AUSZUG | eb - Elektrische Bahnen INT 2/2015

76 113 (2015) INT 2 Contact Lines The Great Western Electrification in Southern England Sinan Al-Jawad, Swindon (UK), Rainer Puschmann, Forchheim (DE) The Great Western Railway runs from London to West and South West England as well as Wales and like no other railway line, reflects the rise and gradual decline of the British railway. The great British railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, began with the construction of this railway line in 1833 and used 2 140mm (7 ft. 0-1/4 in) broad gauge, which was rebuilt into 1 435mm standard gauge beginning in 1869. After the foreseeable end of steam traction in 1934, the first diesel locomotives travelled on this line and diesel trains are still utilized as of today. In 2012, the government adopted a national electrification programme, which includes the electri- fication of this route with AC 25 kV 50 Hz to be completed by 2017. GREAT-WESTERN-BAHN – ELEKTRIFIZIERUNG IN SÜDENGLAND Die Great Western Eisenbahn verläuft von London nach West- und Südwestengland sowie nach Wales und spiegelt wie keine andere Eisenbahnstrecke den Aufstieg und Niedergang der eng- lischen Eisenbahn wider. Der großartige englische Eisenbahningenieur Isambard Kingdom Bru- nel begann 1833 mit dem Bau dieser Strecke und nutzte 2 140mm (7 ft. 0-1/4 in) Breitspur, die ab1869 in 1 435mm Standardspurweite umgebaut wurde. Nach dem absehbaren Ende der Dampftraktion fuhren 1934 die ersten Diesellokomotiven auf dieser Strecke, die bis heute noch verkehren. 2012 hat die Regierung ein Nationales Elektrifizierungsprogramm beschlossen, wel- ches auch die Elektrifizierung dieser Strecke mit AC 25 kV 50 Hz bis 2017 umfasst. LA LIGNE DU GREAT WESTERN – L’ÉLECTRIFICATION DANS LE SUD DE L’ANGLETERRE La ligne du Great Western relie Londres à l’ouest et au sud-ouest de l’Angleterre ainsi qu’au Pays de Galles et reflète comme nulle autre la splendeur et la décadence du rail britannique. Le prestigieux ingénieur anglais des chemins de fer Isambard Kingdom Brunel avait commencé la construction de la ligne en 1833 en utilisant un écartement de 2 140mm (7 ft. 0-1/4 in) qui fut converti à l’écartement standard de 1 435mm à partir de 1869. En 1934, préfigurant la fin de la traction vapeur, les premières locomotives diesel firent leur apparition sur la ligne où elles sont encore en circulation aujourd’hui. En 2012, le gouvernement a voté un programme national d’électrification qui comprend aussi l’électrification de cette ligne en CA 25 kV 50 Hz à l’horizon 2017. 1 Introduction The Great Western Railway (GWR), one of several British railway companies, operated its own railway network (Figure 1). The GWR railway lines connect London with South West England, West England and South Wales. The GWR was the only company that continued to exist under the same name after the reorganization of the British railway system in 1923. In 1948 the company was integrated into the state-owned British Railways company (now British Rail ). After the privatisation of British Rail in 1994, the GWR resumed its traditional name of First Great Western . Today’s First Great Western , which does not yet have electrified routes, operates basically the same area. The infrastructure management com- pany, Network Rail , is working to get the 1 000 km long rail network electrified by 2017 with the AC 50Hz 25 kV system. This first and most compre- hensive modernization of the Great Western Railway in the last 25 years requires extensive knowledge and many years of experience in terms of planning and construction of overhead contact line systems, which are lacking due to the long interruption of the large scale electrification projects on the British railway network. Consequently, Network Rail has sought experience from Germany and has commis- sioned SPL Powerlines Germany for consulting on the application of European standards, interopera­ bility and German experiences.