A second locomotive-hauled set is to be introduced in East Anglia.
Abellio Greater Anglia will hire two Class 68s and three Mk 2s from Direct Rail Services on a daily basis until the end of its franchise in October.
The second LHCS will cover for a three-car Class 170 damaged in a level crossing accident near Thetford in April (RAIL 799). Repairs have not yet begun on the DMU (170204), which is expected to be out of traffic for several months. It remains at Norwich Crown Point although contracts for its repair are being negotiated.
The second LHCS set will be a ‘hot spare’, but is nevertheless earmarked for daily use. It is understood that rostered duties have been planned for the set, which will be crewed by DRS drivers. The carriages will be Riviera Trains air-conditioned Mk 2s hired by DRS in a similar arrangement to those used by ScotRail.
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SouthLondonRailwayPhotography - 02/07/2016 07:51
Nice, that means my 2 favourite trains are doing to loco hauls
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FrankH - 02/07/2016 10:53
The acceleration with a 68 and 3 coaches will be lively to say the least. DRS are going to need more with Scotrail, Chiltern , East Anglia and Northern in the near future using them. They're back on the Tesco Daventry - Mossend and return as of last Monday.
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Andrewjgwilt1989 - 02/07/2016 20:00
So it could cover the Class 170's journey between Norwich and Cambridge as the Class 170 collided into a tractor few months ago outside of Thetford and suffered senificant damage to the front and side of the train with some passengers injured and the train driver and tractor driver also injured.
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FrankH - 02/07/2016 23:01
"The second LHCS will cover for a three-car Class 170 damaged in a level crossing accident near Thetford in April". That's what the story said Andrew. It will do whatever diagram the 170 did.
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Andrewjgwilt1989 - 02/07/2016 23:15
Right.
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Gizzy - 04/07/2016 19:53
Usually AGA use the LHCS between Norwich and Yarmouth, but I guess it could run on any of the Crown Point diagrams as necessary....
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Andrewjgwilt1989 - 04/07/2016 20:00
Ok. Thanks for the info.
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