TRANSPENNINE Express (TPE) says it is in“active discussions” with the Department for Transport and Transport for the North regarding the future deployment of its Mk. 5a‘Nova 3’ coaching stock.
With effect from the introduction of the winter timetable on December 10, TPE will operate 16 fewer trains per day, amove it claims will be short term, to simplify operations and improve reliability. This will lead to the removal from traffic of its‘Nova 3’sets (for which Beacon Rail-owned Class 68 diesel locomotives have been sub-leased from Direct Rail Services) and the use of Class 185 DMUs and Hitachi Class 802 ‘Nova 1’bi-mode trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Scarborough instead.
Twelve out of 13‘Nova 3’sets were used in rotation to cover five diagrams per day with 14 locomotives (Nos. 68019-032) allocated to work them. In a short-term arrangement lasting until January 2024, four (Nos. 68019/020/022/031) were loaned back to DRS from October. However, TPE says this was at the request of DRS and“does not affect”plans to“stabilise and build back” operations. It added that no final decisions have been made regarding the future of the ‘Nova 3’sets, also owned by Beacon.
Northern
All 15 of Northern’s Class 319 EMUs are due to be withdrawn from traffic when the timetable changes. Atotal of 17 Class 323s from West Midlands Railway will be cascaded as replacements over the next six months, the first (No. 323208) having made its own way to Allerton depot on October 28.