Something to celebrate
This year, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first practical steam-powered public railway. The 7% of GDP spent building early railways was a worthwhile investment as it gave a profound economic benefit by drastically reducing the time and cost of transportation. Cardiff coal shipments, for example, increased twentyfold between 1840 and 1874. Railways also facilitated dramatic growth of our cities by their cheap transportation of food, people, and building materials.
Thus, the steam engine was a truly transformative invention and in a special Railway 200 feature we describe its early development. However, its use required rails which could support its weight. Hence, the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)’s use of wrought iron rails was, arguably, a more significant innovation than its steam locomotive. From the start, railways had to be a well-engineered system.
For over a hundred years, rail was the only way to carry significant passenger and freight traffic over land. Although roads now account for 90% of all passenger kilometres, rail can best move large numbers into city centres and offers the fast journeys between city centres. Outside the UK, high speed rail lines have transformed local economies. As a 2012 Government White Paper noted, without high-speed rail Britain loses out while our global competitors gain.
The physics that enabled the 12-horsepower Locomotion No 1 to haul 79 tons on its inaugural S&DR journey also enables a modern freight train to replace 76 heavy goods vehicles, and passenger trains to provide energy efficient high-speed travel. Between London and Glasgow, the energy used per seat by a plane is 37 times more than a Class 390 Pendolino train. Electric cars use 3.4 times the amount of energy per seat on this journey.
It is to be hoped that Railway 200 can be used to promote a greater understanding of how and why railways, especially when electrified, are engineered to be highly efficient and so consume far less energy than other modes of transport.
Lifting passengers seven miles into the air and propelling them at 500mph uses huge amounts of energy. Hence decarbonising aviation is almost certainly an impossible challenge. Storing the energy of the six tonnes of jet fuel used between London and Glasgow would require a battery weighing 200 tonnes. Hence the Jet-Zero campaign pins its hopes on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Yet, a Royal Society report concludes that the production of sustainable biofuels to replace the UK’s aviation jet fuel consumption would require over half the country’s agricultural land.
In its net zero report, the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) also considers that SAF produced from biomass or waste oil would be a scare resource and that SAF made from green hydrogen would be very costly. This report also states that Government “will also need to set out an approach to limiting growth in aviation demand” which could include modal shift to high-speed rail.
The decision to build Heathrow’s third runway did not heed this advice. Instead, it was stated that “we are already making great strides in transitioning to cleaner and greener aviation.” It is difficult to reconcile this statement with aviation’s high energy consumption and the realities of SAF.
It seems that the CCC’s suggested option of encourage modal shift from aviation to high-speed rail was also not considered as it is looking increasing unlikely that HS2 will be extended to Crewe. Yet the report prepared for the Mayors of Birmingham and Manchester indicates this will generate a higher GDP growth than the 0.43% forecast for Heathrow third runway. Furthermore, as it already has Parliamentary powers (which expire in February 2026), this line could be built relatively quickly.
Clive Kessell considers the history of Euston station and its proposed six-platform HS2 station that will permanently constrain HS2 services unless there is provision for future additional platforms. We also report on the opening of the Northumberland line, which will no doubt bring benefits far greater than its £298 million cost to the local community, though in 2021 its estimated cost was £166 million.
It is widely recognised that high costs are killing investment. Michael Byng explains why from his perspective as a quantity surveyor. Please email hello@rail-media with your views on this feature.
High electrification costs are one reason for the lack of freight infill electrification which led to the development of the Class 99 bi-mode locomotive. As we describe, this is an impressive machine. Peter Stanton also considers the introduction of new rolling stock and the associated challenges. He describes the Hitatchi-built Class 810 units, known as ‘Aurora,’ which are expected to carry passengers on East Midlands Railway later this year.
The interaction between trains and track is a complex issue as shown by Malcolm Dobell’s feature on hunting. In this, he describes how this can be caused by a tiny amount of wheel wear and how new on-train technology offers a solution.
The Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Unlocking Innovation (UI) events are always worthwhile. RIA’s recent Glasgow UI event was combined with Network Rail Scotland’s engineering conference and so was particularly valuable, particularly the contributions from younger engineers. We also have features describing innovative station management and electrical control technologies.
Another recent RIA event was SigEx, its Control, Command and Signalling (CCS) exhibition and conference. As Paul Darlington reports this was another large event with numerous exhibitors and speakers from different railways which included Network Rail, Northern Ireland’s Translink, as well as the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Another signalling feature considers embodied carbon in the Transport for London’s Four Lines Modernisation project. We also describe the LX PLUS level crossing system that can be designed, manufactured, assembled, and tested off-site.
The ‘Connecting Regions by Rail’ conference organised by the IMechE Railway Division’s Young Members’ Board gave young engineers opportunities to learn about engineering issues and see work done at depots and workshops. This took place in Cardiff and featured presentations on High Speed 2, MerseyTravel, Transport for Wales, Transport for London, and the GWR Fast Charge battery train trial. Its organisers are to be commended for organising an event for young engineers who are the industry’s future.
Between 20 December and 2 January, work valued at £142.3 million was delivered within 2,178 network-wide possessions of which 12 (0.6%) overran to cause train delays. Almost all this work was done safely with three reported accidents, one of which was a lost time accident. We describe the wide variety of work done, much of which was done in wet, windy, cold weather. We should be grateful to those who work on rail infrastructure in all weathers, especially at Christmas.
Image credit: David Shirres
