Electrification to reduce journey times to London

IT’S significantly over budget, but electrification of the Great Western Mainline will shave more than 15 minutes on some train journey times between South Wales and London.

And new peak time train services on the route – missing out Reading and Swindon stations – are on track to start operating in early 2019.

Rail franchise operator Great Western Railway is yet to finalise a new timetable for the key transport route between South Wales and London, but the company is committing to introducing additional trains at peak morning and evening times – in both directions.

This would see trains from Swansea calling at Cardiff and Newport, with then just one stop on the other side of the Severn Tunnel at Bristol Parkway, before arriving at London Paddington.

Network Rail has yet to confirm if electrification beyond Cardiff will happen. The original plan was for a continuous programme of electrification work westwards before reaching Swansea.

If electrification is recommenced, it will be have to be funded from Network Rail’s next investment spending period.

However, with more projects bidding for investment than Network Rail can finance, there are concerns that in isolation revisiting electrification of around 50 miles of track between Cardiff and Swansea would fail to meet the Department for Transport’s return on investment test.

The cost of electrifying the stretch of rail from London to Cardiff is now expected to cost up to £1.2bn more than the £1.6bn estimated just a year ago.

New hybrid Hitachi electric-diesel trains will start to be introduced on the network from the autumn. They will have capacity for up to 100 more passengers than the current diesel only fleet.

Andy Thomas, route managing director, Network Rail Wales, said: “We are working to build a bigger, better railway for South Wales, with electrification of the mainline to Cardiff expected by 2019.

“Following this, the current aim is to then continue electrification to Swansea in control period 6 (2019-2024). However, as a public sector organisation, we are working with our funders – UK Government – to define railway upgrade priorities for this control period.

“Passengers will feel one of the main benefits of electrification far sooner, as the Department for Transport plan to roll out the new Intercity Express Trains between London and Swansea later this year.”

The South Wales services to Bristol Parkway and then direct to London, will only kick in once electrification is completed and all the existing diesel powered high speed trains are decommissioned. That will be in 2019.

This would see the hybrid trains travelling between London and Cardiff (and vice-versa) on overhead electrified lines, but from Cardiff they will have to switch to diesel mode for the journey to Swansea. Some transport experts believe that the hybrid trains will be slightly slower and operational less efficient that electrified only rolling stock – which was the original plan when electrification between London and Swansea was announced in 2013.

The planned new peak services from Great Western Railway could be up to six a day in both directions.

They would run every hour, creating an additional third hourly service, alongside two hourly services that would continue to stop at Swindon and Reading.

By missing out the two stations, and when electrification is completed, rail journey time savings will be: Cardiff to London: 14 minutes. Newport to Paddington: 15 minutes. Swansea to London: (based on electrification reaching the city) 20 minutes.

However, now hybrid trains have been commissioned Great Western Railway said that the first envisaged 20-minute saving time to Swansea will be reduced slightly.

A spokesman said: “The majority of the Swansea to Paddington journey time improvements actually happen between Swindon and Cardiff, so changes are likely to be minimal, but there will be an impact.”

There would still be two trains an hour at peak and non-peak times calling at Swindon and Reading.

When the route is electrified the time savings will be: Cardiff to Paddington: 14 minutes. Newport to Paddington: 11 minutes. Swansea to London: 16 minutes. There will though be direct services from Bristol to Paddington. However, there are no plans for direct services from South Wales to Paddington.

In effect, Great Western Railway need the stop at Bristol Parkway to make services from South Wales viable.

However, that is not say that a funding solution couldn’t be found to realise direct trains from South Wales to Paddington at peak times.