Bombardier Voyager family

The Voyager series is a group of express diesel-electric multiple-unit trains built by Bombardier Transportation for service on the UK railway network.

Variants

Class 220

The Class 220 Voyager was built to operate Cross Country intercity services. 34 four-car sets were built between 2000 and 2001 and operated by Virgin Trains. With Virgin's loss of the Cross Country franchise, these were all transferred to the new operator CrossCountry in November 2007.

Class 221

The Class 221 Super Voyager was built as a tilting version of the Class 220. Although visually similar, the majority of these trains have five cars instead of four, and have been fitted with a tilting mechanism similar to that on the Class 390 EMU. 44 sets were constructed for use by Virgin Trains; of these, 23 have been transferred to CrossCountry with the remaining 21 being retained by Virgin, for use on parts of their West Coast franchise. None of the CrossCountry class 221s now requires tilt since the services were withdrawn from the West Coast Main Line, and their tilting equipment has therefore been removed to improve reliability.^[2]

Class 222

The Class 222 Meridian DEMUs are broadly similar to the original Voyager units, but feature a number of reliability improvements and different internal layout.

The Class 222 was built in the light of experience gained with the 220 and 221 units; in particular, many more components were installed under the floor so as to increase space for passengers. A total of 27 sets were constructed initially:

• Midland Mainline originally ordered 23 sets, which it named as Meridians, to enter service in 2004, replacing Turbostar trains which it had previously used. On entry into service, Midland Mainline received a mix of four- and nine-car units, later re-formed into a combination of four-, five- and eight-car units. All Midland Mainline's units were transferred to the new franchise holder East Midlands Trains (EMT) in November 2007. When EMT took over the franchise, it removed a car from six of its eight-car sets, to lengthen previously four-car units. The last remaining eight-car unit was reduced to five cars. As of 2009^[update], seventeen sets were five-car formations used for stopping services to and from London.

• First Hull Trains obtained four 4-car Class 222 units in 2005 and named them Pioneers. These were to replace the Turbostars that had provided Hull Trains' initial services. These units are slightly different internally from the Meridian trains. Following a maintenance incident and the long-term unavailability of one unit, First Hull Trains replaced its Class 222 fleet with a fleet of Class 180 Adelantes in 2009. The Class 222 units have been transferred to EMT for use with the rest of the Class 222 fleet. These Pioneers are now known as Meridians.

Proposed conversion to electrical operation

In 2010 Bombardier proposed the conversion of several Voyager multiple units into hybrid diesel and electric vehicles capable of taking power from an overhead pantograph (electro-diesels EDMUs). The proposal was named Project Thor.^[3]

In Oct 2010 it was speculated that additional pantograph vehicles would be manufactured at Bombardier Transportation's Derby plant, and 21 trainsets converted, at a cost of approximately £300million,^[4] however in 2011 the plant did not have the facilities to manufacturer steel carriages,^[5] though it was expected that much of the work would take place in the UK, and provide work for the Derby plant.^[6] In Dec 2011 a proposal to electrify 30-35 trainsets for the CrossCountry franchise, referred to as "eVoyager", was under consideration by the Department of Transport.^[7]

References