Category: UK

The Class 700

On Sunday 20th May 2018, new rail services were due to start between Rainham in Kent and Luton.  Unfortunately, as well publicised in the media (here) things didn’t go according to plan.  But this is not what this blog is about.  This blog looks at the workhorse of that service, the new Class 700 unit, most of which at the time of this blog were owned by Thameslink (although Great Northern will have some).

The trains were built between 2014 and 2018 by Siemens in Germany.  The initial order was for 60 Eight car trains and 55 twelve car trains.  They are scheduled to replace all the class 319s on the Thameslink Network.

Their maximum speed is 100mph, and are electrically supplied with a third rail shoe (750 V DC) as well as a pantograph for overhead operation (25 Kv AC).  They are fully fitted with air conditioning, and a regenerative braking system.

The units are capable of working as ATO (Automatic train operation), which means the train can drive itself.  This is already in operation along the “Thameslink Core” which  links the East Coast mainline to the network around St Pancras.  The usual safety AWS is installed, as well as the ability to upgrade this easily to the new Digital Railway signalling as and when it is operational.

Two shots of the exterior of the train are below, one is of the information plate :P1000809P1000811

Interior shots of the train taken by myself at Rainham are below:

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The images above show the standard configuration in standard class.  1st class carriages have slightly better seats and tables.  As you can see, the train is totally able to be walked through, although first class carriages are separated.  On the 8 car trains there are 3 toilets (1 disabled).  I believe this is increased by one each om the 12 car trains.  Luggage racks above the seats are large, plenty of space for a small case.

The new information boards show various information, including carriage loading indicators and information on the London transport network:

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They also show the time and the next station stop, as well as the usual scrolling information about the service you are on and its destinations.  Overall, these are very impressive and very informative.

As good and shiny as this train is though however, its glaring problem is the seating in standard class, which is well documented if you perform a basic internet search.  Having done a full 2 and a half hour journey from Rainham (Kent) to Luton, I can indeed say that these seats are not built for that length of journey.  They are quite hard, and realistically I see only around an hour and a half being the maximum journey time you would want on them.

This however is not a problem.  The train is really designed with the commuter in mind, so the core user would only be using it for a short journey, either up to London from Medway, or up to London from Luton.  As a modern train it really performs well, with good acceleration and the ride comfort in relation to bumps and jolts is really very smooth. All onboard announcements are clear and concise.

If the lessons from the seating can be learnt, then new variants of this train could be learnt and improvements made to what is in essence a very fine unit.  As an addition to the fleet roster in the south east it is very capable, and notwithstanding the seats, a very enjoyable ride.

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That’s all for now, thanks for reading and I’ll blog again soon.

 

The Digital Railway

Last week (10th May 2018) , the British Government in association with Network Rail announced that it would be investing in a digital railway, but what is that?

Basically, for well over a hundred years, railway signalling in the UK is a “block” based system. That is, a pre defined area of railway ‘blocks’ divide up the network, and no two trains can occupy the same block at the same time. In recent years, if a train moves past a red signal in to an occupied block, the onboard safety system (TPWS) will apply the emergency brake. This system albeit very safe, is very inefficient. A better way would be to allow the trains to report their position, speed etc. This would allow trains to run safely at closer distances, and would increase the capacity on the network.

The cost would be high, but as many of the signalling systems in the UK are nearing an upgrade, the spend would not necessarily be in addition to works which have been already identified by Network Rail.

To better explain this, the following video from Network Rail shows the current system of signalling, and how the new digital systems would improve the UK rail network.

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That’s all for now, thanks for reading, I’ll blog again soon.

Banbury – Gateway To Almost Everywhere!

In the June of 2017, I visited Banbury Railway station, with a short trip to Heyford.  I had seen many videos from the station with its varied traction, but mainly wanted to see the Chiltern Railway services from London Marylebone to Birmingham,  some of which are class 68 / 67 hauled.  The day certainly didn’t disappoint.

Firstly a little history.  Banbury Railway Station opened in 1850 as Banbury Bridge Street Station, for the GWR.  At first it was just a single line station, but due to popularity was increased to double track a few years after opening.  Goods loops were also installed around the station, notably adjacent to the “up” line.  This also provided access to the LNWR route via another Station, Banbury Merton Street.  Further terminating bays and goods loops followed, cementing Banbury’s importance in the rail network.  In 1948 during nationalisation, the station was renamed Banbury General.

Banbury Merton Street closed in 1960, and with that Banbury General was renamed Banbury.  Some, but not all, of the goods loops around the station have subsequently been removed, and the station now has 4 lines, served by three platforms.

Many freight services pass through Banbury, mainly intermodal workings from/to Southampton.  Below are two images of Freightliner 66 501s working on the “Up” line from Southampton docks towards London.

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The main current (2018) passenger services are as follows :

Chiltern Railways:

3 tph to London Marylebone 
2 tph to Birmingham Moor Street, 1 of which carries on to Birmingham Snow Hill

Cross Country:

Services to Bournemouth, Manchester, Reading and Newcastle

GWR

Cherwell Valley line services to Reading and Didcot Parkway

As you can see, it really is a gateway across a good part of the country!  The two pictures below are of Class 68 locomotives, on loan from DRS, on services to London Marylebone (top) and Birmingham New Street (bottom) for Chiltern Railways.

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And here are a couple of Cross Country Voyagers, en route to Manchester and London respectively.

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I have also posted a video to my YouTube channel, and this can be seen below:

The station staff are friendly and are ok with photography / video work, obviously with the rules of the railway always being adhered to.  I really enjoyed my visit here, so much going on with all different types of traction, and hope to visit again in the future.

Please also visit Rainham Rail Enthusiast on YouTube

Please also visit Rainham Rail Enthusiast On Instagram

Please also visit Mistydale Model Railway On Facebook

That’s all for now, thanks for reading, I’ll blog again soon.

Stations Near Me – 1 – Sittingbourne

As a companion to my ongoing series of potted station histories in the Medway area, this blog subsection will concentrate on other stations near to where I live in Rainham (Kent). The first is Sittingbourne.

Sittingbourne station opened on the 25th January 1858, as part of the East Kent Railway (later to be merged with the South Eastern railway to form the South East and Chatham Railway). At this time, trains would terminate at Chatham and a horse and cart would transfer passengers to Strood, where they would join passengers on the South Eastern Railway.

The large and impressive station building is situated on the “up” line, with 2 platforms, the “down” side connected by a subway. Goods sidings at this time were adjacent to the “up” line, to the east of the main station building. In 1860, services to Sheerness-on-Sea commenced via a new line next to the existing down platform, making this platform an island type.

In 1899, a new footbridge linked the two platforms, complementing the existing subway. It was around this time that the station was also re-named “Sittingbourne & Milton Regis”, a name it was to retain until changed back to “Sittingbourne” in 1970.

The Southern Railway took over in 1923, The goods sidings on the “up” line were removed around this time. In its place, a small goods yard was installed to the side of the “down” platform. Serving primarily the paper mills, it also provided stabling for chemical trains going to Sheerness Steel in the late 20th Century.

Electrification at Sittingbourne came quite late in 1958 (the lines further west through Gillingham had been electrified since the late 1930’s). With electrification, the old semaphore signals were removed, with full electric light signals put in their place.

In recent history, a new bridge to the east of the station building was opened in April 2012. This included a lift for passengers. This was a great improvement on the situation before that, which required passengers who needed assistance to be taken across the tracks via a walkway with a member of station staff. A full refurbishment to the toilets and station building was also undertaken at this time, as well as new platform shelters. The subway was blocked in the early 2000s.

The station building is the oldest piece of railway architecture surviving in the area.

Incidents:

Three major incidents have occurred either in or near the station:

1861 : A derailment just outside the station causing 1 death.

1878 : A collision within the station as a passenger train ran into static goods vans. The fault for this was attributed to the goods shunter. 5 People died.

1966 : 18 vans of a freight train de-railed just past western junction on the “Down” approach to the station. This caused extensive damage to the infrastructure and closure of the entire line for two days. Thankfully there were no casualties.

Some information contained is this blog was obtained from the KentRail Sittingbourne Page .

Photographs (c) David Glasspool and Stacey Harris

Videos I have taken can be found on the RainhamRailEnthusiast YouTube Page.

My model railway has a Facebook page, click to view Mistydale Model Railway .

You can also follow me on Instagram : @RainhamRailEnthusiast

and Twitter : @RainhamRail

Many thanks for reading this Blog instalment – goodbye and I’ll Blog soon.

Shameless YouTube promotion!!

Well, it doesn’t hurt!!  Here is the YouTube channel for Rainham Rail Enthusiast.  Showcasing my love of trains, both modern and heritage, plus a section for my model railway, Mistydale. Thanks for watching.

Mistydale Model Railway – an overview

Mistydale model railway is a fictitious static model railway, with heritage and modern traction.  At the heart of the model has always been ‘Mistydale station’, a Heritage line connected to the mainline.  153 DMUs service the railway from the mainline via Foxburrow Junction Station in the nearby town of Foxburrow.

Below is a picture across to Mistydale Station, with a 153 DMU in Platform 1 and the station vehicle park featuring vintage vehicles, play area with tea room.

mistydale a

Another view below shows the station at night.

mistydale b

After trains leave Mistydale, they enter the heritage line passing through Merlin Halt

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The train then either returns back through the countryside back to Mistydale, or can access the mainline via Mistydale North Junction to the mainline loop.  Here Barleycorn Depot can be found

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mistydale h

After a small countryside journey, trains can access the line through to Foxburrow Junction Station, which has adjacent to it Foxburrow Yard.  Below is two pictures of Foxburrow Junction station in January 2018, when the branch to Mistydale was fully restored.

mistydale c
mistydale d
mistydale e

I will occasionally Blog about Mistydale, but for the latest information, pictures and video, please visit Mistydale Model Railway

Mistydale model railway is also featured on the Rainham Rail Enthusiast YouTube page.

Many thanks for reading, I’ll Blog again soon.

WW2 – Upchurch railway disaster

A short re-telling of a local story.

On August 16th 1944, a V-1 ‘doodlebug’ rocket was chased by a Spitfire pilot from Dover.  After many unsuccessful attempts to shoot it down, he eventually managed to tip it with his wing, but unfortunately instead of landing in an empty field, the missile landed under the bridge of the railway line at Oak Lane, Upchurch.

It was found that a railway worker sheltering under the bridge was killed instantly.  The bridge was totally demolished in the explosion, and unfortunately the 1535 Victoria to Ramsgate was speeding towards it, having just left Rainham.  Despite the best efforts of the driver, the train encountered the now demolished bridge.  Amazingly the main cab jumped the gap but the tender fell into it and the first few carriages were heavily damaged.  In fact the 4th coach ended up straddling the gap completely.

In total 7 passengers lost their lives, they came mainly from the from the front two carriages.  Many were severely injured, and were taken to several nearby hospitals.  Miraculously the driver and fireman survived.

Being as this was the mainline through to the coast and up to London, after the investigations and clear up were completed,  a new bridge was constructed in November 1944 at a cost of £3,800.

Please also visit My YouTube channel for railway related videos, including Mistydale Model Railway .

Many thanks – I’ll blog again soon.

Medway Stations 2 – Gillingham

Continuing the potted series on my local stations, the next one on the ‘up’ line from Rainham is Gillingham.

The station was originally opened as ‘New Brompton’ in January 1858, the main station building being situated on the ‘Down’ platform, being similar in structure to the one at Rainham.  This was demolished in 1973 and replaced by prefabricated buildings, housing staff accommodation.

A goods yard was provided on the ‘down’ side, to the east of the station. This had two eastward-facing sidings, one which ended behind the ‘Down’ platform. The second passed through a 45ft long goods shed.  In 1877, after an act of parliament the previous year, a branch line to the north was provided to gain access to Chatham Dockyard.  This passed through a cutting and over a bridge, terminating at the Dockyard.  It was around this time that a substantial goods shed with 3 lines was placed adjacent to the ‘up’ line to the east of the station.

In 1912, the name changed to “Gillingham”, and a year later the first of many re-models started.  Firstly the addition of a third set of rails next to the “up” platform, creating the now familiar island configuration of the ‘up’ platform.  The “A” signal box was next to the up platform.  This remained in operation until the early 1970’s.

The Gillingham “B” signal box is next to the level crossing, and also at this time the footbridge beside the level crossing was built.  The spur to Chatham Dockyard was situated to the west of the crossing, branching off of the ‘down’ line.

An extension to the electric section of railway, from the already electrified section as far as Swanley, was agreed in 1935.  This would bring third rail operations as far as Gillingham, and the works were completed in 1939.  As previously talked about in the Rainham section, it would be almost 25 years until the rest of the south and south-eastern network would be electrified.  An EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) depot to the east of the level crossing was established, and EMU stabling commenced shortly after, something it continues to do today.

The 2nd station building, situated on the bridge over the railway, remained until a major reconstruction in 2011, when a new glass façade was built.

In the early 1990s, a scheme centered around the “Networker” program meant a new building was built to the west of the level crossing signal box on the ‘Up’ side.  This building was meant to contain a new signalling centre, however after its completion in 1994, the building remained empty, only to house a railtrack archive centre.  Eventually though, due to the start of the ‘East Kent Re-Signalling Scheme’ in 2012, the building was fitted out with equipment.  It is now the main signalling hub for the North Kent area, with only a few signal boxes on the fringes of the area operational (including Folkestone and Minster).  It is known as the ‘North Kent Operations Centre’.

Videos of the rail network can be seen on my YouTube Channel

Many thanks for reading and stopping by, I’ll blog again soon.

UK Railway future overview

On Wednesday 29th November 2017, the government of the UK announced its vision for the future of the UK rail network.  After reading the publication myself, I will outline some of the proposals below.  Note these are only proposals, even though much press speculation in the UK before this publication hinted at an actual announcement of line re-openings and the such, none were set in stone in the report.

The all important funding question had pretty much been answered in October 2017, when the government announced that £34.7bn had been set aside for funding between 2019-2024 (in England and Wales, Scotland provides any investment separately).  This didn’t mean however that recently deferred projects, such as electrification would now go ahead.  Instead the report says there is a need to “prioritise and invest in essential work on the existing infrastructure”.  This may give some hope back to these projects, such as electrification to the south west line, but doesn’t specifically say so.

The issue of Network Rail, the organisation which looks after the infrastructure of the railway such as tracks and signalling was addressed.  The overall impression given by the report is to try to make Network Rails’ operation more regional, instead of centralised.  It is noted that this is where most problems have occurred because of the lack of local knowledge when planning engineering works.  By working closer with the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) in their specific region, and giving more control to the local teams, it is hoped a more streamlined and efficient timetable of works can be achieved on time.

The report also touches on developments in track signalling.  In what seems to be a hint at a major overhaul in the future, digital systems could be implemented.  These include:

  • c-DAS (connected-Driver Advisory System). A way to inform the driver en-route about potential route changes or speed restrictions in real time.
  • ETCS (European Train Control System).  Eliminates the need for trackside signalling, instead moving everything to the drivers cab.

Of the two listed above,, ETCS would only be implemented when current signalling comes to the end of their life.  This would mean a long wait for such a system here in Kent, as we have only just seen the end of the East Kent Signalling project.  However in 2015 funding was approved for ECTS signalling in Ashford, Kent, although an exact timetable is still to be approved.

With regard to “new” routes, the only concrete route planned is the previously announced restoration of service between Oxford and Cambridge, which will be undertaken by the East West Rail Company.  Other routes are discussed very briefly and are still deemed to be in proposal stage.  These include

  • Bristol to Portishead
  • Bristol to Henbury
  • Exeter to Oakhampton
  • Bere Alston to Tavistock

From a local point of view, many were hoping that the Uckfield to Lewes line would be mentioned in the report.  It isn’t, however after a question by Lewes MP Maria Caulfield Chris Grayling replied that “I would be delighted to see the route reopened, and I hope that the consortium pursuing the project will prove successful.”.  This presumably means that other national line reopening’s can be revisited, providing funding and feasibility can be achieved.

Ticketing was addressed in the report, with a definite lean towards “Smart Ticketing”, such as tickets on mobile.  Smartcard technology for short distance journeys, such as TFL’s Oyster Card, could be implemented on some routes.  Personally I still like a paper ticket, as the smart ticket relies on mobile connection and more importantly battery life!

It was good to see accessibility to the railway get a (albeit brief) mention in the report.  Access for all to the rail network is essential for everyone, regardless of any disability.  Not just step free access, but proper training for staff to deal with customers with accessibility needs.

Investment in Wi-Fi technology was also mentioned, with at least £35 million set aside for trials.  Many networks do have Wi-Fi enabled trains, and it is good to see that investment here was forthcoming.

As far as the franchises go, the company which controls the much maligned Southern Rail, Govia Thameslink, could be broken up.  Much has been said in the Media about this franchise, so my suggestion here is to access a search engine, read for yourself and make your own mind up!  As far as my region, SouthEastern, is concerned, a new joint team of Network Rail staff and TOC will take responsibility.  This is in conjunction to the paragraph earlier about Network Rail integration.  The new franchise here is due to be announced in 2018.  Other prospective franchises are detailed on page 36-38 of the report.

As a rail enthusiast, I have always felt that freight carried by rail is an integral part of the UK economy.  I was therefore glad to see a continuation of 2016’s rail freight strategy in the report.  This includes provision to provide funding for improvements to rail freight up to 2024.

In conclusion, the report does include many great ideas which, if implemented, will improve the UK Rail network.  Integration between the TOCs and Network Rail is a sensible move, as is the proposed improvement to track signalling.  It unfortunately stopped short of headline line re-openings, but did hint at willingness to do so.

The full report can be read HERE

Videos of mine can be found on my YouTube channel, Rainham Rail Enthusiast .  Thanks for reading, I’ll blog again soon.