yup and all that hassle because fgwrich is too childish to use XC
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So basicly Virgin ordered something they know nothing about... hmm im sure they did pal
they would have knowen class 220 = 4 cars class 221 = 4-5 cars
as well as all the other technical specs, you wouldnt order a pizza without finding out whats on it first would you?
Virgin would have said "we want n x 6/7 car units" which SRA had final say on - eg TPX said they wanted 56 x 4 car 185s, that was reduced to 51 x 3 car by the SRA, also the 350/1s were originally 450s for SWT, SRA cancelled that mid build, then had to pay for the alteration to 350s or to scrap what had been built) - it was too risky financially to buy without the SRA support (ie Virgin's franchise was shorter then the life of the trains)
They would have also said we want X disabled loos, Seating for Y people, Shop counter, speed, acceleration, fuel consumption, tilt etc etc. They would not have specified window size (a common myth about the pendos is the small windows are for aircraft ambiance, rather then the size being determined by the structure of the body shell), plumbing, pantographs (again the front pan is used because of damping for 140mph running on UK knitting requires it, not because 'it looks better') etc etc.
When you tender for something like a new train, you make a wish list of what you want it to do, its then up to the builder to find the best way to do it at the lowest cost (ie less then the Quote). and its the lowest cost part that leads to design flaws and poor build. eg during the construction of the Cl180s Alstom wanted its suppliers to reduce the cost of parts by 33%, the result of which can been seen in the dismal reliability.