EMR modifies former Southern Turbostars
The three former Class 171 Turbostars that joined East Midlands Railway last year all underwent coupling modifications in late April to make them compatible with the rest of the EMR fleet. These had initially retained their Dellners upon transfer from Southern, restricting their usefulness and bringing renumbering as 170922-924 to highlight the different coupling type.
First to emerge after receiving BSI couplings was 170424, the now renumbered former 170924 forming 2S27, the 17.48 Nottingham to Skegness on April 19, while 170422 (ex 170922) was completed three days later. With the units no longer restricted to certain duties, 170424 formed 1Z13, the 17.42 Nottingham to Norwich on April 23, and 170422 on 1L10, the 10.51 Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich and 1M82, the 16.56 Norwich to Manchester Piccadilly two days later, bringing the Southern-liveried units to new parts of the country. The third of the trio, 170423 (ex-170923), was also ready for traffic by the end of the month.
EMR has received further Class 170s from other operators, with 170516 transferring from West Midlands Railway on April 21, followed by 170507 seven days later and 170501 on May 14, which worked 5M57, the 12.11 Tyseley to Barrow Hill.
Another arrival at Etches Park on April 30 was 170202, the former Transport for Wales set coming north from Cardiff Canton. At the time of writing, just six Class 170s were awaited by EMR to give the operator its full complement, with 170505 and 170506 expected to have arrived from WMR by the end of May. 170206-208 are due to follow in the autumn, with Southern’s 171201 provisionally expected in December.
Class 379s gather at Worksop
Recent weeks have seen a concerted effort to remove the former Stansted Express Class 379s still located at Ilford and Harwich to Worksop for further secure storage at Harry Needle Railroad Company’s facility.
By May 15, 24 of the Bombardier-built EMUs had been removed from Great Eastern metals, leaving just 379006/007/010/017/025/026 at Ilford.
During late April, the Ilford to Worksop moves ran as follows: April 19 – 37608 + 379002/016, April 21 – 37608 + 379004/019, April 24 – 37884 + 379003/014 and April 28 – 37608 + 379021/023.
The same workings then continued
