Electrified Freight Operations

We have a very active thread going at the Amtrak forum regarding the future of both Amtrak and American rail systems in general, and a good deal of the discussion has begun to revolve around the likeliehood of major electrification projects in the wake of the growing scarcity of domestically-produced petroleum.

A link is provided below:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 46&t=54516

The consensus among the regular members with actual rail experience/exposure appears to be that improvements in the fuel efficiency of Diesel locomotives have further tipped the balance against major electrification projects. In support of this, it might be noted that the last two major electrified freght operations in America, on the Milwaukee Road and Conrail (former Pennsylvania) were both taken out of service around 1980.

The only segments of the American rail industry for which electrificaton currently seems appropriate under these standards are passenger-dominant routes, where the near-unlimited power provides the quicker acceleration needed in these operations.

The dominant role of passenger, rather than freight service, on most European systems is recognized, but what I'd like from some of the membership over here would be any input regarding the current status of freight electrificaion in those nations, particularly where, as in, for example, the former Soviet Union, higher volumes, longer hauls, and the absence of water carriage as an alternative have allowed freight servce to retain a prominent role.

Thanks for your input, gentlemen.

In New Zealand , the general thrust i hear form the railway operators is that theyd rather remove the electrification of the freight line . this is moot now that the govt has brought the lines and operating companies back , theres no way the govt would remove it due to there wish to reduce carbon emissions , and be seen as green .
How much of it was politics , i don't know . with todays diesle prices it seems unlikely it was costing more to run electrics than diesels . more likely it was access charges that were been argued over .
It is possible the govt will extend the electrification to the endpoint cities , though this is likely to benfeit passenger rail more than frieght .

In Britain there is quite a lot of freight moved by electric traction, but there also a great deal of diesel operation under the wires - something I deplore. The problem of course is that there are many non-electrified routes. In BR days there was a lot of loco change; now there is little or none. Since privatisation the expansion of electrification has ceased, except for some small routes. The government seems to be changing its attitude a little. The transport secretary did admit recently that there might be a case for electrification. Her predecessors had been denying it. It is generally thought that the Civil Servants who make policy are hostile to it.

Class 92 electric locos were built to take freight through the tunnel and can operate on all the electric systems in Britain and northern France. But there are an awful lot of GM Class 66 diesels.

In France electric traction is far more common, but there are more electrified routes. The same is true of Netherlands and Belgium. There are now many multi-voltage locos able to change from one system to another.

France has had an energy policy since the 1973 oil shock of converting to nuclear power and using the electricity for as much transport as possible. Thus they reversed the abolition of street tramways and have built many new ones; electrification of the railways has proceeded continually. There has even been an an electric car project.
In Switzerland everything is electric. Originally powered by hydro, now partly by nuclear. The same is true of Sweden. Norway has some diesel lines and much of Denmark is diesel, but there has been more electrification recently. Germany is mostly electric but there are also a lot of diesels. Since reunification there has been restoration of electric on lines across the former border.
Eastern Europe is also mostly electric.
The Netherlands has built a new freight only route. Wholly electric. It connects to Germany.

In South Africa many of the long-distance heavy-haul freight routes are electrified and have been for many years. It's a common sight to see five electric locomotives at the head of a long and heavy train. A brand new electric freight loco, the Class 19E, is just being introduced now, and for a number of years there has been a programme of converting old Class 6E locos to a new modern Class 18E.

johnthefireman wrote:In South Africa many of the long-distance heavy-haul freight routes are electrified and have been for many years. It's a common sight to see five electric locomotives at the head of a long and heavy train. A brand new electric freight loco, the Class 19E, is just being introduced now, and for a number of years there has been a programme of converting old Class 6E locos to a new modern Class 18E.

The old regime had a policy of relying on local coal instead of imported oil which they feared might be cut off by sanctions. Thus they maintained an extensive rail system powered by either steam or electric, but with few diesels. I travelled round South Africa by train in 1968 and again during the early 1970s.

In Australia , there are the heavy haul coal lines , and the mainline from brisbane to Rockhampton electrified . Probably to also take advantage of abundant local coal . the traffic on the mainline is not epsecially heavy , compared to other lines in Aussie .

Germany essentially has only few dedicated freight lines. Almost all lines, except for dedicated commuter passenger lines, are used in mixed operation - regardless whether electrified or diesel. Often, such mixed operation lines will be primarily passenger during the day, and primarily cargo during the night, the number of cargo trains hauling freight on these lines, especially around major hubs, often outnumbering passenger trains.

Dedicated freight lines are, in most cases, short end stubs from transfer points on mixed operation lines, cargo hub access lines, or short bypasses around larger cities.

Electrified freight hauling is used wherever possible, in particular between the major hubs, but also in a number of cases where smaller freight contingents are delivered locally, and transferred to diesel traction at some transfer point. In the latter case, the local access line is often owned or chartered by some private company that only shuttles freight waggons between this tranfer point and their target points.
Such end-point operation is diesel in most cases, but can also rely on other means. I'm aware of diesel-, electric-, steam- and LNG-powered tractions for such operations in my region, often depending on availability, length, age, security constraints.

I'm not aware of any electrification projects purely for freight anywhere in Germany right now, although there are probably a few with small local access lines. There are a number of small electrification projects i'm aware of that primarily are used for freight, but are now being electrified to improve passenger operations, such as the South Access Tunnel to the BASF plant in Ludwigshafen.

In the Netherlands a dedicated double track freight line has been built with 25kV 50Hz catenary and an onder line they are in toe process of electrification with the aforementioned voltage (actualy close to completion). The new line runs from the only hump yard in the Netherlands (Kijfhoek) towards a connection with an existing line near the German border at Zevenaar, this ine is offcially named Betuweroute. The other is the so called Havenspoorlijn which serves the Rotterdam Harbour district.

Here is more on the subject:

http://en.betuweroute.nl/

Gijs