Posted 17th April 2023 | 7 Comments
No Marston Vale trains before autumn, says operator
Trains on the Marston Vale line in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire which were withdrawn when their supplier Vivarail went into administration at the start of December are unlikely to be replaced before the autumn.
Operator West Midlands Trains, which uses the brand London Northwestern outside the West Midlands, said the Class 230 units on the Marston Vale line could no longer be used, because the lack of Vivarail staff at Bletchley depot would make maintenance difficult.
The Class 230s are diesel units converted from former London Underground D78 stock, which was originally built for the District Line.
Since they were withdrawn buses have been replacing trains on the Marston Vale route, which connects Bletchley and Bedford and is part of the developing East West Rail link.
However, finding replacement trains is proving difficult, according to the operator.
London Northwestern said: ‘Due to the unreliable nature of the Class 230 fleet and the short platforms on the route there are only a limited number of trains in the country suitable, which has hampered progress. We expect we will be able to introduce morning and evening peak-time train services from autumn 2023, leading to the reinstatement of the full timetable in January 2024.’
Vivarail conversions are continuing to run on the Isle of Wight, and have recently entered service in North Wales. GWR has also taken over a project to run Vivarail battery trains on the Greenford branch in west London.
Vivarail was set up by the late Adrian Shooter in 2013, and had been modernising the aluminium-bodied Underground trains to provide economical rolling stock for local lines.
The Vivarail website has been reduced to a single page with an animated second hand. There is a simple caption: ‘It was good while it lasted. Over and out...’
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Jim Martin, Miltown Malbay
Is it not the case that there is not the will to run trains until the EWR opens?
[No evidence either way, but trains will certainly have to return by then. In any case, LNW may not be the operator.--Ed.]
david C Smith, Bletchley
There is at present no likelihood of the Bedford - Cambridge section being ready for use when the other sections start up. At the same time, the Stagecoach X5 roadcoach service has been cut back to terminate at Bedford from the West.
Can anybody suggest why two potentially competing service providers should both not be offering that service at the same time ?
Neil Palmer, Waterloo
Will the completion of East-West rail from Oxford/Aylesbury to Bletchley-Bedford finally bring a decent service to the poor burghers on the Marston Vale line, or will it simply bring lots Bletchley-Bedford trains running non-stop through their stations?
Chris has an excellent point, DfT are funding a RAIL service, not a bus route from Bletchley to Bedford.
Chris Jones-Bridger, Buckley
The privatised years have not been kind to customers of the Marston Vale line. Always a marginal service to the incumbent operators core business it has increasingly been neglected when resources are scarce. The provision of the dedeicated 230 Vivarail units was clearly an innovative way of redressing the problem. However questions do have to be raised at the urgency of implementing 'plan B' to restore the service after Vivarail' demise. The other Vivarail operators have had to grasp the nettle what has really prevented LNW ar least in the short term until replacement stock is available? Given there are currently off lease sprinter era units stored off lease where in the contractual & regulatory matrix is the log jam to arrange a suitable, even short term, cascade to LNW? Regarding staff LNW should still have drivers & conductors with previous 15x experience but in need of refreshing. That is assuming the staff compliment is adequate to cover the planned diagrams or is the lack of rolling stock a suitable cover for a staffing shortfall?
As the ultimate paymaster where is the DfTin enforcing the contract? Or does bustitution serve a longer term purpose in cost cutting & ultimately service reductions/withdrawl of marginal services.
Simon Adams, London
It can't be said the TfW's 230s are going well though, 0/5 out in service due to technical issues!
Andrew Gwilt, Benfleet Essex
If London Northwestern Railway cannot afford to keep the Class 230 DEMU that were built by Vivarail for the Marston Vale Line. Then perhaps these could be cascaded to Great Western Railway to be used on the West Ealing-Greenford branch line and to be converted to Diesel-Battery/Battery-Diesel multiple unit (DBMU/BDMU) or Battery-Electric (BEMU) “Hybrid” D-Train.
[It is not a matter of cost, but of maintenance, we are told by LNW. In any case, GWR has already acquired at least one Vivarail unit for the Greenford branch, and presumably has all the rolling stock it needs for that line.--Ed.]
Neil Palmer, Waterloo
Sounds like a lack of will from WMT to find, or fund, a solution.
"lack of Vivarail staff at Bletchley depot would make maintenance difficult". Difficult, not impossible. Island Line and GWR, and now TfW, have found a way.
"and the short platforms on the route". Another feeble excuse. Have WMT never heard of selective door opening, or simply locking all but two carriages out of use?