Modern Railways – April 2019

76 Modern Railways April 2019 http://www.modern-railways.com

which will be able to display digital advertising;

these also feature on the new Class 710 EMUs

for the London Overground network.

Provision of a full Heating Ventilation and

Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is mandated,

so there will be no hopper windows as found

on the current trains. LED lighting will be

adopted for improved energy efficiency

and will also be more easily controlled, for

example to provide softer lighting in tunnels.

Another new feature for the DLR will be

provision of mobile device charging points.

The type of charging point is not specified,

although USB sockets are the most likely solution.

The aim will be to locate these in areas which

encourage passengers to move away from the

vestibules, helping to improve dwell times.

Wi-Fi will be provided but not for passenger

use – the aim is to use it to give the PSA

more information about the train. In any

case, 4G coverage on the DLR network is

very good, and will likely perform better

than a passenger Wi-Fi solution.

MAINTENANCE

The new fleet will bring major benefits in terms

of maintenance. The reliability target for the

new trains is 50,000km Mean Distance Between

Service Affecting Failures (MDBSAF), with fleet

availability of 95% and reliability of greater than

99% (from the current fleet, 137 of the 149 vehicles

are required in daily service). Although the B92

vehicles were originally designed to operate

in multiple consists, and whilst some systems

operate in parallel and provide redundancy, others

work in series and require fixing individually. The

full-length formations are therefore a much better

proposition from a reliability perspective. The use

of modern AC traction motors, as on the B2007s,

will promote reliability and ease of maintenance.

There will be a vast leap in train-to-shore

communications; while the B92s have been

fitted with systems enabling the DLR control

centre to monitor vehicles on a live basis, the

system on the new trains will be more advanced.

The drive will be towards Remote Condition

Monitoring (RCM), with faults identified at an

earlier stage, enabling intelligent maintenance.

Fleet availability will also be maintained

with the use of Automated Visual Inspection

equipment designed to measure components

such as current collectors, brake pads and

wheel tread profile as the trains pass over it in

the depot. This will be the main tool to help

increase the time between heavy maintenance

intervals from 13,500km on the existing fleet

Two-car service: a pair of B2007 vehicles form a southbound service from Stratford International

passing High Meads Junction under stormy winter skies on 17 January 2014, with the Olympic Aquatics

Centre and the Orbit Tower dominating the view. These vehicles will be retained alongside the new

fleet, but with capacity for the equivalent of three-vehicle operation throughout. Antony Guppy

Trio of B2007s: a westbound departure from Royal

Albert passes a sculpture park adjacent to the Newham

Council offices on 7 April 2017. Antony Guppy

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