Rail Express – August 2018

THOSE that were around before the turn of the century will likely remember a time of widespread diesel loco-haulage. In fact they were pretty much everywhere until the mid-1980s and the ‘Sprinter’ revolution, when second generation DMUs began to replace traditional hauled stock on many long-distance routes. But it was not until 2002, when CrossCountry withdrew its last loco diagrams, that a nationwide network finally came to
an end.

Since then there has slowly been something of a revival – such as the Arriva workings between North and South Wales; the former Wrexham & Shropshire’s trains, which morphed into Chiltern’s Main Line workings; Greater Anglia’s ‘short set’; and Northern’s Cumbrian diagrams.
Very soon now we will have the prospect of loco-hauled sets entering service across the North of England with TransPennine Express. A planned preview service using ex-‘Pretendolino’ Mk.3s will not now happen, but it won’t be long until we get to sample the new Mk.5s with DRS Class 68 power.

Now with the CrossCountry franchise due for renewal next year, there are indications that loco-hauled stock could be reintroduced as a solution to overcrowding. CrossCountry is not only one of the biggest networks, in terms of geographical coverage, but also one of the most used by leisure travellers, and so has to cope with seasonal peaks in demand to holiday destinations that fixed-formation ‘Voyagers’ cannot handle.

For the enthusiast, CrossCountry locos would restore a degree of national coverage sorely missed, linking in with many of the other loco-hauled routes. Add in the Cornish and Scottish overnight sleepers, which have always used diesels, a commitment to locos in Wales by taking on Mk.4s cascaded from the East Coast Main Line, plus a question mark over what will be used on the Midland Main Line post-2020, and it could be something like old times again.