Ailways are friends of electric!
the interim, with gaps bridged by using battery electric multiple units (BEMUs).
He explained that the Borders line would need a new electrical feeding point at its southern end because there is insufficient power for the whole line from existing feeders at the northern end. Wiring might advance from both ends with any gap bridged by BEMUs. Eventually the whole route would be wired and could switch to straight EMUs.
Reeve added that capacity improvements would come from longer and better-performing EMUs, rather than by adding sections of double track. (It’s also worth noting that a southern feeder would help with any extension toward Hawick, or even beyond.)
BEMUs also feature in Levenmouth wiring. Reeve told RAIL that the Forth Bridge would need a careful electrification design to befit its World Heritage Site status, but that BEMUs could bridge this gap in the meantime.
Transport Scotland will need to decide whether to push wiring east from Alloa via Dunfermline and Glenrothes with Thornton to reach the Levenmouth branch, or to concentrate on the route from Edinburgh via the Forth Bridge. Both options point naturally towards Dundee (with the challenge of wiring over the Tay Bridge), which then fits in with the ambition to reach Aberdeen.
The current gap between Alloa and Thornton North Junction (where the line to Levenmouth diverges) is around 18 miles. The current gap from Edinburgh is nearer 30 miles. Both sit within the likely range of a future BEMU if it recharges from Levenmouth’s overhead lines.
Reeve expects BEMUs to cost around one-third more than an ordinary EMU, and this is another factor that TS will need to weigh as it develops its electrification plans.
He added that while a BEMU could bridge gaps, the same was not true for freight trains. They rely on diesel or electric haulage, with the alternatives mooted for passenger services (batteries or hydrogen fuel cells) not suitable for freight.
He’s keen to see more electric freight in Scotland and to see more freight switch from roads because of the overall benefit in terms of carbon emissions. This commitment means that BEMUs are simply a stop gap, because Scotland’s overall ambition remains an electric railway wherever justified.
In the meantime, STPR2 recommends work to improve freight loading gauge on the Glasgow and South Western route (Glasgow-Carlisle via Dumfries) and on the Annbank line.
It also recommends further work to identify where future freight improvements should take place to improve flows on the West Coast Main Line, and between central Scotland and Aberdeen, Inverness and Fife.
Meanwhile, Network Rail has just received planning permission for a new station at Reston. It has also submitted a planning application for Inverness Airport station and is about to do the same for East Linton.