TESTING USING Great Western Railway’s 230001 is due to start imminently on the Greenford branch, the train initially operating without passengers.
GWR managing director Mark Hopwood said the trial had originally been planned to be carried out on another branch, but he personally moved it to Greenford as it is a double-track railway.
“It’s worth remembering that we’re not actually trialling the train, as the train works. What we’re testing is the fast-charging system,” he said.
One of the reasons GWR acquired so many additional vehicles from the sale of Vivarail assets was so the operator has vehicles available that can be put into traffic, should the project be deemed a success. Currently, these vehicles – former London Underground D78 Stock – are stored on land near Long Marston, however, Mr Hopwood added: “Ultimately, the scrap value of those vehicles remains what it was, so if at some point in the future we decide we don’t need them, we can recover that value, so it sort of made sense.”
The three former London Northwestern Railway Class 230s used on the Marston Vale line, 230003-005, are currently at Reading. He said these were bought to ensure that an opportunity was not missed. The trio are already refurbished internally and effectively ready; quite a large cost of returning other vehicles to traffic would involve dealing with the interior condition.
Should the Class 230s be deemed a success, there is the possibility that the fa
