ELECTRIFICATION AND O.L.E.
“We believe this scheme still to be financially positive: in other words, we believe the cost of paying for the work, over a number of years, would be more than offset by the savings in operating the railway year-on-year.
For this reason,
we’re still hopeful this will be a key feature in the HLOS in July.”
Golding did not comment on a suggestion by Railfuture that the Government had decided not to press ahead with Midland Main Line electrification once it decided to focus on HS2.
He said that if it does appear in the HLOS, the timescale for the work could still be quite distant, due to resignalling and work associated with the Felixstowe- Nuneaton freight project. He said his “best assessment” is that Midland Main Line electrification would take place at the end of CP5 and beginning of CP6, meaning around 2018-19.
Cardiff Valleys is another “strong candidate”, he said.
The future of the third rail
He also dropped hints that Network Rail is “beginning to explore” converting the third rail network south of the Thames to overhead AC traction. Peter Dearman, Network
Rail’s head
of network electrification, has previously said the existing network is “at the limit of its capabilities”, especially as regards speed, and ultimately must be converted – though this could take decades, he has said, and the amount of bridge and tunnel
Golding said: “Track lowering
is obviously preferable to reconstructing bridges, [but] as we move forward towards particularly phase 4 – between Manchester and Preston – we’re finding that the distance to be cleared is so significant that we’re heading more towards bridge reconstruction than track lowering.”
Tunnels are also a major issue, with lowering the track invert sometimes the only solution – although he suggested that in one case, there could be a third rail solution inside the tunnel.
Rolling programme
Golding explained the historic ‘stop-start’ nature of electrification projects saying: “We do a significant amount, to get people up to speed, get the skill level up, then we stop. That’s happened repeatedly over the last few years. What we’d like to see is the beginning of a rolling programme of electrification.”
He went on: “Certain of these programmes are financially positive for the Government; there is clearly an impetus to get as much of this done as soon as you can. There is going to be a challenge, I’ve no doubt, in terms of building the supply market to do electrification as fast as we can
but in a way that’s sustainable and gives us the opportunity to have a rolling programme, going forward.
“So, rather than seeing all our eggs in one basket in CP5, we’d like to see the next control period seeing a gradual throughput of electrification programmes – Midland Main Line and certain others – to get us in a position of starting that rolling programme, beyond the end of the next control period.”
He noted that of the major electrification schemes currently in progress and funded, none had funding at the start of CP4, which was only three years ago.
He said: “One of the questions we’ve been asking is – are
there any alternative financing models? Is there another way of generating funding or financing or even conceivably delivery of electrification projects to allow us to get on with other projects, outside the regulatory settlement for CP5?
“In Network Rail, we’re very
excited at the prospect of a programme of electrification going forward; we think it’s good for the industry and good for reducing costs, which fits in with the themes of McNulty and the value for money challenge; it also improves journeys and the passenger experience, and has a significant impact in terms of carbon emissions.”
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
opinion@railtechnologymagazine.com
conversions and rebuilds would be immense.
There have been plenty of similar challenges electrifying the north west too, though (see images).
rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 12 | 51
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