Milan Train Crash (25/01)

[MarkyT]

So XP64 was a clever demonstrator for the new paradigm in coach design in a whole train form, without the expense and difficulty of speculatively building and proving a full prototype with a new monocoque bodyshell. Look and feel, new customer features and finishes all shown, but incorporated in a proven Mk1 shell.

Quite a lot of European rolling stock on secondary lines looks quite modern on the surface but is actually older material, extensively refurbished. There's always an older end of the age spectrum in service with stock routinely expected to last 40 years or more.

 

[43096]

Most of their basic features originated in the experimental set called XP64 which also launched the inter-city blue-grey livery (in 1964). There were changes to the XP64 doors, the experimental folding type being replaced by conventional MKI hinged ones. The various types sometimes had wrap around doors like MKIIIs. At the time, they were better than MKIs, quieter, better bogies B(4), disc brakes, and cast seat bodies with inset upholstery.
The class 310 and 312 EMUs were also built into MKII bodies.

Wrap-around doors were introduced with the Mark 2b vehicles and fitted to all subsequent Mark 2 builds - this also saw the end of the mid-carriage doors and vestibules. Mark 2s did not have disc brakes, with the exception of a handful of first batch vehicles converted from vacuum to air brake with disc brakes for the Edinburgh-Glasgow service with Class 27s.