Electrification

The Railway Forum believes that there is a case for further electrification beyond the current 39% of the network that is presently electrified. We will work with our member companies to press the case to the Department for Transport for further electrification to be part of the long term planning strategy for the railway industry due to the operational and environmental benefits it brings.

Only some 39% of Britain's rail network is electrified - a much lower proportion than that of other comparable European systems. It is the view of The Railway Forum that there is an urgent case for re-evaluating the case for future electrification of the network particularly through in-fill electrification and on major non-electrified inter-city routes such as the Midland Main Line from London to the East Midlands and Sheffield and the Great Western Main Line to Bristol and South Wales.

In the Rail White Paper published in July 2007 the Government appeared to rule out future electrification in the period until 2004 on the basis of the following arguments:

• Cost compared to investment in increased capacity;
• Other technology such as hybrids, biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells will improve the carbon efficacy of self-powered trains;
• Electrification would be more effective following the migration to in-cab signalling.

Clearly within the scope of Government policy on climate change a key issue is that of carbon emissions. Obviously with regard to electric traction, carbon emissions at the source of power generation require to be taken into consideration. Even with this there is a 20-40% carbon advantage of electric traction compared to diesel. The key issue as perceived by the Department for Transport and stated at The Railway Forum/ Railway Engineers Forum Choosing Sustainable Power seminar on 15th April 2008 is now a financial one whilst acknowledging that benefits of electrification include lower capital and operating costs, higher performance and reliability, and improved journey quality for passengers.

The cost of electrification per single track km is in the order of £550K to £650K. Work published last year by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and commissioned from Atkins indicates positive Benefit Cost Ratios for full electrification on the Great Western Main Line from Maidenhead (to be electrified as part of Crossrail); to Oxford, Bristol and Swansea. A positive Benefit Cost Ratio also exists for electrification from Bedford to Nottingham and Sheffield.

The Association of Train Operating Companies is now working up case studies on the case for electrification of the Great Western Main Line, the Midland Main Line, the Cross-Country Network and North TransPennine. Should cross-country routes be electrified this could include York-Sheffield, Derby-Birmingham-Bristol, Birmingham-Oxford and Reading-Basingstoke.

Network Rail is now preparing a business case for electrification that will be published in the Network Route Utilisation Strategy.

Transport Scotland is currently committed to a plan which will see a major expansion of the electrified part of the network by 2016. This covers Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk plus routes to Cumbernauld, Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa.

A key issue associated with electrification is the reduction of the cost per track km which could be achieved through a rolling programme.