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Post by wirewiper on Feb 8, 2024 13:31:41 GMT
Trial running is now pencilled in for Spring, although initially the unit will not be in passenger service but will run alongside the existing service. One previously unmentioned aspect of the fast charging system is that the short charge rails are fully covered by the train and are only live when the train is charging. This makes them much safer than third-rail electrification which is live continuously unless switched off. The Fast Charge sysyem can be installed between the running rails in a few hours, causing minimal disruption to the train service. GWR see themselves as very much leading the way in rolling out this technology on the UK rail network, and have already explored its use on other Thames Valley branch lines. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/former-district-line-tube-train-to-start-gwr-battery-train-trials-in-west-london-70069/
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Post by Busboy105 on Feb 8, 2024 15:26:47 GMT
Trial running is now pencilled in for Spring, although initially the unit will not be in passenger service but will run alongside the existing service. One previously unmentioned aspect of the fast charging system is that the short charge rails are fully covered by the train and are only live when the train is charging. This makes them much safer than third-rail electrification which is live continuously unless switched off. The Fast Charge sysyem can be installed between the running rails in a few hours, causing minimal disruption to the train service. GWR see themselves as very much leading the way in rolling out this technology on the UK rail network, and have already explored its use on other Thames Valley branch lines. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/former-district-line-tube-train-to-start-gwr-battery-train-trials-in-west-london-70069/Never been on a D stock train before so this will be interesting
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Post by Dstock7080 on Feb 8, 2024 16:22:11 GMT
Never been on a D stock train before so this will be interesting I spent 36 years working on D Stock and will be very interested to see the progress!
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Post by vjaska on Feb 8, 2024 16:41:35 GMT
Trial running is now pencilled in for Spring, although initially the unit will not be in passenger service but will run alongside the existing service. One previously unmentioned aspect of the fast charging system is that the short charge rails are fully covered by the train and are only live when the train is charging. This makes them much safer than third-rail electrification which is live continuously unless switched off. The Fast Charge sysyem can be installed between the running rails in a few hours, causing minimal disruption to the train service. GWR see themselves as very much leading the way in rolling out this technology on the UK rail network, and have already explored its use on other Thames Valley branch lines. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/former-district-line-tube-train-to-start-gwr-battery-train-trials-in-west-london-70069/Never been on a D stock train before so this will be interesting A lot of people have fond memories of the D stock - I'm not one despite riding many, much preferred the C stock myself.
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Post by Busboy105 on Feb 10, 2024 14:49:05 GMT
Will the trains only be able to run the West Ealing Shuttle and not the special 5.40am train which starts at Paddington?
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Post by VPL630 on Feb 11, 2024 10:26:35 GMT
Will the trains only be able to run the West Ealing Shuttle and not the special 5.40am train which starts at Paddington? In theory, it should be able to do the 0540 from Pad but the unit is limited to 60mph, most of the time it is expected that the unit will remain at West Ealing overnight, only returning to Reading for Maintenance, currently the 0544 London Paddington to Greenford and the 2203 Greenford to London Paddington only run as it's the easiest place to turn the unit around as it comes from Reading.
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Post by wirewiper on Feb 29, 2024 17:44:45 GMT
230 001 at West Ealing today, it was apparently on gauging and sighting tests (photo not mine) flic.kr/p/2pAW3S3
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 6, 2024 9:19:26 GMT
Photo (not mine) of 230001 on test at South Greenford yesterday (Tuesday 5th March). It's a three-car unit which I hadn't realised before; I'd always assumed it was a two-car! flic.kr/p/2pBGfah
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Post by COBO on Mar 31, 2024 12:29:17 GMT
It’s so bizarre that the Greenford branch line is under the Great Western and national rail when the entire branch is within the TfL boundary. I would have thought it would be under TfL ownership and be under the London Overground by now.
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 31, 2024 12:43:34 GMT
It’s so bizarre that the Greenford branch line is under the Great Western and national rail when the entire branch is within the TfL boundary. I would have thought it would be under TfL ownership and be under the London Overground by now. I doubt TfL would want the line, they would have to maintain and operate a diesel unit just for the route. It makes more sense for GWR to operate it using their common pool of diesel units.
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Post by ADH45258 on Mar 31, 2024 13:35:14 GMT
It’s so bizarre that the Greenford branch line is under the Great Western and national rail when the entire branch is within the TfL boundary. I would have thought it would be under TfL ownership and be under the London Overground by now. I doubt TfL would want the line, they would have to maintain and operate a diesel unit just for the route. It makes more sense for GWR to operate it using their common pool of diesel units. In its current form, GWR would make the most sense, or equally Chiltern who have a similar fleet of 2-car 165s. However, I struggle to see much reason in keeping the line open at all. It only has an infrequent half-hourly service, and with no direct trains into London. And doesn't really provide any unique journey opportunities either. Most passengers living near South Greenford Station would more likely just walk to Greenford or Perivale for the Central Line. And similarly at Drayton Park Station, in most cases it would be easier to walk a short distance to Hanwell or West Ealing for the Elizabeth Line. Castle Bar Park is a bit further away, but then it may be a more appealing option to take a more frequent bus service to connect to the Central or Elizabeth line. And for many passengers it's still not that far to walk to an Elizabeth Line station. I just don't think it's of much use as an isolated line, and with both the Greenford branch and the Chiltern main line unelectrified, it's more difficult to merge into a longer service. Otherwise you could maybe send some Elizabeth Line services to somewhere like High Wycombe via Ealing Broadway and Greenford, and with the current intermediate stations replaced by one with longer platforms.
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Post by LondonNorthern on Mar 31, 2024 14:13:55 GMT
I doubt TfL would want the line, they would have to maintain and operate a diesel unit just for the route. It makes more sense for GWR to operate it using their common pool of diesel units. In its current form, GWR would make the most sense, or equally Chiltern who have a similar fleet of 2-car 165s. However, I struggle to see much reason in keeping the line open at all. It only has an infrequent half-hourly service, and with no direct trains into London. And doesn't really provide any unique journey opportunities either. Most passengers living near South Greenford Station would more likely just walk to Greenford or Perivale for the Central Line. And similarly at Drayton Park Station, in most cases it would be easier to walk a short distance to Hanwell or West Ealing for the Elizabeth Line. Castle Bar Park is a bit further away, but then it may be a more appealing option to take a more frequent bus service to connect to the Central or Elizabeth line. And for many passengers it's still not that far to walk to an Elizabeth Line station. I just don't think it's of much use as an isolated line, and with both the Greenford branch and the Chiltern main line unelectrified, it's more difficult to merge into a longer service. Otherwise you could maybe send some Elizabeth Line services to somewhere like High Wycombe via Ealing Broadway and Greenford, and with the current intermediate stations replaced by one with longer platforms. The railway line still sees use for freight movements so even if GWR stopped operating services from West Ealing to Greenford I can't imagine the line would close outright.
I think unless there were electrification plans and the platforms were extended to make the line compatible with 710s (to avoid any awkward microfleets) then I should imagine it'll remain under GWR. The only instance I could maybe see TFL looking to snap it up is whether or not the West London Orbital is going to use BMUs/BEMUs and whether or not they want to snap up Brentford-Southall if that does reopen like is being suggested
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Post by Busboy105 on Mar 31, 2024 14:47:07 GMT
It’s so bizarre that the Greenford branch line is under the Great Western and national rail when the entire branch is within the TfL boundary. I would have thought it would be under TfL ownership and be under the London Overground by now. I doubt TfL would want the line, they would have to maintain and operate a diesel unit just for the route. It makes more sense for GWR to operate it using their common pool of diesel units. What if it became a branch off the Elizabeth line?
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 31, 2024 14:56:13 GMT
I doubt TfL would want the line, they would have to maintain and operate a diesel unit just for the route. It makes more sense for GWR to operate it using their common pool of diesel units. What if it became a branch off the Elizabeth line? It would be prohibitively expensive to electrify the Greenford branch and upgrade it to Elizabeth Line standards, and I doubt there is capacity to run additional trains through Ealing Broadway. As it stands, the Greenford branch line is a very handy self-contained line for the Battery train trail; if the train fails it does not impact on any other services and there are plenty of alternative bus services in the area.
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Post by Busboy105 on Mar 31, 2024 15:51:44 GMT
What if it became a branch off the Elizabeth line? It would be prohibitively expensive to electrify the Greenford branch and upgrade it to Elizabeth Line standards, and I doubt there is capacity to run additional trains through Ealing Broadway. As it stands, the Greenford branch line is a very handy self-contained line for the Battery train trail; if the train fails it does not impact on any other services and there are plenty of alternative bus services in the area. Forgot the Greenford branch wasn't electrified.
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