jagardner1984
Member
- Joined
- 11 May 2008
- Messages
- 672
What’s the shortest platforms a voyager encounters ?. Surely the solution once the meridians become available is to reconfigure all sets to that size plus a coach or two, with SDO ? The meridians on EMT currently use this often, as I recall. The problem with coupling is surely that a huge amount of useful room is lost to driving cabs, crumple zones etc.
This would reclaim that space. Reduce the proportion of first class accommodation. Significantly increase capacity. Perhaps allow internal modifications to remove toilets, increase capacity, deal with some of the issues mentioned here.
In a logical world with so much under the wires operation, we’d all agree Class 80x Series (or some other bi-mode) was our long distance train of choice for this decade. Similarly one standard Commuter EMU and commuter DMU. DfT would be directly ordering a thousand of them. Economies of scale would push the prices right down. In 20 years we wouldn’t be scratching our heads working out where to put several uneconomical micro fleets of 10/20 trains. Trains would be built with future reconfiguration in mind (ie carriages from East Coast trains units in future being used to lengthen GWRs units, or similar). In a world of environmental concern, simply chopping them up and putting large unrecyclable sections of them in landfill, will I think come under increasing scrutiny. Mechanically sound trains should not be getting scrapped due to poor internal design until lots of other options are exhausted.
But as we know, logic has never been DfT’s strong point.
This would reclaim that space. Reduce the proportion of first class accommodation. Significantly increase capacity. Perhaps allow internal modifications to remove toilets, increase capacity, deal with some of the issues mentioned here.
In a logical world with so much under the wires operation, we’d all agree Class 80x Series (or some other bi-mode) was our long distance train of choice for this decade. Similarly one standard Commuter EMU and commuter DMU. DfT would be directly ordering a thousand of them. Economies of scale would push the prices right down. In 20 years we wouldn’t be scratching our heads working out where to put several uneconomical micro fleets of 10/20 trains. Trains would be built with future reconfiguration in mind (ie carriages from East Coast trains units in future being used to lengthen GWRs units, or similar). In a world of environmental concern, simply chopping them up and putting large unrecyclable sections of them in landfill, will I think come under increasing scrutiny. Mechanically sound trains should not be getting scrapped due to poor internal design until lots of other options are exhausted.
But as we know, logic has never been DfT’s strong point.