Do we have the power?

There are several well-rehearsed reasons for rail electrification schemes being cancelled or delayed, but there is another reason that has not been mentioned.

From where is the necessary electricity to power the trains to be obtained? Each year it seems to be touch and go whether National Grid can meet the present winter peak electricity demands.

Several electrification schemes are in the pipeline which next year will impose a substantial additional electricity demand on the system - for example, part-electrification of the Great Western Main Line, more in the Liverpool/Manchester area, Gospel Oak-Barking, Edinburgh-Glasgow, several smaller schemes and (of course) Crossrail. Pressing on with more electrification in the absence of additional firm electricitygenerating capacity would be foolish indeed. No way would there be solar or guaranteed wind power to ensure commuters travel to and from business by rail.

It seems to me that a list of electrification priorities must be created, ready for resumption when it is deemed appropriate. In my view, the trans-Pennine Manchester-Leeds line must be the first to be electrified, to reduce diesel-hauled trains hammering up the steep gradients of the route and conversely benefit from the regenerative braking facility then available.

Next should be completion of the Great Western route to Bristol via Bath, including Temple Meads itself. At this point the diesel engines can be removed from a number of Class 800s, to revert them to pure electric units operating as far as Bristol and Cardiff and yielding the full benefits of electrification.

My understanding is that in some quarters the business case for the East Midlands electrification to Sheffield was considered better than the Great Western.

Therefore, before undertaking the Cardiff to Swansea electrification (the case for which I consider to be doubtful), a start should be made on the East Midlands electrification by stages (as suggested by Carl Shillito in

RAIL 834) - for example, to Leicester and then Derby, in preparation for services to/from the HS2 East Midlands hub at Toton.

Would there be a market for the diesel alternators removed from the Class 800s? The 125 HSTs will then be another ten years older. Shall we by then be thinking of at least their replacement, in which case construction of new power cars or trains could surely utilise these diesel alternators? R Eaton, Surrey