“We have five different height couplers. The lowest is 925mm, the highest is 1,054mm. Then there are the different mechanics. Different controls. And you can bet that mechanical couplers will not work manually.”
These are merely the technical issues. Watts believes that overambitious manufacturers and the “chaos” around franchising do not help the situation:
“We will always have problems introducing new trains, but that is why you do testing and commissioning.”
ROG is contracted to help with the testing and commissioning of a number of new fleets, such as GA’s Stadler units and LO’s ‘710s’, and to act as support for CAF’s Northern units.
“Approvals are very, very stringent and they can take a long time, but we are not involved in that,” explains Watts.
“It varies from contract to contract for us - Bombardier did the deal with us for ‘345’/‘710s’; Greater Anglia appointed us for Stadlers; Porterbrook did the FLEX deal.
“CAF did CAF, but there is CAF Spain and CAF UK, who are very different. We will be the test operator for the re-engineered Class 442s for South Western Railway.”
All told, ROG is involved in some 30 projects at the moment. “Our work includes all train manufacturers, engineers, and 60% of TOCs,” says Watts.
By the start of this summer Northern should have disposed of more than 80 of its hated Pacers, but as this issue of RailReview went to press none had left. Eight Flex bi-mode trains should have been delivered, but none has so far entered traffic. The first of 101 new CAF trains that are currently being delivered should already be in service.
The operator was let down last year by the May timetable chaos, which resulted in driver competency being lost on routes such as Blackpool North after Network Rail delayed the electrification project. Meanwhile, electric trains only began serving Bolton earlier this year, instead of December 2016 as planned. Its Pacers are non-compliant with the forthcoming disability regulations.
“The deadline has always been there - as an industry we knew that,” says Engineering Director Ben Ackroyd.
“We are getting the legacy fleet that we are keeping modified, and works are stacked up as a result. I calculated we have 75% of the legacy fleet PRM-compliant.
“We have looked at the timeframes. We should have had Pacers out by now, and October 2018 was when we should have accepted the first ‘195’. Instead, that was February. Four months of delay on a brand new product isn’t bad.”
The first DMUs are also being assembled at CAF’s new facility in Newport, South Wales. Says Ackroyd: “That was a concern, because would you want to be first? But the quality is good, and the fact that they have mobilised the plant in little over a year is impressive.”
Regarding Flex, which involves fitting diesel power to Class 319 EMUs, Ackroyd explains: “Flex was a mitigation for the non-electrification of lines, but with that we are still going through final approvals. We have this ‘elephant’ of gauge issues.”
He says that Northern, Caledonian Sleeper and TransPennine Express joined forces to put various projects together, to speed up the processes.
“We looked at which routes would have the biggest train operator, and then proportioned the finances required. That example has meant gauge clearance has been quicker.”
Ackroyd also says there have been a number of issues, including lineside infrastructure, requiring a wide range of interventions: “Network Rail’s gauge engineers then whittle down the risks. Having the best data was always a challenge, but we turned hundreds of fouls into positives.”
For Northern, it’s about focusing on getting the basics right and the train services running. Statistics show that in the past 12 months more than 30,000 trains were cancelled for various reasons, and local politicians regularly call for Arriva to be stripped of the franchise (although whether they fully understand what causes the problems is open to debate).
Says Ackroyd: “Performance is improving, and passengers have recognised that. If we get the basics right then we can introduce the new trains. It does link up all the different functions. We’ve a plan on building acceptance and putting them into traffic.
“We have 150 drivers and conductors from seven depots learning the trains for the initial plan to introduce the electrics in Yorkshire, and then deploy the diesels in the North West from Barrow and Liverpool to Manchester Airport.”
However, as can be expected, delivering 101 new trains poses logistical problems. Ackroyd explains: “We made a conscious decision to work away from home depots because they were busy.”
Northern recognises a ‘hump’ in fleet size, whereby new trains and legacy fleets will be fighting for depot space until the leases on the older trains expire.
Says Ackroyd: “We’ve projects such as at Ardwick, where we are looking at space, while we are investigating third-party sites to release the Pacers for store. We are working desperately with CAF, Porterbrook and industry partners to confirm the December timetable plan.”
That plan relies on both space and the new trains, and with the CAF trains Northern has experienced a problem that has put main line testing on hold for a month.
“The intermediate couplers were contacting the aperture, and it was just catching the body. It’s quite a straightforward fix, but needed certain tooling. That’s under way and off the critical scale.”
Leasing other trains wasn’t an option for Northern, with Ackroyd explaining: “There’s a shortage of diesels, and we don’t have the option - and neither do other operators - to be able to train staff quickly.”
However, he remains confident: “I think if there’s a managed programme we will succeed. I have no doubt. Yes, we’ve been knocked back by the lack of infrastructure, and that caused pain. But I think we are showing a new product and new entrant to the market that can work in the UK. Performance is what we need to focus on.
“The investment is to be applauded, and we had to get rid of Pacers because there had been false promises.”
Finally, what of the train owners?
A senior source at Angel Trains tells RailReview: “I think it’s a big picture. There is a lot of surplus rolling stock coming off-lease. Some are life-expired beyond economic repair, and some will be relatively modern and sit in a siding - as is the case with the Class 707s. We have irons in the fire for them, but given the current suspension of franchising that could be frustrating.
“It is one of the challenges of the Williams Review, but that must not bring to a halt any of the investment opportunities. But we need a medium to long-term solution.”
He suggests that the solution is about making long-term business decisions that last 30-35 years, rather than operational decisions made for individual franchises.
“What we need is a long-term coherent strategy. Remember there was a White Paper strategy for electrification? Then it was cancelled, and then it came back again before being cancelled. I suspect it will be back. So we are trying to make long-term decisions against the lack of a strategy.”
Since the privatisation of British Rail, Angel has spent some £5 billion on new rolling stock and refurbishments, and RailReview’s source reiterates: “We need a long-term strategy to make long-term business decisions.
“I have 785 new vehicles in production, and their introduction is key. I have major projects - for example, ScotRail. But you have to look at cause and effect. Everybody talks about overbidding, and I think you are seeing some of that now. If you look at the situation it has heightened competition in the rolling stock sector, and there is the bubble of new versus refurbishment.”
Angel Trains is the owner of a significant number of trains that are due to go off-lease. These range from High Speed Trains, to Pacers, to the South Western Railway Class 707s delivered as recently as 2015-17. None yet have a home (and are unlikely to in the case of the Pacers).
“For the benefit of the industry and Angel Trains, we have tried to defer the maintenance beyond the planned end of their careers. But one of the challenges then is if something is delayed, the industry picks up the cost. We’ll then have to undertake maintenance, and of course that work may only be for a short period.
“It’s not just storage costs that must be considered. Older trains don’t sit well, especially if made of steel. There are reintroduction costs. We will explore every opportunity for low-cost additional capacity, but there’s a point when we will scrap - and if we cannot find that in the short to medium term, then they will go.
“We will already send some to scrap. These fleets have no kind of realistic future. Pacers… we’ve no plans beyond the end of this year for them. We will offer some to community railways, but failing that there will be a symbolic scrapping of them. They are not loved.”
He says that the result of this is threefold: it has driven competition, driven down maintenance costs, and driven down lease costs, which ultimately is better for the industry.
“But that also manifests in the delivery profile. If bidders encourage a deadline, then the difference can be if they win, how that slots into the production line. It’s a function of the competitive nature of bidding.
“The other thing to bear in mind with the new trains is the interaction and interface with infrastructure. Network Rail is not involved, but you need to manage the infrastructure risk. We don’t have the capability - sometimes the TOC will do it and sometimes the builder has to do it, but who is really best, particularly where new manufacturers come into this? NR should do it.”
The Williams Review, it seems, is the key for the industry. Certainly RailReview’s Angel Trains source believes that’s the case: “The industry needs it, and I think the industry would agree with that. What that change is, I have no particular view. Angel Trains wants to invest - we are a conduit. We have seen that UK rail has been successful in attracting investment into new trains. Is that good? I think it is.”
But have there been too many new trains in too short a period?
“I would not package it that it’s too much too soon. The industry must ensure investment remains. Williams must not block that. Franchising needs to remain ongoing, and I want Government to continue that.
“I’m keen that the West Coast Partnership and Southeastern franchises follow through. We have been looking to invest in the Pendolinos since 2012. We want to take them through their half-life overhauls, and we have ideas for them. There is an opportunity to invest for the rest of their life, but we need that degree of certainty.
“Therein lies the challenge: we need that certainty, and I would like to think we can more than hope for that.”
