How do we resolve rolling stock cracking?

Welcome to the June issue of Railways Illustrated, in what has been another busy month.

The main news concerns the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) publication of its review into the cracking suffered by certain designs of Hitachi Class 80X trains, especially those in use with London North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway. You may remember when, last May, both companies withdrew their Hitachi fleets from service, along with those in use with Transpennine Express and Hull Trains, for safety checks after cracks were found in a number of trains from the LNER and GWR fleets. As all these companies rely heavily on their Hitachi trains – which now represent the mainstay of their high-speed fleets – the resulting disruption to timetables and services was massive.

The main issues with the fleets is fatigue cracking at the yaw damper and stress corrosion cracking in the jacking plate. Cracks were also found in Class 385 trains operated by Scotrail and also the Class 395 Javelin units in use with Southeastern, although these trains were not withdrawn in May 2021 when the others were temporarily withdrawn, as their designs are different to the Class 80X and the actual and potential incidences of cracking were assessed as low risk.

The ORR report makes for fascinating reading, as it identifies the issue and addresses what is being done to remedy the situation. It is somewhat reassuring that such a deepdive has been carried out, and it is clear that Hitachi, the ORR, and the train operators are determined to resolve the issue and prevent another widespread fleet withdrawal.

Old issue – greater impact

As we reported last month, services on the West Midlands Metro tram route have also been withdrawn for a third time due to cracks discovered in its fleet of CAF Urbos 3 trams, which were built in 2014/15. The operator has now announced that it is unlikely services will be reinstated on the line until the end of May – more than two months after the latest suspension of services on the route between Wolverhampton and Birmingham city centre. With the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham over the summer, I am sure that everything possible is being done to get the trams back into service, but it shows that this problem isn’t restricted to one manufacturer, and the stresses on fleets can lead to these problems occurring after a period in use.

This issue isn’t new but does seem to be having a greater impact now than in the past, and it is hoped that manufacturers can identify potential weak spots during the design phase to prevent – or vastly reduce – the chance of these things happening.

A most respected association

So, what else can you look forward to in this issue? I’ve always had a soft spot for the former Western Region diesel-hydraulic locomotives, although being aged in my late 40s, my memories of travelling behind them are limited to heritage line operations; I have never yet travelled behind D1015 on the main line, though I must right that wrong when it returns to the main line over the coming months following an engine replacement. I spent a fascinating few hours in early April on the Severn Valley Railway, meeting the volunteers from the Western Locomotive Association as they worked to bring D1062 Western Courier (or should that be D1040 Western Queen) out of winter hibernation and prepared the locomotive for what is hoped to be another successful operating season. The association was officially launched in the same year I was born and is one of our oldest heritage and most respected modern traction preservation groups. It was great to learn about its history and find out more about its two Class 52 ‘Westerns’, as you will be able to read about.

From one of the oldest modern traction preservation groups to the youngest of our train operators, I also met last month with Matthew Lee, the commercial and customer experience director from East Coast open access operator Lumo.

It is now six months since I was invited to a press preview event for the new service from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley and a lot has happened since; it was good to hear from Matthew about how the operator and its staff have settled down and is proving to be so popular, despite being launched in arguably one of the most challenging periods for passenger operators.

Another trip out recently took me to Crewe Heritage Centre to look at the fantastic work achieved by a couple of volunteers on HST power car 43018 and 87035 Robert Burns – two exhibits that stand no realistic chance of ever working under their own power again but still worthy of a place in preservation. I clearly remember seeing pictures of 43018 being delivered to Crewe and wondering what the team had taken on, as it was clear that the power car had been extensively robbed of parts and that even cosmetic restoration would be difficult.

However, I have been proved wrong and the work done to cosmetically transform the power car is impressive. It isn’t quite finished and the restoration is being hampered somewhat by the strict rules in place by leasing companies in relation to the disposal of scrap Class 43s, which are subject to total destruction orders.

This prevents preservationists from removing anything from the power cars before they are broken up – even cosmetic items such as panels and doors.

Photographer and regular contributor Chris Hopkins has been out and about with his camera chasing down some of the remaining Class 313 EMUS operated by Southern.

The 313s are now the oldest operational passenger trains in regular use on the UK rail network and although a date hasn’t yet been put in place for them to be taken out of service, the introduction of new trains and the cascading of other fleets must surely mean their days are now numbered.

With Southern due to withdraw its Class 455 fleet a few days after this issue of Railways Illustrated goes on sale, will the Class 313s be the next EMU fleet to disappear from our rail network (with the exception of the one unit operated by Network Rail)?

10 Pictures this month features the work of Robert Falconer, another name that needs no introduction. Robert is one of the UK’S leading railway photographers and he presents a small selection of his excellent photography, featuring a mixture of steam and modern traction, providing us with another stunning collection of pictures.

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Further details can be found on pages 56/57, or alternatively you can scan the QR code beneath these notes for further details. I hope that you enjoy this issue and, as ever, if you have any comments, suggestions, photographic contributions, feedback, or anything else in relation to the magazine, please contact me at rieditor@mortons.co.uk