The Railway Magazine

AFTER problems emerged about a year ago with cracking on the Hitachi-built Class 800 fleet – which was later discovered on the company’s other Class 80x types and, to a lesser extent, on Classes 385 and 395 – a plan has been devised to fix the issue that led to mass cancellations of services and widespread disruption when first discovered. An in-depth report by the Office of Rail and Road (see page 6) found a prevalence of cracks close to the yaw damper bracket and anti-roll bar fixing points in the area where the load of the vehicle is transferred to the bogie. This fatigue cracking followed from the area experiencing greater loads than allowed for in the original design, with other factors possibly contributing to the stress. It is not yet…

A SIX-year ‘fleet recovery programme’ has been devised to deliver a permanent solution to cracking on Hitachi Class 800 series, Class 385 and Class 395 trains. Presenting its final report on the problems discovered last year, the Office of Rail & Road said that the manufacturer and independent experts had completed “rigorous analysis to gain a clearer understanding of the issue”. The prevalence of yaw damper and lifting plate cracks on Class 800 series trains operated by Great Western Railway and LNER prompted a decision on May 8, 2021, to withdraw all Class 800, 801 and 802 units (including Class 802s in service with TransPennine Express and Hull Trains) until all vehicles had been checked. Related cracking was identified following examination of ScotRail’s Class 385 electric multiple units and Southeastern’s Class 395 ‘Javelin’…

A LARGE programme of repairs, renewals and upgrades were undertaken by Network Rail engineers and contractors over the Easter Holiday in mid-April. While the work may have brought disruption for some, the projects will bring longterm reliability. Work was spread around the country, with major works taking place on the West Coast Main Line between Milton Keynes and Euston for track improvements around Watford Junction and outside Euston. There was also work between Coventry and Birmingham International (HS2 enabling work at Hampton-in-Arden, drainage work at Beechwood Tunnel near Berkswell, and a bridge replacement at Coventry South Junction) which meant Avanti services from Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street were diverted via Nuneaton using two five-car ‘Super Voyager’ sets. Other services from the North terminated at Milton Keynes, with passengers put on rail replacement buses. Around…

WEST Midlands Metro operator Midland Metro Ltd (MML) says it expects to be in a position to resume passenger services by the end of May, writes Graeme Pickering. MML is working closely with manufacturer CAF as work continues to replace cracked body panels on its fleet of trams. The cracks were found on a number of ‘Urbos 3’ vehicles, leading to the suspension of services on March 19 for the third time in nine months. A detailed assessment of the fleet has been completed and a schedule of replacement work is underway which “will enable trams to return to service as quickly as possible”. It follows what was described by Anne Shaw, executive director of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), as a “really productive” meeting with CAF at the end of March, after…

FOLLOWING the initial failure of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, Russian forces have withdrawn from the area around the capital Kyiv and regrouped to attack the easternmost parts of the country, where the Donbas region has insurgent governments controlling major cities that declared themselves independent of Ukraine in 2014. In advance of the main attack in the Donbas in mid-April, the Russian military sought to disrupt transport and communications within the areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, and the national railway network operated by Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) has become a major target. A station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine was hit by a Russian missile attack on April 8, when it was packed with refugees waiting for trains to take them westwards. At least 59 people were reported…

A TARGET date of May 27 has been set to decide whether or not National Highways (NH) should be granted retrospective planning permission for the controversial infilling of a bridge over a disused section of the Eden Valley line near Great Musgrave in Cumbria. Approximately 1540 tonnes of crushed stone and 104 tonnes of concrete were used to fill the portal of the bridge (carrying the B6259 across the old railway alignment) and create embankments which were then covered with topsoil and grass. Following completion of the work in June 2021, the Eden Valley Railway (which operates heritage services over a two-mile stretch of the route from Warcop, around two miles north of the bridge) and the Stainmore Railway Company (based at the southern end of the old line at Kirkby Stephen…