As the second largest train company in the UK, Northern needs to make sure that its fleet of trains is in the best shape possible.
Northern is very important to the north of England because it helps tens of thousands of people get to work, play, school, and other places every day.
The Northern engineering team knew there was a lot that could be done to make its fleet of old diesel trains more efficient and reliable, so they talked to potential suppliers to find an engineering solution.
The proposal from Flotec, which is based in Loughborough, was accepted, and the company was recently given a multimillion-pound contract to change the entire fleet of Northern 15x class trains.
This big investment shows that Northern is committed to giving the best service possible to the people who use its network.
For SME Flotec, winning the award is also a big business win.
The engine cooling system is the main focus of the modification. Flotec is the only company in the UK that sells the award-winning reverse pitch fan and electronic fan control, which was made to keep the radiators working well by reversing the air flow through them from time to time to get rid of any dirt that has gathered during the cooling cycle. This is a big problem on many Northern routes during the spring pollen season.
As part of the fleet change, all of the hoses are being replaced with the Bluestripe EPDM coolant hose and PowerGrip clamp solution. This product has been shown to stop coolant hoses from breaking too soon, which causes a lot of traffic RTIs during regular service.
All hydrostatic hoses will be replaced with the new market-leading Railtec hose and MegaCrimp couplings. This will also stop Hydro leaks and early failures during service.
The Northern reliability team decided to commit to this product and the benefits it will bring to the existing DMU fleet after a 4-year trial with Northern and several successful fleet installations with other operators.
The fleet upgrades will be done by the end of 2023. They will help Northern cut down on downtime, make vehicles run more efficiently, and help the environment.
Call the team at +44 (0) 1509 230 100 or send an email to rail@floteconline.com to find out more about Flotec’s latest rail innovations.
Go to www.flotecindustrial.co.uk/rail as an alternative.