[Dmart241]

Article in Bicester advertiser 21.6.12 with above headline.

' Chiltern railways is inviting tenders for new 100mph locomotives for use on it's express services from late 2014.
In an official notice the company said it wanted to lease or hire between 8 and 13 locomotives with the first 7 to be ready for service by by the end of December 2014. Chiltern currently hires 6 class 67 from DBS to operate it's silver liveried mainline trains between London Marylebone and Birmingham and rush hour queue buster services between Banbury and London.
While Chiltern first introduced locomotive powered trains as a stop gap to cope with growing passenger numbers it now expects to operate them on a long term basis, with the Mk3 coaches it uses undergoing a £6.5m life extension programme, including the fitting of powered passenger doors. It also has a pool of spare coaches available to lengthen the trains if necessary. Managers now want to see if modern locomotive designs are more cost effective than the class 67s which date back to the late 1990's.
The company said " Locomotive technology has progressed in the meantime and some of the newer designs now in service or under construction overseas are capable of being modified for UK use. We are keen to secure the best deal for our future fleet and will compare the continued use of existing locomotives against procuring a new build fleet. Among the likely contenders for the contract is the Spanish built Vossloh Eurolight locomotive. UK railfreight service DRS ordered 15 of the locomotives earlier this year'

Perrhaps the start of things to come ??? I do hope so.

Chiltern took over the 67 and the Mk3 stock from the now defunct Wrexham and Shropshire. I travelled on the Wrexham and shropshire and the upgraded Mk3 stock is fabulous. You forget how spoilt we all were in them compared to the cramped tubes we have to put up with on most of our journeys these days.

Some thing to look forward to I hope.


Dave M