This also from NR's RUS press release today...
- 50% cheaper to run electric trains over diesel equivalents
- 33% cheaper to maintain
- Electric trains are 90% more reliable (21k miles per break-down compared to 11k on average for diesels)
- Electrification can pay for itself with cost savings outweighing the up-front investment
- Up to 30% less CO2
UPDATE: This just in from Roger Ford...
According to Network Rail's fighting pro-electrification press release electric trains are 90% more reliable than diesel.
So what has happened to Captain Deltic's provocative champagne challenge for the first IC125 diesel fleet to get above the Class 390 electric Pendolinos in the Golden Spanners rankings?
UPDATE: This from a less than convinced Mr Saltaire...
The current lobbying for electrification by Network Rail could, in the eyes of a cynic, be seen as a supplier that is in a dominant position seeking to cement the market’s dependence upon it.
The railway is a system of which the train is a part.
A recent written answer to a parliamentary question highlighted the fact that train cancellations on electrified routes far outweigh those on diesel routes.
When assessing the reliability of diesel trains vs electric trains, this major factor should be taken into account.
Also, the railway’s ability to promote its green credentials by electrification is heavily dependent upon electricity generators producing green energy.
The UK’s electricity is set to become LESS green over the next twenty years, as older nuclear power stations are shut down, without replacements having been built and brought on stream.
Ironically, it would appear that the UK’s only potential method of maintaining the current proportion of green electricity for the foreseeable future would be to import more electricity via under sea cables from France, where they appear to have got their act together!
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