170s from West Mids Railway.
An interesting proposition. The new operator has explicitly stated, on more than one occasion, that there will be a total fleet replacement, though. I'm not sure how to square that with your suggestion.
Single leaf end doors.
For 185s? This route won't have significant HST differential speeds but if it has SP differentials then these will extend the journey time, slightly offset by quicker times on the few sections where over 75mph is possible (where 170s would also achieve nearly as much time saving). A few minutes longer might not affect passengers much, but this service has fairly tight turnarounds and if longer journeys trigger extra rolling stock then most operating costs go up in proportion. The Crewe service is also planned to through-route in the new EMR timetable - to Newark I think.
I take your point on the hydrogen trials.
The 156s wont be going before the GA 156s arrive. I doubt any will go at all until early 2021 maybeI take your point on the hydrogen trials.
If EMR were opting for another type of unit for a good portion of their regional fleet, what reasons would management have to avoid mentioning them? They were fairly candid in today's video (e.g. keeping 153s bolted on to PRM stock, arrival dates for various fleets).
The 175/185 units are fairly well regarded, it's not like they have a toxic reputation.
If they were taking on some 156s and then getting rid of their own, I'd wonder why they'd bother doing that (unless they need a short-term uplift in carriage numbers until the known 170s are available).
If they're going to go for 37s and MkIIIs, I could understand them deciding not to crow about it.
I thought they confirmed they'd be using 3 types of trains when fleet renewals are complete.
A minor reason to talk about them is (AIUI) if a franchise bidder makes a bit for stock currently used by another franchise, that bidder would have to demonstrate that other suitable stock is / will be available to replace them. So if EMR are to take on XC's 170s, they need to demonstrate that XC won't be up the creek. (The XC franchise is of course due for renewal next year, so it'd be the new franchisee there that would deal with this.)
The 180s are coming as a stop-gap, but they will not last more than a few years.
That's a point that has taken a long time to penetrate my skull. The 222s (as mentioned in the recent article/video) will be replaced with new-builds from 2022. The first 170s will "start coming in mid-2020" (from WMT?).
Wrong. Their are hydrogen trains coming too as specified in the franchise agreement so thats 4 types of stock
Their is no official confirmation that the WMR 170s are going to EMR thats just speculation for the most part
Personal flippancy suggests that the quality will improve as a result of re-allocation to Etches Park; the 222/1s (also ex-Hull Trains) were previously allocated at Bombardier Wakefield (aka Crofton), where 222103 fell from the maintenance jacks 10 years ago. I've heard it said the quality of work at Crofton has always been a bit "sub-par"...