Kirkby branch, until such time that services can be extended further. The new station would require a short section of third-rail from Kirkby, although if the battery trial is successful the new station could instead be served by Class 777s fitted with batteries.

Merseytravel also has a long term goal to extend services from Ellesmere Port to Helsby or Warrington Bank Quay, they would also like to extend services from Ormskirk to Preston and from Bidston to Wrexham. In order to ensure that any further extensions can become a reality Merseytravel has an option to purchase a further 60 units from Stadler, should the need arise. These units could be fitted with either pantographs or batteries, depending on how further extensions are to be delivered.

Wrexham-Bidston Line extension 

Electrification of the Wrexham-Bidston line was discounted back in 2008 when Network Rail published a report which estimated the cost of electrifying 27 miles of railway with 750v DC third-rail to be £207m, a figure which was said to be 3 times higher than that estimated by Merseytravel. This meant that it seemed as if through services to Liverpool from Wrexham would be put on hold indefinitely. However, the introduction of Class 777s does provide a reason to be optimistic that, in the medium to long term services could operate from Wrexham Central through to Liverpool on the Wrexham-Bidston line.

One option that was investigated was electrifying the Wrexham-Bidston line with 25kv overhead wires, this was thought to be a cheaper option than third-rail electrification, and with the option for Class 777s variants to be constructed to take power from both third-rail and overhead wires, that could have been a real option. However, the publication Network Rail's traction decarbonisation network strategy suggests that the Wrexham-Bidston will not be electrified. The report now suggests that through services will be provided by battery-powered units.

It is likely that if the Class 777 battery trial is a success and proposals for the Wrexham-Bidston line are taken forward, that some infrastructure would be required at the Wrexham end of the line in order to re-charge the units. Vivarail which is currently delivering class 230 hybrid units to Transport for Wales for use on the Wrexham-Bidston line, has been working on battery technology for some time and they say one of their units fitted with batteries could travel as far as 60 miles on a single charge.

Class 230 diesel-electric hybrid built by Vivarail currently being tested on the Wrexham-Bidston line before their introduction later this year

If we assume that a Stadler unit could be fitted with enough batteries to travel up 60 miles between charge, whilst maintaining the same acceleration characteristics as the non-battery variants, it is still thought that the 54 mile round trip from Bidston to Wrexham and back on one charge would be difficult. This is due to the steep gradients on the route from Shotton towards Buckley and the frequent stops spaced closely together from Shotton to Wrexham Central. Therefore it is likely that a short section of third-rail would have to be installed leading into Wrexham Central.

Rapid charging via third-rail is another area in which Vivarail is leading the way. The system which Vivarail is developing has interim Network Rail approval and is set to become the UK standard system. Their system is capable of providing enough charge in just 8 minutes to power a class 230 battery variant for up to 60 miles. The system uses a short section of third-rail to charge the batteries via third rail shoe gear. This power can either be provided directly from the National Grid, or via stationary second-life batteries, which could be charged more slowly and then used to provide rapid charging to a unit.

Ormskirk to Preston and Ellesmere Port have been classified by Network Rail's report as “multiple (proposed battery)”, which could mean partial electrification with batteries being used to bridge the gap between electrified and non-electrified sections. This raises the question about which means of electrification would be used, as the DfT, Network Rail are against expansion of third-rail. Class 777 variants could only be built to take third-rail and 25kv overhead power, or third-rail and batteries. This is because the batteries would occupy the same space in which the transformers to convert the 25kv AC to 750v DC would. But Merseytravel is also investigating using 750v DC overhead, this means it could potentially be possible to produce units that could draw power from third-rail, overhead 750v DC and also be fitted with batteries.

So, whilst the expansion of the Merseyrail network isn't something that is going to happen in the short term, with new more adaptable units on the way and ever-improving battery technology, it is a real possibility that the network can be expanded in the medium to long term.

 

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RailLive special - A busy year for Vivarail (part 2)

Battery trains

In part one I wrote about the class 230 trains which have been ordered for the Wales and Borders franchise and for West Midlands Railway. But that's not all that has been happening at Vivarail over the past year. The engineering team has also been busy developing a battery-powered variant which has already carried its first passengers, all be it on a short run at Long Marston.

I was lucky enough to be amongst those to ride the train at RailLive 2018 along the 200 metres or so of track used to demonstrate the unit. The ride was smooth and quiet as you would expect from an all-electric vehicle, but with such a short section of track I wasn't able to get a feeling of performance. However what I could appreciate was how advanced the development was, this wasn't an unfinished prototype, it felt like a train that could already be working passenger services.

Vivarail engineers have developed a modular system which uses rafts to house the batteries similar to the system used for the diesel engines, they can be swapped relatively easily and a number of rafts can be installed under each carriage.  The 2 car test train has 4 rafts each providing 106kwh, but more rafts can be added.

It will be possible to charge the batteries through existing infrastructure such as overhead lines, 3rd rail or with static battery banks on non-electrified lines. In each case the train will be charged via a patented automatic charging point.

The image above shows one of the battery rafts which as well as providing power for the train can also be used to provide static charging points. Rather than relying on local services, a raft or number of rafts could be placed at railway stations to provide additional charging further increasing the range of the train. 

Vivarail hasn't released any figures on range yet, however it is thought that a 3 car battery unit could achieve a range of 80 miles and with new battery technology this will improve still further.

Hybrid trains 

The battery technology that has been developed isn't just being used to power all-electric units, the technology will also be used on the class 230 diesel-electric units destined for Wales and Borders. Hybrid technology will be used to further improve the environmental credentials and reduce operating cost of the diesel units by saving fuel.

Each class 230 will be fitted with 4 battery rafts, 2 underneath each of the driving cars, the diesel engines will be placed underneath the middle carriage and will be used to charge the batteries. This system will provide quicker acceleration whilst improving fuel economy through the use of regenerative braking and GPS controlled engine management. 

The engines will be controlled by a GPS system which will be able to switch the engines off when they are not required, or at stations where there may be environmental concerns. This system combined with regenerative breaking promises to deliver a 20% fuel saving compared to a unit powered by diesel engines alone. 

I have uploaded a short clip to Youtube of the battery train in action.

Apologies about the sound, it was a windy day in Warwickshire

I hope to provide further updates on the development of the battery train and deployment of the units that have been ordered in the not too distant future.