Vivarail's 'D Train' - 'D' stock reborn

Looks like Bedford to Bletchley will be the first line in the UK Click Here

Without any great fanfare, a photo on the VivaRail website now shows that 23001 has been fully repaired and left Long Marston for mainline tracks in the Cotswolds.

Presumably it is currently just racking up more mileage for test and performance demonstration purposes to ensure WM Trains are happy the new units will deliver. However driver training runs presumably must start fairly soon if these units are going to be ready to fully operate the passenger service on the Marston Vale line by the winter timetable which probably means it won't be long before further units will be joining 23001.

Indeed. 5x 3 car units, with the LU style interior (although they are replacing the 2 inner longitudinal seating areas with bay seats and tables), and most interestingly - battery powered

I guess the real thing will be somewhat different from a digital mock-up.

The inside view shows passenger door opening buttons but none on the outside. I rather like the intra carriage links which give an open and light feel which is reminiscent of the S stock.

It has been suggested these will be hybrid power units with diesel gen packs in some rafts and batteries in others which means the units may prove a lot more versatile than some have suggested and rather than being confined to the odd branch line shuttle service they may end up being pressed into service on other duties when the planned stock proves defective a bit like pacers.

vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-announce-new-order-for-wales-and-borders/

They're going to have to work hard on the Conwy Valley!

something caught in my eye - the pohoto shows walkthrough gangways - this wasnt possible in London underground

Not sure why, when Metro-Cammell were building the initial batch of Hong Kong MTR and Tyne & Wear Metro trains at the same time as D Stock.

How many units/carriages maximum might VivaRail be able to offer as rolling stock should the orders come in, given some of the reserved carriages will only ever be used as spares/donors?

It still doesn’t look right though

Don't think the yellow looks any good at all. They done quite a nice job with the train, to then just splash come yellow on the front. If the edges were shaped a bit, might make it look a bit better

The 230s diesel engines are essentially those from road vehicles which incorporate automatic start-stop technology, which first became widely used around 2008-2010. The only units in Chiltern's fleet that could even potentially have this technology are the 4 Class 172s, but even they don't have it (I don't know when the engines they use were designed, and whether the reliability implications (many more start-stop cycles) were known enough at the time). Railway driving has very different characteristics to road vehicle driving (long periods of full power and essentially nothing equivalent to a stop-start traffic jam) so the technology is not directly transposable.

How long is the turnaround at Marylebone? How long does it take to start the engines again after shutting them down? If you shut the engines down do you have to apply handbrakes?

Can't tell you how long turn around times are at marylebone but a 165 should shut down 15 minutes after the driver has removed the key the 168 and 172 should have a similar timescale