We’re still waiting for lift off
Informed Sources
This feature has been running for seven months now and I am still waiting for the moment when one of the new fleets takes off and starts recording the reliability levels demonstrated by even average fleets in its category. I’m all for the philosophy of marginal gains, as espoused by managers in various sports, but that is applied to athletes at the peak of their powers seeking the split second advantage that makes the difference between a gold or silver medal.
But here we have three EMUs and a bi-mode from established manufacturers and the percentage improvements in miles per technical incident (MTIN) moving annual average (MAA) on the previous month’s figures are pretty marginal. I don’t think it is unfair to point out that none of the new fleets can yet match the 8,933 MTIN MAA of Northern’s Class 142 Pacer fleet.
With the Crossrail Bombardier Aventra Class 345 Reduced Length Units (RLU), the gain over Period 1 was 13%, but on a very low base. The first Full Length Units (FLU) are now entering service and in their first period recorded zero Technical Incidents (TIN). So theoretically, they were infinitely reliable.
Next best improvement came from Hitachi, which showed a 7.5% period-on-period improvement with the Great Western Railway Class 800 bi-modes. All very Keizen, but they have still to match the reliability of the GWR IC125 fleet which they are replacing.
Not that the GWR IC125s offer serious competition. When the nine-car IEP bi-modes start running on the East Coast main line they will be up against the Craigentinny IC125s, with Golden Spanners on their driving cabs. I must see what the IEP contracts say about reliability growth.
Finally, the two Siemens Desiro City fleets improved by 1-2%, which is just background noise in the world of reliability reporting.
