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Bio-mode operation FGW ??

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jimm

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I didn't say they would be late, just that DfT have apparently allowed for a sublease without a declared end date.

Maybe you didn't exactly say that, but the fact of the matter is that any delay in releasing the FGW 180s to GC is extremely unlikely to be down to Hitachi being late delivering 800s or having them ready for service operation by the due date, in line with their contract.

It will be rather more to do with whether the declared 'summer 2017' - which appears to mean the May timetable change or soon afterwards - target for introducing 800s on GW services can still be met somehow, due to the problems with the electrification work.

As has been said elsewhere, the last thing the government will want is for rows of 800s to be lined up in the sidings at North Pole and Filton doing nothing, in the full glare of the media spotlight, so I expect that if they are ready to run, even if working rather more on diesel than planned, that is what they will do, even if the wires only stretch from London to Didcot and Swindon at that point.

And infiltrating 800s on the Cotswold Line in place of the 180s might be a good place to start using them, as diagrams could be arranged to be captive to North Pole depot, allowing close attention to be given to them overnight in the initial stages, not dissimilar to FGW's tlc policies with the 180s themselves, which all head back to Old Oak Common every night. FGW would probably be delighted to see the back of a such a small fleet as the 180s, that is expensive to operate, as soon as possible.
 
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swt_passenger

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Maybe you didn't exactly say that, but the fact of the matter is that any delay in releasing the FGW 180s to GC is extremely unlikely to be down to Hitachi being late delivering 800s or having them ready for service operation by the due date, in line with their contract.

Agree entirely. My original intention was simply to clarify that they are not going to be sticking around for long after 12/16.
 
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