Airport Rail Link

Posted on November 8, 2011 by bradfordrail

Underground trains may soon run on the Harrogate Line (cc) Tom Page

The Yorkshire Evening Post is reporting that the Harrogate Chamber of Commerce has written to the Minister for Railways to ask for an agreement in principal to the development of a new railway station new the airport, and the operation of a bus connection service to the terminal building.

The plan is significantly less than was hoped for, a full rail link from the Harrogate line to the Wharfedale line via the airport. The plan also recommends using old 3rd rail London Overground trains, this would represent a significant cost barrier. The DfT have stated their objection to new 3rd rail development however. There are alternative electrification schemes which would be suitable for the Harrogate Line.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , |

« »

2 Responses

  1. Mark Leving, on November 12, 2011 at 11:20 pm said:

    The DfT have not stated any objection to the Harrogate Line proposals, and have in fact recognised in recent correspondence that it has attractions. It is important to appreciate that there appears to be no 25kV rolling stock available with any degree of certainty this decade, and what might become available around 2020 would be 40-45 years old and less suitable in several respects.

    • bradfordrail, on November 15, 2011 at 10:01 pm said:

      Except the government’s third rail policy is:

      New electrification, except minor infills within the third-rail network, will use the 25 kV Overhead Electrification (OLE) system consistent with the Energy TSIs, with distribution operating at 50 kV through autotransformers. In the areas where it is fitted, the third-rail system is likely to stay, as replacement with OLE costs as much as initial electrification,
      and electrification of unfitted areas should get first priority when funds become available. Although third rail represents a higher level of hazard to railway staff, the evidence is that the risk may be mitigated. For OLE systems, the operating consequences of damage to the overhead conductor are such that future designs should be more robust

      Therefore is the D-stock trains are capable of being converted to 25kv overhead, (there are some new OLE equipment with a relatively low installation cost)

      BRUG is all in favour of improving, we struggle to believe the current scheme as proposed offers significant safety, environmental benefits.

      The electrical and heat loss associated with third rail (i2r loss) are a significant cost in terms of miles per unit

      Source: (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers/whitepapercm7176/railwhitepapertechnicalstrategy/pdfrailtechstrategyrts1)

Comments are closed.