General Updates

GENERAL NEWS AND UPDATES.....

Firstly, class 88 testing is soon to commence, as reported in this link from Rail Magazine. Meanwhile, sister 68027 of the older batch is currently being used on the Greater Anglia Short Hauled Set. It's only in standard blue livery because it'll be transferring to Transpennine Express to haul their MK5 coaches, thus will be repainted.
Next, an innovative new braking system - wheel-slide protection, similar to ABS in cars - is being fitted to Greater Anglia rural trains, which will be particularly beneficial in the autumn in order to ensure that the train brakes evenly.

In turn, this'll reduce the amount of wheel-flats, the train wheel becoming distorted out of the optimum shape, reducing the time that a train spends away at the lathe to make the wheel a circle again and thus preventing trains from being short-formed or cancelled due to unavailability of stock.
Greater Anglia’s Norwich Depot Technical Manager, Jason Mills, said, “We are absolutely delighted with the results. This is an industry first and a brilliant innovation by the teams at Norwich Crown Point, Porterbrook, KBRS, SNC-Lavalin and Loram UK Ltd, taking a class of train that some thought incompatible with WSP and creating a bespoke system that has surpassed everyone’s expectations. This investment means that these trains will be more reliable as they will not need to be taken out of service as often to visit the wheel lathe, and is a further investment to improve our passengers’ experience while we await the roll out of new trains from 2019.” 

The remaining class 156 units of the fleet will receive the same treatment over the next 6 months.

From the current Greater Anglia fleet now, to the upcoming fleet. As reported, new Stadler FLIRT and Bombardier Aventra units are on their way for Greater Anglia. A mock-up of the FLIRT has been unveiled at Norwich Crown Point depot to showcase some of the best features of the new units: a modern café bar counter, live CIS screens onboard (stating information on things like local weather, live arrival/departure information and where the nearest loo is), a digitalised reservation system, USB ports and also a VERY spacious toilet.


Also to report, GWR 800-003 has been named..... "....GBRf Train Managers (drivers) Paul Keenan and Mark Ewington had the honour of escorting the Queen safely from Slough to London Paddington where she named the brand new Hitachi IEP train "Queen Elizabeth II" before greeting waiting crowds."

Finally, you may remember last year we reported that 16 of the 24 Class 442s went into storage at a location near Ely, Cambridgeshire, the final numbers of the batch are elsewhere. Well, we never actually shared any photos of the 442s, effectively because there were none! UNTIL NOW....

DRUMROLL PLEASE. This footage here shows the fleet of 442s being stabled at that exact location in Ely. 18 of the fleet await their new home at South West Trains. 

Fact: These sidings shown were built new recently just so train stock can be stored at a secure and safe compound until new homes are found.

Regards:

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