Roger Ford - May Informed Sources
In the May Informed Sources Roger Ford finally establishes the number of new vehicles in the High Level Outlook Specification (HLOS) and identifies the train operators due to receive them over the next five years. And the answer is 973. To make up number to the 1300 new vehicles promised in the HLOS the Government has dragged in 327 from the new Thameslink fleet currently out to tender.
Roger's analysis also looks at the implications for the train operators who will now get cascaded trains rather than new. These include Northern, South Eastern and Southern.
After a surprisingly enthusiastic response to an earlier guide to the physics behind traction performance, a follow-up item looks at the role of power in locomotive performance, taking as its example Freightliner's new General Electric PowerHaul Locomotive which is compared with two electric Class 86 electrics in multiple. For good measure Roger also includes comparisons with the Class 60 diesel and the Class 92 electric freight locomotives.
Following last month's technical description of the Hitachi Super Express Train (SET), Informed Sources tries to make sense of the Bi-mode version, which has the same total power as the all-electric SET, but split half diesel/half electric. This means that when running under the wires the Bi-mode will need regular boosts from the diesel engine. There is also an extended analysis of DfT Rail's claims that under diesel power alone the 10-car bi-mode will match an IC125. Readers can see the graphs and form their own opinion.
Finally, there is encouraging news from Network Rail Chief Executive Iain Coucher on electrification. Mr Coucher is looking forward to a rolling programme of '10 single track kilometres a week for a decade' - 5000 single track km in total. But Roger Ford is worried by an apparent cooling in DfT Rail's attitude on the subject.
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