Electric Railway Society

After months of test running the two extensions of the Nottingham Tramways serving southern and western suburbs were finally opened for public services on 25 August 2015.    The response from the public was immediate and massive.    Trams during the day were so crowded that the daytime service between the peaks of a tram every 10 minutes proved inadequate.    The peak period service of a tram every 7 minutes had to be continued throughout the day.     I travelled on both new lines on Saturday 29th August 2015 and found that the public were packing the trams as they sampled this new efficient means of transport that allowed them to leave their cars either at home or in the massive new car parks at both termini.

The new lines run from a slightly relocated stop above Nottingham Station south then south west to Clifton South and in a more west -south westerly direction to the Queens Medical Centre, the University of Nottingham, and then through the suburbs to end in the fields at Toton Lane.    The  route between the railway station platforms and the tram stop is not entirely clear but there is a direct link from the station concourse to the southern end of the tram platforms, or via the footbridge linked to all seven station platforms that led to the old station tram stop.   Steps lead from this bridge to near the north end of the tram station platforms.    A simple shelter covers a section of both side platforms and there are two ticket machines on each platform.

The two new routes total 17.6 route km – roughly 8km to Clifton South and 9.6km to Toton.    There are large car parks at both terminals – 1000 spaces at Clifton South and 1300 at Toton.     Both termini have a food and drink outlet serving tea, coffee, various soft drinks, and a range of attractive well filled rolls.     Much of both routes operate along reserved rights of way, most notably on the Clifton South route where about one third of the line operates along what once was the main line to London Marylebone of the Great Central Railway.    A bit more undulating than in heavy rail days this is where the trams can really show how fast they can move!

Leaving Nottingham station the combined route falls steeply to road level and then runs in the roadway shared with other traffic.    Soon the route runs in a much narrower road with the trams in effect filling the entire roadway.    Car park spaces for neighbouring houses are marked out on what was the outer half of a pavement.    In some places along both routes two lanes in a wide road are reserved for the trams.    After the first couple of stops there is a striking bridge over the River Trent  and a few twists and turns before the route enters ballasted track along the old Great Central right of way.     The stops at Wilford Lane (with a trailing siding to serve a cable depot and store), Compton Acres and Ruddington Lane are situated along this speed-track.   The area around the old railway is wooded but modern housing can be seen in all directions.    Beyond Ruddington Lane there is a level crossing with a  modest road but this ensures that the tram will slow down before returning to the highway sharing its space with other road traffic.     At the Clifton Centre stop, situated beside a  local shopping area, the tracks separate to enclose an island platform beyond which is a centrally placed siding for trams turning back rather than running on to serve two further stops before reaching Clifton South.

The stops mostly comprise low side platforms each with a simple shelter and a ticket machine.  Clifton South has two platforms which are much longer and each could hold two trams.    A building across the end of the tracks includes the public café outlet and simple staff facilities.    The car park lies all around the tracks and platforms and beyond some open farm land is visible.   The stops at Wilford Village, and Summerwood Lane are also simple island platforms on which there are two ticket machines plus the simple shelter.

The Toton line serves a number of extremely important locations and very heavy traffic has already emerged.    The first section of the route from Nottingham station is shared with the Clifton South route but soon branches off towards the west serving the Ng2 technical centre before crossing above the Nottingham – Derby main railway line and after serving the houses around Gregory Street reaches the most important stop on the line at the Queen’s Medical Centre.   Here the line runs on an elevated structure and the side platforms are surrounded by hospital buildings.   No other light rail station in the UK gets so close to a major hospital.      The elevated structure continues taking the line over a busy dual carriageway road before returning to ground level and the two stops that serve the University of Nottingham.     A crossover at the second stop allows short workings to turn back.    Most of the remainder of the route serves housing – first the area around Beeston Centre where the side platforms are widely separated by space for other road traffic.    This serves a local shopping centre and bus interchange.   The heavy rail station at Beeston lies a few hundred yards away to the south and it has not been possible to make an interchange here.    The Chilwell Road stop is unremarkable but the next calling point at High Road, Central College, serves a large College of Further Education a little to the north.    Soon the right of way swings away from the road to enter ballasted track that continues all the way to the terminus at Toton Lane – five stops after High Road.     The terminus is a little beyond the housing and is effectively surrounded by the 1300 space car park.    There are two side platforms with a café outlet similar to the one a Clifton South.    This is unlikely to be the long-term terminus since if HS2 is built the line will continue half a mile to interchange with the high-speed station.   The area a few hundred yards from the Toton Lane terminus is quite densely populated with the large town of Stapleford a little to the north and the extensive communities of Long Eaton and Stapleford ahead or to the south west.   Connecting bus services link these towns with the new tramway.

Much of Nottingham is now served by the modern tram routes and already in the southern suburbs road congestion seems to have eased.    It is very early days and many people were on holiday as the new routes opened but the initial signs are strongly favourable.     When Nottingham made its plans for a possible light rail system in the town, some suburban areas rejected any notion that they might be served by the new trams, citing problems when their roads were dug up when the tracks were laid  but now these same suburbs are shouting out for a new lines to serve their area.    Gedling, Porchester, and Arnold in the east could certainly benefit from a new tram route but funds are unlikely to be available in the near future.     The only extension that is likely to happen soon is from Phoenix Park 3 – 4 km onwards to Kimberley and later perhaps to Eastwood if present housing developments continue.
Iain  Frew

Notes on the tour compiled by Alan de Burton

Off to Poland and Germany

This travelogue is aimed primarily at transport enthusiasts. It covers the German section of a short trip made by Patrick Chandler and myself to Poland and Germany in August 2014. The Polish section which also has Appendices will appear separately. Thanks are due to contributors in Milton Keynes and South Gloucestershire. Planning for the trip had three objectives:

·    A long weekend based in Warszawa in Poland around a rail tour. In the event, the rail tour was cancelled but since we had already booked hotels and flights, we replaced the rail tour days with travel of our own
·    Nights in Leipzig in Germany. The opening in December 2013 of the Leipzig S-Bahn tunnel under the city centre provided the incentive.
·    A final weekend in Berlin using train services which only run on summer weekends

As it proved, engineering works on railways and tramways made August less than ideal but we didn’t miss  anything serious. Readers will need some maps, for example the Schweers + Wall Atlas

Poland to Germany and back to UK

Monday 11 August: Warszawa to Berlin and Leipzig by train (abbreviated)

We left Poland for Germany on one of the 4 train pairs of the Berlin – Warszawa Express, a service which began in this form in October 2001. Our train for the 567 kms from Warszawa Wschodnia to Berlin Hbf. was EC44 which we caught at Warszawa Centralna where it was due to leave at 09 55. In a formation no doubt typical for the service our train comprised PKP multi-system electric loco # 370-006 / EU45 006 hauling 6 air conditioned coaches. The loco is in effect the same as an Austrian class 1216 ‘Taurus.’ There were 4 Polish seconds, a German DB ex-IR Bistro car and a Polish first class in which we had seats. The loco is of the Siemens design known as class 1216 on ÖBB in Austria. For reasons unknown and not explained even in Polish the train sat 20 minutes overtime at Warszawa Zachodnia. As far as the approaches to Lowicz, we used the same line as a few days earlier on our way back from Lodz. After another extended station stop in Poznan Glowny we were half an hour late. We found that the menu in the German Bistro car when we went for a lunch snack was only in Polish!

Approaching Frankfurt (Oder), we crossed the Odra / Oder river bridge at the present border between Poland and Germany. The bridge was rebuilt in 2008 and we made a brief stop just after for the system change from 3kV d.c. to 15 kV a.c.  We left Frankfurt (Oder) 35 minutes late for a 35 minute connection at Berlin Hbf. On the way into Berlin we had a view of the extensive reconstruction of the S-Bahn tracks and stations at Ostkreuz and Warschauer Strasse. We arrived at the upper level of Berlin Hbf. with only a couple of minutes to catch the 15 52 ICE 1615 to München from the ‘tief’ level of Hbf. for the 168 kms to Leipzig. The interchange is not straightforward, but fortunately for us the class 411 ICE was running about 8 minutes late. The line south from the ‘tief’ level of the Berlin Hbf. was opened in May 2006, in effect replacing Berlin’s old Anhalter Bf. station closed to passengers in May 1952 and later demolished.

We checked into the new Mercure Hotel Art quite close to Leipzig Hbf. This was somewhat disappointing, especially compared to the Mercure in Warszawa. While the room was comfortable enough, I have found a greater range of facilities in the Travelodge in Slough! We found that catering facilities in central Leipzig have greatly expanded since my previous visit. I was most surprised to find there were now a number of South Asian (Indian?) restaurants. We also saw various notices about extensive tramway engineering works.

Tuesday 12 August: Local travel around Leipzig and Halle

This was the first of 3 days of ‘local’ travel based in Leipzig. For the first day we bought the MDV Mitteldeutsche Verkehrsverbund day tickets from the office outside the Hbf.  since it wasn’t clear how to buy a full system day ticket from a ticket machine. I have met this problem before in Frankfurt (Main). Our route to Halle for our first tram riding session was indirect. We set off broadly eastwards from Leipzig on a DB Regio class 0442 4-section Talent II emu to Cottbus which we left after 25 kms at Eilenburg. Here we turned towards Halle via Delitzsch on VT 015, a RegioShuttle dmu rail car of Veolia MRB (Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn). This service is peculiar. MRB run the base 2-hourly service, but DB Regio provide peak extras and the entire service on Saturday afternoon and evening. While the 51 kms long line is an electrified double track for freight, the passenger stops are primitive halts.

The first of our 4 tram rides in Halle took us to Marktplatz in the city centre where we looked at the statue of the composer Händel who migrated from Halle to the UK in the 18th century. We then headed south looping through Südstadt and then north to Frohe Zukunft. 3 of the tram formations were Bombardier, one was Duewag, all low floor. Central Halle is much smarter than on previous visits, but this time we didn’t ride to Halle-Neustadt where we may have reached other conclusions. We returned to Leipzig using S-Bahn route S3 on a class 1442 Talent II through the new S-Bahn tunnel under Leipzig opened in December 2013. All the S-Bahn trains now seem to be worked by these units. We rode for 40 kms to S3’s final destination at Leipzig-Stötteritz. We then headed back one stop to Leipzig-Völkerschlachtdenkmal, where we found that the station was somewhat distant from the Denkmal itself.

I hadn’t realised this the monument is open to the public, and we took some time sampling it. The monument is fundamentally an enormous dome completed in 1913 to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon at the ‘Battle of the Nations’ a century earlier. The monument has only been restored for public access in quite recent years after (1) WW2 damage by US forces who later ceded control to the Soviets, (2) the inability of the DDR authorities to decide what to do with it and (3) its generally poor condition since although structurally made of concrete it was poorly built on top of landfill. We duly climbed a series of gradually narrowing stairways to the top which is 91m (= 300 feet) from the ground. There were a number of surprises. The monument is adorned by a number of enormous sculptures; I found the overall effect rather Wagnerian since there are no religious connotations at all. Considering the number of stairs, I was surprised there weren’t the ‘health’ warnings you would expect in Britain. Also I don’t believe that the railings are high enough to prevent potential suicides. Finally on a hot day, a staffed buffet would have got business from us.

Thereafter we rode trams, firstly a pair of modernised Tatras on route 15 to Hbf. and then on one of the most recent Bombardier cars to Angerbrücke. We then reversed our direction to use a pair of Leoliners on route 3 to Taucha to the north-east of the city centre. As some readers are aware, the Heiterblick Leoliner is a low-floor tram  developed in-house at the Heiterblick workshops of the Leipzig undertaking, no doubt to provide a cheaper low-floor replacement for the high-floor Tatras. The 2-section Leoliners have a high floor over one bogie under the front section and over 2 bogies under the rear section. I don’t believe they are comparable to low floor cars built by Bombardier or Siemens at the same period.

Taucha is at the end of a single track section opened in 1927 with comparatively infrequent service and outside city limits. We found a DB station where at first sight a train could take us more quickly back to the city. However we had to abandon that attempt when it was clear that trains were stranded by some kind of incident and going nowhere at that time. A tram formation of two Tatras and a low-floor trailer took us back to the city on route 3. The Leipzig operator LVB seem to operate a complete mix of stock on any route. Back on trains S-Bahn services were somewhat chaotic, but we were able to ride the 3 kms to Bayerischer Bahnhof station. Here we ate in a restaurant which occupies one of the original two matching station buildings dating from 1842. The other building was destroyed in bombing in 1943. Train services were still chaotic when we returned.

Wednesday 13 August: Day Visits from Leipzig to Dresden (and for Patrick to Czech Republic)

Patrick and myself had different needs on this and the following day. I used a Sachsen day Länderticket also available in Thüringen and on a more scenic route to Dresden than the main line through Riesa. I left Leipzig Hbf (tief) for the 89 kms to Zwickau Hbf. at 09 40 on a train formed by a pair of DB Regio class 1442s emus. I was surprised when a man joined at Leipzig-Bayrischer Bf. selling refreshments. I bought a coffee at only 1.50 Euros. While the coffee was OK, the Neudeutsch slogan on the cup arguably wasn’t: ‘Coffee to Go.’ There was an SBB-Cargo class 482 electric loco on the way at Gössnitz.

The ride of an hour and half on the top deck of the 11 31 departure from Zwickau through from Hof to Dresden Hbf. in a train formed by a class 143 electric loco and 3 double deckers was worth the experience. This is a temporary arrangement made possible by electrification from Reichenbach to Hof but will cease when new emus are delivered. Zwickau Hbf. still boasts mechanical signals. The former Bw. (loco depot) at Glauchau showed a pair of class 228 diesel locos (ex DR class 118). I noted that the alignment between Chemnitz and Dresden has very many curves, some so sharp that trains are restricted to as low as 70 k/h and even on occasion 60 k/h. Consequently the 127 kms journey is scheduled to take 92 minutes. In my own judgment the double deck experience was vastly superior to the tilting class 612 dmus which work half the service between Hof and Dresden. I had a decent light lunch in the buffet at Dresden Hbf. operated by a subsidiary of the Swiss group Migros.

Dresden also provided me with a look and haulage experience of DB class 182 ‘Taurus’ electric locos working the local S-Bahn route S1 and new to me in Dresden. The 25 locos of this class were built by Siemens in 2001 for the freight sector of DB to the Austrian class 1116 design as a substitute for intended class 152s which weren’t authorised by the Austrians. After a few years, the freight sector DBS decided to rid themselves of them as a splinter class and in due course they were taken by DB Regio who split them 15 to Cottbus and 10 to Dresden. Since they have been fitted out with the software package to work with Regio double deckers on push-and-pull workings, they can no longer work either to Austria or on German InterCity trains. While Dresden S-Bahn trains may seem a waste of 230 k/h locos, they consume one-third less electricity than the class 143s they replaced and no doubt their maintenance costs are much lower.

My afternoon objective was to ride on the 750mm gauge SDG (Sächsische Dampfeisenbahn-Gesellschaft) Lössnitzgrundbahn line from Radebeul Ost to Radeburg, but first of all I needed to reach Radebeul Ost. Pre 1945 the line was quadruple track from Pirna in the south through Dresden Hbf. and Dresden-Neustadt towards Radebeul Ost and Coswig. Since about 1996, DB have been gradually reinstating quadruple track and renovating the two major stations in Dresden. Work on Dresden Hbf. originally completed in 1898 was largely finished in 2007 while work at Dresden-Neustadt continues. A different set of platforms than before (now platforms 1 – 3) were out of use at Dresden-Neustadt and quadrupling was in progress on to Radebeul Ost. I found that the station here had been rebuilt in 2012 and the former station building was now the public library.

On the narrow gauge Lössnitzgrundbahn it is quite difficult to fit in trips going all the way to the terminus at Radeburg. My train was hauled by steam loco # 99-1789 which in British terms is a 2-10-2T. It was built by the East German LKM Babelsberg works near Potsdam in 1957. One of the 8 coaches was ‘open’ above the waist. The fare of 13.60 Euros return payable to the guard for 16 kms each way seemed reasonable to me by British standards. However, there are none of the shop or catering facilities the British would expect although there may be some at the intermediate station at Moritzburg where some trains terminate. The terminus at Radeburg serves a small town with no obvious ‘draw’ for tourists. I did note that the first steam train of the day is scheduled to leave Radeburg at 06 11 on Sachsen school days. No doubt these trains have active steam heating! Back at Radebeul Ost I caught the 17 28 RE train for the 110 kms to Leipzig Hbf. This was formed by a 4-car and a 3-car class 442 Talent II emus. I found the section from Radebeul Ost to Coswig was now quadruple track.

Patrick was using railway employee ‘FIP’ tickets so he could start earlier and also use InterCity trains without charge. He attempted to start at 08 26 on an ICE for the 120 kms to Dresden Hbf via the main line through Riesa, but the class 411 ICE-T emu set only appeared after scheduled departure time and a further ICE-T emu set (class 415 this time) was added on the front and the train was 20 minutes late leaving. Some time was made up afterwards. On the section between Riesa and Dresden-Neustadt Patrick rode on a new electrified spur line of which I was entirely unaware. It runs for 7.4 kms from Abzweig Leckwitz east of Riesa on the Leipzig main line to Abzweig Kottewitz near Böhla on the Berlin main line. It helps keep main line trains clear of S-Bahn trains starting out of Meissen and should ultimately help achieve a journey time of 45 minutes from Leipzig to Dresden for IC trains as against 72 minutes now. Another part of the same project to build a southern avoiding line around Riesa has been abandoned.

Patrick’s prime target was to ride over two of the frontiers between the German and Czech railway systems. Firstly he needed to reach Bad Schandau not far short of the Czech frontier on the main line towards Praha. While the S-Bahn service is nominally half-hourly to Bad Schandau, at this time single line working for trackworks between Pirna and Bad Schandau enforced a reduced service; after a 17 kms ride on train route S1 to Pirna Patrick had to use a substitute bus (articulated MAN) onwards to Bad Schandau. The route from Dresden Hbf. to Pirna was expensively re-quadrupled from 1996 to about 2004 following reduction after 1945 to double track and maybe less. His bus on from Pirna used a route over the hills before rejoining the Elbe river gorge and railway at Königstein. The station and track layout at Bad Schandau were extensively rebuilt from 2004 onwards and other than the shell of the station building nothing survives of the border station and facilities I met in c. 1977. There isn’t a trace of the dog kennels I remember. They were no doubt a vital border ‘facility’ to help prevent the DDR’s citizens escaping to the socialist paradise of Czechoslovakia!

At Bad Schandau Patrick caught a class 642 ‘Desiro’ 2-car articulated dmu to Rumburk in the Czech Republic on a service which has only run through across the border between Sebnitz in Germany and Dolni Poustevna  in the Czech Republic since 5 July 2014. While the line across the border between Germany and then Austria was opened in 1905, it was closed at the end of WW2 in 1945 after 40 years service. It then laid ‘fallow’ for nearly 70 years before its recent resurrection. The new service is a joint operation between DB Regio and CD with DB providing the train and the Czechs the train crew. Within the Czech Republic this train service is routed through the substantial town of Sluknow, once Schluttenau. On the 40 kms journey the train was well filled and the train crew accepted both Euros and Czech crowns for fares. Although refaced, Rumburk station building at the end of Patrick’s journey would certainly be recognised by the Austrian k.k. Staatsbahnen who operated it a century ago.

Patrick had intended to travel on to Decin within the Czech Republic on an internal Czech train but although the train was announced nothing appeared. Patrick cut his losses and returned on a similar train back to Bad Schandau and then all 40 kms on an S-Bahn train through to Dresden Hbf. He was now ahead of schedule and was able to visit the Verkehrsmuseum in the city centre. They were celebrating 175 years of the opening the first section of the Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie (LDE) with two locos. One was a locally built replica of the first loco ‘Saxonia’ (British built) and the other the ex-Furness Railway ‘Coppernob’ on loan from the National Railway Museum in York UK. An exhibit in the museum showed the Reichsbahn’s work in 1933 – 34 opening out the former Oberau Tunnel on the LDE line between Niederau and Priestewitz.

Patrick’s return from Dresden Hbf. was on an IC train with a class 101 electric loco for traction. As his Leipzig to Dresden ICE had done that morning, Patrick’s train took the spur to the Berlin main line after Radebeul and then the further spur from Abzweig Kottewitz to Abzweig Leckwitz mentioned above to regain the Leipzig main line before Riesa.

Thursday 14 August: Personal Day Visit to Gera (and Patrick to Hof and myself to Erfurt)

Once again Patrick and myself had different needs and travelled separately although our first stop in both cases was to ride on the tramway system in Gera. Patrick had to buy a ticket to Gera on the Erfurter Bahn and a day ticket for his tram riding in Gera but his employee ‘FIP’ ticket covered the rest of his day. His train for the 73 kms to Gera Hbf was formed by a triple formation of class 650 RegioShuttle diesel single units. At Profen which serves a lignite works he saw former UK diesel loco 59 003 which returned to the UK shortly afterward.

Gera is the second largest town in the Land of Thüringen with a population of about 100,000, seemingly a reduction from 130,000 in DDR days. It now has a modern town centre but typical DDR style suburbs of high rise ‘Wohnsilo’ flats. Electric tram services started as early as 1892, but by the mid 1970s in DDR days the system shrank to just one route. It has expanded greatly since, and after abandonment of any connection in 1945, the out-of-centre Hbf. was reconnected to the tram network in 2007. While Gera in the former DDR and Lodz in Poland were both in communist states from the end of WW2 until 1989, there is now a vast contrast in the state of both their buildings and trams. Nevertheless Gera’s Stadtwerke which owns the transport company went into administration in early 2014, and services were to be reduced from 6 October 2014.

Patrick rode most of the tramway system but left route 3 at Berufsakadamie short of its terminus. Here he inspected provision for a junction for a route extension to Langenberg; we don’t know whether the entry of Gera’s Stadtwerke into administration will stop progress on this scheme. Most tram services are worked by a pair of Tatra KT4D articulated cars where one car has an added low-floor centre section. Gera also has some Alstom LHB low floor trams. Patrick’s rides included route 2 which only runs half-hourly and Monday to Friday daytime only. In contrast prime route 3 had a night time gap of only 90 minutes at the time of our visits.

After his tram riding Patrick set off from Gera Hbf. firstly for Glauchau then Zwickau and on to Hof in Bayern. Patrick’s train arrived in Gera Hbf. from Göttingen with 2 x class 612 tilting dmus, but one was immediately detached. For Patrick’s journey on to Gössnitz see my notes below for my travel later that day. He continued to Glauchau, 53 kms from Gera. Patrick then had a short 16 km ride with a class 143 electric loco and double deckers on a stopping RB train to Zwickau Hbf.

Patrick’s main purpose now was to ride with another class 143 and double deckers for the 96 kms to Hof. The southern 73 kms of the route between Reichenbach to Hof over the former DDR / BRD border were only electrified from December 2013 and the double deck rolling stock used on half the service is only temporary pending delivery of new emus. After Reichenbach where the electrification previously ended his train crossed the Göltzschtalbrücke which is 78m high and consumed 26m bricks. After Plauen ob. Bf. he passed the former DDR / BRD frontier station at Gutenfürst now largely dismantled. I first met this in 1985 on the sole daily ‘corridor’ train from Berlin to München that way when it was ‘operational.’ On ‘corridor’ trains, the main purpose was to drop the security staff who had boarded the train at Griebnitzsee just outside former West Berlin.

At Hof Patrick also noted that although electrification goes no further into Bayern at present, almost the entire track layout in the station area has been electrified. I believe that German reunification funds had helped pay for electrification over the former border but nothing for beyond which remains diesel at present. At Hof Patrick saw  SNCF electric loco 37025 which he had also seen earlier at Glauchau. Patrick’s return was fairly simple, with the same loco and stock to Zwickau Hbf. and then a pair of DB Regio class 1442 emus running half an hour late for the 89 kms to Leipzig Hbf. (tief).

My itinerary for the day was twice disrupted by engineering works, but fortunately I had found out about them in advance from the DB website www.bahn.de. I was again using the Sachsen day Länderticket. On my trip to Gera the Erfurter Bahn provided a pair of RegioShuttle diesel single units. Fortunately since I would travel on more later I found that unlike some operator’s RegioShuttles, these do have toilets. At Profen where Patrick saw 59 003  I saw a pair of ‘class 66’ diesel freight locos. At Zeitz I noted that the Burgenlandbahn still operates 4-wheel diesel cars. We would meet this type again in Brandenburg on Saturday.

I rode almost the entire tramway system in Gera but left out the new section above the Hbf. which I had ridden on a previous visit. A plate told me that car # 308 I rode on had been built in 1981 and rebuilt in 2011 but seemed in very decent condition. Gera tram seats were far better than the plastic pressings that Köln provide on their Stadtbahn B cars operating much longer journeys between Köln and Bonn.

From Gera Hbf. I took what is normally a through service over 67 kms to Saalfeld but was interrupted by a 6 kms long engineering line closure between Niederpöllnitz and Triptis which included at least a bridge replacement. The trains on both sides of the blockage were single Erfurter Bahn RegioShuttles. The conductress travelled through and the Citaro motor bus from a local independent operator that spanned the gap between trains was quite able to handle prams. Saalfeld station was quite unrecognisable from when I first met it nearly 40 years ago in DDR days. I am sure it is now much cleaner.

My train for the 47 kms from Saalfeld to Arnstadt comprised yet another pair of Erfurter Bahn RegioShuttles. At Rottenbach I was surprised to see a DB RegioNetz French style class 641 diesel single unit on the connecting Schwarzatalbahn train to Katzhütte. After Marlishausen we crossed under the future high speed line from Erfurt southwards towards Erlangen. There were catenary masts but as yet no catenary wire. The train terminated at Arnstadt and I needed to change into an articulated 2-car Erfurter Bahn ‘Itino’ dmu from Ilmenau. Its UIC number is # 615 701, a 2-car version of a RegioShuttle; few were built.

I wanted to buy a bar of chocolate at Erfurt Hbf. but was surprised that none of the many retail outlets at the rebuilt Hbf. seemed to sell it. Finally I found a bar from a vending machine. My train at 16 50 from Erfurt for the 138 kms to Altenburg comprised 3 x 2-car class 612 tilting dmus, two units for Altenburg, one unit detached at Gera for Greiz. Just out of Erfurt the new high speed line to Halle / Leipzig diverged with shiny rails but blocked off by ‘engineering possession’ boards. I met anticipated delays from Jena West. The double track section through Göschwitz was temporarily single, and the single section between Neue Schenke and Stadtroda is being doubled.

At Gera Süd I noted unusually large station buildings. Before 1920, this was the main station of the Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen whereas the Hbf. belonged to the KPEV (Prussian State Railways). The connection into the Wismut railway at Ronneburg was shiny. Unlike Patrick’s trip a few hours earlier my train later turned left for Altenburg rather than right for Gössnitz. We were still late on the revised schedule, and had just a 4-minute connection into an S-Bahn train starting at Altenburg. Upgrading work of the route to S-Bahn status is still underway from Altenburg northwards with poor track and semi-derelict stations. At Böhlen, I saw a class 228 (formerly 118) ex-Reichsbahn diesel loco of MEG (Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn Gesellschaft). I left the train at Leipzig Hbf. (tief) after a 44 kms ride.

Friday 15 August: Leipzig to Berlin by Train

We needed to set out for Berlin for our couple of days travelling from there. My ‘tarification’ was more complex: an ordinary single ticket from Leipzig to Falkenberg which would place me in Brandenburg, and then a Berlin-Brandenburg Ticket onward pre-purchased from a DB ticket machine in Leipzig. We set off on the 08 00 from Leipzig Hbf. (tief) which was a through train from Geithin to Hoyerswerda which we caught as far as Ruhland (119 kms). This was worked by a DB Region 3-section class 1442 Talent II emu. Here we changed to a train from Dresden to Cottbus worked by a class 442 emu. Patrick left at Sedlitz Ost for a different route northwards while I continued for 47 kms to Cottbus.

With the peculiar station layout at Cottbus, changing trains and visiting the main station building took considerable walking time. For the 120 kms on to Berlin Ostbf., ODEG provided me with a new travel experience: one of their 4-car Stadler double deck emus on a through journey across Berlin to Wittenberge. Patrick rejoined at Königs Wusterhausen after using a DB Regio train in between. At Berlin Ostbf., we checked in at the InterCity Hotel which is part of the station building. This is much more convenient than the ibis nearby I have used several times, and InterCity hotels provide a local travel ticket for the duration of your stay.

Our travel in Berlin was quite extensive but constrained by the closure for this part of the summer of the S-Bahn tracks between Berlin Ostbf. and Berlin Zoo’. The gap was being covered by replacement bus services, extra stops at Alexanderplatz station by regional trains and extra shuttle trains between Ostbf. and Zoo’ worked by class 143 electric locos and double deck sets. Berlin local passengers were extending station dwell time delays because of unfamiliarity with regional trains. I won’t provide details of every local ride in Berlin.

Our first call was at the GVE shop at Berlin-Lichtenberg station for railway / tramway literature. The DDR rebuilt and extended the station in 1980 – 83 as the second main line station for the ‘Hauptstadt der DDR’ (‘capital of the DDR’), a claim of doubtful legality because of the 4-power agreements. Since the opening of the new Berlin Hbf. in 2006, it has become increasingly secondary; its inner suburban location was no more convenient to the DDR’s ‘Haupstadt’ than Finsbury Park is to central London. We then travelled out to Ostkreuz station on the S-Bahn. Ostkreuz station is the major East Berlin S-Bahn interchange point outside the city centre. The upper level has now been rebuilt as two large island platforms, but on the main lower level building works are very much still in progress. They extend all the way to Warschauer Strasse the next station towards the city. The new station when complete will differ in two further ways: (1) there will be platforms for regional as well as S-Bahn trains to call, and (2) tracks will be reorganised so that all S-Bahn trains towards the Stadtbahn in central Berlin will share an island platform.

Our next call was to view the present state of the terminal buildings of the former Tempelhof airport at which I first arrived in Berlin by plane nearly 40 years earlier. They are intact but not publicly accessible. Later a Polish built Solaris articulated single deck motor bus on route 41 helped take us to Berlin Hbf. station. On the way it used the long road tunnel under the Tiergarten constructed as part of the new north-south main line railway development. I could then make a short ride on the new U55 subway line. We also noted that the ‘Tränenpalast’ (Palace of Tears) former entry building to the west at Friedrichstrasse station is now a museum to the division of Berlin and Germany but we were too late to visit.

Saturday 16 August: Day Visit to Branch Railway Lines in MeckPomm

This was the first of two days visiting railway lines whose only service is primarily of excursion nature at summer weekends. On this day we needed to use a Schönes Wochenende Ticket since we would be travelling in MeckPomm as well as Berlin-Brandenburg and Patrick would be using non-DB trains.

Because of the limited service, we had to leave Berlin Ostbf. on a train at 06 53 for the 82 kms to Neustadt (Dosse) where we changed for Pritzwalk. The 06 53 was another ODEG class 445 4-car Stadler double deck emu on its way to Wismar. The InterCity Hotel managed to provide us with packed breakfasts, mine non-gluten! Some train services around Pritzwalk have changed hands since my last visit 5 years ago and are now in the hands of EGP = Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam. Their 4-wheel rail bus VT504 took us for 42 kms on the 08 46 from Neustadt to Pritzwalk itself. I had ridden on the same vehicle 5 years before from Pritzwalk to Meyenburg and back when PEG (Pritzwalker Eisenbahn Gesellschaft) ran that service. Neither this nor the next vehicle had any toilets.

For the 59 kms beyond to Meyenburg, Karow and Krakow am See, EGP provided double deck 4-wheel rail bus VT670.03 now a bit tatty. There is a Monday to Friday service within the normal Berlin-Brandenburg tariff structure from Pritzwalk as far as Meyenburg, but at weekends tariffs are EGP’s and publicity says that you pay on the train. However, the train was one person operated and the driver had no means or interest in collecting any fares at all! There is a major source of freight traffic on this section at Falkenhagen Gewerbepark, notably with oil traffic from a bio diesel plant. When I visited in 2009, Arriva had a vehicle dump at Meyenburg including both some heavily-graffitified class 403 ‘Donald Duck’ cars and no doubt more usefully other vehicles like middle-aged dmus from Denmark suitable for new train operating contracts. At that time Arriva was British owned; when it sold out later, the competition authorities required Arriva’s purchaser DB to sell off its German interests which were purchased by the Italian state railways and rebranded as Netinera. Arriva’s vehicles have gone, but in their place are some of the DDR’s Reichsbahn class 142 electric locos which were later used in Switzerland.

Beyond Meyenburg the line crosses into Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (referred to subsequently as MeckPomm). This boundary is traditional and up till 1920 the line beyond Meyenburg was owned by the Mecklenburg Staatsbahnen. Arguably the border led to the closure of this line to regular passenger traffic in September 2000 through two problems. Firstly crossing the border between two Länder creates issues of responsibility for a subsidy, and secondly all the school and college traffic flows are contained within each of the Länder.

The maximum speed on the normally freight line beyond Meyenburg was necessarily lower. Scenery was thinly populated rural. At Karow we crossed the cross country line from Waren to Parchim and beyond: see later comments. We found that Krakow am See is a small town and even has public toilets (chargeable). We could have caught a bus north to Güstrow but it didn’t fit the rest of our itinerary. A small platform has been built south of a level crossing and just short of the former station building to the north of the crossing. Rails beyond towards Güstrow were moderately shiny. We returned south for only 13 kms as far as the junction at Karow. The station here is now semi-derelict but photos show that it was still in respectable condition at the turn of the century.

While we now wanted to head east towards Waren and Neustrelitz, we would have had a long wait at a junction station with a large station building now derelict and devoid of facilities and with no significant visible habitation. Accordingly we caught an ODEG train for 21 kms west as far as Lübz where the station serves a small town. The ODEG train was running through from Neustrelitz to Hagenow and comprised a single RegioShuttle dsu. This line is still known locally as the Mecklenburgische Südbahn and is under threat of closure between Parchim and Malchow; at Lübz, the anti-closure protesters had set up stalls for a protest. Our short walk around the pleasant town showed that all commerce had ‘died’ by Saturday lunchtime. However, we found a lock on the Müritz-Elde Wasserstrasse; this is part of the extensive system of waterways we would meet again at Rheinsberg on the following day. Using the Mittellandkanal, Germany has a waterway system extending all the way from the Rhein to the Oder. This includes the massive boat lift at Niederfinow on the Oder-Havel-Kanal built between the wars to provide strategic access to the port of Stettin (now Szczecin).

From Lübz we returned on another ODEG RegioShuttle through Karow and went on to Malchow and Waren and along the Rostock – Berlin main line to Neustrelitz, 92 kms in total. The section of this line from Karow to Malchow was closed and the track removed in 1945 as reparations to the Soviets and only reinstated in September 1968. When we last travelled from Waren to Neustrelitz in 2013 the main line was reduced to a single track and heavy reconstruction was in progress. This has now been completed and the line is now presumably fit for 160 k/h. The line had been closed in sections over several years for the upgrade work. In a similar manner to the section from Karow to Malchow we had ridden earlier in the journey, this route was also closed in 1945 and the track lifted under Soviet direction. As part of DDR plans to upgrade the port at Rostock to replace Stettin which had become Szczecin in Poland, it was re-opened on 28 May 1961 as a Nebenbahn and as a Hauptbahn 3 years later largely without grade crossings. The southern approaches to Waren were realigned in 1977 to remove several remaining grade crossings in an urban area.

The rebuilt line was originally single track but doubled by the time electrification took place in 1984 / 85. However, since the Soviet military had built on part of the former alignment, the reinstated route is 1.8 kms longer than the original between Katzeburg and Neustrelitz; this deviation isn’t shown even on the 2014 Schweers +Wall railway atlas. On the way at Katzeburg we had to cross over the northbound track to call at the station since the platform is only on a northbound-side loop. This reminded me of Mosney on the GN (I) Dublin to Belfast main line. My notes on my visit in 2009 commented on the dumped class 403 ‘Donald Duck’ emu vehicles on the then Arriva works at Neustrelitz. The DDR’s Reichsbahn had built the works as a prime diesel loco maintenance facility in 1969 – 73. The dumped vehicles had gone in 2013 after trenitalia-owned Netinera had taken over, but this time we found that half a dozen of the ‘Donald Duck’ vehicles are back. Netinera must treat the works as a separate profit centre.

We now rode on another marginal service from Neustrelitz to Mirow and back with EGP again, this time with dsu VT120 = 626 120 previously with SWEG in Baden-Wurttemberg. Judging by staff advertising we saw, we guessed that the conductress was a ‘temp’ off school for the summer holidays or a student. On the way there is a private siding to a tank farm, and the passenger traffic was what you might expect on a summer Saturday to a holiday area for camping and the like. Even a century ago, this was the most sparsely populated part of Germany which was much larger then.

For a journey of only 21 kms each way, the history is rather complex, partly because when built as in recent times the route beyond Mirow crosses a boundary between then Preussen now Brandenburg in the west and Mecklenburg now MeckPomm (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) in the east. By the 20th century the western part of the line was owned by the Prignitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft and the eastern by the Mecklenburgische-Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft (MFWE), not the same undertaking at the Staatsbahnen whose lines we had already met. This duo continued to operate the line till 1 January 1941 when they were nationalised as a strategic route for supplies to the future WW2 Eastern Front. The line over the border between the Länder between Mirow and Wittstock closed in May 1998. In Neustrelitz, the line traditionally used a separate station at Neustrelitz Süd since it continued east to Strasburg and to Feldberg. The line to Feldberg closed in May 2000 and at some time between 2003 and 2006 trains to Mirow have run into the main station at Neustrelitz.

Although we didn’t ride the line since it has been long closed, there was an 11 kms branch on from Mirow to Rechlin on Müritzsee with a curious history. It seems to have been opened in 1917 to serve a military airfield, and was used in the 1930s at least as the Luftwaffe’s prime research establishment. Some time later it acquired a public passenger service. This continued at least till the late 1960s, by then reduced more or less to a works service. Soviet forces used the military installations till 1993.

We returned from Neustrelitz for 97 kms as far as Berlin-Gesundbrunnen with a train of 4 double deckers with traction by a DB Regio class 112 electric loco. While these locos can reach 160 k/h, schedules are no faster than before. South of Oranienburg, our train used the ‘long curve’ dating from May 1962 between Birkenwerder and Bergfelde to join the Aussenring, as is usual for trains towards Berlin. The Aussenring between Bergfelde and the junctions at Karower Kreuz was opened in November 1952. After the construction of the Berlin Wall the tracks were hastily electrified for the S-Bahn on its 3rd rail system. Since the 3rd rails were located on the outside of the tracks to provide clearance for main line trains, the S-Bahn service had a mid-morning gap in service so that the tracks could be patrolled safely. In September 1984, the S-Bahn was able to migrate to dedicated new tracks.

I am still impressed by the conceptual design of the Aussenring which provides Berlin with a railway version of London’s M25. While it was designed and built in the early 1950s as an emergency highly political project to circumnavigate West Berlin and used the DDR’s very scarce resources, the design has served well. It was also one of the very few main lines built at this period. After a meal in the city centre, we used the S-Bahn bus replacement for the last stage of our travel back to the hotel in Berlin. This was provided by single deckers by a range of independent operators.

Sunday 17 August: Day Visit to Branch Railway Lines in north Brandenburg

This was the second day sampling the complexities of rural railways north of Berlin for an 82 kms ride using a Berlin-Brandenburg Ticket this time. After a short S-Bahn ride to Berlin-Lichtenberg, we set off on DB Regio’s hourly service to Templin Stadt at 09 37 on 2-car # 646.028 which is a Stadler GTW low-floor dmu. The train took the Aussenring to Oranienburg, where it sat for a connection from Berlin Hbf. The first part of the journey on the Aussenring between Biesdorfer Kreuz Nord and Karower Kreuz is complex. This section was first opened as the single track freight GAR (Güteraussenring) in October 1941, dismantled in 1947, reinstated in 1950 and doubled and substantially realigned in 1957. It is now accompanied by S-Bahn tracks which reached the present terminus at Wartenberg in December 1985 to serve East German ‘Wohnsilo’ blocks of flats. Provisional trackbed beyond has never been used and post reunification housing is low rise.

From Oranienburg, we then continued northbound on the main line to Rostock we had used the previous evening as far as Löwenberg where we turned off east on to the single track rural branch line to Templin Stadt. Line condition seemed distinctly ‘branch line.’ 2.4 kms before Templin Stadt we called at the former main station at Templin which has a vast array of derelict railway buildings and installations. The line had continued on to Prenzlau until May 2000. Even in the 1990s, Templin had been the centre of 4 radiating lines and was where future Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel grew up. However, the population of this thinly populated area has been shrinking continuously since German reunification and there simply wasn’t the traffic to support the previous railway network. We returned from Templin for 35 kms as far as the main line junction station at Löwenberg. From December 2015 the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn will operate both this service and the next.

At Löwenburg we caught a 2-car DB Regio class 628 dmu on the weekend seasonal service to Rheinsberg 38 kms away. Rheinsberg is on a sub branch which diverges at Herzberg from a through line from Löwenburg to Neuruppin. However, at some date probably in 2005 – 2006 both the through line west to Neuruppin and the sub-branch to Rheinsberg lost their all-year service and the Herzberg – Neuruppin section its entire passenger service. However as a complication, the seasonal service to Rheinsberg ran out of Neuruppin rather than Löwenberg when the service from Berlin to Löwenberg was interrupted by the line upgrade described earlier completed in December 2013. On our trip line speed was slow and reflected a freight line without all year passenger service. On the approaches to Rheinsberg we noted the former branch trailing in on the right from the now closed nuclear power station at Rheinsberg Stechlinsee. This used Soviet technology and operated from 1966 until it was closed for safety reasons in 1990. Parts cannot be finally demolished till about 2069. We were unable to call at the railway museum at Rheinsberg since it is only open on Tuesdays.

We had 2 hours in Rheinsberg during which we found unexpected lunch at a Chinese restaurant and walked around the grounds of the castle (Schloss). Rheinsberg is a major centre of local tourism with its Schloss on the banks of the Rheinsberger See. Local shipping operator Reederei Halbeck whose 3 largest craft have a capacity of 150+ operate excursions over large area which includes 70 interconnected lakes. The Schloss in its present form dates mainly from the 18th century when it was extended for Frederick the Great and his Hohenzollern family. It is now managed by an agency of Land Brandenburg together with the Sans Souci palace and Cecilienhof in Potsdam amongst others.

For a change on the way back, we used a local bus from Rheinsberg to Neuruppin: they do have local buses on Sundays! Ours was a Mercedes Citaro operated by a local independent. At Neuruppin Rheinsberger Tor station we took the 16 31 DB Regio train to Spandau running about 15 minutes late. It comprised a pair of Stadler class 646 GTW dmus and was rather full and clogged up with cycles as common in Germany on a late Sunday afternoon. Until 1949, the section from Neuruppin to Kremmen was owned and operated by the Ruppiner Eisenbahn which ran from Meyenburg to Wittstock, Neuruppin and Kremmen. Their trains in conjunction with the Reichsbahn ran through to Berlin Stettiner Bf. into the 1940s. After a 45 km ride we left the train at Hennigsdorf and changed into an S-Bahn train more directly as far as Berlin-Friedrichstrasse.

This line is or was known as the Kremmener Bahn after the most important town on its route and has a complex modern history. The section north of Velten (6 kms north of key point Hennigsdorf) to Kremmen and Neuruppin is single track and has never been electrified. Velten to Neuruppin was closed for reconstruction in December 1995 and only reopened to Kremmen in May 1998 and to Neuruppin in May 2000. A part of the upgrading, the line was reclassified as a Hauptbahn rather than a Nebenbahn; this raised the speed limit from 80 k/h to 120 k/h. but level crossings now needed lifting barriers. The Berlin end of the line was electrified from the Berlin terminus at Stettiner Vorortbf. to Velten as the 3rd rail S-Bahn in May 1927 (although this date is disputed). At the city end trains were progressively diverted from July 1936 into the Nord-Südbahn tunnels under central Berlin and later to points beyond.

After WW2, the line continued to be operated by the now East German (DDR) Deutsche Reichsbahn within all parts of Berlin and the comparative countryside beyond in what became the DDR. In 1952 the division of Berlin to four sectors made its first impact with imposition of border control at Hennigsdorf between the section at the southern city end under the control of the West and the outer section controlled by the DDR. In June 1954 the DDR opened a new border control station closer to West Berlin at Hennigsdorf Süd which became a public station in November 1958 and was renamed Stolpe Süd in October 1959.

In August 1961, the DDR authorities erected the Berlin Wall and severed services between Heiligensee, the last station in West Berlin, and Hennigsdorf. The Reichsbahn continued to operate the 6 kms section between Hennigsdorf and Velten as a detached 3rd rail shuttle till September 1983. The rest of the line in West Berlin closed in January 1984 when the Reichsbahn have up its S-Bahn operations in West Berlin. While the West Berlin Senate set about reviving other parts of the former Reichsbahn system in West Berlin under their own control, they showed no interest in reviving the line to Heiligensee since their U6 underground line had reached Tegel within West Berlin in 1958 and sharply reduced traffic within the West Berlin part of the line.

In autumn 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and interest grew in reviving the line, but under control of the national railway system again which from 1994 became Deutsche Bahn (= DB). The line as part of the S-Bahn reopened out to Tegel in May 1995 and after construction of a major new river bridge over the river Havel reopened north to Hennigsdorf in December 1998. The section from Hennigsdorf to Velten remains diesel operated as part of the Kremmener Bahn service to Kremmen, Neuruppin and beyond. Alongside the running line on the west side from Velten to Hennigsdorf we saw the test track used by Bombardier for its works at Hennigsdorf; this track is electrified with both 3rd rail and at 15 kV overhead catenary. As revived, the S-Bahn section south of Hennigsdorf can still only handle 6-car trains (3 x quarter-trains). Changing at Hennigsdorf is at the same platform but the trains are end to end. Our S-Bahn train took us about 23 kms to Berlin-Friedrichstrasse.

We did a little tram riding in the evening: 3-section low floor Adtranz / Bombardier car # 1080 of the mid 1990s, modernised high-floor KT4D Tatra cars # 6147 + 6057 of a series built between 1976 and 1987 but well modernised and more modern 5-section double-ended low floor Bombardier car # 4032. Having just visited Warszawa, I was struck how similar the parts of former East Berlin redeveloped in DDR days were to parts of Warszawa. I am sure this wasn’t a coincidence.

Monday 18 August: Personal easyJet flight Berlin Schönefeld to Manchester

I left the hotel for the 07 58 DB Regio from Berlin Ostbf. to Wünsdorf which I used for 19 kms as far as Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen. This comprised 2 x class 442 Talent emus, a 5-section unit going on to Wünsdorf and a 3-section detached at Schönefeld. The station was first opened for non-passenger operational purposes in July 1951 and became a control point for entry to Berlin in 1952. It became a public station in February 1962 and new buildings opened in June 1984. I noted that one of the island platforms has fallen out of use. There is now a covered walkway from the station to the airport buildings. Although the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport buildings on the other side of the runways should have replaced the old largely DDR vintage buildings 2 years ago, the old buildings do seem to have more substantial retail facilities than I recall previously .

EasyJet provided an Airbus 320 which was completely full. My seat had been pre-assigned when I checked in at home a month before. I prefer their fixed seats which prevent anti-social passengers cramping me unduly. During the flight I bought a coffee at a high but non-extortionate price. The main difficulty was the erratic functioning of the baggage carousel at Manchester Airport which significantly delayed collecting my bag.

Observations on Germany

I can understand better why much of the German public rates their satisfaction with their train services at way below British levels. The operation of InterCity trains (which do have on-board staff) is erratic, with poor timekeeping, coaches missing in loco hauled trains and inferior trains substituting. Operation of Regional trains is generally better.

I found curious distinctions between the staffing levels I had seen in June in NRW and those in the former DDR. In NRW passengers seldom have any contact with railway staff. Tickets can’t readily be purchased from ticket offices and so have to be purchased from machines, which some people find difficult. Since the driver is the only staff member on regional trains, the only time passengers meet staff are in occasional ticket checks by revenue protection inspectors. British Train Operating Companies (TOCs) may not be faultless, but according to EU surveys, the British public rate them much higher than Germans for their equivalents. However in NRW at least regional trains do provide a comprehensive network 7 days per week and there is little need to use InterCity trains.

The former DDR is different in 2 ways. The network is ‘thinner’ with lower frequencies partly reflecting lower population densities. There are gaps in Regional services where you can’t really avoid the use of InterCity trains for some medium distance journeys. Conversely routes north of Berlin in particular have minimal coverage by InterCity trains. Nevertheless ticket offices seem more plentiful and outside the Berlin S-Bahn almost all trains including the Dresden and Leipzig S-Bahn services seem to have on-board train conductors / conductresses. It feels very much more human!

Notes by Alan de Burton compiled in August 2015

Introduction

This article describes the development of prime Swiss train services from the introduction of the first nationwide Taktfahrplan (regular interval timetable) in 1982 to the present. It also looks towards the further developments planned for the next few years. It primarily covers daytime standard gauge train services of an InterCity nature, although changes to main line services inevitably affect more local services and private railways. I haven’t distinguished between services by the national operator SBB or the main line services operated by BLS till 2004. I have ignored nominally international services worked by SNCF into Genève. These are worked as part of services internal to France. I have also ignored night services, partly because of their complexity in earlier years when many were just through sleeping and ‘Liegewagen’ cars attached to other trains. Most night services became dedicated ‘EuroNight’ branded trains from May 1993 and are now heading towards extinction.  Curiously the night service from Paris to Milano and Venezia crosses Switzerland but doesn’t call.

I have presented most of the information as an annual table. My main information sources were Cook’s and recent European timetables, an article in the French magazine ‘Rail Passion,’ both Tomes of the La Vie du Rail publication ‘Trains d’Europe’ and many issues of Today’s Railways (latterly Today’s Railways Europe). Information for the earlier years may be less reliable than in the 21st century.

1982 to the 21st Century

One of the most fundamental changes to the services of any national railway took place on 23 May 1982 when the Swiss introduced their first nationwide Taktfahrplan (regular interval timetable) after several years of planning and investment in relevant infrastructure. Train-kms increased by 21%. In practice much of the infrastructure development concerned local railways which had to build passing loops on single track sections to enable suitable connections with main line services at junctions. In the first few years afterward, service changes were mainly consolidation of the 1982 timetable in the light of experience and further investment.

At this time international services between Switzerland and its neighbours France, Germany, Austria and Italy were rather a hotch-potch which were adapted to the new Swiss timetable. The InterCity brand was applied to many of the better services from 1981 onwards. Only 2 examples of the 1st class only TEE services first introduced in 1957 continued to serve Switzerland. The ‘Cisalpin’ between Paris and Milano was worked by French hauled stock while the ‘Gottardo’ between Zürich and Milano was worked by Swiss multi-system emu.

1984
In January French TGVs replaced international loco-hauled trains from Paris Gare de Lyon via Vallorbe to Lausanne saving well over an hour. Immediate connections at Lausanne replaced through trains from Paris to the Rhône Valley and Italy via the Simplon Tunnel including the TEE ‘Cisalpin’ already mentioned. Through portions between Paris and Bern were replaced by connections at Frasne, between 1989 and 1993 worked by Swiss ex-TEE emus.

1987
Train-kms expanded by another 17%. The branch to Genève Aéroport opened. An extra prime route ran hourly from Genève Aéroport and Genève avoiding Lausanne to Neuchâtel and Biel / Bienne, continuing alternately towards Basel or Zürich as part of existing services. French TGVs began operating from Paris Gare de Lyon through to Neuchâtel and Bern.

In May 1987, the best international services in western Europe still mainly loco-hauled were rebranded ‘Eurocity’ and had to meet certain quality standards, notably air-conditioning, multilingual train crews, adequate catering and border controls administered during the journey rather than during often protracted station stops. About 30 of these services served Switzerland; their destinations were as follows: France 8 (of which 5 were TGVs), Belgium 1, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 1, Germany 15, Austria 3 and Italy 9. There is some double counting because of trains which served more than one country outside Switzerland. As subsequent text shows, these trains have mostly been replaced over the years by electric unit trains of various sorts while a few have been downgraded. Through TGV services from Paris were transferred to a joint Franco-Swiss company and branded ‘Lyria.’

In a referendum, the Swiss approved the Rail 2000 project for a major nationwide improvement in train services. In practice the cost was seriously underestimated and timescales lengthened but the main elements were introduced in December 2004.

1988
In September 1st class only TEE ‘Gottardo’ Zürich – Milano worked by a Swiss emu train was converted to 2-class and these units covered some other trains on the Gotthard route from summer 1989 until August 1994.

1989
International electrification was completed between Schaffhausen in Switzerland and Singen in Germany. In May limited use began of new underground platforms at Zürich HB. See also below.

1990
The Zürich S-Bahn was introduced in May 1990 associated with new S-Bahn underground platforms at Zürich HB and the new Zürichberg Tunnel. This didn’t materially affect main line train services.

1992
BLS completed doubling the south ramp of the Lötschberg route in May 1992. German ICE1s were introduced from Hamburg to Zürich as a single train pair in September 1992 and were extended to other services including Interlaken Ost in stages to 1995; a service from Berlin commenced in winter 2002 / 03.

1992 – 1996
SBB introduced class 460 electric locos capable of speeds of 200 km/h. In 1993 – 94, the Swiss former TEE emus briefly worked between Zürich and Stuttgart in Germany.

1995
In May the Grauholz deviation east of Bern on the way towards Olten was opened, and inter alia permitted opening the Bern S-Bahn. In winter seasonal through TGV services operated from Paris to the Rhône Valley.

From 1996
In September 1996 the Swiss / Italian Cisalpino joint venture introduced 9 x class ETR 470 tilting Pendolino emus on services from Milano via the Simplon Tunnel to Genève and via the original Lötschberg Tunnel to Bern and Basel and in summer 1997 via the Gotthard route to Zürich. In both cases services were accelerated by half an hour or more although reliability has always been low. Part of the time savings achieved by these unit trains compared with loco haulage rested in avoiding time lost in loco changes at Domodossola, Chiasso and Singen.

1997
Significant service improvements were branded ‘Impulsion 1997’ when half hourly service was introduced on some prime sectors, extended to Zürich – Luzern in 1999. The Basel S-Bahn was introduced. In September 1997 Paris Gare de Lyon – Bern TGV service was extended to Zürich. End-to-end journey times were no better than previous loco-hauled services via Basel and fares were much higher because of extra distance! Bi-level IC2000 coaches capable of 200 km/h began entering regular scheduled service in January 1998.

1998
A Swiss referendum approved a number of major investments, notably the construction of the Lötschberg and Gotthard Basis Tunnels. In September 1998 there was a major redeployment of the ETR 470 Cisalpino units with more working on the Gotthard route. 2 train pairs had already run on from Zürich to Stuttgart from March that year. Train services on both Simplon and Gotthard route through trains to Milano had become a mix of loco-hauled and unit trains achieving quite different end-to-end timings and so remained.

1999
In April DB introduced tilting ICE-T class 415 emus between Stuttgart and Zürich. The frequency of the Genève – Milano and of the TGV Paris – Lausanne services was improved.

2000
The Adler Tunnel was opened in December but with little change to journey times. It is on the route between Basel and Olten and relieves the southern exit from Basel

2001
ICN tilting emus capable of 200 km/h were introduced on services from Genève to Zürich and St. Gallen on accelerated schedules after limited use from the previous year. By then almost all the route between Yverdon and Neuchâtel had been doubled in a number of schemes over the previous years. The timetable period ran for 18 months from June 2001 till December 2002.

2002
DB briefly introduced ICE-TD tilting class 605 dmus between München and Zürich but use was short lived because of availability problems.

2003
The Zimmerberg Tunnel between Zürich and Thalwil was opened in June 2003 relieving the southern exit from Zürich but with little change to journey times.

The Rail 2000 Timetable of December 12 2004 onwards

This timetable had 4 main features:

1)    Based on a number of major infrastructure improvements, most notably the new high speed line from Mattstetten and Rothrist (between Bern and Olten), a spur at Zofingen for faster trains from Bern to Luzern, a new tunnel at Vauderens between Fribourg and Lausanne permitting double deck IC2000 stock to work on the main route between Zürich, Bern and Genève, and a 3rd track from Genève to Coppet in the Genève suburbs. Trains working over the high speed line had to be fitted with retention toilets and passenger alarm systems which didn’t stop trains in tunnels.
2)    Timetabling around connections half-hourly on the hour and half-hour at Zürich, Winterthur, St. Gallen, Chur, Basel, Delémont, Olten, Bern and Luzern and at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour at Biel / Bienne and Lausanne.
3)    14% increase in train kms.
4)    BLS withdrew from operation of InterCity trains and concentrated on regional services from Bern.

Many InterCity times were about a quarter of an hour faster. ICNs were now working hourly from St. Gallen and Zürich or from Basel to Biel / Bienne and Neuchâtel then on to either Lausanne or to Genève-Aéroport. Additionally they were working from Konstanz to Biel / Bienne. TGV services from Paris Gare de Lyon were now 4 per day to Lausanne and 2 to Bern and on to Zürich.

2007 Timetable Year

In December 2006 DB used tilting ICE-T sets to replace the 2 x ETR 470 Cisalpino train pairs between Zürich and Stuttgart. In June opening of the LGV Est in France provoked a major restructure of the TGV services now from Paris Est with 2 (later 3) TGVs from Paris to Zürich via Strasbourg. Previous Paris Gare de Lyon – Bern – Zürich TGVs were curtailed at Bern. Also from June 2007 ETCS signalling on the high speed line from Rothrist to Mattstetten and the spur to Solothurn now permitted 200 k/h operation.

2008 Timetable Year

Train capacity increased by a further 5.5%. From December 2007 trains equipped with ETCS using the Rothrist to Mattstetten line were accelerated by 3 minutes. The Lötschberg Basis Tunnel was opened saving 26 minutes for trains from Bern to Brig. In July 2008 7-car class ETR 610 the 2nd generation of Cisalpino tilting emus for international services to Italy first entered service on routes via the Simplon Tunnel from Genève and from Basel.

2009 Timetable Year

ICN tilting emus previously used between Konstanz, Zürich and Biel / Bienne were transferred to the Gotthard route primarily working every 2 hours on additional services from Basel to Lugano. Although not all 14 x ETR 610 Cisalpino tilting emus were yet in service, they took over some Gotthard route workings from Zürich to Milano.

2010 Timetable Year

In December 2009, the Cisalpino consortium of SBB and trenitalia was dissolved and the fleets of ETR 470s and ETR 610s divided between the two railways. ETR 470s now worked the Gotthard service to Zürich while the ETR 610s worked the Simplon services to Genève and Basel. SBB ordered some extra ETR 610s.

The service from Paris Est to Basel and Zürich increased from 3 to 5 train pairs. Improvements to the infrastructure via Vallorbe saved 15 minutes on the TGV timings from Paris Gare de Lyon to Lausanne. However, the number of train pairs from Paris to Bern was reduced from 2 to 1.

In March 2010, the loco-hauled trains replaced DB’s ICE-T tilting emus between Stuttgart and Zürich because of stock availability problems in the wider German ICE fleet. In June 2010, ÖBB replaced loco-hauled trains between Zürich and Wien by Railjet unit trains, adding another train pair in December 2012.

2012 Timetable Year

Trenitalia withdrew its ETR 610 units to internal services in December 2011. International services were rediagrammed as well as was practical but not entirely satisfactorily.

In a second major routing change within France, France opened LGV Rhin-Rhône in December 2011; TGVs which had been running from Paris Est to Basel and Zürich now ran from Paris Gare de Lyon. This saved about half an hour and the number of train pairs increased from 5 to 6.

2014 Timetable Year

The St. Gallen S-Bahn commenced operation. The remaining TGV train pair from Paris Gare de Lyon via Frasne and Neuchâtel to Bern was withdrawn and replaced by Swiss shuttles between Frasne and Bern. In June 2014 the Gotthard route service between Zürich and Milano service was slowed and tidied up to improve reliability.

In June 2014 the first stage using of 4 new ‘Löwenstrasse’ underground platforms at Zürich HB and the associated Weinberg Tunnel commenced with major improvements to Zürich S-Bahn services.

2015 Timetable Year

A through TGV was introduced from Paris Gare de Lyon via Genève to Lausanne.

Changes Expected from December 2015 till c. 2020

2016 Timetable Year

IC trains through Winterthur at present reversing at Zürich HB will use the new through ‘Löwenstrasse’ tracks at Zürich HB without reversal saving up to 18 minutes.

2017 Timetable Year

The Gotthard Basis Tunnel will fully open in December 2016 although there may be some introductory services from June 2016. While trains from Basel will save half an hour, those from Zürich will only save 11 minutes since for 18 months they will be rerouted between Zug and Arth-Goldau via Rotkreuz while the direct line is being rebuilt. Through Gotthard services to Italy will be entirely worked by class ETR 610 tilting emus; more are being delivered. 18 ICN sets, 13 Re460 locos and 119 hauled coaches are being modified for service through the Tunnel

SBB should be putting into service production examples of their fleet of 62 double deck InterCity and InterRegio emus being built by Bombardier under the builder’s TWINDEXX Express brand. Delivery commenced in 2015 of 7 x pre-production examples and this fleet should be complete in early 2020. They were ordered in 2010 and delivery is running about 3 years late.

2019 or 2020 Timetable Year (or thereabouts)

The Monte Ceneri Tunnel on the Gotthard route in Ticino will open and a new fleet of ‘Giruno’ 11-car articulated non-tilting trains will take over services between Zürich and Milano. These trains will be equipped for running in Austria and Germany as well as Italy and first deliveries are expected in March 2017. Although articulated, they seem comparable to DB’s class 407 ICE trains. They will run hourly in 2h 58m hours from Zürich to Milano but will be supplemented by a half-hourly service of internal Swiss trains to Lugano.

About this time the line in Germany from Lindau towards München will be electrified with service improved from 4 to 6 IC trains per day taking 3h 15m rather than 4h 10m. This will be the first major change in a service which has been remarkably stable throughout the period of this article.

General Comments

It is noteworthy how many international services have been more volatile than domestic, with many of the changes occurring at other than annual timetable change dates. There is a notable contrast between the comparative stability of services through the German and Austrian international gateways and comparative volatility of those through to France and Italy. Nevertheless, services to France through the Lyria partnership do show ‘continuous improvement;’ in contrast those to Italy are poorer with the use through half this period of the unreliable ETR 470 Pendolino trains and a failed Cisalpino partnership with FS / trenitalia. Over the years there has also been a gradual erosion of international routes crossing Switzerland, for example France and Germany to Italy, France to Austria e.g. the ‘Arlberg Express,’ and France to former Yugoslavia.

Reading station is a key junction situated 36 miles from London Paddington on the main line to Bristol, South Wales, and the South West. Close to the point where it is crossed by the major freight and passenger route between Southampton Docks/Bournemouth and the Midlands.    Passenger services on this route are diverted into/out of Reading Station but the freight trains have for long crossed the Bristol main line on the level causing significant delays to the Bristol trains.    A secondary route from London Waterloo feeds into the east end of the station having in earlier days operated to the former SECR/SR station nearby.    Today emus rattle in and out every 20 minutes for Waterloo and dmus a couple of times hourly for Redhill / Gatwick Airport.

The station itself and the flat junctions to the west were serious bottlenecks and both have now been relieved by the complete rebuilding of the station and the provision of a flyover separating the two major routes.    Reading station has a unique feature – TWO Royal openings in recent years.    The first was on 3 April 1989 when the Queen opened the new station entrance and adjacent shopping mall.   The more recent was on 17 July 2014 when Her Majesty returned to open the complete rebuilt station complex.

Before its recent rebuilding the station had just four long through platforms plus a few bays at each end on the south side and a couple of further bays in the middle of the site.   There are now 15 platforms in all, (four wide island platforms giving eight through platforms, a ninth through platform on the north side of the station) – plus three bays on the south side facing to both the east and the west.    There are now entrances on both the north and south sides and a magnificent transfer deck links both entrances with all platforms.    The deck is 30m wide and 110m long, has five significant retail outlets spaced along the centre of the deck, and is linked to every platform by means of escalators, lifts, and stairs.    In all there are 19 escalators, 12 lifts, and nine waiting rooms which are placed along the major through platforms.     The escalator leading from the deck to the northern concourse and platform 15 is the longest escalator on the BR network.

The station has been rebuilt to handle 35,000 passengers each weekday (15.6m in a year) and 650 trains call each weekday.    The main entrance is on the south side just east of the original 1830s building and leads into a small concourse serving the three bays that are used by the Redhill / Gatwick service and the third rail electric service to Waterloo.    The main ticket office lies to the right and access to the Paddington/Bristol platforms is via a row of ticket gates beyond which is a further concourse and the escalators etc leading to the transfer deck.    The original building is listed but is not used by the railway today.  It is leased to a pub company and there are plans to open a restaurant on the upper floor.    Its centrally placed little tower holding a clock is a much loved feature of the town and is in sharp contrast to the very modern buildings on each side.    Because traffic has been rising sharply further entrance gates are situated to the west of the main entrance and are for ticket holders only.    On the north side of the station there is a new entrance beside a conveniently placed bus loop, a modest concourse,  ticket office and ticket gates giving access to the long escalator up to the deck.  A pedestrian tunnel runs under the tracks and platforms and links the growing suburb to the north with the town centre.

Many of the town’s network of bus services run to the station either to the south or the north entrance.   Because of road congestion many routes cannot reach either entrance but the station is seen as being the most important way to reach London and therefore many travellers are happy to walk from the nearest point that the buses can reach.   There is a multi-storey car park close to the station but this is inadequate for the potential traffic.     Although several TOCs use Reading Station none has control of the operations.   Instead Reading remains a “Managed Station” i.e. it remains under the control of Network Rail.

BRITISH TIMETABLE REVIEW –  May 2015
by Alan de Burton

Overview and Timetable Format

Unless otherwise specified, the text refers to Monday to Saturday timetables. There are no major permanent timing changes but two line openings and some new stations. I have included franchise changes since they are complex.

Unfortunately this timetable like some of its predecessors suffers in various places from missing trains, missing tables, missing information on the engineering works lasting for 5 months of the timetable validity around Bolton, table changes not reflected in the station index and and for the first time, missing sections of the station index including London!

Abellio Greater Anglia (emus, dmus, diesel and electric loco-hauled),  London Overground (emus) and TfL Rail (emus)

On services continuing to be operated by Abellio Greater Anglia itself, the two Summer Saturday through trains between London Liverpool Street and Great Yarmouth have not reappeared.  However, there are extra fast trains between Norwich and both Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft on summer weekends.

From 31 May 2015, the stopping service on the ‘Electric Lines’ between Liverpool Street and Shenfield was transferred from Abellio Greater Anglia to TfL Rail as a stage towards incorporating these lines into Crossrail. There were changes to early morning services to eliminate some overlaps between Abellio Greater Eastern and TfL services.

Also from 31 May, services from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town and  Chingford and to Cheshunt via Southbury were transferred from Abellio Greater Anglia to London Overground. This didn’t affect Monday to Saturday services but Sunday services have changed. London Overground services now run to the Monday to Saturday pattern of 2 trains per hour to both Enfield Town and all stations to Cheshunt and 4 per hour to Chingford.

On Sundays Abellio Greater Anglia have replaced the previous half-hourly service from Liverpool Street to Hertford East via Seven Sisters and Southbury by a service from Stratford via Tottenham Hale. They have also replaced the previous hourly stopping service from Stratford to Cambridge by a semi-fast from Liverpool Street.

Arriva Trains Wales (dmus and some diesel loco-hauled)

The Monday to Saturday 2-hourly service from Birmingham International to Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth has been supplemented by 4 extra trains between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. On Sundays there are 2 extra trains between Shrewsbury and Machynlleth and 3 beyond to Aberystwyth.

Despite confused information in the printed timetable, trains from Cardiff to Ebbw Vale Parkway were extended to a new terminus at Ebbw Vale Town from the start date of the timetable on 17 May.

On Mondays to Fridays, there are extra early morning trains on the Central Wales line. At the south end there is an 05 20 from Llanelli to Llandovery returning at  06 42 to Swansea and at the other end an 04 45 from Shrewsbury to Llandrindod returning at 06 18 to Crewe. The 4 previous through trains are retimed and some are now linked through to and from Crewe. There are also various detailed changes on the South Wales main line west of Cardiff.

Chiltern Trains (dmus and diesel loco-hauled)

From 25 October 2015 Chiltern Trains will open a new route from London Marylebone to Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway. Trains will be fast and take about an hour and run half-hourly all 7 days. While peak services are partly diversions of existing trains, at other times the Oxford Parkway trains are new and pre-existing trains are retimed to fit. On Mondays to Saturdays, most of the previous through trains from London Marylebone to Stratford-upon-Avon are reduced to a shuttle from Leamington Spa.

On Sundays a Marylebone to Gerrards Cross local service operates for the first time running hourly. One Marylebone – Birmingham train per hour on Sundays now calls at Beaconsfield but not at High Wycombe.

East Coast (HSTs and electric loco-hauled)

From 1 March 2015 this service has been run by Virgin Trains East Coast.

East Midlands Trains (dmus)

The Monday to Saturday hourly service from Matlock to Nottingham has mostly been extended to Newark Castle with over half running semi-fast and the remainder slow. Existing East Midlands trains from Nottingham to Lincoln now omit most stops between Nottingham and Newark.

First Great Western (HSTs, dmus and loco-hauled sleepers)

There are many detailed changes on the Cotswold service between Oxford and Worcester partly reflecting rediagramming the 3 several different kinds of train that operate on the route: 90 mph class 166 dmus, 125 mph class 180 dmus and HSTs. There are also minor changes in London Paddington –  Reading local services. Exmouth to Exeter trains are shown to call at a new station called Newcourt on the outskirts of Exeter, but this hadn’t occured at the beginning of the timetable period.

First TransPennine Express (dmus and emus)

Most trains between Manchester Airport and Blackpool North on Mondays to Saturdays are now formed by class 156 trains and therefore take a few minutes longer and lack First Class. Consequently some through workings and portions north of Preston to Windermere and Barrow-in-Furness are changed and some have swapped paths with Northern Rail trains. During the period of engineering works on Farnworth Tunnels from 2 May to 4 October these trains are mostly rerouted via Wigan on Mondays to Fridays and all are routed this way at weekends. See also below under Northern Rail.

London Midland (emus and dmus)

The timetable shows the Coventry – Nuneaton mainly hourly shuttle service serving new stations at Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park, but opening isn’t now expected till 21 June at least.

Northern Rail (emus, dmus and some diesel loco-hauled)

New stations will open during the duration of the timetable at Kirkstall Forge and at Apperley Bridge, but train times and opening dates aren’t shown. The hourly all 7 days Manchester – Todmorden trains are extended to Burnley (Manchester Road) and Blackburn. The Sunday trains from Metrocentre which previously ran hourly to Newcastle and Sunderland and 2-hourly on to Middlesbrough now run hourly to Middlesbrough. The previous 2 pairs of Sunday trains between Hartlepool and Darlington have seemingly been replaced but aren’t shown in the printed timetable. On Mondays to Saturdays 4 trains each way between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness with some extensions to Lancaster and Preston are now covered by loco-hauled trains. Since these are slower than the previous dmus, there are extensive detailed changes to the service.

As noted under First TransPennine, engineering works at Farnworth Tunnels between Salford Crescent and Bolton take place from 2 May to 4 October restricting line capacity on Mondays to Fridays; the wayside stations on this section are closed for the whole period. In general, only 3 trains per hour each way can run via Bolton: a Manchester Victoria – Blackpool North, a Manchester Victoria – Blackburn – Clitheroe and a Hazel Grove – Manchester – Preston. The Manchester Airport – Southport service runs fast via Atherton saving about 10 minutes! With a total blockage at weekends buses replace almost all relevant trains except the Hazel Grove / Chester – Manchester Piccadilly – Southport service which is diverted via Atherton. On Sundays the Manchester Victoria to Wigan Wallgate via Atherton local service runs from Manchester Oxford Road.

ScotRail (emus, dmus and diesel loco hauled)

On 1 April 2015, the previous First ScotRail franchise passed to two new franchises, mainly Abellio ScotRail but the overnight London sleepers passed to Caledonian Sleepers run by Serco without the services changing.

The prime ScotRail change is the extension from 6 September 2015 of the half-hourly service (hourly evenings and on Sundays) from Edinburgh to Newcraighall on to the Borders at Tweedbank; for the period to 30 August the Sunday service to Newcraighall is new. An hourly Sunday service also now runs from Glasgow Central to Paisley Canal, although this isn’t in the printed book. The Sunday Partick to Cumbernauld services now calls at the intermediate stations between Bellgrove and Springburn. On Saturday mornings there is an extra round trip between Glasgow Queen Street and Oban at 05 20 from Glasgow and 05 21 from Oban.

From 13 June till 26 July Winchburgh Tunnel on the main line from Edinburgh to Glasgow is closed for electrification works. The prime generally ¼ hourly Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street service is reduced to a half-hourly shuttle just from Linlithgow to Glasgow. There are 3 alternative routes from Edinburgh to Glasgow of which 2 are already electrified. The Edinburgh to Stirling and Dunblane trains are diverted and generally take an extra 10 minutes.

South West Trains (emus and dmus)

London Waterloo to Exeter trains are shown to call at a new station called Cranbrook on the outskirts of Exeter, but this didn’t occur at the beginning of the timetable period.

Thameslink Southern Great Northern (emus and dmus)

A complicated series of franchise changes described below is taking place. This will put the former First Capital Connect, Southern and a small part of Southeastern franchises into a single Thameslink Southern Great Northern franchise under the control of franchisee Govia Thameslink. For now they will trade under the brand names of Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express.

From 14 September 2014, Govia the present owner of the Southern franchise took over from First Capital Connect as the operator of Thameslink but the franchise remained legally separate from Southern. From 14 December 2014 Thameslink took over the Catford Loop line stations and trains from Southeastern. On 26 July 2015 the Southern franchise will be fully merged with Thameslink.

The new timetables which came into force on 11 January 2015 to reflect restricted line and platform capacity during reconstruction at London Bridge for the Thameslink project have worked very poorly. The peak service continues to be subject to frequent changes and the timetable book doesn’t reflect the present timetabled service, whatever that may be.

The worst railway disaster in Britain happened 100 years ago – at 0649 on 22 May 1915.   The Scottish Government has included the disaster in its Official Commemoration Programme for 2015. Quintinshill was the name of a signal box midway between Gretna Junction and Kirkpatrick boxes and is just north of Gretna Green village.    The main function of the box was to control the access to long loops which could hold freight or slow trains allowing expresses to pass through at speed.  The accident was caused by a combination of factors involving the irregular operation of the signalling by two signallers.   Five trains were involved, and a sixth narrowly missed involvement in the disaster.

The night and day shift signalmen were meant to end/start their shifts at 0600 but the box was isolated and a mile-long walk alongside the tracks was involved so the men arranged that the day shift man would come on the down local which reached the box at about 0630.    On the fateful day the 0450 Carlisle to the north goods was in the down loop and an empty coal train occupied the up loop.    The local stopped on the down main line but the late running London to Edinburgh express was bearing down on Quintinshill and there was nowhere for the local to go to get out of the way.    The night shift signalman told the local to reverse over a crossover and stand on the up main line to allow the Edinburgh train to rush through some 30 minutes late.    The day shift signalman arrived off the local and the two men chatted and as a result the night shift signalman forgot to put collars on the signal levers protecting the local.    With the collars in place the road could not have been set for any Up train.      Next on the scene was a troop train that had started out at 0345 from Larbert in Central Scotland and was heading for Liverpool carrying over 200 soldiers heading for Gallipoli.  Military trains had to be given top priority so the day shift signalman set the road clear for the troop train not realising that the local was blocking the way.    Had the collars been in place the road could not have been set for the troop train and the disaster would have been avoided.      The troop train ran into the local and some of the elderly wooden coaches sustained severe damage with wreckage spilling over the down main line.    A few minutes later the London to Glasgow night express running 30 minutes late crashed into the wreckage which exploded into a horrific inferno.    The wooden coaches had gas lighting using gas held in massive cylinders some of which had been ruptured.      In all 216 people died at the scene or soon after in the hospital in Carlisle.    Many were so badly burned that they could not be identified and a mass grave for all the victims was used in Edinburgh.    The signalmen were found guilty of culpable homicide and served long terms in prison.

On the centenary day ceremonies are being held across Scotland.   Wreathes are being laid at Larbert station, at the barracks of the Royal Scots in Leith, at Rosebank Cemetery in Edinburgh, and in churches in Leith and Gretna, while the son of a survivor will lay a wreath at Quintinshill itself.    Thanks to electrification trains now rush past this spot at 100 mph making it difficult to catch sight of the Quintinshill name board beside the track.    There will be military parades in Gretna and Edinburgh.    No list of the names of those killed has been erected anywhere until now but a Roll of Honour is to be unveiled on 22 May in Gretna Old Parish Church with the entire community, including children, involved.      A tree will be planted close to the War Memorial and a specially written poem commemorating the disaster will be read.
Iain Frew

A VERY POLITICAL RAILWAY
by Wayne Asher
Capital Transport
184 pages Hardback
ISBN 9 781854 143785 £19.95

Book Review and extended further notes by Alan de Burton, January 2015

I have extended a summary of the book ‘A Very Political Railway’ by additional information from other sources mentioned below. The book is primarily targeted at the political background to the last 60 years or so of the North London Line. The author focusses particularly on the Broad Street – Richmond service and its modern successor  Stratford – Richmond. Inevitably the Euston – Watford d.c. lines and its use by Bakerloo Line trains gets involved. It covers very well why things happened and unlike most other works the things that didn’t and why. John Glover’s ”London’s Overground’ covers what did happen. Lovett’s book ‘The North London Railway 1846 – 2012’ is better on earlier periods and illustrates very well the decrepit railway of the 1950s, but it is somewhat sketchy on the later period. The 3rd edition of Joe Brown’s ‘London Railway Atlas’ and Frank Hornby’s ‘London Suburban’ proved to be excellent supplementary sources. Readers may find some duplication in the text below since at various times, several currents flowed in parallel. They will also find a bewildering succession of public bodies responsible for London’s rail transport systems.

While the detailed history was complex, these lines had long periods of semi stability but with 3 major periods of change at about 20 year intervals as follows:

1962 – 65: Intended closure of the Broad Street – Richmond service was followed by rationalisation of the North London line. On the Euston – Watford d.c. lines Bakerloo Line services north of Queens Park were reduced to Monday to Friday peaks.

1985 – 86: Electrification of Dalston Western Junction to North Woolwich, withdrawal of class 501 emus and closure of Broad Street station

2005 – 2011: In July 2005 the success of the British bid for the 2012 Olympics was announced providing vital impetus to network expansion incorporating the East London Line Extension while in 2007 the London Overground management concession took over from the Silverlink Metro post privatisation franchise

However, the lulls were the periods when the planning and politics generated the next phase of activity.

Pre-Beeching: up to c. 1960

The Euston – Watford Junction, Broad Street – Richmond and associated lines were mainly electrified between 1914 and 1922. In the mid 1950s the London Midland Region 3rd and 4th rail electrified services were primarily worked by the original ‘Oerlikon’ 3-car ‘open’ emu trains with hand operated doors ordered by the LNWR supplemented by the LMS compartment slam door stock built from 1927. However in WW2 and after:

ñ    A shuttle service between Acton Central and Kew Bridge was suspended in 1940 and not restored
ñ    An electric service between Willesden Junction and Earls Court worked by earlier ‘Siemens’ ‘open’ stock was also withdrawn in 1940 partly to provide capacity for heavy freight
ñ    A steam service from Broad Street to Poplar was suspended in 1943 after bombing and never restored
ñ    The branch service to Rickmansworth (Church Street) was withdrawn in March 1952

From 1952, BR’s mileage base fares made many journeys much more expensive than LT equivalent. Willesden Junction High Level, Hampstead Heath and Gospel Oak stations were rebuilt in the 1950s, but the other stations became increasingly decrepit, over-sized and many still gas lit. From 1957 new class 501 3-car partly open slam door trains replaced the ‘Oerlikon’ stock and by 1962 the LMS compartment stock.

The main Broad Street – Richmond service ran generally every 15 – 20 minutes. Except on Sunday morning there was a service from Broad Street via Primrose Hill to Willesden Junction Low level, most often running through to Watford Junction. The Eastern Region ran ‘tidal’ peak steam later diesel loco hauled services to and from Broad Street in the peaks at about 10 minute intervals. Up to withdrawal in October 1940, this was run by the LMS but the LNER / BR Eastern Region ran it after revival in July 1945. Until the mid 1960s there were a couple of peak steam trains to and from Tring; the morning arrivals were at 09 10 and 09 48! In their last years they were diesel loco hauled.

On the Euston – Watford d.c. lines peak frequencies between Queens Park and Harrow & Wealdstone including LT Bakerloo Line trains reached every 2 ½ minutes. Bakerloo trains ran through to Watford Junction at all times 7 days per week.

1962 – 65: Cost saving then ‘up for closure’

1962 – 63 most services were reduced to a single 3-car unit. In September 1962 evening services on Broad Street – Richmond were cut by 2 hours saving a whole shift of BR staff. By January 1963 the base service both peak and off-peak was reduced from generally every 15 minutes to every 20. In March 1963 Dr. Beeching published ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ in which the the Broad Street – Richmond service was listed for closure but curiously not the Broad Street – Primrose Hill – Watford Junction service. By this time there were widespread complaints about the service, e.g. higher fares than LT, no through fares to LT stations, no car parking, no later evening service, and overcrowding on peak trains. Action committees were set up with support of local authorities who lobbied Parliament and provided facilities such as meeting rooms and printing. Even then it was noteworthy that North London line off-peak patronage at 50% of total business was much higher than the then London norm of 25%. Internal BR papers also hinted that BR managers were interested in the development potential of the Broad Street site which included extensive goods stations.

In 1965 BR closed 4 of the stations on Sundays and investigated the 4 options below:

1:    Close Broad St. redirecting electric trains on a new spur to St. Pancras
2:    Terminating services at Dalston Junction with LT bus connection to Broad St. LT rejected this as impractical
3:    Continue with closure proposal
4:    Economise, ‘shrink’ most stations including Broad Street and continue Eastern Region peak services till their electrification.

In 1965 BR confirmed they would not proceed with the closure proposal but in 1966 ran the last direct peak trains between Broad Street and Croxley Green.

1965 – about 1978: Absolute Minimum Facilities and Stagnation

BR (LM) started promoting the line for the first time! In May 1968 the evening services were restored and from 1969 there were some cheaper non-mileage fares. However, there were frequent complaints about train cancellations, vandalised station toilets, etc.

After October 1964 patronage of the ER trains increased when the Northern City Line was severed at Drayton Park; 10 years later there were 14 evening peak departures from Broad St. on Mondays to Fridays and even a couple on Saturdays at midday. This scuppered any attempt at partial redevelopment of the Broad Street station site. The ER trains were dmu worked from May 1969 till final closure in November 1976 with GN suburban electrification. In 1969 the Goods Depots at Broad St. and nearby Worship St. were closed. However, there were two serious planning impediments to redeveloping the sites: (1) Office Development Permits restricting office development in London were needed as well as planning permission and (2) any BR land defined as ‘non-operational’ had to be offered to the Greater London Council for housing.

In 1966 – 69 Broad St. – Dalston Junction was ‘de-quadrupled.’ In February 1970 Broad Street’s east side platforms were closed and in August 1970 the 4th rail was removed. 5 of the smaller stations were rebuilt with minimal brick structures and at most stations canopies and platform buildings were replaced by ‘bus shelters.’ Highbury & Islington station was rebuilt (not very well) for interchange for the Victoria Line which opened here in September 1968. Fortunately the stations on the d.c. lines from Euston to Watford Junction were built in the 20th century and have nearly all survived. In April 1971 Kentish Town West station was burnt down; while trains no longer called, it wasn’t formally closed at that time. However, the downsized stations were perceived as ‘cheap and nasty.’ There was a very obvious gap between the standard of BR and LT surface stations. There was a container depot at Maiden Lane north of St. Pancras between 1964 and 1971 when it was replaced by better facilities at Willesden Junction and Stratford.

The 1968 Transport Act was crucial in introducing the concept of (1) national public subsidy for loss-making train services through Grant Aid for services on a line-by-line basis and (2) the right of local authorities to subsidise train services. The North London and Euston – Watford d.c. line services were both heavily loss making. On the d.c. lines BR took all the revenue but paid LT for operating costs of Bakerloo Line trains. From June 1965 Bakerloo services north of Queens Park were cut back to the peaks and after April 1966 electric a.c. services from Euston also depressed demand north of Harrow & Wealdstone on the section mainly in Hertfordshire. In 1966 Saturday services from Broad Street via Primrose Hill were withdrawn. The 1970 Heath government wanted to eliminate Grant Aid, provoking the formation of the NLCC (North London Line Committee); unlike predecessor committees, this worked well with BR. There was a major fare increase of up to 25% in 1971 but Grant Aid was consolidated into Regional blocks.

More positive was the production of 2 reports. The first was ‘New Ring Rail for London’ in 1973; in principle this was finally delivered in 2012. In 1974 the Department of the Environment, BR, LT and the GLC jointly produced the ‘London Rail Study’ in which the 2 Crossrail lines first appeared as proposals. Civil engineering work on the first Crossrail line is now approaching completion and the plans for Crossrail 2 are out for consultation.

While the Labour government was initially more positive, the fall of London’s population and economic crisis forced it to reduce subsidies to BR. In November 1975 BR proposed to cut all d.c. services to half hourly including the peaks. In 1976 the GLC stepped in with rights it had in an 1969 Act to provide a subsidy for the North London and North Woolwich lines but not the d.c. lines service since there were doubts about the legality with the line extending into Hertfordshire. The service shrank from every 15 minutes 7 days a week to every 20 minutes, but half-hourly on Sundays and on Monday to Friday peaks when the Broad Street services also ran. There were battles between the GLC who wanted the tube map to show the Broad Street – Richmond line and LT who considered that the line wasn’t of a compatible standard, but it did appear from 1977. In 1978 BR said they didn’t require any more subsidy from the GLC.

Expansion from 1979: Hackney and North Woolwich!

By the late 1970s, the borough of Hackney was in trouble. There were racial tensions, rising unemployment, low car ownership, bus service reliability was being hit by traffic congestion, race riots elsewhere in London, no tube service and rail service limited to access to Liverpool Street. Further east, employment was collapsing in Docklands. The pressure group HAPTAC (Hackney Public Transport Action Committee) was formed in 1971 and  had good relations with BR. In 1973 it asked for a link between Stratford and Highbury. In 1976 the GLC and 5 boroughs published a ‘London Docklands Strategic Plan’ and in 1977 the GLC agreed to pay BR to ‘tart up’ the stations on the Stratford to North Woolwich line. This involved singling the track between Custom House and North Woolwich, building new interchange platforms with LT’s railways at West Ham (opened May 1979) and building a new mini station building at North Woolwich. The service had previously shuttled between Stratford and North Woolwich with a few trains starting from Tottenham Hale.

The GLC sponsored a new service between Camden Road and North Woolwich which began in May 1979 using 2-car class 105 Cravens dmus. Services ran about every 20 minutes in the peaks and every 30 minutes off-peak, all on Mondays to Fridays only. Basic new intermediate stations partly paid for by the GLC and also the Urban Aid budget were opened over a period as follows:

Dalston (Kingsland): May 1983
Hackney Central: May 1980
Homerton: May 1985 (it had to await electrification since stops here would have made dmu timings too tight)
Hackney Wick: May 1980

The service was slow to build up custom at first due to chronic unreliability with 13% of trains cancelled and at best 75% timekeeping, but built up later on the section west of Stratford. Patronage shrank at the North Woolwich end since the local economy was in ‘free fall’ following closure of the last enclosed docks in 1981. In 1981 the GLC agreed to pay for electrification from Dalston to North Woolwich. This was achieved in May 1985 when the Richmond – Broad Street service was diverted to North Woolwich. This also killed off a residual shuttle service between Stratford and Tottenham Hale a couple of months later. See the next section on the related eventual closure of Broad Street station. While there were spare class 501 3-car units to operate the service, in fact it was to be worked by 2-car Southern Region Bulleid 2-EPBs based at Selhurst. This enabled the closure of the electric depot at Croxley Green in conjunction with the replacement of the class 501s on Watford trains by class 313 emus as also described below.

As noted, Kentish Town West station was in effect closed in April 1971 after a fire and BR wanted to formalise the closure. This caused inevitable friction with Camden Council, but BR received approval for closure in November 1977. However, the GLC financed rebuilding and the station eventually reopened in October 1981 after closure for over 10 years.

Other changes included the diversion in January 1981 of the Kentish Town to Barking service to start from Gospel Oak to free up Kentish Town for the Bed-Pan electrification scheme; the service reverted to half-hourly. BR’s freight sector paid to electrify Camden Road to Stratford at 25 kV a.c. from April 1988. In part this enabled BR to defer the replacement of various bridges on the Gospel Oak – Barking line

Closing Broad Street in 1986 and opening (and closing) the Graham Road curve

We have seen how the LM Region had been eying up the closure of Broad Street for property redevelopment as early as 1964, and by 1969 BR was looking at a more comprehensive redevelopment including Liverpool Street as well. In 1971 BR applied for the then necessary Office Development Permit (ODP). The GLC, City of London and Hackney borough were all involved as  planning bodies. Two factors now helped. Firstly in 1971 BR received approval for the Great Northern Suburban electrification which would in due course rid Broad Street of the Eastern Region’s peak trains; these last ran in November 1976. Secondly in 1973 the Dept. of the Environment sent BR a conditional approval for the scheme. However, at that time the Eastern Region were opposed to the concept of the future Graham Road curve enabling North London trains to be diverted from Broad Street to Liverpool Street. Accordingly BR was working on the basis of retaining a 2-platform Broad Street in some form.

After a brief hiatus on ODPs, the new Labour government issued an ODP in 1974 and planning started on the Graham Road curve. In 1975 the BR Investment Board approved in principle a scheme to build the curve and terminate Broad Street trains at a temporary terminus at Worship Street 600 yards back from Broad Street. This was to the horror of the LM Region which now wanted to terminate services at Highbury & Islington, but this was vetoed by the Dept. of the Environment foreseeing the strength of the lobby groups. To complicate matters, the western train shed at Liverpool Street was ‘listed’ in 1975 but in 1981 the Dept. of the Environment refused to list Broad Street Station.

From 1976 BR proceeded with development proposals based on a temporary Worship Street terminus, in 1977 received planning permission and in 1979 full planning consent. However, Hackney council was hostile since with 15% unemployment it had 2 concerns: it wanted to preserve employment of small businesses in the arches of the viaduct south of Dalston Junction and wanted new stations at Shoreditch and Haggerston to serve them. They achieved this over 30 years later! In 1981 BR formally proposed the closure of the section between Broad Street and Worship Street and this was approved by the minister in 1983. In 1983 BR (Network SouthEast) refused an offer from the GLC to build a Broad Street High Level station.

In September 1983, BR came up with a new plan. It discovered that some nearly new 3-car class 313 emus were spare from the Great Northern suburban electrification and could be used on the services then working from Euston and from Broad Street in the peaks to Watford Junction. Since they were dual-system, they could readily work the Watford services over a Graham Road curve into Liverpool Street. With Southern 2-EPBs working on the newly electrified line to North Woolwich, Croxley Green depot could be closed and the class 501s withdrawn. Since power supplies on the d.c. lines to Watford wouldn’t support 2 x class 313 units, extra peak Bakerloo Line trains would be needed out to Harrow & Wealdstone as seen below. Before this, the North London service had been interrupted between Finchley Road and Gospel Oak from December 1984 and April 1985 by a landslip in Hampstead.

In 1984 BR applied for complete closure of Dalston Junction to Broad Street without a temporary terminus at Worship Street. Despite objections from the usual lobby groups, Nicholas Ridley as the relevant minister approved the closure of Broad Street to be effective when the Graham Road curve was complete. After 14 May 1985 when the Richmond service was diverted to North Woolwich, the peak Watford Junction trains had become the only users of Broad Street. Hackney borough got some compensation; BR repaired London Fields station closed in September 1981 after a fire and reopened it in September 1986. From 1 July 1985 the Watford service used a truncated 2 platform Broad Street station with temporary ‘shack’ buildings and the last Watford train served it on 27 June 1986. The service over the Graham Road curve was not a success, and after classic ‘stealth’ processes of poor and reducing service, the last train on a service by then down to single train pair ran on 25 September 1992.

Euston – Watford d.c. Line / Bakerloo services

We have already seen that by the 1980s, the d.c. lines were served every 20 minutes (half-hourly on Sundays and also on Monday to Friday peaks when there were also Broad Street trains) plus 4 peak Bakerloo Line trains which berthed at the BR depot at Croxley Green. In May 1979 a new depot at Stonebridge Park accessible only over BR tracks served the Bakerloo Line as part of the opening of the Jubilee Line. There was a limited peak service north from Queens Park to Stonebridge Park. In 1982 this was withdrawn as were the peak trains from Watford which last ran in September 1982. These had survived in part because of lack of alternative stabling. This left no LT public service on the d.c. lines north of Stonebridge Park. Details are obscure on whether even the section between Queens Park and Stonebridge Park was served by Bakerloo Line public trains for the entirety of this period.

Peak Bakerloo Line services to Harrow & Wealdstone resumed in June 1984 partly financed by the GLC. As we have seen this also assisted BR’s scheme to replace the class 501 emus running in pairs in the peaks by 3-car 313s running singly. In 1988 Bakerloo Line service to Harrow & Wealdstone resumed all day operation on Mondays to Saturdays and in 1989 on Sundays as well. By 1999 the Harrow & Wealdstone service was running every 10 minutes at most hours.

With the 3-car service to Watford, the peak headway from Euston improved to every 20 minutes. From then till the days of the Overground over 20 years later, the service more or less remained every 20 minutes on Mondays to Saturdays and every half hour on Sundays.

‘Getting by’ for 20 years but not very well

The section covers the period after the closure of Broad Street through to privatisation and the 10 years of the Silverlink franchise. There were two crucial factors. The first was the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986; responsibility for LT had already been transferred to central government in 1984 by the London Regional Transport Act of that year. This left these routes without any external organisation or finances to support the North London line and left it entirely at the mercy of national governments. The second was a sudden change round in demography in 1983. In the period 1961 – 83 London as a whole lost 15% of its population, the boroughs of Hackney and Camden 29% and Islington 38%. From 1983 to 2001 the overall population rose 8%, Camden 11%, Hackney 13% and Islington 16% and to some degree these boroughs were becoming gentrified. While 3-car class 313s replaced 2-car 2-EPBs in October 1989, the internal layout of the 313s with only 2 pairs of doors wasn’t suitable for a metro type service. In an unrelated change, in 1987 the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) took over the Bow to Poplar section previously used by the Broad Street – Poplar steam service.

In 1989 the government targeted BR’s Network SouthEast with eliminating its subsidy, leading to the partial destaffing of stations. The North London line’s fare yield was low since most stations were in Travelcard Zone 2. When engineering works disrupted train service, replacement buses were no longer provided. In 1993 there had been a proposal that the High Speed line from St. Pancras to Kent would share the surface alignment of the North London line from north of St. Pancras to Dalston almost certainly blocking the line between Highbury & Islington and Dalston (Kingsland) for 2 years, but this was fought off by the lobby groups. In compensation BR’s Freight Sector would have got electrification of Gospel Oak to South Tottenham and replacement of the line’s weak bridges. In 1994 the infrastructure of national railways was transferred from British Rail to Railtrack, but in May 1994, the Monday to Friday service was changed to from every 20 minutes throughout to every 15 minutes from Richmond to Stratford and every 30 minutes on to North Woolwich.

During this period, the Richmond – North Woolwich suffered two major blockages for engineering works. The first was from May 1994 till October 1995 between Stratford and North Woolwich for construction of the Jubilee Line Extension on one side of the formation between Stratford and Canning Town. However, LT paid for rebuilding stations at West Ham and Canning Town, the latter on a new site with interchange with Docklands Light Railway as well as the Jubilee Line. The Docklands Development Corporation paid for a major improvement to the Connaught Tunnel between Custom House and Silvertown. It is now being rebuilt more extensively for Crossrail.

The second blockage was more severe and lasted from October 1995 and September 1996 covering the entire line between Camden Road and Willesden Junction via Hampstead Heath when the line was heavily rebuilt for North of England Eurostar trains which never ran. The North Woolwich – Richmond service ran from North Woolwich via Primrose Hill (where the station remained closed) to Willesden Junction Low Level and from Willesden Junction High Level to Richmond. The line was re-electrified from Acton Central through to Dalston Kingsland on 25 kV a.c. which materially improved operation of the 313s. Unfortunately work to improve clearances for larger freight containers in Hampstead Tunnel wasn’t included. However, when the train service was restored, it was on the previous 20 minute frequency throughout, and the previous service wasn’t fully restored till January 1999. On 22 March 1996 the last train ran on the branch to Croxley Green in advance of road works severing the track formation. Latterly, the line had been served by a single early morning train pair, when run at all.

Privatisation of train operation under the Railways Act of 1993 led to the award to National Express of a franchise for operating the trains; this ran from March 1997 till November 2007 branded as Silverlink Metro. Since the franchise terms were to operate the service ‘as is’ on a line where passenger numbers were rising, there was little investment by the operator and the passenger experience deteriorated. One user described it as ‘shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded,’ and there were particular problems of communication if the service was disrupted. In 2000 Silverlink was rated as the worst or second worst franchisee in 9 PPM measures out of 12. However, there were a few extra peak trains from May 2004 and the new GLA (see below) paid for some extra through trains to run from Stratford to Clapham Junction in the peak. Meanwhile the Anglia franchisee had run through dmus over the North London from Ipswich to Basingstoke; the then Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) set up by the Transport Act of 2000) terminated the poorly patronised service which ran from May 2000 to September 2002. The SRA was abolished by the Railways Act of 2005 and its powers transferred back to the Department of Transport.

In 2000 came better news with the establishment of the Greater London Authority (GLA) with an elected mayor. While the the GLA set up Transport for London (TfL) in 2000 to manage its transport responsibilities, it was only able to take over London Underground in 2003 after it had signed an ill-fated PPP (Public Private Partnership) agreement for the infrastructure. The Railways Act of 2005 gave the GLA / TfL more explicit responsibilities which it exercises these through ‘London Rail.’ Both London mayors have worked through this to exercise greater control over national railways services throughout Greater London.

In July 2005 London was successful in its bid to host the Olympics in 2012. This provided the impetus for drastic improvements in service standards and completion of the East London Line Extension (ELLE) described later. London was primarily competing for the Olympics against Paris and Madrid which were at that time perceived as having more effective transport systems serving their proposed Olympic infrastructure. To win the Olympics, the SRA had identified these priorities in 2004:

ñ    To improve the North London line
ñ    The build the East London Line Extension to Highbury & Islington. In 2004 this had been the bottom of their 10 priorities. This is described in more detail in a later section
ñ    To replace the North London line by the DLR beyond Stratford

In August 2006 Network Rail published a Route Utilisation Strategy which foresaw capacity crises for both passenger and freight traffic on the North London line. This recognised the weakness of the Gospel Oak to Barking line through ailing bridges and long signal sections. For passengers it recommended reconfiguration of the class 313 emus, longer trains, more peak trains and a service from Stratford via Primrose Hill to Queens Park.

Since TfL already had authorisation to extend the DLR to King George V and North London line traffic to North Woolwich was still very poor, the last train ran between Stratford and North Woolwich on 9 December 2006. Rather belatedly, the North London line service was transferred from the Low Level platforms at Stratford to new platforms at High Level in April 2009.

London Overground

London Overground Rail Operations (LOROL) took over train operations from Silverlink as a concession from TfL in November 2007. This concession will now run till November 2016. While the original owners of the concession were MTR of Hong Kong and Laing Rail, the latter later sold out to Arriva now owned by DB of Germany. Their immediate tasks were to clean up the stations and trains, staff all the stations at all times trains were running, install automatic ticket gates at many stations, and improve revenue protection and security. Pay-as-you-go Oyster cards were accepted from September 2009. New dual system class 378 trains were ordered from Bombardier, delivered as 3-car sets from 2008, strengthened to 4-car from 2011 and in the future to 5-car. Parts of the line were closed twice. The line was closed from Willesden Junction High Level to Gospel Oak from September to November 2008 to adapt Hampstead Tunnel for 9′ W10 loading gauge freight containers. It was closed from Gospel Oak to Stratford from February to June 2010 for heavy rebuilding paid for by ‘Olympics’ money. The new track layouts provided space for East London trains to run as far as Highbury & Islington on separate tracks. Extensive rebuilding was needed at Caledonian Road, Highbury & Islington and Canonbury stations and complex work at Willesden Junction. LOROL have achieved commendable levels of timekeeping and customer satisfaction.

Train services have now settled at 4 trains per hour from Stratford to Richmond, supplemented by a service from Stratford to Clapham Junction via the West London line of 4 trains per hour Monday to Friday peaks, and 2 trains per hour at other times till about 20 00. Sunday services are the same but lower before about 11 00. The same improvements have been applied to the d.c. lines between Euston and Watford Junction. However, the new class 378 emus which replaced the 313s and latterly also some 507s drafted in from Merseyside still run only every 20 minutes, but the Sunday frequency has at last increased to every 20 minutes after about 09 30.

Plans for the link between the HS2 high speed line to the north and the existing HS1 had involved shared use of the North London alignment at Camden Road, no doubt creating disturbance in both construction and operation. This threat was removed in 2014 when a review by HS2’s new Chief Executive condemned this plan as unsatisfactory. Construction of a new station building at West Hampstead has now been authorised as well as reinstating at vast expense a long gone footpath connection between Hackney Central and Hackney Downs. New 2-car class 172 dmus were built for the Gospel Oak – Barking service in 2009 – 2010. While the service now runs every 15 minutes 7 days per week, trains are subject to gross overcrowding. After contention between the various possible funding bodies, electrification of the line has been authorised, but will probably take till 2017 to complete. It finally involves replacement of the weak bridges already highlighted as a problem 25 years earlier. The line will probably be extended on a new formation to a terminus serving a major housing development at Barking Riverside. Pathing conflicts for freight trains from the new Thames Gateway port opened in autumn 2013 crossing Great Eastern main line and Crossrail tracks in the Forest Gate area no doubt provided extra impetus.

The East London Extension

The abbreviated details may seem tedious but do illustrate the mind-bending difficulties in progressing the scheme until pressing national needs finally demolished the obstacles. We must congratulate the author of a ‘Very Political Railway’ for teasing out the details; many are in public but not very accessible archives. The complex tale of the East London Line Extension (ELLE) hangs around a series of 3 assets. The first was the East London Line starting from Shoreditch / Whitechapel and crossing the river by the Thames Tunnel. By the 1980s the line was suffering from falling traffic and had become an operationally isolated ‘orphan’ for the 40 years since October 1941. The second was Bishopsgate Goods Station which was the freight equivalent to the former Great Eastern Railway’s Liverpool Street passenger station. The bulk of the Goods Station was burned down in December 1964, leaving the Grade II listed brick approach viaducts and brickwork of the Goods Station on two levels. Much was built in 1840 to the designs of John Braithwaite, engineer of the then Eastern Counties Railway. By the mid 1980s, the substantial remains were in the ownership of the British Railways Property Board who wanted to sell or redevelop the site. The third asset was the viaduct between Dalston Junction and the demolished Broad Street station, vacant at track level since 1986.

After the closure of Broad Street, local councils wanted the viaduct from Dalston Junction included in any redevelopment plans for the Bishopsgate Goods site, but at that time the BR Property Board were hostile. In 1987 London Underground set up an East London Extension Strategy but without positive outcome. The main difficulty was that the government expected property developers to finance any development at Bishopsgate. The Property Board had been working with the London & Edinburgh Trust, whose scheme had included a Shoreditch tube station on the Central Line which runs under the Bishopsgate Goods site. In November 1992 the government turned down a scheme on the grounds that the public sector contribution was too great. London Underground were not very interested at that time; despite this scheme having lower costs and higher Cost Benefit Ratio than other proposals, they seem to have been more focussed on the Jubilee Line Extension and Crossrail.

In 1993 the East London Line Group (ELLG) comprising local councils and property developers was especially active. By that time London Underground foresaw a line from Highbury & Islington to East Dulwich worked by Underground A stock. BR’s Network SouthEast opposed going any further but this damaged the financial prospects. However, the currency crash on Black Wednesday on 16 September 1992 scuppered the property developers, and the general government financial squeeze that followed also killed LU’s Aldwych and Ongar lines whose last trains both ran on 30 September 1994. However, to keep the scheme going, LU applied for an order under the Transport & Works Act. There was a planning enquiry in 1994 and in 1995 a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) was in place. The minister gave approval in January 1997. In 1999 negotiations were in progress on a wider PPP including Railtrack on the sub-surface lines including ELLE but were broken off in November 1999. In 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) announced a first tranche of funding for land purchase, design and development. In 2002 the SRA’s Strategic Plan intended to let a PFI.  Railtrack as successor to the BR Property Board sold off its property interest in 2002.

While matters may now have looked positive, a group of railway enthusiasts called the London Railway Heritage Society managed to slow the project by a couple of years by throwing in a legal challenge. They went to court to argue that London Underground were in technical breach of their Transport & Works Act order concerning the Braithwaite Viaduct structure which formed part of the Bishopsgate Goods buildings on the intended route. The Viaduct had been Grade II listed in 2002. The Society was joined by English Heritage and Prince Charles. Finally with the backing of Hackney and Tower Hamlets councils, the court rebuffed the enthusiasts in May 2003 and relevant demolition to enable to construction of Shoreditch High Street station went ahead without endangering the Braithwaite Viaduct.

By 2004 the project was firmly in the hands of TfL (Transport for London) and in June 2005 work started on the former Broad Street viaduct. After almost 20 years of dereliction, amongst other work 22 underline bridges had to be replaced. While ELLE had been at the bottom of London Underground’s priorities, two events suddenly raised it. The first was that from 2004 TfL now parent of London Underground was now authorised to raise money directly on the financial markets, potentially avoiding the need for PFIs. Secondly was the go-ahead of the London Olympics in 2005. This enabled TfL to raise the money in Luxembourg within 3 months. In October 2006 TfL placed the main construction contract and the last East London line trains ran on 22 December 2007.

Overground started its first ‘preview’ train service south from Dalston Junction in April 2010 and a full service on 23 May 2010. On 28 February 2011 the service was extended to Highbury & Islington. While most of the Overground service operates over Network Rail tracks, the East London section from Dalston Junction to New Cross Gate is run from a TfL owned control centre at the New Cross Gate.

Observations

Nothing has been inevitable in this story. The influence of national politicians has generally been neutral or negative. From the 1960s local lobbyists and politicians have greatly assisted providing the assets we have now. The lobbyists were powerful groups agitating effectively, with crucial support in the pre-internet age from local authorities who could provide meeting rooms, printing facilities, etc. The Broad Street to Richmond line running through 14 parliamentary constituencies of various political persuasions also assisted. Arguably the biggest fillip was UK winning the bid in 2005 to host the 2012 Olympics.

Lead times are incredibly long often exceeding half a century from initial studies, e.g. for Thameslink, Crossrail 1 and 2, the East London Line Extension and Broad Street redevelopment. 50 years after a catastrophic fire,  Bishopsgate Goods has still not been redeveloped.

The North London Line has finally become a success when it has become the main activity of the management team running it rather than a sideshow on something bigger. The sudden change of demographics from about 1983 was entirely unexpected and was no doubt crucial in preventing these routes just ‘fading away’ as was no doubt expected in the 1970s.

Notes by Alan de Burton, January 2015

Introduction

In order to update a text on the North Kent Line that is appearing in installments in the Southern Electric Group’s journal ‘Live Rail,’ I rode from London Bridge to Chatham and back on Friday 9 January when I was in London for other purposes. While this date was fortuitous, it represented the last day of Southeastern train operations through London Bridge before a new timetable which permits the first major stage of engineering works on the Thameslink project having an impact on Southeastern services. Conversely, the new timetable for Thameslink and Southern trains had already begun with new platforms opening at London Bridge with new train services. Readers may find useful the track diagrams in Branch Line News # 1218 of 4 October 2014, item # 1455.

London Bridge to Chatham via Blackheath and Woolwich

I rode in both directions on Charing Cross to Gillingham (Kent) trains formed by class 465 Networkers. I should have recorded the fleet numbers; I believe they were built by BREL (ventilation nozzles in the luggage racks) and didn’t have the distinctive ‘audible effects’ Networkers had when new. I have written these notes consolidated as a single eastbound journey. London Bridge station was very much in an intermediate stage of rebuilding. The ‘Brighton’ side described later had become an operationally self contained 6 platform terminus. The through platforms on the Southeastern side were intact although island platform 5 and 6 was in its last day of operation. In between where the low level terminal platforms had been was mainly a building site where construction works are linking the pre-existing unused viaduct over Borough Market to the future site of new through platforms 7 – 9. Because the terminal platforms were at a lower level, a retaining wall is under construction which will separate the track of new through platform 9 from that of terminal platform 10.

At North Kent West Junction where tracks from Bricklayers Arms used to join the tracks from London Bridge between 4 x 19th century original tracks and the 2 tracks of the separate 1903 New Cross spur, rebuilding work was evident on the ramp of the Bricklayers Arms tracks derelict since about 1981. Heading towards London, this track will dive under the future Bermondsey Box flyover for Thameslink trains and link in with the Up track used by Thameslink trains from New Cross Gate and beyond. At Lewisham I observed the major building site in the V between the up North Kent line and the DLR terminus building. After Plumstead (which is to gain a new footbridge / lifts), the course of future Crossrail tracks emerges on the north side of the formation. For maybe a mile there are extensive linear engineering works on both sides of the formation to provide space for Crossrail tracks. At Abbey Wood a new temporary station building has replaced the previous modern building which was in the way of the new interchange station.

At Dartford I noted that the building of the power signal box operational from October 1970 till April 2001 survives on the down side at the east end of the station. The station building on the down side at Greenhithe built for the shuttle bus connection to the Bluewater shopping centre looked smart. At Northfleet the tracks leading down to the Northfleet Cement Works operational from 1970 till 1993 and in revised form as the Crossrail Logistics Centre from 2012 till 2014 are once again disused. Leaving Gravesend, a prominent new mosque is visible on the up side somewhat east of the station. Approaching Hoo Junction the cranes of the new London Gateway port are now visible across the Thames. Some old catenary masts survive at Hoo Junction Up Sidings as well as the short but now derelict platforms of Hoo Junction Staff Halt whose closure date isn’t known to me.

The railway scene at Strood is rapidly changing. Almost as soon as the train left Strood Tunnel, track and platform works were visible on the up side. The up island platform is being extended to 12 car lengths, and consequently the London end curls appreciably round the curve towards the tunnel mouth. The platforms are now connected by a new mega-footbridge with lifts, leaving the CLASP station buildings on the down side looking outdated and inadequate.

Over the river in Rochester, the embankment is being widened on the up side for the new station closer to the River Medway bridge.  On the down side, the new island platform is visibly under construction. I finished my down journey at Chatham. What a disappointment! As far as I can tell, the station is of pre 1899 London, Chatham and Dover origin and quite inadequate for modern needs. The staircases accessing the platforms are narrow and have major turns in them. There are no lifts, and people who are unable to use the stairs have to press a buzzer to summon a member of platform staff to open gates to car park areas. It is no better in the street. While the pedestrianised Chatham High Street isn’t far away, the pedestrian approach is unpleasant involving a series of road crossings.

London Bridge to New Cross Gate

Since Southern were already operating their new train service after major engineering works over Christmas 2014 / New Year 2015, I wanted to see the new infrastructure out to New Cross Gate they were now using. I caught the 14 52 from London Bridge to Victoria via Crystal Palace, which to my surprise was operated by a 10-car formation of 2 x 5-car class 377/6. I noted that they have sliding doors like Southeastern’s 376s, but do have toilets, ‘normal’ rather than wide gangways and First Class if rather nominally. All the seating appears to be 2+2, and the only difference for First Class are stickers on the windows.

There were posters  at London Bridge to say that the first days of the new timetable had gone rather badly and Southern were consequently cancelling some peak suburban trains. Some of the problems seem to have been ‘people handling’ at London Bridge. Southern now use an operationally separate terminus of 6 platforms numbered 10 – 15. However, the only entrance is from the barrier line from the concourse. In the eventual station, the main entrance to these platforms will be from steps and possibly escalators about 3 or 4 car lengths down, which should spread the load. Moreover, these future entrances at present impose an extra constraint with the temporary hoardings around them as work sites.

The ‘Brighton’ side track layout is also constrained. All trains towards both New Cross Gate and beyond and those towards Peckham Rye have to use what is now mainly a 3 track alignment which by origin were the 3 tracks on the viaduct that belonged to the Brighton company rather than the South Eastern. All ‘Brighton’ trains must now head to South Bermondsey Junction where the South London tracks to Peckham Rye diverge right; trains to New Cross Gate and beyond must now use the South Bermondsey Spur. One consequence is that the viaduct from the ‘Brighton’ divergence from the South Eastern at Blue Anchor to Bricklayers Arms Junction is now closed for rebuilding. There MAY be a short 2 track bottleneck at Bricklayers Arms Junction. I left the train at New Cross Gate. The station has greatly changed with overhead walkways from the rear of the ticket office / automatic barrier building to lifts and steps to the platforms. I returned to London Bridge on a train from Horsham formed by earlier class 377s.

This is an updated article written by Michael Bunn, who gave a talk to the Society in November 2014. We are grateful for permission to post it here.

On the 26th September 1981 the first Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) in commercial high speed service, left the Gare du Lyon in Paris, for Lyon. Nobody could have imagined that 30 years later nearly 2 billion passengers would have been carried over the high speed network, now totalling almost 2000 kilometres.

The story of the TGV’s success is amazing, one of incredible financial investment by the French state, granted by governments on both sides of the political spectrum and widely supported by the French population. The TGV has, in effect, shrunk the size of France bringing cities such as Marseille to only 3 hours from the French capital. It has also, much to the chagrin of rail enthusiasts, reshaped the railway landscape and method of operation of the SNCF.

In the December 2006 and March 2007 editions of the SNCFS Journal I described the first 25 years of the TGV in service on the Paris Sud Est (PSE) route from the Gare du Lyon to the South of France. Consequently, in describing these 30 years of the developing TGV network I will only refer to the basic facts of the PSE line in chronological order.

The Declaration d’Utilité Publique was granted, by the French Government in 1976, to build the LN1 (PSE) route from Paris to Lyon. In the same year building of the prototype electric TGV was completed, following development by Alsthom and SNCF. The first stage of the PSE line was opened for public service in 1981 between Vergigny, near St Florentin on the existing route, and Sathonay, north of Lyon. The second stage was opened in 1983, adding a further 116 km of high-speed line between Vergigny and Lieusaint (South of Villeneuve-St Georges) and bringing the Ligne à Grande Vitesse  (LGV) to within 22km from the Gare de Lyon Station in Paris. The later opening date for this section enabled the A5 autoroute to be constructed at the same time. The major interchange station of Lyon Part Dieu opened the same year.
1989 saw the 100 millionth passenger carried by the TGV on the PSE line with rail at last beginning to claw back business from air travel.
During the 1980s, the SNCF and French Government had originally intended that the LGV Nord would be the second high speed line (LN 2) but no agreement, with the British Government, to build the Channel Tunnel could be reached so they turned their attention to the LGV Atlantique
This was also to be built in two stages, the first from Paris-Montparnasse to Connerré, near Le Mans opening in 1990 and the second stage from Courtalain junction to St Pierre-des-Corps on the outskirts of Tours opened in 1991.  TGV units would use the LN2 and then continue over classic lines to Brittany and the West of France.
The construction of LN2 was to be more challenging for the engineers than the PSE line, five  tunnels were needed, notably at Villejuste and Vouvray. Elsewhere LN2 would traverse a fairly flat landscape enabling its construction with a ruling gradient of 2.5% and minimum radius curves of 4200m. The line was to penetrate the more prosperous suburbs of south western Paris, so environmental consideration was to be of paramount importance.  The terminus at Paris Montparnasse, having been rebuilt and re-sited in the 1960s, would see further extension and alteration to receive the TGV. The route chosen for the new high speed line out of Paris was to start at Bagneaux, only 4km from Montparnasse, using part of the abandoned Gallardon railway track bed out to Massy, through heavily populated and more affluent areas. This resulted in LN 2 being built, in the outer Paris suburbs, mainly in tunnel, cut and cover and the tunnel Aérien (a tunnel above ground) – where the line is enclosed by concrete sections – known locally as the coulée verte or green corridor.  The change of power supply from 1500 V dc to 25 KV ac would be undertaken in the 827 metre long tunnel of Sceaux, about 9 km from Montparnasse. At Massy an interchange station, with Paris suburban RER lines B & C, would be built in a cut and cover section. This station is only served by a handful of TGV trains emanating from Montparnasse and principally serves inter-regional high speed trains, which were to be introduced from 1996.
Beyond Massy TGV station LN2 passes through the line’s most important civil engineering work of the 4800 metre long Villejuste single bore tunnels and then alongside the A10 autoroute before traversing the wheat fields of the Centre region, to the south of Chartres. At Courtalain, 130 km from Montparnasse, the two branches of LN2 diverge – the western or Brittany branch towards Le Mans and Rennes and the south western or Aquitaine branch towards Tours and Bordeaux. At Villiers sur Loire, a station was built on the south western branch, principally to serve the nearby town of Vendome with about 8 trains a day calling in each direction. From a distance, the station appears to be three red roofs without buildings in a similar style to the Buffalo Grill chain of restaurants.
After passing through the 1496m Vouvray tunnel, LN 2 crosses three viaducts, the last over the River Loire, before the junction and chord line serving St Pierre des Corps and Tours. The south western branch ends to the South of Tours, where TGVs revert to the classic network. The change of power supply back to 1500 Vdc is undertaken on the Tours avoiding line.

TVM 300 signalling system would be used allowing a maximum speed of 300km/h.
To serve the LN2 line a new fleet of 109 ten-coach dual voltage TGVs was built. The new Atlantique units would have visually identical power cars to the PSE trains but benefitting from a new generation of electric traction motors. Each TGV would have only eight 1100 kW motors providing, under 25 KV ac, a power to weight ratio of 26.56 compared with 22.46 for the PSE units. The extra power available meant that there was no longer any need to power the first and last bogies of the coaching set thus providing more space for passenger accommodation. These new trains would wear a new livery of blue and silver grey, the now corporate SNCF colour scheme.
A new world speed record for rail of 482.4 km/h was created in 1989 on the LN2 and even this was surpassed with a new record of 515.3 km/h, on 19 May 1990 – 170 km/h faster than the 1981 record.
An intensive service of TGVs operates over the LN2. All TGVs use the line to Courtalain  Junction where Brittany services take the western branch (opened in 1989), sometimes in multiple with the trains splitting at Le Mans or Rennes. Trains to the Aquitaine region take the south western branch (opened in 1990) at Courtalain with a non-stop service to Bordeaux and stopping service calling at the four or five intermediate stations en route. At Bordeaux multiple TGVs are often split with services continuing to Arcachon, Hendaye, Pau, Tarbes, Toulouse etc. A number of TGVs cross into Spain to serve Irun.
By the late 1980s the French Government had decided to proceed with construction of the third high speed line – the LN3 (Nord). Initially, consideration was given to building it a straight line from Paris to the Channel Tunnel, through Western Picardy near to the towns of Amiens and Boulogne. However, this proposal did not make a strong enough financial case in terms of domestic traffic. LN3 would be considered as part of the European high speed rail network, so it made more sense geographically and financially to route this north to Lille (thus opening up the possibility of through high speed services to Belgium, Germany and Holland) and then westwards to the Channel Tunnel. No major engineering works, other than a number of viaducts, would be required for the construction of LN 3. From the Gare du Nord in Paris high speed trains would use dedicated ‘classic’ tracks, at maximum 160 km/h for the first 16km of their journey.  Between the Gare du Nord and St Denis major track alteration was undertaken to avoid conflicting movements, with local and RER trains. At Vemars a triangular junction would be constructed to connect with the Interconnexion line due to open in 1994, LN3 would then follow the alignment of the A1 motorway for 130 km to the outskirts of Lille, to the Frethin triangular junction. The Paris-Brussels tracks to be considered as the ‘main line’ with chord lines on the Paris-Lille and Lille-Brussels routes.
To the west of Lille LN3 would cross the relatively flat southern Flanders landscape to the Channel Tunnel. LN3 opened one year before the tunnel and its construction brought about the electrification of the local lines from Hazebrouck to Calais and Calais to Boulogne, which would be used in part by TGV services from Paris to Boulogne, Calais and St Omer. The entire route from Paris Gare du Nord to the Channel Tunnel is electrified at 25 kV ac and uses the more advanced TVM 430 signalling system.
Three identically styled stations were built on LN3, at Frethun (about 5 miles from the centre of Calais), Lille Europe and Haute Picardie. Calais Frethun station has an interchange with the ‘classic’ route from Calais Ville to Boulogne, situated at low-level and parallel to the high speed line. In practice there is a far higher usage of the low level station by domestic passengers than those using the international platforms, served by only three Eurostar trains per day, in each direction. Often the SNCF local trains do not even wait for the Eurostar arrivals thus negating the original intention of an interchange there. The SNCF wanted to build the LN3 to the North of Lille, the capital of Northern France, with a park and ride type of station. But due to the campaign led by the Mayor of Lille and local business leaders the line and Lille Europe station were constructed only 400 metres from the town centre. Lille Europe station consists of two similar buildings to that at Calais Frethun with a central linking section, its two island platforms are separated by two central through roads. Non stop trains are required to reduce speed when passing through Lille Europe to avoid creating excess air pressure. Since 1994 (with the opening of the Interconnexion line to the east of Paris) Lille Europe has become the busiest TGV interchange station in France with Eurostar passengers connecting with TGV services. This cannot be said for the third station on LN3, that at Haute Picardie. To appease the folk of Amiens, who had missed out on the TGV, this station was built on the high speed line 30 km to the east of the town. A connecting coach service from Amiens station to Haute Picardie was (and still is) provided for TGV passengers but for those bound for Paris this actually took considerably longer than the direct ‘classic’ service. With an average of only 15 passengers boarding each train for the French capital, Paris services no longer call at this station. From 1994 only TGVs to provincial destinations would stop here. Surrounded by fields, TGV Haute Picardie station has acquired the nickname La gare de betteraves (The beetroot station).
In 1992 a new variant of the TGV appeared, the Reseau (network) unit. These use the more powerful Atlantique power cars enclosing an 8 car articulated trailer rake and intended for long distance journeys within France, they provide more passenger comfort and more luggage space. An even better power to weight ratio of 30.79 would improve timekeeping. Prior to the opening of the Interconnexion line, the Reseau units were used on LGV Nord services to Paris. More recently the less powerful PSE TGVs and the North of London 14 car Eurostar units are to be seen on these services.

In 1993 the line from Poitiers to La Rochelle was electrified bringing TGVs direct from Paris.

Back on the PSE, the 121km long extension of LN4 (LGV Rhone Alpes) to Valence was completed, in two stages, in 1992 and 1994.This included a new station at Satolas (Lyon Airport) later renamed as Lyon St Exupéry and the major rail intersection at St Quentin-Fallavier where the Lyon to Grenoble classic line crosses the high speed line.

1994 saw the opening of the first stage of the LGV Interconnexion, which would provide a direct link between the high speed lines to the north, south and west of Paris and from 2007 to the LGV Est. The Interconnexion was completed two years later with the opening of a branch from the newly formed Coubert triangle to Creteil Junction bringing the high speed line to 9 kms from the Gare de Lyon. It also allowed inter regional TGV services to operate to and from the west of France. Part of the route used for the new branch was built on the former Vincennes line (from Bastille) partly in cut and cover construction. At the western end of the new branch a connection was made to the Grand Ceinture line at Les Saules, where TGVs still have to take their turn, as far as Massy, with RER line C services and Freight trains

1995 to 1998 saw the introduction of the TGV Duplex double deck train to meet the re-emerging problem of capacity shortage. These incredible units use a completely new design and construction concept. With an extruded aluminium bodyshell, lighter weight seats and technical equipment the TGV Duplex weighs in at 380 tonnes, 5 tonnes lighter than the original single deck PSE units. Fully loaded, the TGV Duplex remains within the 17 tonnes axle loading requirement. At an extra cost of 24%, the TGV Duplex provides 40 % more capacity than the PSE train. The driver of a Duplex power car is seated at a central driving position, as opposed to the traditional left hand on earlier units.

Following the signing of an agreement between the French, Belgian, Dutch and German railway authorities in 1993, to jointly operate an international high speed rail service over the new LGV Nord (LN3) the first train left the Gard du Nord, Paris on 4th June 1996, for Brussels and Amsterdam.  Marketed under the branding of the THALYS, the TGVs wore a distinctive maroon and grey livery. In spite of the fact that this service is operated by four different national railway companies, it has been an outstanding success and in 2011 has a much greater share than air transport of the Paris Brussels travel market.

The period of 1996 to 2000 saw the construction of the 244 km long LN5 (LGV Mediterranée ), the most complex and difficult so far. With 31 major civil engineering sites, including 17 kms of viaducts, 13 kms of tunnels and the construction of 3 new TGV Stations – Valence TGV, Avignon TGV and Aix en Provence TGV. Cost of construction of the LN 5 is estimated at 4 billion Euros.

Even before the completion of the LN5 the French Government was ready to go ahead with the next high speed line – the LGV Est (LN6), to serve the only part of France yet to see any high speed line construction. Following the decision to proceed in 1999, the Declaration d’Utilité Publique was made in 1999 and construction work started in 2000.

In the same year the one billionth passenger was carried on the TGV network.

Also in 2000 the branch line from Plouaret to Lannion, in Brittany, was electrified, at the latter the existing station was replaced with a new combined batiment voyageurs/ gare routier and a single island platform long enough to handle a TGV Atlantique set. Still on the Atlantique, a new station was opened at Futuroscope, North of Poitiers, to serve the adjacent multi-media theme park. Although built with a voluminous batiment voyageurs, to handle groups, this station has a very poor service and upon completion of the LGV Aquitaine will no longer be served by TGVs.

LN5 opened for public service on 6th June 2001, thus completing the 20 year project of a high speed link from Paris to the Grande Bleue. The new service was an outstanding success, far exceeding anticipated passenger numbers. The French Capital could now be reached in 2h 40m from Avignon, 3h from Marseille and 3h 15 from Montpellier. Ten years later there are no scheduled services Paris- Marseille with a non-stop time of 3h the fastest being 3h03m but generally around the 3h 12m mark. A new TGV logo was introduced with the opening of LN5, the G & V being joined to give the impression of a snail, earning it the nickname l’escargot !

LN6 (LGV Est) would be the first high speed line project to be completely overseen, developed and construction supervised by Reseau Ferré de France (RFF) formed in 1997. There was also a different financing regime. Hitherto, the SNCF had virtually had a blank cheque to construct the high speed lines but the 3.125 billion Euro cost of the LN Est was financed by contributions ranging from 1.22 billion Euros from the French State, 320 million Euros from the European Union (the line also serves Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland) to 3.6 million Euros from the Town of Colmar. The total financing package involved the French state, the EU, the Duchy of Luxembourg, the 3 regions and 8 départments traversed, the towns of Colmar, Mulhouse, Reims, Strasbourg. The SNCF contributed 48 million Euros and RFF 682 million Euros. Consultation and public meetings were held with over 100 communes and pouvoir publiques. 6, at 406 km, is the longest section of high speed line to be built as one contract.

The first three LGVs had been built before the ‘environmental lobby’ had found its feet but the later lines to be constructed were going to face some opposition. The LN6 was opposed by viticulteurs, in the Champagne region, who claimed that excessive air pressure caused by the high speed of the passing trains would affect the growth of their grapes.

The new line was built to a higher speed specification than the previous LGVs and would see TGVs operating at a maximum 320 kpH (200 mph), Starting at Vaires, 22km from the Gare de l’Est, the first stage of the line is 302km long and ends at Baudrecourt. There is a connection (from the East) to both Northbound and Southbound tracks of the LGV Interconnexion line, enabling inter-secteur TGVs from the north, south west and west of France to join LN6. There are also 4 connections with the ‘classic’ network enabling TGVs to continue off the high speed line to towns such as Reims, Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg etc. The line to St Dié des Vosges was electrified to enable a direct TGV service to Paris.  At Baudrecourt, the end of stage 1 of the LN6, there is a saut de mouton (flyover) to enable TGVs to change between left and right hand running before joining the classic line – the railway system in Alsace and Lorraine being rebuilt by the Germans between 1871 and 1918, during their occupation. Three new stations on the line have been built – Champagne Ardennes TGV, Meuse TGV and Lorraine TGV. The Meuse TGV station has been a monumental flop in terms of passenger usage, situated in the middle of nowhere it has a very poor service, with only two trains each day to and from Paris plus a handful of inter-secteur trains.

Since 1997 TGV services over the PSE to Switzerland had been marketed under the branding of Ligne de Couer with TGVs on these services displaying a special logo and modified livery, From 2002 the branding TGV Lyria was gradually applied to all Swiss bound services. A similar branding has been applied to trains, including TGVs, between France and Italy under the name of Artesia.

2005 saw the electrification of the branch line from Rennes to St Malo, enabling a direct TGV service from Paris Montparnasse to be operated. As in most cases of these branch line electrifications the TGV service is basically an extension of a previously terminating train – in this case from Rennes. Apart from the electrification, the line was re-signalled and the stations of Dol and Saint Malo rebuilt. At the former resulting in the fine mechanical signal gantry being demolished and at the latter the abandonment of the existing station, with a new 4 platform terminus being constructed about 400 metres to the South and the most rudimentary of passenger facilities provided.

To launch LN6 a consortium of Alsthom, SNCF and RFF with a budget of 20,000,000 Euros, was to attempt a new world speed record – project V150 (150 metres/ second). A downhill section of the Eastbound line was chosen, near to TGV Meuse station. The track suitably ballasted and tamped, the TGV Infra unit Iris 320 making several track recording runs over the section followed by 3200km of test runs at speeds over 450 kp/h. The record breaking run was made by a specially adapted unit of two POS (Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland) power cars and three trailers (one powered), overhead electric supply was 32,000 volts at 800 amps and all the vehicles being fitted with larger diameter wheels – 1092mm in lieu of 920mm. A new world record was created, on 3rd April 2007, of 574.8 kpH (359.4 mph) only 6kmH slower than the MAGLEV (non rail) unit.

The public opening of the LN6 was on 10th June 2007 with a full timetable operating on domestic services to Metz, Mulhouse Nancy, Reims and Strasbourg with a limited service to Bar le Duc, Charleville-Meziers, Epinal and St Dié des Vosges. In addition an International service with TGVs and German ICE units operating to Luxembourg, Frankfurt and destinations in Switzerland. SNCF services over LN6 are operated by a fleet of 33 Reseau sets and 19 POS sets. The POS sets were created by using 19 Reseau units and the construction of 19 new Duplex TGV sets with triple voltage power cars and new generation 12,900 hp engines (also to be used on the TGV Dasye units in 2010). The power cars of the new Duplex units were attached to the Reseau trailer coaches and the Reseau power cars to the new Duplex coaches, the latter creating the Reseau Duplex sets used on the PSE. This formation enables the POS sets to operate in Germany and Switzerland without the need for the extra capacity provided by the double deck coaches. New style interiors designed by Christian Lacroix were applied with lime green and dark grey seats in 1st class and mauve and orange in 2nd class !
Les Sables d’Olonne was put on the TGV map back in 2000, when some services formerly terminating at Nantes were dragged by class 72000 diesels to the seaside resort. Proving too expensive to operate, this experiment lasted until 2004. However, the double track ‘main line’ to La Roche sur Foron and single track branch to Les Sables were electrified in 2008 when through TGV services to and from Paris Montparnasse recommenced.
The end of the decade saw the opening of two further lines dedicated to the TGV. The first stage of the Perpignan to Barcelona line opened in December 2010, as far as Figueras and the Ligne des Carpates or Haut Bugey line was reinstated from Brion-Montréal- La Cluse to Bellegarde. A project of over 300 million Euros (partly financed by the Swiss) to effect a 20 minute saving, on Paris to Geneva/ Evian les Bains/ St Gervais services, compared to the former route via Culoz. Primarily single track this improvement to the TGV service has been at the cost of TER services, on the western end of the line, between Bourg en Bresse and St Claude resulting in only one train in each direction per day with all other services being bustituted.
The 140 km first stage of the LGV Rhone-Rhin, from Belfort to Dijon, opens in December 2011 and will see the TGV services to Mulhouse, Bale and Zurich etc. transferred from the Gare de l’Est to the Gare de Lyon.
Contracts have been signed and work has commenced on three new major LGV developments, those of the LGV Aquitaine from Tours to Bordeaux, the second phase of the LGV Est from Baudrecourt to the outskirts of Strasbourg and the LGV Bretagne from Conneré to Rennes and Sablé. Other projects are at the design and consultation stage
Thirty years on from that first public service departure, the TGV has a safety record that is second to none and can boast that there has not been a single passenger fatality at high speed. There have been a number of high speed derailments caused by technical failure or track bed subsidence but the only fatalities, principally train drivers, have occurred off the high speed lines beyond the control of the SNCF and generally collisions on level crossings. In all derailment incidents the articulated architecture of the TGV units has retained the set intact and upright.
Passenger numbers have seen year on year growth, without exception, since 1981 with 160 million being carried in 2010. Over the thirty years the TGV has made a substantial operating profit, but SNCF now claims that 30% of its high speed services do not break even. Track access charges (1.53 billion Euros in 2010) levied by RFF are beginning to change the equation. It is claimed that these will have to be increased to meet the full cost of maintaining the high speed infrastructure leading, inevitably, to higher fares. Together with the current world-wide financial crisis these extra costs are bringing into question future investment and growth forecasts. Projects such as the planned creation of super duplex 18 coach TGV sets for the PSE line and freight TGVs have yet to appear. The French Government had given outline approval for a finance package of 8 billion Euros for the replacement of the 1st generation PSE and Atlantique fleets from 2015 but this is certainly now on hold. As a result, many of the early PSE TGVs have recently received a life extension overhaul.
New generation DAYSE and TGV 2N2 type Duplex TGVs are currently being delivered to SNCF, using triple voltage power cars with asynchronous motors similar to the POS type described earlier.
The TGV fleet is allocated to five depots in France and Brussels Forest. Four of the SNCF depots, now called Technicentres, are based in Paris at Chatillon (Atlantique), Conflans (Paris Sud Est), Le Landy (Nord) and Ourq (Est) the fifth is in Lyon. At these Technicentres basic maintenance and light overhauls are undertaken. Heavy maintenance is carried out at Bischeim (Strasbourg) and Hellemmes (Lille). Major repair work is undertaken at Alsthom’s Belfort works. More recently Alsthom’s (the TGV manufacturer) pride has been dented by Eurostar’s decision to opt for the Siemens Velaro E320 high speed train and the certainty that they will be facing a much more competitive market in the future.
The thirty years of the TGV in public service have been a fabulous success, with 220 towns served, journey times reduced and a very high level of reliability and passenger satisfaction. However, there is no doubt that the development of the TGV network has been at the expense of investment in the classic reseau. It is only now, under the management of the Regions, that this neglect of a large part of the classic network is being addressed. Rail enthusiasts lament the passing of many locomotive hauled express trains, replaced by the TGV connecting with local regional trains. But the primary concern of the SNCF is to run trains for its passengers and not rail fans.
Since 1981 there have been only two basic TGV colour schemes, the original orange livery worn by the 1st generation PSE units and the now corporate blue and grey, originally known as Atlantique. The latter now being universal. Occasionally, TGVs have been decorated with special advertising or promotional liveries such as the Rugby World Cup, the 100th anniversary of Paul Cezanne’s death, Disneyland etc. but this is not a widespread practice. PSE unit number 65 was decorated in a special livery and fitted out as a mobile exhibition, to celebrate the 30 years of the TGV. During May and June it made a tour of 10 provincial French cities, a number of the Parisien terminals, Brussels and Geneva to promote this amazing achievement.
Update December 2014. Following Eurostar’s announcement that it would be purchasing Siemens’ Velaro 320 units for its proposed new services to Holland and Germany, Alsthom (the TGV manufacturer) took out legal proceedings to attempt to halt the contract, on the grounds that these units would not satisfy the Channel Tunnel fire requirements. This argument was not accepted and in attempt to pacify Alsthom an order was placed by the French government, for 40 new TGV Duplex units, just before the 2012 Presidential elections!  Duplex units now account for over 50% of the 520 strong TGV fleet.
The exponential growth in passenger numbers saw the 2 billionth TGV traveller in 2013 and SNCF is predicting that the 3 billion mark will be achieved by 2020. Also in 2013 a low-cost TGV service was introduced. Marketed under the brand name of Ouigo, Duplex TGVs operate along the LGV-PSE & Mediterranée routes from Marne la Vallée (to the east of Paris) to Lyon, Avignon, Aix en Provence, Marseille & Montpellier. Tickets are only available on the internet, with single fares as low as 5 Euros single from Marne la Vallée to Lyon. Passengers are limited to one piece of hand luggage and are surcharged for extra pieces – the service has been dubbed Ryanair sur rails.  The Ouigo services are operated by sets made up of new generation power cars with refurbished first generation coaching sets – all first class seating and the buffet car make way for standard class seating, increasing capacity to 634 places without altering the seating alignment. The sets are intensively operated, with some units doing two return journeys Paris to Marseille in a day i.e. 3000km. Some sets have recorded over 90,000km in a month.

2014 saw the first withdrawals and scrapping of 1st generation TGV units including the triple voltage sets used on the Swiss services (replaced by POS units). The long awaited through service from Paris to Barcelona also started in 2014. At the time of writing (12/ 2014) it would appear that the Eurostar NoL sets will be withdrawn (and stored) from the Paris Nord to Lille and northern city services, following the appearance of Duplex units on these routes. Duplex TGVs are now operating on all of the French high speed lines. It is generally recognised that SNCF has sufficient TGVs for its immediate requirements and the French financial crisis is likely to see the replacement of the Atlantique fleet deferred for several years. SNCF announced that the TGV postal sets will be withdrawn in 2015, this leaves in doubt the proposed TGV parcels services from Paris to Barking, due to have been introduced in 2017. The future for the high speed network looks good but is likely to see its TGV trains used more intensively. Rumours abound that the Thalys and Lyria TGV services are prime candidates for privatisation.

Michael Bunn

What do you do with a multiple unit that is at least “middle aged” and whose propulsion unit has become outmoded?     Many operators withdraw such units especially if the body structure is made of steel that is starting to show significant corrosion or other evidence of its age and might soon require costly body-work repairs.    Here are current approaches to such a problem where the rolling stock is being given new life at a cost far less than that of new rolling stock.

London Underground (LUL) D78 stock is being withdrawn from service and if scrapped would generate only a little money for LUL in the process.    However Vivarail Ltd, chaired by the ever resourceful Adrian Shooter (recently retired from Chiltern Railways) has worked out a way to reuse this stock and at the same time enable a company like Northern Rail to get rid of its hated “Pacer” dmus.    Vivarail is purchasing most of the D78 stock which will be delivered to Long Marston Sidings where they will be converted into 76 two or three car DEMUs.    There will be 156 driving cars and 70 trailers.    It is hoped that the first 3 car prototype will be completed this spring or early summer and be tested on Long Marston’s 3km long test track.      If all goes well the first unit will be cleared to operate on Network Rail tracks by this autumn.     The modernised units will be described as “D Stock” but could end up being designated Class 278.    The existing DC motors are still capable of further service and would have an easier time if they receive power through a new diesel engine-driven alternator via a rectifier rather than taking the power directly from the fourth rail system.      The coach bodies are basically aluminium so the steel corrosion that so often spells doom for other older stock does not apply.    The entire interior of the coaches will be completely replaced so the future passengers will feel that they are in new rolling stock.    The bogies were replaced ten years ago so are good for a good many years to come.   The top speed of the revamped trains will be about 60 mph – but they will be used on stopping services where stations are only 2-3 miles apart and where therefore there will be little scope for reaching higher speeds.

The plan is to supply new looking units that will be attractive to the customers, will cost much less than brand new stock, and will be ready for use much sooner than new-builds from train builders that already have substantial order books.    The D Stock can be seen as an ideal way to replace Northern Rail’s Pacers.     This is an innovative plan that makes new use of old stock that can be found new life and operate on non-electrified routes.     To many future passengers the retirement of the bouncing Pacers will be the best news of all!

The renewal of traction motors is happening on other lines around London.   Southeastern’s fleet of class 465/0 and 465/1 Networker emus have always had inverter-fed AC motors but this equipment has undergone an upgrade starting in 2009.       Hitachi won the contract to fit new inverter units to these emus together with new AC traction motors.     An inverter unit converts DC current taken via the third rail to variable voltage, variable frequency AC current which is then supplied to the AC traction motors.    This has proved to be a most reliable system and is less costly to maintain than chopper control with DC motors.     South West Trains class 455 fleet of 91 four-car sets was supplied with DC motors and camshaft/resistor control.    This is considered to be nearly life-expired.    The units are being given new life by the fitting of AC motors with inverters.

The newest development concerns London Underground’s eighty five 8-car tube trains operating on the Central Line.      These were built by BREL at Derby Works with DC traction equipment supplied by Brush and ABB.    In 1992 the use of DC choppers with DC motors was a traditional approach, favoured by LUL which was reluctant to move with the times, and in truth this technology was already out of date.    Move on 20+ years and the increasing unreliability of the DC equipment meant that sometimes the required seventy six trains was not available to meet peak service requirements.    Now LUL wishes to replace the DC equipment with up to date AC equipment.     The eight-car trains are in fact four self-contained pairs with all axles motored.      A  total of 2,800 traction motors ( including spares) will be required.    LUL is seeking to place a turnkey contract with a supplier that will design, build and test new equipment that will do the job.   There are not many suppliers that are capable of taking on such a job but the contract will be lucrative.    Watch out for developments.

I.D.O.F.