Overhead Catenary Cables to Charge Electric Lorries.

It is not clear why railway lines are empty most of the time

I suspect a lot of the problem is the signalling system - mostly still using the Victorian principle of dividing the track into "sections" each of which is guarded by a signal and has to accommodate the stopping distance of the fastest train (and smooth steel wheels on smooth steel track mean they can't exactly stop on a sixpence). So at most one train per section and not in the least flexible if you have a mix of fast and slow traffic. It costs a fortune to adjust anything as it means not only moving the signals, cables and updating the control system but all the track based train detection systems too, not to mention an incredible amount of testing.


The powers that be would love to run more trains - both passenger and freight - but are up against track capacity issues all over the place. That's why HS2 is so popular with the planners around here - they're not in the least bothered about people getting to London 30 minutes quicker - what they want the fast passenger trains off the existing rails so they can use them for a larger number of slower services - both local passenger and long-distance freight.


   - Andy.

It is not clear why railway lines are empty most of the time

I suspect a lot of the problem is the signalling system - mostly still using the Victorian principle of dividing the track into "sections" each of which is guarded by a signal and has to accommodate the stopping distance of the fastest train (and smooth steel wheels on smooth steel track mean they can't exactly stop on a sixpence). So at most one train per section and not in the least flexible if you have a mix of fast and slow traffic. It costs a fortune to adjust anything as it means not only moving the signals, cables and updating the control system but all the track based train detection systems too, not to mention an incredible amount of testing.


The powers that be would love to run more trains - both passenger and freight - but are up against track capacity issues all over the place. That's why HS2 is so popular with the planners around here - they're not in the least bothered about people getting to London 30 minutes quicker - what they want the fast passenger trains off the existing rails so they can use them for a larger number of slower services - both local passenger and long-distance freight.


   - Andy.