Coxster said:
Dennis said:
Thought GCR was going to use HST's (if they are ever going to run any trains).
I heard something about 158s too at one point :?
Yes, on York-Chester, which was scrapped.
158 said:
Im intrested in how the Hell a 222 will fit in Brighouse Station? :?
Selective Door Opening.
Dennis said:
Thought GCR was going to use HST's (if they are ever going to run any trains).
WAGN, GNER, etc complained that a 5 or 6-coach (or whatever it was) fairly short formation HST wasn't a great use of track capacity, particularly over the Welwyn Viaduct where the ECML reduces to only 2 tracks and paths are at a premium.
Oddly, it was deemed perfectly acceptable by the ORR for Hull Trains to use 5-car units consuming valuable ECML paths, but not acceptable for Grand Central to do likewise. Presumably the ORR prefers Hull over Sunderland and West Yorkshire.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the only way Grand Central could find to overcome this problem was to combine 2 trains at Doncaster, and Meridians would be the only suitable trains that could achieve this.
I think it's totally wrong for the GC plan to be rejected while HT have recently been allowed to run additional 5-coach trains on the ECML!
However, I won't be using GC services if they are Meridians, but that's just my personal choice.