ROLLING STOCK
Making the best use of rolling stock
Conversion projects can signifi cantly expand capacity without breaking the bank. Kate Ashley reports. W ithout Government funding for new rolling stock, capacity can still
be extended in a number of different and innovative ways.
RTM visited Wabtec’s Doncaster depot in April to see the refurbishment and conversion of 60 former Class 460 Gatwick Express vehicles to increase the length and number of services South West Trains that can operate into London Waterloo.
It is a complex restructuring project, combining elements of the old trains with 120 of South West Train’s existing Class 458 carriages, to create 36 fi ve-car Class 458/5 sets.
An ‘unusual’ solution
The £42m scheme is funded by Porterbrook Leasing, which owns both fl eets. The work has been contracted to Alstom and is being carried out by Wabtec Rail at depots in Doncaster and Loughborough.
The Class 458 trains will be reconfi gured from 64 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 13
four-car into fi ve-car sets, and six additional units will be converted. The new sets will form 10-car trains to provide extra services on the Windsor lines from Hounslow, Reading, Weybridge and Windsor.
The conversion will leave four cars redundant – the driver’s cabs – which can donate their bogies to other engineering projects, be used as spares or scrap.
The chosen confi guration allows the best use of all the cars.
Managing director of South West Trains, and lead for the SWT/Network Rail Alliance, Tim Shoveller, described it to RTM as an “unusual solution”, that would provide a “long overdue capacity upgrade”.
Remanufacturing existing rolling stock will allow SWT to accommodate growth whilst maintaining reliability; the operator expects thousands of extra passengers over the coming years, making this a long overdue capacity upgrade.
It is “a work in progress”, Shoveller
acknowledged, but one that demonstrated re- engineering “on a scale not seen in privatisation”.
Capacity without the cost
Engineering director for SWT, Christian Roth, said it had been suggested three times to the DfT that more Desiros should be built, but as an alternative Porterbrook proposed using existing trains to boost capacity.
Signalling has already been reconfi gured and platforms along the route have been extended in preparation for the new trains.
The project will see a complete overhaul of the trains, including power supply and automative selective door opening for suburban stations where platform extension is not feasible.
The Class 460s have to be upgraded with GSM-R, as well undergoing work to address corrosion. The project was still “signifi cantly cheaper” than buying new trains, and could increase capacity at half the cost, Roth said.
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