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NEWS
Rail Engineer • February 2017
Bad weather affects Crossrail testing - intentionally! Bombardier's new Class 345 trains for Crossrail, which will be named the Elizabeth line once services commence in 2018, have been undergoing climatic testing in Vienna.
including thick snow and ice, is another crucial step towards making sure that the trains perform as intended whatever the weather.” Bombardier has recently commenced series production of the 66 nine-car Aventra trains for Crossrail, having completed the preproduction test trains.
One of these is now in London for overnight testing in east London. The first few trains will go into service, in seven-car configuration, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in May 2017. The first nine-car trains will be introduced onto the Paddington-Heathrow service in May 2018 and Elizabeth line services will commence
between Paddington and Abbey Wood, running through the new tunnels under London, in December 2018. Graduate engineer Steven Merryweather from Bombardier’s vehicle engineering team inspects an icy bogie in Vienna’s Rail Tec Arsenal test centre.
Extending Midland Metro The Midland Metro Alliance has started clearing vegetation along the proposed route of an extension of Birmingham's light rail network from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill. The 11km route will reinstate part of the disused South Staffordshire line. Overgrown sections of the route will be cleared over the next couple of weeks to allow structural and environmental surveys to be completed. Construction of the route is expected to start in 2019 and it is due to open to passengers in 2023. It is one of several extensions of the network either already underway or at the design stage. Councillor Roger Lawrence, lead member for transport for the West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “Whilst this is not the formal start of work on the extension it is the
first step towards it. “There is a lot of work still to be done but, once it is complete, the Black Country and wider region will reap the economic rewards of having an extended modern tram system running through it.”
PHOTO: CHRIS JENNER/SHUTTERSTOCK, INC.
The Rail Tec Arsenal test centre can replicate various different weather conditions at temperatures between -25ºC and +40ºC. Cold, hot, windy and foggy weather, all of which can be expected in the UK at some time or another, can be simulated and used to test traction motors, heating and ventilation systems, windscreen washers and wipers, horns and a host of other systems. The driving car of one of TfL’s test trains was in Vienna for three weeks before Christmas, undergoing these searching tests. Dean Taplin, Bombardier’s senior vehicle engineer, commented: “Subjecting the new trains to a range of climatic conditions,