I don't see how IEPs▸ are of much long term use on the Plymouth route and into Cornwall. Only a tilting train will increase speeds on this twisting route to Exeter and through Devon.
If the rumour I've seen on forums that some class 390s would be released for cascade if/when
HS2▸ is built, then cascaded 390s, aside from their abysmally small windows, would seem to me a sensible eventual replacement for the last of the
GWML▸ IC125 fleet (electrification permitting).
By taking the easy option I meant converting 1st class accomodation to standard class rather than investing in more stock and adding a carriage...........although I appreciate that there are better informed people on here than me when it comes to running HSTs▸ with 9 carriages but I seem to recall there was one around not so long ago?
East Coast's IC125 fleet is 2+9... I can think of several possible reasons for the fact FirstGW's fleet is limited to 2+8 most of the time, but have no idea which are true.
The issue is that there aren't any additional carriages available. FGW▸ have been grabbing as many mothballed carriages as they can get their hands on (mainly old buffets) and converting them into standard class (all the 425xx) carriages. There is no secret store of unused carriages waiting to be used if only the 'penny pinching profiteers' would stump up the cash.
Is it beyond the realms of comprehension that someone could dust off the blue prints for mark 3 coaches and build a few new ones? It would represent a much more sustainable approach to dealing with capacity issues and would provide new rolling stock for the west of England services once the IEP is rolled out elsewhere on the great western network
Apart from the saftey regulations somebody else already mentioned (which I hadn't thought of), the factory that built the mrk3s probably no longer exists (and if it does, it would probably be Derby which I think only builds aluminum-bodied stock now) and nobody is likely to want to build slam-door stock.
However, while there is little in the way of spare stock over here, the power-door mrk3s in Ireland are, I believe, being cut up because nobody wanted to buy them. So there is an element of 'penny pinching' rather than 'provide extra capacity at any cost bar building new trains', but government policy is probably to blame more than the
TOCs▸ .
Where are these 5car (bi-modes) going to come from? All those on order are already spoken for...
...and then some. There's alot of talk about running 10-car trains formed of 2 5-car bi-modes coupled. Personally, I can't see there being enough units to double up many services given that they plan to double the frequency of
PAD» -Bristol and use IEPs on an hourly semi-fast PAD-Westbury service.
Lest we forget, almost every carriage running hereabouts says "First" on it, and of course people who are new to the train service and / or speak little English are going to find it confusing. If it's just "First" in words, it's OK on your standard ticket. If it's "1st" with numbers too, then you can't use it. Simples.
My emphasis in Bold... Someone tell South West Trains about this please...
also use the word 'first' rather than (or maybe in addition to) numbers on their two first class carriages (that's two carriages for the entire franchise by the way, not 2 per train as on FirstGW's IC125 services).
I think the units that win the prize however are the GreaterAnglia Class 360 Units. Very little information especially if the compartment door is locked open
ScotRail class 158s don't even have a door seperating first from standard. The seats are just slightly different and there's a short partition wall on each side.
With regards to the mothballed Mk3 Carriages FGW have been trying to source. There is so much
Mk2▸ lying around the country doing nothing. Yes these carriages are in excess of 40 years old maybe. But we have them. Maybe the
DfT» should be lobbying to make the best of a bad situation?! Just a thought...
Indeed. Mrk2s wouldn't be any good for the
INTERCITY services out of PAD (lower top-speed) but given the lack of
DMUs▸ and the ammount of crowding across the network the mrk2s should be used somewhere. ATW looked like they were going to do the right thing and actually purchased some mrk2s. However, they seldom used most of the coaches and sold them to a charter operator not long ago (somebody on RailUK Fourm once told me the person responsible for the purchase was sacked by ATW). I believe Direct Rail Services have had some mrk2s refurbished, along with some
DBSOs▸ which would allow push-pull operation, for use on the Northern franchise. However, that plan seems to have fallen through too.
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