ScotRail takes action over non-compliant HSTs

SCOTRAIL is advertising for a contractor who can fit waste tanks to HSTs which have yet to be refurbished for service north of the border. The programme of converting trains cascaded from Great Western Railway is running at least a year behind schedule, because work to fit the waste tanks and automatic doors at Wabtec is taking much longer than expected. So far, only five trains have been converted from a fleet of 26, which is destined to run on Scotland’s intercity routes. About a dozen unconverted HSTs have been placed in service, but from the start of 2020 these will no longer be compliant with new regulations which will ban waste being discharged on to the tracks, and neither will they be properly accessible. One of the HSTs was also the cause of a fire alarm at Glasgow Queen Street station on 18 June, because it was emitting a dense exhaust cloud. RMT regional organiser Mick Hogg said: ‘Fitting the tanks is a welcome step but it has taken too long, and I am sceptical that they will get this work done by the end of the year.’