Irish Railway Record Society

The Mk IV InterCity Train

PETER SMYTH, Technical Manager, Chief Mechanical Engineers Dept, IÉ

BACKGROUND

Recognising that there was considerable growth on the main domestic InterCity route between Dublin and Cork in the early part of the current century and that the service was running to a less than passenger friendly timetable with bunching of services and gaps in the off peak, Iarnród Éireann decided to look at options for the enhancement of the service.

The service was operated by locomotive hauled Mk III trainsets that were approximately 20 years old and despite various “refreshments” were showing their age, mainly from an interior perspective and they lacked many of latest features commonly expected for 21^st century travel such as toilet retention tanks, passenger information systems, access for mobility impaired customers and the latest safety features such as CCTV, high backed seats, crash protection and improved fire standards, etc that could involve significant re-engineering and cost to undertake on a refurbishment.

The company decided to expand services on Dublin – Cork and provide a “clockface” hourly departure each way all day long assuming this would serve demand and build growth along the lines of “if you build it, they will come”. Crucially the Mk III service required a locomotive shunt at either end of the journey. This involves considerable resource and timing and is not efficient if a quick turn around is required.

Funding was available under Transport 21 and also from the EU so it was decided to procure new trains for the route. Initially the procurement concept centred on a long distance diesel multiple unit (DMU). However, Iarnrod Eireann had a large fleet of 161 km/h Class 201 locomotives that were less than 10 years old and early on in the procurement the decision moved towards a “push-pull” fleet with the Class 201 supplying motive power and the hotel power coming from a generator van on the new trainset.

It was an interesting decision because at the time the wider railway industry was moving towards DMU InterCity vehicles instead of locomotive haulage due to many apparent advantages of the type. It must be said however that to this day many people still regard a “proper” InterCity train as one that does not have an engine under the floor. After all InterCity travel is about quietness and comfort and therefore one should expect a long coach with end doors and traction provided up front or well out of the way. It is a debate that still rages to this day and both variants (DMU and loco hauled) have advantages and disadvantages.

An aspiration existed (and still does) to greatly reduce journey time from the typical 3 hours+. Ultimately the aim is a 2 hour journey time but that is some time away. Nevertheless with a reasonable amount of 161 km/h running the journey is typically 2h40.

PROCUREMENT

An invitation to tender was formally launched in 2001 and 4 companies qualified to bid for the supply of the new trains. The detailed Technical Specification was created by Iarnród Éireann and called for a modern, 161 km/h InterCity train that could also operate up to 200 km/h. The train was required to be a push-pull trainset to operate with the existing Class 201 locomotive providing the very highest standards for crew and passengers of safety and comfort. The design called for the trains to be reliable in performance and economical in operation. The external appearance was expected to be modern, aerodynamic and sleek.

The contract was awarded in November 2002 to Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), S.A. CAF are a family owned Spanish manufacturer of rolling stock that can trace its roots back to the late 1800’s. CAF are the main supplier of trams, local and regional electric and diesel trains and high speed trains in Spain. They have a considerable export presence worldwide to Europe, the USA and South America including well known projects such as the Heathrow Express in London.

The order was for 8 trainsets of 8 carriages including a driving van trailer incorporating auxiliary electrical supply. In addition 3 spare carriages were procured and a number of options for additional vehicles and sets was retained. These options were never exercised and the option has expired. Of interest was the fact that the original order was for 7 trainsets of 9 carriage length but this was amended to the 8 carriage length early on. The concept also envisaged 1^st class seating in the back of the DVT but this was dropped when the train formation was changed and also because at the time the industry frowned upon passenger seating in the leading vehicle from a safety perspective.

DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION

The detailed technical specification provided by Iarnród Éireann was critical to obtaining a product that would satisfy the end user. The specification focused on UK based standards and to a lesser extent Euronorm standards. The trains meet or exceed demanding standards for structural strength and crash protection (GM/RT2100),  For passengers with reduced mobility the vehicles were required to meet the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR) from the UK, regarded as best practice at the time. Also the vehicles had to achieve compliance with the very rigorous fire standard BS6853 category 1b, which is a very tough standard to meet at this level providing excellent fire and flammability performance.

CAF employed a design consultant called the Design Triangle to assist with concept and detailed design of interiors and exteriors. The level of detail that followed including full scale mock ups of the cab and saloon interiors to give that touch of reality to the design as it is not always clear from drawings or renderings what the final look will give.

It was decided to give the vehicles a mix of bay seating and airline seating as this presented the optimum passenger comfort / capacity of 423 passengers, 45 first class in City Gold format and 378 standard class. First class interiors feature 2+1 seating layout with 1 wheelchair capacity, while standard class feature a traditional 2+2 seating layout also with 5 wheelchair capacity. A new InterCity livery with a strong emphasis on green was chosen to replace the older orange livery. This livery was not chosen for the Class 22000 InterCity Railcar and it must be said in the authors opinion that the latter has a more modern livery with the use of silver. However the Mk IV represented a big leap forward in terms of visual modernity. Great consideration was given to the interiors and use of colours and materials that were both pleasant to look at but also hard wearing and easy to maintain.

The intended route has a strong business customer base and therefore this created the requirement for a full catering vehicle with the full Irish breakfast a big seller. This vehicle is half seated with standard class passengers and the remainder containing the galley. The galley module is a full size modern kitchen with the equipment specified by Iarnród Éireann and its catering contractor. The galley was manufactured by Multinox. Trolley concept is used whereby plug in refrigerated trolleys are brought to the galley fully stocked and just swapped around to provide speedy restocking.

A key vehicle is the Driving Van Trailer (DVT). This is a very sleek and modern looking vehicle which features a full width cab that replicates the locomotive control layout but has a much more comfortable interior with driver aids such as air conditioning and train management and diagnostics. This vehicle incorporates an engine room with two MAN-LETAG 3-phase generator sets providing hotel power for the trainset. These generators are rated at 330kVA and with only one operational the trainset can continue in degraded service thereby giving some redundancy. The German MAN engine is a V8 Diesel and the gensets are very reliable indeed. Just in case though, each is protected by an automatic fire suppression system. At the rear of each DVT is a parcel or luggage area which allows easy access via a sliding door for carriage of freight or bulky items such as bicycles.

The vehicles are constructed from high quality structural steel. The material was not directly specified by Iarnród Éireann and the choice was left to the supplier to meet the strength requirements specified. Vehicle weight ranges from 40 tonnes for carriages up to 45 tonne for the DVT.  All passenger vehicles are 23m long and 2850mm wide. It is interesting to compare them to MkIII vehicles which are typically 35 tonne and also 23m but 2740mm wide. Clearly the bespoke body exploits the Irish loading gauge more than the UK derived MkIII. Greater vehicle weight can be attributed to the reasons such as the requirements for higher structural strength, toilet retention tanks, more “systems” on board such as CCTV, passenger information systems and the like.

Vehicles feature  powered sliding plug end doors supplied by Faiveley. Often the biggest reliability issue on any train, these doors have proved to be very reliable once they settled down and were correctly adjusted.

The brake system is a UIC type twin pipe air pressure brake. The system is supplied by SAB Wabco and the business end features twin axle hub mounted brake discs giving a very high brake performance.

Air-conditioning for saloons and cabs is provided by self contained units made by Merak of Spain. The saloon modules are underfloor mounted and vent into the saloon through apertures along the bottom of saloon windows while the cab module is roof mounted. The experience with this equipment has been generally good.

Iarnród Éireann was very keen to maximise the use of diagnostics on the train. A comprehensive electronic diagnostic panel is fitted in every vehicle so the train host can determine if there are any problems such as an air conditioning fault in particular carriage. An integrated CCTV, Passenger Information System and Seat Reservation System was installed. This is made by Ikusi of Spain and has proven to be problematical in service. Considerable efforts have been made by the operator and the supplier to rectify equipment problems and this is still progressing today. It’s a well known problem in the rail industry and there appears to be very little in the way of proven equipment out there so each supplier seeks to reinvent the wheel with each new order, a situation exacerbated by the relatively short life cycle of electronic components (typically 5 years).

The seat reservation wireless (Wifi) connection was a new departure. This is part of a new strategy to move towards advance seat sales on the Internet. Currently a very high proportion of Iarnród Éireann ticket sales are “walk ups” on the day of travel. A move towards advanced sales with reserved seats offers many advantages.

The concept allows a passenger to purchase their ticket and receive a seat reservation. Once the train is ready for boarding and the crew key in the relevant code for the service then the train connects wirelessly with the company network at Heuston or Cork. This downloads a seat manifest containing all passenger names and seats and populates the electronic displays situated above every seat. This system was problematic initially but now works well on this service.

MAJOR COMPONENT SUPPLIERS

CONSTRUCTION

A dedicated production line was established in Spain at the factory in Beasain, northern Spain and an Iarnród Éireann presence was maintained throughout the build to monitor quality, witness testing and inspections for shipment.

Around the same time CAF built 116 DMU vehicles for Iarnród Éireann, these being the Class 29000 variant so a reasonable familiarity grew with the company and processes and what issues to look out for

DELIVERY

The contract stipulated delivery to Ireland for the first trains in June 2005 with the final delivery in March 2006. For various reasons related to production problems or issues emerging on testing, the deliveries were all late, by an average of 10 weeks.

Once loaded in the port in Spain the shipment took about 3 days to reach Dublin where they were unloaded and marshalled into a train to be hauled away for testing and commissioning. Back then the benefit of having a direct rail link from the quayside through the point was taken for granted. Nowadays this facility no longer exists and vehicle movements are done in Alexandra Road in a highly complicated operation involving multiple crane lifts for each vehicle from ship to low loaders and then onto the railhead in the middle of a busy road. It is for this reason the preferred location for any such vehicle movement is now Waterford port.

Once unloaded the vehicles were formed into trains and moved at low speed by locomotive haulage to Inchicore initially. Then they moved to Limerick works where the dynamic commissioning and testing of the trains took place.

COMMISSIONING

The original trains were required to undertake specific type approval tests on areas that could not be tested in the factory such as dynamic brake testing. Once these various tests were completed a suite of routine tests were undertaken on every train to verify it achieved the required performance standard. A rigorous testing and commissioning process was undertaken for each train.

COW STRIKE

On 19 October 2005, train set 1 which was the principal test train struck a cow that had found its way onto the line near Limerick Junction. There were no injuries however the train was extensively damaged.

An impact with a cow is to be expected at some stage on a railway running in open countryside despite best efforts on fencing etc. The 1984 rail accident at Polmont in Scotland where a DVT collided with a cow and ultimately resulted in 13 deaths led to industry requirements for a minimum leading end axle load of 12t and an underframe obstacle deflector and the Mk IV complied with these requirements.

In this case the vehicle did not derail, possibly due to the design improvements described above. However the front end drophead buckeye coupler sheared off and went under the train smashing brake discs and damaging bogies and axles along the length of the train. Costs for repairs were huge and exceeded €300k and time to repair was considerable. All subsequent trains had the drophead buckeye removed and stored in the vehicle in case it is needed.

RIDE QUALITY

The technical specification called for ride quality to exceed that offered by a Mk III coach. This is an onerous target and one which has bettered a number of train manufacturers in recent years as the Mk III is considered to have the “glass case” of ride quality on rail vehicles.

From the outset it was apparent that a problem existed with ride quality with the vehicles. CAF and Iarnród Éireann undertook considerable testing and analysis of the ride quality. Some modification ensued however the problem is as yet unresolved. From tests undertaken it can be seen that the Mk IV vehicles do not have as good a ride quality as the Mk III. The most recent tests were undertaken in mid 2009 where a Mk III and Mk IV were coupled together to allow for direct comparison with test variables such as differential speed, driver behaviour, weather etc all removed by this arrangement. Some witty individual named this as the Mk7 trainset.  Jokes aside, the vehicle ride is unacceptable and has never achieved the standard required. Iarnród Éireann has recently advertised for a supplier to provide a turnkey solution to the ride quality on the Mk IV. It is hoped that the solution will be implemented across the fleet in 2010-2011.

APPROVALS

The introduction of the trains coincided with the formation of the Railway Safety Commission which was set up following the Railway Safety Act 2005. A safety case was created for the fleet and passenger operation certification was granted by the RSC in 2006 and passenger service began in May 2006.

In parallel the safety approval of the train was undertaken against the CME Department procedures and this process was subject to independent scrutiny by AEA Technology of the UK.

PERFORMANCE

The trains are running approximately 250,000km each per annum and the fleet has performed extremely well since introduction. Reliability levels are good however the Achilles heel of a train such as this is the single point failure potential of the locomotive. In this event there is no redundancy and most reliability issues are locomotive based. Concentrated efforts have been made to improve the locomotive reliability and this has shown great improvements on this route over the past 2 years.

THANKS

Thanks go to all the members of the CME team past and present who delivered on this fleet and continue to work on the resolution of the outstanding issues.

Copyright © 2010 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: January 04, 2016 .