Will Transport for Wales deliver for North Wales and Borders?

In 2018 Transport for Wales Rail Services took over the franchise to operate Wales and Borders services, which were previously operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Transport for Wales Rail Services the company initially owned by a Keolis Amey joint venture managed day-to-day running of rail services, as well as overseeing the development of South Wales Metro and the introduction of new trains. Transport for Wales was established as the government body to oversee road and rail transport, whilst TfWRS would have been best described as a railway company owned and operated by KeolisAmey.

When TfWRS took over the franchise, several promises were made, including the introduction of new trains, investment in existing rolling stock, as well as service improvements and station upgrades. On the face of it, TfWRS has so far appeared to have started to come good on some of its promises. £700m has already been spent or earmarked for the South Wales Metro scheme and orders for new trains have been placed, although it looks as if the class 197s ordered from CAF will not start to arrive by 2021 as originally planned and the 769s Flex units, which were intended as a stop-gap measure to release Class 150s so that they could be refitted to comply with accessibility standards are 2 years late, although some are now finally beginning to enter service.

Original timeline for rolling stock replacement 

As far as North Wales and the Borders goes, very little has happened. In fact, one of the first things TfWRS attempted to do was cut the first AM off-peak service calling at Gobowen, Chirk and Ruabon. The decision was made in an attempt to ensure the Cardiff-Holyhead express service could achieve the journey in under 4 and a half hours. A BBC article written at the time stated "A TfW spokesman said: "We have made a commitment to introduce a new Cardiff-Holyhead service departing from Cardiff Central with a total journey time of under four hours 30 minutes, using better trains to provide an improved service."

Such a move would have breached the terms that Welsh ministers had agreed with the Department for Transport when they were given powers to control Wales and Borders services. The agreement states "they shall not act in a manner that directly or indirectly unfairly prejudices the interests of passengers using English services in favour of the interests of passengers using the Welsh component of a Welsh service or a Wales only service" [1]. In the end, TfWRS reversed the decision, but it was a worrying proposal, especially for passengers in England who rely on Wales and Borders services.

 Holyhead-Cardiff loco haued "WAG Express" service in ATW colours at Chester Station

The outbreak of Covid19 has, of course, had an impact on the rail network as a whole and the industry remains in a precarious position. The dramatic fall in passenger numbers combined with poor service performance prior to the pandemic forced the Welsh Government to change the nature of the agreement with KeolisAmey and decide to take control of the day-to-day running of rail services. KeolisAmey will still oversee the development of South Wales Metro, but the Welsh Government has taken ownership of TfWRS in order to manage the day-to-day operation of rail services.

Of course, the dramatic decline in passenger numbers means that the Welsh Government now has less money to play with and has already spent or earmarked £700m of the funding initially granted by the DfT to TfW to transform rail services.

But it does appear that TfW has started to quietly cancel or curtail plans instigated before the pandemic to improve services and stations. One such promise which was made in 2019, was to install ticket machines "to all stations that do not have one by 2022". Now in 2021 this has been curtailed to just a few key stations, with busier stations seeing upgraded machines, whilst older machines will be moved to a few select stations based on passenger estimates.

 

TfW Class 230 on test on the Wrexham-Bidston line

This may seem on the face of it to be a minor issue, but for rural lines which are perceived to serve relatively few passengers, the installation of ticket machines was seen as a way to boost revenue. For example, ticket sales on the Wrexham-Bidston line have for years been relatively low and as such, it is has been assumed that the line serves a small number of passengers. However the sale of tickets is also low because passengers cannot buy tickets at the majority of stations, and yet whilst it is true that conductors can sell tickets onboard (although they have not done so since the outbreak of Covid), it was never always the case that a conductor checked or issued tickets. Often during the morning and evening commute with stations stops spaced closely together, particularly towards Wrexham, conductors are not able to issues tickets to all passengers whilst remaining in charge of the safe operation of the doors. So many passengers get a free ride, TfW loses vital revenue and passenger numbers go under-reported.

On the left a tweet from TfW regarding ticket machines from 2019, on the right a tweet from 2021

Sticking with the Wrexham-Bidston line, TfW decided after the second lockdown that passenger services should be reduced to 2 hourly until further notice, and be served by a single Class 150. Hopefully, services will quickly revert to hourly as restrictions ease and, by December 2021 service frequency should increase to half-hourly, as this was another key promise made by TfW when they took over. It was also promised that class 230s constructed by Vivarail would begin to enter service by 2020.

Granted the late delivery of class 230s was for the most part out of TfW's control. Several factors including Covid19 resulted in it taking longer than originally hoped to manufacture the units. Covid has also meant that crew training is taking longer than expected. The delivery of Class 769s in South Wales has also run late for similar reasons.

But the key promise of a half-hourly service by Dec 2021 will not, in the end, be entirely what was expected. Whilst there is no hint yet that TfW is going to reverse plans for a half-hourly service, the service itself will not be implemented in full. Instead one of the additional services per hour will not stop at every station and therefore some communities will miss out on the benefit of the new service. In an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for more investment, Minister for the Economy Ken Skates said a half-hourly service “will only be delivered by skipping stations along the route”. He explained that the full half-hourly service cannot be implemented because of “capacity and signalling constraints”. Certainly, the current service turnaround is tight, with trains taking an hour to get from Wrexham to Bidston and there are a limited number of freight movements per day which use the line between Deeside and Wrexham.

Those who have campaigned for improvements to be made to the Borderlands Line argue that the improved performance of the Class 230s compared to Class 150s, combined with speed improvements between Shotton and Bidston means that valuable minutes can be saved to provide a timetable buffer, without the need to miss stops. They are also willing to accept that a short break in the half-hourly service may have to operate when freight paths are needed, but there are currently usually only 2 freight movements each way during the daytime between Dee Marsh and Wrexham.

Ken Skates has gone on to say that full implementation of what is being called the "North Wales Metro" will require funding from the DfT. Initially, it was suggested that an additional block section would need to be installed by Network Rail in order to implement a full half-hourly service. But now Mr Skates along with Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram are asking for £100m worth of investment to introduce 4 trains per hour from Wrexham directly into Liverpool. Now, of course, calls for investment are welcome and I like many other passengers would like to see services operating directly into Liverpool. But what hope is there really of this happening if relatively modest improvements such as a half-hourly service and ticket machine installation cannot be delivered in full?

I realise I'm talking a lot about the Wrexham-Bidston line, it is the line that is local to me and it is one that I have actively been involved in calling for improvements for almost 7 years! Some people have been calling for improvements for over 30 years. And just as it seems that improvements are beginning to happen TfW could be about to backtrack on some of its promises.

I understand the initial funding provided to TfW to improve rail services did not stretch to improving Wales and Borders services. But as TfW now has full control of services that serve both England and Wales it only seems reasonable that passengers should expect that some of the money be invested in Borders services and not just South Wales Metro. Some English towns and cities will benefit from new Class 197 DMUs and the Wrexham-Bidston line will hopefully one day soon benefit from Class 230s. But with South Wales benefiting from £700m worth of investment and a raft of new bespoke trains, passengers could easily be forgiven for thinking that the "Borders" part of Wales and Borders has been forgotten about.


[1] page 6 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/737916/180531-ageny-agreement-number-3.pdf

 

Twitter - Facebook - Youtube

 

Reblog: D Train (Class 230), from passionate supporter to future passenger [2021 update]

First published in Rail magazine in 2019

In 2014 I become aware of an idea to fit diesel engines to redundant London Underground stock, an idea which if proposed by anyone else would have seemed, well a bit out-there. However this idea was proposed by Adrian Shooter, the highly respected ex chairman of Chiltern Railways, who decided to try to help solve the looming shortage of DMUs.

By November 2014 Vivarail chaired by Mr Shooter had begun purchasing ex LU D78 stock intended for conversion to DEMUs. In total 156 driving motor and 70 trailer vehicles were purchased and taken to Long Marston. Reaction from the industry was mixed and the mainstream media's response was harsh. I can remember it being said that "we don't want cast offs from the London" when it was suggested they could be used by Northern.

However, negative press reaction wasn't enough to deter Vivarail from pressing ahead with the project and by 2019 the fruits of their labour began to pay off. 3 class 230s entered passenger service on the Martson Vale line and 5 units were ordered by Transport for Wales Rail for use on the Wrexham-Bidston Line.

Around the time that I learned about the D-train project I became involved with the Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users' Association (WBRUA). The Association had been battling for improvements on the line for 3 decades with little success; but not through lack of trying. Throughout the 90s it seemed as if the line was being wound down and if it wasn't for the freight services that used the line it could of closed all together. 

In 2016/17 the WBRUA begin to actively support the introduction of class 230 on the line, with the proviso that the units were used in order to facilitate the introduction of a half hourly service. This would require 5 units and was at the time a big ask, however the WBRUA believed that a reliable half hourly service would unlock the potential of the line. 

The WBRUA was, and remains confident that 230s which have been delivered to TfW will outperform class 150s and provide a superior customer experience. In terms of performance, 4 diesel engines will provide 600kw of power to 4 rafts of batteries and with double the number of powered axles, will ensure the class 230s will be able to out-perform the class 150s. 

The WBRUA estimated that despite having 3 cars instead of 2, the class 230s with their all aluminium bodies will have a 30% better power to weight ratio than a 2 car class 150. 

 Class 230 vs Class 150 side by side comparison

 

 Now in 2021,

The class 230s were supposed to enter service on the line in early 2020, with 2 units intended for use on the Wrexham-Bidston line to maintain the hourly service, the other units were to be put to work on the Conwy Valley line, it was also suggested 1 unit could be used on the Chester-Crewe shuttle. However, it was soon established that a class 230 with a top speed of 60mph, despite its superior acceleration (when compared to class 150) would not be able to maintain the current Chester to Crewe journey time. It was intended that by December 2021 all 5 units would transfer to the Wrexham-Bidston line so that the half hourly services could commence.

In the end the first class 230 did not arrive in Wales until July 2020 owing to problems with the supply of crucial components and the added features stipulated by TfW such as wide gangways, for which parts had to be specially fabricated.

 

 230 006 at Wrexham General, having arrived from Long Martston that day.

230 006 was the first unit to arrive, it was driven from Long Marston to Wrexham General under its own power, with a Vivarail crew onboard. Soon after its arrival, 006 began testing on the line and completed between 2 and 3 runs each day from Wrexham General to Birkenhead North EMU Depot. Transport for Wales Rail had struck a deal with Merseytravel to use 1 of the roads at Birkenhead North EMUD to stable class 230s overnight. In August 2020 006 was joined by 007 and that same month 002, 006, 007 and 008 were authorised for passenger use by the ORR. 008 and 009 have now also arrived with 010 expected in the coming months.

There is currently no secure stabling provision for the class 230s at Wrexham, so all class 230s are being stabled at the Merseyrail EMUD overnight. Refuelling currently takes place at Chester TMD, which is used to maintain TfW's fleet of class 175s. On a handful of occasions 6 car class 230s have been seen making the journey from Birkenhead to Chester for refuelling. 

  230 008 approaching Neston station during testing

TfW have now taken ownership of a number of units and it appears as if they are gearing up to begin driver training. TfW staff members have been seen aboard class 230s making runs on the Wrexham-Bidston line and a class 153 has also been making a number of runs each day from Chester to Birkenhead North via Wrexham for route familiarise.  

A sufficient number of crews must be trained to operate the class 230s by December 2021 in order for the half hourly service to commence. Despite the outbreak of Covid19 and subsequent reduction to the services on the Wrexham-Bidston line, there has been no hint that the half hourly will be shelved. The half hourly service to be introduced from December 2021 was contractual agreement agreed by Transport for Wales and its private partner KeolisAmey when it took over operation of Wales and Borders services from Arriva Trains Wales in 2018. The Welsh Government through TfW has now taken over day to day running of the railway from KeolisAmey. However KeolisAmey still has a role to play in delivering the upgrade of the Valley Lines.  

There is no date yet for when the class 230s will enter service, however with the crews finally beginning familiarisation and training it is hoped that the first units could enter service by May this year (2021).

 

 

Liverpool Lime Street transformation

Liverpool Lime Street station fully re-opened on the 30th of July after an 8-week closure to allow for the upgrade of track and alterations to platforms to be made. The closure was the second phase of a major upgrade, with the first having taken place during the Autumn last year.

The upgrade of Liverpool Lime St is part of a larger £340m upgrade plan which will vastly improve rail services within the Liverpool City Region. The work undertaken at the station is an essential element of the scheme which will allow an additional 3 services per hour to call at Liverpool Lime St. The work will facilitate the introduction of 2 new services both of which are due to begin operating from December 2018.

A new hourly service to be operated by KeolisAmey (Wales and Borders) will serve Liverpool South Parkway, Helsby and Frodsham. This service which is due to begin in December 2018 is being made possible with the upgrade of Lime St and work to bring the Halton Curve back into full use. 

The other service operated by Trans Pennine Express is due to begin operating from December 2018 and will provide a direct service between Liverpool and Glasgow. 

The new services are being made possible with the construction of a brand new platform and upgrades to the track approaching the station. Control over signalling is also being diverted to a new central control centre.

Virgin Pendolino departing Platform 9

The most noticeable change for passengers will be the remodeled platforms. Platform 0 has now been removed, platforms 1 and 2 are still in the process of being extended, whilst platforms 3 and 4 have been widened. Platform 6 has been realigned and new platforms for 7 and 8 have been constructed. Lastly, platforms 9 and 10 have been extended, with 11 car Virgin Trains services now using platform 9.

Old meets new. Deliberate clear definition between old brickwork, repairs, new brickwork 

Another noticeable change for passengers using Virgin Trains services is the relocation of the First Class lounge and customer information desk. Currently both are located within a new structure located on the main concourse. However The White Star pub which was located above M&S Simply Food has now gone to make way for a new First Class lounge. It is not clear if the current structure on the main concourse is temporary or will be altered once the new lounge opens.

Key Facts:

1 million hours worked.
2.9km of new track installed.
16,000 tonnes of ballast used.
11km new overhead line wiring installed.
26 new signals installed.

Final works will take place on the 2nd of September and 14th of October and will see platforms 1 and 2 come into full use. Once complete the works will allow for new and more reliable services, the new and reconfigured platforms will also allow an increasing number of passengers to use the station more safely.


More information is available on the Network Rail website.

Follow on Twitter and Facebook

 For more information 

e-mail info@EngineeringBlogco.uk

Call: 07393 565 863

RailLive Special - Class 769 Flex by Porterbrook

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 

The Flex units are being described as "Tri-mode" as they will be able to draw power from 750v DC third rail and 25kV overhead lines whilst also being able to operate under their own power on non-electrified lines.

Each 4 car train will have 2 6 cylinder diesel engines provided by MAN placed underneath each driving vehicle, the engines will be used to generate electricity to power traction motors. Each horizontal 6 cylinder engine will produce 390kw and will comply with the latest EU Stage IIIB emission standards.

The horizontal 6 cylinder 13 Litre engine provided by MAN

Since the initial order of 8 units for Northern was confirmed a further 24 units have been ordered, 19 for Great Western Railway and 5 for Arriva Trains Wales. The 5 units originally ordered by ATW were destined for South Wales and despite the announcement that KeolisAmey will take over the Wales and Borders franchise the current plans do not seem to have changed. 

It is understood that GWR will use 769s on Reading - Gatwick Airport and Reading - Oxford routes. This will allow GWR to re-deploy class 165/166s to the Bristol area.

5 years ago it was thought that demand for diesel multiple units (DMUs) would decrease rapidly and that the routes on which the class 796s will operate would be electrified. But with cancellations and delays to electrification schemes the rail industry found itself with a potential shortage of rolling stock and crucially DMUs.

Whilst it is true to say that train operating companies have suffered from a shortage of DMUs for a number of years, the problems facing the rail industry over the next 1 to 3 year could have been much worse. With public pressure to remove Pacers from service completely, electrification woes and new disability standards which mean many DMUs will have to be modified by 2020 to comply with PRM TSI standards all having an affect on the availability of units. 

That is if companies such as Porterbrook and Vivarail hadn't spotted the potential problems facing the industry and decided to take a risk and invest in developing solutions which could be deployed relatively quickly and were cost-effective in the short to medium term. 

The class 769s and 230s will allow class 15Xs to be sent off lease to be modified to comply with PRM TSI standards and will fill a gap left by the delays and cancellation of electrification schemes. Both trains will be able to operate on electrified and non-electrified lines so no services will have to terminate where electrification ends or mean that DMUs are running for long periods along sections of railway that have been electrified. 

It is hoped that passengers will see the benefits of these new units within the next 12 months and I'm fairly certain they will not notice that they will be riding on upcycled trains. 

There was a huge amount to see at year's RailLive organised by Rail magazine so I have a number of posts planned covering innovation and technology. This year in particular there seemed to be a lot of innovative products on display and brand new never before seen technology. So if you follow Engineering Focus on social media or click the "subscribe by e-mail" link you won't miss out on any of the latest content over the next week. 

Follow on Twitter and Facebook

 For more information 

e-mail Blog@EngineeringFocus.co.uk

Call: 07393 565 863

RailLive special - A busy year for Vivarail (part 1)

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 improvement; the line is somewhat isolated and there are no servicing facilities close by. This is where the class 230's unique design comes into its own.

The units will be upcycled from now redundant D78 stock from the London Underground, this means that they will be less expensive to introduce than new trains and will perhaps, be cheaper to operate than the class 150s that currently operate on the line. This is important as current passenger numbers on the Wrexham to Bidston line are comparatively low. This fact combined with the zero growth basis on which the outgoing Arriva Trains Wales franchise was based, has meant that there was no incentive to invest in improving the service beyond trying to improve reliability.

What is really needed on the Wrexham to Bidston line is a half hourly service which would provide good connectivity with services to Liverpool, Chester, North Wales, Manchester and further afield. This connectivity can only be achieved with the introduction of a reliable half hourly service connecting at Bidston for Merseyrail services to Liverpool and at Shotton for services to Chester, Manchester and North Wales.

A new half-hourly service will require an increase from 2 units which currently serve on the line, to 4 with 1 unit available at short notice on standby should one fail. This increase will require additional investment by Transport for Wales, so the lower cost of the class 230 will help improve the business case.

Another fact which favors the class 230 is the modular design of the power packs. Each engine sits within a raft which is slung underneath the carriage, this means each powerpack can be removed and replaced relatively easily without the need for specialist equipment or train lift. This should mean that the units would not need to travel to Cardiff for repairs and that they can be stabled locally.

The 60mph top speed of the units should provide no issue in the case of the Wrexham to Bidston line as the frequent stops and low track speed means that trains rarely if at all ever reach 60mph. However the class 230 could potentially outperform the current class 150s. This is due to the increased power (whilst complying with strict environmental regulations), the lightweight aluminium body shells and the fact that the units have a greater number powered axles, 2 per powered car for a class 150, versus 4 per driving car for the class 230.

Unit service and design:

The first of 5 class 230s to enter service should do so in the summer of 2019 and will be used on the Wrexham to Bidston, Conwy Valley and Chester to Crewe services. This will allow class 150s to be taken south to enable the withdrawal of Pacers. Once new CAF built trains begin to arrive entire fleet of class 230s will be released in time for the introduction of a half hourly service on the Wrexham Bidston line in December 2021.

The design for the 3-car trains which will feature universal access toilet, WiFi, air conditioning, USB ports and 3-pin sockets is well underway and it is expected that the units will move to Wales for final testing and commissioning in early 2019. The class 230s will be fitted with a range of seating layouts and there will be plenty of space for bikes and luggage.

CGI image of the proposed layout for the new W&B units

image courtesy of Vivarail

Marston Vale line

At the start of the year I reported on the announcement that Vivarail was chosen to supply 3 class 230s for West Midlands Trains to operate on the Marston Vale line. Work to build the trains is well underway and they are expected to enter sercice in December this year (2018)

Image captured in May 2018 shows of one of the units featuring MWT livery ready to be fitted out 

image courtesy of Vivarail

The units will enter service between Bedford and Bletchley and be the first trains to be introduced within the new West Midlands Trains franchise.

The first 2 confirmed orders are exciting news, but that is not all that has been happening at Vivarail this year. In part 2 I will be taking a closer look at the battery unit that has been in development for the last year, which I had the chance to ride on this morning at RailLive.