Please correct me if I am wrong, but i am pretty sure current 68 and mk3 rakes actually have better performance than cl168. 168s are quite sluggish off the mark despite a more even traction distribution compared to a 68 which will fly with off with load 7
A quick look on RTT and you're correct, 68 sets tend to be slightly faster.
IIRC, when Chiltern switched from 67 to 68 it was stated at the time they could add an extra carriage and keep to the same timings, if they had so chosen.
Placing a loco inbetween two sets of carriages is done on the continent, so it's technically possible to do. Whether or not the Class 68s are equipped for it, I do not know. Nor do I see the point!
68s fall within the Type 5 bracket, do they not? I'm fairly sure they'd be able to shove/haul 10 carriages.
It’s always happened here too if you think about an EMU’s motor coach as its loco, plus many UK examples of mid-formation steam diesel and electric locos.
The Belgians seem to come up with all sorts of weird formations. It's possible to see four types of stock in a hauled formation. Any driving trailer seems to work with any loco and any stock in between.
It will depend on how much acceleration you want. Modern era is tighter timings than a limited stop Deltic + 8coaches was.
What Network Change is that from? Not seen anything proposed by Chiltern yet.
Would that result in the busiest trains having to be multiple 168s, and the 68+Mk5s bring used on less busy services?
The 168s would be freed up to run more services - shift some of the stops onto a 168 MYB - BAN and that relieves some of the pressure. I’ve been designing my own “what if”Chiltern timetable based on Mk5s happening and this is what I went for. (That and ordering extra coaches to go behind the current 68s to bolster the fleet to 19 and facilitate services to Worcester and extra peak services)
In the morning peak, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, as the 6-car sets alternate with 4-car formations, so replacing them all with 5s would lead to a similar number of seats across the period – it's only in the evening where it tends to go 4-6-5-6-4 that you have 3 trains in a row that are longer than 4 and so you could see a reduction in capacity. But if that full capacity is needed then it may be better served by using released 168s to run a short working to maybe Bicester or Banbury, allowing the Birmingham trains to skip some intermediate stations.
Yes the cab of the Mk5a DT is very similar to that of a cl68.
A surprisingly small portion of the time spent on traction training for drivers is spent on cab layouts - or even practical handling. It's mostly on understanding how it all works, that's likely to be quite different between MKIIIs and MKVs.
I feel like keeping first to reintroduce some kind of more premium zone like business zone or first class or whatever is definitely a good idea. Gives it more of an intercity feel, which a journey of that length needs. Talking of which, they should bring back the trolley service too IMO.
Something similar happened in UK at the start of London - Bournemouth electrification. Not all the emus had been delivered, so some trains ran as 4TC-73-73-4TC formation.
It wouldn’t go down well if a train company introduced first class causing a decrease in standard class seats…
Usually ran as pair of 73s at one end. It was like that every time I saw it.
It would be good if they could get rid of the Fainsa junk seats while they are at it and put something better in.
Oh yeah completely forgot about that!
That relies on them not faffing with the GBR livery
