The Anonymous Widower

Rail Minister Hints At More Diesel Multiple Units

In this article in Rail Magazine, Claire Perry, a rail minister, hints that there may be some more new build diesel multiple units (DMUs). This was said.

Rail minister Claire Perry has dropped a strong hint that the Government is prepared to look again at the possibility of ordering diesel multiple units to beat overcrowding and plug a short-term gap.

It would seem to be logical, if you look at the UK rail network in say 2030 or even a couple of decades after that.

I think it is unlikely that all the small branch lines in the UK, like St. Ives or those in North Norfolk will either be electrified or closed. The only permanent solution will be some form of battery or flywheel two or three coach train with a small on-board diesel engine, which has a range of say forty or fifty kilometres.

So as the dreaded Pacers can’t be made compatible to the new disability regulations and should have been scrapped years ago, unless you employ the Bulgarian and Rumanian Armies to put up electric wires all over the country, something else needs to be done.

If an order for enough two and three car Class 172 trains, were to be announced soon, the closet trainspotter that is George Osborne, will be able to show many diverse parts of the country that he means business. Incidentally, in The Times yesterday, there is a long article by Janice Turner about spending two days following George Osbourne. This is the last paragraph.

Approaching St Pancras, Osborne frowns out of the window. “One of these,” he says, “is the Francis Crick building, a medical research institute, the first thing we approved when we took office.” Down on the concourse, he points to a half-built skyscraper. “There, that’s it,” he says, with satisfaction. And I realise this is how he wants to see himself in the story, striding off back to the Treasury with his brown government box, a man of glass and concrete, if not human hearts.

So does this partly explain, why under the Cameron Government we’ve seen such a spurt in infrastructure, with quite a bit of that for rail? All politicians like to leave a legacy, but it’s just that some leave much better legacies than others.

An order for Class 172 trains, would tick an awful lot of boxes.

• As on the Gospel Oak to,Barking Line (GOBlin), they make an excellent stop-gap train prior to electrification, in that they create good publicity and ridership for the line. It could be argued that the GOBlin wouln’t have been slated for electrification, if London Overground and the Class 172s hadn’t done such a good job on what was one of the worst communter lines in the UK.
• The trains are British-built in Derby by Bombardier.
• As they are already designed and built, the design and certification doesn’t feature on the critical path.
• There is a lot of expertise already in their operation and maintenance.
• They are an easy replacement operationally for a lot of the Pacers and Sprinters.
• If we make a mistake and order too many two-car sets, I suspect they can be easily lengthened to three-cars.
• At the present time, a lot of engineers are working hard to keep the old trains running and trying to get them updated. Ordering new Class 172 trains, would mean that they could do more worthwhile jobs for which there are skill shortages in the UK rail industry.
• In 2018, hopefully London Overground won’t need their eight sets, so those lines currently served by Pacers and Sprinters, will be getting some Class 172s anyway.

The only problem, is unlike Ford Escorts, you can’t just whistle them up immediately. But according to Wikipedia, there has been a lot of talk about potential orders, so hopefully Bombardier at least have a plan to start production in a timely manner. Given too, that the extra carriages for London Overground, are now being manufactured and delivered, Bombardier may have no capacity constraints.

One of the great advantages of at least creating a few standard Class 172s, is that they could be used initially on the worst lines for overcrowding and service, or to promote new services. But say if you put a a set on Burnley to Manchester via Todmorden, would the new route and trains cause overcrowding, just as it has on the Overground?

I wouldn’t be surprised if George Osborne announces some of these trains in his Autumn statement on December 3rd. Even a small number could have a significant effect!

The new Bacon Factory Curve may have had a significant effect on train services in the Felixstowe area, but a new two-car class 172 between the seaside town and Ipswich would probably have more perceived effect on the people of the area.

So will George’s legacy be in fifty years time, the railway commentators and bloggers of that time complaining about the ancient stop-gap Class 172 trains still trundling up and down the branch lines? And will these commentators be praising them, just like I and so many commentators today, praise the nearly fifty-year-old stop-gap Inter-City 125s, still speeding us to Wales, the West |Country, Nottingham and Scotland.

November 9, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | George Osborne, Politics, Trains