THE first tri-mode Class 93, No. 93001, arrived at Worksop on July 1, where it will be based for the next few weeks before beginning a period of maintenance and main line testing.
It is the first of an initial batch of 10 locomotives owned by Rail Operations Assets Ltd (ROAL) that are being built by Stadler in Valencia, Spain. Factory testing has already been undertaken at the Spanish facility; however it cannot yet run on its own power on the national network here in the UK. Instead, testing using an unbranded No. 93002 is underway at the Faurei test facility in Romania. There, the locomotive will undergo various tests which will enable the class to receive the various certification required from the UK regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to operate on Network Rail infrastructure.
No. 93001 arrived by ship at Portbury Docks, Bristol, on June 28. It was unloaded the same day and after the various checks were completed, it left that site on June 30, by road, arriving at the Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC) facility around lunchtime on July 1.
Rail Operations Assets Ltd is part of the Rail Operations (UK) Ltd group, sitting alongside Rail Operations Group (ROG) and was created last October. In the family tree, ROG sits alongside Orion (the logistics business) and Traxion (a rolling stock storage business). Although the ‘93’ carries the new ROG livery and
