ORR outlines measures needed to keep Mk 1s on national network beyond 2023
MARCH 31 2023 is a date that is presumably circled in rolling stock owners’ calendars, as the current exemptions allowing Mk 1s to run on the main line are set to expire.
With next March rapidly approaching, I sat down with Paul Appleton, HM deputy chief inspector of railways at the Office of Rail and Road, to get a better understanding of what owners will need to do to ensure vehicles can remain on the ‘big railway’ after that date.
“I want charters to continue, but I want them to operate to a modern standard. A 1950s experience with a 21st-century safety standard is what we’re trying to create, but you can’t expect a museum piece on the main line will operate to the same standards it would have operated 30 years ago. What was acceptable then isn’t acceptable now,” Paul told me.
MAINTENANCE
“When the renewal of the exemptions comes up, owners will have to demonstrate the vehicles are well maintained. The next step is for owners to demonstrate that their vehicles are in a fit state to be on the main line, and I’m not entirely certain they’re as good as they could be. If I sent one of my engineers around with a screwdriver and he started poking it into the sills, I suspect in the odd case it would go through,” Paul said.
He added: “Owners are going to have to demonstrate and produce evidence these vehicles are – and have been – well maintained. That means an evidence pack for each individual coach. There are too many coaches out there and I don’t have the resources to look at every single coach, but we will go and do a sample check to make sure they are fit to run.”
DOOR LOCKING
Currently, most main line-registered Mk 1s are operating with central door locking ‘systems’ that “consists of a £2 lock from B&Q”, Paul told me – i.e., the secondary door bolt. “Guards tell me that tourists claim they can’t get out of the train and snap them off. This indicates to us that this control measure is currently inadequate. It’s not up to the standard you would expect on a modern railway,” he added.
Instead, Mk 1s need to be fitted with a remote central door locking system that is controlled by the guard, as per the systems that are used on newer vehicle types.
When I travelled on Saphos Trains’ ‘Pennine Moors Christmas Cracker’ charter just before Christmas, I noticed a giveaway yellow light on the exterior of the coach, showing it had been fitted with the system.
Had it not been for the light – which I suspect 90% of passengers wouldn’t have noticed – I would not have known the system had been fitted, so central door locking can be fitted to Mk 1s without changing the ‘feel’ of the coach.
LIMITING DROPLIGHT OPENINGS Finally, the ORR is requiring that droplights to be modified in such a way that it makes it impossible for someone to “get their head and shoulders out of the window”, though Paul made it clear to me he is perfectly happy for the top of a droplight to remain open in order to let fresh air inside.
Although the current exemptions have been granted until March 31 2023, Paul told me he would consider a short-term extension in order to provide more time for work to be completed on Mk 1s.
“Provided people come to me with a plan in the next year and it is resourced with a timescale, the end of March 2023 is not a hard deadline. If you say ‘it will take X amount of time’ it will be up for discussion and we will listen,” he told me. “If people can’t finish the work by March 2023, that doesn’t mean coaches will be banned the network. But they’ll need to sort out a plan and resourcing and make a case to us.”
Network Rail secures steam paths over WCML and ‘S&C’
NETWORK RAIL has secured paths in the Working Timetable for steam over Shap and along the ‘S&C’, as part of an expansion of the organisation’s strategic charter paths programme.
A 1422 Carlisle-Hellifield Goods Loops Saturday-only path assigned to West Coast Railways was added into the Working Timetable in December 2021. 1N87 – the reporting code assigned to the path – also includes an 11-minute water stop at Appleby.
“The West Coast Railways path gives certainty. The ‘Settle & Carlisle’ is fairly busy with freight and having a path in the WTT gives more status to steam. It’s a good win,” Ian Stone, customer relationships executive (charters) at Network Rail, told me, adding that he is hopeful weekday steam paths along the route can be added into the WTT in the future. “Network Rail sees this as a start and wants to continue to develop charter paths over the ‘S&C’.”
In addition, resembling the format of the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ series, Network Rail will add a Saturday-only 0708 electric departure from Euston to Carlisle into the WTT from May 2022, with provision to change to steam traction at Carnforth for the schlep over Shap included, while a Saturday-only electric path will also go into the system from Crewe to Euston at the same time. This means Network Rail’s charter planning team only needs to manually path and time the train from Hellifield to Crewe.
Kelly Osborne, RTC’s managing director, welcomed the paths going into the WTT from May. She told me: “It’s brilliant news, and it’s what we’ve been working towards – as an industry – for a while to have the regular paths that we use in the WTT. It provides certainty for us. We started the ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ series – and we’re renowned for them – so it’s great it has been recognised as a regular runner.”
These two paths are known as ‘QJ’ paths, and are not assigned to any specific train operating company, meaning they can be used by any charter operator. The Crewe-Euston path has added into the WTT for charter operators as a result of Grand Central electing not to run services to Blackpool and giving up paths.
Unlike operator-specific paths which are in the WTT (such as the West Coast Railways’ Carlisle-Hellifield Goods Loops path mentioned above, and the operator’s ‘Jacobite’ Fort William to Mallaig and return paths) and are visible in open-data feeds, the ‘QJ’ paths will not be visible via the likes of Realtime Trains.
“The purpose of the ‘QJ’ paths is to allow a more flexible and agile use of capacity on the network. These strategic train slots have been created to meet future long-term planning aspirations for charter services on an increasingly congested network. Having these paths in the WTT gives certainty for the timetable period and it also saves us bit of work. When we were manually planning trips at four or six weeks out, we were having to weave around other trains,” Stone added.
Also to be added into the WTT from May 2022 for the first time are 0610/0740 Carnforth to Scarborough and 1641 Scarborough to Carnforth Thursday-only paths – devised with West Coast Railways’ ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ series in mind – with time allocated to change from diesel to steam (and vice versa) at York Holgate sidings.
“These paths make life easier for Network Rail and the charter operators as the ‘SSE’ runs throughout summer, which would normally take up considerable resources planning each train. We’re far better off clicking a button and saying ‘here’s the WTT path’ rather than manually planning the path each time,” Stone concluded.
Royal charter to raise money for Railway Benefit Fund
RIDDLES ‘7MT’ No. 70000 Britannia will haul a fundraising charter for the Railway Benefit Fund charity on June 3, tying in with the Bank Holiday weekend celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Hauled by the ‘Brit’ throughout, ‘The Royal Charter’ will run from Crewe, Stafford and Nuneaton to Windsor & Eton Central, with Saphos Trains’ Mk 1 rake booked, the RBF told me. All proceeds go to the charity.
“We are excited to be working with Locomotive Services Limited on this flagship fundraising event for RBF. The monies raised will allow us to support even more of our railway family who are going through tough times and need a helping hand,” Claire Houghton, RBF’s CEO, told me.
Bookings can be made via the Branch Line Society website (www.branchline.uk). “The Branch Line Society is delighted to be partnering with the RBF for this project, and it’s a refreshing opportunity to work with steam on the main line,” Kev Adlam, the group’s fixtures secretary, told me. VT publishes provisional timings on its website
VINTAGE TRAINS is kicking off its 2022 programme with three tours in March and if you look on the website you might notice the addition of provisional timings.
“We will be including provisional for all future excursions on the website going forwards,” Adam Williams, commercial manager at VT, told me.
Given I previously criticised VT for not publishing provisional timings last year (SR523), it is only fair to acknowledge this after VT took comments on-board.
March’s trio of tours consist of a Tyseley-Hereford ‘Welsh Marches Express’ on March 5 with Clun Castle, a run over the ‘S&C’ with Duchess of Sutherland on March 12, and a trip to Chester with No. 7029 on March 26. Highlights from the spring and summer programme include
Clun Castle running to Oxford (May 21’s ‘Cotswold Explorer’ from Tyseley) and
Duchess of Sutherland going to Newcastle (June 18’s ‘Geordie Duchess’ from Tyseley).
“The more, open and transparent information we can provide the better. That only leads to a more satisfied passenger in my eyes,” Adam added.
THE ‘SETTLE & CARLISLE’ IS FAIRLY BUSY WITH FREIGHT AND HAVING A PATH IN THE WTT GIVES MORE STATUS TO STEAM
IAN STONE, NETWORK RAIL