Preston to Manchester Victoria - Northern Rail Class 180 24/11/11 скачать в хорошем качестве

Preston to Manchester Victoria - Northern Rail Class 180 24/11/11

And so we turn the clock back to November 2011, and after 4 years of working for the regional operator Northern Rail, the Class 180 Adelante units finally bowed out of service so they could be returned to their original operator First Great Western. The Class 180's were built by Alstom in 2001 as a supplement to the existing HST fleet on the London to Bristol, Cardiff and occasionally Exeter services. However, reliability problems resulted in these units being sold off in late 2007 to be used by other operators. Grand Central and Hull Trains bought several sets for their East Coast Mainline operations, whilst 5 sets were leased from Angel Trains to National Express East Coast. The operator never began operations with the units and so 3 sets were leased to Northern Rail to run services between Blackpool North, Manchester Victoria and Hazel Grove. On this particular day, we take a ride aboard 180103 as it runs one of its last turns of duty on the Blackpool North to Manchester Victoria service, being withdrawn just two days later and returning south over the following weekend: 1. The unit looks rather out of place at Preston station as it arrives in the lightly modified First Great Western 'Barbie' livery, the pink being replaced by purple in accordance to Northern Rail's brand. 2. Inside, the still un-refurbished First Great Western interior that these units adorned back in 2001, still present here, but now replaced by the 'Bucket Seat' style of the new FGW image. 3. We depart Preston's Platform 2 and head south over the River Ribble on the Up Slow. 4. A few minutes later we depart Leyland, formerly a large station with an overall roof, but now reduced to four open platforms with modern day shelters, a majority of the platform length being left to nature as the length of trains decreased over the years. 5. As we climb out of Leyland a Freightliner Class 66 is seen speeding north with a rake of empty coal hoppers bound for Carlisle Kingmoor. 6. Not long afterwards we cross Euxton Junction and take the route towards Bolton and Manchester, the West Coast Mainline continuing south towards Wigan. 7. Shortly afterwards we arrive at the then newly opened Buckshaw Parkway, which opened to passengers on the 3rd October 2011 as a vital new link to the rapidly expanding urban area. 8. After Blackrod, we pass through the rolling hills near Horwich Parkway as we approach the Victorian urban sprawl that is the Greater Manchester area. 9. We then arrive at Bolton, the largest town on the route. The station was opened in 1838 by the Manchester and Bolton Railway and was originally named Bolton Trinity Street until the closure of Bolton's second station 'Great Moor' in 1954. Today the station is a major interchange between buses and trains, with connections to a wider variety of services in the north Manchester area. 10. We then speed down the route of the Bolton and Manchester Railway, as we converge on Salford. 11. With the high rise towers of Manchester City Centre forming the skyline, we arrive at Salford Central. The station was once made up of 4 platforms but now only 2 are in use. 12. As we depart Salford Central, we find ourselves running alongside a Northern Rail Class 150/1 on a train from Liverpool Lime Street via Newton Le Willows. 13. As we make our final approach into Manchester Victoria, the site of the former London and North Western Railway built Manchester Exchange station can be seen where the Class 142 Pacer is parked. Built in competition with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway's Victoria Station, the two were physically connected by what was once the longest platform on the British Rail network. Today, the former trackbed of the station is used for the storing of Northern owned units. 14. And finally we arrive at Manchester Victoria, now plunged into darkness with the construction of the Manchester Arena now built over the original trainshed. And thus we leave our faithful Adelante, its work now replaced by a mixture of Class 150's and Class 156's. Enjoy!!