Traction& Stock
GWRto in crease' Castle' H ST fleet, first Orion Logistics Class769 unveiled,ex-GreaterAnglia Class90 named by Freight liner, West Midlands Class 196 reaches Stratford
NEWtrain fleetshave enteredserviceduring the coronaviruspandemicdespite manufacturingdelaysin many countries.
Trainmanufacturingwas disruptedby nationallockdowns, with somefactoriesshut briefly, includingthe UK,or completely for severawl eeks,suchasin Spain.
Howeveri,n severalother countries,includingGermany and Switzerlandf,actories remainedopen,albeitwith hastilyrevisedmanufacturing methodsto maximisesocial distancing.
In Polandt,he first batchof 20 new'Griffin'5,600kW,160kph, four-axleelectriclocosbuilt by PolishmanufacturerNewag enteredserviceduring the pandemicthrough national long-distanceoperatorPKPIC, with stafftrainingcarriedout during lockdown.Thefirst locos weredeliveredin earlyMarch.
ByJulythe first of an additional batchof 10 locosenteredservice aswell.Thenew locosarebeing usedmainlyon routesfrom
Warsawto PoznanP, ila,Bialystok and Lublin.
In Germanyt,he long-planned introductionof two new regional train fleetson the routefrom Karlsruheto Base(l viaOffenburg and Freiburg)took placeon June7. Siemenshassupplied15new part double-deckfour-car'Desiro HC'(high-capacity)EMUsand 24 of the its latestEMUdesign,the 'Mireo;which hasbeendelivered asa three-carEMU.
Thenew trains,which are beingoperatedby DBRegio, havereplacedClass146electrics working push-pulltrains.
A few loco-hauledsetsremain in serviceasof Augustbecause mostof the Class463'Mireo' trainswerenot in use. In southernGermanya fleet of'LINT54'Clas6s22trains has enteredservicewith Transdevowned companyBayerische Regiobahnr,eplacinga varietyof older DMUsoperatingservices southandeastof Munich. Thetrainsweredeliveredfrom Alstom'sSalzgitterfactory in Juneand July.