Well TPE have 3 or 4 sets handed over to them, so they must be fit for purpose, but i can't understand why TPE are not now using a couple of those sets on service/passenger trains while drivers are trained, this is common practice. There must be enough instructors and drivers trained up by now to run a limited Nova 3 service.
Maybe it's just incompetent TPE management making promises, that have helped make a mess of the whole debacle since refusing to use the Mk3 stock that was procured for the initial training use as well as much needed capacity.
The fact that sets are going into storage and i believe 1 on Longsight having given up parts to others, i just can't see the sets now in service before December and maybe not until next year.
It's a shambolic situation!!