16.01.15
DRS to provide rolling stock for Cumbrian Coast
Direct Rail Services (DRS), the state-owned train company, is to supply two locomotives for passenger services along the west Cumbrian Coast, as part of the recently announced ‘complex solution’ to increasing rolling stock in the north of England.
Discussions with Northern Rail and the Department for Transport have centred on the provision of two, newly refurbished locomotive hauled, Mark 2 coaching stock sets operating on the Cumbrian Coast on a Monday to Friday basis.
Neil McNicholas, managing director at DRS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), said: “I am very proud to be involved in supporting Northern in delivering its vital services for Cumbria. This shows what can be achieved through a true partnership approach between freight and passenger operators.”
The company added that the new service includes a morning commuter train to Sellafield, the NDA-run site where 10,000 people work cleaning up Britain’s nuclear waste.
DRS stated that the new service follows on from the successful trials supported by the NDA, Sellafield Ltd and Northern Rail in 2012, which received a “high amount of positive feedback from customers”.
Financed by the DfT, Northern Rail, which operates the franchise in Cumbria, will hire the trains from DRS and collect the tickets. However, DRS drivers will operate the locomotives until the TOC can train its own staff.
Alex Hynes, managing director of Northern Rail, said DRS provided a “good short-term solution”.
(Library image: DRS liveried Class 47 locomotive number 47712 Pride of Carlisle)
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