What do the drivers say?

RAIL spoke to several drivers (their names have been changed) for their opinions of the Class 70 locomotives.

Frank: “There are only three good things about a Class 70. They can pull a heavy train, but they tend to slip a lot on a damp rail; the cab air-con is great when working well; and the sound of them powering a train is impressive. That’s it.

“The bad things are numerous! The seat has no air cushion, they are just bolted to the floor. There is no room under the desk for your legs, the ride quality is appalling, and you can’t drink a brew on the move - you end up wearing it!

“They are draughty around the feet area because there is no insulation. When the plastic nose cone on the front gets taken off there is a hollow space, and you can see the DSD pedal through a gap in the panelling.

“There’s no hotplate, the parking brake is at one end only, and it takes ages to start one on a cold day. Also, when you change ends the back cab stinks of fumes.

“The locomotives have a shut-down mode after 30 minutes unless you keep pressing a button to keep it running - there is a way around it, but that’s unofficial.

“They are no good for shunting… notch

1 is not strong enough to move a train, but notch 2 is too much.

“They are overly technical for the job in question. If you get a problem you can’t always fix it - doing a reboot can take up to 20 minutes, so most of the time you have to phone the helpline fitter who gives advice and codes to put in the computer to try and fix the problem, but eight out of ten times the locomotive is still a failure.

“The alert or vigilance device is the same tone when going off. I don’t like the screens for the speed and gauges, as when the locomotive is shut down you can’t see anything that could cause you problems.

“I have to say, when a Class 66 turns up on a booked ’70’ job you feel relieved that your back won’t get a beating!”