A LINESIDE STUDY OF A DECADE OF TRACTION PERFORMANCE CHANGE ON THE CREWE – MANCHESTER LINE 1998‐2008

David Stannard

RPS

railway performance society

www.railperf.org.uk

A LINESIDE STUDY OF A DECADE OF TRACTION PERFORMANCE CHANGE ON THE CREWE – MANCHESTER LINE 1998‐2008

David Stannard

1. Introduction 9. workings 2. Lineside speed determination Heritage units 3. Virgin Euston‐Manchester services Sprinter and Sprinter Express units Legacy traction New generation units Pendolinos 10. Intermodal container traffic 4. Diverted West Coast mainline services Freightliner and EWS electric‐hauled Dragged VWC loco‐hauled services Freightliner and EWS diesel‐hauled Dragged VWC Pendolino services Fastline Class 56 workings Dragged Scotrail Caledonian sleepers 11. Heavy haul and other freight workings 5. Virgin Cross‐Country services China clay slurry Legacy traction Aggregate traffic VXC Voyagers and Super Voyagers Enterprise trip workings Voyager substitutes Other freight movements 6. Arriva Cross‐Country high‐speed services 12. infrastructure workings 7. Other loco‐hauled passenger workings Infrastructure renewal Strengthened Alphaline Cardiff services Track recording and monitoring Charter excursions Rail‐head treatment trains 8. Electric multiple unit workings 13. Light engine movements Heritage units 14. Concluding remarks ‐Euston services Class 323 units on local services

1. INTRODUCTION

The years following the turn of the Millennium were an interesting time of transition on the Crewe‐ Manchester line, with Virgin’s wholesale replacement of Inter‐City and Cross‐Country stock with modern Pendolino and Voyager units, the introduction of new generation diesel multiple units and freight locomotives, privatisation initiatives by North Western and extending services from Crewe through to Manchester Airport using the new southbound link, and also the frequent diversion of workings from the Macclesfield route and the Anglo‐Scottish mainline north of Crewe due to engineering work associated with the West Coast Route Modernisation (WCRM) programme all bringing an almost unprecedented richness and variety of traffic to the line.

To record the performance of the different types of traction working over the route over 5,000 train speeds have been measured in the vicinity of Chelford, which is roughly mid‐distance along the line around 5 miles south of Wilmslow on a broad plateau of gently undulating grades which follows a modest but generally sustained climb from the salt ‘flashes’ south of Sandbach. The maximum permitted line speed was 100 mph up until May 2008, when after final commissioning of a new computer‐based signalling system the line limit was raised to 110 mph in readiness for the intensive West Coast high speed timetable.

An initial survey was carried out between late 1998 and 2000. Subsequently there was more casual observation and monitoring through to the end of 2008, with targeted measurements made of

A Lineside Study 146 July 2009

specific workings whenever new traction was introduced, following infrastructure improvements or when there appeared to have been significant changes in performance.

2. LINESIDE SPEED DETERMINATION

The methodology is based on stopwatch timings of the progression of workings through the track circuit blocks of the automated multiple aspect signalling system of the line. When the front of a train passes the signal being used for measurement and enters the following block section, this will trigger the track circuit of the new section and the signal will turn from green to red. Thereafter as the train progresses down the line and the rear of the train clears successive signalling track circuit blocks, the signal will progressively change to yellow, double yellow and green. Hence the time intervals between changes of clearing aspects at a signal are a measure of the speed at which trains are travelling down the line.

A complication is that timing delays associated with the detection of track circuit occupancy and with the signal switching process itself need to be taken into account. The net effect of these on timings of the clearing sequences at an individual signal is likely to be complex (effectively being the sum of differentials between all of the various signals involved). However simultaneous observations of the clearing of sequential signals (generally possible at night, albeit on curved track sometimes requiring accessing difficult to reach locations like the middle of farm fields) reveals that the time for an individual signal to change after the next signal down the line clears is to a good approximation independent of the aspect changing, of train length and of train speed. Hence in principle it should be possible to calibrate these effects and remove them from the timing data.

For much of the survey period timings were made using Wilmslow powerbox‐controlled signals WW7, visible approximately 0.5 miles south of Chelford station and protecting the exit of the Up (southbound) loop, and WW12, located just to the north of the Down station platform. In each case the red/yellow ‐ yellow/double yellow time interval was used for speed determination, with the following yellow/double yellow ‐ double yellow/green time used as a check and to identify workings still markedly accelerating or braking. Daytime northbound workings in particular could sometimes be severely checked approaching Alderley Edge by signals protecting recessing and re‐starting local services or by knock‐back delays from traffic at the junction with the Styal line at Wilmslow. Wherever significant easing or braking effects were identified in the multiple block timings, these measurements were excluded from the survey so as to provide statistics on as far as possible ‘free‐ running’ traction speeds. Calibration was by direct comparison between lineside measurements of signal clearing times and simultaneous interpolated conventional ¼ milepost speed determinations made by a second person on‐board trains travelling at around 75, 90 and 100 mph. Simple mathematical algorithms involving a time offset and a speed‐time product which fitted the data over this speed range were then developed to convert signal clearing times to train speeds. Timings of Class 6 freight workings at around 60 mph and of Railhead Treatment Trains spraying at 40 mph suggested that the calibration was valid at lower speeds, and this was confirmed in the summer of 2003 when Pendolinos were timed running under cruise control at the restricted speed of 60 mph because of high track temperatures. Accuracy is difficult to quantify, but for individual speed determinations is believed to be better than 1% from the sharp cut‐offs in the speed distributions of modern traction with speed limiters such as Coradias and Pendolinos. With the timing blocks used, the effective locations for most speed measurements were approximately 1.7 and 1.1 miles to the south and north of Chelford respectively, although other signals to the south were also calibrated to provide information about northbound speeds through Chelford station itself. A Lineside Study 147 July 2009

The line was re‐signalled using new Ansaldo computer‐based interlocking technology in 2006, with signals re‐positioned at increased spacing in preparation for higher speed running. Southbound timings were made at signal MS4092, situated on the south end of the Up station platform and now controlling the entrance to the loop, with the yellow/double yellow ‐ double yellow/green time interval being used for speed determination in order to provide closer compatibility with earlier measurements made with the original signalling. Northbound timings were made using MS4085, now the first signal north of Chelford and located 0.2 miles closer towards Alderley Edge. As before, the red/yellow ‐ yellow/double yellow time interval continued to be used for northbound speed determinations, but with the increased distance to the northbound measurement signal a direct ‘station’ speed determination also became practicable from the station area by timing the interval between the front wheels of the train passing over the tie bar of the crossover pointwork immediately before the platform and MS4085 turning red. A method of ‘self‐calibration’ was adopted to deduce the parameters of again simple algorithms for the conversion of timing measurements to speeds by iteratively fitting the spread of measured signal timings to the profiles and cut‐offs of the previously determined speed distributions of individual traction types. The accuracy of speed determinations made using the main signalling blocks is again believed to be better than 1%, but stopwatch timing limitations may realistically limit the accuracy of high speed measurements made using the shorter northbound station timing block to more like 1.5%.

Results for the different types of traction were plotted as speed histograms of the number of timings in integer speed bins, with southbound and northbound measurements normally combined unless there was evidence of a significant difference. Two parameters were then extracted from these distributions for summary purposes: the mean, and the 80 percentile speed range i.e. the speed band which excludes the top and bottom 10% of measurements and in which there is an 80% probability that a speed measurement will lie. To illustrate this an example is given in Figure 1 of the measured speed distribution of Class 66 locomotives on Freightliner intermodal container workings (with an advantage of this technique over conventional studies being that speed measurements are not restricted to passenger trains with on‐board observers but can be derived for all workings including freight traffic and light engine movements).

A Lineside Study 148 July 2009

Practical experience is that for most distributions the statistics become relatively stable after around 10 timings and, unless there are fundamental changes in factors affecting performance, are secure after about 20 timings (although most of the populations sampled were much greater than this).

What then emerges from this study is that, although by their very nature spot speed determinations contain only very limited information, careful comparison of statistically significant samples enables useful conclusions to be drawn about both traction performance and driving techniques.

A Lineside Study 149 July 2009

3. VIRGIN EUSTON – MANCHESTER SERVICES

These are the prestige flagship services of the line. Up until the introduction of the new West Coast high frequency timetable at the end of the survey period there were only a handful of largely peak‐ time daily business services scheduled to run via (and call at) Wilmslow, but there were many diversions from the more normal Macclesfield route due to weekend engineering work and blockades associated with the WCRM programme (with almost all including station calls at Wilmslow for bus connections). Most workings through Chelford run at close to the maximum permitted line speed, with this rather than traction capability being the main limiting factor to performance.

LEGACY TRACTION 395 timings

Services in the early survey period were worked by electric Class 90, 87 and occasional 86/2 locomotives in fixed formation with rakes of 8 or 9 Mk3 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The normal operating practice, with very few exceptions, was for the DVT to lead southbound and the locomotive to haul northbound. The prevailing line speed for all measurements made of this ‘legacy’ traction was 100 mph.

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 90 (All timings) 5,000 hp 99.2 mph 96 – 103 mph

Class 87 (SB timings) 5,000 hp 99.2 mph 97 – 102 mph

Class 86 (SB timings) 4,040 hp 98.5 mph 96 – 101 mph

Class 87 (NB, after n.section) 5,000 hp 95.9 mph 92 – 99 mph

Class 86 (NB, after n.section) 4,040 hp 96.3 mph 94 – 98 mph

There were no significant differences in the performance of the more modern thyristor‐controlled Class 90s between when they were hauling northbound and propelling southbound. The southbound speed distributions of the Class 87s and 86/2s were very similar to those of the Class 90s, but northbound speeds of these older locomotive types with their more basic 38‐notch analogue tapped transformer power settings were significantly affected by transit through the neutral section just north of Chelford (with the mean speeds of both types still 3‐4 mph down on line speed in the timing section which was the next signalling block down the line). The marginally weaker southbound performance of the slightly lower powered Class 86/2s may also perhaps be attributed to their longer recovery in timings made through a signalling block two sections south of the neutral section.

A common and somewhat unexpected feature with all three types of legacy traction was however the relatively broad dispersion of 5 mph or more in running speeds, with the full spread of speeds spanning almost double this range. There was little major over‐speeding, with only two timings greater than 105 mph: a Class 87 propelling southbound at 106 mph and a Class 90 hauling a slightly late running northbound early‐evening service from Euston at 108 mph.

An interesting ‘what might have been’ aside was the timing in May 1999 of a Class 373 Regional set on trial for potential use by on Manchester–Euston West Coast mainline services. The southbound speed through Chelford was 97.5 mph, with the Eurostar almost certainly

A Lineside Study 150 July 2009

running on limited traction current (and therefore power) as subsequently with the GNER White Rose services on the East Coast mainline.

PENDOLINOS 273 timings

State‐of‐the‐art Alstom Class 390 Pendolino sets of 6,840 hp now work all West Coast services, operating over the line in non‐tilt mode. The first 34 sets were delivered and introduced into traffic from 2003 onwards as eight vehicle formations, but were later strengthened to nine vehicles as with the remainder of the 53‐strong fleet by the addition of an extra unpowered middle coach.

Pendolino formation Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

8 vehicle sets as originally introduced into service 99.1 mph 98 – 100 mph

9 vehicle standard sets (line speed limit 100 mph) 99.6 mph 98 – 101 mph

9 vehicle sets after line speed raised to 110 mph 108.7 mph 107 – 110 mph

The slightly higher mean running speed after lengthening of the formations from 8 to 9 vehicles is attributed to increased driver familiarisation with their sophisticated new charges. The major difference to the legacy traction in operation at a line speed of 100 mph was however the much reduced dispersion in the speed distribution of the Pendolinos (see Figure 2 for a comparison with the Class 90s), even though the digitised speed cruise control system which is apparently extensively used by drivers in normal running requires a manual reset after regaining line speed following the powering down of traction current to pass through the neutral sections.

Following the raising of the line speed limit to 110 mph, Pendolino running speeds increased to match with prominent features of the speed distribution again being relatively narrow dispersion A Lineside Study 151 July 2009

and a tight upper bound at little more than 2 mph above the maximum permitted line speed. With power in hand (being originally designed for operation at 140 mph) normal running speed is again regained quickly after passage through the neutral sections, and all‐round Pendolinos appear to be most impressive performers indeed. 4. DIVERTED WEST COAST MAINLINE SERVICES

The mainline north of Crewe has seen periods of regular weekend closure over the years for major engineering work associated with the WCRM upgrade programme. These normally occurred in the Autumn and early‐Winter, but the 2004 closures extended right through to Easter of the following year. The closures resulted in services for Liverpool and Preston/Scotland being diverted via Wilmslow, and necessitated diesel‐haulage because of the non‐electrified sections to the West and North‐West of Manchester. For operational convenience the normal practice was for ‘dragging’ locomotives to be attached and detached to all electric‐powered workings at Crewe, with the diesel locomotives hauling throughout even though the Crewe‐Manchester section of the line is fully electrified.

DRAGGED VWC LOCO‐HAULED SERVICES 439 timings

Initially hired‐in Class 47 locomotives were used to drag all Virgin West Coast workings, but as they became available re‐engined and slightly more powerful Class 57/3s designed for diesel‐haulage of Pendolinos were also used. The full DVT, stock and locomotive formations were dragged, with the Class 87 or 90 locomotives remaining attached but unpowered with lowered pantographs.

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 47 (2000 & 2001 drags) 2,580 hp 81.1 mph 77 – 85 mph

Class 47 (2002 & 2004/5 drags) 2,580 hp 81.2 mph 77 – 85 mph

Class 57/3 (2002 & 2004/5 drags) 2,750 hp 87.1 mph 82 – 90 mph

The composite speed distributions of dragged workings are broad and complex, comprising an unknown mix of workings running via the two possible routes north of Wilmslow (with a 50 mph speed restriction across the junction for traffic over the Styal line) and with potential checks due to local services terminating, recessing and restarting from Alderley Edge. Nevertheless the statistics for the two groupings of timings with Class 47 dragging locomotives (before and after duties were shared with the Class 57s) are almost identical, and this is despite the sub‐types involved changing from being predominantly EWS Railnet Class 47/7s early on to being mostly Virgin ex‐VXC Class 47/8s later (with in 2004/5 the Class 47s still at work hauling workings which had not gone over to Pendolinos all being Class 47/8s which had by then been allocated to a dedicated VWC pool maintained by Alstom).

During the 2001 dragging season the two EWS Class 47/4s in distinctive royal claret livery, 47798 Prince William and 47799 Prince Henry, were released for weekend dragging duties from the EWS ‘special duties’ pool normally restricted to providing traction for the royal train and high prestige charter traffic. These specially maintained locomotives had lower engine hours than many of the rest of the ageing Class 47 fleet, and their mean speed on nine northbound drags (where there is less uncertainty about the past history of the workings) was more than 3 mph higher than that of other Class 47 sub‐types. A Lineside Study 152 July 2009

The most dramatic finding however is the improvement in performance of workings dragged by the 2,750 hp Class 57/3 locomotives (Figure 3). The mean speed is 6 mph greater, and no fewer than 85% of the Class 57 timings are in the top quartile of the speed distribution of the Class 47s sharing the same duties.

DRAGGED VWC PENDOLINO SERVICES 200 timings

Class 57/3 locomotives are used for hauling Pendolinos over non‐electrified routes, and have the necessary high electrical train supply rating to match as well as retractable Dellner couplers for ease of attachment and detachment. Selective line closures due to engineering upgrade work made it possible to separate out the different elements which make up the speed distribution of the dragged workings, and measurements were also made to establish the effect on northbound workings of the raising of the line speed from 60 to 90 mph across the salt subsidence ‘flashes’ south of Sandbach.

Traction and route Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 57/3 Southbound via Stockport line 92.8 mph 91 – 95 mph

Class 57/3 Southbound via Styal line 86.5 mph 85 – 88 mph

Class 57/3 Southbound (delayed by local traffic) 82.1 mph 80 – 84 mph

Class 57/3 Northbound (flashes speed limit 60 mph) 89.4 mph 87 – 92 mph

Class 57/3 Northbound (flashes speed limit 90 mph) 90.8 mph 89 – 93 mph

Class 57/3 Typical composite distribution 89.0 mph 84 – 94 mph

A Lineside Study 153 July 2009

The nominal maximum permitted speed of the Class 57/3s is 95 mph. In timings of southbound runs via Stockport there are several occurrences of 96 mph, but nothing higher.

A rarity was a timing made in March 2005 of one of the few occasions when a Class 47 has dragged a Pendolino in normal service, with 47840 hauling a northbound Sunday evening Euston‐Liverpool service at 82 mph when there was apparently no Class 57 available at Crewe.

DRAGGED SCOTRAIL S 56 timings

Regularly diverted over the line on autumn Sunday evenings due to engineering work on the WCML north of Crewe has been the northbound 1S25 20:00 Euston – Aberdeen/Inverness/Fort William overnight ‘Highland’ sleeper. This is a heavy train of 16 sleeping cars and support coaches weighing around 655t which is hauled on the mainline by an EWS Class 90 electric locomotive.

Traction and Electrical Train Supply provision Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Single Class 67 79.8 mph 78 – 81 mph

Class 60 and two Class 67s (single timing) 60.7 mph ‐

Three Class 67s 82.8 mph 78 – 89 mph

Single Class 57/3 78.5 mph 77 – 80 mph

During 2004 and most of the 2006 dragging season, the train locomotive and stock were hauled between Crewe and Preston by a single 3,200 hp Class 67. Power and resistance calculations suggest that the balancing speed on the near level grades around Chelford should be around 87‐90 mph, and on several occasions the Class 67 was indeed heard being throttled back passing through Chelford station so as not to significantly exceed the scheduled sleeper ‘comfort’ running speed of 80 mph (although travel at up to 100mph is permitted should there be a necessity to make up lost time).

Towards the end of 2006 there was sometimes a second tailing Class 67 on the rear of the formation, apparently after it was belatedly realised that the electrical train supply index of a Class 67 locomotive (66 units) is significantly less than the ETS rating of the stock of 95/96 units. Furthermore a single Class 67 providing traction would have great difficulty in restarting such a heavy train on adverse gradients (for example on a 1:120 incline the gradient force of 15.5klb required just to hold the train would be almost half of the Class 67 starting tractive effort). Hence a revised train plan was developed for 2007 which involved the sleeper being ‘topped and tailed’ by a pair of Class 67s, each providing ETS to half of the train, and the whole ensemble being hauled by a Class 60 freight locomotive of high tractive effort (albeit at reduced speed due to the lower maximum permitted speed of the Class 60s). Unfortunately this plan was abandoned after two weeks, reputedly as Class 60s are not covered by First Scotrail’s safety case (even though the locomotives were provided and manned by EWS which does have a safety case for their operation).

For the remainder of the 2007 season and during 2008 three Class 67s were utilised : a leading pair working in multiple providing traction, with the inner of the pair and an additional trailing locomotive providing ETS to the front and rear halves of the train respectively. With the dead Class 90 also still attached inside, four locomotives on a single train made an impressive late night sight. There was now a greater dispersion in speed, with many workings still running at close to 80 mph but others powering through Chelford at speeds nearer 90 mph before being eased back. A Lineside Study 154 July 2009

For the first three weeks of the Autumn 2008 dragging season, the later running 1S26 23:30 Euston‐ Glasgow/Edinburgh ‘Lowland’ sleeper was also diverted north of Crewe due to the extended duration of the engineering possessions. With apparently no more spare Class 67s in the North West, the consist of again a Class 90 train locomotive and 16 coaches was hauled by a hired‐in Class 57/3 (with now just a single locomotive required due to the greater starting tractive effort and high ETS provision designed to supply West Coast Pendolino sets). The Class 57s were however operating much closer to their limits, with a calculated balancing speed on level track of 79‐83 mph.

A Lineside Study 155 July 2009

5. VIRGIN CROSS‐COUNTRY (VXC) SERVICES

Ahead of the Operation Princess timetable of Autumn 2002 there were regular weekday workings over the line of Class 47s and HSTs on services such as the Sussex and Devon Scots as well as Class 86/2s hauling peak time –Manchester services. Subsequently in the Voyager era there were fewer daily scheduled services, but again there were many diversions due to WCRM upgrade work on both the Macclesfield line and the Crewe‐Preston route. The prevailing line speed for all timings of VXC services was 100 mph.

LEGACY TRACTION 480 timings

Southbound Class 47s restarting standard Cross‐Country 7‐coach formations of Mk2 stock after calling at Wilmslow display an asymmetric raked speed profile which is characteristic of traction which is still accelerating. The leading edge peak of the distribution at 93 mph can be simulated in computer modelling with 100% of the theoretical traction power of a Class 47, assuming full throttle acceleration and a moderately high train electrical supply loading. The tail of the distribution at speeds in the mid/high 80s corresponds to more like 85‐90% traction efficiency, reflecting in part the rather run‐down condition of some locomotives with high engine hours in the ageing Class 47 fleet.

Statistics for other Cross‐Country workings are:

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 47s (free‐running) 2,580 hp 92.1 mph 88 – 95 mph

Class 86/2 4,040 hp 96.0 mph 90 – 101 mph

2+7 Cross Country HST sets 4,500 hp 98.3 mph 95 – 101 mph

The nominal maximum speed for VXC locomotive‐hauled workings was 95 mph. This was rarely exceeded with Class 47 traction, but the Class 86/2s were really just toying with the relatively light Cross‐Country loads and exhibited a broad continuum of speeds ranging from just under 90 mph (generally with short‐formed 6‐coach rakes of stock speed‐restricted due to braking considerations) up to a maximum of 105 mph. The HSTs were not always pushed to the line limit on schedules which were based on 95 mph running and as a consequence also had a relatively broad speed distribution. Not included in the statistics are three timings made of HST sets operating with one power car shut down and struggling to keep to schedule at speeds of between 84 and 87 mph.

Again there was little significant over‐speeding, with the only timing above 105 mph being a Cross‐ Country 2+7 HST set on an early Sunday morning Manchester‐Plymouth service at 110 mph (this speed being incidentally matched by a VWC 2+8 HST set on a Holyhead‐Euston working unusually diverted via Manchester due to engineering work between Chester and Crewe one Sunday in October 2001 with the driver apparently not signing for the planned Middlewich diversionary route).

VXC VOYAGERS AND SUPER VOYAGERS 366 timings

From the Autumn of 2002 most VXC services were operated by Class 220 Voyager 4‐car DEMUs of 3,000 hp and Class 221 Super Voyager 5‐car DEMUs of 3,750hp (capable of tilt but operated in non‐ tilt mode on the Crewe‐Manchester line). Both types have impressive acceleration and the speeds

A Lineside Study 156 July 2009

measured here are limited by the line speed limit of 100 mph rather than by traction capability, with no significant differences in performance between the Voyagers and Super Voyagers.

Voyagers and Super Voyagers Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Pairs of Class 220s when first introduced into traffic 99.0 mph 97 – 101 mph

Class 220s & 221s in the early years of full service 99.5 mph 98 – 101 mph

Class 220s & 221s towards the end of the franchise 99.2 mph 97 – 101 mph

When first introduced into service ahead of the intensive Operation Princess timetable, Class 220 Voyagers were often operated in pairs running to existing loco‐hauled schedules. In the early years of Class 220 and 221 operation there were occasional speed excesses, including two measurements at speeds of 107/108 mph. Speeds more than a few miles per hour above the line speed have however always been rare, and in monitoring during 2006 and 2007 towards the end of the VXC franchise there were no Voyager or Super Voyager speeds significantly in excess of 103 mph.

VOYAGER SUBSTITUTES 80 timings

There have been some interesting VXC services in the Voyager era worked by other traction types:

Non‐Voyager traction Mean Speed 80 percentile speed range

Challenger 2+5 HST sets 99.6 mph 97 ‐ 103 mph

Holidaymaker 2+8 HST sets 100.2 mph 98 – 104 mph

Class 90 plus short‐formed coaching stock and DVT 90.5 mph 88 – 93 mph

Early on there was a short‐lived reformation of a number of Cross Country HST sets into 2+5 configuration in order to support the introduction of the new timetable. Known as Challengers, these sets never received their planned refurbishment and were phased out in the Spring of 2003.

To augment Voyager services to the South West on summer Saturdays, 2+8 HST sets were hired in from other operators and run as specially advertised Holidaymaker services. Sets which formed a Manchester – Newquay and return service came from Virgin West Coast in 2003 and from in 2005 and 2007. VXC drivers seemed to enjoy getting their hands on their old favourites again, and for instance in 2007 over a quarter of the timings were at speeds of 104 and 105 mph. There is however nothing to rival the fastest speed recorded on the line which was by a 2+8 HST on a southbound Holidaymaker service in 2005 timed at 114.5 mph, presumably manned by a VXC driver back at the helm after more than two years of daily Voyager driving. This run has been excluded from the calculation of the mean speed so as not to distort the statistics.

As cover for Voyagers undergoing extended repair, VXC would hire in an EWS Class 90 and a stand‐ by rake of 5 MK2 coaches with a DVT. When utilised this ran mostly on the Manchester–Birmingham route via Macclesfield, but in November and December 2005 worked a diagram which had as its first leg the 1H29 06:18 service from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe. The set was locomotive hauled northbound and had a nominal maximum permitted speed of 90 mph (10 A Lineside Study 157 July 2009

mph below the line speed) because of the braking characteristics of short‐formed rakes of coaching stock. Not included in the mean speed statistics here is a timing of a run with a driver who one morning forgot and ran close to the normal line speed limit of 100 mph.

A Lineside Study 158 July 2009

6. ARRIVA CROSS‐COUNTRY HIGH‐SPEED SERVICES 150 + 29 timings

Arriva took over the VXC franchise in November 2007 and after the raising of the line speed to 110 mph the following Spring the opportunity was taken of weekend engineering blockades at Stoke to investigate the high speed performance of the inherited Voyager units working diverted services.

Unit configuration Mean s.b. speed 80 percentile speed range

Single Class 220 Voyagers 109.2 mph 108 – 110 mph

Single Class 221 Super Voyagers 109.3 mph 108 – 111 mph

Pairs of Class 220 Voyagers 109.4 mph 107 – 112 mph

Class 220 and 221 combinations 109.4 mph 108 – 111 mph

After initial settling in, almost all workings accelerating southbound after calling at Wilmslow ran at close to the new line limit with no significant differences between the unit types working either individually or in double set combinations. Northbound running was however generally more relaxed (Figure 4) on schedules with Crewe‐Wilmslow section times which had not been tightened to reflect either the new line speed or the faster running speed permitted across the Sandbach salt flashes.

National Express East Coast 2+9 HSTs were hired in to operate the 2008 Manchester‐Newquay Summer Saturday Holidaymaker service. Statistics are too few to draw firm conclusions, particularly about the relative performance of Valenta and re‐engined MTU power cars, but it was interesting that although there were 5 southbound timings at near line speed (mean 109.5 mph, range 108‐111 mph) there were 3 others, mostly in conditions of poor adhesion, at speeds of around 105 mph. In addition there was one working with evidently just a single operational power car and obviously in distress at only 86 mph. Northbound there was again a broad spectrum of speeds similar to that of A Lineside Study 159 July 2009

the Voyagers, with the mean of 20 segregated block timings being 107.1 mph (range 103‐112 mph).

A Lineside Study 160 July 2009

7. OTHER LOCO‐HAULED PASSENGER WORKINGS

STRENGTHENED ALPHALINE CARDIFF SERVICES 53 timings

Load 4 coaches Load 5–7 coaches Traction type Power rating Mean (80 percentile range) Mean (80 percentile range)

Class 37/4 1,750 hp 80.9 mph (76 – 86 mph) 76.9 mph (74 – 79 mph)

Class 67 3,200 hp 93.9 mph (91 – 97 mph)

At the start of the survey period there was a regular Wales and West loco‐hauled working on the FO 1M89 16:45 Cardiff‐Manchester service. Worked by hired‐in Class 37/4 locomotives and short rakes of just 4 Mk2 coaches, the nominal maximum speed was 80 mph but in practice speeds up to the mid‐80s were not uncommon (as with Class 37/4s on similar workings along the coast).

Loco‐hauled substitutions for regular Manchester‐Cardiff Alphaline Class 158 Super Sprinter services often took place when there were major sporting events taking place at the Millennium Stadium. These tended initially to be powered by Class 37/4 locomotives with loads of between 5 and 7 Mk2 coaches, but in 2004 traction was switched to EWS Class 67s generally running with 6‐coach rakes of stock. Speeds of these latter workings were typically in the mid‐90s, with the Class 67s apparently having special dispensation to run at up to full line speed with these short formations.

CHARTER EXCURSIONS 76 timings

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Top and tailed Class 47 2,580 hp 81.2 mph 77 – 85 mph

Top and tailed Class 67 3,200 hp 94.3 mph 90 – 99 mph

Heavy football and charter specials (and their associated empty stock positioning movements) often had loadings up to 12 coaches and were usually hauled by either Class 47 or Class 67 traction, with a second twin locomotive not providing traction attached to the rear of the train for operational convenience. Timings include the luxury Northern Belle, which in later years was normally a nine or ten coach formation ‘topped and tailed’ by a pair of Class 67 locomotives. Service speeds of the Pullman stock were mostly in the low‐ to mid‐90s between pick‐up stops on outbound morning workings, but were more commonly closer to the 100 mph train limit on late evening returns home.

There were also enthusiast railtours worked by freight locomotives and privately preserved diesel traction. These usually travelled at speeds in the range 75‐80 mph, although 94 mph was recorded with 55022 on Fishwicks Mid‐Wales Borderer excursion in July 2008 (unfortunately not the full ‘ton’ because of the presence of 95 mph‐restricted 57601 as a tailing locomotive on the rear of the 11 coach formation). Worthy of special note is the timing of an EWS Class 66 at 79 mph on a late evening Crewe – Edge Hill empty stock movement following a Cumbrian Mountain Express charter, which is the highest speed recorded in the survey with this type of traction (the Class 66 being used

A Lineside Study 161 July 2009

because of the working having to run via Manchester and Warrington Central due to overnight engineering work and the more normal Class 67s not being cleared for the CLC route).

8. ELECTRIC MULTIPLE UNIT WORKINGS

Except where noted otherwise, all measurements are of workings with Alderley Edge pick‐up and set‐down station stops.

Unit type Maximum rated speed Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 305 75 mph 72.7 mph 71 – 74 mph

Class 309 100 mph 88.2 mph 86 – 91 mph

Class 322 100 mph 91.3 mph 89 – 95 mph

Class 323 90 mph 89.7 mph 87 – 92 mph

HERITAGE UNITS 36 timings

A small number of Class 305 3‐car slam‐door units continued to work local services up until 1999 alongside the Class 323 units which replaced them. Running through Chelford on Airport‐Crewe workings the Class 305s would only just about attain their nominal maximum speed of 75 mph. The units had much poorer acceleration than the Class 323s and on southbound Manchester‐Crewe stopping services leaving Chelford they would typically only reach speeds in the low‐60s through the second timing block approaching Jodrell Bank, as compared to generally the mid‐ to high‐80s with Class 323s, and take around ¾ minute longer in the process.

The Class 309 ‘Clacton’ units introduced in 1963 were Britain’s first 100 mph rated EMUs and they soldiered on in the North West until early 2000 working weekday peak semi‐fast commuter services from Birmingham and Crewe (these workings were generally referred to locally as ‘Rail House Specials’ as they were set up largely for the convenience of rail staff when the control headquarters of the BR operating region were relocated to Manchester). The quoted speeds are free‐running ie northbound timings through Chelford station ahead of the neutral section and southbound timings after a Wilmslow station start (starting from Alderley Edge the units were still accelerating and had speeds in the range of 80 – 85 mph). Coming northbound there was generally very cautious braking with the traditional block brakes fitted on the Class 309s and speeds were usually down to little more than 60 mph through the second timing section approximately two miles before Alderley Edge (in contrast to the Class 323s which normally will have only just started to ease off by this point and are still travelling at speeds in the mid‐80s). In a fitting farewell to mark the withdrawal of the units from service, First North Western ran a seaside excursion with the three remaining serviceable sets from Manchester to Clacton in May 2000. This was timed at 90 mph past Chelford (with the units apparently touching 100 mph briefly around Holmes Chapel for the first of several times on the trip).

MANCHESTER AIRPORT ‐ EUSTON SERVICES 30 timings

These services were a short‐lived North Western trains privatisation initiative with long‐distance Class 322 EMUs calling at Alderley Edge and Sandbach rather than Wilmslow and Crewe so as not to extract passengers from Virgin’s West Coast Inter‐City services. The units tended to cruise between these stops at speeds in the mid‐90s rather than utilize their high speed capability to run at full line A Lineside Study 162 July 2009

speed and with braking of northbound workings generally commencing soon after passage through the neutral section, survey speeds were frequently only marginally greater than those of Class 323s running between Alderley Edge and Holmes Chapel on local Manchester Airport services. The service was not a commercial success, and was abandoned by First North Western in the Spring of 1999.

CLASS 323 UNITS ON LOCAL SERVICES 283 timings

Class 323 units have been the mainstay of local services on the Manchester‐Crewe line throughout the monitoring period, having entered full fleet service in the mid‐1990s after a somewhat protracted period of acceptance commissioning. These inner suburban units have settled in well and are on the whole good and reliable performers, with their modern pulse‐modulated traction conversion drives and relatively high power‐to‐weight ratio of 13.6 hp/tonne giving particularly impressive acceleration (although they can at times appear to struggle somewhat starting off in conditions of poor adhesion). Drivers also appear confident in using to their full potential the efficient (regenerative) and effective brakes, and on one occasion a unit was observed making an emergency brake application to come to a stand from a speed of around 90 mph in little over the length of the signalling block through Chelford station).

The timings here are all of Airport services which run directly between Alderley Edge and Holmes Chapel (and vice‐versa), omitting Chelford and Goostrey as station stops. Running northbound, the units power off soon after passing through Chelford station to coast through the neutral section but they rapidly regain full operating speed soon afterwards. The traction control system is designed to restrict the maximum speed to 3mph above the nominal class limit of 90 mph, and there is indeed a pronounced fall‐off in the measured speed distribution of the general fleet at around this speed (the open areas in Figure 5).

There is however one particular unit, 323229, which is evidently capable of significantly higher speeds, and in the initial survey this unit was frequently recorded travelling at up to 96 mph (the black areas in Figure 5). Direct stop watch on‐train milepost timings confirmed the reality of this A Lineside Study 163 July 2009

capability, with on one occasion in the summer of 1999 the sustained speed over 4 miles between Chelford and Goostrey averaging no less than 95.6 mph. In the modern era of professional driving standards and management access to down‐loaded performance data from OTMR (On‐board Train Monitoring and Recording) equipment, 323229 is now rarely recorded over‐speeding (the grey areas in Figure 5), although 95 mph was recorded in 2007 in both a lineside timing and from on‐board measurements made using a GPS receiving system.

A Lineside Study 164 July 2009

9. DIESEL MULTIPLE UNIT WORKINGS 68 + 340 + (243 hybrid) + 243 + 225 timings

The only DMU workings that have operated continuously throughout the survey period have been the hourly Manchester – South Wales ‘Alphaline’ services, worked initially by Class 158 Sprinter Express units but since the takeover of the Wales and West/ franchise by now almost exclusively in the hands of Class 175 Coradias. Early on however there were initiatives by both Central Trains and First North Western to extend services which terminated at Crewe through to Manchester Airport, and although only relatively short‐lived these brought a wide and interesting variety of different DMU types to the line. Driver re‐familiarisation training associated with the full commissioning of the new bi‐directional signalling also saw the use of a Carillion Rail Class 121 single unit ‘bubble car’ in the Autumn of 2007.

Unit type and service operated Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

70 mph‐rated Heritage units

Class 101 Metro‐Cammel FNW Chester‐Airport 69.3 mph 67 – 71 mph

Class 121(960) ‘bubble car’ NR route familiarisation 67.8 mph 66 – 70 mph

75 mph‐rated Second Generation units

Class 142 Pacers FNW Chester‐Airport 74.7 mph 72 – 77 mph

Class 150 Sprinters CT East Midlands‐Airport 74.2 mph 71 – 78 mph

Class 153 Sprinters CT East Midlands‐Airport 73.3 mph 70 – 77 mph

Class 156 Super Sprinters CT East Midlands‐Airport 75.3 mph 72 – 81 mph

90 mph‐rated Second Generation units

Class 158 Sprinter Express CT East Midlands‐Airport 87.2 mph 83 – 91 mph

Class 158 Sprinter Express WW/WB/ATW Alphaline 89.4 mph 87 – 93 mph

100 mph‐rated Third Generation units

Class 170 Turbostar CT East Midlands‐Airport 97.3 mph 96 – 99 mph

Class 175 Coradia FNW Chester‐Airport 97.6 mph 95 – 100 mph

Class 175 Coradia ATW Alphaline (2005) 100.2 mph 99 – 102 mph

Class 175 Coradia ATW Alphaline (2008) 98.7 mph 95 – 102 mph

Both the Class 101 and Class 121 first generation ‘heritage’ units appeared at times to struggle somewhat to reach and maintain their nominal maximum speeds of 70 mph.

The mean speeds of the next generation Pacers and Sprinters were generally close to their 75 mph rating, with the rigid wheel‐base single car Class 142 Pacers in particular seeming to run well on the

A Lineside Study 165 July 2009

continuous welded rail of the line through Chelford despite their unenviable reputation for poor riding on lower quality track elsewhere.

Some of the early Sprinter speed distributions were strongly suggestive of bimodal driving. This was most prominent with the Class 156 Super Sprinters (Figure 6), with around 70% of runs have speeds grouped in the expected band between 70 and 77 mph but with the remaining 30% (presumably those where the units were left free‐running under full power) reaching speeds of up towards the mid‐80s mph. There have been relatively few Sprinter and Super Sprinter workings over the line through Chelford since the introduction of OTMR, but in the Summer of 2007 ’s Sunday Southport‐Alderley Edge DMU service was temporarily extended to Crewe during interim operation of the new signalling system. Although there were again some minor excesses resulting in overall similar running statistics (the mean of 17 Sprinter and Super Sprinter timings being 75.2 mph, with an 80 percentile speed range of 73‐79 mph), no speeds greater than 80 mph were recorded.

The schedules for both Central Trains and First North Western Airport services were planned on the assumption of operation by 75 mph Sprinter units, and higher speed Class 158 Sprinter Express and Class 175 Coradia units deployed on these duties were generally not pushed by drivers to the same limits as when similar units worked the more demanding schedules of South Wales Alphaline services. Central Trains also used two‐car Class 170/5 Turbostars on Airport services, and working northbound these similarly tended to cruise at speeds in the high‐90s mph. Running southbound and accelerating under full power after the 50 mph junction off the Styal line at Wilmslow only the fastest of the Turbostars and Coradias (the latter being both two‐car Class 175/0 and three‐car Class 175/1 sub‐types) would reach the full unit/line speed of 100 mph through the timing block south of Chelford, with the Turbostars appearing to be marginally the weaker performers of the two types despite having a slightly higher power‐to‐weight ratio.

An interesting question is what happens when 75 mph Class 153 single car Sprinters are run coupled together with 90 mph Class 158 Sprinter Express units as frequently occurred on Sunday Alphaline services between Cardiff and Manchester. Up until 2003 the resulting speed distribution had not only a broad peak between 72 and 80 mph (Figure 7), but also a high speed population reaching up A Lineside Study 166 July 2009

to 87 mph (with perhaps curiously no particular dependence as to which type of unit was leading). Subsequently, and probably more connected to the fitting of OTMR equipment rather than concern for the hydraulic drive transmission of the Class 153s, speeds have been more restrained and in timings made during 2006 and 2007 there were no speeds of 80 mph or above.

When Class 175s were first introduced on the tighter schedules of the South Wales Alphaline services almost all ATW drivers drove close to the maximum permitted unit and line speed of 100mph (the shaded area in Figure 8), but running speeds subsequently became more relaxed after additional slack was created in the schedules following the raising of the line speed across the salt ‘flashes’ south of Sandbach from 60 mph to 90 mph. This ‘sensible’ running is again attributable to individual driver initiative, but does perhaps give a foretaste of things to come as more environmentally‐friendly (and fuel cost efficient) driving techniques are increasingly adopted as standard operating practice by train companies.

A Lineside Study 167 July 2009

10. INTERMODAL CONTAINER TRAFFIC

The main freight traffic over the line throughout the survey period has been the movement of intermodal containers to and from the busy Freightliner and EWS terminals at Trafford Park in Manchester. Freightliner intermodal trains convey maritime containers for the major UK deep sea ports, running mostly as direct through workings although some traffic is staged at Crewe Basford Hall yard (which is also a routing point for services between Southampton and Leeds). EWS workings carry predominantly European container traffic. In modern times these generally run as block trains directly to Dollands Moor and the Channel Tunnel, but in the early survey period almost all traffic was recessed at EWS’s European Freight Operations Centre in Wembley Yard for both re‐marshalling and in order to change from Class 90 to Class 92 traction. During 2008 there was also a short term flow of containers between Trafford Park and Thamesport (Grain) operated by Jarvis Fastline.

Intermodal workings are hauled by both electric and diesel traction, but over the years there have been major changes in the locomotive types involved. Freightliner workings to Felixstowe have changed from being pairs of Class 86/6 electrics working in multiple to Class 90s, whilst Freightliner Class 90s on other duties along with Class 47 (and later Class 57) diesels have been replaced by a new fleet of modern Class 66/5 locomotives. EWS Class 90s have in general been superseded by Class 92s following type‐approval for the latter’s operation to Trafford Park, although there are still occasional EWS workings by Class 90s as well as by the company’s ubiquitous Class 66/0s. The Fastline workings were hauled by a small fleet of specially refurbished Class 56 locomotives.

All trains are Class 4 workings scheduled to run at 75mph, which is also the maximum permitted speed of the various freight locomotive traction types.

FREIGHTLINER AND EWS ELECTRIC‐HAULED WORKINGS 268 timings

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

A Lineside Study 168 July 2009

Class 92 6,760 hp 73.6 mph 72 – 75 mph

Class 90 5,000 hp 74.2 mph 72 – 76 mph

Multiple Class 86/6 2*3,600 hp 72.2 mph 68 – 76 mph

The load limit for workings powered by electric traction is 1,800t (corresponding to around 24 fully‐ laden freightliner flats), but in practice both train length and the fractional occupancy of containers (as well as presumably content) can vary significantly from train to train. With the high traction power available, and on the relatively flat gradients of the line, most electric‐hauled workings run at close to the booked speed independent of loading. There is however a low speed tail to the distribution of workings with Class 86 traction, which again may well be attributable to these locomotives taking longer with their older control systems to regain normal running speed with heavily‐loaded trains after passage through the neutral sections.

Thirteen timings were made of Freightliner’s solitary Class 86/5 locomotive 86501 which was specially re‐geared so as to provide around 30% greater tractive effort than a Class 86/6 and normally operated on its own working Class 90 diagrams. The mean speed was 72.7 mph, with an 80 percentile speed range of 71‐74 mph.

Speed excesses are quite rare (particularly with the Class 92s which are often driven under ‘cruise’ control), but maxima of 79 mph have been recorded with both Class 90 and Class 86 traction.

FREIGHTLINER AND EWS DIESEL‐HAULED WORKINGS 250 timings

Traction type Power rating Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 66 3,200 hp 70.7 mph 68 – 74 mph

Class 57/0 2,500 hp 66.4 mph 61 – 74 mph

Class 47 2,580 hp 66.5 mph 61 – 72 mph

Timings are predominantly of Freightliner workings, and what is immediately apparent is the much wider range of speeds with diesel‐haulage as compared to electric traction. Speeds are now markedly load‐dependent with more limited traction power, and for instance even though a Class 66 will run at close to the 75 mph operating limit with lightly‐loaded or short‐formed rakes of container flats, speeds of between 68 and 72 mph are more normal with heavily‐laden 1,600‐1,800t workings. The lower powered Class 47s and the small fleet of re‐engined Class 57/0s which were rebuilt from them have the greatest speed dispersion. The prime reason for this is that the nominal haulage limit for these traction types was increased from 1,200t (around 16 loaded freightliner flats) to 1,600t (loads of up to 21 flats) during the early years of the timing survey. There are broad bimodal peaks in the Class 57/0 speed distribution which reflect this change in load (Figure 9), although these are smeared into more of a continuum with the Class 47s due to the often wider range of actual loadings in the initial period when haulage by these locomotives predominated.

A Lineside Study 169 July 2009

To compare the performance capabilities of Class 47s and Class 57/0s in more detail, a careful statistical analysis has been carried out on a subset of 84 timings of Freightliner’s 4E74 Southampton‐Leeds and 4O08 Trafford Park‐Southampton workings which were generally well‐ laden with containers and where haulage at the different load limits in the Spring of 1999 and the Summer of 2001 was shared between the two types of traction on a seemingly ‘ad hoc’ day‐to‐day basis.

Load limit 1,200t Load limit 1,600t Traction type Mean speed 80 percentile range Mean speed 80 percentile range

Class 57/0 72.1 mph 69 – 75 mph 62.1 mph 60 – 64 mph

Class 47 69.2 mph 65 – 72 mph 60.8 mph 59 – 63 mph

Speeds are confirmed as being markedly lower with the greater train loadings, and there is also a small but statistically significant increase in the mean speed with Class 57/0 haulage. Hence although the main purpose of the Class 57 life‐extension re‐engineering was to increase the reliability of the locomotives in traffic, a further benefit may also have been a slight improvement in operational performance. However in the world of standardised Freightliner operation of 1600‐1800t high capacity formations, the Class 57/0s are not really up to the job and after less than a decade they were phased out to be replaced by additional new Class 66s.

There is again little over‐speeding with maxima of 77 mph with a Class 66 and 79 mph with a newly‐ converted Class 57 running‐in on a Southampton‐Leeds Freightliner working north from Basford Hall.

Unusual traction was timed in February 2002 when a Class 37/5 was used to pilot a Class 92 on an early‐morning European intermodal service to Trafford Park after the Class 92 had apparently failed in the Birmingham area. The northbound speed through Chelford was a commendable 55 mph.

A Lineside Study 170 July 2009

FASTLINE CLASS 56 WORKINGS 80 timings

During 2008 Jarvis Fastline secured a five‐month contract for the transport of intermodal containers between the Containerbase Logistics terminal on the Barton Dock branch at Trafford Park and Thamesport, and this brought regular new traction to the line in the form of refurbished 3,250 hp Class 56 locomotives. The train consist was normally 14 intermodal flats (reduced to 10 for the final month) which were almost always fully loaded southbound but generally conveyed few if any containers as back‐flow on the return northbound workings.

Pathing of these daytime workings, which arrived at Trafford Park just after mid‐day and departed again in the late afternoon, was far from ideal and there was frequent running at speeds of 50 ‐ 60 mph either recovering after being checked or cruising behind local stopping services under clearing cautionary signal aspects. There were also reliability problems associated with the small size of Fastline’s traction fleet, with locomotives sometimes evidently having to be pressed into service in below‐par condition and as a consequence delivering poor performance. The most extreme example of this occurred in late‐May when un‐checked speeds of no more than 45 mph were recorded from 56303 on two consecutive days, with the locomotive then reportedly failing completely in traffic the following day. Shortly afterwards all three of Fastline’s Class 56s were out of action, and newly re‐ commissioned 56311 had to be hastily hired‐in from Hanson Traction for several weeks in order to keep at least some services going until Fastline fleet locomotive availability recovered. All of this aside, normal free‐running speeds for what are by modern standards relatively lightly‐loaded intermodal workings were generally close to the Class 4 freight speed limit, with the mean of 40 timings being 74.6 mph and an 80 percentile speed range of 73 – 76 mph.

There was an interesting operational occurrence in mid‐March when a forecast of high morning winds led to a precautionary speed limit of 50 mph being imposed on all intermodal workings following incidents earlier in the month when containers were blown off flats in strong cross winds on the WCML at Cheddington and Hardendale. The northbound Fastline working was duly observed passing Chelford at the reduced speed of 51 mph, even though the train consist was entirely empty flats.

A Lineside Study 171 July 2009

11. HEAVY HAUL AND OTHER FREIGHT WORKINGS

Non‐container freight flows along the line are rare, but reported here are observations of the heavy haul movement of china clay slurry from Cornwall to Scotland for use in paper‐making and of the transport of stone aggregate from the Peak district for the construction industry. Spot timings have also been made of Enterprise trip workings between Trafford Park and Warrington, of diverted cement and coal trains, and of a long distance rail‐head treatment train stock movement. Almost all of these workings were operated as Class 6 trains scheduled to run at 60 mph.

CHINA CLAY SLURRY 25 timings

The twice‐weekly 6S55 working conveying china clay in slurry form from the Imerys (previously ECC) china clay processing plant at Burngullow in Cornwall to the Caledonian Papers mill at Irvine in Ayrshire which ran up until December 2007 was famous for being Britain’s longest‐distance freight flow. It was often affectionately referred to by both staff and enthusiasts as the ‘silver bullets’ due to the appearance (at least when new or recently cleaned) of the polished stainless steel bogied tankers used to transport the slurry. The train was normally booked to travel directly via the West Coast mainline, but WCRM engineering blockades north of Crewe resulted in regular seasonal diversion of the northbound weekend working via Manchester.

The 3,200hp EWS Class 66 locomotives used on these workings seemed to handle the normal 12‐16 tanker load of typically around 1,500t with ease, running at a mean speed of 58.8 mph with an 80 percentile speed range of 56‐61 mph. The maximum speed recorded was 62 mph, and indeed many workings sounded as though they were being throttled back running through Chelford so as not to exceed the Class 6 train operating limit.

AGGREGATE TRAFFIC 38 timings

Timings are predominantly of workings in 1999 associated with a short‐term contract for the supply of limestone aggregate from Peak Forest and Tunstead quarries for use in the construction of the second runway at Manchester Airport. A purpose‐built unloading siding was created from the southern spur off the Styal line to the Airport, with most workings running via Crewe in order to gain access. Additional timings are of empty hoppers on the regular Bletchley–Peak Forest working when booked to run via the WCML, Crewe and Stockport.

Traction and composition Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Class 60 hauled empty aggregate hoppers 58.9 mph 56 – 61 mph

Class 60 hauled loaded aggregate hoppers 51.8 mph 48 – 55 mph

The train consists were generally rakes of between 20 and 25 high‐capacity RMC Roadstone, Buxton Lime Industries, Tiphook or ex‐National Power bogied hoppers. With 3,100 hp EWS Class 60 heavy‐ haul traction there was no difficulty with the empties running at near full operating speed (which is also the maximum permitted speed of the locomotives), but with often 2,000 or more tons in tow the loaded trains ran markedly slower. The low number statistics and lack of recorded detail on loadings prevents a full analysis of the loaded workings, but the ex‐National Power JHA hoppers tended to operate in slightly shorter length formations than other workings and the consequential

A Lineside Study 172 July 2009

effect of the reduction in train weight by several hundred tons is readily apparent in the speed distribution (Figure 10).

The JHA hoppers used on the Airport stone trains originally operated with National Power Class 59/2 traction on limestone workings between Tunstead quarry and the flue gas desulphurisation plant at Drax power station in the Aire Valley. After the National Power fleet was taken over by EWS in early 1998, the Class 59s continued to be primarily employed hauling high‐capacity MGR coal trains between Gascoigne Wood and Drax but were still used on occasional stone traffic workings out of Peak Forest. A one‐off timing of a Class 59/2 on an Airport stone train with a rake of loaded ex‐ National Power hoppers enabled a direct comparison to be made between early General Motors traction and the Class 60s, with the measured speed of 54 mph falling close to the middle of the speed range of the Class 60s hauling a similar load.

ENTERPRISE TRIP WORKINGS 2 timings

During the early summer of 2008 there was occasional feeder traffic between Trafford Park and the EWS Enterprise network hub at Warrington Arpley Yard which generally consisted of just a pair of intermodal flats with chemical tank containers bound for Dalry in Ayrshire. This 6F61 trip working routed via Crewe was only observed twice, with on each occasion haulage being provided by a Class 67 locomotive presumably available spare at Warrington. The combination of such high specification traction and so short a formation made a somewhat incongruous sight little more than ambling through the Cheshire countryside at speeds of 62 and 64 mph.

OTHER FREIGHT WORKINGS 3 timings

Timings of unusual trainload freights diverted over the line due to emergency engineering work in the Hope Valley and upgrade work on the WCML have included a Class 60‐hauled 6M09 Tunstead‐ Walsall cement working with 24 loaded JGA tankers running at 60 mph and two Saturday morning Class 66‐hauled 4F59 Ironbridge power station‐Liverpool bulk terminal return MGR coal workings with 21 empty HTA hoppers running at Class 4 freight operating speeds of 73 and 74 mph.

A Lineside Study 173 July 2009

The operation of local Rail‐Head Treatment Trains (RHTTs) is discussed in the following section, but in November 2007 a DRS Class 47 was timed taking a RHTT flat wagon set from Network Rail’s York maintenance base to Reading West Yard to replace a Western Region set operating from there which required works attention. Running as 6Z50, the speed past Chelford was 62 mph.

12. NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE WORKINGS

INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL 124 timings

Maintenance and improvement of the network infrastructure is a major logistical undertaking, and there are carefully planned ‘engineers’ block trains run to work sites to support both minor track relaying and complete renewal of route infrastructure such as that associated with the WCRM upgrade project. Work is generally carried out in whole weekend (or sometimes longer) engineering possessions, with work trains carrying new ballast out and excavated spoil on return, replacement sleepers (often transported with whole sections ready assembled on temporary track panels) and long lengths of continuously welded rail (CWR, which is normally delivered and off‐loaded by the side of the track before renewal work commences).

There way that engineers infrastructure renewal traffic has been organised and operated has changed dramatically over the course of the timing study. In the initial survey period around the turn of the millennium, Railtrack infrastructure support workings were contracted to EWS using a wagon fleet which was a mixture of inherited ex‐BR ‘departmental’ stock (with wagon types named after various sea creatures) and open metal box wagons (some new high capacity bogied designs, but others 4‐wheeled hybrids created by fitting new bodies to the chasses of redundant MGR hoppers and tank wagons). Workings operated from a variety of bases using traction which was mostly Classes 37, 60 and 66, but other types such as Classes 47 and 56 also saw occasional use. Running speeds appeared to be grouped into two distinct bands around 45mph (40% of timings) and 60mph (60% of timings), presumably reflecting the permissible operating speeds of the different types of stock. Performance did not seem to be particularly well correlated with traction type or loading, other than a general observation that many Class 60‐hauled heavily laden spoil trains were in the lower speed grouping.

Traction and stock Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Workings around the turn of the millennium

Mixed EWS traction and wagons (lower speed band) 44.5 mph 42 – 48 mph

Mixed EWS traction and wagons (higher speed band) 57.1 mph 54 – 61 mph

Network Rail workings in the modern era

Class 66s on infrastructure renewal workings 60.0 mph 58 – 62 mph

Class 66s & 60s on CWR transportation workings 59.4 mph 57 – 63 mph

Multiple Class 67s on CWR transportation workings 60.4 mph 59 – 62 mph

In later years, infrastructure renewal activities in the North West were concentrated on the ‘virtual quarry’ (ballast stockpile) and work‐train marshalling sidings at Crewe Basford Hall and Gresty Lane,

A Lineside Study 174 July 2009

with ballast and spoil now largely transported in Network Rail’s own rakes of MRA side‐tipping ballast wagons or JNA ‘Falcon’ bogie open box wagons. Class 66 traction was used near exclusively on these workings, mostly hired‐in from Freightliner Heavy Haul but with EWS locomotives also used from time to time, and there was frequent topping and tailing of work trains for operating convenience. Almost all running was close to the Class 6 operating speed limit (carefully driven, with the highest recorded speed being 63 mph).

Following the transfer of CWR production and assembly from Workington and Castleton to the main Corus steel plant at Scunthorpe in early 2007, there was a regular weekday Scunthorpe‐Basford Hall circuit working for the movement of 216m lengths of CWR on permanently coupled rakes of JZA rail transporter flats with YEA end loaders/unloaders. Traction was mostly EWS Class 66s, with occasional Class 60 substitutions, but for several weeks in November 2008 pairs of Class 67s were utilised following the release of locomotives from topping and tailing duties after the delivery of DVTs for use in the operation of Wrexham and Shropshire Railway’s services to Marylebone.

TRACK MONITORING AND RECORDING 23 timings

In 2003 Network Rail introduced a New Measurement Train (NMT) in the form of a 2+5 HST set for high speed monitoring and recording of track condition and the state of the overhead electrified line. A programme of regular monitoring was established which involved weekly runs over the WCML, generally covering the Crewe‐Manchester line on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings either side of overnight refuelling and stabling at Longsight. Most timings were made in the Spring of 2007 at a time when equipment on the NMT was being upgraded, and this resulted in frequent substitution by a loco‐hauled test train topped and tailed with pairs of either Class 31 or 37 locomotives.

Test train formation Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

NMT 2+5 HST 88.1 mph 83 – 99 mph

Loco‐hauled NMT substitute 79.3 mph 75 – 86 mph

The NMT is designed to operate at high speeds but disappointingly was only rarely observed running at speeds close to the 100 mph line limit, possibly because most timings were made of the early Wednesday morning 1Z95 southbound working with the set not being worked at full power because of the generous recovery time allowance built into the schedule for reversal at Crewe before heading off north to monitor the WCML to Glasgow. The locomotive hauled substitute measurement train generally ran at speeds of around 80 mph with both Class 31 and Class 37/6 traction, with the maximum speed recorded being 87 mph.

From 2008 the NMT had its area of operation widened to cover more of the national network, and was a much less frequent visitor to the line. In this new regime (with the line speed now 110 mph) the NMT was only observed once at a speed of 103 mph, but two timings were made of the five‐ coach MENTOR overhead line monitoring test train topped and tailed by Class 31 locomotives running impressively close to the 90 mph traction limit. Four timings were also made of a three‐ coach ultrasonic test train, again topped and tailed by Class 31 locomotives and apparently in transit between measurement sites at a mean speed of 59.1 mph (range of 57‐62 mph).

RAIL‐HEAD TREATMENT TRAINS 87 timings

A Lineside Study 175 July 2009

Mulch on rails from falling and turbulence‐blown leaves is pressure carbonised at the track‐wheel interface when run over by trains to form a hard and slippery ‘teflon‐like’ coating on the rail‐head. To prevent wheel slip when accelerating, and wheel slide when braking, Network Rail operates a fleet of RHTTs in the Autumn leaf‐fall season to clean the surface of the rail head with high pressure water jets. The spraying equipment is of a modular design, and is either mounted on two FEA flat wagons topped and tailed by locomotives or on the flat‐beds of self‐propelled multi‐purpose vehicles (MPVs).

South of Wilmslow the normal operating practice is for water‐jetting to be carried out only in the vicinity of stations at a spraying speed of 40mph, with 60 mph permitted in transit between spaying locations.

Formation and mode of operation Mean speed 80 percentile speed range

Spraying

RHTT topped and tailed by Class 66 locomotives 39.8 mph 38 – 42 mph

RHTT‐equipped Multi‐Purpose Vehicles 39.4 mph 38 – 41 mph

In transit between spraying sites

RHTT topped and tailed by Class 66 locomotives 56.9 mph 53 – 60 mph

RHTT‐equipped Multi‐Purpose Vehicles 57.5 mph 56 – 59 mph

Three serendipitous timings were made in the Autumn of 2004 of non‐spraying RHTTs topped and tailed by Class 37 locomotives at speeds in the range 58‐61 mph, but the main results come from comprehensive studies of spraying operations with topped and tailed Class 66 locomotives in the Autumn of 2005 and with RHTT‐equipped MPVs in the Autumn of 2007. The tabulated transit results exclude some Class 66 workings which travelled continuously at near 40 mph whether spraying or not, either because of running with prudence behind the local stopping train service (instead of in front of it as scheduled) or with drivers perhaps reacting to the generously scheduled turn‐ around/layover times to come at Sandbach (southbound) and Stockport (northbound). The full results for the Class 66 workings are shown in Figure 11. A big difference with the MPVs was that with their lighter weight formations they seemed to be much quicker in changing speed after switching operating modes, and almost all were timed running close to the specified speeds.

A Lineside Study 176 July 2009

13. LIGHT ENGINE MOVEMENTS 219 timings

Operational requirements necessitate frequent locomotive movements between the Freightliner and EWS servicing and stabling facilities at Crewe and the freight terminals at Trafford Park, Earles and Peak Forest, and between the Virgin/Alstom Traincare depot at Longsight and Crewe station and other locations on the WCML. Most locomotives run at around the 75 mph maximum permitted running speed for such ‘light engine’ movements (Figure 12), apart from the Class 60s and 66/6s where the locomotive class limits are lower (at 60 mph and 65 mph respectively).

A Lineside Study 177 July 2009

Two features stand out amongst the sub‐population statistics for Classes 92, 90, 86/6, 66, 57 and 47. The first is the relatively narrow dispersion of less than 3 mph in the speed distribution of the light engine Class 92s, which as on freight workings is presumably due to the locomotives being driven predominantly under cruise control. The other is the extended low speed tails of the distributions for both passenger and freight Class 47s sub‐types, and this may perhaps be linked to the apparent poor ride quality of some of the more run‐down members of the fleets ahead of withdrawal. It is also interesting to note that amongst both the Class 57s and 47s the passenger locomotive sub‐types have light engine movement speeds which are systematically slightly higher than those of the corresponding freight types, suggestive of a possible real difference in driving approach.

Not included in the statistics are two measurements made in 2002 of Virgin Class 47s travelling at speeds significantly in excess of 80 mph. The first was a weekday early evening light engine movement from Longsight to Crewe which was timed southbound through Chelford at 84 mph. The locomotive then spent around the next two hours stabled in bay platform 10 at Crewe station before taking up its booked duty replacing a Class 90 on a through Euston‐Holyhead service. The second was a Sunday morning light engine positioning movement associated with the dragging of diverted West Coast workings due to the closure of the WCML north of Crewe for engineering work. The Class 47 ran light engine southbound through Chelford at no less than 92.5 mph, having been given the road just ahead an HST Cross‐Country working. A smart turn‐around at Crewe then saw the locomotive work back through Chelford barely an hour later dragging pretty much to time the first northbound Euston‐Liverpool service of the day. 14. CONCLUDING REMARKS

A lineside survey of this type, which is not restricted to passenger workings but includes information about the full range of traffic movements over a line, provides an interesting snapshot of the whole railway in operation.

Locomotive and multiple unit performance on passenger duties is generally very much as would be expected from conventional timing studies, although interesting new results about day‐to‐day A Lineside Study 178 July 2009

service delivery and driving techniques come from the speed dispersion statistics of the different types in action. What stands out most prominently however is the improvement in performance with next generation traction, with new standards being set not only for running at design and infrastructure limits but also for shear consistency. Examples include:

• the tight running of West Coast Pendolino workings at close to close to line speed limit with minimal dispersion • the dragging capabilities of the re‐built Class 57/3s hauling stock formations with a high ETS requirement • the high speed operation of lengthy charter trains topped and tailed Class 67 locomotives • the again impressive tight performance of Cross‐Country Voyagers and Super‐Voyagers running southbound after Wilmslow station restarts • the routine high standard of the day‐to‐day running of the Class 323 EMUs on local services, with drivers making full use of the units acceleration and braking capabilities • the ability of Class 175 Coradias used on South Wales Alphaline services to cruise at their design limit of 100 mph.

On the freight side, the study provides information for really the first time about operating speeds. Following the phasing out of the lower‐powered types of diesel traction, most workings run at close to their specified freight class limits. The only major exceptions to this were the most heavily‐laden Class 60 hauled aggregate stone trains and the poorly pathed and often traffic‐delayed Fastline Trafford Park‐Thamesport container workings (although reliability of the small Class 56 fleet was also an issue here, with sometimes poor performance being attributable to locomotives having to be turned out in below‐par condition).

Network infrastructure workings are another interesting area of operation of the railway, with changes in operating practice and stock improvements resulting in almost all modern renewals traffic running at a standard speed of around 60 mph. Track monitoring and recording is an activity where again up until now there has been little information about performance, and the disappointment here was rarely to see NMT high speed train operating at full line speed. Autumn season rail head treatment is carried out pretty much to specification, with it being interesting to observe the more rapid changes in speed with the lightweight MPVs.

Throughout one cannot fail to be impressed by the general high standard of driving which reflects well on the skill and dedication of the staff of the different operating companies of today’s privatised railway. One variable which appears to have diminished significantly over the period of the survey is however driver individuality, with the introduction of OTMR and ‘professional’ driving standards bringing much more uniformity to train running. That said, sensible driver judgement clearly still has an important role to play in optimising performance delivery and several examples are evidenced here of relaxed high speed cruising when running to time on schedules which had not been tightened to reflect enhancements of line speed. It is clear that on the agenda in the near future will be more environmentally‐friendly (and cost reducing) ‘eco‐driving’, and it will be interesting to see the impact of energy‐saving measures such as restricted notch acceleration and coasting on overall train performance.

A Lineside Study 179 July 2009