Plan in place to combat Pendolino fleet leak
The climate control on Avanti’s Pendolino fleet fell off a cliff in summer 2023, causing water to leak onto passengers. Claire Repeti, Operations Manager at Rail Partners, shares what’s being done to avoid a repeat event this year.
While we’re all eagerly awaiting the long, warm summer days, preparations are under way at Avanti to make sure our infrastructure and trains provide the best performance for our customers.
The GB Rail Industry Approach to Hot Weather Management provides infrastructure managers and train operating companies with guidance on how to be ready for the heat. This covers reducing the risk of track buckles by alerting staff to at-risk locations. It also covers checking on-board cooling systems and much more.
It’s not all about individual processes, though. Working together is encouraged, particularly in managing the needs of stranded trains and passengers. But what happens when unexpected events occur? And how can we learn from them?
In the summer of 2023, Avanti suffered significant reliability issues with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems on their Pendolino fleet. On one particularly hot day, the HVAC systems started leaking onto passengers. This created a lot of discomfort, social media posts and complaints.
The HVAC systems had worked well up to that point. Then in 2023 their performance fell off the cliff. Engineering Manager Dominic Todd attributes the breakdown to three main factors:
the age of the fleet and its aging equipment, where recent summers far exceed the original design parameters of the HVAC
the need for a more frequent maintenance schedule
the configuration of the system’s target temperature, compared to the high ambient temperature, resulting in system overload.
The HVAC works by pulling the warm exterior air, which carries moisture, into the HVAC unit. The air is then cooled via a condensing process. This removes moisture, which collects in a drip tray and should leave the train via a drainpipe. If the pipe gets blocked or too much water is generated, the tilting of a train unit can cause the water to spill and leak through the saloon ceiling.
What’s been done to prevent a repeat event in 2024? How can our frontline staff help? Working with Alstom, Avanti has brought in a new maintenance plan. It includes checking the plumbing to ensure water can drain away easily.
Some engineering and electrical solutions are also being tested. These include making cooling mods to auxiliary convertors and moving electrical loads to a different breaker to prevent trippings caused by any overload.
Finally, Avanti is bringing in simple steps that the frontline can help with, such as staff closing chiller doors quickly and making sure train doors are closed wherever possible to prevent an influx of warm air into the train.
Image credit: G-13114, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons