Table of contents for Issue 818 in RAIL

“This comes from the drivers themselves and it’s been our policy for the past 15 years. There was a case for DOO in the 1980s when trains were three cars long and passenger numbers were falling. It’s not there on 12-car trains with a thousand passengers, and platforms 30 people deep waiting to get on...They have imposed a system, forcing us to do something we believe is fundamentally unsafe.” ASLEF’s Mick Whelan, speaking to the BBC in early January 2017 @RAIL…

Class 319s were ordered by Network South East to operate through the newly-reopened Snow Hill tunnels in 1988. This formed what is now Thameslink, and the ‘319s’ were designed as dual-voltage trains, operating with both AC and DC capabilities. Eighty-six were ordered, and were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at York between 1987 and 1990. Of this number, 60 standard-class only Class 319/0s were ordered, and 26 Class 319/1s. The latter had first class accommodation because they were designed to be used on the longer-distance Bedford-Brighton trains, and these arrived in 1990. Since then there have been various modifications to interiors, resulting in new sub-classes being created, and today the fleet is split into Class 319/0s, ‘319/2s’,‘319/3s’ and ‘319/4s’. The ‘319/2s’ were converted in the late-1990s when in…

Scottish Labour has made strong calls for the Scottish Government to break with Westminster policy by bringing ScotRail back into public ownership. A statement from the party, which won 37 of the 129 seats in Holyrood during last year’s election, blamed the failure of privatisation as the main driver of fare increases by putting profits before passengers. Should that policy be adopted by the ruling Scottish National Party, the Scottish Government would be entitled to use its devolved franchising authority to achieve this as early as 2020, when there is break clause in the franchise agreement with Abellio that runs to 2025. Scottish Labour Transport Spokesman Neil Bibby said that performance was unsatisfactory and that an improvement plan agreed between ScotRail and Scottish Government Minister for Transport and the Islands…

How are fares increases calculated? This year’s rise in fares of 2.3% is taken as an average and figures vary between individual operators. For example, some fares with Virgin Trains East Coast went up by as much as 4.9% on January 2. The Government pegs increases in regulated fares to the rate of inflation, and uses the previous July’s retail prices index (RPI) - which in 2016 was 1.9% - to calculate this. This covers about 40% of all tickets sold, including season tickets on most commuter routes, and off-peak return tickets on inter-city journeys. Operators have greater freedom to set the price of all other tickets, which makes up the other 0.4%, but are bound by competition rules.…

Running steam-hauled service trains to promote the reopening of the Settle & Carlisle (S&C) railway is a fantastic example of the devolved railway working collaboratively at regional level. Network Rail Route Managing Director for LNE and East Midlands Rob McIntosh and Northern MD Alex Hynes have joined forces to give a nod to the past that very much also looks to the future. The iconic S&C has been shut for more than a year following a landslip at Eden Brows, and what better way for the public to see it is open for business than for the media spotlight to be thrust upon it, as Britain’s newest-built steam locomotive makes its way along the route? Using 60163 Tornado to haul trains for Northern, and thus becoming…

“The Government’s failure to develop a credible and coherent rail policy is deeply disappointing. ” MICK WHELAN General Secretary of ASLEF criticises the government’s changes to franchising contracts. “ Railways are best for environmentally-friendly, high-capacity, long-distance journeys for people and goods. ” REBEKA SELLICK Head of Rail at TRL says projects such as HS2 will deliver capacity, but we need more. “ Increasing the UK’s rail capacity is vital to the country’s economic growth. ” PHILIPPA OLDHAM Head of Transport at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers launches a report on post-Brexit investment in the railways. “ It’s time that [ASLEF] and the RMT explained to the hundreds of thousands of passengers suffering needless disruption what their strikes are really about. ” PAUL PLUMMER RDG Chief Executive says passengers should be…

Paul Clifton Contributing Writer rail@bauermedia.co.uk HUNDREDS of thousands of passengers have been hit by the latest three-day strike by 1,000 Southern Railway drivers belonging to the ASLEF union. No Southern trains were running on Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 and Friday 13 January, and more strikes have been announced for 24, 25 and 27 January. The union is protesting at Southern’s imposition of Driver Only Operation (DOO), under which the driver opens and closes doors instead of the conductor. The new working method came into force on January 1, at which time 320 former conductors moved to revised roles as On Board Supervisors (OBS). A report by Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways and Director of Railway Safety at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), has concluded that DOO on…

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has taken to Twitter to post a video aimed at reassuring passengers that the government is fully committed to resolving the problems at Southern. In it, he said: “We’ve been working behind the scenes for weeks, putting ideas to management, trying to get people around the table. I want more people on trains and on stations. We’re not cutting jobs. If I had the legal power to step in tomorrow and order everyone back to work I would do it. I don’t. It’s a legal strike. It’s a misplaced strike.” Comments about the video message were largely uncomplimentary, with many saying Grayling should sort out the strike instead of posting videos. Some used the hashtag #GraylingMustResign.…

SOUTHERN Railways’ new Driver Only Operation (DOO) working method is safe, according to a study by Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The report stated: “With suitable equipment, procedures and competent staff in place the proposed form of train dispatch… meets legal requirements and can be operated safely.” ORR investigated union claims that in-cab screens which display CCTV images of train doors were unsafe in poor lighting conditions. It monitored a series of test trains on the Arun Valley route between Horsham and Bognor Regis at night to survey the level of lighting at all stations where DOO services would operate. It found a number of deficiencies, and said Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) had given a categorical assurance that no trains would…

Serious allegations were made on Twitter by a member of SR train crew, who suggested that the treatment of disabled passengers was ‘criminal’: Southern has categorically denied the allegations and has said that it is investigating the incidents mentioned. These investigations were underway as RAIL went to press: “We roster an On Board Supervisor to every train that previously had a conductor on, but the ASLEF overtime ban is very disruptive and makes it very difficult to ensure that one is available for every service when delays and cancellations are the order of the day as a result. That said, we do have much more flexibility in crewing trains, as On Board Supervisors are not route-specific. That makes it easier to fill the gaps where previously this was not the…

Delivery schedules for the electrification of the Great Western Main line will be agreed as part of Network rail’s Control Period 6 (CP6) planning process, rail Minister Paul Maynard has revealed. responding to a Commons Written Question from Grant shapps (Conservative, Welwyn Hatfield) on January 9, Maynard said: “Network rail is delivering the Great Western Electrification Programme to the dates set out in sir Peter Hendy’s report published on November 25 2015. “This includes completing electrification of the Great Western Mainline to Cardiff by December 2018. “For the electrification sections due for completion in Control Period 6 (CP6) (2019-2024), including the four sections which were deferred in November 2016, delivery schedules will be agreed as part of Network rail’s CP6 planning process.”…

Network Rail has been fined £800,000 in a prosecution by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) after a trackworker suffered multiple and life-changing injuries near Redhill in June 2014. ORR inspectors concluded that the work on the Brighton Main Line was inadequately planned and managed, which placed track maintenance workers in unnecessary danger. The investigation found that work was scheduled while fast, frequent trains continued running in an area with a narrow and steep embankment. The ability for track workers to retreat to a ‘position of safety’ when trains approached was materially compromised, it added. The court was also told that the work could have been carried out at night, when other scheduled maintenance would have ensured that no trains were running. “In 2014, Network Rail’s planning of track…

FOR the first time, more than one million passengers are travelling between London and Edinburgh via the East Coast Main Line. Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) said it recorded 8% annual growth in passenger numbers, which it put down to improved frequency and refurbished trains. VTEC also highlighted the success of its strategy to win market share against the airlines on what is the UK’s busiest domestic air route. Comparable figures available for January to September 2016 show that rail patronage stood at 831,000 - an increase of 8.2% over the same period in 2015 - which VTEC claims represents a quarter of the total air/rail market. “We’ve set out ambitious plans to take on airlines by investing in our services and we’re delighted to see that strategy bearing fruit,”…

Blue badges will be introduced this spring for those passengers less able to stand on services operated by Transport for London (TfL). ‘Please Offer Me a Seat’ badges and accompanying cards were tested by 1,209 people between September 12 and October 24 2016. TfL found that 72% of journeys were made easier for people wearing the badge, and on 86% of journeys wearers felt more confident asking for a seat. TfL said 98% would recommend the badge and card to somebody who requires them. When the service is officially launched, TfL will become the first European transport provider to officially recognise invisible impairments. “I’m proud that Londoners embraced this innovative trial and that Londoners wearing the badges found travelling around our capital easier as a result,” said Mayor of London…

NETWORK Rail (NR) has completed what it claims to be its ‘biggestever’ round of Christmas engineering works. Beginning on December 24, more than 24,000 engineers and contractors were out in force to deliver £100 million worth of work at 200 sites over a ten-day period. The biggest single operation was for Crossrail to the west of Paddington, where Stockley Flyover at Heathrow Junction and Acton Dive Under were both fully opened. It removes two significant bottlenecks that would otherwise have caused Elizabeth Line trains to conflict with existing services on the Great Western Main Line when they are introduced to Heathrow in May 2018, and to Reading in December 2019. Also on the Great Western Main Line, the opening of a new bay platform at Hayes & Harlington has enabled…

Network Rail completed a £4.5 million slice of its £800m upgrade of Waterloo that will increase capacity at Britain’s busiest station by 30% by 2018. In total, 15,000 work hours were completed on December 25, 26 and January 1, replacing sets of points and signalling at Queenstown Road on the approach to Waterloo, plus signalling and power modifications in the station throat. Demolition also continued in the former International Terminal, in order to bring it back into use in August, and on platforms 1 to 4 to create space for staircases and improved access to the Underground.…

Andy Coward Contributing Writer rail@bauermedia.co.uk THE owner of Class 55 Deltic D9016 Gordon Highlander is considering disposing of the locomotive due to it requiring extensive bodywork repairs. There are a number of options available to the locomotive’s owner Martin Walker, who admitted that sending it to scrap was one of them. However, he revealed he was reluctant to follow such a path and hoped another solution could be found. Walker said one option was to retain the locomotive and carry out the necessary repairs. Alternatively, he could sell it in its current condition, or following the removal or exchange of certain key components. D9016 was bought by Walker, the owner of pioneer main line-registered Class 55, 55022 Royal Scots Grey, in October 2010. However, it has spent the past two…

The first nine-car Class 345 for Crossrail has been delivered to Asfordby for testing. Built by Bombardier at Derby Litchurch Lane, the Aventra (345018) was taken to the test track for commissioning. Initially Class 345s will enter traffic as seven-car trains on the Great Eastern Main Line from Shenfield to London Liverpool Street. They are unable to run as nine-car trains on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) until Platform 18 is closed at the London terminus and the suburban platforms extended. The first nine-car trains operated by Crossrail will run from London Paddington to Heathrow Airport, replacing the existing Heathrow Connect trains. Crossrail plans to introduce the first 15 Class 345s as seven-car trains, before 345016 enters use as a nine-car train. The first seven will be retrospectively reformed…

The seven vehicles removed from 321411-321417, when the Class 321s were converted into Class 320/4s for ScotRail, are set to be scrapped. The seven Trailer Standard Open Lavatory (TSOL) coaches (71959-71966) are currently stored at Wabtec Rail Doncaster, having been removed from the ‘321s’ when they were moved to the Yorkshire facility for conversion and to be reformed from four-car to three-car EMUs. The vehicles are owned by Eversholt Rail, which has 66 three-car Class 321/3s, 41 Class 321/4s and three Class 321/9s. In the long-term, GA’s Class 321 fleet will be replaced by a fleet of Bombardier Aventra EMUs, ordered when Abellio was awarded the Anglia franchise (RAIL 807). The final trains are scheduled be sent off-lease in 2021.…

• Gerald Leadbeatter’s suggestion (RAIL 814) for routing HS2 trains into Sheffield is a joke. I have been a Sheffield resident in Bradway since 1969. It is on the South Yorkshire border and adjoins Dronfield in North East Derbyshire. The exact location of where you live in Sheffield determines your preferred HS2 station/route. Dore and Totley is my nearest local station, but has very limited long-distance fast services. I also use both Sheffield and Chesterfield. Meadowhall is too far north. The Northern Powerhouse Rail/Sheffield City region requirement for six fast trains an hour, taking 30 minutes from Sheffield, to both Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly, will now dominate the current consultation. This is in connection with the proposal that Sheffield portions of HS2 trains may be extended beyond Sheffield to Meadowhall/Leeds.…

A New Year would not be complete without predictions from old Mystic, who did rather better than usual last year… but that’s not saying much. So here is the usual ragbag of thoughts: • Despite promises to the contrary, no spade will be turned on HS2 as opposition grows and confusion over routes remains. There will also be difficulty in finding a new chief executive. • The Southern Railway dispute will still be going on at the end of the year.......for which Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, will pay the price as he is shown the door. • Franchise bidders get even thinner on the ground and several contests have only two companies interested. As a result, some franchises are further delayed and questions are asked over the future of…

I have noted recent comments regarding an improved ticketing system that it is the intention to “do away with jargon like ‘any permitted route’ on tickets.” What is never explained is what the alternative is going to be. I accept that the Routeing Guide is an almost unworkable document and needs a total overhaul – but only of the way the information is presented. Users ought to be able to look up A to B and be shown all the options allowed between those points on separate online maps. There should be no requirement for users to look up a combination of maps with references having to be made to long-expired Fares Manuals. However, what could a walk-on return London to Scotland actually say, seeing it’s valid out of many…

EIGHT Class 319s fitted with diesel engines will be delivered to Northern at the end of year under a deal between the operator, Porterbrook and the Rail North Partnership. The trains will be put into service by spring 2018 after being converted by Wabtec Faiveley at Brush Traction, Loughborough. Conversion work starts in May and identities have yet to be confirmed. The trains are the first instalment of a planned additional 12 units that will cascaded from Govia Thameslink Railway. All eight to be rebuilt are ‘319/4s’, and the four-car trains will retain their electric capabilities but will also be able to operate as diesel trains away from electrified routes. Zena Dent, Projects and Technical Director for Porterbrook said: “The highly-innovative Class 319 Flex will be a flexible and highly…

Class 319s have begun to spread beyond London in recent years as newer trains have replaced them. First to move were 20 Class 319/3s that transferred from Govia Thameslink Railway to Northern during 2015/2016 for use on newly-electrified routes in the North West. They now serve Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria, Liverpool Lime Street, Wigan North Western and Preston, and will be joined by a further 12 (including the Flex units). The ‘319s’ were released by the introduction of brand new Class 387/1s on Thameslink. London Midland operates seven Class 319s that replaced seven Class 321/4s cascaded to ScotRail. A number of trains are now off-lease, and there are plans to store them at Long Marston. It is expected that none will remain in use with GTR on Thameslink by the…

On pages 32-35 RAIL presents a special two-part fares analysis, in which a pair of expert contributors present their own comparisons of the cost of UK rail travel with other European countries. The results are illuminating and cast doubt on the accuracy of the data and several assertions presented in some of the national fares reporting on January 2. RAIL’s analysis shows that claiming UK prices are the most expensive in Europe is disingenuous, and advance or off-peak fares are in fact competitively priced.…

“This incident shows that although Britain’s railways are the safest in Europe, we can never be complacent.” TOM WAKE ORR Principal Inspector says the regulator will continue to be vigilant, as NR is fined £800,000 for a serious injury case at Redhill. “The Thames Valley is one of the most popular rail corridors in the UK.” MARK HOPWOOD GWR Managing Director launches new electric trains for passengers travelling from Hayes & Harlington. “We had always intended to review staffing levels and have had constructive discussions with the unions.” STEVE GRIFFITHS Chief Operating Officer for LU urges unions to continue working with TfL to resolve the ongoing dispute. “I want our railways to be the safest in the world.” CHRIS GRAYLING Secretary of State for Transport requests a national safety framework…

The winter of 2015/16 was one of the unkindest periods the railway network has had to endure, as a succession of winter storms and the full force of nature was repeatedly hurled against it. The near collapse of Lamington Viaduct and the holes punched into the sea wall at Dover came to dominate the pages of RAIL, as storm-induced disruptions to services steadily mounted across the UK. In the intervening period, all damaged areas have been repaired except one, with work still continuing almost 12 months later to repair the catastrophic landslide that occured at Eden Brows on the Settle to Carlisle line. On a cliff edge 60 metres above the Eden Valley, relentless rainfall and river erosion triggered a slow-moving landslip of more than 500,000 tonnes of earth. Both…

CALEDONIAN Sleeper (CS) is sending a Class 73/9 to the Velim test track in the Czech Republic. The electro-diesel, owned by GB Railfreight (GBRf), will be used for testing the Mk 5s on order for CS, which are being built by Construcciones y Auxiliar Ferrocarriles (CAF). CS Production and Safety Director David Simpson told RAIL that five Mk 5s will arrive in Velim by July, and that the ‘73’ will be there in time for their arrival. He explained that the test programme will last for around eight weeks. The reason for sending the ‘73’ to Velim, said Simpson, was because of a requirement to test the integration between the locomotive and the Mk 5s. This involves the use of a 61-way jumper to connect the train’s systems to the…

TRAIN operators have made consierable progress on improving the way they refund passengers for delayed or cancelled trains, but they must still do more. Those were the conclusions reached in the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Rail Compensation Update report of December 2016, and follow a super-complaint by consumer body Which? in December 2015. While nine train operators had fulfilled the ORR’s five standards for good practice on November 4 2016, there was substantial variation, with Chiltern Railways only offering a PDF delay form on its website. Passenger research suggests that only half of eligible passengers were satisfied with the speed of the response to their compensation claim, and a quarter who had received a response needed to prompt the train company about their claim. Mystery shopping exercises found…

The ASLEF union had originally planned a six-day strike from January 9 to 14, but then said this would be reduced to three days out of consideration to passengers. It then announced a further three days of strikes on January 24, 25 and 27, adding that there was a likelihood more would follow and that it was taking ‘a longer-term view’ of the industrial action. Southern admitted there would be substantial disruption on the one working day in the middle of the strike, and that this was a ‘cynical ploy’ by the union to maximise the impact on commuters while reducing the loss of pay for drivers. Southern said it showed ‘pure contempt’ for the public. In response, ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said the two sides were ‘in different…

Here’s Southern’s response: “There are only a few drivers in the picture - the rest are conductors - conductors who we cannot allocate trains to, due to the root cause of the service disruption today [January 3] - the ASLEF overtime ban. Because of this, we have had to reduce the number of trains we can run. Due to the complexity of drivers’ work patterns, this means some may be spare for part of their shift. We are using these drivers where possible to move carriages into position for each day’s service or will run additional shuttles where we have trains available and can offer a robust service.”…

ViVarail’s prototype Class 230 D-Train was damaged by fire during main line testing on December 30 2016. The three-car Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) came to a halt in Kenilworth after a fire started at around 1300 in one of the detachable engine modules beneath the trailing power car. While there were no passengers on board, ten Vivarail and West Coast railways staff members were safely evacuated from the train before the blaze was fully extinguished by Warwickshire Fire and rescue service. Having blocked access to this single track section of line, the stricken train caused 376 delay minutes to other scheduled services before finally making its way to Coventry at approximately 1700 under its own power.as this issue of RAIL went to press, the train was stabled in an…

The Department for Transport issued Expression of interest documentation for the West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise on December 16. The new franchise will run from 2019. as well as operating intercity services on the West Coast Main line, it will operate High speed 2 trains (from 2026) for a period of three to five years. Franchise applications must be returned by april 24, with a shortlist of bidders released on June 15 2017. The invitation to Tender will be issued in November 2018, and the winner announced in November 2018, ahead of the franchise’s start in april 2019. a short-term contract will be issued for around 12 months between the end of the current interCity West Coast franchise and the start of the WCP one.…

Scottish Transport Minister Humza Yousaf visited the construction of stabling facilities at Millerhill Yard in mid-December. The facility will be used to clean and stable the Class 385 electric multiple units being built by Hitachi Rail Europe. Their main maintenance facility will be Craigentinny. ScotRail diesel multiple units will also visit the Millerhill Yard and Network Rail expects the £30 million depot to open in the autumn, by which time it will feature carriage washing and controlled emission toilet facilities. There will also be a train crew building and a shunter’s bothy. The depot will have four centre platforms with seven roads. Each road will hold 12 carriages (84 carriages in total) with platforms up to 305 metres long. There will be two lines serving the depot, with one each…

National Express Managing Director of Rail Andrew Chivers has retired following a 38-year career on the railways. Having began in 1978 as an engineering management trainee at British Rail, Chivers managed three depots and held a number of fleet engineering leadership roles before becoming Managing Director of Wessex Trains in 2002. A year later he took on a similar role at London Lines, and then National Express East Anglia in 2007. He accepted his last position in 2010, and will be succeeded by Tom Stables.…

The Scottish Government is offering monthly and annual season ticket holders the equivalent of a free week of rail travel, following the announcement of a £3 million funding package on December 16. Transport Minister Humza Yousaf acknowledged the impact of delays on passengers caused by upgrades, adding: “That is why we have considered a number of options for rewarding passengers for their custom… and as service improvements and investment also impact on those who do not use season tickets, we will put in place promotions and fare offers throughout the year to ensure they also benefit from this investment.” ScotRail is to set a specific period in 2017 when the free week for season ticket holders will be available.…

NATIONAL Express has agreed a deal to sell the c2c franchise to Italian state operator Trenitalia. The sale is conditional upon Department for Transport (DfT) approval, which is expected to take up to four weeks from the date of the deal’s announcement on January 11. Existing management and staff will be retained. The deal is worth around £70 million, which National Express has said represents a small net profit. Barbara Morgante, CEO of Trenitalia, said: “We see significant chances to invest in UK rail and this in-principle agreement with National Express allows us to foster these ambitions. We are confident that British customers will benefit from our skill and capabilities developed in the highly-competitive Italian market. “We are also closely monitoring the Railways Franchising Programme as we intend to participate…

MK 3 carriages no longer needed by Greater Anglia could be stored at locations in and around Norfolk once they are replaced by new Stadler trains. The first Stadler bi-mode is due to arrive in September or October 2018, ahead of entering traffic in 2019. All twenty 12-car bi-modes must be in traffic by December 31 2019 when the PRM-TSI deadline for accessibility ends. After that the 112 Mk 3s used by GA will no longer be able to operate on the main line unless they are modified. Dave Lupton, GA Fleet Manager North, said on December 21 that he was considering locations to store the Mk 3s. He revealed that the disused Wensum Sidings at Norwich Crown Point were an option, as these are to be brought back into…

Class 707 Desiro City electric multiple units (EMUs) are expected to enter traffic from April. The first five-car ‘707’ for South West Trains was delivered to Clapham Junction during December, but was defaced by graffitti vandals. The EMU (707001) was followed by 707003 and 707004 on December 22, with a further 27 to be delivered in a £210 million deal. The trains are built by Siemens in Krefeld, Germany, and are owned by Angel Trains. Delivery of the final train is expected in November. SWT has said that the fleet will offer space for 11,000 passengers at peak-time. Testing using two ‘707s’ was expected to begin on the main line as RAIL went to press. They will be used from London Waterloo, serving Windsor & Eton Riverside, including the Hounslow…

Five Class 20s have been stored by Direct Rail Services (DRS), meaning the operator has no Type 1s left in its active fleet. DRS stored 20302/303/305/312 at York and 20308 at Derby Railway Technical Centre. The veteran Type 1s had been reinstated by DRS for the railhead treatment trains as they are passed for routes in Yorkshire that other locomotives cannot operate over. In 2016 fewer ‘20s’ were active for DRS than usual, with five reinstated to traffic instead of six. The company decided against returning 20304 and 20309 to traffic, and these remain stored at Barrow Hill. The former was stored in April 2015, while the latter was stored in November 2015. An eighth locomotive, 20301, remains on DRS’ books, but has been stored since March 2014.…

Harry Needle Railroad Company has purchased the final DB Cargo Class 09, as well as eight ‘08s’ offered for sale by DB (RAIL 811). Not all will be returned to traffic. HNRC Managing Director Harry Needle told RAIL his company has acquired 08428, 08623, 08706/742/782/799, 08804, 08904 and 09106. Of these, he revealed that 08428, 08623, 08799, 08904 and the ‘09’ would be returned to active use and were already fitted with GSM-R radio equipment. Needle explained that a decision regarding 08782’s future was yet to be made, but that it could just as easily be sold for scrap as returned to traffic. That leaves 08706 and 08804, which will be stripped of reusable components and scrapped. Needle said that because of his latest purchases, HNRC would have a ‘sort…

Analysis Getting to the heart of the matter THE period between Christmas and New Year is often quiet for newshounds, meaning easy headlines are a godsend for the press. And so those claiming ‘Stats reveal old trains’, printed just before the usual fares rise announcement and amid the ongoing Southern strike, helped to fuel a seemingly anti-rail agenda. On December 28, various news outlets ‘broke’ the story that the average age of Britain’s train fleet was 21 years old. Of course, this followed other stories about the ‘Christmas Chaos’ caused by most of the railway being shut and Network Rail carrying out engineering work; but not much of the latter made the news. What was not mentioned was that the ‘age of the train fleets’ figures were published by Office…

Driverless trains With all the hype around driverless vehicles, I am surprised there has not been more talk about driverless trains. To a bystander the complexities appear less: there are rarely people stepping into the road in front of you; no cyclists; the route is fixed (so turnings and roundabouts are not involved); and the motion of other trains is far less irrational than road vehicles. The railway network would be an ideal proving-ground for driverless technology. It would allow frequent ‘turn-up-and-go’ services on lines with capacity issues - improving passenger experience by increasing service frequency. However, I see three major problems preventing this: return on development costs; the infrastructure changes required (Digital Railway); and the unions. Service disruption by the unions may be counter-productive, and I predict that opposing…

“I ENVY you lads,” my inspirational physics teacher once told us. “All my life I’ve had to remember lots of silly units of measurement, but now we’re going metric and you’ll have a life free from all that nonsense; only time and, probably, money will remain non-metric.” He told the class this in 1958, almost 60 years ago. He was proved wrong regarding money 13 years later (46 years ago next month), when legislation swept away the imperial system of ‘pounds, shillings and pence’ in one day. It has always remained a mystery to me, however, that a part of the UK population has always resisted the metrication of weights and measures, seemingly on the false grounds that the imperial system is ‘part of British culture’. The campaign to remain…

This innovative investment is just the kind of thing that train leasing should generate. The Class 319, based on the successful steel Mk 3 BR body shell, is by modern standards a utilitarian tool that has served the railway admirably for 30 years. Built for Thameslink originally, I well remember the amazement of Japanese colleagues when they saw that our metro trains achieved 100mph between stops in Bedfordshire, and all with a car weight 20% less than the Class 450 and AC/DC power capability to boot! Delays and costs of electrification are producing a paradigm shift on its design. We used to see route projects where high service density justified the infrastructure spend and the timing often matched the need for new trains on the route. The new emerging style…

NATIONAL media outlets and passenger groups led a chorus of protests at this year’s 2.3% price rise in national rail fares. The Campaign for Better Transport said that passengers were right to be angry at paying more for their tickets from January 2 because wages remained stagnant and some services remained overcrowded. It added that the price of some annual season tickets meant commuters were now paying up to 27p per minute for their journeys, which it compared to the cost of calling premium rate phone numbers. The most hostile reaction was reserved for the unions however, which used fares rises to reignite the debate over renationalising Britain’s railways. RMT boss Mick Cash claimed that UK rail passengers paid ‘the highest fares in Europe’ to travel on busy trains, while…

Fare rises: British Rail vs Privatisation In the final 30 years of the BR era, prices - as measured by the Retail Price Index - rose approximately ten-fold, but Peak (today’s Anytime) Returns increased up to double that. However, Off-Peak fares rose in line with inflation. So, yes, BR had real price increases for peak travel. Since privatisation inflation has been around 80%, yet many Anytime Returns have more than tripled, and some OP Returns have more than doubled. In other words, fares have risen much faster in real terms since privatisation than in the last 30 years under BR. The reason the impression is given that fares have risen slowly is because the Rail Delivery Group adds advance fares into the mix, which offer very cheap travel. However, that…

STEAM trains formed of Mk 2 carriages will replace DMUs on timetabled trains over the Settle & Carlisle (S&C) route next month. ‘Pacific’ 60163 Tornado, completed in 2008, will haul the Northern trains over the S&C between Skipton and Appleby on three consecutive days. The first timetabled ordinary main line passenger steam trains to run in England for 50 years are the result of a pioneering modern and heritage industry alliance, formed to help revive the economic fortunes of the beleaguered S&C as well as the towns and villages that it serves. The railway, which was opened in 1875, was severed by a major landslip last February and has been in limbo ever since. This collaborative alliance comprises Northern, Network Rail, DB Cargo, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Friends…

Running steam-hauled timetabled trains on the main line has only been attempted in Britain once - on the West Highland Line Extension between Fort William and Mallaig – although some argued that the spirit of the 2001 event was jeopardised when ScotRail laid on buses to supplement the modified timetable. ‘Plandampf’ is far more common in mainland Europe, especially Germany, where such events have been an annual occurrence since the early 1990s. The severing of the S&C provides a one-off opportunity to perpetuate the concept on Network Rail because there is sufficient water and coal capacity in Tornado’s tender to run the 53 miles between Skipton and Appleby without having to stop to replenish along the way.…

Network Rail plans to carry out vegetation removal on the Midland Main Line from Kettering to Corby in preparation for electrification work. Large trees, small bushes and weeds must be removed from a 6.5-mile stretch of railway for safety reasons. The work is planned to start on January 26, and NR is consulting with local communities through public information events. It plans to carry out an ecological survey to identify any protected species and make sure appropriate working methods are put in place.…

The RMT union is balloting staff on Northern over a pay offer it claims “does not match the benchmarks for pay deals” it has achieved with other companies. Northern says it has offered more than 5,000 staff a 2% pay rise in the first year of a deal which could last up to four years. The pay offer for the remaining three years of the deal would be calculated by using the Retail Price Index figure, plus 0.1%. The ballot opened on January 10 and closes on January 25, and before it was launched the union claims industrial relations with Northern “were already at a low ebb.” It says it remains available for talks. Northern said in response: “We firmly believe the offer made during negotiations was good for our…

Drivers working for Southern are already operating door controls on 11 routes beyond the longstanding ‘driver-only’ inner suburban lines, according to the company. It means that drivers operate doors on over 70% of Southern services, up from 40% three months ago, on days when they are not on strike. Spokesman Roger Perkins told RAIL that the company had extended driver-operation to 11 routes, with a second member of staff as an on-board supervisor (OBS) to help passengers. He explained that five routes had been converted since October: Bognor Regis/Littlehampton-Brighton/ Haywards Heath, Horsham-Dorking, London-Brighton, Redhill-Reigate, and Three Bridges-Bognor Regis. Since the start of January a further six routes have switched, he said: Barnham-Havant, Brighton/ Haywards Heath-Eastbourne/ Ore, Brighton-Seaford, Havant-Southampton (via Swanwick and Eastleigh), London-East Grinstead, and Redhill-Tonbridge. Perkins said the extension…

A Question Time-style debate that was broadcast on BBC1 in southern England on January 9 saw an ill-tempered exchange between Govia Thameslink Railway Chief Executive Charles Horton and RMT Assistant General Secretary Mick Lynch. Lynch was heckled by the audience for constantly interrupting Horton, and each was accused of not being prepared to listen to the other and of refusing to move from entrenched positions. They also faced hostile questions from commuters. Dominic Morgan, a healthcare consultant from Hove: “I saw an 85-year-old man sitting on the floor because he couldn’t physically get to the priority seats because the train was so packed. The industrial action is causing unprecedented disruption to the lives of ordinary people. It’s also causing far more safety incidents than will ever happen due to driver…

Following the ORR safety report on Southern, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has asked the Chief Inspector of Railways, Ian Prosser, to write up a new national safety framework geared towards improving train dispatch. This is to feature a set of principles for continuous improvement, which all train operators must follow where DOO is in operation or where it is being introduced. Grayling said he expects the unions to be ‘fully involved’ in the process. He repeated his offer of face-to-face meetings with the unions, subject to the strikes being called off. ASLEF’s General Secretary Mick Whelan responded by saying that as DOO was already being imposed without union agreement, the offer “did not provide any rationale to call off the strike.”…

Vivarail’s D-Train fire at Kenilworth during testing was inevitably seized upon by the concept’s critics, who couldn’t resist a sneerfest on Twitter. There came the immediate racket of nails being hammered into D-Train’s coffin but, while the fire in the power package was bad news - I wouldn’t claim otherwise - I can’t help feeling that everybody should calm down a bit, because this is precisely what a testing and trials regime is for. Cast your mind back to 2013, when Boeing introduced its brand new, state-of-the-art, next-generation 787 ‘Dreamliner.’ It quickly turned into a nightmare. On January 7 2013, there was a fire aboard an empty, new Japan Airlines ‘787’ parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport, in the US. A battery had overheated and caught fire. Nine days later,…

A LOCAL rail group has called on operator London Midland and the Department for Transport to find an urgent solution to overcrowding on the Coventry-Nuneaton line, following the decision to cancel the D-Train trial. Passengers now continue to face overcrowding, as 230001 had been due to replace the single coach Class 153 that is currently diagrammed by LM to serve the route. RAIL contributor and secretary of the Shakespeare Line Promotion Group Fraser Pithie said: “The news that the trial use of the D-Train, that would have provided much needed relief to overcrowding on the Coventry-Nuneaton service, is now not going ahead is very regrettable. “It’s the passengers for whom relief is long overdue that all attention should now be placed upon. London Midland and the DfT should work together…

A third of a tonne of clay, thought to be 54 million years old, has been unearthed from beneath London Bridge station. The clay has been turned into art inspired by the rail network and the station. Artist Alison Cooke, inspired by a piling machine digging into the foundations at the station, asked NR for the raw material. The clay was shared with seven fellow members of the Associated Clay Workers’ Union (ACWU) to create pieces of contemporary art that will be displayed at Southwark Cathedral until February 5.…

Government remains in discussion with the European Commission over the height of platforms on HS2 and securing the ability to adopt HS2 Ltd’s preferred platform height. Lord Ahmad (Conservative) told Lord Berkeley (Labour) in a House of Lords Written Reply on December 19 that: “The current European Infrastructure Technical Standard for Interoperability (TSI) allows platform heights of 550mm or 760mm above rail level (ARL). In addition, the UK currently has a ‘National Technical Rule’ which includes a ‘Specific Case’ allowing platform heights of 915mm ARL, reflecting the historic platform height on the majority of our existing network. “HS2 is not, as such, proposing to specify a train floor height. What we will be asking rolling stock manufacturers (RSMs) to do is to provide level access to a platform height of…

Alstom has bought Nomad Holdings (commercially known as Nomad Digital) from Amadeus Capital Partners, SEB Venture Capital and Deutsche Telekom Strategic Investments together with other investors. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Nomad employs around 230 people and is based in Newcastle, with offices worldwide. It offers applications and ICT to train operators, and more than 1.7 billion passengers per year use its equipment across 100 global fleets. Its systems carry over seven million WiFi sessions monthly. In the UK, Nomad’s passenger WiFi services are deployed on 75% of all WiFi connected trains. Andrew Taylor, Group CEO of Nomad said: “From day one we will have a joined-up strategy and vision around the realisation of the ‘Digital Train’.” Under the deal, which was expected to be completed as…

WESTERN Bristol: The disused mail sorting office near Temple Meads station, currently an eyesore, is to become a new student village called the Temple Quarter Campus. Reading: Proposals have surfaced for a monorail system circling the town centre and linked to a new Thames river service. Shipton-on-Stour: January 1 marked the 100th anniversary of the closure of the locomotive shed at the end of the GWR’s branch from Moreton-in-Marsh (closed to passengers in 1929), although it stood for another 90 years. Worcester: The county council is proposing two new park-and-ride stations by 2030. They are at Fernhill Heath, north of the city on the line to Droitwich (closed in April 1965), and Rushwick, close to the A4440 road. EASTERN Longhirst: The former stationmaster’s house on the East Coast Main Line,…

Greater Anglia (GA) bi-mode Stadler multiple units ordered for Stansted Express trains will also serve Norwich. GA confirmed that at least one of the trains would return to Norwich for routine maintenance and cleaning. It will run in passenger traffic in both directions, before running to the airport. The ten earmarked for the Stansted Express will have different interiors to those heading to GEML services. Additionally, GA confirmed that the Bombardier Aventras it has on order will also serve Norwich, and that at least one set will stable in the city overnight. They will also visit the planned new depot at Manningtree. Most of their operations will be on suburban and commuter trains south of Ipswich.…

Twenty Class 387/1s are in traffic with Great Northern from Thameslink (TL). That leaves nine with TL, and these will move to GN by February. Transferred so far are: 387102/104/106-114/116/117/119/120/123/125/126/128/129. The ‘387s’, which were built in 2014-15, are being replaced on the TL network by Class 700s, and in turn are replacing Class 321/4s on the GN network. The last tranche of Class 387/1s to move to GN will release 12 Class 317/1s that will transfer to Greater Anglia in February.…

Six Class 37s and one Class 47 (37601/607/610/612/667/688 and 47813) have been put up for sale by Direct Rail Services. All the Class 37s are still in traffic. The Class 47, the last of its type on the operator’s books, was stored in September 2015 and had been used as a carriage heater. The ‘37s’ all require major exams in the coming months. DRS has also suffered a reduction in workload, with recent Office of Rail and Road figures revealing a drop in traffic of more than 30% in the most recent quarter (Q2, 2016-17). This is combined with the introduction of more Class 68s on freight duties, and the impending arrival of Class 88s. The six ‘37s’ include 37601 Class 37-Fifty, which is the oldest main line-certified Class 37,…

The final six Class 442s in use with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will go off-lease at the end of this month, bringing an end to usage of the five-car 100mph electric multiple units (EMUs). GTR sent 18 of the 24 EMUs off-lease following the introduction of 27 four-car Class 387/2s on the Gatwick Express route, but retained six for peak-time trains between London Bridge and Eastbourne. This was until enough Class 377/5s were made available via an internal GTR cascade following the introduction of Class 700s on Thameslink. Angel Trains owns the ‘442s’ and has told RAIL it plans to refurbish them. RAIL also understands that at least one franchise bidder has the trains in its plans should it win a deal. There are also proposals to use the trains…

Office of Rail and Road (ORR) calculates the average age of rolling stock as the age at quarter 4 (January to March) 2015-2016. Changes in the average age of rolling stock are recorded against the same time period the year before. If the fleet remains unchanged, then the ORR expects the average age to increase by one year, each year. Should the increase for a train company be less than one year this would indicate that new or younger rolling stock has been introduced or older stock has been phased out. Any increase greater than one year would indicate that some older stock has been put into service or younger stock has been removed. A vehicle drops out of the dataset when its lease either expires or is terminated. The…

 WHEN attempting to assess what might happen in 2017, I feel the only certainty is that it will be ‘interesting’. This thought made me look up the oft-quoted Chinese proverb about ‘interesting times’ being a curse, only to discover that, like many things we accept without challenge, it is not what it seems. There is, in fact, no such proverb, and the expression seems to have come from a wrongly-translated quote by a departing British ambassador. “Network Rail should have a department to manage and undertake projects” There is no shortage of such statements that have become widely accepted and yet have no basis in fact. There’s even acknowledgement that we live in a ‘post truth’ world where repetition of a concept or an idea is so frequent that people…

 THIS year we should see governments in Westminster and Holyrood reveal what they want from Britain’s railway over the five years from 2019. “A more measured approach from ministers could have produced an electrification plan for delivery over a longer period.” With the rail industry’s love of jargon, acronyms and abbreviations, these ambitions will be revealed in HLOS - High Level Output Specifications. Each will be accompanied by a SoFA, or Statement of Funds Available. Taken together, the first explains what governments want and the second reveals how much they are prepared to pay for it. Any gap, or anything extra proposed by train operators or demanded by passengers, will have to be paid for by passengers. Network Rail (NR) no longer has an option of borrowing to fund the…

I hope to write soon about the January fares change, but in the meantime I can report something I have only just discovered following a query from a reader regarding Gold Cards. He wanted to know if the Lichfield City to Trent Valley annual season ticket remained the cheapest, as he had heard there was now a version between Exeter St David’s and Exeter Central that was only £140. Well, the Lichfield Gold Card is unchanged for 2017 at £164, as is the Ryde Esplanade to St John’s Road version at £172, and I couldn’t imagine anything cheaper now existed. However, it seems that there are now 11 different annual seasons between Exeter St David’s and Central! As well as the ‘normal’ one at £228, the other ten between them…

On December 21 2016, RAIL was invited into the cab of 37424 Avro Vulcan XH558 for a trip to Great Yarmouth. Travelling on the 1236 from Norwich, the train was formed of three Mk 2s, with 37405 on the rear. The locomotive leading the train had just been released from a £1 million-plus overhaul at LORAM UK’s Derby facility. Withdrawn in March 2000 by EWS, it was bought from preservation by DRS in April 2015, and returned to passenger traffic on December 16 last year. It looks immaculate in the cab, if a little smoky when accelerating. Driving the 1236 is Robin Mayes. He’s part of the Mixed Traffic link trained to drive the ‘37s’. Like the rest of the link, he learned to drive them last year prior to…

 As it stands, train operating companies (TOCs) face little financial penalty if services are cancelled or run late. As far as passengers are concerned, current refund mechanisms are opaque, and too often compensation is offered in the form of vouchers for future travel, rather than cash. “Any compensation scheme does little to deliver the result passengers really want, which is the reliability to arrive on time” The Rail Delivery Group acknowledge there are no common standards, with different Passenger’s Charter conditions for each operator meaning there are often exclusions for delays and cancellations when these are caused by external factors. The regulations can be a minefield if the TOC only accepts responsibility for delays it has caused, with Network Rail being the source of far more delays, as well as…

Felix the cat, Huddersfield station’s Senior Pest Controller, has become a big favourite at RAIL over the past few months. Back in RAIL 799 we featured a day in the life of this hard-working feline, whose ‘mane’ roles are greeting customers and patrolling the platforms, keeping the mice and pigeons at bay. She also starred in Stop & Examine in RAIL 808, after a special Olympics-inspired 5k that raised over £3,000 for the Fairy Bricks charity, which buys, collects and builds LEGO sets that are then delivered to hospitals to keep children on the wards entertained. Felix was promoted to her post in February 2016 after five years of dedicated service, with her own high-vis jacket and name badge. And she has become highly popular with rail travellers - since…