A series of fleet delays

All the Aventras from Bombardier’s Litchurch Lane site have been delayed. So far, only London Overground Class 710s have started to enter traffic, but they are more than a year late.

The next fleet will be the Greater Anglia Class 720s, which will also be more than a year late.

The TfL Rail Class 345s have also been delayed, although these trains are not a full Aventra - instead using technology from both the newer platform and the Electrostar product that the new design has replaced.

“They’re late because we need longer for software development,” said Will Tanner, Bombardier’s director of communications.

“Although this is the fourth variant of the train, each one is different. Every customer wants different functionality.

“While the same family tree of software is in place across London Overground, Greater Anglia and the South Western fleet, it is a different branch of software from Crossrail.

“We still need more time to get it right, and get it homologated by ORR [Office of Rail and Road].

“The big difference with the Aventra is that software now controls everything. There is no aspect of train operation that does not rely on software. So the issues are very different from the previous generation of train, such as the Electrostar.”

First off the production line were Crossrail Class 345s. Some are now in traffic between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield, and between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.

More are due on Reading-Paddington duties from the December timetable change, when they take over Great Western Railway’s stopping services. But the final few vehicles in the order are still at Derby, awaiting completion.

Next came London Overground Class 710s, due in service in March 2018. They were 14 months late and first carried passengers on Gospel Oak-Barking on May 23. That order is due to be completed at the end of December.

Class 720 units were meant to carry GA passengers this year. They too are severely delayed, forcing the train operator to apply for derogations that allow older trains that do not comply with Persons of Reduced Mobility legislation to continue running. The first five-car Class 720 is due to start testing at Ilford by the end of the year and will now carry passengers in the second half of 2020. So far, 100 of the 665 vehicles have been completed.

On SWR, only 20 of the 750 vehicles are built, at the start of the largest Aventra order to date. Behind SWR come 333 vehicles for West Midlands Trains and 60 for c2c.

“When schedules run late, we have to change the operational plan for the entire site. It creates challenges,” said Tanner.

“We are bringing into operation a sixth production line here at Derby this month. Two of those lines will be dedicated to South Western, so we can accelerate production of those vehicles.

“Then we will have Greater Anglia and the West Midlands order in parallel. All three are 100mph trains. The West Midlands ones are a mixture of longerdistance and metro operation, so the details will be different.”

How big a financial hit does the company take for being late?

“There can be charges for late delivery. Or you agree a new programme for delivery, which is what we have just done with South Western.”

Bombardier is by no means alone in delivering behind schedule. Hitachi Azuma trains are later than expected on LNER.

Refurbishment of Porter-brook-owned, ex-Thameslink Class 319s is 24 months late and counting. Renamed Class 769 FLEX, with work carried out mainly at Wabtec Brush Traction in Loughborough, introduction is being held up on Great Western, Northern and Transport for Wales. In Wales,

Class 37s and Mk 2 carriages have been hired to cover the shortfall.

Refurbishment of Class 442 ‘Wessex Electrics’ for SWR has gone badly, with the entire fleet still withdrawn from service because the trains interfered with track circuits, unintentionally setting signals to red.

“There is a common set of challenges as the railway goes from relay-based trains to digital trains. That has coincided with a big peak in train orders, as well as the disability law deadline for the end of this year,” said Tanner.

“We have seen new technology coincide with this peak in orders. That’s probably why we have seen a number of manufacturers delay their delivery schedules.”