Mark 3 Driving Van Trailer arrives at the Northampton and Lamport Railway

But why were Porterbrook allowed to undertake a ‘trial scrapping’……….
Seven coaches from LNER set EC64 withdrawn last November taken to Sims Metals at Newport Docks in January, 2020.

LNER supposedly intended to scrap two rakes of coaches before last Christmas…..rakes EC64 & NL65…….but only the former have so far been scrapped.

Ministers need to get a grip on the issue of the Mark 3’s……perfectly good coaches, (even if refurbishment is required for some),……….AND…….far more comfortable and substantial in construction than the new Hitachi stuff we are having foisted upon us……

Storage space at Laira and Long Martin would seem to be at a premium……well at Laira possibly as new trains arrive, but there should be ample space at Long Martin.

Failing this, other military facilities could easily store the Mark 3’s……..as could some of the preserved railways…..

Is it beyond the wit of Ministers, the Trains Operators………. and the Rolling Stock Companies, (aka the Banks in the latter case), to find secure storage space for the Mark 3’s as both security for future use and as a reusable asset…..

One wonders if Ministers and the various parts of the nation’s railway governing bodies will make the mistake of allowing the Banks to scrap the Mark 3’s to realise the cash value of the materials, rather than keeping and maintaining valuable assets built and purchased at considerable state expense…….assets which still have a considerable life span left in them.

Incidentally, close inspection of the new Hitachi stuff, (underneath at one of the country’s major traction & maintenance depots), indicates that they are not a patch…..in constructional terms……on the Mark 3’s ex- HST stock.

My prediction is that the onset of a bad winter…..not unknown in the UK…….will reveal critical flaws and weaknesses in the new Hitachi stuff……leading to drastic curtailments and postponing of services.

It would make sense to keep the Mark 3’s as future proof against such circumstances…….

Those retaining the HST’s will be in a better position than LNER & GWR……..

You heard it gets first……
Don’t say they weren’t warned….

James Hennighan
Yorkshire, England

P.S.
The comments of the suitability of the Mark 3’s for scenic routes is well made…….especially so if they revert to all table at a window, doing away with the airline style seating……as was the case when they were first introduced on the Liverpool Lime Street – Euston and the Manchester London Road – Euston services.

The tables at a window with seats each side made for a more open and lighter interior……as did the original style of seating, rather than the plastic framed high back seating that has crept in in recent years…

Wonderful. Perhaps other railway heritage should consider inheriting the DVT trailer. But looks like the rest are to be scrapped. Credit to Northampton and Lamport Railway.