Do 3,000 scrap vehicles signal the death of refurbishment or a new opportunity for the UK rail supply industry?
Pan Up
The greatest scrappage scheme since Victorian times! Well, the end of the broad gauge in 1892 scrapped 4,343 vehicles – but they were mainly wagons. There was the end of steam on British Rail, where many hundreds of steam locos went in the early 1960s, including the 999 built by British Rail (what an annoying number). The removal of slam door stock or asbestos-laden DMUs also boosted the gas axe boys, but all these events had one thing in common – technology change.
CONTROLLED NEGLECT
This time it’s different. While it might be stretching it a bit to say Pacers have much life left in them, for most of the vehicles being taken out, their worst crime is not to have a big toilet. Many have already had routine corrosion work done and been generally well looked after; modern legal arrangements prevent the kind of controlled neglect we used to practice when stock was on the way out.
There are a couple of spectacular successes in re-leasing old stock and both prizes go to Angel Trains. The Class 442 has everything against it, being third-rail only and formed of 23-metre long vehicles in a five…
