Four designs in 120 years: trains built to last
Merseyside’s suburban network system is a model demonstration of how trains can be built to last.
Remarkably, the new Stadler Class 777s are only the fourth design since its first lines were electrified in May 1903. This was in response to a public outcry about the filthy conditions caused by steam operation through Liverpool’s tunnels.
The Mersey Railway was heading for bankruptcy, and the first wooden-panelled units were financed by Westinghouse at Trafford Park, Manchester. Electrified extensions over former Wirral Railway lines to New Brighton and West Kirby brought additions to the fleet from Cravens of Sheffield and Gloucester RC&W between 1923-36. Apart from a few wartime casualties, they survived until 1957.
The separate Liverpool-Southport and Ormskirk routes of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway were served by units built at the company’s Newton Heath factory between 1904-13, and these ran for 30 years until replacement by LMS Derby (Class 502) sliding-door stock.
The 34 three-car and 25-two coach sets were unusual for their time, in not having separate underframes. Many more were built than were needed, and while there were some early withdrawals, 43 units lasted until 1981.
For Liverpool’s heavily tunnelled central lines, 19 three-car units (later Class 503) were built by Metro-Cammell in 1938, with an additional 24 from the same firm in 1956 some to replace war casualties. Close to the end of their working lives, safety nose end doors were fitted.
The third-generation Class 507 was a game changer, but not necessarily what Merseyrail really wanted.
In three-car formations, like their predecessors, they replicated the Class 313 series introduced for the new Great Northern electric service out of King’s Cross, apart from the third rail pick-up gear and protruding timber running boards to narrow the gap with platform edges. Guards and drivers, not passengers, had control of the sliding doors.
To get away from slam doors, the ‘313’/‘507’ design was the direct outcome of trials with two four-car and one two-car PEP (Prototype Electro Pneumatic) units (completed at York in 1971), testing wide-gangwayed open cars with low-backed 2+2 seating, fast acceleration and a 75mph top speed. Trials took place first on the Southern Region, and later on the Eastern and in Scotland. Although none have survived, they were also copied as Classes 314, ‘315’ and ‘508’.
The Merseyside experience shows just how tight investment money was, because the fluctuations in Class 507 and ‘508’ orders between 1976-80 must have tied train builder BREL York in knots.
The authoritative 1976 edition of the Coaching Stock of British Railways, published by the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society (RCTS) and co-authored by Lawrie Bowles, shows an order for 47 three-car Class 507s (507001-47) for Merseyside.
The 1978 edition has reduced this to 38 (507001-38), but now 58 four-car Class 508 units (508001-58) for the Southern.
Move forward to 1980, and the numbers have changed to 39 for Liverpool, and the Southern fleet has shrunk to 43.
In the event, the build total shrank to 76 (507001-33 and 508001-43). But even then, 43 of the new trailer cars from the ‘508s’ were later ‘stolen’ and incorporated into new Class 455s to again reduce costs.
In the autumn of 1978, 507001 arrived from York Works, followed by its high-profile entry into service on the 0739 Southport-Liverpool service, complete with headboards, on November 1.
The ‘508s’ began service from Wimbledon depot in December 1979, but were not immediately successful because of problems with wheelslipping. They were soon transferred to Merseyside, as originally intended.
Following the Class 508 story is not easy, because clearly too many were built. Service reductions on Merseyside in 2006 led to 15 units being laid up, but they were reprieved from scrapping by filling a short-term gap back in the South.
Connex SouthEastern took on 12, sending them to Eastleigh for a minor refit, from where they emerged as Class 508/2s (50820112). Based at Gillingham depot for services from London Bridge to Tunbridge Wells and north Kent, they proved unpopular because of their lack of toilets and only ran for two years.
Silverlink took on the other three (modified) Class 508/3 units in 2003, to assist similarly displaced Class 313s between Euston and Watford. This ended in 2013, and like their Class 508 counterparts all went to the breaker apart from two coaches kept as translator vehicles.
At present, just 27 of the 43 original ‘508s’ work on Merseyside, with 508110/34 also scrapped through mishaps. Only two 507s (507006/022) have so far been lost.
and predict problems that can be resolved immediately a unit arrives back at Kirkdale depot, whose staff have transferred from Merseyrail to Stadler.
There are ten timetabled inspection processes that cover issues such as wheelset and brake pad wear, and minor damage noticed on the bodywork or to internal fittings. Kirkdale has a wheel lathe on the premises.
The ‘777’ goal is 41,000 miles per casualty, and for another year at least, the ‘507s’ and ‘508s’ also have to be kept in good order.
Hammerle says that conversion to 25kV operation by fitting a pantograph is a straightforward process, but the question has to be asked: If battery power really takes off, is it possible to retro fit an all-electric ‘777’?
The answer is that while it is of course possible, the weight of the lithium batteries (three tonnes) might require substantial frame strengthening to take them. This would require a trip back to the factory for perhaps six months.
Meanwhile, a residual battery fitted to all the units allows them to move around the depot by themselves without being shunted over the dangerous third rail.
Class 777s are securely stabled in the UK and overseas, awaiting their call for revenue service. These four are 777010/14/16/18. STADLER.