Cutdown HYA Hopper Wagons

The doubling of the UK’s carbon tax from April 2015 had a severe impact on the railway industry and almost overnight, hundreds of coal hoppers, most between five and 15 years old, were stored. While many vehicles were redeployed to carrying aggregates, this was not ideal because the more dense nature of stone compared to coal meant the wagons could only be partially filled. VTG was the first to look at reducing the length of the hoppers to make them more suitable, commissioning WH Davis at Langwith Junction to remove the centre bay – some three metres or so – from the HYA/IIA variant operated by GB Railfreight and, previously, Fastline Freight. Prototype No. 371051 was released in February 2016 and by 2021 almost half of the original build of 368 wagons had been converted for a new life as aggregate hoppers, most taken from the IRS, Romania-built batches.

BUNDLE DEAL - buy any two or more packs and a 10% Discount will be applied in the checkout