ROGER FORD REVEALS A YEAR OF MIXED FORTUNES, BUT WITH SEVEN OF THE RECORD 19 SPANNER-WINNING FLEETS SCHEDULED TO BE REPLACED IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, THEIR SUCCESSORS HAVE A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW
2018 FLEET RELIABILITY REVIEW
With the Golden Spanners awards entering their second decade, and a new generation of rolling stock being delivered, the original pre/post-privatisation dividing line has been overtaken by time and technology. Refl ecting this, there are now three categories for electric and diesel multiple-units. In addition to the established ex-BR EMUs and DMUs, there are now separate categories for first and second generation post-privatisation rolling stock. I have chosen 2010 as the generational dividing line, with trains entering service on or after that year making up the new second generation EMU and DMU categories.
Coincidentally, by the time of the 2010 election we were at around the halfway point of the second, 999-day, order hiatus, so 2010 fits in well with the feast and famine order cycle.
There is a further point. With the original new generation category, I included the final BR orders for AC drive EMUs and the Networker Turbos. The aim was to provide a yardstick against which the per…
