Vivarail D-Trains And The Heart Of Wales Line
I’d never really heard of the Heart of Wales Line until it was mentioned in this paragraph in this article on Wales Online about D-Trains running in Wales.
Vivarail spokesman Alice Gillman says the firm’s engineers believe the refurbished rolling stock would be suitable for lines in Wales including the Heart of Wales Line.
It certainly looks like a forgotten line that could certainly use some new rolling stock.
Reading the Wikipedia entry for the line, I come to the following conclusions.
- The line is mainly single track, but has been upgraded with four modern passing loops and can take freight trains that fir a loading guage of W5.
- The line is thought to be scenic.
- The passenger service is only a few trains a day and is mainly run by single coach Class 153 trains.
- It must have some horrendous operating problems, which could be expensive to handle.
It sounds to me, that this line is a very much underused asset, that if it was given a better train service could help to improve the lives of those in some of the most remotest parts of Wales. It might even bring more tourists to the area.
I must take a trip on the line.
In 2010, I took a train ride from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and after that trip, I came to the conclusion, that that very scenic line needed more capacity.
But five years on there is still not enough diesel multiple units to give these lines an upgraded service.
So as reports are suggesting, could one or more D-Trains be used on the Heart of Wales line?
The journey takes just over three hours with a Class 153 Train, which has a top speed of 75 mph.
So a D-Train would unlikely be faster along the route, as it only has a top speed of sixty. Although, as there are 29 stations on the line, the D-train which has been designed for easy loading and unloading in London, may actually not be much slower overall.
Imagine a train service with these characteristics.
- A train with seats arranged in fours around tables by the window.
- Lots of space for bicycles.
- Fully-accessible for everyone!
- Something like Vivarail’s proposed catering system.
- A clock-face hourly service from Craven Arms to Llanelli.
All is possible with the right number of D-trains.
D-trains offer other advantages.
- As the D-trains don’t need the sort of specialist depot that most trains need, this must ease maintenance of the trains.
- More than one train, probably eases the problems of what to do if a train has a serious breakdown or hits a flock of sheep or a snow drift in the middle of nowhere.
- Don’t forget the novelty value of riding a refurbished London Underground train in some of the most rural parts of Wales.
- D-trains will be available by the end of 2016.
D-trains may never run on the Heart of Wales Line, but I can certainly see the reasons why Vivarail have thought seriously about the possibility.
Is Vivarail True Disruptive Innovation?
Disruptive innovation is defined like this in Wikipedia.
A disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology.
I’ve always been a great believer in this sort of innovation.
When we started Metier Management Systems and created Artemis, project management was worthy, time-consuming and if a computer was used it was an expensive mainframe. So we took a small but powerful industrial computer put it in a desk, added a VDU and a printer to do the same PERT and financial calculations much faster and often much physically closer to where the answers were needed. I have heard argued that one of our reasons for great success in the early days of North Sea Oil, was that you could find space for an Artemis system in Aberdeen, but not for a mainframe. The city was crawling with dozens of our systems.
After Artemis, project management was never the same again!
If we look at the building of trains, it is supposed to be an expensive business, with large manufacturers like Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens make expensive complicated trains, that are virtually computers on wheels. But at a price and to a time-scale that is such, that say a train company needs perhaps some extra four coach diesel multiple units to support say a Rugby World Cup or Open Golf venue, there is nothing that can be delivered in a short time.
Over the last few years, disruptive innovation has been alive and well in the train building industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, we built a large number of trains and electric and diesel multiple units based on the legendary Mark 3 coach. Wikipedia says this about the coach.
The Mark 3 and its derivatives are widely recognised as a safe and reliable design, and most of the surviving fleet is still in revenue service on the British railway network in 2015.
It is truly one of the great British designs. My personal view is that the ride in a Mark 3 coach, is unsurpassed for quality by any other train, I’ve ever ridden, in the UK or Europe.
A Mark 3-based multiple unit also survived the incident at Oxshott, where a 24-tonne cement mixer lorry fell on top of the train. There were injuries, but no-one was killed.
So what has the Mark 3 coach got to do with disruptive innovation?
They are like a well-built house, that constantly gets remodelled and improved by successive owners.
The structure and running gear of a Mark 3 coach is such that it is often more affordable to rebuild and improve Mark 3-based trains, rather than order new ones.
If Terry Miller and his team in Derby, had not designed the Mark 3 coach and the related InterCity 125 in the 1960s, I suspect that UK railways would be in a truly terrible state today.
These trains still remain the benchmark against which all other trains are judged. Two journeys sum up the class of a Mark 3 coach.
- Travel in First and enjoy Pullman Dining on a First Great Western service between London and Wales or the West. Is there any better rail journey available without a special ticket in the world?
- Travel in Standard on Chiltern to Birmingham and enjoy the ride and the views from the large windows, in the style that the designers envisaged for all passengers.
But the Mark 3 coach has created this industry in the UK, that can take well-built old trains and turn them into modern trains, that are often the equal of shiny new ones from the factory.
So where do Vivarail fit in all this?
London Underground has always specified the best for its railways and expected the trains to last a long time. In some ways it had to, as when it depended on Government favours for new trains, it could not predict if the replacements would ever be forthcoming.
Until the 1980s, most trains were built by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham and regularly fleets have lasted for forty or fifty years, as they were built to handle the heavy use in London, where journeys can be over an hour of full-speed running with frequent stops and often with far more passengers than the trains were designed. Take a Piccadilly Line train from say Kings Cross to Heathrow in the rush hour, if you want to see the sort of punishment that London Underground trains are built to take. The last of these Piccadilly Line trains were built in 1977 and under current plans, they will have to stay in service to 2025.
The oldest London Underground trains still in regularly passenger service, are the Class 483 trains used on the Isle of Wight. Admittedly, they are running a service in a less-stressful environment after fifty years service in London, but the trains were originally delivered to London Underground in 1939 or 1940.
The London Underground D78 Stock, that has been purchased by Vivarail for conversion into the D-train, were first delivered in 1980, so they have only taken about thirty-five years of London’s punishment.
The trains were also extensively refurbished in the mid-2000s.
It also has to be born in mind, that although London works its Underground trains very hard, they also get first class servicing.
Several factors have all come together to create an opportunity for Vivarail.
- There is a desperate shortage of diesel multiple units all over the UK. Partly, this is because of a need to replace the ageing Pacers, but mainly because of the growth in passenger numbers and the reluctant of Government in the 2000s to invest in much-needed new diesel trains.
- Network Rail’s well-publicised problems with electrification, only makes the need for more diesel trains more important.
- A lot of trains will have to be taken out of service as they don’t meet the disability regulations.
- The UK’s world-class train refurbishment business, which has honed its skills on creating new trains from old for forty years, is ready for a new project.
- There is now a supply of well-maintained, corrosion-free D78 Stock, that may not be sexy, but are as tough as teak, that are surplus to requirements.
It should also be said, that train operators and passengers want more flexible and better specified train services on difficult lines that are unlikely to be electrified in the near future and are difficult lines on which to provid a decent reliable train service.
Read any of the serious literature about the D-Train and it shows that the engineers are taking the project very seriously and are thinking very much outside the box.
- Power units are based on Ford Duratorq diesel engines mounted on rafts under the train, with two to each power car.
- These rafts can be changed using a fork lift at a remote location.
- Flexibility of interior layout to suit the route.
- Extensive use of LED lighting, Wi-fi and other modern technology.
- The crash test has been released as a video. How often do you see that?
But perhaps this article from Rail Magazine entitled Catering for VivaRail’s rebuilt D-Stock, illustrates their innovative thinking better than ever.
The more I read about the D-train, the more I think it will surprise everybody.
It is true world class disruptive technology. And British technology too!
Wales Gets Details Of Vivarail’s D-Train
This article on the Walesonline web site is entitled First glimpse at London Underground carriages which could be used on Welsh train lines to ease overcrowding.
It talks about how Arriva Trains Wales have been sent details of Vivarail’s D-Train. This is said.
Vivarail spokesman Alice Gillman says the firm’s engineers believe the refurbished rolling stock would be suitable for lines in Wales including the Heart of Wales Line.
But she said at the moment there had been “no follow up” from the Welsh Government or Arriva Trains Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Ministers have made it clear that any rolling stock used on the next Wales and Borders Franchise and Metro should be of a higher standard. It is up to ATW to manage capacity requirements for the current franchise.”
But perhaps the most interesting part of the article is this vote.
Vivarail Vote In Wales
Now the Welsh are not stupid and so I would suspect this vote is sensible, unless it’s only had a few votes.
So could it be, that those voting have got rather fed up with the trains that are used on the Welsh rail network? Some are not the best trains on the UK’s rail network!
One of the great things about the D-Train, is that once the train is certified and Vivarail have built a few examples, they can be trialled on lines all over the country.
I’ve now read about four or five articles about the D-Train and places where they might be used. None have been hostile, so either Vivarail are doing a good PR job or the concept appeals to serious engineers, train companies, politicians and passengers. At least enough to give the concept a trial with an open mind!
Somebody, asked me when the last truly dreadful train was delivered to the railways of the UK?
I don’t think it’s happened very often since the Pacer trains were delivered in the 1980s. The body shells of the D-Trains may be of a similar vintage, but they are a much better train in the opinions of most commentators.
Is The Vivarail D-Train On A Roll?
I have a Google Alert for Vivarail and over the last few days, it has produced quite a few hits.
This article for the Manchester Evening News is worth reading.
People are sceptical, but some of the reports from possible buyers and passengers, think that the Vivarail D-Train might just be able to step into the gap left by Pacers.
In Raw Material For A New Train, I gave my view and thought they would be a success.
The people who must be really worried, are the manufacturers of new trains. If Vivarail could make this concept work with something as old as the D78 Stock, could they do a job with trains built in the intervening years, that are now thought to be just a bit tired.
New Life For Old Trains
We have a shortage of self-powered multiple units in this country, which means that dreadful Pacers like these are still soldiering on!
In the long term, more lines will be electrified, which will release some modern diesel multiple units, like these Class 172 trains on the London Overground.
There is also the new Aventra IPEMUs that might be used to run branch lines off major electrified lines.would be nice to fill the gap.
But some new diesel multiple units would be very nice to fill the gap.
One possibility to fill the gap is the Vivarail D-Train, which is being developed from second-hand London Underground D78-Stock.
This article on the RailStaff web site entitled New Life For Old Trains, gives more details.
It is an interesting concept and I look forward to my first ride in a new Vivarail D-train.
The D-Train doesn’t have the high quality el-cheapo market to itself, as Porterbrook, which is a ROSCO, has converted a Class 144 train from a dreadful Pacer to a modern Class 144 Evolution.
Ian Walmsley in Modern Railways has said this, with respect to the new Class 144e.
Would I lease this in preference to a new DMU? No.
Would I lease this in preference to D78 stock? Probably, but I’ll let you know.
Would the Pacer Death Warrant have been signed if Pacers looked like this a year ago? No.
At present Vivarail say they can produce seventy-six D-trains and there are twenty-three Class 144 trains that could be upgraded.
May the best train win!
Is This Rail Project Going Nowhere?
There are no good vibes coming from the Coventry Arena station.
This article on the Coventry Telegraph web site is entitled Ricoh Arena station matchday fiasco could see new train operator take over Nuneaton to Coventry line. This is said.
London Midland says it will have to close the station for an hour after games and major events as it can only provide an hourly service for 75 people due to a lack of trains.
But the DfT has invested about £4.75m towards the £13.6m of improvements along the line and is keen to see the route used to its full potential.
I have used three stations regularly to go to see football in the last year; Ipswich, Norwich and Brighton. These three grounds are all about the same size as the Ricoh Arena and have nearby stations that can cope with large crowds. Both Ipswich and Norwich are commuter stations and run half-hourly eight-coach trains amongst others, away from the grounds. Brighton is a new ground and the service relies on four-coach trains going in both directions to clear the spectators. Of the three Brighton is probably the most crowded.
So I would think that it essential that at least four-car trains should be provided at the Ricoh Arena to ferry passengers to Coventry and Nuneaton.
Six car trains would be better, but as many passengers would just be ferried to Coventry, four would probably be enough.
It strikes me that whoever planned this line, never went to see football or rugby at a stadium close to a rail station. Close to Coventry, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton all have stadiums within walking distance of a station.
Another article in the Coventry Telegraph is entitled London Underground tube trains could be used to sort Ricoh Arena station fiasco.
These Vivarail trains may be a solution, if two three-car units can be coupled together.
But are the platforms long enough to accept a six-car train?
I have found a document entitled Coventry Arena Specific Safety Management Plans, which has been produced by Arup.
In an Appendix, the report details how the fans will be transferred between Coventry and Coventry Arena stations.
An additional shuttle service will operate between Coventry and Coventry Arena on certain event days, at 30 minute intervals. This will provide a 15 minute interval service between the two stations. All services will be scheduled to run from the Up platform at Coventry Arena and platforms 1 or 2 at Coventry (though in times of operational disruption these services can use platform 5). All services will be formed by DMU sets of a maximum of 6 cars. Platforms at Coventry Arena and Platform 5 at Coventry are configured for this length; the other platforms at Coventry can accommodate longer trains.
At least the platforms are long enough!
So it looks to me that no-one told London Midland.
Raw Material For A New Train
I wrote a couple of days ago about an innovative use of old London Underground trains, to create the D-Train
So what is the raw material; the D78 Stock like? I took a trip on one from Whitechapel to Kew Gardens, where I took the North London Line home.
Scrapyard specials they are not! They ride well on rubber coil suspension, with a quality somewhere just short of the S Stock on the Underground. When the train emptied a bit and I got a seat, it made me wonder, why Transport for London are replacing all of them.
Wikpedia says this about their withdrawal.
The stock is scheduled for replacement by S Stock in 2016. It is being replaced about 15 years short of its intended lifespan, as a consistent fleet will allow for frequencies to be increased.
So that’s why. It must also be so much easier for staff on the sections of the line, where it shares tracks with the Metropolitan and Circle lines, that all trains are identical and stop in the same place. Passengers also like the walk-through design of the new S Stock, which eases getting on and off. It also increases capacity by spreading it through the train.
I suppose the main problem is their boxy design, which is not by any means sexy! But you could argue, that they look better than a Class 142. They certainly ride better on those rubber springs.
The more I read about this concept the more I like it.
The designers seem to have taken the approach that a good architect would do, when they’re presented with a Listed building like Kings Cross station and told to make it fit for the next few decades. Every preconception has been thrown out of the window and the designers have just concentrated on a limited set of objectives. These certainly include an affordable, reliable train that meets all the regulations and the expectations of staff, train companies and passeners alike.
But nothing of any substance, can be created without good foundations. The current trains ride well, make the maximum use of the loading gauge and thanks to the refurbishment of the last few years, they have an airy feel, with lots of windows that can be opened for ventilation, if required. I suspect too, that say if you wanted to create some new internal components, a lot of the jigs and mock-ups are still sitting in a shed or are on a computer somewhere.
I particularly like the concept of the power pack. Roger Ford in Modern Railways describes it as being so far off the wall, as to be in next door’s garden. Each driving motor car, will have two fully-enclosed power packs or rafts fitted underneath the train, The engine is a Ford Duratorq, which is built in that centre of railway technology; Dagenham. Vivarail claim that one engine will get the train home, but surely the great thing about having four power packs to a train, means that they can be selectively shut down, when the route allows. The Class 185 trains used across the Pennines, have an Eco-Mode, which selectively adjusts the power to the route, so something similar is surely possible. Computers have been used to control multiple engines according to conditions, fuel economy and power need in aircraft for decades, so I suspect the expertise to create a train that chugs efficiently round the country, is not difficult to find. In the ultimate manifestation, the engine control system would be geared to the ERTMS signalling, when that comes in, so the system would start up and shut down engines in an optimal manner according to traffic.
The power rafts give a tremendous advantage for maintenance. Roger says that taking one out will be a simple ten minute job with a pallet truck, and units will be replaced rather than repaired. Obviously, they’ll be repaired centrally. Vivarail says the concept needs less time in depots
The power raft concept also allows a new raft with perhaps energy storage, like a flywheel to be designed and tested. Given the projected life of the trains, I doubt that a Mark Two power will be developed, but who knows?
The design appears to have an amazing degree of flexibility. Look at this page on the Vivarail web site, which shows some example configurations. Trains can have two or four doors per sides, toilets if required and pictures show the classic four-to-a-table-by-the-window layout is possible.
I also think a seaside or country special would be possible with a large area dedicated for bicycles. Sometimes on Ipswich-Cambridge services, there are bikes everywhere and it is virtually impossible to get in and out.
If I look at the concept from my field of project management it is a dream. Trains arrive from London, as they are replaced by new ones, so for a start there is no storage problem. A separate factory produces the power rafts as required, so materials and cash flow are all as needed.
Even testing and certification is not the extended process it must be with a new train.
There are only a couple of problems that have been flagged up.
Some people think the doors are too narrow. But then, the trains currently run on one of the busiest routes in London and cope well.
Roger worries about the reliability of the power rafts and their Ford engines. I don’t, as if they get the control system right and run the engines efficiently, this will make the task less onerous.
I might flag up another – It’s just a pity, that there aren’t a few more D78 trains to save from the scrapyard.
Innovative Engineering To Recycle Trains
I often refer to Pacers; Class 142 and Class 144 as scrapyard specials. They were built in the late 1980s and some units will be thirty years old next year. They have not worn well and they don’t meet the modern disability regulations.
The London Underground D78 Stock is a few years older and after a major refurbishment a few years ago, the trains are still running on the District Line. I travel on them regularly and although they are not as nice as the new S Stock, they still provide an adequate and reliable service across London.
It wouldn’t seem logical to replace the elderly Pacers with rebuilt D78 Stock that was even older.
On the other hand, a group of very experienced railway personnel who feel that these 75 third rail electric trains can with the addition of a couple of automotive diesel engines be converted into diesel multiple-units.
It sounds crazy, but the realisations on the Vivarail website of what they have called the D-train look good. They also don’t look like a D78 to those who don’t know them well. They will even have wi-fi!
To paraphrase one of my own sayings.
Politicians have a theory and try and prove it, engineers have a problem and solve it.
Roger Ford in Modern Railways for December is reporting that in six months time, there will be a demonstrator. He says this.
If anyone can make D78 stock conversion commercially viable, it is this battle-hardened bunch of veterans.
As Roger also reports they have spent a seven figure sum on buying the trains, I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing at least some of these trains for a long time.
In the article and the Vivarail web site, what I see as a big advantage of the trains is not mentioned.
Some estimates say that we need upwards of fifty replacement trains for the Pacers. And that is about the size of the fleet that could be created.
With George Osborne needing an affordable project that benefits many different areas of the country, it would appear that the D-train has arrived exactly on time.
The biggest problem could be getting the public to believe that re-manufactured nearly forty year old trains are up to the job. But at least, as with the Parry People Mover, it’s a train that can be put into service on a real railway to charm the public.
In the same magazine, there is also an article about rescuing some Class 56 locomotives and returning them to active service.
In the UK, we have a shortage of diesel locomotives for freight. We’ve even used a preserved Class 55 Deltic to haul commercial bauxite trains and you sometimes see pairs of Class 20 locomotives like this doing real work. The article explains how new locomotives get used on the premium high-value trains, but for pulling things like engineering and work trains, they are expensive.
A company called UK Rail Leasing has acquired fifteen and intend to return some to service. There is talk in the article about fitting modern engines. But then they did that with that other relic of the 1970s the InterCity125.
Both of these stories are in some ways a tribute to our rail engineering skills of thirty years and more ago.
The Anonymous Widower 