Recent content by BR Blue

How many 1 coach trains will there be after 2020? The class 153`s don`t offer value for money in terms of making them PRM TSI compliant. I think some rail services will be lengthened by default.

I fully agree. The question is, when will these rolling stock cascades happen? The northern franchise ends in early 2014. It will be interesting to see what happens beyond this.

I have made a countdown clock showing the time left until dda kicks in. http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20200101T00&p0=1316&msg=DDA+2020%3A+End+of+the+road+for+Pacers

I can`t see the various electrification schemes, being completed in time, to replace the entire Pacer fleet. Not before 31 Dec 2019 anyway. Even if the number of dmu carriages released is enough, the work will, for sure, drag on into CP6. If the Cardiff Valley lines are to get class 315`s...

Has anyone worked out how many DMU`s will be freed up by the electrification plans? I already know that 116 vehicles (76 northern, 40 transpennine) are to be released by the original announcement for the north-west. Not sure what the other schemes will release.

I wouldn`t grumble too much about the 350/4`s. They`re the only confirmed EMU`s (so far) for the North-west. All 10 of them.

The only info I`ve seen is an idea for Heathrow express services to share the crossrail tunnels. Allowing destinations beyond Paddington to be reached. The Crossrail website shows HX services running alongside its services. Four of each per peak hour.

What happened to the April announcement for future rolling stock requirements? It seems to have gone very quiet over at the DfT.

Railnews reporting a debate on Monday for the MML electrification http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2012/04/11-more-spent-on-car-parks.html

You can bet, the last pound in your pocket, the Pacer fleet won`t be getting any kind of upgrades. I`ve scanned this article with my non-expert eyes and it seems to be geared towards finding fuel efficiency savings with the `NT885` engined class 15X fleet.

Leave them in sidings for graffiti artists to repaint or fill one with celebrities for a new TV show.

Northern have had a raw deal when it comes to rolling stock. The national dmu shortage means the large Pacer fleet,that Northern have, will just have to go on toiling away.

The idea to cascade the 225 sets goes back to the early days of the IEP. When the amount of carriages required was up to 1400. This has been cut back to a little over 500. So, it looks like the class 91`s and their mk4`s will be staying on the ECML. As for the MML being wired up. If it does...

BIG,BIG order for trains needed here............... My figures are from the network rail`s rolling stock RUS. I`ve roughly added up the pacer and sprinter fleets and have come to approx 1300 carriages. Of these, 290 are pacers which are configured into 140 units. The sprinters make up...

It has been suggested the class 153s would be uneconomical to be fitted with a universal access toilet. Their future may lie in being re-configured as [I]class 155s.[I] Alternatively, they could end up without a toilet and be used only for strengthening 150/156/158s on peaks. Many rural...