Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Hyndburn’s stations. It had been noted that more of the 158:xxx units had been making an appearance of late on services through Accrington. The reason for this had now become apparent. Earlier in the year it was discovered that a component known as ‘ the yaw damper shock absorber’ fitted to all of the CAF 195s, had broken away from the bodywork shell with a danger it might come adrift and fall onto the permanent way. This mechanism was designed to minimise any swaying motion when the stock is travelling at higher speeds. Not all of the fleet of three and two car units had been affected, but 22 of these units were immediately taken out of service where this defect had been identified. The units on which these defects had not occurred, including those on the cross-Pennine services through Accrington, remained operational subject to regular inspections. The engineers at CAF along with those of Northern already had found a modification which, when fully tested, would allow the entire class to re-enter service. New touch-screen ticket dispensing machines had been installed on 420 stations where Northern’s trains operate, 621 in total at a cost of £17 millions. On Monday the 17 th , the light engine movement between Leeds Balm Road Freightliner depot and Crewe, Basford Hall was 66:557 towing 90:010. Early in the evening of Sunday the 23 rd , although some 50 minutes later than scheduled, there was another of the now quite regular Freightliner movements. On this occasion 70:020 was towing 70:014 and 90:003 from Crewe to Hunslet Sidings in Leeds. There were also a number of heavily graffitified high capacity hopper wagons in the trailing consist. The two class 70s were in the yellow and green livery of the operating company, whilst the 90 was in a bland off white. There was more of the same on Thursday the 26 th , when at 15:15 there was another of these Freightliner ‘light engine’ movements between Leeds, Balm Road and Crewe Basford sidings through Accrington. This time it was 66:554 dragging 66:531 with 90:003 bringing up the rear, returning whence it had come only a few days earlier. Also noted were Northern’s 195:106 on the 15:11 York to Blackpool North and 195:130 on the Blackpool North to York. On the last day of the month, Bank Holiday Monday the 31 st , once again there was a light engine movement between Crewe and Manchester Victoria. This time the locomotive was Freightliner’s 66:539. It was thought that these were precursors to a service using the East Lancs Line in order to relieve congestion in the Greater Manchester conurbation, or even to divert some goods on this route when the electrification of the line between Manchester and Leeds and the re-doubling of the section of line along the Calder Valley commences. Of note when 195:133, the last of Northern’s CAFs numerically, came through in the afternoon on a Blackpool North to York service, it was noticeable that very many of the window seats were occupied. Was this a sign that things are returning to normal and that people are taking advantage of the easing of restrictions to move back to the railways again? A ‘temporary fix’ had been formulated to keep the newish CAF Class 195s in service. The defect found in the yaw mounting brackets, has been strengthened by fitting plates to spread the load between the dampers and the ‘T slots’ over a greater area. Those units in which the flaw had been detected had been moved at slow speed to Huddersfield Sidings, where the faulty brackets were removed. Despite all this, Northern had been able to operate their services in the increased timetable that came into force from May 17 th . Plans were unveiled on May 20 th , by the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps for the formation of a new Great British Railway (GBR). This was based on the findings of a review launched in 2018 by Keith Williams, the former Chair of British Airways. The main objectives of GBR are - • To own the entire railways infrastructure. • To replace the franchising of services, with Passenger Service Contracts of five years duration, and to award them to private companies. • To control the running of the whole railway network. • To set the timetables and fares. • To simplify ticketing and fares. • To introduce ‘pay as you go’ and ‘limited use’ season tickets, which could be down-loaded in a digital format? • To take the revenue generated by fares and freight. • To replace train operator’s websites, with a GBR version and app for bookings and information.

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