London falling?
Late delivery of new electric multiple units forces services on the Barking-Gospel Oak route to be halved.
SERVICES on the Barking-Gospel Oak route will be halved from March 18, following Bombardier’s failure to deliver new Class 710 Aventra electric multiple units that are now more than a year late entering traffic.
This follows similar delays to Crossrail, which Transport for London had to confirm last year would not open on time.
Once replaced by the new four-car EMUs, eight two-car Class 172/0 diesel trains on the BarkingGospel Oak route had been due to transfer to West Midlands Trains last May. But delays caused by software problems meant London Overground had to sub-lease the ‘172/0s’ from WMT.
However, to meet its timetable commitments, as per its franchise, WMT requires all eight for May. So far five have left the capital, with the final three due to leave by mid-March (after this issue of RAIL went to press).
RAIL understands 30 software upgrades have been applied to the ‘710s’.
To cover the shortfall, three five-car LO Class 378 EMUs were reduced to four-car formations, with LO and Transport for London hoping the new Bombardier ‘710s’ would be ready in time.
However, on March 4, TfL confirmed the reduction in service. It stated that the three ‘378s’ would be used from March 18, and that despite the start of LO driver training on the ‘710s’ there was no indication yet as to when they would enter traffic.
TfL told RAIL it is pressing Bombardier daily to resolve the crisis.
The Barking-Gospel Oak Rail User Group has long warned of the problems the route faced, regarding a shortfall of trains. TfL said of the ‘710s’: “Bombardier is continuing to solve software issues and complete mileage testing before they can be certified and handed over for passenger use. Bombardier is being pressed to do everything it can to deliver a fully operating train as soon as possible, to end the disruption to customers on the line.”
TfL said that trains will run at regular 30-minute intervals, and claimed that by running four-car EMUs the overall capacity of the line will remain the same as at the start of the year.
There will be supplementary buses for passengers, and regular users who choose alternatives routes via Zone 1 will be automatically refunded the cost.
Jon Fox, TfL’s Director of Rail and Sponsored Services, said: “We are very sorry for the continuing delay to the introduction of the new fleet of electric trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking line, and share our customers’ frustration.
“The manufacturer continues to solve software issues and we hope that driver training will start in earnest soon, which will bring us an important step closer to introducing the new trains.
“Regrettably, despite our efforts, we need to release the last three diesel trains currently being used on the line. So, from Monday March 18, we will need to temporarily reduce the weekday service to a half-hourly service. Despite the reduction in frequency, by continuing to use the modified four-car trains overall capacity will remain the same.”
TfL confirmed that once the software issues are finally resolved, driver training on the Aventras will begin in earnest.