British Rail Class 185

The Class 185 is a diesel multiple-unit passenger train of the Desiro UK family built by Siemens in Germany for the British train operating company First TransPennine Express.

A £260 million order for 51 three-car trains and associated maintenance depots was placed in 2003, and deliveries took place between 2006 and 2007.

Background and history
In 2003 a consortiium of FirstGroup and Keolis was awarded the new Transpennine Express franchise. As part of the franchise agreement the franchise holder was to introduce a new fleet of 100 mph trains.

The specifications in the franchise agreement required a train "similar in type to the Class 175/180 or Class 220", but with a 1/3-2/3 door arrangement, and top speed of 100 mph. Also specified was air conditioning, two toilets per vehicle with one suitable for reduced mobility passengers, gangways between individual carriages, luggage and bicycle storage space, passenger compartment CCTV, provision for wheelchair passengers, and first-class seating. Additionally the train's acceleration was to be an improvement on the Class 158 and comparable to the Class 180. The agreement specified 168 carriages, with an initial option to reduce the carriage order by 18.

The franchise agreement also required the construction of two depots for the new rolling stock; the main depot was to be at Manchester, with a depot for stabling and maintenance at York. In addition, a depot at Cleethorpes was to be upgraded with refuelling and controlled emission toilet servicing facilities, and a train electric auxiliary supply. The franchise agreement specified a performance aim of 37,500 miles per casualty, with entry into service between March 2006 (first unit) and November 2006 (entire fleet).

By August 2003 Siemens had been named as the preferred bidder for the trains. A contract valued at £260 million for supply and maintenance of 56 trains was signed in September 2003 between Siemens AG, operators First/Keolis Transpennine Ltd, and leasers HSBC Rail (UK) Limited. The new train requirement had been reduced from 56 to 51 units by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) by 2004.

The trains were built at Siemens' plant in Uerdingen in Krefeld; the first unit began test trials at the Wildenrath test circuit in July 2005. An official launch took place at Wildenrath in December 2005.

Construction of the main depot, Ardwick rail depot, began March 2005; opening in 2006. Work was started on the new Leeman Road depot in York in December 2005. The depot was opened in May 2007.

In 2006 TransPennineExpress acquired two static simulators for driver training from Corys TESS.

The first units were delivered from Siemens in the old First livery, these were converted to the new First 'Dynamic lines' livery using vinyl wraps upon arrival in the United Kingdom. Later arrivals were delivered blank and given vinyls at Ardwick Depot, Manchester. All 51 trains were in service by January 2007. Initially the trains replaced two- and three-car British Rail Class 158 units.

Design
Each carriage contains a separate diesel powertrain driving both axles of a bogie via cardan shafts. Each powertrain consists of a 651 kW Cummins QSK 19 engine driving a Voith T312bre three speed hydrodynamic transmission which drives two axles in one bogie via a Voith SK-485 final drive. The engine, torque converter were frame mounted underfloor and suspended from the car body by flexible mounts. A third underfloor module contains cooling systems and an electrical generator. The hydraulic conveter includes and integrated retarder (brake). Cooling fans and the electrical generator are powered via a hydrostatic drive. The electrical generator provides a 400V 50 Hz three phase electrical supply for the train, which is transformed or recitfied to a 230V 50 Hz single phase supply, a 110V DC auxiliary supply, and a 24V DC battery supply. Connections bridge the main 400V AC and 110V DC supplies across the cars of each train set. Component suppliers included Dellner (couplings), ZF (dampers), SKF (bearings), Westinghouse Brakes (braking systems).

The trains bogies are versions of the Siemens' SF5000 bogie. The design has an axle distance of 2.600 m, with radial arm primary suspension utilising steel coil springs with rubber elements; the secondary suspension is an air spring design supporting a bolster. Motor bogies have traction forces transmitted from bogie to frame via rods from a centre pivot. Mechanical brakes are wheel mounted discs. The units have a route availability of RA 5. The class 185 is heavier and has a stiffer suspension than the class 158 it replaced on some routes; On some routes including the Hope Valley route, York to Scarborough line, Hull to Selby line (Micklefield junction-Hull), and between Northallerton and Middlesbrough the class 185 units were not permitted to operate at the same speeds as the Sprinter type DMUs; however the higher acceleration of the class 185 units could be used to partially offset the lower speed restriction.

As delivered each train consisted of three cars; one end car had 64 second class seats in [2+2] arrangement with a mixture of facing seats with tables and airline style arrangements, as well as luggage and bicycle facilities; the middle car had 72 second class seats also in a mixture of arrangements in [2+2] formation, and incorporated a standard toilet; the other end car had a further 18 second class seats, and 15 [2+1] arrangement first class seats, plus a wheelchair space, and a reduce mobility access toilet. Toilets were supplier by Driessen, seats by Grammer, and by Fainsa, and air conditioning from Air International Transit.

Eco-Mode
The trains were designed for the hilly routes; as a result the units had a high installed power, unnecessary for most of the train's route sections - leading to low fuel efficiency relative to other DMUs. In mid 2007 Siemens and TransPennine Express began a programme, named 'Eco-Mode', to improve the efficiency of the fleet. The project involved generating driver information giving route advice allowing more efficiency driving, including information on when it was feasible to shut down a diesel engine, leaving the train 'cruising' on two of the three engines. Additionally fuel consumption was reduced by performing shunting using only one engine, and automating complete engine shutdown at depots. Initial changes in working practice resulted in a 7% fuel saving. Furthermore, as the engines are idling less and thus operating less (engine hours reduced by two hours a day per train), their service life may be extended by 15%.

Operations
Fifty-one of these three-carriage 185s, together with nine two-carriage 170s, have replaced the Class 158s (North and South Transpennine Express routes), Class 175s (routes between Manchester Airport and Blackpool / Cumbria) and Class 220/221 Voyager trains (operated by Virgin Trains on routes between Manchester and Edinburgh / Glasgow).

The majority of First Transpennine Express Services are operated by 185s, with the exception for the Manchester Piccadilly – Hull service which is mostly run by a Class 170 Turbostar train due to speed/weight restrictions between Selby and Hull.

To free up stock for services between Manchester Airport and destinations in Scotland, First TransPennine Express dramatically decreased the frequency of the Manchester Airport to Windermere route from 9 December 2007.

Overcrowding and passenger feedback


In 2007 Passenger Focus published a user survey on the Class 185. Satisfaction ratings of around 80% were given for many standard aspects of a train journey, such as availability of seats, seat comfort, ease of egression, cleanliness. Passengers gave satisfaction ratings of around only 70% on standing space availability. Lower averaged satisfaction ratings (~50%) were given for wheelchair space, bicycle space and for the inability to shield the sun, as well as overall design, and position and number of bins. Frequent travellers had a low level of satisfaction with toilet cleanliness. The report concluded that overall users liked the new trains, but identified issues relating to peak crowding, particularly on evening peaks.

By 2007 increase use of some of the Transpennine Express services (Sheffield Manchester Leeds) caused FirstGroup to start lobbying the SRA for a fourth car to the 3 car sets to increase capacity; however the service overall was subsidised, presenting a cost barrier to further rolling stock leasing.

By 2008 many of the peak time trains operated on by class 185s on TransPennine Express services were suffering chronic overcrowding.