It looks like this has been split from another thread. Is the idea Northern are getting additional 156s or are these replacing something else and is there any idea of when they will enter service with Northern? I think I read something about Arriva were supposed to source at least an additional 18 diesel trains if they had retained the franchise.
I believe a pre covid audit by OLR Northern suggested they were significantly short of units so this will probably help, I think reforming 4 x 150's back into 3 car units is supposed to be back on as well.
Ideally they ought to get 7 more to bin off the 155's
When EMT got 156's off Northern they put notices on apologising for the condition of the units, maybe the ones that go to Northern ought to have responding notice along the lines of 'We apologise for the higher quality of the interior of this train it will be downgraded to Northern standards as soon as possible'
Of course key questions for Northern and potential rolling stock implications are how long will it take before they go back to the pre Covid Timetable? will they even go back to the full Pre Covid timetable on all routes? will some of the proposed timetable improvements that still hadn't been implemented be abandoned? clearly we know there are likely to be changes to services around Manchester.
