ROYAL HIGHNESS: Crossing the 65ft high, 43-arch Grade II listed Yarm Viaduct which crosses the River Tees and runs around the west of the town, DBC Class 66 No. 66023, leads the morning Wilton-Knowsley empty household waste ‘bin liner’ train on June 22. The loco had been unveiled five days earlier at Toton depot in its new royal blue livery to mark the King’s coronation. As well as the Union Flag, it features the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock emblems of the four home nations.
STEVE SIENKIEWICZ
TRANSPENNINE Express ‘Nova 3’ sets (Class 68 locomotives and Mk. 5a coaches) were expected to be completely removed from its south (Manchester-Cleethorpes) route by the end of July. Following over a year of crew training, ‘Nova 3’services on the route only began in March, but their appearances have been irregular. TPE says there is a limited ability to move trains between maintenance locations when they are used on Cleethorpes trains and that loco noise during stabling has also caused an issue. ‘Nova 3’diagrams on the line are due revert to Class 185 operation. In the immediate future, ‘Nova 3s’will continue to be used on Liverpool Lime St-Scarborough services, but the operator says a broader review of the business could lead to further changes to its fleet and how it is deployed.
Two rakes of Mk. 5a‘Nova 3’ coaches were removed from service after a small number of cracks were discovered during routine inspections.
TPE declined to elaborate on the nature or location of the faults, but said two other sets with potential issues were also temporarily withdrawn and that it was working with manufacturer CAF to understand the cause and establish a solution.