With a recent renaissance in loco-hauled passenger trains, does the concept have a long-term future? PHILIP SHERRATT reports
The rolling stock landscape is constantly changing. While over 5,500 new carriages are on the way in the coming years, a number of operators have reverted to loco-haulage, chiefly to cover for a shortage of diesel units and to provide a short-term capacity boost.
and to provide a short-term capacityboost. The hiatus in DMU orders is now over, with self-powered units on the way for Northern and Greater Anglia. But this does not spell the death knell for loco-hauled services by any means; while the short-term hires to cover for capacity shortfalls may end, locomotives are set to continue powering passenger trains on some routes for the foreseeable future. So how have these various uses come about, what are the practicalities and what are the future prospects for loco-haulage?
First, the obvious question to ask is what actually comprises loco-haulage. Class 37s on the Cumbrian Coast or in East Anglia are perhaps obvious, but how about Class 91s on the East Coast main line? And what of the venerable HST, now in its fifth decade of front line operation and set to continue in service …
