H's Brief Summary: Autumn 2016
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| RILA Equipment - Colchester ~ J Maxim 2016. |
The RILA equipment shown below monitors the track, and has been used on the Norwich to London mainline this autumn. Also, GWR have a new livery for one of their GWR green HSTs, following the reopening of the Severn Tunnel.
As stated, class 442s have gradually been taken off the Gatwick Express network and into storage. 420 is the latest to make the journey. Angel Trains, the leasing company, have decided that 18 of the type will undergo an overhaul, and then a new home will be sought. The Rail Operations Group are in charge of providing the locomotives, and their 47 and 37s have been seen deployed on the movements taking the 442s from their home and Three Bridges to Eastleigh, Ely etc.
On the 10th, the first of 29 387s began service on the Govia Great Northern Network - as reported recently. These are primarily to be used between London Kings Cross, Peterborough and London Kings Cross, Cambridge and Kings Lynn (via intermediate stations).
43185 went into an iconic livery, to celebrate the 40th Birthday of the HST, and still going! Some more good snaps here. Talking of GWR, they've opened the doors to the CLASS 387!
We don't have to worry about them vanishing from the rails just yet, as seen with the MK2S currently in East Anglia and leased to Northern Rail too, old stock still has a purpose! Anyway, we know the HSTs are still going to be going strong after the new fleet comes into force. As stated, some HSTs stay with GWR to be used on alternative Paddington Stopper Services in mini-formations (displacing the Networker Turbos, as stated) when no longer needed on the mainline (800/801s into service). Meanwhile, other HSTs go to Scot Rail.
Plus 37s and 47s still lurk around! 47s will be used by Nenta Tours (based in Norfolk) on one of their RailTours leaving Great Yarmouth at 06:00am on Saturday 27th November headed to York via Norwich and Peterborough. £65.75 Standard Class, £100.75 First Class, or for £169.75 First Class with Meals.
On the 17th September, going back sometime now, the 06:19 London Midland Service from Milton Keynes to London Euston station formed of 350264 at the front derailed at Watford Junction. This was after hitting an obstruction on the track as a result of a landslide outside the Hunton Bridge tunnel, the landslide occured due to heavy rain. Luckily only minor injuries were obtained by a few passengers onboard, whilst the train had some damage to the cab as it was clipped by 350 233 going the other way. The line reopened 4 hours later.
Further to our post, it's confirmed that one rake (approximately 9 coaches) will transfer from Greater Anglia to the A1 Group when it's no longer needed by the introduction of Stadler FLIRTs (as stated before).
These MK3 carriages recently underwent an internal refresh programme, by Vossloh Kieppe, which was completed by September 2016, in time for the new franchise this October. 12,000 metres of carpet, 4500 plug points, 7686 seat covers and 23,000 metres squared of fabric overall later and the project is done.
"The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust announced at its Annual Convention on Saturday 1st October that it would be building a state-of-the-art charter train. The train is to be constructed from locomotive hauled Mk3 carriages currently in use in East Anglia which will be extensively refurbished and overhauled for their new role..... Although the final formation of the train is yet to be determined, it will include kitchen car(s) to enable high quality meals to be delivered to 250 First Class Dining passengers, a new support coach which will provide accommodation for the support crew and the locomotive’s day-to-day spares and consumables and a service vehicle with generator and staff accommodation. The train will also carry sufficient additional water to extend Tornado’s range to around 200 miles. The refurbished train is expected to enter service towards the end of 2019."
Finally, INFOTECH (a company that manufactures CIS screens for trains and stations) have upgraded the information systems onboard the Virgin Trains Pendolino. This is part of a project between Angel Trains (Leaser), Virgin (Operator) and INFOtech - info here.
H.
