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One of the bigger issues is that it requires much more vertical clearance. Rebuilding tunnels and bridges is expensive - tunnels especially are practically nev
by TylerE 3y ago
One of the bigger issues is that it requires much more vertical clearance.
Rebuilding tunnels and bridges is expensive - tunnels especially are practically never built much larger than required. Stations, depots, carriage washers, and other related infrastructure will need to be rebuilt or heavily modified to account for the extra height of the panto, wires, and poles.
If you're building NEW track, sure, OHLE is the way to go. But there is well over 1 million route kilometers of rail in the world, and less than a third of it is electrified. Of the countries having at least 20,000km of track, only India and Japan are above 70% electrified. Cost of electrifying is estimated at at a miniumum of $1 million per track kilometer. (10 route km of a quad-track mainline would be 40 track km).
A large freight yard might be 40 tracks wide by 2 or 3km long... that's over $100m right there, and that's assuming the yard tracks are spaced widely enough, which they aren't always.
- _hypx 3y agoYou do not need to electrify every meter of track. Trains have enough momentum that you can coast for fairly significant distances. The idea that you need an entire fleet of battery trains just for those short sections beggars belief.
- TylerE 3y agoAn obstacle appears appears, and the train goes into emergency braking. You’re now stopped between electrified sections. It’s going to take hours to get moved, and the delays will ripple through the system. A diesel will have to be dispatched… except it’s entirely possible it won’t be able to get you because there are trains stuck between you, and it’s not like they can pull onto the shoulder. These sections are sometimes miles long.
- _hypx 3y agoA rare event. And the solution is to keep these unpowered sections short. Not spend millions on a fleet of battery powered trains.