The Planner
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 15 Apr 2008
- Messages
- 16,030
Agree, if 350s ever rocked up on New St to Picc services you couldnt leave them as they are. That section of route is huge in revenue and would need a inferior refit with a proper first class area.One thing is certain, as a regular Trent Valley user, I won't miss the 350/2, they really are an uncomfortable way to get to Euston.
Luckily, with most Trent Valley services being doubled up, the chances are one set will be something other than a /2, but when a double /2 turns up, my heart sinks...
Not convinced 350s compared to 323s wouldnt cause you timetable problems. 323s are pretty nippy and their dwell times smash those of a 350.It would be better to find use for the 350/2s than have them sitting around in storage - a waste of resources. If it was a case of either/or then surely the better option would be for the 323s to be scrapped for the parts and for Northern to take on the more modern and larger fleet of 350/2s. Another advantage would be the 350 gangway connections which the 323s, 331s and 333s don't have.
I think my idea of reforming them into 3-car units and the 350/1s and 4s into 5-car has merit. A 3-car 350/2 may be shorter than a 323, but there is more standing room available in the former and if Northern changed the seating layout to remove the 4-seaters and just had airline seats then I doubt there would much of a reduction in seating capacity.
Regarding 5-car LNR 350s; now that loadings are less peaky and more spread out across the day, I'd have thought that having nearly all LNR south WCML services running as 10 coaches would be an improvement compared with running most of them as 8 coaches and the occasional 12 coach?