Do you think they might repaint the pretendolino? Or is it more likely to be got rid of, possibly to another toc
Repaint the Pretendolino into what, exactly? It presently carries the current Virgin livery, in line with the Voyagers and Pendolinos, and if Virgin retain the West Coast franchise then I would be very surprised if they changed the livery. If the franchise was being dramatically re-scoped then I could understand the consideration of a change in livery, say if the London Midland services were being incorporated into it, but as it is staying very much as it already is then I would expect that the West Coast fleet will be externally refreshed, in the present scheme, as it is required when they pass through overhauls.
We will have to wait and see what the winning bidders’ policy for rolling stock is going to be to be able to assess the future of the Pretendolino beyond the short term. If it was to be disposed of then the extra carriage rake might be welcome in Anglia, if the future, long term, operator of the Greater Anglia franchise decided to undertake a refurbishment on their mark 3 fleet. East Coast wouldn’t want it, as using the traction available (Class 90s) it would not be 125mph capable, unless it was hooked up to a class 91, or if the 89 was dragged out of preservation again!
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As long as virgin keep the badges on, I don't mind. The XC voyagers don't look right without the badge, unlike the Virgin units.
It would look even more incongruous if the badges were removed from the Pendolinos, as they actually have an indentation in the nose to accommodate it (This is apparent on the four new 390s, which dont have badges), rather than the badge just being stuck onto the top surface as it is on the Voyagers. Even so, there would still seem to be some Crosscountry Voyagers which have a darker, badge shaped patch of warning yellow that immediately idenfities where the badge was attached!
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As for the Pretendolino, Virgin have announced that they will keep the rake if they retain the franchise.
Ah, well theres at least part of the mystery of the future fate of the Pretendolino cleared up, thanks
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I think people would miss the 390s and 221s if they were anything other than red/silver...
I hate First Great Western dynamic lines livery with a passion to begin with, and I think that such a dark base colour would look absolutely god awful on a Pendolino and totally fail to illustrate the sleek lines of the train. Not to mention the child-like scrawl of the dynamic lines themselves...