Back to the future
Newly built locomotive-hauled coaching stock heads to the UK, with TPE’s new fleets tested in the Czech Republic.
THE first Class 68/Mk 5A trains for TransPennine Express will enter traffic this autumn, the operator confirmed on April 12.
TPE unveiled the first set of five coaches at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic. Invited guests were able to sample the interiors of the CAF-built stock.
CAF designed the stock in Zaragoza, with the Driving Trailer Standard (DTS) coaches built in Irun and the Trailer First and Trailer Standards in Beasain (all in northern Spain).
This is the first of three brand new fleets being introduced by TPE. They have been branded ‘Nova’, and the Mk 5A stock ‘Nova 3’.
“We are very proud of the trains, and we like to think our Nova fleets will be iconic for the North,” said TPE Managing Director Leo Goodwin.
He added that “the North is less prosperous because people cannot move around so freely for work”, and that he hoped this would change through the increase in capacity afforded by the new trains.
The Mk 5A fleet will run on the Liverpool Lime Street- Manchester Airport-Scarborough/ Middlesbrough routes. They will replace three-car Class 185 diesel multiple units that have 180 seats (15 First Class). The new Mk 5A/ Class 68 sets have 291 seats (30 First Class).
TPE leases the coaches from Beacon Rail and the ‘68s’ from Direct Rail Services.
They will be based at Alstom’s Longsight depot, with additional maintenance at York (at Leeman Road) and a new-build depot in Scarborough. DRS will maintain the ‘68s’.
Testing and commissioning will be carried out at the former Manchester International depot opposite Longsight.
CAF is building 66 coaches that will be formed into 13 rakes of five plus a spare Driving Trailer (DT). TPE will operate 12 diagrams per day with one spare set. Goodwin said TPE has recruited an additional 70 drivers and conductors to operate the new fleet.
These, and the 75 Mk 5s being built for Caledonian Sleeper, are the first locomotive-hauled coaching stock (LHCS) built for the UK since Nightstar in 1992, for the ill-fated Channel Tunnel Sleeper trains. They are the first LHCS to enter passenger service in the UK since the Mk 4 sets in 1989-92.
TPE was precluded from ordering diesel multiple units during franchise bidding, as the belief was that these routes would be electrified.
On the interiors, TPE Head of New Trains Robin Davis said the specification is for InterCity standards, although there is also an appreciation that commuters and airport users will also use the trains.
Goodwin also pointed out that should the franchise map change and TPE inherit LiverpoolNottingham from East Midlands Trains, then the Mk 5As could be employed there.
Davis also confirmed an option for more coaches if required, and that more ‘68s’ could be sourced. He said it was likely the trains would be extended, rather than more sets being ordered. See feature, pages 62-63.