Before telling you what is in the April Informed Sources I should make it clear that however improbable anything sounds, the column is an April fool free zone. I learned my lesson back in the 1970s when I reviewed a spoof board game in the April issue.
It was called Railway Manager and was really a chance to poke fun at British Rail. All mildly amusing until the US passenger operator Amtrak phoned up and asked where they could buy copies for staff training purposes. Not easy explaining the British sense of humour – or rather humor – to an American HR specialist.
So no April fools, although you will find that our ace designer Phil Hempell has translated the Max Power custom car culture onto IC125 life extension. I may have to explain/apologise next month. Now, on with the preview
A depressing characteristic of today’s railway is that almost everyone assumes that we have to make the most of what we’ve got. But there are exceptions, one of whom is Keith Heller, the Canadian boss of freight operator EWS.
I went to Doncaster in February for a briefing on the ‘Big Freight Railway’ (BFR) concept that Keith and his Development Director Graham West are promoting. The basic elements are longer trains, the W12 loading gauge to accept European inter-modal traffic and heavier axle loads.
As Keith explained, the BFR is a journey not a one-step deal, but EWS has already started out. On Anglo-Scottish coal trains the company has been progressively hanging more 102 tonne HTA wagons on the back and seeing if a class 66 can cope. A year ago the standard length was 19 HTAs – currently it is 21/23. Trials have been run with 27 wagons, but the timings are a bit slow and a 30 wagon trailing load stalled the loco.
However with the Settle & Carlisle closed (after the pounding from all the coal traffic) EWS is looking at double heading 42 HTAS over the Carlisle-Newcastle line to maintain deliveries.
Another aspiration is to get continental freight axle loads up to the UK’s 25 tonnes and for the maximum train length in the UK to match the 775m used on the continent. If these trains could run into Willesden Keith Heller reckons EWS could slaughter the road hauliers in the inter-modal market.
The BFR may seem over-ambitious with today’s railway, but I reckon that Keith Heller’s vision is worth airing. Looking forward is an emerging theme in Informed Sources this year.
Last year I went up to Brush at Loughborough to see the first MTU engine being lowered into a Class 43 IC125 power car. Brush were responsible for designing the installation and integrating the re-engining as well as installing the new power unit.
Subsequent performance of the two trial power cars on Great Western has resulted in both Angel Trains (for First) and GNER placing orders with Brush to start series production re-engining of nearly 60 power cars with the MTU diesel.
So the second item in the April column is a lay reader’s guide to what is involved in fitting a new engine into an existing power car. There’s a lot more to it than you might think.
There’s also a shopping list of what Brush can do for your Class 43. Some readers may find the illustration puzzling (see above).
On a related subject, DfT has also published some preliminary information on HST2 in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). According to Informed Sources this represents thinking about nine months ago, but an analysis does give the opportunity to continue the column’s on-going exploration of just what HST2 needs to do. According to DfT Rail duties could involve running non-stop or stopping at 20 stations between London and Edinburgh. Now you can understand the ‘No April Fool’ warning at the start of e-Preview.
No doubt e-preview subscribers saw the reports of Alistair Darling’s much hyped speech in March which included reference to replacing IC125 – revealing the media to be full of IC125 enthusiasts. In fact, he said very little more than you can read in this month’s column – the only news being that Invitations to Tender could go out in Spring 2007. That may turn out to be optimistic.
Finally, there’s the Grand Central open access affair. DfT Rail sent a fierce letter to the Office of Rail Regulation denouncing its decision to award paths to Grand Central’s Sunderland service rather than GNER’s half hourly Leeds proposal.
With a final decision likely shortly after you read this, I have not gone into the merits of the two proposals. What got me interested was DfT Rail’s claim that open access operators ought to pay their share of fixed Track Access Charges.
I reckon that this goes against the relevant European Directives covering open access and explain why claims of open access operators getting a cheap ride are off the mark. But, more important is the threat that the argument represents to freight hauliers who pay only variable charges based on axle loads, suspensions, speeds and other factors affecting track wear.
In my interview, Keith Heller admitted that the freight operators hauling coal from Scotland to the Yorkshire power stations were the de facto primary users of the Settle & Carlisle line. But he did not offer to pay the fixed costs, which, in theory, are covered by passenger subsidies.
As always, the first Friday in March saw the Annual Lunch of the Railway Division of the IMechE fill the Hilton Ballroom. This is the ultimate networking experience.
Lunch finished around three and I went off to catch up with a number of Informed Sources. Equally, various chums were looking to catch up with me and I picked up my coat at the cloakroom just after five.
Last week Network Rail briefed the railway press on progress with its signalling procurement. The preferred bidders have been selected for the big Type A resignalling projects. They winners haven’t been announced formally but you can find the details in this month’s News pages. More on signalling on the May Informed Sources
Shortly after you read this I’m escaping from the office for a tour of WAGN’s control room and Hornsey Depot before First Group take over from National Express. I had a chat with First’s Depot Manager Designate at the RD Lunch and warned him that as a Great Northern user I would be monitoring the Class 365 performance. ‘It will get better’ he said, hastily qualified to ‘It will be as good as ever’ as London Lines Fleet Director was part of our group.
After that I have a week of serious article writing. I won’t give away the subject, but it is a blast from the past which is hugely relevant for today, tomorrow – and HST2.
Meanwhile, Alycidon Rail (www.alycidon.com) has gained a new section and the webmaster has tidied up the home page – it was getting a bit frantic.
Next time you log on you will find a new navigation button, or rather nameplate, called ‘Stuff’. This is not the most elegant title but it sums up what the new section is about.
As I may have remarked before, I don’t buy the view that the internet will supplant printed magazines – well not in the foreseeable future. But what the web can do is add value to the written word and this is the aim of Alycidon Rail and e-Preview, which is now approaching 500 subscribers.
More added value is now available in ‘Professional Stuff’ where I aim to post documents and other publicly available source material used in Informed Sources. For example, when reading this month’s column you can to access DfT Rail’s HST2 OJEE Notice and Dr Mike Mitchell’s letter to ORR about Grand Central.
There are also sections on Personal Stuff and Fun Stuff which will fill up as material becomes available.
That’s all for this month. Feedback is always welcome – and acknowledged. You can e-mail me at roger@alycidon.com