Super Express or Revamped HST for Great Western? Options

[whole diary]

[woody]

Read the following on another forum "Despite Hitachi announcing yesterday that it expected to sign a deal
on the Super Express by March 2010, Railway Eye appears to cast doubt
on the order, commenting that DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) is looking to extend the life of the
Great Western HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) beyond 2030."
 What do you think.http://groups.google.com.au/group/uk.railway/browse_thread/thread/b2d7fdb9d2bd4947?hl=en#

[dog box]

Revamped HST^▸ (High Speed Train) please....and when or if electrification happens mk 4 or 5? coaches with electric loco and dvt to bristol and then swop the electric for a diesel loco
The super expess bi mode thingy is just a plain stupid idea. there  is enough rubbish running about at the moment Voyagers, 180s without addding more

[Kingfisherdart]

How about building a new HST^▸ (High Speed Train) fleet to the same design, with modern day improvements?

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

How about building a new HST^▸ (High Speed Train) fleet to the same design, with modern day improvements?

couldnt agree more build it in the uk electric doors like the mk4 thats basically the main problem with the hst why mess with a classic?

[Electric train]

mmmmmm that'll make the oldest coaches and power cars 52 years old in 2030, the equivalent today of traveling in a Mk1 with a warship or western hauling it or even a classic DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

[matt473]

I would personally love to see a new generation of unpowerred coaches in between two power cars as this is a quiet and extremely pleasent way of travelling in my opinion. It would also benefit the whole network if this route was followed as this would enable a new generation coaching stock to purchased all over the network allowing for more flexible loco hauled services on suitable services in the future such as cross country so that coaches can be added or taken away in busy persiods.

[onthecushions]

Certainly the Mark 3's should not be thrown away, with the credit crunch hanging over everything.

The re-use of the (Mark 3) Class 319 emu's was no doubt critical in justifying the Oxford and Newbury suburban electrification. A GW^▸ (Great Western) mainline scheme had then only to start from Didcot Junction...

The 133 Irish Rail (IE) Mark 3 coaches have begun to be scrapped. They have swing plug doors - surely a worthwhile purchase - why not re-import the lot?

An HST^▸ (High Speed Train) for the future could exist in diesel and electric forms. Using the MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) power cars to their full engine rating would allow 1 or 2 more trailers; equally an electric loco of 5 - 6 MW at rail could cope with 12 trailers.

The Mark 3's only need replacing (and then should be cascaded elsewhere) when serious speed increases are contemplated for the GW.

Thoughts..

OTC

[onthecushions]

mmmmmm that'll make the oldest coaches and power cars 52 years old in 2030, the equivalent today of traveling in a Mk1 with a warship or western hauling it or even a classic DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Didn't the Southern's 3 and 4-SUB units run from 1915 to 1983 and still be serviceable on withdrawal?

Regards,

OTC

[RichardB]

mmmmmm that'll make the oldest coaches and power cars 52 years old in 2030, the equivalent today of traveling in a Mk1 with a warship or western hauling it or even a classic DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Didn't the Southern's 3 and 4-SUB units run from 1915 to 1983 and still be serviceable on withdrawal?

Regards,

OTC

No, the 4 SUBS dated from 1948.  They were still pretty solid on withdrawal though.



 

[devonian]

mmmmmm that'll make the oldest coaches and power cars 52 years old in 2030, the equivalent today of traveling in a Mk1 with a warship or western hauling it or even a classic DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Didn't the Southern's 3 and 4-SUB units run from 1915 to 1983 and still be serviceable on withdrawal?

Regards,

OTC

No, the 4 SUBS dated from 1948.  They were still pretty solid on withdrawal though.



 

They were bouncy as hell though. And cold!

[grahame]

On old stock ... there are still passenger trains dating back to 1938 on the national network.

[Electric train]

On old stock ... there are still passenger trains dating back to 1938 on the national network.

Bit of a fudge that one  they do run on what could be classed as light rail, oh and the infrastructure is maintained by the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)

The Mk3 and class 43 have served the railway way beyond what they were conceived to do, the HSDT^▸ (Original name for High Speed Train)'s were the 1970's BRB^‡(resolve)'s stop gap to full main line electrification here we are 40 years on and finally we have a rail industry that looks like it will deliver it, it will be a hideous mistake for the politicians to stop it.  But lets not have our mainline railway system looking more like a heritage railway (nothing wrong with heritage railways I might add) than where it should be back as the world leader

[Kingfisherdart]

The difference between the 4-SUBs and the current HST^▸ (High Speed Train) stock, is that the HSTs are still modern to travel on - and indeed, better to travel on than many modern trains. So why change the basic design?

[moonrakerz]

Build some new HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train), with modern technology in them - Brilliant trains !

[Andy]

mmmmmm that'll make the oldest coaches and power cars 52 years old in 2030, the equivalent today of traveling in a Mk1 with a warship or western hauling it or even a classic DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

That's an unfair comparison because the conditions were so much better: there were no mobiles/electronic devices constantly making noise, no incessant announcements and seats aligned with big windows that opened then!