wow, the price of a 3-car 197 is closer to a 4-car 231 than I expected
And the 398s seems surprisingly cheap
But the per unit cost of a 398 is not that much cheaper than a 2car 197.
I wonder how many seats each have though ?.
A while ago I saw the following table with the purchase prices of the new TfW rolling stock. It was posted on Twitter, I saved the image but unfortunately I did not save who posted it so I can't credit anyone.
I am struck with how little the Stadlers require spent in the form of special tools.
Can work out from the last table that an intermediate coach on a 231 or 756 costs around £750k - no power train.
Can work out from the last table that an intermediate coach on a 197 (including engines) is around £1,700k so maybe about £1m for the power train alone.
Would appear the extra cost for the tri-mode version (231 to 756) is about £1,550k per "power car".
Class 231 (4-car):
170 seat
34 tip-up
188 standees
Class 197 (3-car):
174/186 seats (depending on whether there is 1st class)
8/8 tip-up
100/118 standees
So not sure where you got your 60 more seats from?
There's a surprising amount of tip-ups in the 231s though, which isn't ideal - I wonder if you could do a better design with fewer tip-ups and more real seats
From those seating figures I can see the Stadlers are expected to hoover up lots of short(er) distance passengers. So I see it as NOT what the 197s can do but more that the 231s are for urban/commuting. A plus of the 197s is that units can be coupled to make longer services - flexibility. I am writing this from the viewpoint of someone who is maybe biased in favouer of Stadler Flirts.
I am really not sure why a busy rail network is being lumbered with units that can (er allegedly) do street running. It is not like the hopelessly under used Wimbledon to West Croydon line becoming very busy as a result of many more stops, trams and on street running. The demand in the valleys is surely already there ?.