Graham Farish HYA Bogie Hopper Wagon
The HYA bogie coal hopper wagons were built by IRS in Romania in 2007 and their
function is to transport coal to power stations. Today's giant coal hopper wagons are the
latest in a long line of development in coal transportation by rail. This started with the
7- and 8-plank timber wagons which were replaced in the 1950s by the 16T steel mineral
wagons. These in turn were replaced by the merry-go-round aluminium bodied HAAs, which
gave way to large bogie hopper wagons after privatisation of the railways in the 1990s.
Fastline signed a 5-year coal transportation contract in 2007 serving the colliery at Daw Mill and various power stations in the East Midlands. To provide this service five Class 66/3s and some 90 coal hoppers were ordered; hoppers were also hired from GBRf.
GBRf, which started operating in 2000, has 12% of the coal transportation market and has contracts with British Energy, Alcan and Drax Power.
The HYA model arrived in 2009 and the versions seen here are 377-576A in Fastline livery and numbered 37 70 6791 034-1 and 377-575B in GBRf/VGT livery and numbered 37 70 6955 207-5.