New trains from old?

[whole diary]

[4064ReadingAbbey]

easyJet exclusively use Airbus planes, Ryanair exclusively use Boeing planes. By sticking to one manufacturer their maintenance costs are lower apparently.

It also means that flight crew don't have to be certificated for two types of aircraft. If a plane goes technical than the flight crew can simply switch, if the type is different and some or all of the flight crew are not certificated for the other type then delays are pre-programmed.

[grahame]

Looking back at the poll - only 6% said "no" ... and the story carries on in the Express:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/559130/Train-railway-District-Line-London-underground-rural-line-north

Following selectively quotes from a longer article to give the drift

Retired carriages from the District Line, which runs from Ealing Broadway in west London to Upminster in the east, are being redeveloped for rural lines up north. Enough cars for 75 two or three-car diesel trains are being taken to Vivarail^s depot in Long Marston, Warwickshire for redevelopment before being sold on. With a maximum speed of 60mph the carriages are perfect for slower routes with many stops rather than the faster inter-city links.

They will be fitted with four 200hp Ford 3.2L Duratorq TDCi engines that are normally seen in Ford Rangers and Transit vans. It is hoped they will be approved to run on National Rail tracks by mid-Autumn.

The carriages are already designed to cope with the busy London Underground at rush hour, which is ideal for commuter services or to ^move a lot of people for football matches^. Others, however, will be completely redeveloped with more conventional high-quality seats.

^These will be some of the greenest trains because they are lightweight and use a lot less fuel,^ Mr Shooter said. ^They are ideal for rural areas and some commuter routes like Manchester or Leeds. They can perform better, faster and greener than normal diesel trains. ^These are basically new trains that are affordable because we have reused some components.^

Mr Shooter, who was awarded a CBE for his services to the railway, is already talking to several customers including the Northern franchise.

[JayMac]

Looking back on the poll also.

I see 10.5% said no. But 83.3% of the vote options were for a 'yes' answer.

My 'no' vote was fighting an uphill battle. 1 in 6 in fact. 

[TonyK]

It also means that flight crew don't have to be certificated for two types of aircraft.

Which is just as well, because they can't be. Converting from A320 to Boeing 737 or vice versa takes time. An airline pilot can be rated to fly several marks of A320 / 321, and even A330 because of the commonality of the decks. He may instead be able to fly a B757 and a B767. But he can't be rated to fly a B737 and an A320 as an airline pilot at the same time. There are too many differences, beginning with joystick as against yoke for steering the thing.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Meanwhile, and vaguely, back on the original topic - from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

New northern rail franchises 'must scrap Pacer trains'


The Pacer trains were introduced in the 1980s and were supposed to be a short-term solution

The government has confirmed it wants to scrap the 30-year-old Pacer trains on railways in northern England.

Companies bidding for the government's new rail franchises in the North will be required to replace them by 2020, the Department For Transport said.

Northern and TransPennine bidders will have to add 200 new train services daily and accommodate 19,000 extra Manchester commuters.

Built in the 1980s, Pacers were intended for short-term use.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Pacers have had their day, they are not suitable for modern commuting. There was a bit of pressure on us not to push this forward because people were arguing the financing did not match up, we have decided we are going ahead."

But Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) transport union, said: "Any new trains are light years away with passengers forced to endure the misery of the clapped-out Pacers, and the ancient London Underground rolling stock that's heading north, way off into the future. The tender documents allow bidders to axe guards and move to driver-only operation, compromising safety in the interests of private profit."

Shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher added: "If we had a new piece of rolling stock for every time ministers 'announced' the end of the Pacer trains, the network would be full of shiny new carriages."

The Pacer trains would contravene disability discrimination legislation from 2020.

The transport select committee is meeting next month to take evidence from Mr McLoughlin to examine the specification for the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises and question him on the future of Pacer trains currently in use in Wales and the south-west.

The chairman of the committee, Liverpool Riverside MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Louise Ellman, said: "It is unacceptable that Pacer trains - built in the mid-1980s and of questionable safety - are still in use on busy rail lines."

Resembling the body of a bus with train wheels bolted on, Pacers are still being used on the railways across the north of England even though they were supposed to be a temporary solution to a rolling stock shortage.

It was thought the trains would have a 20-year lifespan but they currently run on routes in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Teesside, Northumberland and Cumbria.

Prime Minister David Cameron signalled in November that the Government was considering scrapping Pacers.

The Northern franchise operates local, commuter and rural services and long-distance services linking major cities and towns such as Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, York, Manchester, Bradford, Preston and Blackpool.


One company is offering converted London Underground trains to the franchise bidders

The TransPeninne Express (TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)) franchise provides longer-distance intercity-type services, connecting Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Hull, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Manchester Airport.

Companies shortlisted to run the new franchises were announced in August. Competing for Northern are Arriva, Govia and Abellio, while on the shortlist for TPE are FirstGroup, Keolis/Go Ahead and Stagecoach.

Firm Vivarail is in talks with some of the operators competing for the franchises, offering them the use of converted London Underground trains.

[ray951]

According to Modern Railways the Vivarail D78 Class 230 trains are going to be trailed on the Plymouth to Gunnislake branch.
Apparently GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are quite keen but Dft are not.

[ChrisB]

apparently this testing is in the franchise agreement...

[eightf48544]

Had a chance to see and ride on the 270 at the Vivarail test track. Only one coach, but very quite reasonable ride considering it was basically a siding. I started a sceptic but think it could be goer.

Very inovative power pack engine change in 10 minutes and doesn't require a pit just a concrete standing by the track to stand the lift on to slide the old engine pack out and insert the new. Connections for fuel and coolant etc. are plug in connectors.

Brake blocks can be changed trackside. They are also working on regen braking with storage.

They could also be converted back to a straight EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit).

So could be a goer. The only problem I see is if the Dft insist on the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) packing the seats in rather than having more units. The longer range version with 2*2 seats and loo is planned to be very spacious.

The other selling point is that all the componets except the body shell including bogies, engines, seats, loo (disabled) ect are off the shelf from exisitng manufactures.

[IndustryInsider]

I started a sceptic but think it could be goer.

Same here - watching this one with interest...

[chrisr_75]

Only one coach, but very quite reasonable ride considering it was basically a siding

I always thought the D78 stock had one of the more pleasing ride qualities of the LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) assortment - pretty smooth even on poor track, but with a rather satisfying solidity, in much the same way as a MK3 coach - so I'm not surprised it seemed pretty decent, assuming they've not messed about with the suspension too much?

If it works, it's an excellent use of a fleet with a lot of (structural) life left in it and one which has recently been the subject of some considerable tidying up. As long as performance & reliability are ok, I think they'd be a big improvement over the dreadful 'Pacers' many of us have to endure! Good luck to them!

[Tim]

Only one coach, but very quite reasonable ride considering it was basically a siding

I always thought the D78 stock had one of the more pleasing ride qualities of the LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) assortment - pretty smooth even on poor track, but with a rather satisfying solidity, in much the same way as a MK3 coach - so I'm not surprised it seemed pretty decent, assuming they've not messed about with the suspension too much?

If it works, it's an excellent use of a fleet with a lot of (structural) life left in it and one which has recently been the subject of some considerable tidying up. As long as performance & reliability are ok, I think they'd be a big improvement over the dreadful 'Pacers' many of us have to endure! Good luck to them!

I tend to agree so long as they are only used on lines suited to them (low speed, short distance)  Truth is the Pacers are not so bad on those lines.  The problems with Pacers is that they have found their way onto trips of over 1 hour. 

[Oberon]

I wonder if they might be suited to the Looe branch or even St Ives?

[Visoflex]

When the new timetable comes in which removes the direct PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) runs from the Henley branch, then a D78 would be quite a good fit.  A maximum speed of 60 mph on the Henley branch with one train working on what is effectively a long shunt.

[Puffing Billy]

I wonder if they might be suited to the Looe branch or even St Ives?

I believe the Bakerlooe line stock is already earmarked for that

[Chris125]

You can get some idea of what is in Modern Railways from Roger Ford's 'e-preview' which is well worth subscribing too:

http://live.ezezine.com/ezine/archives/759/759-2015.09.21.04.00.archive.txt

Class 230 in the metal
Informed Sources Fourth Law commands ^When in doubt build a demonstrator^. While it is easy to rubbish a concept, something in the metal demands objective criticism.

During August Mr Walmsley and I were among the 195 guests who visited the Quinton Rail Technology Centre to examine Vivarail^s first conversion of a D78 Tube Stock vehicle into a Class 230 Diesel Electric Multiple Unit and have a ride on the test track. In ^Pan Up^ Ian has covered ambience and the market while I provide the technical description.

Introducing the Vivarail project in the December 2014 column, I admitted to being in a quandary. On the one hand a rival D78 stock conversion seemed a complete non-starter. On the other hand, at Vivarail Adrian Shooter had assembled a team of engineers for whom I have the highest regard.

So I wrote a technical description of Vivarail^s proposal, expressed some reservations over the practicality of the underfloor Ford automotive engines and reserved further comment until I could see the D-Train in the metal. Some readers were less charitable and asked why I hadn^t said what I really thought of the concept.

For our test run we bimbled around the Quinton track reaching a maximum speed of 30-35 mile/h. The five cylinder engines purring away under the floor were less noticeable than, say, a Cummins in a Meridian. When we started power pick-up was smooth and vibration free and the ride was agreed by my fellow travellers to be better than a Pacer (not difficult). You can find the sound level measurements in Mr Walmsley^s column.

Engineering
However, my main interest was in the workshop where conversion of the other two vehicles for the demonstration unit was advanced. With the second powered vehicle up on stands it was possible examine the underfloor equipment layout and the column has an illustrated guide to what goes where and how.

There was one disappointment. It was not possible to look inside one of the engine modules produced by Revolve Technologies. However, Vivarail subsequently provided a photograph, which gives an indication of the packaging.

Early criticism of the Vivarail project focused on the lack of crashworthiness of the cab ends. But from inside the cab the safety cage is massive and has been beefed up following the crash test. Mr Walmsley reckons protection is superior to a Pacer and could even be better than the Class 150 front end.

Spend.
So far Vivarail has spent around ^4million on the project and it shows in the quality of the engineering. Based on the capital rental figures provided by Vivarail I estimate the cost of a converted Class 230 vehicle at around ^800,000, roughly half the price of a putative new DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Certification of the demonstrator three car Class 230 is scheduled by the end of this year. Testing in passenger service will follow ^in the new year^, initially on the Plymouth-Gunnislake branch fulfilling a requirement in the First Great Western Direct Award franchise agreement.

This has exposed some interesting internal DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) politics. Rail Minister Claire Perry, who is clearly not a Vivarail fan, claimed in a recent written answer that the obligation in the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise agreement covers only an initial feasibility study. According to Claire, the franchise agreement makes clear that any proposals for a trial that might derive from that report would be subject to a separate decision by the Secretary of State and would be subject to initial examination confirming likely viability.

Well, FGW inspected the first vehicle back in July and has begun planning for the trial. So it looks as though ^likely viability^ has been confirmed and someone in New Minster House has given the go ahead. As ever, is it Claire or the civil servant who drafted the reply the one out of the loop?