Merseyrail

[North West Dane]

RE: Merseyrail
Are the northern line tunnels as problematic as the Wirral lines when it comes to wheel wear, curves, emu suitability etc? If they aren't, then, re the long term refurb option, I was thinking that Merseyrail could restrict the Wirral line to 507/8 only because of the loop, and augment the northern line fleet with other classes of cascaded emu stock. Both lines would end up with more sets than now, but the Wirral line would have 507/8 only, and the Northern Line a mix of 507/8 and the cascaded sets.

That would allow growth on both the northern and Wirral lines under the long term refurb option, wouldn't it? Six car sets on both lines whenever we need them?

I don't know enough about where the emus would cascade from but hadn't seen this point discussed before. Would it work? You could still interchange between lines, but you'd restrict the interchange to 507/8s.

[SNL 824]

RE: Merseyrail

(17/01/2014 17:10)wirralbus Wrote:  Think that because there was a difference how much needed to be done to the 508/3 units to get them to the standard of the existing 508/1 fleet they coulodnt come up with a package that would be financially viable .

but that's my point, the cost benefit analysis wouldn't work if you were refurbing for a few years, but if you were doing it for 2 or 3 years plus 10, it becomes much more cost effective.

[Sprinterdriver]

RE: Merseyrail
Of course it does, but sometimes things buck the trend. The leasing companies are looking at ways of getting 14x units through the 2020 deadline for a few years use, at a cost of £85,000 a vehicle.

SD.

[507022]

RE: Merseyrail

(15/01/2014 15:16)507009 Wrote:  508139 made a rare appearance on the Northern Line this morning, forming the 08.25 Liverpool Central - Ormskirk with 507024. This formation has remained at Kirkdale so may be out for PM peak on the Ormskirk line.

Also saw what I believe to be 950001 in the siding near Bidston at 11.45ish.

508141 was in use today so isn't in for overhaul just yet. Looks like 508112 has now entered Birkenhead North for its overhaul, but 508130 wasn't out today.

More details of the upcoming train refresh have appeared in the Echo, suggesting £8.5 million is to be spent. This article also hints that an "extensive re-work" of the existing 507/8 fleet is still being considered instead of buying new stock: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/live...et-6509944.

508130 is still on its overhaul and has been joined by 508134 but the former should be released within a week or so

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseyrail

(17/01/2014 21:06)North West Dane Wrote:  Are the northern line tunnels as problematic as the Wirral lines when it comes to wheel wear, curves, emu suitability etc? If they aren't, then, re the long term refurb option, I was thinking that Merseyrail could restrict the Wirral line to 507/8 only because of the loop, and augment the northern line fleet with other classes of cascaded emu stock. Both lines would end up with more sets than now, but the Wirral line would have 507/8 only, and the Northern Line a mix of 507/8 and the cascaded sets.

That would allow growth on both the northern and Wirral lines under the long term refurb option, wouldn't it? Six car sets on both lines whenever we need them?

I don't know enough about where the emus would cascade from but hadn't seen this point discussed before. Would it work? You could still interchange between lines, but you'd restrict the interchange to 507/8s.

To be honest Merseyrail try to use the stock across all lines to ensure that the wheel wear is standard across the entire fleet , over the years they did have units that had an exclusive use on the Northern and Wirral Lines to look at how much wear the wheels would get if they stuck to them areas.

Merseyrail would be loathe to introduce a new class alongside the 507/8 . Most operators of small amounts of stock hate having small fleets as they either all seem to want to work or all seem to fail at the same time , just look at the Hull Trains fiasco with the Class 180's at times they have only had a handful of sets available out of there normal quota .

Logical step is either one of two things rework the 507/8 and go for no growth or new stock and factor in growth , with growth you could look at possibly 65/66 units instead of 59 at present .

[jtd508110]

RE: Merseyrail
Person hit by train at Freshfield tonight. Thoughts with families and train crew involved.

Today is the most depressing day in the annual calendar (known as Blue Monday) and a lot of people decide to take their own lives at this time of year. It is just unfortunate that it can wreck train drivers/guards careers.

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseyrail

(20/01/2014 19:51)jtd508110 Wrote:  Person hit by train at Freshfield tonight. Thoughts with families and train crew involved.

Today is the most depressing day in the annual calendar (known as Blue Monday) and a lot of people decide to take their own lives at this time of year. It is just unfortunate that it can wreck train drivers/guards careers.

This incident was at Fisherman's Crossing .

[MX12CFE]

RE: Merseyrail
In the upcoming refurb of the trains it says theyre going to receive a body wrap to prevent corrosion just wondering if this will result in 507002 & 508111 losing their special liveries or will they regain them upon completion of the work?

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseyrail
probably lose the promotional livery as and when they come up for the work to be done , dont forget 507002has a lot less hours on the clock than the other units so will probably be one of the last to be done after the Kirkdale incident .

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Merseyrail
It all depends on whether they refresh them as part of the standard overhaul procedure or not. Considering only one unit is overhauled a month, it would take nearly five years to refresh the whole fleet, so the makeover might be carried out separately. Either way, 507002 wouldn't be one of the last given it was overhauled before September 2012.

I seem to remember reading the advertising units had been given a protective 'wrap' prior to the liveries being applied, but it seems likely they will lose their liveries anyway once the refresh programme is underway. I'd love to see them stay though - they really add a welcome splash of colour to the network.