NEW TRAINS
RICHARD CLINNICK charts the recent UK train orders, and considers what could fall out of the bottom of the market as new fleets are introduced
GREAT Western Railway’s order for 23 Class 387s takes the number of new-build orders this year to 594 vehicles.
The trains will be delivered next year, and will be used on newly electrified Thames Valley routes from London Paddington. As the wires spread further west, so the Electrostars will extend their sphere of operation. They will run alongside other new trains, including Intercity Express Programme trains and those on order for the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).
It’s Bombardier’s first order of the year, although the Canadianbased firm’s Derby factory has just completed the final Class 387/2 for Gatwick Express, and is busy building 66 nine-car Class 345s that will enter traffic for Crossrail from next year.
The biggest recipient of orders this year (so far) is Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
The Basque-based manufacturer has received orders from Arriva Northern and TransPennine Express, and these are not just for one kind of train - diesel multiple units, electric multiple units and locomotive-hauled stock will all be built by the company, as it completes a 126-vehicle order for TPE and a 281-vehicle order for Arriva Northern.
In total, CAF is building 407 of the 594 vehicles ordered this year (68.5%). Bombardier is building 92 (15%) and Hitachi Rail Europe is building 95 vehicles (16.5%).
It is likely that more orders for trains could be made this year, with the Greater Anglia franchise at the end of June a likely candidate for new fleets (although of what denomination remains unknown). There is also speculation that Transport Scotland could exercise an option for more Hitachi AT200 electric multiple units (Class 385s), to follow those that are starting to be delivered to the UK ( RAIL 802). Merseytravel is also in the market for new trains, to replace the Class 507/508s that date from the late 1970s.
The Department for Transport is also not finished (potentially) when it comes to new trains. Its Rolling Stock Perspective: Moving Britain Ahead report (published on May 18) could sound the death knell for diesel multiple units built in the 1980s by British Rail.
In the report, the DfT states that it believes there are “likely to be significant opportunities” to replace the DMUs with modern diesels ( RAIL 802).
We already know that the Pacers are doomed from the Northern franchise, although GWR will actually rid itself of the trains first. But this report suggests that potentially all Class 150s, ‘153s’, ‘155s’, ‘156s’, ‘158s’ and ‘159s’ could be withdrawn - that’s 1,033 vehicles if all were replaced likefor-like.
But there is also a caveat that states: “Good high quality refurbishment can deliver a passenger experience comparable with new rolling stock.”
There are a lot of trains with plenty of life left that currently have no home, the latest being 40 four-car 100mph Class 365s that were destined for Great Western Railway. Currently with Govia Thameslink Railway, these will be replaced by Class 387/1s that were also due to move to GWR, but which will now be sent to GTR’s Great Northern operations. The ‘365s’ date from the mid-1990s, so should find a home - indeed, they are currently being refurbished with the 2020 PRM-TSI regulations in mind.
The cascading of trains is certainly intriguing. In the future, when new trains are needed, DfT “wants more emphasis to be given to ‘future proofing’ them if they are to be cascaded to a different TOC”. That was announced a few days before TPE finalised a train order that means it will have four fleets, each very different. So much for standardisation!
Of course, cascades do not need to be between different train
operators. GWR is one example of a planned cascade that results in more capacity for regions, yet also removes elderly vehicles.
The introduction of Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains means that High Speed Trains are redundant, or can be sent to ScotRail. Meanwhile, the Class 387s allow the Thames Turbo Class 165/166 fleet to be sent to Bristol, thereby releasing the Class 150/2 and ‘158’ fleets for the far South West, where they will increase capacity by enabling GWR to run longer trains. They will remove the ‘143’ Pacers that could be withdrawn, while the ‘150/1’ fleet and ‘153s’ will be sent off-lease from GWR.
The newest trains to be replaced (so far) are the eight two-car Class 172/0s currently used on the Gospel Oak-Barking line that will be replaced by EMUs in 2018. Delivered in 2010, they are yet to be placed with a new operator.
Likewise the Class 185s - introduced in 2006 by TPE, 29 will be replaced by the various new fleets ordered by the new franchise. No new destination has yet been confirmed for the trains, and industry insiders have suggested their weight as being a cause for concern, yet a fleet of 29 three-car DMUs only a decade old will surely be sought after by new franchises.
Elsewhere, fleets due to be dispensed with include Virgin Trains East Coast’s 31 Class 91s and 302 Mk 4s (although some are likely to be retained), and 15 nine-coach High Speed Trains.
All 54 GWR HSTs are to go, although half are destined for ScotRail, albeit as four-car and five- car formations.
GTR is withdrawing 24 five-car Class 442s, as Class 387/2s are introduced. The operator is also cascading Class 319s - so far 32 are accounted for by Northern and around 25 are thought to be destined for Southeastern, although this has not been confirmed.
And 61 four-car Class 315 EMUs will be made redundant by the introduction of new trains for London Overground and Crossrail.
Rolling stock leasing companies are increasingly coming up with new ideas for recycling older fleets. New traction packages are being fitted to 30 Abellio Greater Anglia Class 321s and 91 Class 455s with South West Trains. For the former, there is yet to be official confirmation that the fleet will remain with the new franchise when the long-term deal begins in October.
There are a lot of questions still to be answered. Not every new train is a direct replacement for another, and the introduction of trains in one part of the country could benefit others. It is a fact that the hated Pacers seem to be dying away, although so far that is only confirmed in the North.
This will be the biggest introduction of new trains since the first round of orders postprivatisation. At that point modern trains replaced relics dating from the 1950s and 1960s - this time much more modern trains are being rendered redundant.
And yet with more passengers being carried than ever before (1.7 billion passengers journeys were made last year), there is a need for seats.
Displaced trains may yet have a future.