Our rescue mobile – affectionately known as the Thunderbird – is helping us rescue broken-down trains on the East Coast route, to keep our railway and your journeys moving.
Rescuing trains since 2023
Since April 2023, we’ve been using a locomotive known as the Thunderbird to rescue broken down passenger and freight trains on the East Coast Main Line. This vital and busy route moves millions of passengers and goods every single day between London King’s Cross up to Edinburgh Waverly via Yorkshire, York, Durham and Newcastle.
In the nearly two years since it’s been used, the Thunderbird has rescued 76 broken down trains on the route, saving up to 80,000 minutes of delay minutes each year.
The Thunderbird can rescue almost any type of passenger or freight train – even with differences in technology and style – making it extremely versatile and invaluable. In the last 12 months alone, the Thunderbird has rescued trains run by 12 different train and freight companies.
We keep our Thunderbird on standby at Newark Northgate. This location, between the cities of Grantham and Doncaster, is almost midpoint between London and Newcastle making it an ideal base. Here, it’s primed and ready for use every single day, 24/7, to rescue trains north or south of the line within 10 minutes of a callout.
Similar rescue locomotives are used on other parts of the railway too – usually by train operators and freight companies. But this is the first time we have our own on the railway. And it’s been a huge success, for more than just rescuing trains …
A multitude of uses
We’re also making the most of our Thunderbird by using it for other essential work where we can.
We use it for ‘route proving’ after extreme weather. This is when we send the locomotive out alone to check the line, keeping an eye out for any hazards, to make sure it’s safe to run trains again. The Thunderbird has helped us reopen the railway in this way about 20 times so far.
The Thunderbird can also quickly transport our engineers to incidents on the track like overhead line failures if necessary.
There are many other tasks it can carry out too – including track inspection, checking signal positions for train drivers, and even delivering food and drink to trackside staff at remote locations. We’re always finding new ways to make the most of our Thunderbird.
Graham Smith, a route operations manager at Network Rail, said: “The Thunderbird initiative has been hugely successful and has provided real benefits to freight users and passengers on the route, ensuring staff are able to get to incidents faster than they often otherwise would, and getting trains that require assistance clear of the main line much sooner than they otherwise would be – to keep passengers and freight moving.”
