‘Clapped-out’ state of our trains is revealed
RAIL passengers are having to travel on the oldest trains since current records began, new figures have shown.
The average age of 21.1 years is older than at any point in publicly available records, and 60% older than the equivalent figure in 2006.
Arriva Trains Wales was one of three operators to see a rise in the average age of its rolling stock, while the average age of Great Western’s trains was 32 years.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “Britain used to be proud of its reputation for giving the railways to the world. Now we just have, for the most part, a clapped-out system.”
The figures came ahead of protests against the latest ticket price rises, which come into force tomorrow.
BRITAIN’S trains are the oldest since current records began, an investigation has found. Passengers are travelling in carriages which were typically built in the mid-1990s, Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics show.
Arriva Trains Wales was one of the three operators in Britain to see a rise in the average age of its trains.
Figures reveal that Arriva Trains Wales’ rolling stock is almost six years older than the British average of 21.1 years – which itself is older than at any point in publicly available records, and a full 60% older than the equivalent figure in 2006.
The age of Arriva Trains Wales’ stock increased by 1.6 years to 27 years compared to 2015 when the average age was 16, Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics show.
The ORR has previously said older trains can result in worse reliability, less comfortable journeys and poorer performance than modern versions, although it notes that older rolling stock can be refurbished.
By comparison Great Western Railway saw its average rolling stock age decrease by 1.4 years – yet this still gave an average age of 32 years.
The chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, Stephen Joseph, claimed the age of Britain’s trains shows “just how far the railways have to go to modernise”.
He said: “We’ve been promised new trains by several train operators and some are under construction – we now want to see these promises turn into reality.
“While some, like the famed Pacers in the north of England, do deserve the scrapyard, others can be refurbished to modern standards and could help deal with overcrowding on parts of the rail network.”
Pacer trains were built in the 1980s using parts from buses and were only intended as a short-term solution to rolling stock shortages.
According to Arriva Trains Wales’ website, the company currently leases 30 Pacer trains, built beween 1985 and 1987, which run on its south Wales Valleys and Cardiff routes.
It also leases 32 Sprinter trains, which were built between 1987 and 1992.
The ORR report from October said that an increase of greater than one year in the age of average rolling stock means that either some older stock has been put into service, or some younger stock has been removed.
Professor Stuart Cole from the University of South Wales said that Wales needs to start looking at ordering new stock as soon as possible.
The transport professor said: “As I have said many times, we have a very mixed picture on the railways in Wales.
“We have new trains that have come in on the Swansea to London line, but what I would be looking for in the new franchise [to replace Arriva Trains Wales] would be an improvement on the domestic railways.
“That would match the trains in Wales with elsewhere in the UK.”
He said that due to the average order time of at least four years for new trains, Wales will need to move quickly to avoid being left behind.
But the launch of a new fleet of trains between south Wales and London in October was marred by water pouring out of a faulty air conditioning unit and a 41-minute delay.
The problems hit the first passenger service by the new Hitachi-built Intercity Express trains as it travelled from Bristol to London.
The new hybrid trains, which have a top speed of 125mph, are designed to replace the existing InterCity 125 trains as part of the UK Government’s Intercity Express Programme.
In October it was announced that Arriva Trains Wales pulled out of a competitive tender process to run the next Wales and Borders rail franchise.
The decision of the Germanowned train company, which is the current holder of the Wales and Borders rail franchise, also means it is no longer in the running to build the next phase of the Welsh Government’s Metro transport project, with electrification of the Valley Lines.
The franchise is scheduled to start later this year.
ORR data shows the average age of rolling stock between January and March each year since 2001.
A number of new trains were introduced across the UK following the end of British Rail in the mid1990s but the average age has risen during the past decade.
Bruce Williamson, spokesman for
pressure group Railfuture, said this highlights “an uneven feast or famine in the railways when it comes to investing”.
He added: “We’ve still got a lot of catching up to do.”
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train operators, said more than 5,500 new carriages will be in use across Britain by the end of 2020 and many other trains are undergoing multi-million pound refurbishments.
Chief executive Paul Plummer said: “This will help to deliver our commitment to boost customer satisfaction so that Britain continues to have the most highly rated major railway in Europe.”
Travellers using the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Scotland have to put up with Britain’s oldest trains at 42 years old.
Merseyrail, which runs trains in Merseyside, has the second oldest fleet at 38 years old.
Both operators plan to introduce new rolling stock in the coming years.
TransPennine Express, which operates in northern England and Scotland, has the newest trains at an average of just nine years old.
The latest research by watchdog Transport Focus found that fewer than seven out of 10 (68%) passengers on regional trains are satisfied with the upkeep and repair of carriages, down by two percentage points in the last 12 months.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, said the rolling stock figures “come as no surprise to those of us who use trains on a regular basis”.
He said: “Passengers will continue to get wet on leaking carriages and overheated on sunny days.
“Britain used to be proud of its reputation for giving the railways to the world. Now we just have, for the most part, a clapped-out system.”
ORR figures show that £4.2bn of UK taxpayers’ cash went to the rail industry in 2016/17.
Taking inflation into account, this is down almost 13% on the previous year but more than twice as much as British Rail used to get before privatisation.
Private investment in rail reached a record £925m in 2016/17, according to the RDG.
Arriva Trains Wales was approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.