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Networker (train)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Networker
In service1989–present
Manufacturer
Number built344 sets
Number scrapped40 sets
Operators
Specifications
Maximum speed75–100 mph (121–161 km/h)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

The Networker is a family of passenger trains which operate on the UK railway system. They were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s by British Rail Engineering Limited (which became part of ABB in September 1992) and Metro Cammell. The trains were built for the Network SouthEast (NSE) sector of British Rail, which is where their name comes from. They are all multiple-unit trains.

YouTube Encyclopedic

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  • Controlling Trains - Network Rail engineering education (3 of 15)
  • An Introduction to Rail - Network Rail engineering education (11 of 15)
  • ☆ Channel 4 News: launch of Network SouthEast | 10 June 1986

Transcription

[train passing] ♪ pizzicato background music ♪ (Narrator) Britain's rail network transports 3 million passengers and 400,000 tonnes of freight a day. With hundreds of trains using it at any one time. All this traffic presents us with a safety challenge. Trains are guided by rails, so it's impossible for them to swerve or pull over. Trains are heavy, can't stop quickly and frequently operate at speeds which do not enable them to halt within sighting distance of the driver. Under these circumstances, one might assume that trains are prone to collision. In fact, rail is the safest mode of transport in Britain. And that's because trains are carefully controlled. Hence our responsibility at Network Rail to control them. Signalling is the control process Network Rail uses to operate trains safely, over the correct route and to the proper time-table. The two key features of this process are line-side signals and the block system. Trains can't collide if they're not permitted to occupy the same section of track at the same time. So the network is divided into sections known as "blocks". Normally, only one train is permitted in each block at any one time. The British rail network uses line-side signals to advise the driver of the status of the section of track ahead. Most line-side signals are in colour light form, but a significant number of semaphore signals remain on secondary lines. The semaphore consists of a mechanical arm that raises to signify go or lowers into the horizontal to signify stop. The most modern signals have 4 colour aspects. A green light indicates clear. A double yellow indicates that the next signal will be a caution. The yellow signal indicates caution, and that the next signal will be red. And a red means stop, otherwise known as danger. It's prohibited to pass a signal at danger. The British rail network was originally controlled by thousands of manned signal boxes located at regular intervals along the lines. ♪ guitar background music ♪ (Stewart) My name's Stewart Sentence, I'm the signaller at Uttoxeter signal box. This is the most traditional form of system on the railway as it is at the moment. A lot of this, as you see, goes back to when the original railway started. As far as we're concerned the universe begins at Caverswall over to the right and Sudbury there and we're in the middle. This set of blocks tells me where the train is between myself and Caverswall, and this set of blocks tell me where the train is between Sudbury and myself. These levers here will operate the points for the crossings into the loops and sidings. They'll also work the semaphore signals. (Narrator) To prevent a collision caused by human error, the safety system called "interlocking" protects the railway network. Interlocking is a series of mechanical devices that prevents the signaller operating appliances in an unsafe sequence. (Stewart) What you have here is what looks like a simple lever system but is actually, if you looked underneath the box, is quite a complicated interlocking system. The interlocking system prevents me giving a green signal to an approaching train unless I set that route in that interlocking system safely first. It sounds simple and it basically works simple but the action what it does is very good. (Narrator) Level frame signal boxes, while effective, aren't efficient. They only cover a short section of line and manning them with skilled operators is expensive. (Stewart) Now I can pull the signals off No. 2. [loud click] Some of these you'll see me pulling quite 'ard; that's because there's a lot of gape on these. Some people can't actually pull 'em at all. Well a lot of it's fairly hands on. You see the trains, you've got control over the trains and the job itself. It's a good job; a better job as I've ever 'ad. Without a doubt. [clank] [train passes rapidly] (Narrator) The next big leap in rail signalling control came with the electronic age and the advent of Power Signal control Boxes like this one in Derby. ♪ 60s electronic background music ♪ (Signaller) This location opened in 1969, and when it did open it represented a massive step forward to the railways in the way that trains are signalled. Well, these lines represent mainly the Derby to Birmingham main lines. This signal box actually took over 84 mechanical signal boxes, making it a far more efficient way of carrying out signalling. (Narrator) Routes are set by pressing buttons on a large control panel. Each section between buttons represents a stretch of line formerly controlled by a lever framed signal box. (Signaller) It's very easy to work around. The signalling system is very user friendly and very easy to see the layout of the trains and where they're coming from and going to. The presence of a train is indicated by these red lights on the panel. They're activated by the completion of an electrical circuit when the train's wheels pass over the track circuit. The operation of the signalling equipment is carried out by pulling and pushing the actual buttons that are set in the panel. To set a route you press the entrance button, you press the exit button and the signalling system between detects all equipment that's located between the two signals. Once that's in the correct position, the signal will clear for the train to proceed. To take the route out, we simply pull the exit button and the route will drop out. (Narrator) Power Signal Boxes are regulated by a relay room, a little like a giant mechanical computer. (Signaller) This is the interlocking room, underneath the operating floor of the Power Signal Box. And in 'ere are all the banks of relays. And these relays relay all of the information from the touches of the buttons upstairs from the signaller outside to the points and the track circuits and the level crossings. (Narrator) Relays are interlocking electro-mechanical switches. When the signaller sets a route in the upstairs control room, you can hear the switches clicking, working out how to set the signals and switches and crossings and whether the set route is safe. [clicking] (Signaller) These cabinets are where the equipment in Derby PSB reach the modern era. These allow transmission of the train head code, the four-digit running number that we saw on the panels upstairs to be transmitted to adjacent signal boxes to give them advanced notification of that train coming so that train can be routed further down the line. (Narrator) Powered Signal Boxes are effective and safe. But at Network Rail we're now introducing an even more efficient form of signalling control. ♪ rapid piano background music ♪ (Jason) Compared to the oldest lever box signal boxes, this is a world apart. It's like an Air Traffic Control Centre basically, but controlling trains instead of aeroplanes. My name's Jason Jones, I'm a signaller and I work at Ashford IECC in Kent. The IECC stands for "Integrated Electronic Control Centre". All the signalling in this signalling centre is controlled by computers. A timetable is downloaded every day and any alterations etc. are all programmed into the computer. When everything's running on-time and all the trains are in their correct place and there's nothing else going on, the computers are all running the job and I am literally just sitting here monitoring. Hello John, yeah it's sitting on area 83 Ashford, over. At any time there could be an emergency of any description and that's when I will then step in and take over from the computer. I will turn the computer off and then run the trains manually using the keyboard or the tracker-ball system that we've got. On this screen here I can see the exact layout of the stations and the tracks. I can see where the trains are - where the red line is. Each red line indicates the location of the train. I can see where the trains are heading for (what route they're taking) by the white line. That's what the computer has set up for that train to use. We can also see the signals what the driver sees out on the track. The red dots indicate a signal that's red, we've got a single yellow, we've also got a double yellow. And obviously we've got the green signals which means then he can proceed at line speed. ♪ slower piano background music ♪ The computers that Network Rail uses in this type of location are specifically designed for this type of system. They use various safety protocols, various fail-safes. You get three computers working in tandem with one another and before any decisions are made, two of the computers have to agree with one another. Ashford covers a huge area, right from the Kent coast at Folkstone right the way into Central London. That is the equivalent, yeah, of hundreds of the old style lever frame signal boxes. [train horn] We don't just deal with standard trains here. As well as the commuter trains that we run we also run the high-speed trains into St. Pancras and the Eurostar trains that come from Paris and Brussels. The high speed trains are run using a totally different way of signalling trains than the old-style and conventional signals. The high-speed line is signalled using cab-signalling where the driver gets a display in the cab and that tells him when to stop his train, start his train and what speed he must run at. The trains travel up to 186 mph, and that's just too fast for the driver to be able to see signals out on the track. All the systems, whether you're in a lever box or you're in this type of modern technology it's all designed to fail safe and that is any failures, the signals go back to red. This job carries a lot of responsibility. You are responsible for people's lives on the trains, the public, drivers, track workers. You do have a fair bit of responsibility. No matter how much the technology changes, the one thing that remains the same is the safety and the security of the trains out on the track.

History

At the launch of Network SouthEast in 1986, the 'Networker' series of trains was announced.[1][2] It would be a new family of trains that would be introduced as a key part of NSE's wider plan to modernise their network. Specifically, it would replace various older types of trains, typically locomotive-hauled rakes of 'slam-door' carriages.[1]

Unlike previous contemporary rolling stock units in Britain, Networker trains would use aluminium bodies to save weight. Furthermore, numerous units would feature then-modern AC traction motors and air conditioning. The design was supposed to cover all requirements for future NSE multiple units, including new routes such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link..[1] NSE intended for fleet procurement to be performed in a rolling fashion, ordering around 300 carriages per year.

The Networker was originally intended to become one of the largest families of trains, bigger even than the largely Mark 3-based Second Generation.[1] However, due to the recession in the early 1990s and the privatisation of British Rail from 1994, around 340 trains were built, substantially fewer than originally planned.[1]

Variants

Diesel multiple units

Class 165

A Class 165 at London Marylebone in Chiltern Railways livery

The Class 165 is a 2- and 3-car diesel multiple unit (DMU), built for outer suburban workings. Thirty-nine units were built for the Chiltern subdivision of Network SouthEast between 1990 and 1991 (Class 165/0), while thirty-seven were made for the Thames subdivision in 1992 (Class 165/1). Since privatisation, the Class 165/0 units have been operated by Chiltern Railways, while the Class 165/1 units have been operated by Thames Trains, First Great Western Link, First Great Western and Great Western Railway in turn.[1]

Class 166

A Class 166 at Cardiff Central in Great Western Railway livery

The Class 166 is a faster, air-conditioned variant of the Class 165, built for main line workings. Twenty-one 3-car units were built for the Thames and North Downs subdivisions of Network SouthEast in 1992 and 1993.[1]

Electric multiple units

Classes 316 and 457

These designations applied to a single four-car electric multiple unit (EMU), converted from former Class 210 carriages, that was used as a research prototype. The unit was numbered as a Class 457 unit for trials with power from 750 V direct current (DC) third rail on Southern Region lines, then as a Class 316 unit for trials with power from 25 kV alternating current (AC) overhead line equipment on lines north of the River Thames, for which one of its intermediate carriages was replaced with a Class 313 pantograph trailer.

Class 365

A Class 365 at London King's Cross in Great Northern livery

The Class 365 was a dual-voltage EMU. The train was ordered in 1993, following a financial battle between NSE and InterCity for investment.[3] Forty-one 4-car units were built from 1994 to 1995,[4] the first sixteen fitted with pick-up shoes for power from 750 V DC third rail on services between London and Kent,[5] and the other twenty-five fitted with pantographs for power from 25 kV AC overhead line equipment on services on the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Peterborough and King's Lynn. After use by a variety of operators, Great Northern withdrew its Class 365 fleet on 15 May 2021,[6][7] and the fleet was subsequently scrapped.[8]

Class 465

A class 465 in Southeastern livery in 2020

The Class 465 is a four-car EMU, powered from 750 V DC third rail. They were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (465/0), ABB (465/1), and Metro Cammell (465/2) in slightly different versions. Used by Network SouthEast, upon privatisation they passed to Connex South Eastern, then to South Eastern Trains then to Southeastern and are currently operated by SE Trains.

Class 466

A 466 in Southeastern livery at Sheerness-on-Sea railway station in 2011

The Class 466 is a two-car EMU. It is powered from 750 V DC third rail and used extensively in multiple with 4-car 465s to provide 6-car and 10-car formations. 43 units were built between 1993 and 1994 by Metro Cammell (who built the 465/2s) using GEC traction. The arrival of Class 376 Electrostar trains saw some units move to rural lines to operate 2-car shuttles, displacing half of the Class 508s.

Unbuilt

Class 171

Class 171 was a long distance DMU that was proposed but never built. Originally, around seventy 'Turbo Express' trains were planned for long distance, unelectrified routes. However, Regional Railways had over-ordered Class 158 trains, and NSE agreed to take on the surplus units, introducing them from 1993 as Class 159 South Western Turbos. Therefore, Class 171 trains were no longer required.[1]

Class 331 and 332

Class 331 and 332 were two middle distance EMU types that were proposed and never built. 300 Class 331 'Networker LT&S' carriages were planned, as part of a 'Total Route Modernisation' of the London, Tilbury and Southend line. Instead, 74 Bombardier built Class 357 Electrostar trains entered service from 2000.[1]

Twenty Class 332 'Networker Heathrow' trains were planned to be built for Heathrow Express services. Instead, 14 CAF built Class 332 trains entered service in 1998 on Heathrow Express services.[1]

Class 341 and 342

Class 341 and 342 were middle distance EMU types that were proposed but never built. Class 341 'Networker Crossrail' was intended to be the rolling stock for Crossrail prior to its cancellation in the early 1990s; the specifications for this class were later used in drawing up the rolling stock specifications for the current incarnation of Crossrail. The Class 342 was intended for use on domestic services using the Channel Tunnel Rail Link when it opened in 1994. In the end, these projects were cancelled, and no trains were constructed.[1][9]

Class 371, 381 and 471

Class 371, 381 and 471 were three long distance EMU types that were proposed but never built. Classes 371 and 381 were proposed as the "Universal Networker", a dual voltage train type for a multitude of services including Kent Coast, Great Northern, Thameslink and LTS routes. Class 471 was the proposed "main line Networker" intended for long-distance services from London to Kent and Sussex.[1] The Class 365 train was ordered in 1993, instead of the upgraded Class 471 series. Following the privatisation of British Rail from 1994, no more trains were ordered.[1]

Comparison

Class Image Current operator Introduced Qty. Cars Car length
Diesel multiple units
165
Chiltern Railways 1990–1992 39 2 or 3 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Great Western Railway 1992 36 2 or 3 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
166
1992–1993 21 3 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Dual-voltage
316 and 457
(Scrapped, preserved or inserted into Class 455 units) 1989–1990 1 4
365
(Scrapped)[8] 1994–1995 41 4 20 m (65 ft 7 in)
DC electric only
465
Southeastern 1991–1994 147 4 20 m (65 ft 7 in)
466
1993–1994 43 2 20 m (65 ft 7 in)

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Green and Vincent 2014, pp. 75–85.
  2. ^ "Class 465/466: Kent Link Networker". KentRail.org.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  3. ^ Green and Vincent 2014, pp. 124–125.
  4. ^ "Class 365 Electric Multiple Unit" (PDF). Eversholt Rail Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. ^ Connex South Eastern: Train Operating Manual Classes 365, 465, 466. p.A.9 (Class 365 Unit Formation) January 1998. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  6. ^ Great Northern [@GNRailUK] (15 May 2021). "Today We Bid Farewell to Our Class 365s" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 August 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "Farewell Service Sees Last Last  [sic] Great Northern Class 365 out of London King's Cross". RailAdvent. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b Russell, David (July 2022). Simmons, Mark (ed.). "Farewell Class 365". Rail Express. No. 314. Horncastle: Mortons Media Group. pp. 82–84. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Part 4: Electric Multiple Units" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 2 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Bibliography

This page was last edited on 17 February 2024, at 12:35
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