Charter Mk 1s row
Charter operators upset at NR’s plans to outlaw Mk 1 carriages that do not have controlled emission toilets.
NETWORK Rail proposals to cease using coaches not fitted with controlled emission toilets (CETs) could cripple the special trains industry, charter promoters and operators have warned.
The comments have come in response to an NR consultation on ending the use of rolling stock that drops toilet waste on the track, which the infrastructure company wants to see phased out by December 2019.
Franchised services are already due to end the practice over a similar timeframe, and NR has suggested that commitments to making the changes should be incorporated into renewed charter Track Access Contracts from this summer.
Britain’s special trains industry still relies heavily on former BR Mk 1 and Mk 2 coaches that are not fitted with retention toilets, and a cost estimate from NR based on diesel multiple units has put the price of conversion at up to £20,000 per vehicle.
In addition to conversion costs, resistance from within the charter market has also centred on the difficulties and expense of servicing the toilets once fitted.
In his company’s response to the consultation, rolling stock owner Riviera Trains’ Charles Paget argued that it “would be impossible to have an efficient system of effluent discharge for the type of train that is operated by the special trains business”.
Train operator, promoter and vehicle owner West Coast Railways said it could expect to spend £2 million on stock conversion and a further £1.2m per year on emptying the toilets using tankers. “We are unable to bear any of these costs,” it said.
Further arguments have come from DB Cargo and GB Railfreight, who while not running such coaches of their own, operate charters that do use them. Both companies have maintained that using Track Access Contracts is not an appropriate way to enforce such changes.
GBRf’s Ian Kapur also warned: “Were modifications to go ahead, the funding mechanism would need to be thought out carefully as, GBRf believes, the market itself would not be able to bear the costs.”
DB Cargo and Riviera Trains have both suggested that enforcing a move to controlled emission toilets could be considered ‘network change’ and therefore require NR to provide funding.
It has also been suggested that,
given the relatively small size of the charters market, any benefits of conversion are outweighed by the costs.
However, Belmond already has a conversion programme for the vehicles in its fleet, and Crewe-based Locomotive Services Ltd is currently developing a prototype retention toilet for fitting to its Mk 1 and Mk 2 coaches. ■ For more detail on this story, see issue SR455 of RAIL’s sister magazine Steam Railway, on sale from June 17.