New First Capital Connect Thameslink units.

First let's start with the proposed cascade of units between First Capital Connect and Southern. And eventually (under the Department For Transports plans) to First Great Western.

These will involve Bombardier creating an additional 116 electrostar vehicles, which are specified to be able to travel at 110 mph. These are scheduled to enter Thameslink services in 2015 and when the new Desiro City (Class 700) enter service in late 2016 will be transferred to Southern. This will bring the total order cost to £385 million.

Next is the Class 700 Desiro City trains that will be purpose built for the Thameslink Franchise will be entering service in 2016. The trains built by Siemens will be a mixture of 12 and 8 carriage formations. 55 as 12 carriage and 60 as 8 carriages. This brings the total carriage order to 1,140.

Some of the key features of the trains will be the wide gangways like on London underground s stock. And the no intermediate cabs throughout the train. The livery of the train has been designed in partnership between Siemens and First Capital Connect. With a light grey overall with light blue doors and a white flash at the end of the carriage. This brings back memories of the National Express livery.

The numbering of the trains will be 700001 - 700060 for the 8 carriage trains and 700101 - 700155 for the 12 carriage trains.

^TB

Forth Rail Bridge, opening to the Public.

Network Rails most famous building will be opened to the public to view by the end of 2015. Groups of 15 people at a time will get the opportunity to climb the South tower of the Forth Rail Bridge to over 350ft from the water below.

A visitor center is also be built near to North Queensferry with the ability to teach people about the structure and the history behind it. The project will cost between £12 - 15 million to complete.

^ TB

Inside Story: EuroStar.

EuroStar is the UK's only international train operating company operating train services to Paris, Disneyland resort Paris, and Brussels. The trains leave London from St Pancras International normally calling at Ebbsfleet international and Ashford international before traveling under the channel through the channel tunnel. Eurostar services use the center platforms at St Pancras International which extend into the former st pancras train shed.

Trains at Paris gare de Nord use platforms 1-4 as they are linked to the eurostar check in and passport control. From Paris trains travel north on LGV Nord to lillie and Calais.  

EuroStar services are the fastest in the UK running at 300 kph or 186.4 mph. The trains are formed of Class 373 trains which are based on the French TGV and built by Alstom. The Eurostar fleet is due to be enlarged by introducing velaro e320 trains built by Siemens and based on the German ICE train. These trains are capable of 320kph or 200Mph.

The next Inside Story will be Northern Rail

^TB

South West Trains, Waterloo International.

South West Trains plan to include all 5 former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo international to expand the capacity of the station by 10,000 passengers at peak time, when it comes into use in 2019.

South West Trains are also aiming to get a new fleet of metro style trains that will replace the current class 455. The new EMU units are specified to be able to operate as a 3, 5 and 10 carriage trains. The first of these trains are scheduled to enter service in july 2016, with the rest of the fleet being delivered in 12 months.

^TB

London Underground's Piccadilly line upgrade.

The next London underground line to undergo a full upgrade will the the Piccadilly line.

The point of the upgrade that I will focus on is the point of contact with the system and customer. That being the new trains. They will be called The New Tube For London. The train will be open ended carriages (like the s stock on the sub surface lines) and more controversially the trains will have No driver. The trains will operate a service such as on board the DLR where the staff on-board the train act as customer service ambassadors.

We are still unsure as to if the trains will have air conditioning however with the Piccadilly line serving some of the busiest stations on the network and Heathrow airport the extra space between carriages will be most welcome.

The dates for the introduction of the new stock is currently scheduled at 2021 and the full fleet in service by 2023.

This will the the same train stock that will be introduced on the Bakerloo and Central lines at the time of their upgrades. This also sees the 1972 stock stay in service on the Bakerloo Line until at least 2030.

^TB

Inside Story: London Midland.

London Midland Operate the Train Services in the Birmingham Area with Local services along the West Coast Main line as far as Crewe and Liverpool Lime St.

The stock that they use mostly consists of class 350s on the main electrified route such as the west coast main line also there are a few class 321s around working the St Albans Abbey  . Class 323s for local services in the Birmingham area. Class 172s for the Birmingham snow hill lines. With class 170s, class 153s and class 150s for all of the other non electrified local routes.

Last year London Midland increased the speed of their class 350/1s to 110 mph and now have reduced the journey time between London Euston and Crewe.

London Midland also is scheduled to get 10 Class 350/4 and 20 Class 350/3 of which 10 Class 350/4 are to be leased to First Transpennine Express for services from Manchester to Glasgow / Edinburgh. The rest of the units will be used to boost capacity on the London Euston to Crewe and Birmingham New St.

The next Inside story will be Eurostar.

^TB

Changes to the UK Rail Blog.

There have been a few changes to the UK Rail Blog in that there is a new set of Adverts on the side of the Page and below the last post. There is also a new Post scheduling system for the UK Rail Blog. Twitter has now turned to HootSuite which enables tweets to be Scheduled to match the time that the post on the Blog is posted.

The UK Rail Blog also now has a Facebook Page which you can like. News on new posts will also be post here and will also be scheduled.

https://www.facebook.com/ukrailblog

Thank you for your continued support.

^TB  

Inside Story: Greater Anglia.

Greater Anglia is the Train Operating Company that operates the Anglian main lines and the Stansted Express franchise. The franchise operates the 2 Main lines out of London Liverpool St to Stansted Airport and to Norwich. The Franchise also includes the branch lines off of the main lines to such as Southend Victoria, Braintree, Colchester Town and Enfield town. (There are also more.).  

The train stock consists of class 321’s for services on the East Anglia Main line and other branches from this, For example Southend Victoria, Clacton on Sea and Manningtree. There is also Class 360’s which operate on the longer distance routes covered by the Class 321’s such as Ipswich. Class 90’s with Mk 3 Coaches which operate on services to Norwich. Class 315’s operate on the Shenfield Metro and some West anglia Main line services. Class 317 and Class 319’s operate to Enfield town and Cambridge. Finally the Class 379’s operate on the Stansted Express, Which is part of the Greater Anglia Franchise.

The current Anglian Main lines have speed limits of 100 mph however this is being increased to 110 mph in some places.

The next weeks Inside Story will be London Midland.

^TB

Inside Story: First Great Western.

First Great Western are the Train Operating Company which operates train services for London to the South West of England and South Wales. The company is a part of the Big Transportation company First (Who Currently hold the franchise.)  

First Great Western's fleet of trains include InterCity 125’s (Class 43 Power Car at on end and BR Mk 3 Carriages between. ) These are known as High Speed Trains or HST’s. These trains normally consist of 10 carriages of which 8 are passenger carriages and they operate on services to Oxford, Bristol Temple Meads, Hereford, Penzance and Swansea from London Paddington. Other Trains in the First Great Western Fleet are Class 166 / 165 units which operate services out of London Paddington to the Thames valley area and the North Cotswold's these trains are normally formed of 2-3 Carriages. First Great western also have 5 Class 180’s which operate services from London Paddington to Worcester Fore-gate St, these trains are normally formed of 5 carriages. Class 158’s are used on First Great Western's longer distance services in the south west of England. These are Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central, Brighton to Great Malvern and Weymouth to Gloucester / Bristol Temple Meads. Other trains are used on the local services in the Bristol and Devon area. These are class 150’s, Class 153’s Class 143’s and Class 158’s. These could be formed of 1-2 or 3 Carriages.

The Main line that First Great Western operate on is the Great Western Main Line which is one of the lines currently being electrified with a 25 Kv Overhead Wire system, This will result in a new fleet of trains with are electrically powered and are capable of faster journey times between stations.

The current Franchise for First to run the Great Western Franchise was up at the start of 2013 and talks between the Department for Transport and First are currently ongoing however the franchise will be up for renewal at the end of 2016.

Next Weeks Inside story will be on Greater Anglia.

^TB

Power sockets on trains.

The area that I am from trains have got power sockets below the seat in front of you. The trains are 40 years old and have been last refurbished about 10 years ago however trains that are less than 5 years old are not able to provide a power socket for a whole carriage. It is very frustrating for some people who are completing something and cannot charge their device. Personally I am going to be completing a challenge (See last post Yesterday.)  and would like to film it so I can show I did it and how it was. This is going to be a challenge for me just to keep charge in the camcorder let alone the challenge itself.

^TB

First Great Western Charity fundraising challenge.

The author of this blog, (Tom Bennett) is undertaking a charity fundraising challenge to visit all 16 terminus stations for the Train operating company, First Great Western. The challenge is to raise money for the Railway Childrens charity, Who help children across the globe who live on the streets.

The challenge is timetabled to 42 hours from 06:00 on the 8th August 2013, however if there is major disruption then the time it will take will increase.

All of the money raised goes to the Railway Childrens Charity and you can donate on the link here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FGWTerminusChallenge

Thank you

^TB

Inside Feature story : DOR.

Over the next few weeks I am going to be creating a post on each of the train operating companies in the UK. Each of these posts will be on a Monday.

Directory Operated Railway is an emergency company that can operate trains. Directly Operated Railways  has been called into use once at the moment and that is to operate the East Coast Main line franchise from when National Express East Coast pulled out of the Franchise in November 2009. Directly Operated Railway is public funded and therefore any profit / Loss is picked up from the Department For Transport.  

Directly Operated Railway have to apply for a permit to operate a train service and this happens 16 weeks before the end of the talks better the current operator and the Department for Transport. Directly Operated Railway will only step in if the train service will not run.

Directly Operated Railways change the way the service is run only when there is an absolute need for it, The train stock will also be delivered into a White livery with branding so it would be easy for a new franchise to take over.

There is a number of calls from MP’s for Directly Operated Railways to be able to make bids for franchises to bring them a robust, Achievable bid so that objectives can be made and money can be made. It will also bring some more accurate predictions as to passenger growth.

Currently the Directly Operated Railway Company is mobilising to take over the Great Western Franchise and currently operate the East Coast Main Line franchise.

Next Weeks Inside Story will be on First Great Western.

^TB

New Trains for the Great Western Franchise for Local use out of London.

The current plan for the Department for Transport is once the Great Western Main Line to Oxford is Electrified is to operate the trains which have been cascaded from the Thameslink services onto services to Oxford and Reading. These would therefore be formed of Class 314’s (Which are as old as the class 166/165 are!). This would mean the same amount of breakdowns and the same shabby looking stock. Personally I would like to see First Group or whoever inherits the Franchise, to Purchase / Lease and new fleet of trains. Similar to what South West trains have done with the class 450 / 444 and London Midland with the Class 350 and Southern have done with the Class 377.

I (And a number of others) would like a new reliable set of trains to work the Great Western Main Line and make it something the passengers can be proud of.

^TB

Train Advertising.

In the light of the East Coast Intercity 225 set being vinyled into a James Bond (007) livery, to promote the new James Bond film Skyfall. First Great Western has vinyled 2 of there power cars into a white livery with advertising for the new HP tablet. This has not only sparked people to complain about them but for enthusiasts to go looking for them. The current power cars in this livery are 43186 (Former Diamond Jubilee livery) and 43141.

I personally feel that the advertising is good for the industry with reducing ticket prices for customers whilst keeping the same level of service.

^TB

Depots on the Great Western Main Line for the IEP (Intercity Express Program).

The new depot designs have been published in the last few days as to what the depots will look like when the new IEP project and the Great Western Main Line electrification project. The new depots will be at North Pole depot ( Former Eurostar Depot.) , Bristol Depot (In the triangle of Patchway - Bristol Parkway - Filton Abbey Wood.) And at Swansea.  

^TB

DOR Franchise debate.

There is a small debate about whether DOR should be introduced as a self contained bidding competitor for franchises so that the country has a balance of public and private investors. This has all stemmed from the success DOR are bringing to the East Coast franchise. I believe that Private sector bidders are more able to produce more money into the DFT’s pocket however Public will bring a robust, achievable bid. It is all about getting a bid which is the best of both worlds.

^TB

First Transpennine Express "Borrows" A Class 350

First Transpennine Express is set to "Borrow" a Class 350/2 from London Midland to for Staff training between Carlisle and Preston. This if primarily for Driver training and for route clearance tests, The training is for the new arrival of the new 350/4 which will operate the Manchester to Glasgow route once electrified. The first LM Class 350/2 is set to go north in August 2013 with the first TPE 350/4 being delivered some time in 2013.

^TB

Twitter Update.

I have had a big move from one twitter to another with me now tweeting with @RailDisruptions as ^TB.  I will be Unable to answer questions you have as quickly as I was. I will still follow everybody and tweet updates of the blog. Please follow @UKRailBlog

^TB

Air Conditioning on trains

Do you as passengers on the railway notice that there is Air conditioning on most trains and that open windows only heat up the train? I was travelling about in the last few weeks and for once in this country we have had fabulous weather which is a bit unusual and I got on a train with Air Con which was cold but somebody opened the window and within 10 mins the train was unbearable! Why?

^TB

New Franchise renewal dates

The Franchise problems with the Department For Transport and the current franchise renewals which we all know have been cancelled, DFT are currently in negotiations with the current Train Operating Companies with Directly Operated Railways (DOR). The Current franchise extension plans are listed below:

• Virgin West coast - Virgin have been granted a 23 month contract extension until late 2014. There is also a negotiations to extend the franchise to April 2017 for the 20 year renewal.
• East Coast - With East Coast operating under the Directly Operated Railways (DOR) company then the franchise bidding will begin again from the first suitable time and the New franchise is expected to begin from February 2015.
• First Capital Connect - With the franchise being incorporated with the current southern franchise then an extension has been given to span the length of time until the Southern Franchise is renewed in July 2015. The current deal between First and DFT lasts until September 2014.
• First Great Western - FGW will continue to run services until July 2016 (If the contract is agreed) until the new franchise starts in July 2016.  

Dates for new franchises which have changes from the original dates.

• C2C (Essex Thameside) will be moved to September 2014
• Northern rail will be moved to February 2016
• Southeastern will be moved to June 2018
• South West Trains will be moved to April 2019
• CrossCounty will be moved to 2019
• London Midland will be moved to June 2017
• Greater Anglia until October 2016
• TransPennine Express will be moved to February 2016

The Chiltern franchise is unaffected.

Please note that All of the Franchise extension are under negotiation and therefore not guaranteed. If franchises are not agreed Directly Operated Railways (DOR) will step in.

 

^TB

Waterloo and City Line

What is it with getting from the Waterloo and City Lines at Bank to other lines within the same station? You have to go through a ticket barrier to get out of the Waterloo and City line and then you need to go through another ticket barrier. This was frustrating for me as I bought a single journey from Waterloo to Liverpool st and found out that the quickest and easiest way to go was Waterloo and City and then change for the central line at bank. The barriers resulted in me having to purchase another another ticket. Does anybody know a way of getting around this? (other than using a different tube line.)

^TB

377/6 and 377/7

The new order of the Bombardier built class 377 will begin being delivered in July 2013. These class 377s are slightly different with 5 carriages and 2+2 seating which suites the more long distance routes which they will serve.  These 26 new 377/6’s will all be allocated to southern to facilitate the cascade of 456’s to South West Trains in 2014. There is also a new order for 8 class 377/7 units which will be 5 carriages and dual voltage to increase capacity on the Milton Keynes Central to South Croydon route and other route in south London.

^TB

South West Trains 10 Carriage trains!

South west trains have aimed to get 10 carriage trains to run out of London Waterloo by lengthening the currently 4 carriage class 458 trains on the reading service to 5 carriages with the currently disused and similar class 460 carriages originally for the Gatwick Express services. This will result in 10 Carriage running on the reading line (2x 458’s) then the transferred class 456’s from southern will be Paired with 2x class 455’s to complete 10 carriage running in the suburban london area. The entire 24 class 456’s will be transferred to South West Trains from Southern in 2014.

The newly lengthened class 458’s will be repainted into South West trains Blue livery. (The same as class 450’s)

^TB

East Anglia upgrades

A group under the name of New Anglia are proposing some improvements to the GEML of which include new Intercity Trains that will be capable of 110mph running on the London Liverpool St to Norwich route. They also propose a displacement of the class 321 north or west. The displaced class 321’s would be replaced with futuristic rolling stock that would be capable of higher speeds and more capacity.

The report as to these proposals is available here: http://www.newanglia.co.uk/Assets/Files/Content/Rail%20prospectus%20for%20East%20Anglia.pdf

^TB

Reading Station improvements Easter 2013

Within the Reading area there has been a substantial change to the railway within the area. The New footbridge has opened providing a link with all platforms step free and a less congested entrance to the station. Just a quick interesting fact, The New footbridge is as wide as 1 ½ British Rail MK2 carriages. Other changes to Reading station include the new link underneath the station in the new subway.

The biggest change which daily commuters will see is the 4 new through platforms on the North side of the station. These through platforms are designed to alleviate the congestion on the lines into and out of Reading, Bound for London Paddington. The other 2 changes which regular commuters will notice is the labeling of through platforms as and A and B end of the platform, This means that 2 trains can be at either end of the platform. The other change Daily Commuters will notice is the new ticket hall on the North side of the new footbridge which results in passengers being able to purchase tickets from either side of the bridge.

Outside Reading Station there is also a lot going on with the new Reading Train Care Depot nearing completion and with the depot on-time  for opening in Autumn 2013, Currently all of the Building work, rail and overhead electrification is complete with just the testing and polishing to be completed. Other things going on around Reading was that during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and the week after most of the track in the Reading Area was ripped up and replaced allowing the new layout to be built and new signals to be installed. The New layout allows access to the 4 New platforms. During this time trains towards London were diverted via Waterloo and Basingstoke or via Banbury.

Hopefully you are all up to date with what is going on at Reading and what will be finished soon to allow a better service to run through the station.

^TB

Loco hauled First Great Western services

First Great Western has tendered a company to provide additional trains for a 32 month period where there is a need for 4 carriage trains with the ability to switch ends/ top and tailed locos or DVT. The driver would have to be provided by the traction supplier and revenue protection and conductor will be provided by First Great Western. The services will primarily run the Cardiff Central - Taunton stopping service. The requirements are that there must be 275 standard class accommodation seating available.

This is the second time First Great Western has used Loco Hauled trains when 2 class 67’s ran about in 2010.

The hire of this loco hauled set is set to be for 32 months starting in December 2013 and running up to July 2016. This is set to cover up to the time that the class 165/166 are displaced to the Bristol region from the Thames valley. First Great Western says that the Loco hauled set will be used to cover for DMU refurbishments during this time.

The contract is reportedly worth £7 Million.

Some reports are that DB Schenker are interested and also GB Railfreight too.

^TB

Time away

I do apologize for the time which I have not been posting on here, I have been caught up with a lot of things recently and needed to focus on other aspects of my life. I am pleased to say that I have finished/ other things have quieted down and I am going to be posting again about the news about and the general working of the railway.  I am going to fill you in over the next few days of the major railway news in the last 3 months which I have been away. Hopefully you continue to read the blog, Find it interesting, Feel informed about the day to day working of the railway and hopefully see a different side to the railway than to just delays and complaints.

Thank you for your brilliant support of the blog and I do hope you keep reading.

^TB