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IEP - Contract Awarded for 596 Cars

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LNW-GW Joint

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The deal with Agility-Hitachi is done: http://www.dft.gov.uk/news/press-releases/dft-press-20120725a

92 trains, 596 vehicles, rollout on GW starts 2017.
Nothing about set composition.
Depots at Bristol, Swansea, "West London" and Doncaster (not Sheffield as was mooted).
730 jobs at Newton Aycliffe.

And the parallel Agility Trains press release: http://www.agilitytrains.com/agilitytrains_news.htm

Agility Trains said:
AGILITY TRAINS AND DFT REACH FINANCIAL CLOSE ON INTERCITY EXPRESS PROGRAMME (IEP)

LONDON, 25 JULY 2012 – (IEP). The UK Department for Transport (DfT) and Agility Trains
(comprising Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laing Investments) today signed the contract for the
DfT’s Intercity Express Programme (IEP) and confirmed simultaneous financial close for Phase 1
of the project.

The IEP, worth some £4.5bn, comprises trains, maintenance depots, and route upgrades, with
Network Rail undertaking the infrastructure upgrades to allow the new trains to operate on the
network.

Agility Trains is the contract partner for the DfT for the delivery of trains, maintenance and daily
service delivery, with Hitachi Rail Europe as sub-contractor in charge of supplying the trains and
ensuring that they reliably perform day in and day out. The contract guarantees 27.5 years of
usage of the trains, ensuring long-term reliability for UK passengers.

As part of the contract, Agility Trains’ sub-contractor Hitachi Rail Europe will provide 596 carriages
of electric and bi-mode trains for the Great Western Main Line (Phase 1) and the East Coast Main
Line (Phase 2). The fleet of 92 trains will be maintained in a number of new-built and upgraded
maintenance facilities, including new depots in Swansea, Bristol, west London and Doncaster.

Alistair Dormer, Chief Executive Officer of Agility Trains said: “We are absolutely delighted to have
achieved contract award on the Intercity Express Programme. It is among the biggest contracts
ever closed in the UK rail industry and will mean a step change in reliability, capacity and comfort
to British passengers. The new fleet of trains will be substantially built in the UK by our supplier
Hitachi Rail Europe in their new manufacturing plant in the north east of England, bringing
additional socio-economic benefits to Great Britain.”
 
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fgwrich

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Oh Dear...700+ Jobs at Newton Aycliffe - Going on Roger Fords predictions this'll be interesting.

Informed Sources

Pending some definitive numbers – and the bidders for the Greater Western franchise have yet to stick in their six pen’orth - I’ve being looking at the capacity of Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe plant. At the open day at the end of June, the output was quoted as up to 35 vehicles a month with two shift working.


I make this four vehicles a week from a single production line and it provides the opportunity to run a reality check on the employment claims for the plant. Hitachi put at his at ‘500+’ although politicians have talked of 700.


Comparing productivity at other factories I would expect each IEP vehicle to involve between 2,000 and 3,000 man hours. With a 37.5h hour working week that gives a direct workforce of between 215 and 320 for a single shift.



Add engineering, procurement and administration staff plus some research and development staff to the upper figures and ‘500+’ looks about right. Add a second shift and the ‘at least 700 permanent jobs’ quoted by a DfT spokesman becomes feasible.


But for how long? The IEP delivery schedules for Greater Western and East Coast could be met by one production line – say 30 months work
 

gordonthemoron

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presumably they'll find some other mugs to purchase Heath Robinson type trains?

BTW, why don't we see Skoda or Polish manufactured trains in the UK?
 

LNW-GW Joint

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If this was an airline industry site, there would now be dozens of posts like "Congrats to Hitachi and DfT, can't wait to travel on the first one to roll out, what is IEP's fuel economy compared to HST?" etc etc.

Being about Britain's railways, more than two hours has passed and it seems everyone is looking the other way to avoid coming to terms with the most significant train-building project since privatisation.
Is there no joy to be had anywhere!? :o
 

CalumCookable

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Apparently the IEP will not replace all the HSTs - is there a plan for replacing the remaining ones?
 

sprinterguy

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Apparently the IEP will not replace all the HSTs - is there a plan for replacing the remaining ones?
The Midland Mainline HSTs will be replaced by MML electrification (In theory, the electrified MML could also use IEP sets, with construction following on directly from the ECML batch), and there is an option for further IEP trains to replace the HSTs on Paddington to Exeter, Plymouth & Penzance services at an unspecified future date.

That just leaves the two miniscule HST fleets operated by Crosscountry and Grand Central, at five and three sets apiece. It wouldn’t take very many 221s released from West Coast for Crosscountry to lose their five sets.
 

ainsworth74

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Might I be so bold as to suggest that we keep the discussion either in this thread or the ongoing IEP thread (here)? So that we avoid the situation we had with HLOS where there were two or three threads all discussing the same thing making it somewhat hard to follow.
 

swt_passenger

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There's a Hitachi press release that gives the breakdown of the two fleets.

The contract includes the provision into daily service of the following cleaned, serviced
and maintained trains:
 Provision of 21x 9-car electric trains and 36x 5-car bi-mode trains for Great
Western Main Line into passenger service each weekday (369 vehicles)
 Provision of 12 x 5-car electric trains, 10 x 5-car bi-mode trains and 13 x
9-car bi-mode trains into passenger service each weekday for East Coast
Main Line with an option for a further 30 x 9-car electric trains. (227 vehicles
with options for a further 270 vehicles)

http://www.hitachirail-eu.com/media...hi_announces_financial_close_of_IEP_FINAL.pdf

The numbers are daily diagrams, so what maintenance margin will they need, enough for that to be about 90% of the total?
 

starrymarkb

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If this was an airline industry site, there would now be dozens of posts like "Congrats to Hitachi and DfT, can't wait to travel on the first one to roll out, what is IEP's fuel economy compared to HST?" etc etc.

Depends, some were spitting at American Airlines ordering A320s! (But you get fanboys in both A & B camps), and lets not mention any 10 abreast 777s

I've noticed that ground based transport enthusiasts are less keen to embrace new vehicles as they replace older types, but while airline fans are fond of the old types they do accept that older or less efficient types will be withdrawn.
 

HSTEd

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Well this is going to prove to be an insanely expensive PFI if the price is anything like what the DfT estimate says.
 

D6975

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The hitachi document appears to be self-contradictory.

In addition to the extract SWT passenger posted above

As part of the IEP, Agility Trains’ main supplier Hitachi will provide, service and
maintain a total of 596 rail carriages destined to run on the East Coast Main Line and
the Great Western Main Line to replace the ageing fleet of Intercity trains.


is at the beginning of the document.
So there are to be 596 vehicles built and 596 vehicles available for use every weekday.
Unless the extract I have shown implies that more than 596 will be built, but I don't read it that way. Is it just badly worded?
 

swt_passenger

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Unless the extract I have shown implies that more than 596 will be built, but I don't read it that way. Is it just badly worded?

It depends if you equate 'provide, service and maintain' with 'build' - but it isn't that clear really, as you say.

I've sent them an email to see if they'll clarify it...
 

Mystic Force

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I've noticed that ground based transport enthusiasts are less keen to embrace new vehicles as they replace older types, but while airline fans are fond of the old types they do accept that older or less efficient types will be withdrawn.


I wonder if this isn't because as things get older they become a little less reliable, and therefore more likely to fail. The consequence of failure for a plane is a little more serious than a train. Its a little harder to want to keep using the old if the result isn't delay.

Bring on the new trains I say. Cant wait to move back home to be able to use them.
 

LE Greys

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The Midland Mainline HSTs will be replaced by MML electrification (In theory, the electrified MML could also use IEP sets, with construction following on directly from the ECML batch), and there is an option for further IEP trains to replace the HSTs on Paddington to Exeter, Plymouth & Penzance services at an unspecified future date.

That just leaves the two miniscule HST fleets operated by Crosscountry and Grand Central, at five and three sets apiece. It wouldn’t take very many 221s released from West Coast for Crosscountry to lose their five sets.

And GC will surely standardise with any 180s released from other franchises, unless they make a follow-up IEP order or buy something Chinese (remember their suggestion they might use Polaris stock?). I just hope that some HSTs make it to 2022 so I can travel on the 125 Golden Jubilee tour.
 

sprinterguy

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And GC will surely standardise with any 180s released from other franchises, unless they make a follow-up IEP order or buy something Chinese (remember their suggestion they might use Polaris stock?). I just hope that some HSTs make it to 2022 so I can travel on the 125 Golden Jubilee tour.
It's quite likely that the arrival of IEPs on the Great Western will orchestrate the release of the five 180s (Their present contract with FGW runs up to the end of 2016), so in theory at least it is quite plausible that, as you say, Grand Central would take these on if they do not order any new rolling stock of their own.

It would be quite something to be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the HSDT with some HSTs still in mainline service :)
 

tbtc

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If we are talking about services in ten years time then I wouldn't get hung up about Open Access companies (there's no guarantee of such services being in operation then).

Can I be one of the few to say "good news"? Surprisingly muted news - no mainstream press coverage that I've noticed (okay, the Olympics are going to be hard to shift off the front page!) - its almost like these trains are a guilty secret that the industry/ Government don't want to shout about.

I've mixed feelings about 596 coaches (initially) - its a lot to build if they are going to have problems, but at least it's a clear commitment in long distance trains (rather than introducing some small non-standard classes).I just wish that we had the same commitment to building shorter distance trains (esp basic DMUs) - always easier to get funding for "sexy" longer distance services?
 

tbtc

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What on earth is it doing with FIVE car bi-modes, should be the question.

These will have roughly the same seating capacity as a six coach 23m rake, and be used in doubled up formation (albeit maybe only one unit will work the bit from Oxford to Hereford or Swansea to Carmarthen or Swindon to Cheltenham etc)
 

LE Greys

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These will have roughly the same seating capacity as a six coach 23m rake, and be used in doubled up formation (albeit maybe only one unit will work the bit from Oxford to Hereford or Swansea to Carmarthen or Swindon to Cheltenham etc)

All of those ought to be on the CP6 electrification plan, but this might well tide them over for a few years to keep through services going.
 

tbtc

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All of those ought to be on the CP6 electrification plan, but this might well tide them over for a few years to keep through services going.

True - but this ensures direct links are maintained (unlike on the ECML when places lost London links).

Once more lines are electrified (as I hope happens in CP6 - the business case ought to be pretty good after recent announcements!) then XC is the natural home for bi-mode trains (since there's no chance of the entire route from Aberdeen to Penzance - inc all branches - being fully electrified).
 

snail

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As part of the IEP, Agility Trains’ main supplier Hitachi will provide, service and maintain a total of 596 rail carriages destined to run on the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line to replace the ageing fleet of Intercity trains.

is at the beginning of the document.
So there are to be 596 vehicles built and 596 vehicles available for use every weekday.
Unless the extract I have shown implies that more than 596 will be built, but I don't read it that way. Is it just badly worded?
'Destined to run' does not equal 'run', or 'available for use every day'. If they meant that wouldn't they just say it?
 

LNW-GW Joint

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'Destined to run' does not equal 'run', or 'available for use every day'. If they meant that wouldn't they just say it?

The 596 is the number in service working daily diagrams.
Hitachi will have to build enough to ensure the necessary availability.
 

sprinterguy

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Excellent, So we'll electrifiy the line to Swansea, and still order Bi Modes to run underneath them...Only in Britain...
Not particularly, the GW IEP order has been adapted since the Swansea electrification was announced: The proposed 8-car Bi-mode trains that were described in the Great Western franchise consultation have become additional 9-car electric sets.
 

Yew

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The engines in the bi-modes are still in the wrong place though...
 

sprinterguy

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The 596 is the number in service working daily diagrams.
Hitachi will have to build enough to ensure the necessary availability.
Both the DfT and Hitachi press releases have been very poorly, or at least obscurely, worded then if that is the case. The Hitachi one in particular seems to be quite contradictory in its description.
 
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Nym

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The engines in the bi-modes are still in the wrong place though...

In deed, they're permanently attached rather than in a convenient separate carriage that can be attached and detached.

Oh well, we're stuck with it now, lets just hope they don't have the annoying announcement tones that the 395s do.

One hopes that 140mph running will be included in the design, or be a small modification, especially as lines get re-signalled to ERTMS in cab that would allow 140mph or even 165mph running.
 
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