Tag Archives: transit

Showing Visitors HydroFLEX

2025 is 200 years after the Stockton and Darlington Railway first operated. While some might debate what the first true railway was, the UK industry is celebrating this year as Rail200. There are events taking place across the country throughout the year. One of these was held at the Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster and we took one of our trains to be part of the display. This was our HydroFLEX unit, and I went along to support the visitor tours.

HydroFLEX is the first UK hydrogen fuel cell powered unit that is cleared for mainline running. We use it to test the technology and learn what is involved in a hydrogen fuel cell train. There are multiple technologies that will be needed to decarbonise the railway, and this is one of the ways forward that is being explored. We had it open to view at Kidderminster and had a steady stream of visitors coming to look at it. They had lots of interesting questions and some interesting opinions on all sorts of things – many not to do with hydrogen power!

The train is a converted Class 319 – a type I used to ride frequently when Thameslink operated them, and we lived along the Brighton mainline. Three of the vehicles are basically unchanged other than interior changes including a boardroom configuration. The fourth car is the one where everything is different. It has four fuel cells that provide power along with a battery under the vehicle. These fuel cells generate a lot of heat along with the electricity, so large cooling fans are incorporated.

The fuel cells are supplied by high pressure hydrogen tanks. There are 36 of these tanks made from spun aluminium wrapped in Kevlar. We would take visitors through this vehicle to see the changes that make it a hydrogen powered unit along with all of the safety systems. It is a cramped space, so we had to pre-book visitors five at a time. We could have shown many more people if we could have fitted them in because demand was high.

It is really interesting to be involved in a technology demonstrator of this sort. Our team has worked so hard on creating and developing this unit and we have learned so much that will hopefully be taken forward to trial operations and will then feed into the design of a production train. The train regularly goes out on the mainline so you can see it if you are in the right place at the right time.

Trains Are Back on the Pier

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The rebuilding of the Island Line on the Isle of Wight has been a drawn-out process. New (sort of) trains and a rebuild of the track to increase capacity took place a while back. More recently, the tracks up Ryde Pier were closed for refurbishment. That meant the trains did not go all the way to the ferry. That has now been completed and, while I was out watching the hovercraft, I was pleased to see the trains back on the pier. I hadn’t planned for photographing them but why not while I was there.

Some of Lyon’s Trams Look Cool

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I was in Lyon for a couple of days for a work trip. Lyon has an extensive tram network, but they don’t just have regular looking trams. They are clearly bothered about design and style – this is France after all – and so the cabs of some of the trams are far cooler than the average. I don’t know how much extra it costs to get a custom cab design, but I think it is worth it when they make the system look better.

Paint Shows the History of This Unit

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A work trip took me to one of our partners involved in overhauling a train for us. No need to identify the train or who was working on it. However, part o the scope is a repaint and the vehicle I was looking at had undergone surface preparation before going to the paint booth. The thing that caught my eye was the different layers that had been abraded as the team prepared it. The train is over 20 years old, and you could see the various different liveries that it had been given in the changes of colours cutting down towards the underlying metal. In close up, I liked the abstract nature o the patterns and colour combinations. For those that know the unit, they could probably identify the history of its various liveries.

Retro Livery on an Old 455

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When I was a youth in the ‘80s, I remember new trains showing up in the area where my dad lived. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the details of the classes of train, but I could recognise the differences as things changed. The big deal with these new trains was that they had sliding doors rather than the older slam doors. In the years to come, I came to know that these were known as Class 455s.

It is now 2025 and some of them are still in service. A lot of them have already been replaced and the new trains to replace the remainder have been built but their service entry has been a protracted process. Meanwhile, one of the units has been repainted to be in something close to the colours that it wore when it was introduced. You can’t have exactly the old BR livery because modern access requirements mean contrasting colours are needed for doors but, otherwise, it is close. I had been wondering whether I would see it soon one morning on my way to London and, lo and behold, as I got off my train, it was on an adjacent platform. Not sure that I will get a chance to get a better shot of it so glad to have caught this one.

Crewe Seems to be Home to Old Locos

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It has been a long time since I was last at Crewe, and I recently found myself back up there on a delightfully sunny day. In days gone by, Crewe would always be a location that had a variety of unusual rolling stock parked up and, apparently, that hasn’t changed. The interesting change is that, in the old days, a lot of the oddities looked like they had seen better days. This time everything looked in great condition.

There was an HST set that seemed to be marked up for excursions to Scotland. It was painted in a scheme like the old Blue Pullman sets. I don’t know the service details, but it looked like it was set up nicely. There were some old locos too. A Class 90 was gleaming in a great paint finish but the one that really caught my eye, even if it was a bit poorly located for getting a photo, was the Class 89.

This is a unique loco. Built in the 80s, it was never selected for production. I remember seeing it when I lived in Huntingdon when it would be used on the east coast main line. I understand it had been stored for a long time but now it seems like it has been well restored, and I am told that it will be running in service before too long. I have no idea how difficult it is maintaining a one off electric loco but I wish them well.

Lynnwood Link Opening Day

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Sound Transit has a series of extensions to the Link light rail system coming online at the moment. In September 2024, it was the turn of the Lynnwood Link Extension to open. This was not one we were involved with, but I was keen to see the new extension come online and also to catch up with some colleagues that would be there.

The sun was shining so it was a great day for an event. There were plenty of dignitaries there for the opening and a lot of speeches. Each station was going to be holding celebrations throughout the day, but I decided against taking a ride on the first day. There were so many people there to see it open and the line to board the trains was lengthy. Let everyone have fun and I can check it out another time. (As a side note, I still haven’t ridden the line. I kept meaning to do it and now the chances that I will are diminished.)

I did watch the first few services come and go and the teams all boarded along with media before the rest of the riders could then have their go. I understand the extension has been very popular both for commuters and those heading downtown for events like games and shows. The parking garage can get quite full from what I am told. Great to see this new extension getting well utilized and, when the Eastlink connection opens and additional vehicles can access this section of the system, the frequencies should improve too.

Angel’s Flight Railway

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I first heard of Angel’s Flight Railway in one of the early Harry Bosch novels that was named for it. Prior to that, I had never heard of this funicular railway in Los Angeles. More recently it was also the subject of a TV series that I started to watch but never continued with. In my many trips to LA, I had never actually seen it. Work took me there a short while ago and my hotel was only a few minutes walk from the railway and, since I seem to have sought out some funiculars recently, I figured I would head to this one after work before it got dark.

I ended up arriving at the top of the railway. Apparently, it has undergone some rehabilitation and modernization, and it certainly seemed it great shape. The top station still has a vintage feel to it, though. There is a stairway that runs down the hill parallel to the track so, rather than ride down, I walked down the stairs to watch the trains as they passed me. The cars are on separate tracks, but they are only spaced to pass halfway up the hill. At the top and bottom, the alignment comes closer together. As the cars approach each other, they move to the side and them come back towards the middle once clear of each other.

The loading is done through end doors at the top and bottom so no need to worry about complex platform issues. Everything seems to be managed from the station at the top. When I got to the bottom, it seemed that people would board freely, having to pay when they made it to the summit. It does provide a good way up the hill, but it isn’t that big of a hill, and I wonder why the railway was necessary when it was built. Now it seems to be a tourist attraction as opposed to a key element of the transit system. Good to have finally seen it, though, and another funicular to visit.

This Bridge is Getting Very Advanced

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A work-related post for today. One of our projects is a light rail expansion and part of it involves the construction of a long span bridge. This was not the original plan, but it is what we ended up having. It is constructed by having forms for pouring a section of the bridge in one place and then, when that section is cured, a traveler moves out with the forms to pour the next section. This is all done from a central column so the weight balances out as the bridge expands in each direction.

It is now very close to the final pours, and they will soon be done. I got to go and see the progress recently and that included looking at the center section of the bridge where the gap between the two sections coming from each direction are close to meeting. The bridge section is hollow, and you can see across and into the other half. The final pours involve joining each end to the rest of the right of way and then, when they have been post-tensioned, this center section will be poured. There will be more to do but this is a major milestone in the project.

Denver Union Station

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I had to make a quick trip to Denver not long ago. My flight left the morning after the meetings, and it wasn’t too early, so I decided to take the train to the airport rather than an Uber. It was only about a ten-minute walk to Denver Union Station from the hotel and it was a sunny morning, so it felt good to stroll down through the city. The station has been redeveloped with the introduction of the commuter rail services and the general updates to the LoDo area. However, the original station building is still at the heart of the facility. It is a nice-looking structure.

Once inside, the area of the platforms for the services has been modernized. A nice, glazed roof has been added over the platform areas to provide shelter for the passengers waiting for their trains. It has a good feel to it and doesn’t look like it is out of place with the older structures and the newer ones. A pretty good job by the architects in my opinion. It was a brief visit before my train came but a nice way to start the journey home.