Engineering Focus

This third in a series of " RailLive special " posts features yet more recycling or what could be more accurately described as upcycling, as Vivarail is not the only company to have seen the benefits of converting redundant electric trains to run on other forms of power. Porterbrook has been developing its own bi-mode ( or in fact tri-mode ) units for a number of years and last year it was announced that Arriva Rail North ( Northern ) had ordered 8 of what were branded "Flex" trains, which now have a TOPS classification of 769 The Flex units are being converted from class 319s all which have been sent off lease from Thameslink and Southern. Some 319s  were sent north to operate on recently  electrified lines between Manchester, Liverpool and Preston, with the first refurbished 319 entering service between Liverpool and Manchester in 2015. However the majority of the 319s are now surplus to requirements. 769 000 already painted in Northern colours ...

Battery trains In part one I wrote about the class 230 trains which have been ordered for the Wales and Borders franchise and for West Midlands Railway. But that's not all that has been happening at Vivarail over the past year. The engineering team has also been busy developing a battery-powered variant which has already carried its first passengers, all be it on a short run at Long Marston. I was lucky enough to be amongst those to ride the train at RailLive 2018 along the 200 metres or so of track used to demonstrate the unit. The ride was smooth and quiet as you would expect from an all-electric vehicle, but with such a short section of track I wasn't able to get a feeling of performance. However what I could appreciate was how advanced the development was, this wasn't an unfinished prototype, it felt like a train that could already be working passenger services. Vivarail engineers have developed a modular system which uses rafts to house the batteries simila...

Wales and Borders I have made no secret of my support for Vivarail and the D-train project and have followed its development closely since 2015 when I made the first brief reference to a Vivarail display at Railtex 2015. Since then I have had the pleasure of riding on the first test unit 230 001 at RailLive last year and have written extensively about the development. So it was with some excitement that I read that Vivarail had been chosen by KeolisAmey to supply 5 class 230s for the Wales and Borders franchise. In particular they will operate on the line which serves the town in which I live. I can't claim to have played any part in this, however I have supported and lobbied for the introduction of the class 230 on the Wrexham to Bidston line for a number of years. image courtesy of Vivarail Some background: I and others had thought that the Wrexham to Bidston line would be a perfect line on which to deploy class 230s units. The service is in desperate need of...

A £1bn project officially known as the 'Manchester Airport Transformation Programme' ( MAN-TP for short ) began in July 2017 and since then significant progress has been made. The project will increase passenger capacity by doubling the size of the existing Terminal 2 and vastly improve airport facilities. 3 new piers will be constructed in total with prevision for an additional 4th if required in the future. Airside capacity will also be improved with major changes to the apron and taxiways. In under 12 months a large area for new structures has been cleared and large sections of the terminal extension and new carpark have been constructed. 6 tower cranes ( pictured below ) have dominated the Manchester Airport skyline since early 2018. The tightly clustered cranes have been used to lift sections of steel and concrete into place to construct a new carpark which looks to be almost 80% complete. Significant changes have been made to the passenger drop off and pick-u...