01.01.12
Maintaining the IEP fleet
Source: Rail Technology Magazine Dec/Jan 2012
Hitachi’s proposed rail maintenance depot for Stoke Gifford has met some local opposition, but could create up to 170 permanent jobs in the area. Kate Ashley reports.
Hitachi Rail Europe is in the process of planning a new rail maintenance depot in the ‘Railway Triangle’, close to Bristol Parkway Station, to service its Super Express rolling stock as part of the Intercity Express Programme.
The trains are expected to enter use on the Great Western Main Line in 2016 following testing in 2015, but will not be in use on the East Coast Main Line until 2018.
The £1bn plan to electrify the GWML between London, Bristol and Cardiff will allow faster and greener trains to run, Hitachi says, with each able to carry a fifth more passengers than the current HST rolling stock. Journey times between Bristol and London will be reduced by around 22 minutes – meaning the fastest service between Bristol Parkway and Paddington will be just over an hour.
Hitachi and John Laing are working together as the Agility Trains consortium, which is providing the electric and bi-mode rolling stock for the Intercity Express Programme.
A key aspect of the programme is the provision of a network of modern maintenance depots for the fleet, and Stoke Gifford has been chosen for the Bristol site, while the London end will be serviced by an upgraded depot at North Pole.
The Stoke Gifford facility is expected to generate up to 140 construction jobs and up to 170 permanent jobs at the depot, where staff training and special contract and engineering management will be carried out. It is acknowledged that some existing depot jobs are likely to disappear elsewhere, however, as the rolling stock change-over takes place.
Hitachi has been in talks with South Gloucestershire Council for some time over the Stoke Gifford depot and has now formally submitted its scheme, which it hopes to have operational by 2015 if consent goes through.
Railway Triangle
It is set to be built on a triangular piece of land owned by Network Rail, making up the north east section of a diamond shaped area formed by railway lines close to Bristol Parkway. The land is currently leased to a company which reclaims building waste.
Although the new trains will be assembled by Hitachi at a new plant in County Durham, they will be maintained and serviced closer to where they are operating. The depot is proposed to work around the clock, with a range of servicing procedures carried out there. Covering 44 acres, the land will be used for a main maintenance workshop, with offices and stores, as well as a train wash building, a wheel lathe building and drivers’ and cleaners’ accommodation.
The planning application is for a rail maintenance depot including sidings and associated maintenance buildings and accommodation, and fuel storage facilities, improvements to existing access road, internal access roads and car parking, security fencing and landscaping.
Raising concerns
The depot plans have already run into local opposition, however, with concerns raised about potential noise, pollution, and impact on house prices. At a public meeting of 70 residents in October, people said they were worried about fumes from the depot, the volume of water being used and disposed of, the control and removal of waste and the noise and general environmental impact it would have on the local area. Additionally, residents raised complaints concerning the inconsistency of information they were supplied with, especially relating to night-time working. The parish council has objected to the application, which is still being considered by South Gloucestershire Council, which will make the final decision.
South Gloucestershire transport leader Cllr Brian Allinson has said the proposed site is sensible due to the convergence of main lines on this point, and visited the Hitachi depot at Ashford to see for himself whether nearby residents had any concerns about noise or pollution there. Although he got a resounding ‘no’, critics have pointed out that the maintenance and testing of bimode diesel-electric units at Stoke Gifford would be far noisier than the equivalent operations on the all-electric fleet in Kent.
Andy Barr, senior vice-president of Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “We are addressing these concerns and will ensure that we reach viable solutions for all involved parties. Hitachi is keen to become an active partner of the local community.
“We have spent a lot of time making sure we will not be a noisy neighbour. There isn’t a lot of noisy machinery and the trains are electric, so pretty quiet.”
Agents Indigo Planning stated: “The depot will be a key train care facility for the Great Western line, which will bring engineering expertise to the local area and provide opportunities for local training and employment.”
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