Second Vivarail BMU heads across pond
VIVARAIL has sent another of its BMUs for operations in the USA. Two-car unit No. 230011 was shipped to Baltimore on April 9, and will join No. 230002 at Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, for testing and demonstrations.
The trains, converted from former London Underground D78 stock, will be used to trial ‘pop-up Metro’ routes, typically underutilised lines where the BMUs offer low-cost, low-risk start-ups.
The units are likely to be closely observed by American passenger operators as rail decarbonsiation efforts in the US have until now focused on locomotives.