Why are you wondering where the 'spare' 175 is coming from? The refurbishment programme for them is due for completion in May, so they will all be available for traffic again, rather than ATW▸ having to allow for sets being out of action for overhaul.
As for Turbos, what are you on about? I can't imagine for a moment anyone is worrying about clearances at Trowbridge or anywhere else just now, as every 165 and 166 FGW▸ has is going to be fully committed for the next five years or so in the Thames Valley and Cotswolds until electrification happens. There are none to spare for anywhere else, indeed FGW needs more stock in this area to cope with commuter traffic, not less.
And unless and until CrossCountry electrification between Bristol and Birmingham is authorised, wires won't be going anywhere near Gloucester or Cheltenham.
I meant FGW did look at using some of the class 165/166, once they had been replaced in the thames valley by electrification. (This was posted on another forum and it was a bit about in in a article in one of the railway magazines back in 2009/2010) Also i when i meant FGW were supposed to be having the London midland class 150's i should have said anytime time from may 2011.
finally as for the wires to cheltenham i meant maybe the
WAG» should put some money toward the scheme if they do pay for the wires to Swansea to allow a Swansea to Cheltenham service using
EMU▸ 's thus freein up some
DMU▸ 's to provide extra capacity elsewhere
Look, wiring to Oxford and Newbury is five years away and many things can change in that time. In 2005, the Strategic Rail Authority said it couldn't see a case to redouble the Cotswold Line, yet six years later trains will soon be running on a redoubled Cotswold Line. This time last year, everyone thought they knew where all the
LM▸ Class 150s were going, but now some may stay at LM while FGW may get more sets than it first expected, and Northern fewer than it hoped to receive, so anything could happen to the Turbo fleet by 2016 and speculating about it now is pretty pointless.
And as a way of dealing with overcrowded trains between Cardiff and Hampshire, quite how three-car Turbos would be any improvement on three-car 158s beats me. The 'additional' seating in Turbos is because of 3+2 suburban seats, which would be no more suited to that route than they are to services from London to Worcestershire and Hereford. What is needed are four or five-car trains, properly configured for medium-distance journeys, and Turbos just don't fit the bill.
No
XC▸ wiring means no wiring of anything else in Gloucestershire but if Bristol-Birmingham were to happen, then you might well look at doing Swindon-Gloucester and Gloucester-Newport, both to benefit the regular services, allow freight services to the Midlands to switch to electric traction and and provide an electrified diversion avoiding the Severn Tunnel but in isolation, neither makes any sense, rather like just wiring Cardiff-Swansea for express services, while pretty much everything else on the line remains diesel.
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