Fit for all types of snow: testing at Vienna Arsenal

The heavy snowfall in the UK during February 1991 led to most of the modern Network SouthEast rolling stock grinding to a halt. The dry, powdery snow got into the traction motors leading to insulation failures and the doors became blocked by snow building up in the bottom runners and pockets. Network SouthEast were very keen to avoid similar problems recurring with the new Class 465 Networker One electric multiple units and the project was initiated to undertake climatic testing of the vehicles. This entailed evaluating the performance of both Class 465 vehicle types under both cold temperature and snow conditions. The author describes how the project achieved its objective of evaluating the climatic performance of both types of Class 465 Networker One in Vienna Arsenal. The project timescales were achieved and all required tests completed