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Post by driver6540 on Apr 19, 2016 21:46:54 GMT 1
Hi Tim, Just wondering if you know whether the proposed transfer of some of the ex-GWR and East Coast HST's to Scotrail, is still on the cards?. I ask only because i've just read an article saying the Scottish assembly want to keep the majority of the class 170 3-car sets up there, and are unwilling to release them to the new Arriva Northern franchise as had been proposed initially. Whilst i realise that these proposed transfers weren't scheduled to take place until the new Hitachi replacements were up and running on the GWR and East Coast routes, I'm curious to know whether the said HST's will make it to Scotland, and whether their 170's will come down here for Northern Connect services, as originally envisaged.
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Post by Burnside on Apr 19, 2016 23:02:29 GMT 1
As it stands, the planned cascades are to go ahead.
Some (not all) 3-car 170's will transfer to Northern along with some 158's and 156's, being replaced north of the border by new electric trains to be built by Hitachi in County Durham and cascaded HST's from GWR. These will be used on services from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Perth, Stirling, Inverness and Aberdeen in shortened rakes of either 4 or 5 coaches.
The only issue to this is if Great Western electrification overruns further. Some of the replacement IEP trains will be bi-mode, meaning being both Electric and Diesel powered, but will be unable to keep to HST timings in diesel mode on the 125mph stretches by all accounts, so how that would affect the cascade is yet to be seen.
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 20, 2016 22:37:10 GMT 1
As it stands, the planned cascades are to go ahead. Some (not all) 3-car 170's will transfer to Northern along with some 158's and 156's, being replaced north of the border by new electric trains to be built by Hitachi in County Durham and cascaded HST's from GWR. These will be used on services from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Perth, Stirling, Inverness and Aberdeen in shortened rakes of either 4 or 5 coaches. The only issue to this is if Great Western electrification overruns further. Some of the replacement IEP trains will be bi-mode, meaning being both Electric and Diesel powered, but will be unable to keep to HST timings in diesel mode on the 125mph stretches by all accounts, so how that would affect the cascade is yet to be seen. Thanks Tim, for your kind response. The extra capacity on these cascaded shortened HST formations will be of major benefit to Scottish passengers. I have seen for myself, major overcrowding issues with the incumbent 3-car 170 sets on the Queen St-Waverley service especially at peak times. Despite the HST's being almost 40yr's old, I believe they are to be fully refurbished for Scotrail including the replacement of the slam doors with sliding doors and increased disabled capacity etc. I'm sure i've read the Hitachi IEP bi-mode trains have a max speed of 100mph in diesel mode, so obviously there will be issues if the GWR line electrification isn't completed on time. Looking at the bigger picture, a delay in the cascade of HST's to Scotland means a delay in the cascade of 170's to Northern, which in turn will mean a delay in the replacement of our infernal Pacers. As a further caveat, it is to be hoped the full Scottish electrification programme is completed in time for when the new Hitachi 200 commuter trains are due to enter service, otherwise there will be further delays to these planned cascades. |
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Post by Burnside on Apr 21, 2016 9:09:23 GMT 1
No, the pacers will go regardless.
The new CAF units will replace some, plus there are Class 150's to be transferred in from elsewhere.
It may be that some of the capacity improvements/additional services Northern are to introduce would be delayed, but it's a long way in the future.
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 22, 2016 17:54:30 GMT 1
No, the pacers will go regardless. The new CAF units will replace some, plus there are Class 150's to be transferred in from elsewhere. It may be that some of the capacity improvements/additional services Northern are to introduce would be delayed, but it's a long way in the future. Again, thanks for your reply. Never been a fan of the Pacer's, maybe i'm being impatient just wanting to see them go asap. |
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