Traction and rolling stock strategies urgently needed says former Chief Inspector of Railways

The UK is in dire need of traction and rolling stock strategies to help improve the railway’s value for money and prevent a potential safety risk.

That’s the view of the former HM Chief Inspector of Railways, Ian Prosser.

In his first guest column for RAIL, Prosser said the lack of a rolling stock strategy was becoming a pressing issue.

“I firmly believe we now have a burning platform here, scrapping perfectly good EMUs with some real life left in them then having to soldier on with 40-year-old DMUs. This could well result in increased safety risk,” he said.

“We need these strategies for the short, medium and long term that will allow an optimised deployment of rolling stock across the network for years to come.”

One example was the lack of an identified replacement for the Class 158 units from the early 1990s.

He said they had been a “great servant to the railway but keeping them running efficiently and safely will become more difficult, with things like engine maintenance becoming more challenging”.

Turning his attention to traction, Prosser said he’d like to see potential electrification targets identified, and other power options such as hydrogen trialled.

Prosser said the strategies need to be in place well before the establishment of Great British Railways to “ensure the deployment of the right technologies in the right places providing the best value for money”.

The full column will be available to read in the edition of RAIL out on Wednesday March 19.