Work paves the way for switch to electric trains
TRANSPORT for Wales started installing the long-awaited railway electrification equipment in the Valleys on Monday.
The first foundation piles for masts which will hold the electricity supply wires above the tracks will be installed alongside the Aberdare to Pontypridd line.
The wires will enable electric tramtrains to take over from diesel trains in 2023, providing a quieter, faster and smoother ride.
The trains will not emit exhaust gases, and their lower energy consumption will help Wales to reduce its carbon footprint.
Also to be electrified over the next two years are the Merthyr Tydfil, Treherbert, Rhymney, Coryton and Cardiff Bay lines, along with the busy route between Pontypridd and Cardiff Queen Street and the City Line through Fairwater.
Noise from the piling works will affect people who live near the railway, especially where mechanical hammers drive the piles into the ground. Some piles will be installed by drilling holes and infilling, instead of hammering. Most of the piling will be done at night.
The good news for railway neighbours is that it only takes 20-60 minutes to install a pile. Then the machinery moves to the next site, about 50m further along the track.
Masts will be attached to the foundations later, followed by arms reaching out above the track. A wire suspended from the arms will eventually be energised at 25kV. A current collector on the roof of each new train will maintain contact with the wire as the train moves along.
Piles and masts will not be needed along the entire 105 miles of the “Core Valley Lines”, because the new trains will use their batteries on some sections of track, including Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Central and Ninian Park.
Shortly before the first Covid-19 lockdown, Transport for Wales (TfW) planned to start installing electrification piles last summer. But it says the delay does not mean the electric trains will start carrying passengers a year late. It has accelerated other elements of the electrification work, including clearing vegetation and surveying ground where masts will be placed.
The Radyr to Pontypridd line was closed for three weeks in January for 11,700 hours of engineering work to take place while low numbers of passengers used the trains because of the lockdown restrictions.
TfW chief executive James Price explained the key dates for Core Valley Lines modernisation are those scheduled by Network Rail for signalling changes. Those dates cannot be changed.
“The team have been rejigging the programme to get the things done that we need done to hit those Network Rail windows, which might mean that other things get slipped but they can be caught up,” he said.