‘710/2s’ authorised, but no date for entry into traffic
BOMBARDIER Class 710/2s have received conditional approval from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), but Transport for London is still unable to confirm when they will enter passenger service. As this issue of RAIL went to press, the trains were some 13 months late.
Authority was granted on April 11, albeit with 13 restrictions (see panel). This means the trains can now be used to train London Overground drivers, ahead of the introduction of the dual-voltage electric multiple units on the Gospel Oak-Barking route.
However, a hazard management plan must be agreed with London Overground before passenger services start, while Arriva Rail Limited (which operates LO) must ensure that logging into the nonactive cab during passenger use is inhibited before the trains enter passenger traffic.
Also, within a year of the authorisation, Bombardier must make modifications (either in isolation or combination to the LO fleet) to reduce the risk of climbing and surfing on intercar connectors. This covers both in-service and stabled trains.
The manufacturer must supply ORR with a written commitment in the form of a time-bound plan that must be accepted by the regulator. The operator must also provide details to ORR regarding mitigating the risks of the inter-car connectors, before putting the trains into traffic.
The trains had been delayed owing to issues with the Traffic Management System fitted to the Aventras. So far, eight of the 55 trains have been delivered to London (710261-267/269), with fault-free running having been undertaken over the past few months.
Currently, the Gospel OakBarking route relies on three Class 378/2s that have been reduced from five-car to four-car formations. These were brought in to replace the eight two-car diesel Class 172s that were transferred to West Midlands Railway.
The Barking-Gospel Oak Rail User Group says 10,000 passengers per day rely on the three units. The route has had its services halved, with buses replacing trains ( RAIL 874).
TfL ordered the 55 trains, with 31 four-car Class 710/1s for the West Anglia Inners, 14 dualvoltage Class 710/2s (this was later increased by a further four units), and six five-car Class 710/2s.
The initial plans were for the ‘710/2s’ to enter traffic on the Gospel Oak-Barking route from March 2018, with all services using the new trains from last May and with LO putting all the ‘710/1s’ in traffic by last November. As this issue of RAIL went to press, not one ‘710/1’ has yet been delivered to London.