1.
Doncaster railway station
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Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line 156 miles north of London Kings Cross and it is a major passenger interchange between the East Coast Main Line and Cross Country Route and local services running across the North of England. It is also the point for which Virgin Trains East Coast services from London divide, either branching off to Leeds or continuing north to Scotland via Newcastle, the railway station was built in 1849 replacing a temporary structure constructed a year earlier. It was rebuilt in its present form in 1938 and has had slight modifications since that date, most notably in 2006. In May 2015, construction commenced on a new Platform 0 to the north-east of the adjacent to the Frenchgate Centre on the site of the former cattle dock. It will be used by terminating Northern services to Hull, Beverley, Bridlington and this will allow these services to operate independently of the East Coast Main Line. It is joined to the rest of the station via a fully accessible overbridge, the station has nine platforms on three islands. Platforms 1,3,4 and 8 can take through trains, platforms 2 and 5 are south-facing bays, and 0,6 and 7 are north facing bays. A First Class Lounge is available on platform 3A, Platform 0 is scheduled to take almost exclusively Northern services to and from Hull, Beverley and Bridlington. The brand new platform opened on 12 December 2016, Platform 2 has no scheduled trains and is not normally for public use. From 2017, East Midlands Trains services to Lincoln Central will move to this platform from Platform 5, Platform 3B takes services to Sheffield and Manchester / Manchester Airport, operated by Northern and TransPennine Express and will take services from Sheffield when there is congestion. However, southbound CrossCountry services towards Birmingham New Street and beyond depart from this platform. Platform 5 is a bay platform used for Northern and East Midlands Trains services to Sheffield, Platform 6 is a bay platform used almost exclusively for Northern commuter services to Leeds. Platform 7 is seldom in use, but when it is, is used for Northern services towards Scunthorpe via all stations. Platform 8 is used for northbound East Coast Main Line services towards Leeds, and CrossCountry services to Newcastle, the platform is also it is used for Northern local services to Scunthorpe via all stations. Southbound CrossCountry services are scheduled to use this platform. There are presently no ticket barriers in operation at this station, however on Race Days, the station has been recently refurbished and is now directly connected to the Frenchgate Centre extension in Doncaster town centre. The station now has a new booking office for tickets and information, there is a newsagent and some food outlets
2.
Hitachi
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Hitachi, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group and forms part of the DKB Group of companies, Hitachi is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices. It is ranked 38th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 and 129th in the 2012 Forbes Global 2000, Hitachi was founded in 1910 by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira in Ibaraki Prefecture. The companys first product was Japans first 5-horsepower induction motor, initially developed for use in copper mining, odairas company soon became the domestic leader in electric motors and electric power industry infrastructure. The company began as a venture of Fusanosuke Kuharas mining company in Hitachi. Odaira moved headquarters to Tokyo in 1918, long before that, he coined the company’s toponymic name by superimposing two kanji characters, hi meaning “sun” and tachi meaning “rise”. The young companys national aspirations were conveyed by its original brand mark, world War II and its aftermath devastated the company. Many of its factories were destroyed by Allied bombing raids, and after the war, founder Odaira was removed from the company. Nevertheless, as a result of three years of negotiations, Hitachi was permitted to all but 19 of its manufacturing plants. The cost of such a production shutdown, though, compounded by a labor strike in 1950. Only the Korean War saved the company from complete collapse, Hitachi and many other struggling Japanese industrial firms benefited from defense contracts offered by the American military. Meanwhile, Hitachi went public in 1949, Hitachi America, Ltd. was established in 1959. Hitachi Europe, Ltd. was established in 1982, in March 2011, Hitachi agreed to sell its hard disk drive subsidiary, HGST, to Western Digital for a combination of cash and shares worth US$4.3 billion. Due to concerns of a duopoly of WD and Seagate Technology by the EU Commission, the transaction was completed in March 2012. The talks subsequently broke down and were suspended, the joint venture began operations in February 2014. It is a high density information storage medium utilizing laser etched/readable Fused quartz, Hitachi is taking for 2016 an estimated ¥65 billion write-off in value of a SILEX technology laser uranium enrichment joint venture with General Electric. Hitachi Consulting is a management and technology consulting firm with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Hitachi Data Systems is an owned subsidiary of Hitachi which provides hardware, software
3.
Hitachi A-train
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The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture, increase in energy efficiency, and recyclability. Initially the A-train family consisted of units designed and built by Hitachi. The A-train family comprises trains for commuter services and limited express services. Hitachi has given the family a modular design which enables both production and refurbishment to be undertaken faster, the A-trains strong body is the result of the use of revolutionary technology called friction stir welding. Due to the low input of this patented process high strength, excellent crashworthiness. Both the Chongqing Monorail in China and the Sentosa Express Monorail in Singapore utilise A-train derived cars, however, Hitachis first major conventional rail order outside Japan came when Southeastern ordered a total of 29 EMUs for use running the domestic services on High Speed 1 in the United Kingdom. The Class 395 units are standard gauge and designed to operate at speeds of up to 225 km/h, deliveries of the trains began in late 2006, with the first public test of the new trains in March 2007. In 2007, Korail ordered eight 4-car express trains branded as the Trunk-Line Electric Car to Hitachi and these car body, bogies, power systems made in Japan, but were to be assembled at SLS Heavy Industry in Changwon, Korea. And, a significant amount of the components have been replaced by a Korean part, the trains were for deployment on Rapid Train services on the Gyeongbu Line and Janghang Line between Seoul station and Sinchang Station, branded Nuriro and with a maximum speed of 150 km/h. The order covers up to 1,400 new multiple unit vehicles, commissioned as five-, the train specification allows for the conversion of Class 800 to Class 801, as it is assumed that electrification will continue to expand. Hitachi has a range of options in the UK with the Hitachi AT300 long distance/high speed, for example Class 395, Class 800, in March 2015 First Great Western agreed to acquire 29 bi-mode Hitachi AT300 subject to government approval expected in June 2015. The trains, which will consist of 22x 5-car and 7x 9-car units and they will make use of the full power output to cope with gradients in Devon and Cornwall and will also be built with larger fuel tanks. The trains will use electric power between Paddington and Newbury, which is as far as electrification will reach on the Westbury route. The AT100 is targeted at high-density urban trains, whilst the AT200 is designed for suburban, commuter, abellio ScotRail has selected the Hitachi AT200 for new trains when it is operating the Scotrail franchise
4.
InterCity 225
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The InterCity 225 is an electric high speed train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer. They are used on services from London Kings Cross to Leeds, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Skipton, Bradford Forster Square, Newark North Gate, York, the InterCity 225 entered service with British Rail on the East Coast Main Line in 1990. The units also operate on a section of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carstairs. In 1996, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, all InterCity 225s were sold to Eversholt Rail Group, which currently leases them to Virgin Trains East Coast. The InterCity 225 has a top speed of 140 mph. The finalised £4.5 billion contract for the Intercity Express Programme trains for the Great Western Main Line, capital costs for the vehicles are approximately £2.8 million per carriage for bi-mode versions and £2.4 million per carriage for electric versions. The second phase of the contract consisted of 10 five-car and 13 nine-car bi-mode and 12 five-car electric units for use on the ECML, a £1. 2bn option for further 30 nine-car electric trains to replace Intercity 225 sets on the ECML was taken up on 18 July 2013. The trains will enter service in 2017 on the Great Western Main Line and 2018 on the East Coast Main Line, Class 91 + Mk 4s = IC225
5.
East Coast Main Line
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The East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long railway link between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington and Newcastle, electrified along the whole route. Services north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness use diesel trains, the main franchise on the line is operated by Virgin Trains East Coast. The route forms a key artery on the side of Great Britain and is broadly paralleled by the A1 trunk road. It links London, the South East and East Anglia, with Yorkshire and it also carries key commuter flows for the north side of London. It is important to the health of several areas of England and Scotland. It also handles cross-country, commuter and local services. The route has ELRs ECM1 - ECM9, the line was built by three railway companies, each serving their own area, but with the intention of linking up to form the through route that became the East Coast Main Line. In 1923 the three companies were grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway and this later became part of British Railways in 1948. The Selby Diversion was opened in 1983 and diverged from the original ECML at Temple Hirst Junction, north of Doncaster, the ECML has been the backdrop for a number of famous rail journeys and locomotives. The line was worked for years by Pacific locomotives designed by Gresley, including the famous steam locomotives Flying Scotsman. Mallard achieved a record speed for a steam locomotive, at 126 miles per hour. It made the run on the Grantham-to-Peterborough section, on the descent of Stoke Bank, steam locomotives were replaced by Diesel electrics in the early 1960s, when the purpose-built Deltic locomotive was developed by English Electric. The prototype was successful and a fleet of 22 locomotives was built, the Class 55s were powered by two Napier Deltic engines originally developed for fast torpedo boats, with the three crankshaft triangular configuration of the engines giving the Deltic name. Their characteristic throaty exhaust roar and chubby body outline made them unmistakable, the Class 55 was for a time the most powerful diesel locomotive in service in Britain, at 3,300 hp. Just after the Deltics were introduced, the first sections of the East Coast Main Line were upgraded to allow 100 miles per hour running. The first length to be cleared for the new higher speed was a 17 miles stretch between Peterborough and Grantham on 15 June 1965, the second was 12 miles between Grantham and Newark. A prototype of the HST, the Class 41 achieved 143 mph on the line in 1973, a secondary factor was that the signalling technology of the time was insufficient to allow detection of two broken rails on the line on which the train was operating. Locomotives have operated on the ECML at speeds of up to 161.7 mph in test runs. 3A equipment and this included the Hertford Loop Line
6.
Aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
7.
Railway electrification system
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A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
8.
Overhead line
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An overhead line or overhead wire is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses, or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks, the feeder stations are usually fed from a high-voltage electrical grid. Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph and it presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram, non-electric locomotives may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and this article does not cover regenerative braking, where the traction motors act as generators to retard movement and return power to the overhead. To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire or catenary. This wire approximates the path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of catenary to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as droppers or drop wires. It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link, the whole system is then subjected to a mechanical tension. As the contact wire makes contact with the pantograph, the insert on top of the pantograph is worn down. The straight wire between supports will cause the wire to cross over the whole surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve, causing uniform wear. On straight track, the wire is zigzagged slightly to the left. The movement of the wire across the head of the pantograph is called the sweep. The zigzagging of the line is not required for trolley poles. Depot areas tend to have only a wire and are known as simple equipment or trolley wire. When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was only at low speeds. Compound equipment - uses a second wire, known as the auxiliary
9.
Current collector
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Those for overhead wires are roof-mounted devices, those for third rails are mounted on the bogies. Typically, they have one or more spring-loaded arms that permit the working engagement with the rail or overhead wire, the collector arm pushes the contact shoe against the contact wire or rail. As the vehicle moves, the shoe slides along the wire or rail to draw the electricity needed to run the vehicles motor. The current collector arms are electrically conductive but mounted insulated on the vehicles roof, an insulated cable connects the collector with the switch, transformer or motor. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. Electric vehicles that collect their current from an overhead line system use different forms of one- or two-arm pantograph collectors, the current collection device presses against the underside of the lowest wire of an overhead line system, which is called a contact wire. Most overhead supply systems are either DC or single phase AC, three phase AC systems use a pair of overhead wires, and paired trolley poles. Electric railways with third rails, or fourth rails, in tunnels carry collector shoes projecting laterally, or vertically, the contact shoe may slide on top of the third rail, on the bottom or on the side. The side running contact shoe is used against the bars on rubber-tired metros. A vertical contact shoe is used on power supply systems, stud contact systems. A pair of shoes was used on underground current collection systems. The contact shoe on a contact system is called a ski collector. The ski collector moves vertically to accommodate variations in the height of the studs. Contact shoes may also be used on overhead conductor rails, on bars or on trolley wires. Most railways use three rails, while the London Underground uses four rails
10.
Pantograph (transport)
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A pantograph is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train, tram or electric bus to collect power through contact with an overhead catenary wire. It is a type of current collector. Typically, a wire is used, with the return current running through the track. The term stems from the resemblance of some styles to the mechanical pantographs used for copying handwriting, the pantograph was invented in 1879 by Walter Reichel, chief engineer at Siemens & Halske in Germany. A flat slide-pantograph was invented in 1895 at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The familiar diamond-shaped roller pantograph was invented by John Q. Brown of the Key System shops for their commuter trains ran between San Francisco and the East Bay section of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. They appear in photographs of the first day of service,26 October 1903, for many decades thereafter, the same diamond shape was used by electric-rail systems around the world and remains in use by some today. The most common type of today is the so-called half-pantograph. Louis Faiveley invented this type of pantograph in 1955, the half-pantograph can be seen in use on everything from very fast trains to low-speed urban tram systems. The electric transmission system for electric rail systems consists of an upper. The pantograph is spring-loaded and pushes a contact shoe up against the underside of the wire to draw the current needed to run the train. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. As the train moves, the shoe slides along the wire and can set up standing waves in the wires which break the contact. This means that on some systems adjacent pantographs are not permitted, pantographs are the successor technology to trolley poles, which were widely used on early streetcar systems. However, many of these networks, including Torontos, are undergoing upgrades to accommodate pantograph operation, as a precaution against loss of pressure in the second case, the arm is held in the down position by a catch. For high-voltage systems, the air supply is used to blow out the electric arc when roof-mounted circuit breakers are used. Pantographs may have either a single or a double arm, double-arm pantographs are usually heavier, requiring more power to raise and lower, but may also be more fault-tolerant. On railways of the former USSR, the most widely used pantographs are those with a double arm, some streetcars use double-arm pantographs, among them the Russian KTM-5, KTM-8, LVS-86 and many other Russian-made trams, as well as some Euro-PCC trams in Belgium
11.
Automatic Warning System
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The Automatic Warning System is a form of limited cab signalling introduced in 1956 in the United Kingdom. The Rail Safety and Standards Board defines it as, The original concept of AWS was to provide the driver with an audible, should the driver fail to respond to a warning indication, an emergency brake application will be initiated. Since the introduction of signalling, the majority of signals are fitted with AWS. It should be noted that AWS does not relieve the driver of the responsibility of observing and obeying lineside signals and it was based on a 1930 system developed by Alfred Ernest Hudd and marketed as the Strowger-Hudd system. An earlier contact system, installed on the Great Western Railway since 1906, AWS is part of the signalling system and warns the driver whether the next signal is clear or not. These warnings are usually given 200 yards before the signal, though the distance can vary according to linespeed, information about the signal aspect is conveyed by electromagnetic induction to the moving train through equipment fixed in the middle of the track, known as an AWS magnet. The system works by the train detecting sequences and polarities of magnetic fields passing between the equipment and the train equipment via a receiver under the train. If the signal being approached is displaying a clear for a semaphore or green for a multiple aspect colour light signal and this lets the driver know that the next signal is showing clear and that the AWS system is working. If the signal being approached is displaying a restrictive aspect, the AWS will sound a horn, the driver then has approximately 2 seconds to press the AWS/TPWS acknowledgement button. The horn then stops and the indicator changes to a pattern of black and yellow spokes. As a fail-safe mechanism, the button must be released after it has been pressed, if a driver should collapse onto the button or keep it held down, the AWS will not be cancelled. If the driver fails to cancel the warning in time the brake will apply. When this occurs the red Brake demand light will flash on the AWS/TPWS Driver machine interface, the driver must now push the AWS/TPWS acknowledgement button, and the brakes will release after a safety time out period has elapsed. AWS is provided at most main aspect signals on running lines, though there are exceptions, At through stations where the permitted speed is 30 mph or less. Where this occurs, these are called AWS gap areas, AWS magnets are not provided at semaphore stop signals. Where a line is not fitted with AWS magnets, it is shown in the Sectional Appendix, early devices used a mechanical connection between the signal and the locomotive. In 1840, the locomotive engineer Edward Bury experimented with a system whereby a lever at track level, connected to the signal, sounded the locomotives whistle, in 1873, United Kingdom Patent No.3286 was granted to C. Williams for a system in which, if a signal was passed at danger, numerous similar patents followed but they all bore the same disadvantage – that they could not be used at higher speeds for risk of damage to the mechanism – and they came to nothing
12.
European Train Control System
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ETCS requires standard trackside equipment and a standard controller within the train cab. In its final form, all information is passed to the driver electronically, removing the need for lineside signals that, at high speed. It is a requirement that all new, upgraded or renewed tracks and rolling stock in the European railway system should adopt ETCS. Many networks outside the EU have also adopted ETCS, generally for high-speed rail projects, ETCS is specified at four different levels, Level 0, ETCS-compliant locomotives or rolling stock interact with lineside equipment that is non-ETCS-compliant. Versions are called System Requirement Specification and this is a bundle of documents, which may have different versioning for each document. A main version is called Baseline, unfortunately was a long time no strait release management and so exists no clear numbering scheme and hidden differences in practical installation until BL3. The European railway network grew from separate national networks with more in common than standard gauge. Notable differences include voltages, loading gauge, couplings, signalling, both factors led to efforts to reduce the time and cost of cross-border traffic. On 4 and 5 December 1989, a group including Transport Ministers resolved a master plan for a trans-European high-speed rail network. The Commission communicated the decision to the European Council, which approved the plan in its resolution of 17 December 1990 and this led to a resolution on 91/440/EEC as of 29 July 1991, which mandated the creation of a requirements list for interoperability in high-speed rail transport. The rail manufacturing industry and rail network operators had agreed on creation of interoperability standards in June 1991, until 1993 the organizational framework was created to start technical specifications that would be published as Technical Specifications for Interoperability. The mandate for TSI was resolved by 93/38/EEC, in 1995 a development plan first mentioned the creation of the European Rail Traffic Management System. The specification was written in 1996 in response to EU Council Directive 96/48/EC99 of 23 July 1996 on interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system, in July 1998 SRS 5a documents were published that formed the first baseline for technical specifications. UNISIG provided for corrections and enhancements of the baseline specification leading to the Class P specification in April 1999 and this baseline specification has been tested by six railways since 1999 as part of the ERTMS. The railway companies defined some extended requirements that were included to ETCS, the SUBSET-026 is defined from eight chapters where chapter seven defines the ETCS language and chapter eight describes the balise telegram structure of ETCS Level 1. Later UNISIG published the corrections as SUBSET-108, that was accepted in decision 2006/679/EEC, the earlier ETCS specification contained a lot of optional elements that limited interoperability. The Class 1 specifications were revised in the year leading to SRS2.3.0 document series that was made mandatory by the European Commission in decision 2007/153/EEC on 9 March 2007. Annex A describes the specifications on interoperability for high-speed and conventional rail transport
