HSTs to Nigeria

[Rick1984]

Video featuring interior

 

[WessexEclectic]

Video featuring interior

Including, at the beginning of the video, a Class 43 coupled to a Talgo (IV?) set...

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

For the sordid history of the two Talgo sets, see my earlier post. The very short version is that they were built for a planned inter-city service in Wisconsin which was cancelled by the incoming Republican governer, who refused to pay for them. Eventually the state government reached a settlement with Talgo, who got to keep ownership of the trains. They hung around for about ten years before LAMATA bought them.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Video featuring interior

Longitudinal seats in a train designed for long-distance... hope that doesn't give UK operators any ideas!

 

[XCTurbostar]

Including, at the beginning of the video, a Class 43 coupled to a Talgo (IV?) set...

InterTalgo125! 43184 and 43008 are the Talgo powercars.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Longitudinal seats in a train designed for long-distance... hope that doesn't give UK operators any ideas!

I believe they are using it for a short distance metro operation.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

According to the trial run timetable, the journey time is 1 hour 7 minutes.

 

[Killingworth]

According to the trial run timetable, the journey time is 1 hour 7 minutes.

About the same time as Tyne & Wear Metro from Sunderland to Newcastle Airport on longitudinal seats in their soon to be introduced stock.

 

[BRX]

What's a bit "experimental" is nothing to do with the journey length but the high density seating/standing approach with small doors at coach-ends only.

And of course the use of high backed seats to block the majority of the windows. Presumably this is because they have simply used the seats the coaches arrived with?

 

[Sun Chariot]

...use of high backed seats to block the majority of the windows. Presumably this is because they have simply used the seats the coaches arrived with?

Never again will I complain about UK carriage seats being misaligned with the windows...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Sep 2024 ==

InterTalgo125! 43184 and 43008 are the Talgo powercars.

I've just realised - the power cars used on XC's 28/09/23 trip between Leeds and Swanage, one DMB ended up in Nigeria and the other in Mexico.

 

[MotCO]

If only we had high speed trains with comfortable seats..... oh, hang on

Longitudinal seats in a train designed for long-distance... hope that doesn't give UK operators any ideas!

At least it gives plenty of leg room!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I believe they are using it for a short distance metro operation.

Yes I know, my post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I believe they are using it for a short distance metro operation.

According to the trial run timetable, the journey time is 1 hour 7 minutes.

The distance from Agbado to Lagos Terminus (Iddo) is 26km, 2km less to Ebute Metta. Oyingbo is somewhere in the vicinity.

Google Earth now shows the SGR line extended alongside the MGR line south from Ebute Metta to Oyingbo station and beyond, measured at 1.6km from where the line diverges from the Apapa Port line to Oyingbo and 0.8km beyond that.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

The route length is 27 km according to this news report.

The reporter mentions "manual door operation" as a problem that needs to be solved before the line opens. Since the Mk 3s have pocket doors, that presumably means that the Red Line management want the doors to open automatically when released.

 

[Wyrleybart]

What's a bit "experimental" is nothing to do with the journey length but the high density seating/standing approach with small doors at coach-ends only.

And of course the use of high backed seats to block the majority of the windows. Presumably this is because they have simply used the seats the coaches arrived with?

From the images it seems they have rotated each seat pair by 90 degrees. If you look, every other seat has two arm rests.

 

[Killingworth]

From the images it seems they have rotated each seat pair by 90 degrees. If you look, every other seat has two arm rests.

High density carriages they're not! I like to stretch my legs when seated. Imagine when/if it gets crush loaded.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I still can't get my head around the fact that the Lagos Red Line Mk3's seat orientation and overhead grips reminds of the L.U. C69 / C77 stock I used from 1994 to 2012...

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Another video about the test service. I haven't watched all of it, but we can see that the Mark 3s now have steps that look oddly like Tetris pieces.

 

[ld0595]

Another video about the test service. I haven't watched all of it, but we can see that the Mark 3s now have steps that look oddly like Tetris pieces.

View attachment 165075

Interesting video. Had a chuckle at the 2:30 mark where the PIS was welcoming passengers to the Great Western Railway service!

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Another video about the test running, which clearly shows the new steps on the Mark 3s because the vlogger arrived at Oyingbo station by walking along the tracks next to the train. The staff then told her to go round to the station entrance.

 

[Russel]

Another video about the test running, which clearly shows the new steps on the Mark 3s because the vlogger arrived at Oyingbo station by walking along the tracks next to the train. The staff then told her to go round to the station entrance.

So odd to see people casually walking on the track throughout the videos posted in this thread!

 

[notverydeep]

So odd to see people casually walking on the track throughout the videos posted in this thread!

It is Europe (partly fenced) and especially the UK (entirely fenced) that are the exception, across the rest of the world from Russia, to China, India and the US railway rights of way are often treated as rights of way for anyone on foot, motorcycle and occasionally even larger vehicle!

 

[Meerkat]

Another video about the test service. I haven't watched all of it, but we can see that the Mark 3s now have steps that look oddly like Tetris pieces.

Those big protruding steps with no matching handrails!!

 

[GatwickDepress]

It is Europe (partly fenced) and especially the UK (entirely fenced) that are the exception, across the rest of the world from Russia, to China, India and the US railway rights of way are often treated as rights of way for anyone on foot, motorcycle and occasionally even larger vehicle!

Walk along the permanent way in Japan and you'll find yourself in handcuffs very quickly.

 

[notverydeep]

Walk along the permanent way in Japan and you'll find yourself in handcuffs very quickly.

Even in Japan (as in the rest of Europe outside the UK), many less intensively used railways in rural areas do not have continuous fencing and farmers' fields extend right up to the ballast. This interesting article about unusual Japanese trains has several examples: https://www.tripzilla.com/jr-east-pass-themed-trains/84127.

In truth, most of the world's intensively used lines with multiple tracks, high speed lines and metros do have continuous fencing, especially where any ground level electrification exists (mostly metros outside the UK). But a lot of the world's railways consist of long stretches of single lines in rural areas and on those fencing is far from universal. Attitudes to using the railways as a 'right of way' for pedestrians or two wheeled vehicles varies from country to country and I can imagine that non-compliance with restrictions is indeed rare in Japan, but there are many places where this type use of railway formations is the norm, whether strictly legal or not...

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Those big protruding steps with no matching handrails!!

The steps weren't fitted until after test running began, so I wouldn't rule out handrails appearing later.

Incidentally, it looks as if the Talgo sets are not being used at the moment. I suspect that this is because the Red Line station at Agbado has not been completed, and they are instead using the Nigerian Railway Corporation station, which has high platforms for Chinese mainline stock. If the Talgo sets called at Agbado the train floor would be significantly lower than the platform.

 

[BRX]

I've noticed in several of these videos, it sounds like the "doors closing" alarm is sounding continuously.

 

[Northerngirl]

I've noticed in several of these videos, it sounds like the "doors closing" alarm is sounding continuously.

There's been a few videos of them moving with the doors open, so I'd assume the locking system has been messed about with a lot

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

I noticed it in Just Ozed's video. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are using the same HST set for every trial run, because the timetable has a gap of around an hour between each run. They could get by with the same driver and guard for every run too.

EDIT: The turnaround time has been reduced to 23 minutes, so perhaps they have two crews now and don't need to include a lunch break in the timetable.

P.S. This interview in Rail Express with Robert Coleman of Romic, the company exporting the HSTs, offers a hint about long-term plans for HSTs in Nigeria.

“The plans around expansion there are about running an efficient railway,” says Robert. The initial line that they will be used on is a 17-mile extension of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line, but the plan is for a 435-mile line.

‘People only see opportunities in the UK, not the world’ | The future of High Speed Trains | Rail Express

High Speed Trains exported to Central America and West Africa certainly caught the attention last year. Richard Clinnick meets Robert Coleman, the Chairman ...

www.railexpress.co.uk

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Regular services on the Red Line will begin on 15th October. At least to begin, with it will be an extremely limited service in the worst tradition of North American commuter rail, with four trains from Agbado to Oyingbo (two in the morning, two in the evening) and two trains from Oyingbo to Agbado in the evening only.

Source: Twitter thread by Tonami Playman