The Railway Magazine – July 2019

104 •The Railway Magazine• July 2019

Class 91s facing sidelines

as Mk4 stock goes for store

THE first Class 91 locos are

expected to be withdrawn by

LNER from July.

They are becoming surplus to

requirements as diagrams for

the Hitachi‘Azuma’sets increase

every week, and with LNER now

announcing a start of services

from Edinburgh on August 1.

LNER has already ceased use of

DB Class 90s and the hired HST

from East Midlands Trains.

The‘Azumas’are now coming

on stream, with LNER having

stood down three sets of Mk4

rolling stock, and sets BN23 and

25 taken to secure storage at the

Harry Needle Rail Road site at

Worksop. Set BN24 was waiting

to move to store as this issue of

The RMwas bring prepared.

Harry Needle has taken over

the former DB wagon repair

depot, and will store redundant

rolling stock, but also has plans

to repair and maintain locos.

Around £100,000 has been

spent on upgrading security

at the 12-acre site, with new

fencing and CCTV installed,

plus guard dog patrols, as the

site is also being used to store

Class 345 Crossrail EMUs for

Bombardier.

So far, two Class 345 sets

are stored – Nos. 345023 and

345056 – although others sets

will move on completion of

testing at Old Dalby to Worksop

as Old Oak Common depot is full.

LNER has indicated three

Class 91s will be handed back

to leasing company Eversholt,

followed by a fourth in August.

After a four-month pause,

the process to withdraw the

remaining 28 locos will restart

in January and continue until

June 2020.

A circulated list of planned

withdrawals has been dismissed

by LNER, which says the decision

on the withdrawals will be based

on a combination of mileage,

faults occurring in traffic and the

level of repairs needed.

Some Mk4 carriages will see

re-use as Transport for Wales are

taking 12 carriages and three

DVTs for North Wales to Cardiff

loco-hauled workings.

Arriva subsidiary Alliance Rail

Holdings will begin a Blackpool

to London open access service –

through its Grand Central

Railway brand (it was planned

to use the Great NorthWestern

Railway brand) – in spring 2020

using Class 91 and six

Mk4 carriages.Their plan is to

run five trains per day serving

Milton Keynes, Nuneaton,

Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and

Poulton-le-Fylde.

There is an opportunity

for a sixth service as well as

expanding the trains to seven

vehicles.

Separately, rail entrepreneur

IanYeowart has submitted an

open access bid for Grand Union

Trains to introduce services from

London Paddington to Cardiff,

also using Class 91 and Mk4

carriages.

These trains would call

at Newport, Severn Tunnel

Junction and Bristol Parkway,

and are subject to regulatory

approval.

■As the holder of the

high-speed record for electric

traction at 154.1mph, Class 91

No. 91131 has been earmarked

for preservation by the Railway

Heritage Designations Advisory

Board, but this does not rule

out the preservation of another

class member as locos become

available.

ONLY three diagrams remain
for the 40-year-old Class 314
EMUs used by ScotRail following
the introduction of the summer
timetable.
These are: 05.55 Glasgow
Central-Gourock; 06.47 Gourock-
Glasgow Central; and 07.28
Gourock-Glasgow Central.
Use of the sets will diminish with
the introduction of more Class 385
EMUs and cascading of other sets.
In turn this has led to all planned
work on set No. 314214 ceasing at
Eastleigh.
Seven sets were available for
traffic, four others withdrawn and
five scrapped.

Last gasp for

ScotRail 314s

Festival presentation

for Elgar nameplate

A NAMEPLATE from Class 92

No. 92009Elgarhas

been presented to the

Worcestershire Archive and

Archaeology Service.

The ceremony took place at

the start of the Elgar Festival,

with the nameplate being

presented by Lord Faulkner of

Worcester, co-chairman of the

Railway Heritage Designation

Advisory Board, on behalf of

the trustees of the National

Science Museum.

No. 92009 is the fourth loco

to carry the composer’s name,

the others being‘Bulldog’

No. 3704,‘Castle’No. 7005 and

Class 50 No. 50007.

Final Underground

‘S’stock movement

THE final move of London

Underground‘S’stock took

place on June 17.

The Bombardier-built sets

of S7 and S8 stock had been

undergoing modification at

Litchurch Lane, Derby.

Class 20s stored

at Barrow Hill

THREE DRS Class 20s –

Nos. 20302, 20303 and 20305

• have been placed in store
  at Barrow Hill, the trio being
  movedonJune4by
  No. 66431.

SIDELINES

With the transition to Class 80x‘Azuma’trains underway, this is a rare shot of six Class 91s lined up at King’s Cross at around 07.00 on

June 17. From left are Nos. 91117, 91122, 91128, 91105, 91108 and 91129.STEPHEN GANDY

GBRf Class 66 No. 66749 passes Worksop East Signalbox with the

09.22 Ferme Park-Worksop Down Yard on June 4, taking LNER

stock for secure storage.ROBIN STEWARTSMITH

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Traction & Stock Track Record

COMPILED BY

CHRIS

MILNER

Call: 01507 529589

email: cmilner

@mortons.co.uk

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