Train Fleet.....What happens?????

[Lawman]

Folks,
Can anyone tell me what happens when rail companies introduce new rolling stock to there network.

What happens with the older fleet,which in my opinion is in perfectly good working order?(not all of them)

Does it get scrapped or would another company buy it and use it for there network?

 

[Hydro]

Usually gets cascaded to another operator. The Department for Transport would normally reallocate rolling stock.

 

[90019]

Does it get scrapped or would another company buy it and use it for there network?

Rolling stock isn't owned by the TOCs that operate it, it's leased from ROSCOs. (With a few exceptions).
In most cases, it will just be leased to another TOC, the DfT usually decides who gets it.

 

[sprinterguy]

Generally, the TOCs do not own their rolling stock. The trains are leased from the Rolling Stock Owning Companies (ROSCOS) who own the trains. When a new train fleet enters service with an operator, the replaced trains are returned to their leasing company and are either withdrawn or are cascaded to another operator. Which operator receives the cascaded rolling stock is, as Hydro says, largely dependent on decisions from the Department for Transport. There is very little in the way of free bidding for spare trains by the TOCs; by the time they are being withdrawn following replacement by new trains, their next move has already been planned many months beforehand.

Is it the case that the TOCs put in requests to the DfT for trains released from other operators, and the DfT then respond as they deem most appropriate?

 

[First class]

I would imagine Merseyrail will be the next TOC to completely renew their ENTIRE fleet.

The rolling stock will probably be scrapped as it is life expired, with perhaps one or two units saved for preservation, but that is completely dependant on whether anyone is that interested.

 

[jopsuk]

Despite your opinion, don't think there's been any fleet fully retired since privatisation (BR was actually worse when it came to this sort of thing on occasions) that's been "in perfectly good working order"- the slammers, for example, were long known to be rather dangerous in a crash.

However, many of the out-of-use coaches (not so much the units) and locos are stored, not yet scrapped, mainly on MOD bases- not as a military reserve, but because they happen to have the tracks, and have some level of security. Anything though that's definitely beyond safe use will be sent to a scrap merchant.

 

[me123]

Obviously, it depends on the reason for ordering the new stock.

In some cases (eg, Class 334s) they replace aged stock (in this case, Class 303s) and nothing else need be done. In many cases, stock really does need to be scrapped (or at least withdrawn from passenger service) because it is life expired. Don't fool yourself; they don't scrap trains without good reason! That's why the pacers are still running around

In others (eg Class 380s) all stock remains where it is because it is being used to expand the network (as in this case, with the A-B reopening), or it can simply be used to add further capacity to the network by using the older stock elsewhere to strengthen services.

More often than not, though, what happens is the stock gets sent elsewhere. There's quite a few cases of this happening when the 172s and 378s enter into service. The stock will either replace aged rolling stock elsewhere, or strengthen services for other operators. Generally, these rather more complicated inter-TOC cascades are very common in England and Wales.

 

[jopsuk]

Scotrail, even before it came under Transport Scotland control, even when it was part of Regional Railways, has long seemed to have a rather firmer control of what stock it gets than the English and Welsh "regional" TOCs.

 

[me123]

A lot of that is down to Scotland (particularly the SPT region) always having specific EMUs. No one else in the UK has 314s, 318s, 320s and 334s. These trains were built for Scotland (and, specifically, Glasgow) and will probably spend all their lives here. Indeed, I can see the same happening for the 380s.

Even with the DMUs, there were 14 156s (156501-156514) which were designated for SPT area duties. Even today, these units have more seats than the others in Scotrail's fleet.

 

[miikey]

From the infrastructure maintenance side of things, we have to moniter the track condition for a set period of time after the new rolling stock is introduced. I can't remember for how long off the top of my head. Looking for things such as railhead/side wear. With the new Crossrail rolling stock being introduced in the future we also have to change some of our infrastructure to conform to the new Crossrail structure clearence standards.
Pretty interesting... lol. :P