Tuesday 31 March 2015

Pendolino Test Runs

Oh dear.

The first of this morning's scheduled Pendolino runs (1Q01 23:53 Liverpool Lime Street High Level to Newton-Le-Willows) ran, but all the others were cancelled - Reason I1 [Overhead line/third rail defect].

And then 1H42 06:16 Liverpool Lime Street High Level to Manchester International Airport was also cancelled, for the same reason.

So it would appear the Pendolino tests were not successful.

But don't panic - Finding problems is what testing is for, after all.

I've no reports so far on what the defect was, so I don't know how long it will take to resolve.  As I type, tonight's test runs are still in the timetable.

By the way, whatever it is these runs are testing (Power feed, gauging, something else, all of the above?) they aren't testing the autotransformer (AT) system because the AT wires are still missing at Huyton, and strapped to earth elsewhere.