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The East Lancs Esteem, whilst never a particularly widespread body in its own right, was rarer on a handful of types:
Enviro 300 - just a pair, new to Courtney
MAN 12.240 - five which went to Metrobus
Volvo B7RLE - six new to Kent Top Travel for Canterbury P&R
I'm not sure why, especially if the ticketing scheme is extended to other flows, LNER should continue to be allowed to hold such a dominant position on ECML medium/long distance traffic, especially out of London.
It would be interesting instead if paths were opened up to greater competition...
Brighton & Hove used to put their open-toppers out on normal service on occasion. I recall having a spin on one of the TxxxRFG pair up to Woodingdean, for example.
I think the reference was regarding those that have recently been reformed; 4 of the 5-car units do now have two first class carriages, albeit one is partially declassified.
The ones that ended up with two first class carriages (IIRC 222005/006/103/104) have a section of declassified seating in the coach adjoining the rest of standard. It’s marked by labels on the tables and antimacassars, although first class signage is still present on the exterior and windows...
How far did the CrossCountry 158s venture? I seem to recall they cropped up on workings like Blackpool - Portsmouth on occasion…did they go further than that?
170399 in Be in Birmingham pink was a bit of an eyeball scorcher at the time, which I guess was the intention!
I’m not sure if it’s their relatively unfussy design, but most liveries seem to sit quite nicely on them.
Pre-redevelopment, there used to be a tower block (Stephenson Tower) in the footprint of Birmingham New Street; IIRC it sat partially over platform 12.
i travelled XC around the Leicester and Hinckley area last Saturday, and when I looked on their website at lunchtime, all trains for the rest of the day were (apart from the very last) showing as fully booked for all ticket types. Needless to say, many people (myself included) were ignoring or...
I had the misfortune to sample a rather cosy one working a Cardiff - Nottingham service in Central Trains days; I suspect because something it had been paired up with failed.