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Former Labour health secretary Frank Dobson is kicking up a fuss about the new Intercity Express rolling-stock programme.
Dobson has submitted an early day motion (EDM) to parliament expressing concern that the introduction of the new trains on the network could see “significant” staffing cuts on East Coast and Great Western services. Dobson said he was “dismayed” that the new rolling stock, to be brought in from 2017, could see the removal of the buffet car, leaving punters to rely on a trolley service for long, often crowded journeys so more seats can “be crammed onto intercity services”.
According to the EDM, there is further concern that driver-only operation of the trains “would downgrade the guard’s safety operational role” and increase risks to passengers by “restricting responsibility for safe operation of the train to the driver”.
There are other worries that skilled maintenance workers’ jobs could be cut as a result of the programme, which would further impact on passenger safety and service and “exacerbate the rail industry skills crisis”, says the EDM, which had 19 signatures as PE went to press – almost all of them from Labour MPs. Dobson is calling on the government to reject contracts for East Coast and Great Western services that propose any such cuts to rail staff.
Hitachi, which will make the Intercity trains at a facility that is currently being built in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, took the decision earlier this year to base its global rail HQ in London rather than Tokyo. The Japanese giant received the order for the Intercity programme in July 2012, and unveiled one of the trains being manufactured last month.
Hitachi is currently manufacturing three pre-series trains in Japan at Kasado Works in Kudamatsu City. This trio is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014, and will be shipped to Britain for test operations in the first half of 2015. Of the total of 122 trains ordered, 12, including the one recently unveiled, are being manufactured at Kasado Works. The remaining 110 trains are scheduled to be built at the facility in Newton Aycliffe.
The Class 800 series trains now scheduled for delivery will be equipped with an underfloor diesel engine generator to allow them to run not only on electrified routes but also on non-electrified routes. The diesel engine generator can be removed to allow a smooth transition to electric operations as the electrification programme expands. Services using the Class 800 series trains are scheduled to start from 2017 on the Great Western main line and from 2018 on the East Coast main line.
The awarding of the contract to Hitachi was widely seen as a fillip for the British rail industry, given that Hitachi was prepared to build a facility to manufacture the trains on these shores. The factory is due to be completed in the middle of next year. More than 700 people will be employed at the Newton Aycliffe plant when it is completed.
The company was also praised for its decision to base its global rail headquarters in Britain, which it said indicated the strength of the sector here to serve the European market.
All this aside, a group of MPs is clearly concerned about aspects of the fleet layout and design, and the way in which the trains may be run. It remains to be seen whether their concerns will be magnified by the House.