NEW FACTORY TRAIN TO HELP WITH GWML ELECTRIFICATION
Published at 08:00 on Sunday 28th July 2013
Tags: GWML, Electrification, Network Rail
Network Rail
A factory on rails – the first of its kind to be used on Britain’s railways – will slash years off the time it will take to electrify the Great Western main line.
With 235 route miles to electrify from Maidenhead in the East* to Swansea in the West - and many thousands of trains to keep running while the work is done - Network Rail is working with German manufacturer Windhoff to build the High Output Plant system (HOPS) train to do the job.
This 23-vehicle train, in effect several trains in one, will work its way west, building the railway electrical infrastructure as it goes.
Project director for Network Rail, Western and Wales, Robbie Burns, said: “Electrifying the Great Western is a big challenge but the benefits for passengers and the wider economy will be equally huge. Electric trains are more reliable, cleaner, accelerate faster and use less energy. Their fuel cost is 45 % lower than diesel trains, and they are also cheaper to maintain.
“But electrifying such a long stretch of line in such a short timeframe, while also making sure passengers can still take trains to where they want to go, is a challenge we need new technology to meet.
“The factory train will allow us to work overnight, when the network is less busy, and will also mean we can keep trains running. It’s a step change in the way we work in the UK and we are looking forward to starting next year.”
Operating six nights a week, the £40m HOPS will do its work after dark, with adjacent lines open for business at speed – if not maximum speed – aiming to sink up to 30 piles per shift. This equates to the usual length of one stretch of conductor wire – between 1,200 and 1,500m. And there’s 17,000 piles to be sunk before Swansea.
Electrifying the Great Western using the HOPS will be a much more efficient process than methods used in this country in the past, with work able to be carried out while trains are still running.
Without it, the work would need to be undertaken at weekends, with disruptive line closures. It is intended to have electric trains running to Swansea by 2018.
