PhilipW
Member
The order for Great Western IEPs is 21 electric 9-car trains (189 carriages) and 36 bi-mode 5-car trains (180 carriages). No electric 5-car trains have been ordered.
My initial assessment is that too many bi-mode trains have been ordered at the expense of electric versions.
Looking at the routes in turn:
Cardiff/Swansea with a service every 30 mins to Cardiff and one of the services proceeding onwards to Swansea to give it an hourly service.
A Paddington-Cardiff-Paddington turnround with appropriate layovers takes 5 hours requiring 5 train sets.
A Paddington-Swansea-Paddington turnround with appropriate layovers takes 7 hours requiring 7 sets making 12 sets in total. If we add another set to allow for a more frequent Swansea service in the peaks, this gives a requirement of 13 electric 9-car sets.
Taking also into account the 1 per day through service past Swansea to West Wales, this adds the need for one bi-mode 5-car set. Assuming that it will run as 10-car Swansea-Paddington this requires a second 5-car set which could be an electric set, though none have been ordered.
Bristol with a service every 15 mins via either Bath or Parkway.
A Paddington-Bristol-Paddington turnround can be done in 4 hours with appropriate layovers. This gives a requirement for 16 (4x4) sets. If we assume that one service an hour is extended to Weston-Super-Mare which will have to be a 5-car bi-mode, this reduces the Bristol requirement of electric sets to 12.
So already the core Cardiff/Swansea/Bristol service will require 25 sets (13 plus 12) which is more than the total of electric sets on order (21).
The Weston service will require 5, possibly 6, bi-modes plus the sets (4) to be detached at Temple Meads. Again these could be electric but none are on order. I am assuming platform lengths will stop 10-car sets running onwards to Weston.
So the full Weston/Bristol/Swansea/cardiff service requires 25 electric 9-car sets plus 12 bi-mode 5-car sets of which 5 could have been all electric.
The Hereford/Worcester service probably requires 7 bi-mode sets and the Gloucester service 6 sets, all restricted to single sets because of platform lengths.
These figures are all approximate and I'm sure some will disagree with the detail. The overall point I am trying to make is that I think the order is short of electric sets and has too many bi-mode sets. Having about 5 more 9-car electric sets, or 10 more 5-car electric sets, with a equivalent reduction of bi-modes looks a better fit to me. Switching 10 bi-mode sets to electric (50 carriages) saves 50 x £400,000 (equals £20 million) in construction costs alone plus running expenses. Big money.
My initial assessment is that too many bi-mode trains have been ordered at the expense of electric versions.
Looking at the routes in turn:
Cardiff/Swansea with a service every 30 mins to Cardiff and one of the services proceeding onwards to Swansea to give it an hourly service.
A Paddington-Cardiff-Paddington turnround with appropriate layovers takes 5 hours requiring 5 train sets.
A Paddington-Swansea-Paddington turnround with appropriate layovers takes 7 hours requiring 7 sets making 12 sets in total. If we add another set to allow for a more frequent Swansea service in the peaks, this gives a requirement of 13 electric 9-car sets.
Taking also into account the 1 per day through service past Swansea to West Wales, this adds the need for one bi-mode 5-car set. Assuming that it will run as 10-car Swansea-Paddington this requires a second 5-car set which could be an electric set, though none have been ordered.
Bristol with a service every 15 mins via either Bath or Parkway.
A Paddington-Bristol-Paddington turnround can be done in 4 hours with appropriate layovers. This gives a requirement for 16 (4x4) sets. If we assume that one service an hour is extended to Weston-Super-Mare which will have to be a 5-car bi-mode, this reduces the Bristol requirement of electric sets to 12.
So already the core Cardiff/Swansea/Bristol service will require 25 sets (13 plus 12) which is more than the total of electric sets on order (21).
The Weston service will require 5, possibly 6, bi-modes plus the sets (4) to be detached at Temple Meads. Again these could be electric but none are on order. I am assuming platform lengths will stop 10-car sets running onwards to Weston.
So the full Weston/Bristol/Swansea/cardiff service requires 25 electric 9-car sets plus 12 bi-mode 5-car sets of which 5 could have been all electric.
The Hereford/Worcester service probably requires 7 bi-mode sets and the Gloucester service 6 sets, all restricted to single sets because of platform lengths.
These figures are all approximate and I'm sure some will disagree with the detail. The overall point I am trying to make is that I think the order is short of electric sets and has too many bi-mode sets. Having about 5 more 9-car electric sets, or 10 more 5-car electric sets, with a equivalent reduction of bi-modes looks a better fit to me. Switching 10 bi-mode sets to electric (50 carriages) saves 50 x £400,000 (equals £20 million) in construction costs alone plus running expenses. Big money.
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