Remaining Class 91’s and Mk 4 sets

[TravisM]

I knew the remaining Class 91’s had been transferred away from Bounds Green to Neville Hill, but were the remaining Mk 4 sets transferred as well?  If they were, could someone kindly let me have the transfer date as, for the life of me, I can’t remember apart from earlier this year.

[phil-b259]

1 hour ago, jools1959 said:

I knew the remaining Class 91’s had been transferred away from Bounds Green to Neville Hill, but were the remaining Mk 4 sets transferred as well?  If they were, could someone kindly let me have the transfer date as, for the life of me, I can’t remember apart from earlier this year.

 

Bounds Green depot (including all its staff) was transferred over to the ownership of Hitachi as part of the 'design, build and maintain' contract done for the IET / Azuma stock

 

Like the Siemens depots at Three Bridges (Thameslink), Northam / Southampton (SWR) and the Hitachi depot at Ashford (SE HS1 fleet) such depots do NOT usually undertake work on fleets not included in the maintenance contract. They generally neither hold the spares nor the technical skills to work on other fleets added to which the entire staffing structure will be done around meeting the requirements of the contract and nothing more.

 

As such all other stock, be it the 91s or the Mk4 rakes will have had to be transferred to another LNER (or another TOC) operated depot and Neville Hill would be an obvious choice.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by phil-b259

[TravisM]

1 hour ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Bounds Green depot (including all its staff) was transferred over to the ownership of Hitachi as part of the 'design, build and maintain' contract done for the IET / Azuma stock

 

Like the Siemens depots at Three Bridges (Thameslink), Northam / Southampton (SWR) and the Hitachi depot at Ashford (SE HS1 fleet) such depots do NOT usually undertake work on fleets not included in the maintenance contract. They generally neither hold the spares nor the technical skills to work on other fleets added to which the entire staffing structure will be done around meeting the requirements of the contract and nothing more.

 

As such all other stock, be it the 91s or the Mk4 rakes will have had to be transferred to another LNER (or another TOC) operated depot and Neville Hill would be an obvious choice.

 

 

Do you know the date when Bounds Green’s staff transferred over to Hitachi and therefore the Class 91’s and Mk 4’s were transferred to Neville Hill?

[phil-b259]

21 minutes ago, jools1959 said:

Do you know the date when Bounds Green’s staff transferred over to Hitachi and therefore the Class 91’s and Mk 4’s were transferred to Neville Hill?

 

No

 

However what is usual in these 'takeover' cases (as opposed to a brand new manufacturer built facility like the Stoke Gifford depot at Bristol) is for the depot and staff to transfer in advance of the new stock arriving. The manufacturer then starts rebuilding modifying the depot facilities to suit the new stock while continuing to maintain the old stock until it gets replaced.

 

Bounds Green depot and staff would have therefore most likely transferred over to Hitachi in late 2018 or the start of 2019

 

Once the new stock starts to arrive there will be a crossover period while both are cared for so as to maintain operator service levels - but eventually you get to a stage where pretty much all the new trains are in service - at which point any legacy stock will be kicked out with removal of unnecessary spares and the ceasing of fitter training / competence listing pertaining to the removed vehicles.

 

Web sources indicate the 91s (and by association the associated Mk4 fleet) were reallocated to Neville Hill in 2021 while the LNERs IET fleet was in full service by May 2021

 

 

[Wild Boar Fell]

Last time I went to BN was in Q1 (January I think) 2019 and it had already become a Hitachi depot, with most staff transferred across. At the time the depot had been prepared for Azumafication, but I think the units there were for familiarisation, with the active ones working out of Doncaster Carr.

 

As for the remaining sets, I think they were withdrawn during 2020 from Bounds, and reentered service from Neville Hill a few months ago (during the Hitachi crisis).