Plans For New Rolling Stock To Replace BR DMUs
This is the title of an article on the Rail Magazine. This is said.
Diesel multiple units built in the 1980s by British Rail could be replaced in the next decade, as the Department for Transport believes there are “likely to be significant opportunities” to replace them with modern diesels.
Outlined in the Rolling Stock Perspective: Moving Britain Ahead report published on May 18, this would mean that as well as the Pacers, potentially all Class 150s, ‘153s’, ‘155s’, ‘156s’, ‘158s’ and ‘159s’ could be withdrawn. That would be 1,033 vehicles if all were replaced like-for-like.
The article is based on a Department for Transport document entitled Rolling Stock Perspective. The document says this.
Are self-powered, where required, with such trains meeting the latest emission standards and being built by a range of suppliers. New diesels are being procured as part of the Northern franchise improvements and there are likely to be significant opportunities over the next decade to replace the last remaining diesel multiple units ordered in the BR era with modern diesels that offer much more for passengers, and are designed with manufacturers and TOCs working ever more closely with Network Rail, to reduce the amounts of money needed to be spent to introduce them into service and to allow them to operate reliably and safely.
The report also says.
Good, high quality refurbishment can deliver a passenger experience comparable with new rolling stock.
So is this a feasible plan to remove the 15x trains in their present form from the network?
I will start by summing them up from a passenger perspective.
Class 150
The Class 150 train probably suffers from being too small and inadequate for a lot of the routes it serves. This alone means that they should be replaced, probably with something of at least three cars, as many are on routes, where ambitious train operating companies are endeavouring to grow traffic.
There are only so many elephants you can get in a Mini!
In 2014, I went to St. Ives and wrote St. Erth Station And The St. Ives Branch, where an immaculate Class 150 trundles the few miles along the branch.
This use sums up the class well.
- The two-car train was totally inadequate for the route.
- They can be cleaned up to be adequate for some purposes in their present form.
- Step free and wheelchair access is not very good.
- There is not enough space for bicycles.
- Seats are not the most comfortable.
On short branch lines like the St. Ives Branch, two refurbished units coupled together, might provide the service needed, but would it be better to spend more money on either a refurbished Class 165 train or even a new train?
In A Trip Around Wiltshire, I encountered a Class 150 train. As it was Glastonbury, it was loaded over capacity with heavy baggage. At least a five-car formation of say Class 165s was needed, not a two-car Class 150.
These days the Class 150 trains are mainly used in the North, Wales and the West Country, with some in the Midlands.
I would love to know the train operating companies attitude to these trains.
They may be cheap to lease. But!
- Running costs can’t be much less than say a three-car Class 165 train.
- The difficult train access must mean despair for the disabled and staff.
- Station stops are probably slower than needed, leading to late trains.
- Passengers will be turned away by the bad experience.
- They are not large enough for a lot of their routes.
Some like those in the North and Wales are planned for replacement and hopefully once GWR electrification is sorted and the Class 165 trains are replaced by electric ones, most of the Class 150 trains can go to appropriate retirement in the scrapyard.
Class 153
If anything sums up the cheapskate approach to the railways under successive governments it is the Class 153 train.
In my travels around Europe, I’ve never seen another single car train, excerpt on something like a mountain railway.
They may have a use, but it is certainly not running on the Nuneaton to Coventry Line.
On a lightly-used line they probably wouldn’t be as bad an experience as a Class 150 train, but they certainly wouldn’t be any good to generate traffic.
Class 156
There are 114 two-car Class 156 trains, which are certainly much better than the Class 150 and Class 153 trains.
I’ve certainly ridden some pretty comfortable Class 156 trains.
According to Wikipedia, some are being refurbished. This is said.
38 of the 114 Class 156 sets belong to leasing company Porterbrook, which announced in mid-2011 that they will be substantially refurbished at the time of their C6 overhauls. Seating layouts will be revised to provide priority seating and wheelchair spaces, and new universal toilets are to be installed, as also a passenger information system. Interior doors between vestibule and passenger saloon will be removed, and external door sounders fitted. The trains in question are as follows; 11 leased to East Midlands Trains, 9 toAbellio Greater Anglia and 18 to Northern.
I have a feeling that a lot of this class will be replaced by new or newer trains, simply because they run on the more important lines.
In the North and Scotland, electrification will directly replace some trains and others will be replaced by newer diesel multiple units cascaded from the newly electrified lines.
I believe that refurbishing these trains to a high standard could be possible, and these trains could be ideal for lightly used lines, either working singly or in a four-car formation.
But their top speed of only 75 mph probably means on some of the routes they serve, they cause problems for train operators.
Also, because they have a good range, they might well be a good train to have as cover to help solve the problems of breakdowns and extra capacity for events like Glastonbury.
Class 158 And Class 159
I am considering the Class 158 and Class 159 trains together, as it is rather a moveable feast as to which class the trains belong.
They are slightly younger than the other trains and on some routes like Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter, they are certainly not a bad experience.
When the Government report said.
Good, high quality refurbishment can deliver a passenger experience comparable with new rolling stock.
They might have had these trains in mind.
I think though, they have qualities that make them suitable for longer routes that have to use diesel traction.
- They are a 90 mph train.
- They have a long range.
- They could have plenty of tables.
- They can accommodate a catering trolley.
- They could be a good route-development train.
- As they are Mark 3.5 coach based, they would certainly scrub up brilliantly.
I think the only problem could be that there are two hundred trains. But seeing the way traffic is developing in the UK, I’m sure that train operating companies could find a use for them.
I have travelled on Class 158 trains on the Settle to Carlisle Line and this is the sort of journey for which the trains are ideal. So what would happen, if routes like this were given a more frequent service with refurbished Class 158/159 trains, that perhaps had the following.
- Good catering.
- Lots of tables.
- Wi-fi
- Lots of luggage and cycle space.
- London Bus-style wheelchair access.
I don’t think the affect on traffic would be negative.
Summing Up The Current Situation
If I look at the numbers of each type of older diesel multiple units we get.
- Class 150 – 137 trains – 133 x two-car and 4 x three-car. – 278 coaches.
- Class 153 – 70 trains – 70 x one-car – 70 coaches.
- Class 156 – 114 trains – 114 x two-car – 228 coaches.
- Class 158/159 – 200 trains – 143 x two car and 57 x three-car – 343 coaches.
Which gives a total of 919 coaches.
On the other hand, I think we can assume the following.
- Great Western Electrification should release a mixture of thirty seven three car and twenty two-car Class 165/166 trains.
- The Class 150 and Class 153 trains could go to a more suitable place.
- The Class 156 trains could possibly be refurbished to a standard to make them a good Class 150 and Class 153 replacement for some routes.
- The Class 158/159 trains could probably be refurbished to the required high standard.
So we’re left with a deficit of about two hundred carriages, without counting good quality trains released from Scottish and Lancashire electrification.
How Could We Bridge The Gap?
At least though we have various trains and solutions available and some have been noted in the last couple of months.
The following sections detail the various solutions.
New Civity Diesel Multiple Units from CAF
Arriva Rail North surprised a lot of people with their order for a mixture of new Civity diesel and electric multiple units from CAF.
I wrote about the order in Arriva Rail North’s New Trains.
The Civity design is modular and this data sheet from CAF describes the Civity range.
Points to note.
- Diesel, electric and bi-mode versions are available.
- It has been designed for standard gauge.
- There is a UK version called Civity UK.
- Top speed is 160 kph, but 200 kph is available.
- The list of interior options is wide.
Reading the data sheet, I get the impression that operators get standard trains with the features they want.
I don’t know the answer, but I suspect that like the Class 378 trains of the London Overground, the Civity trains can be lengthened or shortened, by adding or removing trailer cars between the two driving cars. This concept has worked so well on the Overground, I doubt that a train manufacturer wouldn’t copy it.
Thus you could have four car DMUs on a route like the Calder Valley Line. If and when the line gets electrified, you do a bit of swapping and add two electric driving cars and get four-car EMUs and two-car DMUs.
I believe the flexibility of the design, means that we’ll see more Civity trains in the UK.
New Diesel Multiple Units from Other Manufacturers
I said earlier, that there could be a total need of about two hundred carriages, but this is probably not many, unless you have a proven product ready to be built.
Given that CAF have already sold ninety-eight assorted trains to Arriva Rail North and another twelve 200 kmh-capable trains to TransPennine Express, it would be hard to sell a new design of modern diesel multiple unit into the UK. More Class 172 and Class 185 trains are probably not an option.
Rakes Of Coaches From CAF
Rakes of coaches seem to be making a comeback, as I wrote in Are Train Coaches Making A Comeback In The UK?
Fitted with a suitable and available locomotive at one end and a driving cab at the other, these could be used in some of the difficult and perhaps scenic routes.
Again CAF seem to have got the proven product, which has been sold to Caledonian Sleeper and TransPennine Express.
Have the clever Spanish designed a driving cab with bags of style and panache, for the TPE rakes? It certainly won’t be a driving van trailer knocked up from the parts bin.
One of the advantages of coaches, is that there are a lot of suitable and acceptable locomotives available. Fleet details for the Class 68 locomotive, already show a new order for seven extra units for TransPennine Express.
Anybody, who doesn’t believe that Class 68s and coaches, are a viable option, should be forced to go to Birmingham from London on Chilton and see how good upgraded 1970s-built Mark 3 coaches hauled by a modern diesel locomotive can be.
Rakes Of Refurbished Mark 3 Coaches
If buying new coaches from CAF is a viable order, why didn’t TransPennine Express, do what Chiltern have done and refurbish some of the many Mark 3 coaches.
I think it comes down to these factors.
- Mark 3 coaches need a driving van trailer, so a five-car train is effectively seven units long if you count the locomotive and the DVT.
- Are Mark 3 coaches coming to the end of their lives?
- Is there a shortage of DVTs?
- If CAF build a stylish driving cab in the end coach, the train will have an enormous wow factor!
- The operator can get the interior layout they want.
- Could the cost be not much different between the new and refurbished trains?
In the end the CAF route gives the operator exactly what they want.
The only thing that might happen, is that somebody copies the CAF idea and creates a short rake of Mark 3 coaches, with a driving cab in the last coach. But that is probably a more expensive option.
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways could have a valuable part of play in the replacement of older diesel multiple units.
They currently run some of their Chiltern Main Line services to Birmingham and Oxford using rakes of Mark 3 coaches and Class 68 locomotives.
They currently have the following stock for this.
- 8 Class 68 locomotives
- 31 Mark 3 coaches
- 6 Driving Van Trailers.
Is that enough, given that Oxford will be served later this year?
Probably not! So is Chiltern scratching around searching for coaches and DVTs to create some extra rakes of coaches?
I don’t know, but with the three stations of Bicester Village, Oxford Parkway and Oxford on the new branch, two and three-car multiple units will surely not be big enough.
I would certainly suspect that as Chiltern is an ambitious company, one of their aims is to have all services between London and Oxford and Birmingham, run by modern rakes of coaches hauled by Class 68 locomotives.
These could either be new rakes from CAF or refurbished ones of Mark 3 coaches.
The big side effect would be that Chiltern may be able;e to release some of their modern diesel multiple units.
This probably illustrates why Class 68 and other locomotives pulling rakes of coaches could be very important in improving the quality of diesel multiple units in the UK.
Playing The Joker
There is even a joker in the pack of available locomotives to pull and push the coaches.
The Class 73 locomotive dates from the 1960s, but it has some unique advantages.
- They were built to run all over the Southern Region, including the narrow tunnels of the Hastings Line.
- They can run on third-rail electric lines or on diesel power.
- They seem to be reliable.
- They are capable of 90 mph, which is the same speed as a Class 159 train.
- There are over thirty still available.
- Re-engineering with modern diesel engines is being undertaken, to create a Class 73/9 variant.
- To say they scrub up well is an understatement.
Their latest application is far from their original habitat in the South, as they are now hauling the Caledonian Sleeper trains all over the Highlands, where in some places, the loading gauge is restrictive.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Class 73/9 locomotives hauling new coaches from Waterloo to Exeter.
- This would mean that new trains could serve Salisbury and Exeter from Waterloo, without extending the electrification from Basingstoke.
- The Class 73 locomotives would use the third-rail electrification at the London end of the route.
- The trains would have the same top speed as the current Class 159 trains.
- The Class 159 trains would be released for refurbishment and cascade to other routes and operators.
But the biggest advantage of this would be that South West Trains or its successor could offer a high-quality alternative service to Exeter and the wider West Country in competition with Great Western Railway’s new Class 802 bi-mode trains.
If anybody had suggested a few years ago, that you might replace a 1990s-built multiple unit with Spanish coaches hauled by a re-engineered 1960s-built locomotive, they’d have been taken away by men in white coats.
But then engineering is the science of the possible!
Battery Trains And IPEMUs
Clare Perry, who is the Rail Minister, says this in Rolling Stock Perspective about battery-powered trains and other similar developments.
Rail is already one of the most environmentally friendly forms of powered travel, but we need to go further. I want to see the industry develop and introduce uk-led innovative solutions such as battery-powered or hybrid trains which will make rail even better for the environment and reduce the industry’s operating costs.
I think we can say, that means that Government will look favourably on good innovative solutions for the replacement of diesel multiple units.
Bombardier are developing the Aventra train and trains will be wired to accept on-board energy storage, just like the demonstrator based on a Class 379 train, that I rode in January 2015.
These are now called IPEMUs or Independently Powered Electric Multiple Units. They would charge their batteries on an electrified main line, then use this power on a branch line or to perhaps bridge a section of line that was not electrified.
As a large number of diesel multiple units are used on branch lines from electrified main lines, IPEMUs could be a direct replacement without any new electrification. Some examples would be.
- Marks Tey to Sudbury
- Ipswich to Felixstowe
- Ipswich to Cambridge/Ely
- Cambridge to Norwich
- Norwich to Yarmouth
- Ely to Peterborough
- Liverpool to Preston via Ormskirk
- Oxted to Uckfield
- Ore to Ashford
Nothing has been said about the ordering and service entry of IPEMUs, but I don’t believe that the technology will be abandoned.
Conclusion
The elimination of the older diesel multiple units or their conversion into modern trains of the highest standard, is not an impossible dream.
But expect some surprises!
Are Train Coaches Making A Comeback In The UK?
There were two stories yesterday, where new coaches to be built by Spanish company CAF.
- In TransPennine Express Buys Spanish Trains, I wrote about the new trains for TransPennine Express, which include thirteen five-car rakes of coaches pulled by Class 68 locomotives.
- In Expanding The Scottish Sleeper, I wrote about how new coaches could transform the Caledonian Sleeper.
Both sets of coaches probably use the same basic bodyshell, running gear and electrical and heating services, so once CAF designed the sleeper trains, they probably have developed a vehicle that could be used for any profitable purpose.
At present the Caledonian Sleeper uses two types of coach; a sleeping car and a lounge/seated sleeper car and these are being replaced with an identical number of coaches.
But little has been said about the design and make-up of the new coaches.
I suspect, that we will see lounge cars with large windows, so that the Scottish countryside can be enjoyed in style, if the weather permits.
The new coaches will be compared to British Rail’s legendary Mark 3 coach.
- I’m also sure that CAF have set out to design a coach, that rides better.
- The new coach must also be capable of running at 200 kph., as Mark 3s do every day in large numbers.
- Will the coaches pass the cement lorry test, as a Mark 3-derived multiple unit did at Oxshott?
The 1960s design of the Mark 3 has set a very high bar.
Even less has been said about the five car rakes of coaches for TransPennine Express.
But in common with the other rakes of coaches in mainline service in the UK on Chiltern and the East Coast Main Line, and in East Anglia, they would need some means of driving the train from the other end, which is currently done with a driving van trailer.
A DVT is very much a solution of the 1970s, although it does have advantages in that the empty space can be used for bicycles, surfboards and other large luggage. Hence, the van in the name.
If you look at CAF’s Civity train, it is very much a stylish modular design and I’m sure CAF, have the expertise to build a stylish driving cab into some of the new coaches they are building.
I therefore think we will be seeing these five-car rakes of coaches for TransPennine Express, with a driving cab at one end.
One of the big advantages of this approach is that trains can be pulled and pushed by any suitable and available locomotive.
- Class 68 diesel locomotives could provide reliable go-anywhere diesel power.
- Class 88 electro-diesel locomotives could provide electrical power from overhead lines and diesel power elsewhere.
- Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives could provide electrical power from third rail and diesel power elsewhere.
- Class 90 electric locomotives could be used with overhead lines
- A 200 kph-capable electric locomotive could be used on high-speed electrified lines.
Operators wouldn’t be tied to one particular power unit, so as more electrification is installed, they could change to something more suitable.
You also have the possibility of designing the coach with the driving cab as perhaps a buffet/observation car or using it for First Class, so that the other coaches are very much a standard interior.
The approach also has the advantage that if you need a longer train, you just couple another coach into the rake.
I’m sure that CAF have designed a rake of coaches that has impressed TransPennine Express, otherwise they wouldn’t have ordered the coaches.
Some people might think that going back to coaches is a retrograde step.
Consider.
- Chiltern run an excellent service with coaches.
- Deutsche Bahn still uses lots of rakes of coaches.
- Rakes of coaches are more flexible than fixed-length multiple units.
- The most appropriate locomotive can be used.
- Some passengers might think, that coaches give a better ride than multiple units.
But I suspect the biggest factor in the revival of coaches, is that a rake of stylish new coaches and a Class 68 locomotive are more affordable than a new Class 800 train. They are also available earlier.
Imagine going across the Pennines from Liverpool to York in the buffet/restaurant/observation/driving car of one of these new trains, enjoying a Great Western Pullman Dining experience, as the countryside goes by.
If it is done, it would set a high standard for other train operators.
TransPennine Express Buys Spanish Trains
After Arriva Rail North bought 98 Civity trains from CAF, which I wroye about in Arriva Rail North’s New Trains, it probably wasn’t much of a surprise that TransPennine Express have gone to the same source for twenty-five new trains, as is detailed in this article in Global Rail News. This is said.
The new fleet, which will be maintained by Alstom at Longsight depot, will consist of 12 five-car Civity EMUs from CAF – financed by Eversholt Rail – and 13 five-car loco-hauled intercity trains.
The announcement follows an order placed earlier this year with Hitachi for 19 bi-mode train sets. Both fleets of new trains are due to be delivered between 2018 and 2019.
If there is a surprise, it is that they are going for locomotive-hauled sets or rakes of coaches.
The 12 five-car Civity EMUs will be running between Liverpool/Manchester and Edinburgh/Glasgow. According to the CAF data sheet, there will be a 200 kph version available, so these could mix it with other operators’ Class 800 trains.
The article also says this about the locomotive-hauled rake of Mark 5 coaches.
In addition to the new CAF trains and carriages, Beacon Rail-owned Class 68 locomotives will be leased from Direct Rail Services to operate intercity services between Liverpool and Newcastle.
So it would appear that the Class 68 locomotives could work Liverpool to Newcastle before the line is fully electrified. They would also be ideal for routes to Hull and Scarborough.
I would also suspect, that as the Class 88 electro-diesel locomotive is very similar to a Class 68, that these locomotives could also work some of the services, once the route is partially electrified.
The Mark 5 coaches, are probably similar to those being built for the Caledonian Sleeper. One question that has to be asked, is why haven’t TPE opted to bring some of the legendary Mark 3 coaches up to a modern standard.
- The concept of a quality set of coaches with a locomotive at one end has been proven to work in East Anglia, on Chiltern and on Deutsche Bahn.
- The conversion of doors, toilets and other issues, might mean that new coaches are better value for money.
- New coaches are probably good for at least thirty years.
- All the basic design has been paid for in the Caledonian Sleeper order.
- One of the five coaches in each set, could have a driving cab integrated into one end, so there would be no need for a separate driving van trailer.
- Have CAF applied all their designs for the modular Civity train to build a train, where you just plug a suitable locomotive into one end?
- New coaches sell seats, especially if they are designed for a good passenger experience.
- If you want six, seven or more coaches, you could probably just slot them into the rake.
I suspect that CAF have seen a gap in the market and have produced a design for a rake of coaches, that will appeal to the UK. I think we could be seeing these coaches appearing elsewhere.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to cost, reliability, flexibility and the quality of the passenger experience.
It does look to me, that by virtue of good design and manufacturing capacity, that CAF seem to have nicked a nice order from under the noses of the big companies.
- CAF could probably deliver coaches in 2018.
- Suitable locomotives are already in the UK and Stadler/Vossloh would probably oblige with a few more.
- The Class 68 locomotive doesn’t seem to generate bad reports in the media.
- The three previous points, might mean that TPE could be running new reliable trains earlier than anybody thinks.
- The Civity family is proven and is being built for Arriva Rail North.
- Hitachi haven’t probably got the capacity to build more Class 800 trains early enough.
- Bombardier haven’t built a high-speed Aventra, although they might have the capacity, but not a diesel variant.
I certainly think that TPE have got a good replacement at an affordable price for the overcrowded Class 185 trains.
A Good Information Board
I saw this information board at Kings Cross station.
I think the seat on the right, should be by the Tube Map.
But it’s a good attempt!
Two Beautiful Seats At West Acton Station
This seat forms the waiting area at West Acton station on the Central Line.
With the rounded window, it must be one of the most beautiful platform shelters on any rail station.
Note the picture of the second one on the other track.
Wikipedia says this about the design of the station.
The current station, replacing the original building, was designed by the Great Western Railway, on behalf of London Transport as part of the LPTB’s 1935-40 New Works Programme improvements and extensions to the Central line, by the GWR’s architect Brian Lewis and was completed by November 1940.
So it was actually designed by the Great Western Railway.
London’s Trains With Built-In Energy Storage
I took this picture at Blackhorse Road station on the Victoria Line.
London’s Trains With Built-In Energy Storage
Since it opened in 1968, all trains have had built-in energy storage to save energy. Under Design in the Wikipedia entry, this is said.
Each platform constructed specifically for the Victoria line from new is 132.6 metres (435 ft) long. The line has hump-backed stations to allow trains to store gravitational potential energy as they slow down and release it when they leave a station, providing an energy saving of 5% and making the trains run 9% faster to a speed of 87.2 km/h.
I wonder if Crossrail and other lines use this technique.
Dear old Vicky, may be just two years off fifty, and some things may have been skimped in the construction, but some features of the line can’t be described as anything but the best of designs.
Abbey Wood To Romford In Forty Minutes
I didn’t believe this figure when I calculated it yesterday, so I’m laying it out properly.
Crossrail have said that the two Eastern branches of the line;Abbey Wood and Shenfield will both run a dozen trains an hour.
- Whitechapel to Abbey Wood would take 15 minutes
- Whitechapel to Canary Wharf would take 3 minutes
- Whitechapel to Romford would take 24 minutes
- Whitechapel to Shenfield would take 38 minutes
- Whitechapel to Stratford would take 5 minutes
These times are from Crossrail’s journey time calculator.
But obviously, when changing trains at Whitechapel to go from say Abbey Wood to Romford, you’d have to wait for the next train going the other way.
So as there are twelve trains an hour in the peak, that would mean a wait of up to five minutes.
Or would it?
All the trains on Crossrail will be tightly controlled to keep to an exact schedule, so that twenty-four trains an hour can go through the core tunnel between Whitechapel and Paddington. Think Victoria Line with full-size trains carrying fifteen hundred people a train.
So if it was timed that trains from Abbey Wood turned up at Whitechapel at 0, 5, 10, 15 etc. minutes past the hour and trains left Whitechapel for Shenfield at say 1, 6, 11, 16 etc. you’d have a minute to walk a few metres across the platform to await the arrival of your onward train.
Trains from Shenfield could arrive at Whitechapel at 2, 7, 12, 17 etc. with trains leaving for Abbey Wood at 3, 8, 13, 18 etc.
Obviously, the flow of trains to and from the West would have to be at precise frequency of twenty-four trains per hour or one train every two and a half minutes.
I think trains could be timed to the second!
These train times of mine are just speculation, but I can’t see why the interchange at Whitechapel needs to take more than a minute.
So adding up the times to Abbey Wood and Romford from Whitechapel with a minute for the change gives 15+24+1 = 40.
Stratford to Canary Wharf would take 3+5+1 = 9, which is the same time as on the Jubilee Line.
The East of London doesn’t know the revolution that will be happening to their lives.
Whitechapel station will truly be the Jewel In The East and one of the most important transport interchanges in the UK, let alone London.
Aesthetic Problems With Overhead Wires On The Great Western
The April 2016 Edition of Modern Railways has an article entitled Thames Valley Wires Retrofit Planned. This is said.
A retrofit of overhead electrification on the section of the Great Western main line between Reading and Didcot is on the cards following complaints about the visual impact of the current design.
This are some pictures of the overhead gantries.
In my view, the design of the overhead gantries may well be better from a structural and reliability point of view, but it isn’t going to win plaudits for looking good.
Network Rail will have to do better!
Two Bus Stops On High Holborn
I went to visit one of my investments on Fetter Lane and I knew that if I could find the stop I could get a 341 bus from the area to Islington or my home.
There were two bus-stops and I knew I was on the right side of the road.
But which one do I go to? I had to walk to both of them to find the answer.
I don’t show it in the pictures, but there was a street sign between the two stops.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a finger post to tell you where the stops are for various buses?
High Holborn is also one of those places, where there aren’t enough crossings.
Does London need a reporting system for poor street layouts or an army of elderly/disabled/teenage street walkers to collect possible simple improvements to the walking realm in the city?
Arriva Rail North’s New Trains
Arriva Rail North have announced a deal for a future fleet of new trains from privately-owned Spanish manufacturer; CAF.
Class 333 trains from this manufacturer, are already running in the North, so I suspect that Arriva Rail North know a lot about their quality and reliability. As a mere passenger, I’ve found the trains around Leeds to be very acceptable.
In the UK, CAF’s trams run on the Midland Metrolink and in Edinburgh, so CAF is not a manufacturer unknown to the UK.
CAF are proposing their Civity train, which comes in various modules, as summed up by Wikipedia.
The Civity is a modular concept which can be delivered as an Electric multiple unit, Diesel multiple unit, Diesel-electric or Dual mode. This family of trains is designed for 4 different power supplies: 1500 V DC, 3000 V DC, 15 kV AC and 25 kV AC. Each unit has shared motor bogies and a low floor of 860 mm. The design was launched in 2010.
So it would appear that, as a modular design, where DMUs and EMUs will share components and characteristics, it may offer cost savings to an operator.
This data sheet from CAF describes the Civity range. Points to note.
- It has been designed for standard gauge.
- There is a UK version called Civity UK.
- There is a cold-weather version called Civity NORDIC.
- There is a Russian gauge version. As CAF have sold to Ireland, I suspect there’s an Irish gauge version.
- Top speed is 160 kph, but 200 kph is available.
- The list of interior options is wide.
Reading the data sheet, I get the impression that Arriva Rail North are getting standard trains with the features they want.
I don’t know the answer, but I suspect that like the Class 378 trains of the London Overground, the Civity trains can be lengthened or shortened, by adding or removing trailer cars between the two driving cars. This concept has worked so well on the Overground, I doubt that a train manufacturer wouldn’t copy it.
Thus you could have four car DMUs on a route like the Calder Valley Line. When the line gets electrified, you do a bit of swapping and add two electric driving cars and get four-car EMUs and two-car DMUs.
The trains are already in service in three countries; Italy, Latvia and Montenegro, with an order for 120 trains for The Netherlands in the pipeline.
Reading the various articles about the purchase, some worries surface in comments.
One is that do CAF have the capacity to build all the trains required? I think they do for two related reasons.
They are a private company based in the Basque country and it will be a matter of pride on the part of the owners and the region to not fail. This section from Wikipedia about the countries history is interesting.
Since 1958 the company has modernized and enlarged its Beasain plant and expanded its activity to include all kinds of rolling stock. In line with this, in 1969 CAF created its Research and Development Unit, which increased the company’s competitiveness and intensified the focus on in-house technology.
CAF gives the impression, it is an ambitious, technology-led company and I believe the Arriva Rail North and Dutch orders are just steps up the ladder.
Worries are also raised that there aren’t enough trains ordered by Arriva Rail North and that the new trains will not be built in the UK.
On the number of trains, I would tend to agree, but if Arriva Rail North’s business plan is successful, then there will be money to purchase more trains and lengthen the existing ones, just as happened on the London Overground. People seem to forget we live in the New Age of the Train and Tram and the days of inadequate rolling stock orders to please the Treasury are hopefully over.
The fact that the trains will be built in Spain rather than the UK, is not that significant, if you look at what has happened in the motor industry, where a dead industry is now thriving on exports. We may not see any more train factories in the UK, but we do produce good railway technology in certain areas and as trains revive all over the world, there will be opportunities for the best companies manufacturing in the UK.
I would add a question about the order.
Over the next few years, the North will gradually develop a network of electrified trunk lines, which Arriva Rail North will exploit with the Northern Connect sub-brand.
Ever since, I rode the prototype IPEMU at Manningtree, I have believed that the technology has a place in the UK’s rolling stock and especially on routes in the North.
So I do wonder, if CAF have an IPEMU in their stable, as it would be ideal for say the Windermere and Barrow services.
But CAF did have a large hand in the creation of the Seville tram. This is said about the tram’s movement without catenary in Wikipedia.
From the start it was envisaged that part of the Metrocentro system should be able to run free from using the overhead contact wire for power. On several occasions the City of Seville administration had to dismantle the overhead wires to allow, at Easter, processions to pass without restriction; the builder of the rolling stock paid the extra cost for this.
The final system, which is now in use commenced from Holy Week 2011, the system uses advanced technology ACR (Acumulador de Carga Rápida) fast charging batteries -developed and patented by the Spanish company CAF.
As an electrical and control engineer by training, I feel that the modular design of the Civity train, which does include dual-mode trains, could possibly lead to an IPEMU.
Lets face it, Bombardier probably haven’t got much unique IPR in their IPEMU design and batteries and other energy storage devices are used in all sorts of vehicles from racing cars, to hybrid and electric cars and buses.
It’s all about putting the right modules together, to create a fleet of trains that fits the services you want to run.
If you look at the various Northern Connect routes, some could use EMUs, some DMUs and others like Windermere to Manchester Airport could use dual-mode trains.
This is said in an article in Rail Magazine.
The contract is for 31 three-car and 12 four-car electric multiple units, and 25 two-car and 30 three-car diesel multiple units. The carriages will be owned by Eversholt Rail, and all will be in traffic by December 2018.
Using the diagrams on this page on CAF’s web site, this translates into the following.
- 86 EMU cabs
- 110 DMU cabs
- 85 Trailers
Which rather unsurprisingly adds up to 281 cars, the figure given in the article.
The question has to be asked, how many, if any, of the trains will be dual-mode variants, which can run on either overhead wires or on-board diesel engines.
It should be noted that the installed diesel power on a three-car dual-mode train is 200 kW or about the same as that of a single-car Class 153 train, so it might be fine when trundling Between Oxenholme and Windermere, but it is no long-distance charger.
Until we see the full fleet running a full service, we won’t see the actual mix of trains.
I think, that we’ll see other orders for the Civity family of trains in the near future.
Some will be in the UK.
Birmingham, Bristol, East Anglia and South Wales are all places, where a flexible fleet like Arriva Rail North seems to have ordered, will go down well.
If you look at the latest offerings from Alsthom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens, they lack the flexibility of the Civity design.
I think that Arriva Rail North’s order could be more significant than anybody thinks!
The Anonymous Widower 