WI: Alternate 1923 British railway grouping

The London Midland Scottish, Great Western, Joint and Independent Railways
Part 3
Electrification 1923-38 ITTL


Introduction

Unfortunately I don't expect the earlier abolition of Railway Passenger Duty or the earlier passing of the Railway (Facilities) Act to result in a large increase in the amount of electrification undertaken by the railway companies covered by this section. To do that the government would have had to provide more money than OTL as well as the OTL money sooner. Even if it did there is no guarantee that the LMS, GWR and independents would have spent the extra money on electrification.

The Great Western Railway

I don't see the GWR implementing any schemes ITTL. They did consider the electrification of the lines west of Taunton, but decided that the return on investment wasn't great enough to justify carrying it out. That would be the same ITTL. However, they might buy more diesel railcars and multiple units.

The London Midland Scottish Railway
Electrification in Merseyside


The electrification of the Wirral Railway would have been brought forward from 1938 to 1933 and the Mersey Railway would have been integrated with the Wirral Railway in 1933 instead of 1938. IOTL British Railways converted the Mersey Railway from 4-rail to 3rd rail in 1955 to standardise with the Wirral Railway's system. That might be done between 1933 and 1939 ITTL.

Unfortunately the above is probably it.

Before World War One the L&YR had planned to extend electric working from Ormskirk to Meols Cop and Southport via Burscough and from Ormskirk to Skelmersdale, which would have added 13¾ route miles (13 miles 66 chains) to the 37 route miles (37 miles 3 chains) that it had electrified in the Liverpool area between 1904 and 1913.

In the 1970s the electrified lines on either side of the Mersey were integrated in the 1970s as part of the Merseyrail project.
  • The Mersey Railway was remodelled when the Loop Line of 2 miles was completed in 1977.
  • Electric working was extended from the Mersey Railway's terminus at Rock Ferry over the former Birkenhead Railway as follows:
    • ½ miles (3 miles 36 chains) to Hooton in 1985
    • 8 miles (8 miles 10 chains) from Hooton to Chester in 1993
    • 3½ miles (3 miles 41 chains) from Hooton to Ellesmere Port in 1994
The Birkenhead Railway was a joint line belonging to the GWR and LMS. This might explain why these extensions which only came to 15 route miles (15 miles 7 chains) weren't electrified in the 1930s IOTL.​

The former Birkenhead, Mersey and Wirral Railway lines now form the Wirral Line of Merseyrail​
  • The Link Line of 2 miles was built to connect the former L&YR terminus at Liverpool Exchange (which was demolished) to the former CLC terminus at Liverpool Central.
  • The combined L&YR and CLC system became the Northern Line of Merseyrail which so far has been extended as follows:
    • 3¾ miles (3 miles 54 chains) from Walton Junction to Kirkby in 1977 on the former L&YR
    • 5½ miles (5 miles 36 chains) Liverpool Central to Garston in 1978 over the former CLC
    • 1½ miles (1 mile 51 chains) Garston to Hunts Cross in 1983 over the former CLC
What I want to happen ITTL is for the LMS and LNER to implement the Merseyrail project (including the extensions planned by the L&YR and the extensions carried out to 1994 IOTL) between 1930 and 1940. ITOL the combined electrified L&YR/Mersey/Wirral system was 52½ route miles (52 miles 38 chains). ITTL whole scheme would have been 96 miles (96 miles 12 chains) of which the LMS portion would have been 89 miles (89 miles 5 chains).

Furthermore I want it to be done on 1,500V DC, which would be converted to 25kV AC in the 1970s instead of the OTL Merseyrail Project. That would the conversion of the Mersey Railway and the former L&YR lines to that standard from 3rd and 4-rail DC to that standard. And the clearances of the tunnels might have to be increased to allow for the overhead wires.

Electrification around Manchester

IOTL the L&YR also electrified the 14 route miles (13 miles 76 chains) from Manchester Victoria to Bury & Holcombe Book during World War One. There were plans for extensions, but in common with the planned extensions in the Liverpool area they weren't carried out.

I don't expect any additional work to be carried out in the Manchester area before 1939 ITTL.

However, had World War II not broken out the LMS would probably have electrified the line from Manchester to Liverpool Lime Street to counter the LNER's plan to electrify its line from Manchester to Liverpool in the first half of the 1940s.

The extra electrification of the former L&YR lines out of Liverpool Exchange meant there was a good case for electrifying the rest of the lines from Liverpool and Southport to Wigan and Manchester. Had there been no World War II that would probably have been done in the 1940s too.

The London Tilbury and Southend Scheme

In 1913, Merz and McLellan conducted a feasibility study into the electrification of the Midland Main Line from St Pancras to St Albans, the Tottenham Branch and the entire London, Tilbury and Southend Railway for the Midland Railway. Some books say that the bill to authorise this scheme was well on its way to becoming an Act of Parliament when World War One broke out.

The LMS studied the electrification of part of the LTS in 1924 but the only portion of the scheme to be implemented was Barking to Upminster in 1932 which was worked by the District Line of the London Underground.

The LTS scheme that was actually implemented was the one in the 1955 Modernisation Plan which completed in 1962. That one was 75 route miles and 172 single track miles. That's about the same as the 55 route miles and 180 single track miles in the Liverpool Street to Shenfield, Colchester and Southend Victoria schemes, which ITTL were electrified by the LNER between 1931 and 1939.

ITTL I want the LMS to electrify the LTS in the 1930s so that it didn't loose traffic to the LNER when it electrified its line to Southend. However, I think it would not be able to unless the TTL Railway (Facilities) Act provided more money as well as providing the money 5 years earlier. On the other hand it might have been done in the 1940s had World War II not happened.

The Joint and Independent Railways

The first British mainline railway to be electrified was the Liverpool Overhead Railway which used 3rd rail from its completion in 1893. IOTL it survived the Grouping and Nationalisation but closed in 1956. ITTL it would be converted to 1,500V DC overhead to retain compatibility with the LMS and LNER systems. Unfortunately it would not save the railway from closure.
 
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I'm finding all this very interesting @NOMISYRRUC, do you have any ideas for CME appointments and possible locomotive classes?
CME appointments are exactly the same because the TTL Grouping is the same as the OTL Grouping (IIRC apart from eliminating some of the joint lines). What has changed is more government money is available sooner through the earlier abolition of Railway Passenger Duty and the early introduction of the Railway (Facilities) Act (actually there would be two there would be the OTL act of 1935 and another one in 1930).

If you mean steam locomotive classes then I have no ideas whatsoever. If you mean electric locomotive and multiple-unit classes then I think they would be building the OTL types but in greater numbers.

I was working on a post to explain how I thought the London Underground would develop if Railway Passenger Duty was abolished earlier and there was a Railway (Facilities) Act in 1930, but became bogged down working out the fine details due to a gap in the available electrified mileage statistics. Basically the New Works Programme was brought forward from 1935 to 1930 resulting in the completion of the full scheme plus the extension of the Bakerloo line to Camberwell by 1940 instead of the partial completion in 1960. TTL the money spent 1945-60 on the partial completion of the New Works Programme could have been spent on further extensions, but I think that is unlikely.
 
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