Agreed!
Possibly the issue that Class 89 and Mk3's won't be given MU classification? And therefore be limited to PS speeds? If I were at LSL, that would be my concern.
I doubt they will as it is a loco hauled set.
Related to the fleet compatibility being signed off.
In this case the IETs replace 'dirty' class 221's running under the wires. It could make sense to run the 807s to Birmingham rather than Liverpool, but not sure they provide enough seats and whether there are enough sets to run enough diagrams. In the short term they are better used on Birmingham stoppers where only limited time is lost running at 110mph max south of Rugby.
It was always the plan to use 807s on the Euston-Birmingham semifast alongside Liverpools. An 807 has 404 seats in standard, which is 29 more than a 9-car 390, so capacity should be fine most hours if/when the Birmingham service runs at the full 3tph.
Did avanti effectively abandon advances on that route as well?
It would definitely be interesting to see a Virgin 22x at Liverpool...
Indeed, and if it were a 221 it may also be the first time it becomes a regular sight at Liverpool Lime Street since Virgin CrossCountry ended their services there as well. I am hopeful that the power supply upgrades are soon provided though regardless of who fills the empty paths, because in this day and age we shouldn't have diesel power under fully-functioning overhead lines. It would also just make full proper use of the 807s instead of confining them to the Birmingham semi-fast which was only half of what they were intended for.
the 807s will be lasting until 2065 - I don't think there is any evidence of them becoming a wasted order - and I'm sure the power supply upgrade will happen, even if it causes delays
This was my impression as well - start with 805s, switch to 807s after the power supply upgrade is complete
Well Virgin's applications was hinting at taking the 2nd service but it's unknown
I don't think there would be enough 805s to run a single 805 hourly service from Liverpool to London. There are 13 x 805 units being purchased. An hourly service to Euston/Liverpool probably needs 6 units particularly as 805s are a bit slower but faster acceleration so suited to more intermediate stops.
many of the current liverpool services use the path intended for the 807s, so their timings can be taken as right for the 805s
The four diagrams switching to 805's require 5 units while the remaining 3 diagrams operated by 221's require 6 units. That's 11 of 13 units ordered. Leaves 2 spare?
Some Liverpool services are timed for 807 at MU speeds, not PS speeds. So more retiming would be necessary.
If it could be done to match diagrams it would but must be reasons it is being done as it is..
For Dec 24 TT only one additional round trip to Liverpool showing.
I personally believe that all of FirstGroups liveries are amazing (except Lumo, and also including TPE as it was their design)
Avanti cheaped out. But since HS2 will be the premium/main route to the north I think they don't care too much about slowing down the legacy WCML. I think the fact 390s will always be faster has been known the moment IETs were ordered by Avanti. Some posters on here mentioned some section may be raised to 115 MU and that's it. But they'll always be slower.
Not really. Nobody was going to design a brand new, UK spec tilting bimode trains for such a tiny order.
