‘Self-driving’ Lorries To Be Tested On UK Roads
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC. This is the first three paragraphs.
Small convoys of partially driverless lorries will be tried out on major British roads by the end of next year, the government has announced.
A contract has been awarded to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to carry out the tests of vehicle “platoons”.
Up to three lorries will travel in formation, with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle.
It is a long time since I used to hitch-hike all over the UK in the 1960s and had many a ride in the front of a truck.
One of my memories is sitting there and watching how cars kept jumping into gaps between the truck I was riding in and the one in front.
I have a feeling that platooning is one of those automation ideas, that will work well in theory and practice to a certain degree, but that the behaviour of individuals will give it problems.
Generally, this idea hasn’t been well received, by commentators.
The Greener Alternative
I feel that overall we need to move freight from the roads onto the railways.
In The Go-Anywhere Express Parcel And Pallet Carrier, I proposed converting redundant four-car electric multiple units like the Class 321 trains into 100 mph bi-mode parcel and pallet carriers, which I dubbed High Speed Parcel Train or High Speed Pallet Train.
HSPTs would have the following advantages for parcel and pallet traffic.
- Stations could be used as terminals, especially at night!
- As they are 100 mph trains, they would probably be faster over long distances.
- They would probably emit less carbon emissions.
- Capacity per crew member would be higher.
- There are few parts of the UK, the trains couldn’t go.
- Class 321 trains are built from steel and are as tough as the proverbial brick outhouse.
- The trains could carry a fork-lift if needed.
- The trains could be wrapped in advertising.
The trains would be the ultimate green long-distance delivery truck.
- Recycled trains.
- Proven technology
- Electrically-powered where possible.
- ;Using existing infrastructure where possible.
They wouldn’t be the most expensive trains to create and run.
What Will Happen To The Class 319, Class 455, Class 321 And Cl;ass 317 Trains?
When I go to Walthamstow to have supper with my son, I regularly travel from Hackney Downs station in one of London Overground’s Class 317 trains.
For a metro train, some are unusual in that they still have the First Class compartment and spacious 2 + 2 seating in the rest of the train. Also, as some at one time used to work the Stansted Express service, they have multi-lingual safety instructions and luggage racks.
Like the Class 319, Class 321 and Class 455 trains, they are going to be replaced by new trains by their current operators.
So what will happen to the various trains.
The Class 319 Flex Train
Porterbrook, the ROSCO, who own the Class 319 and Class 455 trains have developed the Flex concept that can transform these classes into much-needed four-car bi-mode trains. We should be seeing Class 319 Flex trains under test by the end of the year.
As the Class 319 Flex train has now been given its own TOPS-number of 769, the powers-that-be must think it is a viable concept.
In Metro Development With Flex Trains, I describe how I believe Northern are going to use the Class 319 Flex trains in the North West in the Liverpool, Manchester and Preston triangle, to develop a world-class Metro network.
The Class 455 Flex Train
The applications of a Class 455 Flex train would probably be less than that of a Class 319 Flex train, as the trains are 75 mph third rail trains, as opposed to 100 mph dual-voltage units.
The Class 319 and its Flex version will travel on say the West Coast Main Line with ease, but the slower Class 455 train would be a rolling roadblock.
But because they have a high-quality 2 + 2 interior, they could find applications as much-needed four-car diesel multiple units.
The interiors are certainly some of the best on short distance suburban trains and I would rate them better than some stock delivered in the lst couple of years.
The Class 455 Flex Train And Pacer Replacement
Class 455 Flex trains would make a superb replacement for the dreaded Pacers.
- Class 455 trains were built to withstand the impact of a 24-tonne cement mixer truck falling from the sky. Try repeating the Oxshott accident with a Pacer.
- The Class 455 interior is comfortable and South Western Railway‘s fleet was fully refurbished around 2003.
- The Class 455 Flex train will have at least the performance of a Pacer.
- The Class 455 trains meet all the latest Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.
- Could the Class 455 Flex train be given the same hill-climbing capability of a Class 319 Flex train?
- The Class 455 train is four-cars as opposed to the two-cars of a Pacer.
Ironically, the Pacers are a few years younger than the Class 455 trains. But then class is permanent! Or should that be Mark 3 coaches are permanent?
I think that Porterbrook are looking at converting the Class 455 trains for several reasons.
- They own ninety-one Class 455 trains, that will be released by South Western Railway.
- The quality interiors probably just need good cleaning and cosmetic repairs.
- The costs and rate of conversion are now well-known.
- The Pacers need to be replaced quickly.
It should be noted that the number of Pacers in service are as follows.
- Class 142 – Arriva Trains Wales – 15
- Class 142 – Northern – 79
- Class 143 – Arriva Trains Wales – 15
- Cl;ass 143 – Great Western Railway – 8
- Class 144 – Northern – 23
The only replacements on order are Northern’s 25 x two-car and 30 x three-car Class 195 trains.
That means that 140 two-car Pacers are being replaced by the same number of vehicles.
So there is a short term need for some quality trains. If all the Cl;ass 455 trains were converted that would add another ninety-one quality trains that could be used to replace Pacers.
The Welsh and Great Western Pacers are used far from any 25 KVAC electrification, so the inability to use electrification on a Class 455 Flex will be irrelevant. But both Wales and the West Country have lines with challenging gradients.
So if the Class 455 Flex train was designed to be able to handle the Manchester to Buxton test route, the trains could handle the Cardiff Valley Lines and the challenging lines in Devon.
Currently, the Class 455 trains have a very red interior, which would surely go down well in the Principality.
The 100 mph Bi-Mode Train
The rumoured large response to Porterbrook’s proposal for the 100 mph four-car bi-mode Class 319 Flex train, says to me, that there is a market for a train, with the following characteristics.
- 100 mph operating speed on electricity.
- Over 90 mph operating speed on diesel power.
- Four-car
Both the Class 321 and Class 317 trains could be modified to fit this specification.
Class 321 Flex Trains
Greater Anglia have around a hundred of these trains, which will be replaced by brand-new Aventras in the next couple of years.
- They were built in the late 1980s.
- They have a 2 + 3 interior.
- Class 321 trains can be modified for dual voltage.
- Thirty are being upgraded under the Renatus project, which involves new air conditioning and heating, seating and Wi-Fi.
- A new traction package with new AC traction motors and regenerative braking has been designed.
- They are owned by Eversholt Rail Group.
- The trains are probably very similar electrically to the Class 319 trains,
If needed, there must be scope to convert some of these trains to bi-mode using similar engineering to the Class 319 Flex trains.
I haven’t ridden in a Class 321 Renatus, but pictures on the web, indicate the train could have a high-class interior.
It would appear that with the Renatus treatment, the Class 321 trains could be transformed into a high class train.
The market would decide, if some were converted into bi-mode Flex variants.
Class 317 Flex Trains
Greater Anglia and London Overground have around seventy of these trains, which will be replaced by brand-new Aventras in the next couple of years.
- They were built in the early 1980s.
- They have a 2 + 2 interior, to a variety of standards, but mostly in generally good condition.
- Some have First Class compartments.
- Some were built for the Stansted Express and have luggage racks.
- All are 25 KVAC units.
- They are owned by Angel Trains.
- Plans exist for the fitting of a new traction package if required.
As with the Class 321 trains, there must be scope to convert some of these trains to bi-mode using similar engineering to the Class 319 Flex trains.
The Future
The four main train types , that I have have listed are all slightly different.
- Class 317 is a 100 mph, 25 KVAC overhead only, good 2 + 2 interior
- Class 319 is a 100 mph, dual-voltage train, average 2 + 3 interior
- Class 321 is a 100 mph, dual-voltage train, average 2 + 3 interior
- Class 455 is a 75 mph, 750 VDC third-rail only, good 2 + 2 interior
There are also smaller numbers of other types that could also be converted.
Different train types will be better suited to different markets.
I’ll list some of the markets in the next few sections.
Route Extensions
This is probably the simplest application of a Flex train.
Consider the new Bromsgrove station at the Western end of the Cross-City Line in Birmingham.
From May 2018, the station will have been electrified and new electrified services will start across Birmingham from Bromsgrove.
West from Bromsgrove it is under twenty miles to Worcester, which is getting a new station at Worcestershire Parkway.
Bromsgrove to Worcestershire Parkway would be well within range of a Flex train.
How many simple extensions to electric services could be created with a few Flex trains?
There could be quite a few and some might even be extensions to third-rail networks using Class 455 Flex trains.
Metro Development
In Metro Development With Flex Trains, I discuss how Northern are developing the Northern Electric network in the Liverpool, Manchester and Preston triangle, using a mixed fleet of electric and bi-mode Flex version of the Class 319 trains.
Various places in the UK have plans for Metros and where there is some electrification a mixed fleet of electric and bi-mode trains could be used to develop the metro.
The mixed fleet of electric and bi-mode Flex trains gives the train operator advantages.
- Passengers have a similar customer experience across the fleet.
- The Flex trains can go anywhere on the network.
- The electric trains can only work electrified lines, but as more electrification is added, they can take advantage.
- Flex trains can deputise for electric ones.
- If there is a problem with the electrification, the Flex trains can still get through.
- Drivers and other staff don’t have two very dissimilar train types to deal with.
- Maintenance must be simplified.
I feel that Class 319, Class 321 and Class 317 trains could all be offered in both electric and bi-mode Flex versions.
Several of the possible places where a Metro needs to be developed like Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sheffield and Stoke-on-Trent are in Northern territory, so for preference, Northern would probably use Class 319 trains, especially as they have the ability to cruise safely at near 100 mph on the West and East Coast Main Lines.
But there is only so many Class 319 trains, so I suspect Northern will have to look at other types.
A city that could benefit from the Flex approach is Leeds.
- There is a mix of electrified and non-electrified local lines from Leeds station.
- Some important local routes like Leeds to York and Sheffield are not fully electrified, but could be worked by a Flex train.
- Northern use five Class 322 trains in the Leeds area. These are very similar to Class 321 trains.
- Northern need some more stock for the electrified lines from the City and have brought in some Class 321 trains.
- Leeds station seems to me to have a platform capacity problem.
I feel that a few Class 321 Flex trains and some reorganisation of services so some ran back-to-back through Leeds station could be beneficial.
One point about a mixed fleet of electric and bi-mode Flex trains must be raised.
Suppose an operator is thinking of using a mixed fleet to create a local Metro around a City and that calculations say that to work the required service would need six electric and four bi-mode trains.
Would the operator perhaps buy five trains of each type and use one bi-mode as an electric train most of the time?
But surely, this would be inefficient as the bi-mode would be dragging its diesel power packs around all day.
But the bi-mode trains have an advantage, in that they can still operate if the electrification has failed.
They might also be able to rescue a stalled train and drag it back to the depot.
Diesel Multiple Unit And Pacer Replacement
The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations are going to kill off a lot of diesel multiple units and especially the Pacers.
Operators with Pacers are going to need to act quickly and as I showed earlier in The Class 455 Flex Train And Pacer Replacement, a Class 455 Flex train would be a very able replacement.
- Similar performance.
- Four cars instead of two.
- The unmatched ride of the Mark 3 coach.
- Modern, comfortable high-quality interior.
- Full compliance with the accessibility regulations.
For operators with lots of Class 150 and Class 156 trains, which need to be refurbished, a Class 455 Flex train would be a very able deputy.
In some places, where two Class 150 trains work as a pair, replacing them with a single Class 455 Flex train, may give operational and capacity advantages.
The High Speed Parcel or Pallet Train
In The Go-Anywhere Express Parcel And Pallet Carrier, I proposed using Class 321 trains as HSPTs of High Speed Parcel or Pallet Trains. In the manner of all Mark 3-based trains, they would undoubtedly make an excellent fist of this job.
Both electric and bi-mode Flex versions could be used to give a go-anywhere fleet.
I suggested using Class 321 trains, as some of them have very basic interiors, so conversion would be less costly to parcel carriers than acceptable passenger trains.
Conclusion
The train refurbishing companies are going to be busy.
The real beauty of this approach, is that what trains get created will depend on what is needed and how much train operators are prepared to pay.
But there are also plenty of trains for most applications.
Cats are supposed to have nine lives, but that is nothing compared to a Mark 3 coach.
The Go-Anywhere Express Parcel And Pallet Carrier (HSPT)
In the June 2017 Edition of Modern Railways there is an article entitled Freight, Not All Doom And Gloom, which talks about high-value parcel carriers. The article says this.
Think about all those 1980s units that are soon to be made redundant, especially the ones with wide doorways. You could forklift in pallets and move them by hand trolley inside the vehicle (forklift tines would not fit an HST’s doors).
A Class 150 parcels unit, anyone?
There are other reasons for not using a High Speed Train.
- ScotRail and Great Western Railway have better uses for the trains moving passengers around in style.
- Their 125 mph capability and large windows might come in handy for heritage tourism.
- They are diesel trains and some might not like to hear them thundering through the countryside in the middle of the night.
As to the Class 150 train, it has a few disadvantages.
- It is only two-cars.
- It has a 75 mph operating speed.
- It is diesel-powered, which probably means regular refuelling.
But also like all Mark 3-based stock it scrubs up well as I wrote in What Train Is This?
I would refurbish the whole fleet and use them on short branch lines to provide a quality service, where a two or four-car train was all that was needed.
So what would be the specification of an ideal Go-Anywhere Express Parcel and Pallet Carrier?
I was going to call it a GAEPPC in this post, but that’s rather a mouthful, so I’ll call it a High Speed Parcel Train or High Speed Pallet Train, which in recognition of its more famous big brother will be called a HSPT.
For the specification, it might be a good idea to start with the Class 325 train. This is the first paragraph of the train’s Wikipedia entry.
The British Rail Class 325 is a 4-car dual-voltage 25 kV alternating current (AC) or 750 V direct current (DC) electric multiple unit (EMU) train used for postal train services. While the Class 325 bears a resemblance to the Networker series of DMUs and EMUs, they are based on the Class 319 EMU. The Class 325 was British Rail’s newest unit to take over parcels workings on electrified lines.
The requirement might have changed since the 1990s, but the basic specification would be similar.
- Four-cars
- 100 mph operating speed.
- 25 KVAC overhead or 750 VDC third rail operation.
- The ability to run as four-, eight- and twelve-car trains.
- It would be available in a range of colours and not just red!
In addition, it would need wide doors for pallets.
It would also be nice, if the HSPT could run on lines without electrification.
Look at this picture of a Class 321 train.
Would a standard size 1200 x 1000 pallet go through this door?
This morning, I measured the door on a Class 378 train and it was about 1700 mm. wide. So yes!
Once inside the systems used in cargo aircraft could be used to arrange the pallets.
Consider, these facts about Class 321 trains.
- They are four-car electric multiple units, that can also run as eight and twelve car units.
- They can operate at 100 mph.
- They are dual voltage units, if required.
- There are 117 of the trains, of which over a hundred will be released by Greater Anglia and will need a new caring owner.
- The interior may be wide enough to put two standard pallets side-by-side.
- They are based on Mark 3 steel carriages, so are built to take punishment.
In Could There Be A Class 321 Flex Train?, I speculated as to whether these trains could be fitted with underfloor diesel engines as in the Class 319 Flex train. After the news reports in the June 2017 Edition of Modern railways, which I reported on in The Class 319 Flex Units To Be Class 769, I’m now convinced that converting other types of train like Class 455 and Class 321 trains is feasible and that the train refurbishing companies are going to be extremely busy.
I have a feeling that Class 319 trains will not be converted to HSPTs, as they seem to be very much in demand to carry more valuable cargo – Namely fare-paying passengers!
But fit diesel engines under a Class 321 train and I think it would make a HSPT, that could travel on nearly every mile of the UK rail network and quite a few miles on heritage railways too!
A Freight Terminal For An HSPT
As the Class 321 train has been designed for passengers, it lines up reasonably well with most of the station platforms in the UK.
So at its simplest a freight terminal for a HSPT could just be a station platform, where a fork lift truck could lift pallets in and out.The freight handling facilities would be designed appropriately.
Supermarket Deliveries
I also think, that if a HSPT were available, it could attract the attention of the big supermarket groups.
In The LaMiLo Project, I described how goods were brought into Euston station in the middle of the night for onward delivery.
If it cuts costs, the supermarket groups will use this method to get goods from their central warehouses to perhaps the centres of our largest cities.
Get the design right and I suspect the supermarkets’ large delivery trolley will just roll between the train and the last-mile truck, which ideally would be a zero-emission vehicle.
In some of the larger out-of-town superstores, the train could even stop alongside the store and goods and trolleys could be wheeled in and out.
This Google Map shows Morrisons at Ipswich.
The store lies alongside the Great Eastern Main Line.
Surely, the ultimate would be if the goods were to be transported on the trains in driverless electric trolleys, which when the doors were opened, automatically came out of the trains and into the store.
Supermarket groups like to emphasise their green credentials.
Surely, doing daily deliveries to major stores by train, wouldn’t annoy anybody. |Except perhaps Donald Trump, but he’s an aberration on the upward march of scientifically-correct living.
Just-In-Time Deliveries
To take Toyota as an example, in the UK, cars are built near Derby, and the engines are built near Shotton in North Wales.
Reasons for the two separate sites are probably down to availability of the right workforce and Government subsidy.
I’m not sure, but I suspect currently in Toyota’s case, engines are moved across the country by truck, but if there was a HSPT, with a capacity of around a hundred and fifty standard pallets would manufacturing companies use them to move goods from one factory to another?
It should be said in Toyota’s case the rail lines at both Derby and Shotton are not electrified, but if the train could run on its own diesel power, it wouldn’t matter.
Refrigerated Deliveries
There probably wouldn’t be much demand now, but in the future bringing Scottish meat and seafood to London might make a refrigerated HSPT viable.
Deliveries To And From Remote Parts Of The UK
It is very difficult to get freight between certain parts of the UK and say Birmingham, London and the South-Eastern half of England.
Perishable products from Cornwall are now sent to London in the large space in the locomotives of the High Speed Trains. Plymouth, which is in Devon, to London takes nearly four hours and I suspect that a HSPT could do it in perhaps an hour longer.
But it would go between specialist terminals at both ends of the journey, so it would be a much easier service to use for both sender and receiver.
Another article in the same June 2017 Edition of Modern Railways is entitled Caithness Sleeper Plan Set Out.
This is said in the article.
Another possibility would be to convey freight on the sleeper trains with HiTrans suggesting the ability to carry four 40-foot and two 20-foot boxes on twin wagons could provide welcome products and parcels northwards and locally-produced food southwards.
A disadvantage of this idea would be that passengers would be required to vacate sleeping berths immediately on arrival at Edinburgh, so that containers could continue to a freight terminal.
The HSPT would go direct to a suitable terminal. In remote places like Caithness, this would probably be the local station, which had been suitably modified, so that fork lift trucks could move pallets into and out of the train.
One-Off Deliveries
Provided a load can be put on a pallet, the train can move it, if there is a fork lift available at both ends of the route.
It would be wrong to speculate what sort of one-off deliveries are performed, as some will be truly unusual.
Disaster Relief
On the worldwide scale we don’t get serious natural disasters in the UK, but every year there are storms, floods, bridge collapses and other emergencies, where it is necessary to get supplies quickly to places that are difficult to reach by road, but easy by rail. If the supplies were to be put on pallets and loaded onto a HSPT, it might be easier to get them to where they are needed for unloading using a fork lift or even by hand.
International Deliveries
I am sure that Class 319 and Class 321 trains can be made compatible with Continental railway networks. In fact two Class 319 trains, were the first to pass through the Channel Tunnel.
Post-Brexit will we see high value cargoes transported by the trainload, as this would surely simplify the paperwork?
What value of Scotch whisky could you get in a four-car train?
Expect Amazon to be first in the queue for International Deliveries!
Imagine a corgo aircraft coming into the UK, at either Doncaster Sheffield or Manston Airports, with cargo containers or pallets for all over the UK, that were designed for quick loading onto an HSPT.
Conclusion
There is definitely a market for a HSPT.
If it does come about, it will be yet another tribute to the magnificent Mark 3 design!
The Anonymous Widower 