Abstract
IN a paper by F. Lydall to the Institute of Transport read on December 12, the electrification of railways is considered under two headings, ‘suburban passenger’ and the ‘general’ electrification usually referred to as main line electrification. The main characteristics of the former type of traction are rapid acceleration and increased terminal capacity due to the elimination of locomotives and the ability of the trains to run equally well in either direction. The practically universal adoption of the multiple unit system for suburban traffic, where several coaches throughout the train are provided with motors, proves that the flexibility this gives to the make-up of the train is of great value in practice. It is usual to divide the trains into units, each unit consisting of one motor coach and several trailer coaches. In the new express service from London to Brighton, the trains are made up of six or twelve coaches, two or four of which are motor coaches, each being equipped with four 225 horse power motors. Over a new portion of an American railway where the stops are 1.55 miles apart, the average speed including stops is 31 miles per hour; on another portion of the line where the stops are 2.9 miles apart the average speed is 40 miles per hour. The increase over the speed of steam trains in Great Britain is about 50 per cent. This speed could be easily increased; it is merely a question of cost. Mr. Lydall considers that on main lines it would be found advisable to work not less than one third of the passenger train mileage by multiple unit stock. By electrification the average speed of passenger trains in Britain could be raised by 25 per cent. The combination of greater comfort, higher speed, and more frequent service would attract many more passengers, and the latter two would also enable the railways to recover much of their goods traffic which at present goes by road transport.
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Electrification of Railways in Britain. Nature 131, 19–20 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131019e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131019e0