The headlines may be dominated by bad news about the UK rail network, but behind the scenes there’s still investment and innovation, reports Alex McWhirter.

Rail travellers using two of the UK’s busiest mainlines are soon to experience new and faster trains – but right now, they are travelling on rolling stock that is 30 to 40 years old. GWR (Great Western Rail), the train company that operates from London Paddington to Wales and the West Country, uses 40-year-old HST diesel trains exclusively for mainline services. Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), which links London King’s Cross to Yorkshire, the Northeast and Scotland, has a fleet of the same 40-year old HST diesel trainsets, with the addition of 30-year-old electric trains.

In the months and years ahead, these train operating companies (TOCs) will introduce state-of-the-art Hitachi electric trainsets. These new trains are no faster than the current British Rail era rolling stock, but their greater acceleration provides more scope for dealing with delays, and can make more en route stops without impacting on schedules; this in turn can help train travel compete with air travel for convenience and speed. They are also bi-mode (electric and diesel power), allowing them to switch to diesel power when not on electrified tracks.

Best of both worlds?

GWR’s Hitachi-built IEPs (Intercity Express Programme) trains are now on trial, and will gradually be extended across the network. VTEC will have similar trainsets, but these are rebranded Virgin Azuma (“azuma” is the Japanese word for “east”). The plan is for them to enter service in December 2018 and, as we reported on businesstraveller.com last November, to operate from London to Scotland in March 2019.
But all is not perfect. Critics say bi-mode is inefficient. It means that, when running over electrified track, the trainsets are burdened with non-operating diesel engines, and this is wasteful.

The other concern is the traction power. It remains to be seen whether the smaller diesel engines have the power to cope with the gradients found in the West Country and the Scottish Highlands. Trains today have air con and more electrical equipment to run than earlier models, and so they consume more energy.

Hitachi’s trainsets may have state-of-the-art engineering, but on-board comfort for standard class passengers has not been the top priority. Rather late in the day the rail industry has woken up to the issue of passenger seat comfort. As we see with today’s airlines these new trains have thinner slim-line seating in standard class, with less padding. And whereas that might be bearable on an aircraft flying for a couple of hours, these trains undertake journey times of up to six hours or more. VTEC’s Azumas will operate north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness; the longest run for GWR’s IEPs will be London-Penzance.

Sitting comfortably

The issue of seat comfort is not confined to long-distance trains. Thameslink, which operates the capital’s outer suburban services, operates a £2.8 billion fleet of new Siemens’ trains with similar slim-line seating, which some commuters have likened to sitting on an ironing board. Crossrail will have them, too.

Referring to the Thameslink trains, Rail magazine quoted a train driver as saying: “The seats are only part of the cock-up. There’s also a lack of tables, cup holders, charge points. It’s the whole low-spec base model feel.”

The BBC’s Tom Edwards says: “What has happened is the train company has been given grief by commuters and the train company has then blamed the DfT’s [Department for Transport] regulations. So we end up in a blame game with little accountability.”

Now, says industry magazine Rail, “The RSSB (Rail Safety and Standards Board) is calling on the rail industry to develop a more scientific approach to measuring and specifying seat comfort in train seating.”

All of which calls into question how well politicians understand passengers’ concerns. Quoted in Rail, the rail minister Jo Johnson told a fellow MP: “We do not want [passengers] to feel that they need to bring their own inflatable cushions and my honourable Friend will take comfort in the fact that seats normally become more comfortable over time, through use.”

This statement was, however, ridiculed, for example by rail engineer/manager Ian S Derbyshire, who said on Twitter (@iansderbyshire): “Having run a railway and as a former rolling stock engineer, I do agree – these new train seats are as hard as boards and will get worse, not better, with age/use. Please have them replaced asap.”

Investment delays

Much new train investment is currently on hold in a “wait and see” scenario, particularly because the franchises of East Midlands Trains (EMT) and Virgin Trains West Coast (VT) both expire at the end of March 2019. No train company will plan huge investment in a network that may soon not be theirs. EMT will be busy coping with track improvements by Network Rail in the Derby area over the summer period. Train services will be disrupted on a daily basis for many weeks.

Positive developments

VT is investing £7.5 million in rolling out free wifi to all passengers (in both first and standard class) on its Pendolino trains. Work starts in May 2018, and is expected to be completed by January 2019.

Some operators are relaxing restrictions with Advance fares. Normally these must be booked at least one day ahead. But VT has changed this to just one hour (prior to the departure), while Cross Country (which operates a complex route network) enables ticket holders to amend Advance bookings free of charge (from two hours after purchase to 24 hours before your journey starts). VTEC is offering first class upgrades via the phone app seatfrog.com; travellers have to bid for the upgrade.

One point to note is that many of these offers require travellers to book direct with the respective TOC. As with the airlines, the TOCs want to encourage more travellers to book direct rather than book via online agents such as Trainline or Red Spotted Hanky. Some TOCs now make seat fare sales, and again these are for direct bookings only.

Chiltern Railways (operated by Arriva) claims the rare distinction of opening a new stretch of track, namely one linking London Marylebone with Oxford. In doing so it is competing with the more established GWR trains running from London Paddington to Oxford. At the same time Chiltern Railways has improved service to Bicester Village (a shopping outlet), and now provides station announcements and signs in Mandarin and Arabic. Bicester Village is now the second most visited UK attraction after Buckingham Palace for Chinese tourists.

Chiltern competes with VT between London and Birmingham. Granted its trains take a little longer and use different stations (Marylebone and Snow Hill), but it charges less than VT, and travellers taking mainline services are offered the “old-fashioned” locomotive-hauled rolling stock that was considered the best in British Rail days.

One concern is that VTEC may hand back the franchise keys in the coming months. VTEC (which is 90 per cent owned by Stagecoach, 10 per cent owned by Virgin Group) faces difficulties paying its £3.3 billion franchise fee, which it was supposed to pay between 2015 and 2023. In response, the government has relented. It will let VTEC surrender the franchise three years early in 2020, and it will pay far less, though the exact amount is not yet known.

Since that announcement was made a few months ago the situation has become critical, according to transport minister Chris Grayling. And the recent snow disruption when the East Coast Main Line was closed north of Newcastle for three days will not have helped VTEC’s cash flow.

All change for Heathrow trains

Travellers taking surface trains to Heathrow airport from London will see major changes in the months and years ahead. From May 20, Heathrow Connect (currently operated by GWR and Heathrow Express) is being taken over by Tfl. Then in December 2018, Crossrail (to be renamed the Elizabeth Line in the same month) will run from east London to Paddington. From here, travellers can change to Heathrow Connect or Heathrow Express to continue their journey.

From December 2019, the Elizabeth Line will be completed, and run right through from east London to Heathrow. There will be two trains per hour to T5 and four to T4, so in total six trains serving T2/3 per hour in Heathrow’s central area.

In addition to the Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express will continue with its existing four trains per hour frequency. Since the Elizabeth Line will be priced in line with other services across the Tfl network (£10.20 peak time), it will be significantly cheaper than the Heathrow Express standard single fare (currently £27). However, the Heathrow Express is geared towards airline users, providing a faster journey of just 15 minutes, while the Crossrail trip will take 10 minutes longer.

Heathrow Express say their prices will be “competitive” with the Elizabeth Line, but have not divulged future prices. New ticket barriers are currently being installed at the Heathrow Express terminals at the airport and Paddington to accept Oyster and contactless payments. They will come into use at Heathrow from May, and at Paddington from September.