Simple solution: order 24 class 331 driving vehicles, and convert the 4-car units into 24 3-car units so that all the class 331s are 3-cars. Thus all the Blackpool etc stuff on the Manchester side can stay as 6-cars, and the Aire valley can have its 6-car trains as well.
Oops! I didn't think of that. How hard can it be?
New build 195s are impossible, straight DMUs are too difficult politically and few people will want to finance them now the 2040 date has been announced.Gotta get rid of most of the 15x and 319s this decade. I didn't specify by when exactly
Very cynical, but you may have hit the nail on the head there.
If there was a bi-mode version of the Civity, that could work well for Northern.
Like it.... If HMT have their way 31 Dec 29.....Gotta get rid of most of the 15x and 319s this decade. I didn't specify by when exactly
Indeed, but FLIRTs are unfortunately the exception rather than the rule. The Bombardier & Hitachi stock, even stuff ordered after the Stadlers were announced for Anglia and Merseyrail, is still high-floor and requires manual boarding ramps.
Yes. Si sad that when every bus has a ramp many powered and coaches and lots of taxis are wheelchair friendly sad that the railway is so far behind.
Not quite such a simple solution as it might appear.......most of the intermediate stations on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines only have 4 car platforms, so they would need extensive and expensive platform lengthening.
The plans for 6 car on here is to use ASDO rather than platform lengthening.
That could create complications trying to ensure that passengers are in the right part of the train....especially on evening trains out of Leeds and Bradford.
It only takes the passenger to be overcarried, or even almost overcarried, and they and probably their friends will never make the mistake again.
Yes. It has worked for many, many years down south, so it would be fine.
Whilst the 333s are fairly recent, being built post privatisation, they do seem to be in a bit of a state mechanically, despite them otherwise being in excellent condition in terms of passenger experience.
Yup. I know that people question how the similar 332s were maintained but their track record does make you wonder. I would be unsurprised to see the remaining 323s join Northern.
If they do take on the other nine units from WMR that they didn’t originally intend to take then that still wouldn’t be enough to replace the 16 333s.
What Northern want and what HMT will fund could well be two very different things.
Littlehaven and Billingshurst spring to mind as examples of four car stations that 12 car trains stopped at. Both been lengthened to eight cars now I think. No doubt there were/are many more examples.
Forgive me, but I can't quite see how a line closure at Castleford could affect the appearance of class 331 units at Manchester Victoria. Unless something miraculous has occurred in the last 24 hours, Castleford is not electrified!
Think he means the Castlefield corridor.
Ah yes.....that would explain it! Sorry....not very awake yet at this time on a Sunday morning/lunchtime!
That would also be my phone autocorrecting it from Castlefield. You can tell it’s Sunday.
