SWR NAMES NEW FLEET
Wolverton Works has returned to profitability and is breaking into the new trains market.
SOUTH Western Railway has unveiled ‘Arterio' as the name for its new £1 billion Class 701 train fleet. The name was unveiled by SWR's managing director
Mark Hopwood during a special event at Wimbledon depot in August. The name comes from Waterloo being at the heart of the South Western network, and SWR's suburban routes are the arteries that feed it. The first ‘Arterio' is expected to be introduced later this year on the Reading line, with a total of 750 new carriages (as 60 10-car and 30 five-car sets) to be introduced over the following two years.
GEMINI Rail Group bought the rail vehicle renovation business from Knorr-Bremse at Wolverton Works in November 2018 knowing the works had recorded heavy losses for a decade.
Gemini's chief executive Tim Jenkins told Rail Express his first task was to stabilise the business while fulfilling a mixed bag of inherited renovation contracts with the existing loyal and strong workforce. He implemented a ‘back to basics' policy to transform the business and stabilise losses.
“Gemini Rail Group is forecasting a genuine Wolverton profit for 2020, the first for nearly a decade,” said Mr Jenkins. “This proves that even a huge old works like this, which has suffered from some real challenging times, with a bit of focus can be a credible and sustainable business.”
NEW BUSINESS
He added he is aware that the traditional rail vehicle renovation business is ending, and that for Wolverton to survive and thrive it had to find new markets.
For example, Wolverton is installing a new traction propulsion package and refreshing the interior of 18 of SWR's Class 442 fleet, with the first completed unit outshopped in August. Each set is having around 30,000 components changed after having its AC traction and braking system modernised, while a new brake control unit is also being fitted similar to that on the Class 455s.
This ‘442' contract ends this year, but the Class 150 C6 heavy overhaul and work on Class 323s continues for now. And, in a sign that traditional work is diminishing, around 30 redundancies were announced when the decision was made to close the wheelshop in July.
Mr Jenkins sees business expansion in two areas: entering the new trains business, and decarbonisation. The former has started with Wolverton repairing Hitachi Class 800 ‘Azuma'
No. 800109 that was damaged in a collision with a HST near Neville Hill depot (Leeds) last year. The Bombardier-built Greater Anglia Class 720 ‘Aventra' trains are also being outbased at Wolverton for commissioning operations on the West Coast Main Line. Gemini are supporting this work plus doing minor modifications to the vehicles.
These contracts “give us access to a new train and the opportunity to learn about new fleets, developing new skills in an area we must get into to survive”, said Mr Jenkins.
Gemini is progressing plans to slightly extend the 200 metre six-road lifting shop to accommodate 10-car Class 720s. It is also likely two new bays could be added containing four new elevated tracks to create a modern fleet maintenance facility.
GemEco, a sub-brand of Gemini, is working on decarbonisation projects – such as developing hybrid technology and alternative propulsion modules in partnership with Birmingham City University and Porterbrook. It is hoping to secure contract awards for future innovation projects looking at alternative propulsion sources for nonelectric trains.
“These are likely to be battery based technology, which is moving fast – especially in the automotive industry,” said Mr Jenkins. Given the amount of F1 racing teams based in the Milton Keynes and Silverstone area, cooperation in developing battery propulsion modules between the rail and F1 industry cannot be ruled out.
MOVEMENT COSTS
One threat to Wolverton is that transit costs by rail are so high it is often cheaper to bring a four car unit to the works by road than rail. Assuming one vehicle costs £1500 to move, this means that transport by rail must be over £6000 for a Class 319 for example.
“Vehicle movement costs are a key factor in contract pricing, and TOCs and original equipment manufacturers would prefer to carry out an overhaul on their own patch or facility to avoid this extra cost.”