Britain’s ageing trains ‘oldest on record’
UK’s trains now older than ever
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.
Analysis has revealed the average age of 21.1 years is older than at any point in publicly available records and 60 per cent older than in 2006. 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.
Travellers using the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Scotland have to put up with Britain’s oldest trains at 42 years old. TransPennine Express, which operates in northern England and Scotland, has the newest trains at an average of just nine years old.
Campaign for Better Transport chief executive 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.”
The Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, says more than 5,500 new carriages will be in use by late 2020.
RAIL FARES will be increasing by their largest level in five years from tomorrow but weary passengers will have little expectation of improved services to match their higher ticket prices.
New research has revealed that Britain’s “clapped-out” trains are the oldest since records began.
The average age of 21.1 years is older than at any point in publicly available records and 60 per cent older than in 2006.
Among the worst offenders is Northern with an average age of 28 years for its rolling stock which includes the infamous Pacer trains that were built in the 1980s using bus parts and only intended as a shortterm solution but continue to rattle around much of Yorkshire to this day.
There have been repeated promises by train operators of refurbished and new stock, but it is now the time to deliver on those promises and bring standards up to scratch.
Not all ageing trains need to be sent to the scrapyard but refurbishment is required on those that are deemed fit to continue to operate.
The situation is even more galling when Office of Rail and Road statistics show that £4.2 billion of taxpayers’ cash went to the rail industry in 2016/17 to help keep the network running. Taking inflation into account, this is down almost 13 per cent on the previous year but more than twice as much as British Rail used to get before privatisation.
With fares rising by an average 3.4 per cent tomorrow as annual inflation rises kick in, journeys in faster, more comfortable and reliable modern trains should be the least for passengers to expect.