Porterbrook Acquires ‘379s’ For Lease To GTR
The title of this post, is the same as that of a small article in the April 2024 Edition of Modern Railways.
This is the first paragraph.
Porterbrook has successfully bid to acquire the fleet of 30 Class 379 Electrostar EMUs from Akiem and will lease them to Govia Thameslink railway, which will use them on Great Northern services.
Note.
- Will the Class 379 trains replace all or some of the 39 Class 387 trains currently used by Great Northern?
- The Class 379 trains are 25 KVAC overhead only trains, whereas the Class 387 trains are dual-voltage.
- If the Class 379 trains are not modified to run on 750 VDC third rail, they will be restricted to Great Northern routes.
- It may be a problem, that the Class 379 trains are only 100 mph trains, whereas the Class 387 trains are capable of 110 mph, but I suspect that the Class 379 trains can be upgraded to 110 mph.
It looks to me that it is likely that Govia Thameslink Railway will end up with thirty spare Class 387 trains.
The Wikipedia entry for the Class 387 train, says this about the differences between the two classes of Electrostar.
The Class 387 is a variation of the Class 379 with dual-voltage capability which allows units to run on 750 V DC third rail, as well as use 25 kV AC OLE.
This surely has three main ramifications for Govia Thameslink Railway.
- Third rail equipment can probably be fitted to the Class 379 train, if required.
- The Class 379 train can probably be uprated to the 110 mph of the Class 387 train.
- Retraining the drivers to use the new Class 379 trains, will not be a major exercise.
Govia Thameslink Railway will have the luxury of configuring the trains to run, the services their passengers need and want.
But Govia Thameslink Railway may have a collateral benefit.
In 2015, a Class 379 train was modified to do a trial as a battery-electric multiple unit.
This section in the Wikipedia entry for the Class 379 train, describes the trial.
During 2013, the national infrastructure owning company Network Rail announced that unit 379013 would be used as a testbed for a future Battery-Electric Multiple Unit. Following several months of conversion work and non-service testing, the unit was used to carry passengers for the first time on a Manningtree–Harwich Town service on 12 January 2015. Throughout its five-week trial period, data was gathered to assess its performance; it could reportedly operate for up to an hour on battery power alone, while charging via the pantograph took two hours.
Note.
- I feel it would be reasonable to assume, that a Class 387 train could be easily converted to battery electric operation.
- I’ve met commuters, who used the prototype every day between Harwich and Manningtree and it gave a good service.
- In an hour with stops, a typical Southern commuter service does just 35 miles.
Southern have two routes, where Class 171 diesel trains are still used.
- Ashford International and Ore – 25.4 miles
- Hurst Green Junction and Uckfield – 24.7 miles.
A battery-electric train with a range of 30 miles would surely decarbonise these routes.
- Batteries would be charged, where 750 VDC third-rail electrification is installed.
- As the Class 387 trains are dual-voltage, a short length of 25 KVAC overhead electrification, could be used to charge the train at Uckfield, if that was to be needed.
- Alternatively, the Vivarail Fast Charge system could be fitted.
A rough estimate is that ten battery-electric Class 387 trains would be needed to make Govia Thameslink Railway an all-electric railway.
- The now redundant Class 171 trains could be cascaded to someone, who needs them.
- The remaining twenty Class 387 trains could be used to replace twenty Class 377 trains, or converted to battery-electric operation and be cascaded to another operator.
Hopefully though, after all of the musical trains, there will be a reliable procedure to convert late model Electrostars into battery-electric trains.
The Definitive Battery-Electric Electrostar
It could have this specification.
- Based on a Class 377, Class 379 or Class 387 train.
- Three, four or five cars.
- I suspect the batteries would be spread around the cars.
- Dual-voltage or 25 KVAC overhead electrification only.
- Charging by 25 KVAC overhead electrification or Vivarail/GWR Fast Charge system.
Note.
- Battery range appropriate for the route.
- In GTR And Porterbrook Unveil £55 million Fleet Modernisation, I talk about an internal refurbishment of GTR’s trains.
It looks to me, that, whatever route Govia Thameslink Railway takes, there could be another twenty refurbished Class 377 or Class 387 trains, that could be available for conversion to four-car battery-electric trains.
Great Western Routes That Could Be Run By Battery-Electric Electrostars
Great Western Railway have 30 Class 387 trains, which are used on Thames Valley services around the London end of the Great Western Main Line.
Routes that could be suitable for Battery-Electric Electrostars include.
- London Paddington and Didcot Parkway – two trains per hour (tph) – 10 trains
- London Paddington and Oxford – one tph – 5 trains – 10.5 miles x 2
- London Paddington and Newbury – one tph – 5 trains
- Reading and Newbury – one tph – 2 trains
- Newbury and Bedwyn – one tph – 1 train – 13.3 miles x 2
- Reading and Basingstoke – two tph – 2 trains – 13.6 miles x 2
- Reading and Gatwick – two tph – 7 trains – 18.6 miles
Note.
- The number of trains is my rough estimate of the number, that would be needed to run each route.
- The miles is how much running would be needed on batteries.
My estimated total is 32, but there might be savings from more efficient routes. It looks like a range of around thirty miles would be sufficient.
Conclusion
It looks like after decarbonising Govia Thameslink Railway and the Thames Valley Services of Great Western Railway, there will be twenty high quality Electrostars available to decarbonise other routes.
Akiem Acquires Macquarie European Rail Fleet
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Leasing company Akiem Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Macquarie European Rail’s rolling stock leasing business, subject to regulatory approval.
Included in the deal are thirty Class 379 trains, currently used on the Stansted Express and soon to be replaced by new Class 745 trains.
Because of the lack of any published plans about where the Class 379 trains will be cascaded, I have been wondering if there is something wrong with the trains or perhaps their owner.
As the latter looks now to be changing from Macquarie to Akiem, perhaps we’ll hear some news on what is happening to the Class 379 trains.
I still feel the Class 379 trains would make excellent battery-electric trains, possibly for an airport service.
But which train operating company would need a fleet of thirty four-car electric trains?
Most have now sorted their fleet requirements and when Bombardier get their production working smoothly, perhaps with Alstom’s backing, there will be more trains being delivered to train operating companies.
But there is one fleet replacement, where battery-electric Class 379 trains may be ideal; the replacement of South Western Railway (SWR)‘s fleet of Class 158 and Class 159 trains.
Consider.
- 10 x two-car Class 158 trains and 30 x three-car Class 159 trains could be replaced by 30 x four-car Class 379 trains, which would be a near ten percent increase in carriages.
- 90 mph diesel trains, that were built in the 1990s, will be replaced by 100 mph battery-electric trains, that are not yet ten years old.
- The Class 379 trains are Electrostars and fitting third-rail shoes, will be straight out of Bombardier’s parts bins.
- Waterloo station will become another diesel-free London terminus.
- Fellow French company; Alstom could step in to the picture with their battery knowledge from other products like the iLint hydrogen train and convert the trains at Widnes or one of their other maintenance depots.
- South Western Railway and Akiem would need to procure a charging system and could probably do worse than see what Vivarail or Furrer + Frey can supply!
How would the Class 379 battery-electric trains handle various services?
London Waterloo To Salisbury And Exeter St. Davids
The most difficult service to run, would be the London Waterloo and Exeter St. Davids service via Salisbury.
Note that when SWR bid for the franchise, they promised to knock ten minutes off the time to Exeter and they will need 100 mph trains for that!
With climate change in the news, only a hardline climate-change denier would buy 100 mph diesel trains.
In Are Hitachi Designing the Ultimate Battery Train?, I suggested how Waterloo and Exeter could be run with a battery-electric train, with a range of around sixty miles on battery power.
- Use existing electrification, as far as Basingstoke – 48 miles
- Use battery power to Salisbury – 83 miles
- Trains can take several minutes at Salisbury as they often split and join and change train crew, so the train could be fast-charged, at the same time.
- Use battery power to the Tisbury/Gillingham/Yeovil/Crewkerne area, where trains would be charged – 130 miles
- Use battery power to Exeter- 172 miles
Note.
- The miles are the distance from London.
- The charging at Salisbury could be based on Vivarail’s Fast-Charging or traditional third-rail technology.
- The charging around Yeovil could be based on perhaps twenty miles of third-rail electrification, that would only be switched on, when a train is present.
- Charging would also be needed at Exeter for the return journey.
I estimate that there could be time savings of up to fifteen minutes on the route.
London Waterloo To Salisbury And Bristol Temple Meads
This service in run in conjunction with the Exeter St. Davids service, with the two trains joining and splitting at Salisbury.
As Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads is 53 miles, it looks like this service is possible, providing the following conditions are met.
- The Class 379 train has a sixty mile range on battery power.
- The train can charge at Bristol Temple Meads, perhaps by using the 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- The Class 379 trains can join and split with the with amount of alacrity.
Note that there may be other places, where a tri-mode capability might be useful.
Exeter And Axminster
This shorter trip is thirty miles and if the battery range is sufficient, it could probably be run by a Class 379 train, charged at Exeter.
If necessary, a method of charging could be provided at Axminster.
Romsey And Salisbury Via Southampton Central
This route is partially electrified and it looks like a battery-electric train with a sixty mile range could run the service without any extra infrastructure.
If Salisbury, gets a charging system, then this service might be used to ensure a reliable or extended service.
Portsmouth Harbour And Basingstoke And Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Central
These two services could be run by Class 379 trains running using the electrification.
London Or Wareham and Corfe Castle
This Summer Saturday-only service is an ideal one for a battery-electric train.
New Services
There are also other branches that could be reopened, like those to Ringwood and Hythe, that could be worked by battery-electric trains.
Conclusion
It will be very interesting to see where the Class 379 trains end up.
But my money’s on them replacing South Western Railways, diesel trains, after conversion to battery-electric trains.
- Only limited infrastructure works will need to be done.
- South Western Railway will have more capacity.
- Passengers will get a faster service in a modern train.
- Waterloo will become a diesel-free station.
But most importantly, South Western Railway will have an all-electric fleet.
The Anonymous Widower 