tbtc
Veteran Member
Which parent company ordered the best/worst trains?
For example (off the top of my head):
(I'm ignoring the 800/801s as they were ordered by the government - feel free to attribute trains to more than one parent company if you want, e.g. "Virgin" trains can count towards Stagecoach, First TPE was a mix of First and Keolis - you can argue about whether the LM 350s were really Stagecoach trains that were diverted to the Midlands)
Obviously not every TOC ordered new trains, but I think virtually every parent company has (other than Prism, Trenitalia and MTL?). Not every franchise has *needed* new trains (e.g. some inherited a fairly modern fleet). Sometimes there's a delay between ordering trains and them actually coming into service (under a new owner). But, based on the orders that the various parent company are responsible for, which TOC do you think have the best record at ordering new stock?
I'm partly asking this in relation to First's habit of ordering non-standard stock (or, at least, stock which no other companies subsequently place orders for) - got me wondering about how one parent company compared to another for ordering stock.
(and, no, BR don't count, especially as they had so many types of trains over fifty years, so it'd be impossible to find any consensus with such a varied track record)
For example (off the top of my head):
- Virgin - 220/221/390s
- Stagecoach - 450/458/707s
- First - 175/180/185/397/701/802s and Mk5s
- National Express - 170/334/460s
(I'm ignoring the 800/801s as they were ordered by the government - feel free to attribute trains to more than one parent company if you want, e.g. "Virgin" trains can count towards Stagecoach, First TPE was a mix of First and Keolis - you can argue about whether the LM 350s were really Stagecoach trains that were diverted to the Midlands)
Obviously not every TOC ordered new trains, but I think virtually every parent company has (other than Prism, Trenitalia and MTL?). Not every franchise has *needed* new trains (e.g. some inherited a fairly modern fleet). Sometimes there's a delay between ordering trains and them actually coming into service (under a new owner). But, based on the orders that the various parent company are responsible for, which TOC do you think have the best record at ordering new stock?
I'm partly asking this in relation to First's habit of ordering non-standard stock (or, at least, stock which no other companies subsequently place orders for) - got me wondering about how one parent company compared to another for ordering stock.
(and, no, BR don't count, especially as they had so many types of trains over fifty years, so it'd be impossible to find any consensus with such a varied track record)