Posted 8th March 2012 | 7 Comments

Here it is – the bogie that 'didn't exist'

GERMAN train-builder Siemens has unveiled the bogie it intends to use on the new Thameslink fleet, after claims that it was no more than a drawing. Although the £1.4 billion contract with the Department for Transport has yet to be signed, Siemens has also revealed how much it has spent so far on research and development.

Supporters of the Bombardier plant in Derby, which came second in the competition to build the new trains for Thameslink, had pointed out that the Bombardier bogie had been around for more than 20 years, having been first developed by British Rail's research teams at Derby, whereas the Siemens bogie had yet to be built.

Siemens has responded to its critics by unveiling the first prototypes of the bogie at its specialist factory in Graz, Austria.

The company said its trains for Thameslink are branded Desiro City, and represent a new model of electric multiple unit which will be about a third lighter than earlier Desiros.

This reduction in weight meant that a new bogie, coded SF7000, was essential. Siemens added that it had been developing the Desiro City concept since 2007, and had invested 50 million Euros in the project so far.

The DfT has said that it expects to sign the contract, for which Siemens has been preferred bidder since last June, during the spring.

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Phil. Kay, Redhill

    "....which will be a third lighter than earlier Desiros".
    Great, that's all we want. A train that'll really slither around on leaves and in the ice and snow.

  • John Gilbert, Cradley

    David Faircloth mentions the eVoyager project. As a sensible idea this, in Britain, will naturally be delayed and delayed and could even fail. In any case why are the Cross-Country Voyagers singled out when the idea should logically be applied to Meridians and Virgin's fleet as well? Oh yes, now I understand, it's the word logical.....not a word understood by UK parliamentarians and civil servants. (Am I cynical? Too right I am. And with good reason!)

  • MikeB, Liverpool

    Thanks for the info David. I was not aware that Bombardier still manufactured components on-site. Somebody informed me that all major items, such as bogies, aluminium extrusions for bodyshells, transmission systems and engines were imported from Europe with the workforce at Derby merely "putting everything together". Are items manufactured in Derby for Bombardier's other production sites in, say, Germany or are they purely for locally assembled trains?

  • lorentz, London

    Anoop, London - yes, but it would do given that it is designed to meet similar design parameters. The key difference though is that this is the latest in German/Austrian engineering technology.

  • David Faircloth, Derby

    Sorry, MikeB, but you are wrong.

    Firstly, Bombardier has concentrated bogie manufacturing at Siegen in Germany.

    Secondly, if you read the evidence given by Bombardier to the Transport Select Committee last September you will note than many of the components for the FLEXX bogie are supplied to Germany from the UK..

    Thirdly, the Derby facility is not just a "screwdriver" plant, as you claim; all of the engineering for the 'Turbostar', 'Electrostar' and 'Capitalstar' families was undertaken at Derby, as was that for the trains being built for London Underground. It will also be responsible for engineering work for the e-Voyager project, if that goes ahead. And many of the components for Derby-built trains are either made on site or bought-in from suppliers located in the Derby/East Midlands area; as an example, the aluminium bodyshells for Derby-built trains are actually made in the Derby plant, and the life-blood of many of the members of the Derby & Derbyshire Rail Forum is Bombardier.

  • MikeB, Liverpool

    It is correct that British Rail at Derby was way ahead of the field in bogie design and manufacture but when it was acquired by Bombardier, this work was transferred to other plants in Europe - such as Norway where FLEXX bogies are built. Very few - if any - British companies are now involved in the design and manufacturing of components for the European-owned trainbuilding industry. Derby Works is a mere "screwdiver" plant assembling trains from components imported from Europe.

  • Anoop, London

    It looks just like Bombardier's B5000 bogie (aka British Rail's Advanced Suburban Bogie), which is already used on Voyagers, Meridians, Pioneers and Class 172 trains.