Cascade plans for Great Western High Speed Trains revealed
Seventy-six Class 43 High Speed Train power cars and 301 Mk 3 coaches will leave Great Western Railway (GWR) between 2017 and 2019.
The details are mentioned in the Department for Transport’s Rolling Stock Perspective: Moving Britain Ahead, published on May 18.
GWR currently has 119 Class 43s and 464 Mk 3s in its HST fleet, formed into 54 sets. The trains are being replaced by 36 five-car bi-mode Class 800/0s and 21 ninecar Class 801/0 electric multiple units, as well as 29 five-car and seven-car Class 802 bi-mode trains.
Hay told RAIL that the Mk 3s would be taken on to facilitate driver training and provide a contingency if new builds fall behind schedule. The first new trains - Class 68-hauled Mk 5s - will enter traffic in spring 2018.
Industry speculation has suggested that Direct Rail Services would supply Class 68s to haul the Mk 3s if they were required.
Hay said that regarding ‘68s’ hauling the Mk 3s, it was “not known at present, but they do have All are being built by Hitachi and will begin to enter traffic from next May.
The first tranche of HSTs leaving GWR will be sent to ScotRail. These are owned by Angel Trains and will be selected by individual painted number, based on their condition. These vehicles are to be refurbished, fitted with plug doors and reformed into four-car and five-car formations, ahead of their use on journeys between the seven Scottish cities as part of the ScotRail franchise commitments.
SR will be using 27 HSTs. These will require 54 power cars, available locomotives so no doubt we will explore”.
He said that additional capacity would be introduced on TPE’s North Route (Liverpool-Newcastle/ Middlesbrough/Hull/Scarborough) from December 2017, and that depending on the build programme, it would be these routes on which the Mk 3s would be used.
The ‘Pretendolino’ rake of Mk 3s moved to Abellio Greater Anglia following the end of its lease with Virgin Trains. VT used it as a standby on the West Coast Main Line, but a lack of available parts and staff competency meant that it was returned to owner Porterbrook. meaning that a further 22 will be unaccounted for. If each SR HST was formed of five coaches that would account for only 135 Mk 3s, leaving 166 with no further use. So far only SR has confirmed the use of HSTs - but there have been industry discussions regarding possibly using HSTs for high-speed freight work, but this has not come to fruition.
GWR will be left with 43 power cars and 163 coaches until the full Class 800-802 fleet is in place. It has run trials regarding possibly using short-formed HSTs for regional services such as Cardiff-
AGA hired the set to cover the refurbishment of its 111 Mk 3s, and to provide cover for planned maintenance. This project is due to end by October, and enough vehicles are now available for the set (NC64) to be returned to Porterbrook, which will then lease it to TPE.
The set contains Restaurant First Modular (RFM) 10212, Open Firsts (FO) 11007/018/048 and Standard Opens 12011/078, 12133/138 (TSO) and Standard Open Disabled (TSOD) 12122.
The Driving Van Trailer (DVT) 82126 had already been sent off-lease by AGA due to reliability issues. Penzance, in place of planned diesel multiple units. If this was to be taken forward, then GWR would need its stock to be fitted with plug doors.
Additionally, while GWR leases HSTs from Angel Trains and Porterbrook, 12 ‘43s’ (43092-094/ 097/098, 43122/153-155/158/ 194/198) and 42 Mk 3s (4090040905, 41059, 41160/162/ 166/167, 42092-095, 42103/ 105/108/167-169/175-177, 42231-233, 43302-305/353, 42563/565/566/570/582, 44055/ 068/074/076/081, 44100 are owned by FirstGroup.