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Arriva Wales Coaches

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Humberside

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The Railway Magazine reports that Arriva Trains Wales will sell its Mark 2 Coaches. So do this mean the end of loco hauled trains on Arriva or will the just lease coaches from other companies (e.g. Riveria, WCRC)
 
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theblackwatch

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The Railway Magazine reports that Arriva Trains Wales will sell its Mark 2 Coaches. So do this mean the end of loco hauled trains on Arriva or will the just lease coaches from other companies (e.g. Riveria, WCRC)

I would think this rather odd, it's less than two months since they went to the effort of repainting a load of them. Also, there were suggestions that the purchase of these coaches was funded by the Welsh Assembly (or some similar organisation), so if this is true, and ATW did sell them, I would guess they would have to pay back?
 

1VWC

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I would think this rather odd, it's less than two months since they went to the effort of repainting a load of them. Also, there were suggestions that the purchase of these coaches was funded by the Welsh Assembly (or some similar organisation), so if this is true, and ATW did sell them, I would guess they would have to pay back?
The purchase of these coaches was a rather sore point with Arriva management, said to be one of the contributing factors to Graeme Bunker's departure.

The official line coming from ATW HQ a while back was that they were a worthwhile investment for the life of the franchise and would continue to be used for major events. Who knows if this has changed, but the new MD was brought in to cut costs and is known not to be a fan of "cattle and trucks".
 

Techniquest

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Getting rid of the one MD in the country who was actually pro-rail and pro-capacity, that was a sensible choice...
 

Max

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Am I right that some of the coaches came from the Arriva Northern franchise?
 

theblackwatch

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Yes, the six former ATN vehicles (which were leased from EWS, but sold last year) are now in the ATW fleet (although at least one won't run again, following its altercation with 37408). ATW now owns around 20-25 coaches, somewhat excessive considering how much use they get!
 

1VWC

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Yes, the six former ATN vehicles (which were leased from EWS, but sold last year) are now in the ATW fleet (although at least one won't run again, following its altercation with 37408). ATW now owns around 20-25 coaches, somewhat excessive considering how much use they get!
Had GB stayed, the fleet would have been seeing much more use.
 

theblackwatch

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Had GB stayed, the fleet would have been seeing much more use.

And that could save them money too! By making use the loco hauled stock (no lease charge), they could hand back some units to the leasing companies. Admittedly, they'd have to hire locos in for the loco hauled duties, but I wouldn't think that would be as expensive as leasing the units full-time.
 

1VWC

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OH GOODY!!! They are withdrawing their 142's then??? ;)

Oops :roll: ! Just re-read what I wrote. I did mean to say that the new MD is not a fan of "loco and troublesome trucks" as one senior staff member referred to them...

Cattle and Trucks is a different matter....now that GB has gone, focus has shifted onto profitability rather than passenger comfort so cattle and trucks is quite apt. The pacers are there to stay unless someone else (ie the Welsh Assembly) stump up for new trains.
 
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