An industry decider has exclusively informed RailUK "The 185's will almost certainly be up on bricks in 10 years time. They are so heavy that when the new track access charging regime is implemented the costs will just be silly. Hell, the things built like a Panzer Tank to cope with the torque fromt he engines (required to do 100 mph up hills)! "
So there you have it, don't forget that the cost of fuel is esclating (and will get a LOT worse) so these new heavy trains are not going to do the industry any favours.
Then there's the issue that the trains are highly route-specific and non-standard, so they have a low residual value (even before taking into account the problems above), this means high leasing costs.
He went on to say, "We should never have let First Group write the spec for them after the mess they made with the 175's and 180's."
I've argued this before, and I'll argue it again, why not spend money on infrastructure instead? As a fairly regular passenger I'd rather junctions like Guide Bridge were upgraded than get new trains that still crawl at 15mph there and offer no real benefits.
Yes these trains can do 100mph, but what about speed restrictions due to their weight that could be imposed? Also, where will they reach 100mph? Only between Church Fenton and York, and IF they are routed onto the fast lines (not a great idea to mix them with 125mph trains) north of York.
Only the Newcastle-Man Air trains (which don't usually call at Thirsk) will benefit by any significant amount by the increased speed.
So there you have it, don't forget that the cost of fuel is esclating (and will get a LOT worse) so these new heavy trains are not going to do the industry any favours.
Then there's the issue that the trains are highly route-specific and non-standard, so they have a low residual value (even before taking into account the problems above), this means high leasing costs.
He went on to say, "We should never have let First Group write the spec for them after the mess they made with the 175's and 180's."
I've argued this before, and I'll argue it again, why not spend money on infrastructure instead? As a fairly regular passenger I'd rather junctions like Guide Bridge were upgraded than get new trains that still crawl at 15mph there and offer no real benefits.
Yes these trains can do 100mph, but what about speed restrictions due to their weight that could be imposed? Also, where will they reach 100mph? Only between Church Fenton and York, and IF they are routed onto the fast lines (not a great idea to mix them with 125mph trains) north of York.
Only the Newcastle-Man Air trains (which don't usually call at Thirsk) will benefit by any significant amount by the increased speed.
