Kirkdale TMD

Kirkdale TMD
Location
Location Kirkdale, Liverpool
Coordinates 53°26′16″N 2°59′07″W / 53.4378°N 2.9852°W / 53.4378; -2.9852Coordinates: 53°26′16″N 2°59′07″W / 53.4378°N 2.9852°W / 53.4378; -2.9852
OS grid SJ345939
Characteristics
Owner(s) Network Rail
Operator(s) Merseyrail (1976–17)
Stadler Rail (2017–pres)
Depot code(s) KK (1976–pres)[1]
Type EMU
Rolling stock Current:
Class 507
Class 508
Future:
Class 777
History
Opened 1976[2]
Original British Rail
Former rolling stock Class 502 (1976–80)

Kirkdale TMD is a traction maintenance depot located beside Kirkdale railway station in north Liverpool, England. It is the largest depot on the Merseyrail network, located on the Northern Line and is used primarily for stabling units, carrying out minor repair works and cleaning units both internally and externally.

Although the Kirkdale is the largest depot, most heavy maintenance is carried out at Birkenhead North TMD. Units transfer between the two depots by travelling into platform 2 of Liverpool Central, changing ends, then taking the single track, bi-directional stock transfer line to platform 2 at Liverpool James Street, before continuing towards Birkenhead.

Operation of Kirkdale depot was transferred from Merseyrail to Stadler Rail Service UK in October 2017[3], and will be extensively rebuilt to become the main maintenance hub for the new fleet. Reconstruction work started in October 2017.

History

Early history

The site was originally used for the Bank Hall motive power depot, which closed in 1966.[2] The original depot was adjoined by a large area of sidings with more than thirty roads but, following the cessation of express trains operating to and from Liverpool Exchange station in May 1970, the sidings were rarely used.

Recent history

In 1976, when the new Loop and Link tunnels were being constructed to replace the surface station at Liverpool Exchange, the sidings were lifted and transformed into a modern maintenance depot, which was named after the nearby station. A new shed with four roads was constructed, with inspection pits under the tracks. Each road is long enough to house two three-car sets coupled together. A new carriage wash plant was also built so that units could be driven through and cleaned in a very short amount of time. This is the only active washing plant on Merseyrail, with the other washing plant at Birkenhead North being destroyed by consistent vandalism.

In 2006, a brand new wheel lathe was installed at Kirkdale[2] in an area of the depot which was formerly used for the storage of departmental equipment. The commissioning of the new wheel lathe subsequently ended the long running necessity to tow any units requiring wheel turning to the lathe at Allerton depot (located near Liverpool South Parkway) behind a Class 08 diesel shunter, with units transferring from and back to the Merseyrail network via the crossover at Hunts Cross.

Second rebuild

Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and 508 units is scheduled to be replaced between 2019 and 2021 by a fleet of Class 777 units built by Stadler Rail at Bussnang, Switzerland. As part of the overall fleet replacement project, which will cost £460 million, both Kirkdale and Birkenhead North depots will be upgraded to a standard which will be capable of maintaining the new trains.[4]

In March 2017, Camberley-based construction company BAM Nuttall announced that they had been successful in winning a £20 million contract to refurbish Birkenhead North and rebuild the depot at Kirkdale, which will be operated by Stadler Rail Service UK, a subsidiary of the new fleet's manufacturer. The new depot at Kirkdale will have a driver training simulator, a maintenance shed and washing and stabling facilities for up to 30 trains.[5] Construction of the new facilities commenced in October 2017, with work expected to be completed by 2019, in time for the delivery and testing of the new fleet.[6]

Allocation

Currently, Class 507 and Class 508 electric multiple units are based at Kirkdale depot, and regularly stabled in the back sidings near Bank Hall station. In 2006, a new small diesel shunter was allocated to the depot to take sets into the new wheel lathe. From 2020 onwards, Class 777 units will be allocated here.

Previously, battery locomotives and Class 73 locos have been stored at the depot in the past for sandite duties in the winter. Network Rail stables its MPV diesel unit(s) here occasionally during the leaf fall season.

References

  1. ↑ "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Cadwallader & Jenkins 2010, p. 45
  3. ↑ "Key Milestone in the New Trains Project as Engineering Staff Transfer to Stadler from Merseyrail" (PDF). Stadler Rail. Stadler Rail. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Merseyrail to get new train fleet". Global Rail News. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Houghton, Alistair (21 March 2017). "New train depot for Kirkdale- and builder pledges to use local workers". Liverpool Echo.
  6. ↑ "Construction begins on Kirkdale depot to maintain new Merseyrail fleet". www.railtechnologymagazine.com. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

Sources

  • Cadwallader, Jonathan; Jenkins, Martin (2010). Merseyside Electrics. Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711034174. OCLC 455806364.
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