TESTING of the new ETCS (European Train Control System) in-cab signalling that has been fitted to‘A1’Pacific No. 60163 Tornado will take place on the Cambrian Main Line.
With the loco entering the final stages of a major overhaul which has included ETCS fitment to enable operation on sections of the East Coast Main Line, the original plan was for Tornado to undergo its testing at the Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC) test track at Old Dalby, Melton Mowbray. Unfortunately, a serious landslip on the test track has curtailed this plan and indeed other RIDC operations.
Instead, Tornado is scheduled to undergo dynamic ETCS testing during an as-yet unspecified number of night-time possessions on the Cambrian Line between Shrewsbury, Welshpool and Newtown during April. The tests will not affect the line’s passenger operations.
Explained Ed Akers, Network Rail’s principal sponsor of the East Coast Digital Programme: “The
