Robertj21a
On Moderation
- Joined
- 22 Sep 2013
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The RMT has condemned the decision as a "political stitch up."
Isn't that their standard response, to anything ?
The RMT has condemned the decision as a "political stitch up."
Gobowen's down platform is 126m long, the up is 166m. (For comparison, Platform 1 at Chester, used for terminating West Coast Voyager services, is 124m.)I think the interesting bits are Walsall and Gobowen.
Walsall has platforms that are how long? I think some people might have it right that the new trains might be shorter than a 9/390 but will be used on London to Birmingham such that provision is made to make them slightly more ‘commuterised’ (wider doors, faster acceleration).
Yet EMR / Rock Rail supposedly placed an order for 5-car trains because they were scared nobody else would want 8/9 car units at a later date.Remember that there might be 20 Voyagers but they spend a lot of time coupled up on the WCML proper. so I'd lay money on the 13 bimode Voyager replacements to be full length trains rather than 5-car trains as they are currently which when added to the 10 EMUs for Liverpool starts to sound more reasonable.
It would be remiss not to quote them, all the sameIsn't that their standard response, to anything ?
Yes, it (seems to be) pretty much their reason to exist to make such announcements.Isn't that their standard response, to anything ?
Will have to be a short train for there.
Strange that Gobowen will have a service to London. Why would it not start from Wrexham?
The RMT has condemned the decision as a "political stitch up."
When has the RMT not condemned anything?The RMT has condemned the decision as a "political stitch up."
Gobowen's down platform is 126m long, the up is 166m. (For comparison, Platform 1 at Chester, used for terminating West Coast Voyager services, is 124m.)
Walsall's P2 and P3 are 177m, P1 is 111m.
Gobowen is a railhead for Oswestry, which is a bit larger. The new service only makes sense to be as an easy extension of an existing service. As pointed out by @LNW-GW Joint, the map on the DfT's website shows it to be an extension of the daily Wrexham service, the stock for which comes from the depot in the morning, and goes straight to the depot again in the evening. Extending it to Gobowen doesn't directly impact any other diagrams, it just needs it to spend less time at the depot. Low hanging fruit, and all that...I was wondering that. Not knowing the area it does seem like an odd place to terminate London services at. Is there an operational reason why this might be the case, as the population of the village doesn't seem to justify this? Or is it a political one, keeping one of the current Eurosceptic MPs onboard? (Sorry if that seems cynical, but we live in cynical times)
Gobowen is a railhead for Oswestry, which is a bit larger. The new service only makes sense to be as an easy extension of an existing service. As pointed out by @LNW-GW Joint, the map on the DfT's website shows it to be an extension of the daily Wrexham service, the stock for which comes from the depot in the morning, and goes straight to the depot again in the evening. Extending it to Gobowen doesn't directly impact any other diagrams, it just needs it to spend less time at the depot. Low hanging fruit, and all that...
I'm curious about that. For how long do the Super Voyagers employ tilt on their current diagrams?
I think the interesting bits are Walsall and Gobowen.
Walsall has platforms that are how long? I think some people might have it right that the new trains might be shorter than a 9/390 but will be used on London to Birmingham such that provision is made to make them slightly more ‘commuterised’ (wider doors, faster acceleration).
Strange that Gobowen will have a service to London. Why would it not start from Wrexham?
As noted elsewhere (and detailed on the DfT map), the Gobowen service will be an extension of the Wrexham service (via Chester), not an extension of the Shrewsbury service.I was wondering that. Not knowing the area it does seem like an odd place to terminate London services at. Is there an operational reason why this might be the case, as the population of the village doesn't seem to justify this? Or is it a political one, keeping one of the current Eurosceptic MPs onboard? (Sorry if that seems cynical, but we live in cynical times)
As the Gobowen service will start/terminate there and operate via Wrexham, they could use the longer up platform for both (assuming the crossover at Gobowen North is cleared for passenger services). Though if First are unable to use P1 at Chester for terminating services, that's going to result in even more pressure on the three through platforms.So little more than 6 x 23m or 6 x 26m; seems plausible for the new electric trains to be 5x26m (e.g. 397 or 801) and being used on Birmingham stuff; pairs being split where required at peak times.
True. They are getting right on my t*ts lately.When has the RMT not condemned anything?
I'm surprised that the no deal Tories are giving a nationalised company from an EU state a slice of the torta!Hope you aren’t expecting wood fired oven pizzas
Walsall is well off my scope. Do signal positions allow the use of selective door opening on a long unit there?
It's boring and meaningless when they do it. They use hyperbole words such as chaos but.... No one listens anymore. I certainly just roll my eyes.True. They are getting right on my t*ts lately.
The 221 tilt is only a partial system anyway, the linespeeds are generally lower than the full EPS that 390s enjoy so the impact of non-tilt stock may less than some people think.
I thought it said ‘First Tarantula’ at firstHeard the first nickname coined on Facebook - "First Genitalia"
Not really as they would be restricted to 110mph in the same way as 350s or their proposed replacement & possible use of 90/91s on mk4 stock. It eats into available paths.
We may never know whether Virgin had the winning bid. We just know they where disqualified due to the majority shareholder Stagecoach's issue on pensions.Can anyone say how VT lost the franchise or is it too early to say? A renewal would’ve been more sensible. It’s not like VT provided a substandard service and failed on their obligations like other franchises did (*cough cough NX*).
Hopefully this means some decent Italian cuisine in First Class
And yet another successful bidder is a state owned transport company. Because they don’t have to make economic sense or properly account for costs (like pensions). First partnered up with them. Presumably the liability / risk split is done so that long term risk falls on Trenitalia and first is basically an service provider operator only. If you wanted to spin it, then it would be a massive EU commitment at a time of political uncertainty. But that doesn’t suit most of the agenda.We may never know whether Virgin had the winning bid. We just know they where disqualified due to the majority shareholder Stagecoach's issue on pensions.
I imagine that in a post-HS2 world tilt will be a thing of the past on the WCML. On the southern part, all the fastest trains will be on HS2, on the northern part all the principal trains will be non-tilting HS2 sets, surely no justification for maintaining tilt for secondary services. Nobody has UK gauge tilting trains in their catalogues, let alone tilting bi-modes and the numbers involved hardly make coming up with a bespoke design worthwhile.Class 221 tilt to 6 degrees, whereas Class 390 tilts to 8 degrees. There are a few differential EPS (Enhanced Permissible Speeds) of short lengths South from Rugby, lower speed for 221s, otherwise the majority of EPS route miles is the same for both units. 221s do accelerate quite a bit slower though.