HST investment
Grand Central and the finance provider will be able to justify the investment of re-engining the 6 HST Power Cars with MTU engines, together with some further improvements of the TrailerVehicles (Details in Appendix 1).
Passenger Benefits
• Higher MPC figures for HSTs mean less delay for Grand Central passengers and those of other TOCs. More than two thirds of intrinsic Grand Centralgenerated delays have been caused by fleet related issues. The experience of other TOCs that have undertakensimilar work, including fitting MTU engines, is that fleet MPC figures have doubled.
• Lower fuel, noise, and other emissions lead to “greener” journeys.
• Lower emissions will substantially enhance the environment at Sunderland Station,specifically due to it being underground.
• Trailer Car refurbishment improves the mechanical and electrical resiliance of the vehicles, as well as improving the passenger environment.
Other Benefits
• New Engines are more fuel efficient. Grand Centralanticipate a 15% reduction in fuel usage after the investment.
• Re-engined HST’s are noticeably quieter, with benefits for noise on stations, andalongside tracks.
• Easier spares procurement will result as the fleet will be more comparable with other operators’ rolling stock and have better access to industry spares pools.
• The resultant HST power cars will be comparable (in engineering terms) to other HSTpower cars used on the network, giving the opportunity for future greater flexibility of industry rolling stock utilisation. Furthermore, themaintenance of HSTs should be less problematic given the eventual increase in commonality.
• Grand Central assess the impact on other operators as purely positive, as vehicle failuresreduce and less delay minutes are imparted upon other users of the network.
Such is progress
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