| > Something like 60% of the UK rail network is unelectrified and recent electrification projects have been ruinously expensive, we need something to fill in the gaps and hydrogen definitely has potential. It's not as bad as is often made out; with relatively few exceptions (GWML most prominently) most recent electrification programmes in the UK haven't been too much above European norms. In general, the reasons why costs have been higher in the UK are: * other countries having fairly constant ongoing electrification work leading to availability of skilled staff (versus massively spikes of electrification, then nothing for a decade or more), * many more structures (e.g., overbridges, tunnels) close to the limits of the loading gauge and hence more structures work needed * track access being more difficult in the UK (in general prolonged closures are harder to get approval for), and * operators being compensated for service disruption. At this point the UK really just needs an ongoing programme of electrification, as we now have high-quality modern off-the-shelf parts for most needs approved and in use on new projects, and we have designs that meet the requirements of almost all current routes. Also worth bearing in mind is the recently announced Scottish Government plan to decarbonise rail in Scotland by 2030, which includes electrifying all the major lines in Scotland. (A few won't be, and hydrogen trains have been mooted for them, but these are mostly lines with a few trains per day where the business case for electrification is always going to be weakest, especially combined with them often being in the most challenging terrain.) |