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Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

UK-based rail electrification engineer with AtkinsRéalis | Electrification Junkie, Catenary Shagger | #electrifyAllTheThings | All opinions my own; retoots not endorsement […]

[bridged from https://mas.to/@25kV on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]

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Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

It's official: I'm Back on my Bullshit, drafting the isolation section for the next version of the #OLEBook while on a day out on the train.

View of a table in the first class carriage of a GWR train. An android tablet is on the table with Latex code on the screen.

November 22, 2025 at 11:10 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Day 1 of the third annual PWI Electrification Challenge: 26 people with no prior experience learning hands-on how OLE construction works. There's nothing else like this course!

A group of people in hi Viz constructing a cantilever on track

A group of people in hi Viz constructing a cantilever on track with me mugging in front of them

October 8, 2025 at 11:01 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Also: I'd love to see the workings behind this claim, and I'm particular the time period that the electrification capex is spread over. I suspect an unrealistically short period!

A claim that electric train totex is over £5 per mile, while battery electric is £1.39 per mile

July 25, 2025 at 9:35 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Catching up with the latest issue of Modern Railways. Great article on GWR's plans for battery trains, but sorry - this claim has to be challenged. GW Electrification was authorised in 2010, and completed in 2020. No significant work took place before then; indeed […]

[Original post on mas.to]

Excerpt from magazine article: "But it's not realistic to deliver that level of infrastructure in the time available to support the fleet. The operator highlighted that the Great Western Electrification Programme took two decades from conception to completion"

July 25, 2025 at 9:24 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Had a great time today speaking and listening at the PWI electrification conference in Cardiff. Lots of energetic discussion on discontinuous electrification, heritage considerations, upgrade of existing electrification and the role of machine learning and automation (don't call it AI!)

A middle aged white man (me) on a stage presenting with a slide on a screen behind me titled "(I don't) mind the gap: discontinuous electrification as a railway system"

Two middle aged white men (I'm one of them) sat in chairs on a stage taking questions as a woman of colour (Chrisma Jain, current PWI president) looks on, as does the audience

July 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Hey @Jon do you have the Eiffel Tower at Velika Gorica?

A shiny new miniature Eiffel tower in a car park

May 27, 2025 at 11:11 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

After a long, fantastic boozy Parisian lunch, train #6 is another InOui double deck TGV on the 1553 Paris Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart.

A double deck TGV carriage in a platform

May 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Train #5 is the 1205 Lille to Paris Gare du Nord InOui double decker TGV. Lovely ambience on first class upper deck

A TGV in black and grey entering the platform while people wait to board

First class upper deck interior with grey striped seats and red massacars

May 25, 2025 at 10:16 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

In France even the bins are stylish

A pair of bins, arranged in a V-shaped metal framework

May 25, 2025 at 9:54 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Train #4 and the trip gets started in anger... 0901 St Pancras International to Bruxelles ( I'll be getting off at Lille)... my first time bagging Seat 61!

A class 374 Eurostar driving vehicle in the platform at St Pancras

May 25, 2025 at 7:44 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Trains #2 and #3 are tube to get me to St Pancras.

A Victoria line tube train in the platform, with people getting on and off

May 25, 2025 at 6:40 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

So... it's that time of year again, I'm off on a Moderately Sized Adventure™. Train no.1 is from East Croydon to London Bridge. I travelled here last night as a positioning move.

A class 700 EMU pulls into the platform as people wait to board.

May 25, 2025 at 5:36 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

I was in IKEA and got me a Blåhaj. If you know, you know...

A blue and white toy shark sitting on top of an IKEA Kallax unit with a pot plant

March 8, 2025 at 7:45 PM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

Just catching up on back editions of the PWI journal... good to see a balanced economic view of battery-electric vehicles. This is quite rare in my experience - a railway is an economic system as much as an engineering system and running costs *must* be a key consideration

It is however possible to use vehicles with battery based onboard energy storage systems (OESS) to overcome stray current and OLE challenges. Mott MacDonald led the development of the first modern section of OLE free tramway in Birmingham city centre in 2019 with additional sections added since, (Figure 8). South Wales Metro and Coventry VLR are also planning on using OESS. The capital expenditure benefits have to be balanced by the operational expenditure of
carrying a battery pack on the vehicle increasing track loadings and wear, along with the requirements to replace the battery during the
design life of the vehicle and any charging infrastructure required.
The operational restrictions created by OESS also need to be fully
understood particularly when managing perturbations or incidents on the network which may leave vehicles in a catenary free section.

February 22, 2025 at 10:19 AM

Garry Keenor

@25kv.mas.to.ap.brid.gy

I'm in my element today, teaching in electrification systems on the University of Birmingham Railway Systems MSc course. Great to have really engaged students with loads of questions!