Posted 3rd April 2023 | 1 Comment

Belated launch for Welsh Vivarail units

A Vivarail train has started to carry passengers in North Wales this morning, more than four months since the rolling stock conversion company went into administration.

Five Class 230 units had been ordered for the former Wales & Border franchise from Vivarail in June 2018, but they have not entered service until now because Transport for Wales has been dealing with technical faults on the trains.

The first battery-hybrid unit converted from former London Underground cars to carry passengers in Wales left Wrexham Central at 07.31. Similar units have been running in the Isle of Wight, but London Northwestern Railway withdrew its Vivarail trains from the Bedford to Bletchley line at the start of December, when Vivarail appointed adminstrators. Bedford-Bletchley services have been operated by rail replacement buses since then.

Vivarail has rebuilt the interior of the D78 cars, equipping them with toilets, power sockets, passenger information screens, WifFi, bike racks and air conditioning.

Transport for Wales’ chief commercial officer Alexia Course said: ‘We’re delighted that the first Class 230 train has entered service. 

‘We’re committed to improving services between North Wales and the Liverpool City Region. We’ve already introduced brand new trains on services between Chester and Liverpool, and we’re planning to increase the frequency of services between Wrexham and Bidston, as well as providing a new direct service between Llandudno and Liverpool via the North Wales coast.’

Reader Comments:

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  • Chris Jones-Bridger, Buckley

    Another small piece in the jigsaw for TfW. As a significant investment has been made in this small fleet let's hope that TfW have made the right call to persevere with the introduction of the 230's given the collapse of Vivarail.

    For too long the Wrexham to Bidston line, the Borderlands Line, has been a neglected part of the network. A case study could be written as to how BR & successive private operators have increasingly squeezed cost from the operation in order to maintain the basic hourly service currently provided. The result has been that for several decades the line has survived in a state of stasis. Contrast with the parallel route across the Wirral peninsula from Chester through Birkenhead to Liverpool that has thrived since electrification & integration in the Merseyrail network.

    Let it be hoped that brighter future now awaits the Borderlands Line with it's own dedicated fleet of units and belatedly regulatory approval for TfW to at last proceed with the ambition to introduce a half hourly service for the majority of the day. This will be the first major reversal of fortune in service provision in over 40 years.