Operations
After a break of two weeks owing to engineering work, through services resumed on the section of the West
Coast Main Line (WCML) via Beattock resumed on Monday, March 20. However, due to an early morning points failure at Carstairs, the first Glasgow Central to London Euston service on that section of line to depart from Glasgow Central was the 1M09/07.40, worked by Class 390 No. 390153.
DRS Class 57 No. 57307 Lady Penelope pulled Class 390 No. 390129 City of Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday, March 26 from Carlisle on the 5H88/14.02 to Manchester’s Longsight depot.
With the reopening of the WCML via Beattock, most AWC Anglo-Scottish services in late March were operated by Class 390 EMUs. One regular exception, worked by two Class 221 DMUs, was the 1S63/12.20 Euston to Glasgow Central, which was operated by Nos. 221109+221117 on March 31.
Three Class 91-hauled trains to Leeds were seen at King’s Cross on Sunday, March 19, with the 1D13/12.03 headed by No. 91106 and No. 82214 noted at the rear. No. 91114 Durham Cathedral was at the head of the 1D14/12.33 departure, with No. 82211 noted at the rear. A little later, No. 91127 was on the 1D17/14.03 departure, with No. 82213 noted at the rear. The following afternoon found two Class 91s side by side, with No. 91105 at Platform 7 seen leaving on empty stock to Ferme Park, while No. 91114 was at Platform 8 at the head of the 1D19/15.03 to Leeds, with No. 82211 at the rear of the service. There has been no further indication as to when the trial of the former VivaRail battery trains on the Greenford loop may commence. On Saturday, March 4, Class 165 No. 165119 was seen at Platform 5 at West Ealing before working the 2G32/13.22 departure to Greenford. A move on April 3 saw Class 387 Nos. 387172-74 hauled from Reading to Peterborough by Class 37 No. 37608 for working with Great Northern. Movements of new Class 720 units continue, with No. 720518 being top-and-tailed from Derby to Wembley by Class 50 Nos. 50007+50049 on March 15. Two days later, the Class 50s moved No. 720126 on the same diagram, followed by No. 720125 on March 21 and 720123 on March 22. No. 720128 was taken south on March 31, top-and-tailed between Class 56 No. 56098 and Class 50 No. 50049 Defiance. The consist also included barrier vans Nos. 6377, ADB975978, ADB975974 and 6376 and was observed passing Market Harborough en route to Wembley. This was followed on April 6, when No. 720127 made the same move escorted by Nos. 56098+50007 Hercules. Greater Anglia has announced that to mark the upcoming withdrawal of Class 321 trains from service, it would run a special Class 321 Farewell charity charter train on Saturday, April 29 using two Class 321 units. The charter train was due to run from Liverpool Street to Clacton, Walton, Harwich Town, Stowmarket, back to Shenfield, to Southend Victoria and finally back to Liverpool Street, covering many of the core routes with which the Class 321s have been closely associated for much of their lives. A visit to a cold and overcast Peterborough on March 8, which saw snow fall from about midday, found the 2L79/15.50 service to Ipswich, in the hands of Stadler Class 755/4 No. 755403, stand for two hours at Platform 6. Its departure was halted by a ‘failed’ Freightliner Class 66-hauled intermodal at Manea, with two other intermodals behind it between Peterborough and March, that necessitated a rescue locomotive being dispatched from Ipswich – a good 60-minute trip – to then haul it through Ely and onward to Felixstowe. This blocking of the cross-country route between Peterborough and Ely saw EMR services to Norwich and Cross-Country to Stansted cancelled and Platforms 5, 6 and 7 occupied. Eventually, 2L79 became 2L81 at 17.50 but with three intermodals in system to Ipswich, the expected arrival of 19.29 became an actual arrival at 19.59 and sadly, through no fault of Greater Anglia, a ‘Delay/Repay’ submission that saw the full fare refunded. Movements reported regarding the Class 379 units included Nos. 379022 and 379017 leaving Harwich Parkeston Quay (PQ) yard on March 20 under their own power to Ilford EMUD as 5V13. There was also a return trip, but no reports of what unit(s) were involved.
This move was followed on March 22, when Nos. 379008+379014+379006 left Harwich PQ yard also to Ilford.
No. 379014 was left at Ilford while the other two units returned to Harwich PQ. On a trip to London on April 5, four lines, each with two Class 379 units, were noted in Aldersbrook carriage sidings at Ilford.
On March 2, an announcement was made that the operation of Caledonian Sleepers will be taken over by Scottish Rail Holdings, an arm’s-length company owned by the Scottish Government, from June 25. The announcement did not refer to the haulage contract with GBRf. On March 4, Class 43 Nos. 43301+43304 were observed on the 08.50 Edinburgh to Bristol working, usually operated by a Voyager. CrossCountry has issued an internal communication relating to its high speed trains: “While our high speed trains have served us well, they have been in use for more than 40 years. We are making some changes to our fleet when the next timetable change is introduced in May. This is to enable us to run a more efficient service that also reflects the way people are now travelling for business and leisure and requires fewer trains to deliver the number of seats customers need at present.
“As such, there will be a phased removal of the high speed trains from the CrossCountry fleet.”
The announcement does not make clear if the HSTs are to be withdrawn when the May timetable is implemented, or whether May will be the start of the phased removal, with the trains withdrawn when their lease ends in October. Platform 3 at Hartlepool is expected to reopen on July 3, when Northern will introduce an express service between Newcastle and Middlesbrough, calling at Thornaby, Hartlepool and Sunderland only. In addition, Northern expects to launch regular services on the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington in the summer of 2024. The exact start date will be announced closer to the time.
As the WCML north of Carlisle and south of Lancaster was closed on Sunday, March 12, the only passenger services over Shap were operated by TPE Class 397 No. 397003. It made three trips from Carlisle to Lancaster and back on that day. The day’s first service from Carlisle, the 1M85/11.44, arrived in Lancaster with only four passengers in First Class, but hordes of passengers disembarked from Standard Class. This resulted in a long queue of passengers waiting for the bus replacement service to Manchester Airport. Over the period when the WCML via Beattock was closed, TPE’s services between Carlisle and the northwest of England were operated by Class 397 units. Although a section of WCML line in Scotland was reopened on Monday, March 20, TPE did not operate a full service until the following day. One unit’s diagram, south from Edinburgh, the 1M93 and 1M91 and returning north from Manchester Airport as the 1S56 and 1S88, was operated by Class 802 No. 802214, which, when it finally arrived in Edinburgh Waverley at 23.43, meant that this unit had covered a total 1401 passengercarrying miles. However, on March 22, this diagram was cancelled.
A correspondent was surprised to see Class 397 No. 397009 entering Oxenholme’s Platform 3 ECS at 13.50 on March 28 to form the 14.07 to Liverpool Lime Street, which would normally have been a 12.04 departure from Glasgow Central, all due to service alterations during the upgrades at Carstairs junction.
Three further new Class 777 units Nos. 777142/44/46 arrived at Dollands Moor and were taken north to Ripple Lane by Class 66 No. 66002 on March 22, going forward to Warrington topand-tailed by Rail Adventure’s Class 43 Nos. 43468+43480 and 43465+43484.
The final two of the class at Crewe, Nos. 777002+777006, were moved to Kirkdale on March 26 by the Rail Adventure Class 43s. The first of the Stadler Class 398 tram-trains for South Wales Metro services, No. 398007, arrived at TfW’s Taff’s Well partially-built depot by road on the night of March 21. It was followed on March 27 by No. 398008, also delivered by road. Nos. 398001-06 are reported to be on test at Network Rail’s
Rail Innovation & Development Centre at Old Dalby.
As part of the programme to implement the South Wales Metro, TfW announced on
March 21 that the line between Pontypridd and Treherbert will be closed for modernisation from April 30 until early 2024.
Three new Class 756 units, Nos. 756002/04/05, were taken north from Dollands Moor to Ripple Lane on March 27 by Class 92 No. 92042+Class 66 No. 66002 before being taken on by the Class 66 to Cardiff.
TfW officially launched its fleet of Stadler Flirt Class 231 diesel multiple units into revenue service with a ceremony at Caerphilly on March 29, at which unit No. 231001 was named Sultan.
Network Rail has announced that Barmouth viaduct will close for up to 13 weeks from September 2 so work to reconstruct the metal sections of the Grade II-listed structure can take place, and for track renewals at the northern end. Movements of new Class 730 units reported include No. 730008 on March 16, hauled from Loughborough to Oxley by Class 37 No. 37608, which then took No. 730007 from Oxley to Old Dalby. New Nos. 730030+730031 were taken from Derby to Worksop on March 22 by Class 37 Nos. 37884+37611.
A further move on March 24 also saw a Loughborough-Oxley move when No. 37800 moved No. 730009. A further move from Oxley to Loughborough occurred on March 29, with
No. 730001 being moved by
No. 37608. Two days later, Nos. 730032+730033 were taken from Derby to Worksop by Nos. 37601+37608. On April 4, No. 730023 was taken from Derby to Oxley by Class 31 No. 37608. On Sunday, March 12, Class 360 Nos. 360113 and 360106 were seen pulling away from Platform 2 at St Pancras International forming the 15.14 departure to Corby. Both units were in East Midlands Railway maroon livery with ‘Luton Airport Express’ branding. Class 222 Meridian No. 222104 is now a full aubergine unit again, its fifth car having been painted in the full EMR livery. It was seen on March 28 working the 1C71/16.00 Sheffield to London St Pancras, and on March 29 on the 1B85/18.50 Nottingham to London St Pancras with No. 222101. Class 156 No. 156917, destined for further work with Northern Trains, ran from Etches
Park to Wolverton on March 31. Fellow class member No. 156907 moved to Long Marston on April 3, no longer in use with EMR.
Various moves of new Class
710 units have been reported, including No. 710374 being top-and-tailed by Class 37 Nos. 37611+37884 from Worksop to Litchurch Lane on March 16, followed by No. 710270 on the same move on March 31, hauled by Class 37 Nos. 37608+37601. On Sunday, March 12, engineering works closed the line through the tunnel across London and as a result, Thameslink trains from the north terminated in St Pancras International high-level station. A journey was made from West Hampstead Thameslink on the 9H49/13.53 from Luton to St Pancras International, formed of Class 700 No. 700059. The service terminated at Platform 1, where No. 700059 formed the 9G32/14.54 departure to Bedford. Thameslink trains were again terminating at St Pancras International high-level station on the following Sunday, March 19, when a journey from West