Great Western Main Line electrification - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[johnneyw]

Thanks for the information. My IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) from Didcot to Bristol definitely had the pantographs down as it came into Didcot and that is what my assumption was based on. This was mid April so I guess there was some other reason for it's diesel running.

IETs never arrive at Didcot with the pantograph raised, they are lowered at Moreton Cutting around 2 miles to the east of the station to prevent any electrical overrunning.

That does rather explain it. Many thanks

[onthecushions]

IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) never arrive at Didcot with the pantograph raised, they are lowered at Moreton Cutting around 2 miles to the east of the station to prevent any electrical overrunning.

That does rather explain it. Many thanks

ET's comment (post 246) was that electric operation West of Didcot would start on Sept 18.

I imagine that he's the one that will be switching it all on!

OTC

[grahame]

Further comment to me today - seems to be commonly know, but I have not seen it here.     From Royal Wootton Bassett the power will be switched on as far at the outskirts of Chippenham, but the final bit to Thingley will be some considerable time later (a year or two?).   Confirmation, any experts?

[Adelante_CCT]

That's what I've heard, stopping at Cocklebury Bridge (or whatever its called), with power feeds running from Melksham along/under ground?, they may not continue until they decide to carry on to Bath

[mjones]

Vale of White Horse has refused permission to demolish Steventon Bridge:
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16394893.victory-in-rail-bridge-battle-but-have-they-won-the-war/?ref=rss

What the implications for electric running to Swindon, given that the wires are now live? Does this mean a ludicrous speed restriction for years to come while this is argued about?

[SandTEngineer]

This is just getting ridiculous.  A project to improve the railway for all gets the boot put in by a few.  Reading up about the bridge concerned, its not even a good example of Brunels work.  Politics at play me thinks.

[Timmer]

Vale of White Horse has refused permission to demolish Steventon Bridge:
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16394893.victory-in-rail-bridge-battle-but-have-they-won-the-war/?ref=rss

What the implications for electric running to Swindon, given that the wires are now live? Does this mean a ludicrous speed restriction for years to come while this is argued about?

Only in this country would something like this happen...backward Britain.

Chris Grayling needs to get this overturned for the sake of progress on this already wretched electrification project.

Brunel would have been the first person to have stuck dynamite underneath it for the sake of progressing the railway.

[PhilWakely]

Vale of White Horse has refused permission to demolish Steventon Bridge:
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16394893.victory-in-rail-bridge-battle-but-have-they-won-the-war/?ref=rss

What the implications for electric running to Swindon, given that the wires are now live? Does this mean a ludicrous speed restriction for years to come while this is argued about?

What with this and the Goring Gap - where next?

[grahame]

Vale of White Horse has refused permission to demolish Steventon Bridge:
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16394893.victory-in-rail-bridge-battle-but-have-they-won-the-war/?ref=rss

What the implications for electric running to Swindon, given that the wires are now live? Does this mean a ludicrous speed restriction for years to come while this is argued about?

What with this and the Goring Gap - where next?

Chippenham Station footbridge 

[mjones]

Perhaps Didcot Railway Centre could provide steam traction to shunt IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project. This will offer more capacity on routes, save money, give a consistent and safe service and meet customer requirements. Intended to replace HSTs.) from Didcot station to the other side of the bridge. That should keep them happy!

[patch38]

What an excellent idea. As good as one of the comments in the Oxford Mail article:

Perhaps we could start a competition. Steal a brick, post a photograph of the gap left, and the winner is the one who takes the last one before it collapses, like a giant "Jengo" (?)[sic]

Unfortunately it also punishes people from the area who are supporting the development so perhaps I should delete this post before somebody takes me seriously.

I suppose the villagers could be given the big pile of bricks and they could re-build the bridge somewhere, in a field, as a monument to stupidity ?

[onthecushions]

From the press reports, the local objections seem more to do with the village being cut in two for 10 months during reconstruction. The listing is just a happy coincidence!

What should reasonably have been proposed is a temporary, Bailey type bridge alongside the old one.

A wider span, prefabricated steel permanent replacement would be quicker to build as the abutments' construction sites would be well away from the tracks and wires in use (and allow later 4-tracking).

The LC^▸ (Level Crossing)'s might also have been closed if the village road links were improved.

A pity no one in authority in NR^» (Network Rail - home page) had the slightest interest in the areas through which the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) passes, just like the AoNB problem.

A classic case of change mis-management.

OTC

[mjones]

I'd say it is a classic case of planning committees dodging unpopular decisions that they know will be overturned on appeal, but they won't then be blamed for.  The 'village cut in two' argument should be taken with the pinch of salt: the railway is to the south of the village, with very few houses on the 'wrong side', many of which are usually accessed by the level crossings anyway. A temporary bridge may be possible, I couldn't say. But other places have suffered worse severance from bridge closures. The situation should be manageable.

[Wizard]

60mph restriction to electric stock in place is the rumour. But because of how GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about)-ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) works this will actually be a restriction of 60 for all ATP fitted stock, so even on diesel mode the IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) will still have to slow down.

[broadgage]

Meanwhile the newts are no doubt breeding, but not of course breeding to the extent that they become no longer endangered. Indeed the present drought  must be increasing the hazards to newts.