THE issue of traction power for trains, both existing and new-build, is one that is set to dominate discussions for some time.
In many cases, electric trains are the preferred choice, however this is not always possible. A lack of coherent electrification strategy by the Department for Transport (DfT), combined with the costs surrounding such schemes, means operators, manufacturers and rolling stock leasing companies, as well as infrastructure suppliers, must look to other options to power trains.
This situation is further exacerbated by the need to decarbonise the country’s railway system by the 2050 deadline set by the Government. But then this is the same Government that has increasingly turned off the funding tap for the railway and, only recently, published a letter detailing planned orders for Chiltern Railways, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express without confirming any progress (RE335).
Great Western Railway has a large fleet of Sprinters and Turbos dating from the mid-1980s (24 Class 150/2s, 18 Class 158s in two and three-car formations, 36 Class 165s in two and three-car formations and 21 Class 166s) and yet the letter stated that their replacement was an aspiration and was not included in the main round of proposed orders! This means that the ‘150s’ will easily pass their 40th anniversary in traffic and could be forced to carry even more passengers when the five High Speed Train Castle sets largely confined to the Plymouth-Penzance route are withdrawn next year.
For the time being, if GWR wants to increase capacity on its fleet it will need to look to cast-offs from other regions. As the operator’s managing director Mark Hopwood told in an exclusive interview in November 2023: “I think a lot of people, politically, get obsessed with the sort of north south divide and that actually, the south west
