No. 1578

RETIRED RAILWAY OFFICERS’ SOCIETY

www: rros.org.uk

Minutes of Meeting

held in the Gascoigne Room at the Union Jack Club, Sandell St. London SE1 on Monday 28th May 2012.

Present:

President: Theo Steel

Hon Secretary: Richard Malins Hon Treasurer: John Sellar

Brian Alston / John Ellis / Chris Kinchin-Smith / Brian Sandham
Don Anderson / Phil Evans / Don Love / Paul Seward
Stephen Bennett / Jim Gibbons / David Mackie / Dennis Simmonds
Ernst Birchler / Les Giles / Jim McKie / Les Singleton
Chris Blackman / Malcolm Grant / John Meara / Mark Smith
Alf Boucher / Bob Greening / Philip Millard / Cedric Spiller
George Bowden / Hugh Gould / Geoff Mitchell / Peter Stanton
Bob Breakwell / Chris Haig-Prothero / Bob Moseley / David Stimson
David Brice / Brian Hammond / Burnard Mules / Ken Streak
Vivian Brown / Ralph Harding / Bob Murton / Paul Taylor
Chris Chivers / Chris Heaps / Michael Papps / Roger Taylor
Brian Clementson / Alan Hobson / Don Pearce / John Tidmarsh
Ken Colpus / Richard Horne / Tony Pinkstone / Keith Turner
Richard Cook / Tom Jay / Mike Pipes / Mike Tyrrell
Ian Copland / Mike Johns / Andy Pitt (G) / Ray Walkingtin
John Craik / Brian Johnson / Stuart Redding / Bob Walters
David Crathorn / Stan Judd / Brian Redfern / Wally Walton
Ray Diver / Nick Kaye / Mike Robinson / Derek Webb
David Dixon / Alan Keitch / Mervyn Rogers / Ian Wetherell
John Dodd / Clive Kessell / Malcolm Rowe / David Wilson (G)
Andrew Salisbury / Bob Wyatt

1.  Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 30th April 2012.

These were approved. The President then showed pictures of the c2c Diamond Jubilee train, something he felt had come out of an earlier Society talk and the picture of the LT&SR locomotive “Thundersley”, suitably adorned for the Coronation of King George V in 1911.

2.  News of Members.

The President reported with regret the death two members: James Cornwell, sometime Director of Contract Services at NCL, peacefully at home on 21st April aged 88. His funeral was on 2nd May at St Joseph's Catholic Church, Chalfont St Peter. Peter Sutton ERD TD, a rolling stock engineer latterly with BREL, on 13th May aged 82, funeral on 28th May at Mugginton parish church Derbyshire (David Russell attending).

Members stood for a few moments in silent tribute to their memory.

3. Welcome to Members Recently Elected.

Brian Alston and Paul Seward were attending a meeting of the Society for the first time and were accorded the customary warm welcome. Brian said it was now 10 years since he had attended a meeting to talk to the Society, and recalled saying then that if he could not answer members’ questions he should retire and join the Society, well that time had now come.

4.  Proposed New Members.

The details of the following applicants’ careers were shown in the Agenda and their election was approved:

Name: Address and Telephone Number: Sponsors:

Andy Pitt Downs House, St Helena Lane, Plumpton Green Theo Steel

Sussex BN7 3DH 07771 827813 John Stedman

David Yeats The Bungalow, Faringdon Road, Andrew Salisbury

Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5AA 01865 829546 Mike Tyrrell

5.  Pension & Travel Facilities Matters.

There was no report on pensions. John Meara said current “Bite” discount cards for SSP outlets expire on a still unannounced date. New ones could be obtained on 0845 450 4652 or at www.bitecard.co.uk. He had examined the new travel restrictions circular and found nothing of any concern and also noted that it is now too late to apply any over the period of the Olympic games.

6.  Any Other Business.

The President reported on the unveiling of the railway memorial at the National Arboretum on 22nd May, which he had attended on behalf of the Society. The event was a success and well attended with Sir Bob Reid unveiling the 8F locomotive. The Railway chaplain the Rev James Lindsay offered The Railway Mission’s version of the 23rd Psalm:

“The Lord is my Inspector, I shall not go off track. He makes me to sit down in first class, He leads me through stations and sidings. He restores my lost luggage and leadeth me to the only loo that works, for goodness sake! Even though I walk through dark stations and sidings I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your lamp and Hi Vis vest they comfort me. You prepare the buffet car before me, in the presence of those who laughed and teased. You anoint my head with engine oil and my enthusiasm overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will travel on the steam train of the Lord forever!”

Sir Bob sent greetings to former colleagues and several Society members added to the occasion by their presence. There is an ongoing need for funds to maintain the memorial, and it is also the case that the Railway Benefit Fund and Railway Children are in in need of ongoing support, which for all these causes can be subject to Gift Aid.

Chris Heaps advises that signed copies of the hardback limited edition of his book on the Helston Railway will be dispatched by the publisher this week and the paperback version is available in the Ian Allan shop. Maurice Hopper of Exeter (01392 279078) has published a book about his father’s career on the railway “View of a changing railway: Edward Hopper – Railwayman 1925 – 68”. He joined the Southern Railway as a clerk and retired as a training officer at BR HQ.

7. Talk by Hans Bencker on the Siemens Rolling Stock Story. .

The President introduced Hans by recounting some of the history of the Siemens business, founded in Germany in 1847 and now Europe’s largest electronics and electrical engineering company. While Siemens has had a presence in the UK since 1850, its railway activities were limited, and it was not until the 1990’s that it took the British rail market seriously. That began with the trams supplied for the new system in Sheffield, where they still perform well, but the heavy rail market seemed closed to outsiders and was carved up between Metro-Cammell and BREL. It was also the situation that originally Siemens only supplied the electrical equipment for trams and trains and was dependent on other builders, such as Düwag which Siemens acquired in 1989, for the final product. The last 20 years however presented another opportunity, despite the failure of the light rail market to develop as Siemens had hoped and as has been the case elsewhere in Europe. Too many tram projects in Britain were on and off such that a follow-up deal to Sheffield has yet to materialise. The heavy rail market however appeared set to change with privatisation, and the recommendations of the Hidden Report after the Clapham Jnc accident that required early replacement of all Mk 1 rolling stock. With one of the oldest EMU fleets in Europe this looked like the right opportunity, but the Germans remained reluctant to enter a market that seemed to be beset with risk and uncertainty. The regulatory framework looked to be chaotic at the time, the safety case process was unknown and politics were erratic. Siemens had devoted resources to the West Coast IC250 project, only to see it disappear. But David Wilson (in the audience today) was convinced that Britain was worth a try, and it was Heathrow Express that gave him the chance to prove that. Being outside the normal BR procurement process, where the view was that Networker was the train to buy, allowed another approach. But heavy rail people at Siemens were not interested, so David who had done the Sheffield project, got the light rail side to agree to bid. Then the Düwag works could not deliver the car bodies so a deal had to be done with CAF of Spain. BAA at least were content to go along with this, with BR only a minority Hex shareholder at the time, but it was breaking new ground in a risk averse environment and the project was difficult to progress. The safety case process was not properly defined and many established European practices seemed novel in the UK, but it also came with the maintenance contract for the trains, a principle adopted widely since. The Northern order for similar 23m long EMU stock followed, after the breaking of the infamous 3 year post privatisation famine in train orders with Roger Ford on car park watch.

The problem then became one of who would order new trains, would it be the then SSRA? Siemens had no established 20m design for the UK but with Angel they produced a speculative 4 car EMU order. These only made it into British service later as the present Heathrow Connect 5 car units, but their true starting point became the AC units for Great Eastern, then part of First Group. Progress with this contract was slow. While the CAF built units had steel bodies, the new Siemens design involved aluminium and after the Ladbroke Grove accident the structural integrity of such bodyshells was seen as suspect and it took some redesign and reassurance before the order could proceed. Then there was the front end gangway problem. The prototypes had the gangway design now seen on the class 450/350 units, but these did not suit GE drivers and the one person operating conditions there so a full-width cab was required. Another issue was the pending end of the First Group franchise on GE. In the meantime Stagecoach came forward with their requirements for South West Trains and to some extent that overtook the GE project and was much bigger in scale, being a major element of the Mk 1 replacement programme. One strength Siemens had for both orders was the use of the former RAF base at Wildenrath in Germany as a test track where British conditions could be simulated and proper type-testing undertaken. They also built on the relationship established with First for the class 360 to offer their first diesel train in the UK for Trans-Pennine Express. The class 185 was specifically matched to the requirements of that route and has also performed well, but with the recent drop-off in the market for diesels no more have been sold. The class 350, as used on the West Coast, was originally a transfer from the SWT order, but numbers have been added since and it can claim to be the most reliable train in Britain. By undertaking the maintenance itself, Siemens can learn from the in-service experience of these trains and their customers are involved in design reviews.

They now have 384 trains in British service: Heathrow 19, Northern 16, East Anglia 21, South West Trains 127 + 45, London Midland 67, TPE 51, ScotRail 38 (1365 EMU vehicles and 153 DMU). These are supported by 8 maintenance depots run by Siemens and they now regard the UK as part of their core market. It is actually more stable and predictable than much of Europe where privatisation processes have still to mature, and acceptance procedures can prove problematic. This has actually happened in their home market of Germany, where their Velaro order has been delayed, largely on account of ETCS equipment supplied by Ansaldo. Bombardier, which is bigger than Siemens in rail rolling stock in Germany, has had problems with their regional trains. Angel has also been active with Siemens in Europe, but only for multiple units as Siemens, a large builder of locomotives, has its own leasing company for that market. Siemens is proud of the contribution they are now making in the UK and because of their extensive maintenance commitments reject the RMT claims that they provide no British jobs. Asked about the Thameslink contract, Hans said he is not involved in the negotiations for that but the bigger the project the longer it takes, and that is big. Responding to the Roger Ford accusation that Siemens trains are overweight, Hans said this is in part a by-product of crashworthiness and gadgetry, something also true of modern cars compared to earlier models. Customers now expect air-conditioning and power operation of accessories, and in the case of trains longevity of the vehicle is also relevant. Attention is now being paid to lighter weight bogies and a reduction in cabling. The class 380 in Scotland is a software-controlled train with reduced hard wiring, and at 23m comes in at the same weight as the conventional 20m vehicles. Regenerative braking is also now standard, easier to implement on the AC network, but now available on all Siemens EMUs. Looking to the future, change will remain a key element. Technology changes, people change, regulatory approvals change, while economics, politics and business habits change. Siemens must keep abreast of that. Brian Clementson proposed a vote of thanks for a comprehensive talk, which seemed to cover a lot of things that had happened since he retired. The dominance of the British rail industry had disappeared, but it was an achievement to get where Siemens now stands, when the Japanese who have been trying for longer are still waiting.

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Since the meeting the death has been reported of Ron Kilvington, formerly a Regional Manager with NCL, who slipped away peacefully with his family present in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand on Thursday 24th May, at the age of 90. The Funeral Service was held there on Monday 28th May. Information provided by his son Russell

No. 1579 Agenda for Meeting

To be held at 13.45 in the Gascoigne Room at the Union Jack Club, Sandell Street, London SE1 on Monday 2nd July 2012.

1.  Minutes of the Meeting held in London on Monday 28th May.

2.  News of Members.

3.  Welcome to Members Recently Elected.

4.  Proposed New Members.

Gareth Hadley will propose and Hugh Dunglinson will second that Lord RICHARD ANDREW ROSSER be elected an associate member of the Society. Richard was born in Northwood on the fifth of October 1944 and joined London Transport as a clerical officer in 1962. In 1966 he became a full-time official for the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association and was Assistant General Secretary 1982 – 89. He was then General Secretary, retiring in 2004, when he became a Life Peer. As a member of the House of Lords he is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group and since 2011 Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Transport.