It's curious, because FLIRTs have caught on exceptionally well in Europe - and the rest of the world, for that matter. I wonder if they could come up with a more European-style FLIRT without the "thrash/gubbins pod" that would still suit the British infrastructure. Having said all of that, perhaps it is the FLIRT MkII that introduces these issues, as opposed to the more-widespread MkI version.
I assume the imbalance in weight between the power car and the rest of the train can wear down bridges and/or track?
Cost wise, do you get what you pay for, a better train? With the current arrangements everything seems to be based on the cheapest/not quite adequate to save money, so you end up with poor quality interiors in a lot of cases.
Yes and no, for the Tyne and Wear Metro Stadler put forward the best price...
The power pod is only included in the multi-mode versions - the OHLE-only versions like the 745s don't have it, as the electric traction equipment is situated behind the cabs (and the two pseudo/dummy cabs in the middle of a 745, which are basically two single-cab 6-car units coupled back-to-back).
I think Finland would disagree, they ordered 81 Sm5 FLIRTS for their commuter routes, albeit over an 8 year delivery period. I get your point though, UK railways run a denser network with a higher frequency than anything in Finland so orders will be larger and operations more intensive.
You most certainly do, but cheaper in the short term is cheaper in the long term too, right?
And we're getting another 25 next year too! They're excellent trains, low-floor except over the bogies, and really quiet unless your near the end of the unit (where the motors are). I don't get why British FLIRTs can't be just as good.
In this case, I'm treating the 745 thing as a sort of "gubbins pod", because it's full of gubbins
That's odd, because they've built 2500+ FLIRTs and they've recently won a contract to build 504 tram-trains for Germany and Austria...
They may have lower regenerative braking performance (especially on European MkI FLIRTs, where only the bogies under the cabs are motored), but they can (if you order them as such) accelerate exceptionally quickly on various voltages - in fact, that's why a lot of places order them!
The power pack/thrash pod is present on mainland Europe FLIRTs that have diesel engines, such as those built for Slovenia recently, and they all have the end electrical equipment over front and rear bogies, too, so it isn't just a UK thing. A UK EMU FLIRT would be the same - the Anglia 745s are effectively two single-cabbed units coupled back-to-back.
Stadler are good for small orders, but increasingly have done some much larger orders. They aren't just the niche player that they once were.
504 tram-train vehicles. The class 701 order had 750 Aventra vehicles, the 720 order had 665 vehicles...
AFAIK they all only have motors under the cabs, with 600KW motors to give good acceleration. Its a good design and allows the train to be fairly simple but it limits regen.
10 a year isn't a lot...
They were ordered in multiple batches. 34 were ordered in 2014, with the first being delivered in 2016 and all being in service by summer 2017 (~25-30/year). Stadler also has lots of different production lines going on in umpteen factories, so they're producing 1,000+ vehicles a year for various builds. Bear in mind that the FLIRT family is technically very similar too.
Yes; while having them only under the cabs allows the rest of the trains to be low(er)-floor (more important for European markets), it does require space for beefy motors - hence the middle "gubbins pods" on the 745s, the only FLIRTs to have motors in the middle of the train.
I would clarify that that's to 10/2021 and equates to around 10,000 vehicles.
That's still not a lot when the units are 75m long.
The motors are mounted to the bogeys, the in-train section is traction electronics due to limited space to put them elsewhere.
Correct, it's still admirable.
True a while ago, but not really now. The SBB Girunos are over 300 vehicles; OBB has 300+ double deck vehicles on order, RENFE have nearly 400 of the same
Indeed. They used to have one or two of those mediun orders a year, now they have several and they're constantly expanding their product and geographical range.
That's how they started and that's how they continue in the metro and light rail markets: small, niche, tailor-made orders. They've expanded into heavy rail by coming up with a platform (FLIRT) and expanding it out into similar variants (and the KISS).
A few key reasons I think:
Though stadler is undeniably very good at small, custom orders, which is probably why they won the glasgow subway contract for example
