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

"Last week I drove to the Quinton Rail Technology Centre at Long Marston to poke around the Viva Rail D78 stock conversion plus a couple of gentle laps the test track. It was a fascinating visit and the only disappointment was that I couldn’t see inside one of the diesel engine power packs which, judging by a photo Adrian Shooter showed me on his mobile, is a clever piece of packaging.

As you might expect, given those involved, the engineering is impressive and on the brief trip the little engines purred away sounding like a proper traction diesel even though the control software is still under development. Obviously we could only bimble around the test track, reaching what we were told was 35 mile/h.

Adrian was coy over the location for service trials, no doubt hoping I hadn’t seen the First Great Western Direct Award Franchise agreement. One requirement is to evaluate the Class 230 as it is known and my bet is that this will be on the Gunnislake branch."

quote: Bogies - or metal chassis - are kept the same. These were built in 2003. They are the right gauge because the District Line runs outside the Underground so it’s on different tracks. But the trains will get new engines and generators, as well as freshly-fitted electro-mechanical systems.

Class 230 in the metal
Informed Sources Fourth Law commands ‘When in doubt build a demonstrator’. While it is easy to rubbish a concept, something in the metal demands objective criticism.

During August Mr Walmsley and I were among the 195 guests who visited the Quinton Rail Technology Centre to examine Vivarail’s first conversion of a D78 Tube Stock vehicle into a Class 230 Diesel Electric Multiple Unit and have a ride on the test track. In ‘Pan Up’ Ian has covered ambience and the market while I provide the technical description.

Introducing the Vivarail project in the December 2014 column, I admitted to being in a quandary. On the one hand a rival D78 stock conversion seemed a complete non-starter. On the other hand, at Vivarail Adrian Shooter had assembled a team of engineers for whom I have the highest regard.

So I wrote a technical description of Vivarail’s proposal, expressed some reservations over the practicality of the underfloor Ford automotive engines and reserved further comment until I could see the D-Train in the metal. Some readers were less charitable and asked why I hadn’t said what I really thought of the concept.

For our test run we bimbled around the Quinton track reaching a maximum speed of 30-35 mile/h. The five cylinder engines purring away under the floor were less noticeable than, say, a Cummins in a Meridian. When we started power pick-up was smooth and vibration free and the ride was agreed by my fellow travellers to be better than a Pacer (not difficult). You can find the sound level measurements in Mr Walmsley’s column.

Engineering
However, my main interest was in the workshop where conversion of the other two vehicles for the demonstration unit was advanced. With the second powered vehicle up on stands it was possible examine the underfloor equipment layout and the column has an illustrated guide to what goes where and how.

There was one disappointment. It was not possible to look inside one of the engine modules produced by Revolve Technologies. However, Vivarail subsequently provided a photograph, which gives an indication of the packaging.

Early criticism of the Vivarail project focused on the lack of crashworthiness of the cab ends. But from inside the cab the safety cage is massive and has been beefed up following the crash test. Mr Walmsley reckons protection is superior to a Pacer and could even be better than the Class 150 front end.

Spend.
So far Vivarail has spent around £4million on the project and it shows in the quality of the engineering. Based on the capital rental figures provided by Vivarail I estimate the cost of a converted Class 230 vehicle at around £800,000, roughly half the price of a putative new DMU.

Certification of the demonstrator three car Class 230 is scheduled by the end of this year. Testing in passenger service will follow ‘in the new year’, initially on the Plymouth-Gunnislake branch fulfilling a requirement in the First Great Western Direct Award franchise agreement.

This has exposed some interesting internal DfT politics. Rail Minister Claire Perry, who is clearly not a Vivarail fan, claimed in a recent written answer that the obligation in the FGW franchise agreement covers only an initial feasibility study. According to Claire, the franchise agreement makes clear that any proposals for a trial that might derive from that report would be subject to a separate decision by the Secretary of State and would be subject to initial examination confirming likely viability.

Well, FGW inspected the first vehicle back in July and has begun planning for the trial. So it looks as though ‘likely viability’ has been confirmed and someone in New Minster House has given the go ahead. As ever, is it Claire or the civil servant who drafted the reply the one out of the loop?