EXCLUSIVE

Plans
to
extend
Great
Western
electrification
may
be
announced
today.

Railnews
understands
that
projects
in
both
CP7
and
CP8
are
set
to
extend
electrification
from
Newbury
to
Somerset,
Devon
and
Cornwall
in
a
series
of
related
upgrades,
and
that
a
‘launch
budget’
of
£104
million
has
been
set
aside
to
pay
for
scoping
work.

The
plans
are
said
to
include
25kV
electrification
through
to
Penzance,
which
was
suggested
by
British
Rail
as
part
of
one
electrification
option
in
1981.
Branch
lines
to
Falmouth
Docks
and
Newquay
would
also
be
included,
because
they
form
each
end
of
the
new
Mid-Cornwall
Metro,
and
the
Newquay
branch
is
also
used
by
bi-mode
Class
802
Intercity
Expresses,
which
presently
have
to
run
on
diesel
power
west
of
Newbury.
Platforms
would
be
extended
at
Falmouth
Town
and
Falmouth
Docks,
and
more
of
the
Newquay
line
would
be
doubled
on
the
approach
to
the
station,
to
improve
capacity.

The
wires
would
also
be
extended
from
Newton
Abbot
to
Paignton,
and
from
Exeter
St
David’s
to
Barnstaple,
while
the
‘Bristol
gap’
would
be
closed
by
installing
overhead
lines
from
Chippenham
to
Bath
Spa
and
Bristol
Temple
Meads,
and
from
Bristol
Parkway
along
the
7km
Filton
Bank,
again
to
Temple
Meads,
and
from
there
onwards
to
Cogload
Junction
near
Taunton
in
Somerset,
where
the
Bristol
line
meets
the
Berks
&
Hants
line
from
Newbury.
The
Weston-super-Mare
loop
would
be
included.

Other
local
lines
in
the
south
west
to
St
Ives,
Looe,
Gunnislake,
Okehampton
and
Exmouth
are
candidates
for
future
battery
trains,
which
are
being
developed
following
tests
with
the
technology
on
the
Greenford
branch
in
west
London.
Short
sections
of
conductor
rail
for
charging
the
batteries
would
be
installed
at
St
Erth,
Liskeard,
Plymouth
and
Exeter
St
David’s.
However,
advances
in
hydrogen
power
may
lead
to
a
rethink
of
this
part
of
the
plan.

Meanwhile,
limited
headroom
may
mean
that
short
sections
of
discontinuous
electrification
are
needed
in
Whiteball
Tunnel
and
across
the
Royal
Albert
Bridge,
although
alternatives
are
also
being
considered
to
avoid
a
continuing
need
for
bi-mode
trains
in
the
longer
term.

The
schemes
would
make
a
major
contribution
towards
meeting
the
government’s
ambitions
to
end
the
use
of
diesel
traction
on
the
railways
by
2040.
Some
lines
in
East
Anglia
are
also
set
to
get
battery
trains.
They
include
the
East
Suffolk
Line
between
Lowestoft
and
Ipswich,
and
the
Bittern
Line
between
Norwich
and
Sheringham.

A
Network
Rail
insider
said:
‘The
old
GWR
appointed
consultants
to
research
electrification
between
Taunton
and
Penzance
just
before
the
Second
World
War,
because
of
the
rising
price
of
steam
coal
and
to
improve
the
working
on
the
steep
gradients
in
south
Devon.
The
scheme
was
dropped
for
economic
reasons.’

An
announcement
may
be
made
at
midday.

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